Author's Notes: To those that were willing to forgive the Sonic 06 reference/rip off, thank you.
(Silver's POV)
The halls of the palace were empty as I wandered about looking for Blaze. It had occurred to me that I had no idea where she would go and I was pretty sure that I was lost. I managed to find a servant and asked him,
"Have you seen the princess anywhere?" The servant replied,
"I saw her heading towards the gardens." He then pointed me down a hallway and I went off that way. As I walked towards the gardens, I couldn't help but wonder what I had gotten myself into, with this whole trial thing was. And the king saying that no one had ever beaten them didn't make me feel better. But that old man said it is the only way I could be an eligible suitor, but that was a little impulsive just acting off of his word.
I reached what I assumed was the gardens and the atmosphere changed. The intensity that I was feeling on my shoulders had lifted as the air pressure lifted. I walked into the gardens and crept through as quietly as I could so not to startle Blaze if she was there. I knew that When Blaze was upset about something, the person comforting her, usually me, had to handle the situation with care. Blaze was not one to show a lot of emotion, often electing to bottle her emotion up, and when she was upset and vulnerable, she could be rather unstable.
I found her sitting on a stone bench, her back to me. I snapped off a coupe lilacs and floated them over onto her lap. She picked them up and then she spoke,
"That was really stupid of you." I replied,
"Love makes people do crazy things." She turned around, and said,
"This isn't a joke Silver, these trials are deadly." She had a coupe tears running down her face and some of her makeup was running. I sat down next to her and said,
"It'll be alright, I can handle them." She replied,
"You don't understand, hundreds have tried, but no one has ever succeeded. And most that have tried have been killed." I felt myself feel a little hot under the collar, not expecting these trials to be life threatening. I put my arm around her and said,
"I'll be okay, trust me." She nodded, hardly convinced.
I gave her a kiss on the cheek and let her be. I managed to find my way back up to my room and when I looked at the clock, I was surprised to see that it was nearly ten, so I changed out of my cloths and got into bed. My thoughts on the pressure that was on me to succeed, our relationship on the line. But I had a knack for going to sleep with a lot on my mind.
I awoke about an hour before sunrise, and I got dressed back into my cloths that I wore in Crisis City. I emerged from my room and then it dawned upon me, I had no idea where to go. So I went looking for someone that could tell me where to go, but strangely enough, there was no one to be found. Now I was starting to panic, I was going to fail by default, so I was starting to run through the palace. I was running low on time, about ten minutes until sunrise, but just then, I heard the sound of drums and trumpets. Desperate, I ran to the sound of someone, anyone. As the sound got louder, I got more nervous as sunrise was mere moments away. I rounded a corner and was awestruck by what I saw.
I was in what I thought was the main courtyard (A place I never thought to look.) and it looked like an arena. There were stands that were packed with people with a sort ring in the center. There was what I thought was a royal booth, as I could see the king, queen, and Blaze. Sunlight was peeking through the columns and I stepped into the light. I was then approached by the old man from before,
"You made it! Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Marlo, the high priest of this land, and I will be conducting you're trials. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." He then motioned for me to follow him towards the ring.
The crowd quieted as we stepped into the ring and Marlo addressed the crowd, "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the 142nd attempt of the trials of Epistria, and still without a victor." The crowd erupted in cheers, proud of their nation's trials. The crowd quieted again and he continued,
"Allow me to present our challenger, Sir Silver." There was a little applause and I ave a little wave to the crowd.
"The first trial, is the trial of skill." The was another round of cheers as Marlo returned to me,
"Alright, in this trial, all you have to do is defeat ten of our warriors without killing them. This trial is meant to demonstrate coolness under pressure, as well as precision and skill." He then patted me on the back and left the ring. There was another enormous roar; I looked across the ring two see ten men fully clad in armor and weapons.
I could not have stumbled into a better situation, combat. I looked around on the ground and saw an assortment of weapons and shields, but I didn't need anything.
"This isn't even going to be fair." I whispered as I walked across the ring to face them. They seemed confused as there was a collective gasp from the crowd, shocked that I didn't take any weapons. With an evil grin on my face, I cracked my knuckles and beckoned for them to make a move. They looked at each other and then back to me. Then one of two archers stepped forward and fired an arrow at me. I caught it with my psychokinesis and sent it back at him, drilled him in the knee, one down.
Then three more rushed me. I jumped up and they paused where I was standing. I whistled at them and they looked up to see me floating overhead. I came down and blew them away, but still alive, four gone. Another two came for me, so I grabbed one with my psychokinesis and threw him into his partner, six. Three more came in and closed on me; I grabbed all three and sent them flying back with a shockwave. My ego swelling beyond belief, I looked up at Blaze and gave her a wink. But my arrogance came with a price, the other archer had managed to load up an arrow and he nicked my side. The sharp sting hurt like crazy and now I was irritated. So, with my powers, I took his bow, and cracked him upside the head with it. He fell to the ground with a thud. There was silence for a moment, but then the crowd erupted in applause, excited by my victory.
Marlo came back into the ring and said, "Congratulations, you have completed the first trial, though we were expecting this trial to be a little more...difficult." I replied,
"Well, they drew a little blood." And I took my hand off my side to see a rather large gash that the arrow left. Marlo replied,
"Well yes, our nurse will attend to that. Anyway, your next trial is in three days, and I will give you more information when the day approaches." I nodded and went off for the infirmary.
In the infirmary, the nurse was tending to my wounds, stitching up my side. I was helping her in any way that I could, but she insisted that I sit back and remain still. She was just finishing up when Blaze showed up.
"That was really stupid Silver." I replied,
"I'm okay, aren't I." She sat down next to me,
"Silver, if you don't take these trials seriously, they'll kill you." I replied,
"I am, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun..." I pulled her in and gave her a kiss on the cheek,
"...just start picking out the color you want for the wedding." She smiled a bit, which frustrated her even more, since she was trying to be mad at me.