Chapter 12: Amaranth
--
For upwards to about an hour, Shadow and Rouge had wondered through the dark and ashen halls of wherever they had been sent to. At first, nothing was familiar, but soon Rouge was growing a faint sense of déjà vu. She felt that she had walked these halls before accompanied, but by someone else. She kept dismissing this as nonsense, but the farther the two walked, the stronger it became.
They soon came around a bend and found a room where a computer sat in the far side of the room. There was a window that seemed to support a concave window. Beyond that was a cylindrical room. All of this was ashen from a fire. Rouge was again hit with déjà vu. Why was this so familiar?
Shadow strolled to the computer and looked it over. It was dusty from disuse, and looked really old. Out of idle curiosity, he pressed the enter key on the keyboard. To his surprise, the computer blinked to life. "Rouge, the computer still works."
Rouge looked at the blinking monitor. Sure enough, it was working. The monitor was cracked, and the display was blinking at nearly 20 fps, but it was still working. "Now maybe we can find out where we are."
To their disappointment, it was password protected. Rouge would not be daunted however. "I'm going to hack into this thing and find out where we are...one way or another. Doesn't look like there will be anyone to stop us anyway."
Shadow didn't answer, but looked around the room. Even this room deep inside has seen some devastation, but at least this room has so far seen the least. That might explain why the computer was still active.
"I'm in! That was easy," Rouge said. "Now, to find out where we are." Rouge's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly and deftly tapping the keys. "Pulling up coordinates and world map. And, here we go." Rouge looked at the information. "What? No! That's not possible!"
Shadow was all ears. "Where?"
"This computer says were back in the doctor's base!"
Shadow's eyes widened a fraction.
"Hold on, I'm going to try again. Perhaps it's in error." Rouge attacked the keyboard with the vengeance, careful to type in the information she wanted. She did this a total of five times and the info was the same.
"How can that be!? The base...it can't be!"
"Rouge," Shadow began quietly. "The question no longer is where we are..."
Rouge looked at Shadow to see if he was serious, but in the back of her mind, she knew that Shadow never joked. "You mean..." The bat dove at the keyboard for a sixth time, but this time, she typed in different information. Gone was the query for coordinates; in was query for date: month, day and year.
The report...was to say the least shocking.
Both the hedgehog and the bat peered up at the computer screen. Shadow was inwardly shocked, but at the same time he felt that he shouldn't be surprised. Rouge was fully surprised, and in horror of the truth.
Shadow sniffed before speaking. "It appears we have travelled through time...doesn't it?"
Rouge looked around the room, and it dawned on her that this was indeed the same room where she and Metal-Sonic had purloined the Talisman of Darkness the previous night...or according to this computer, much longer ago then that.
"Yes...approximately two-hundred years." Rouge had to grasp the top of the counter to support her dizzy self. She felt like someone had just slapped her across the face twice over. Summoning all her willpower to stand against the shock, she stood up straight. "Maybe even more, depending on when this database was last updated."
Shadow crossed his arms and he now considered his options to deal with this new situation. They were now stranded in time; how were they going to get back?
"So, this is the future," Rouge started. "Do you know what that means, Shadow?"
Shadow nodded wordlessly. "Mephiles has the power to travel through time. Plus, his power feels very similar to Chaos Control."
"How do you figure?" Rouge asked.
"I haven't figured out how, yet..." Shadow replied. "...but something about it is--"
Shadow was interrupted by a whooshing sound in the adjacent room, the cylindrical one. Both Shadow and Rouge ventured closer to the window frame. A quick search revealed a darkness swirling about on the top of the room. Both leapt back instinctively; they were dumped here because of a portal and wasn't about to let another portal that just pops up suck them in. The portal grew and solidified, rotating like a violent hurricane.
"Another portal?" Rouge exclaimed.
"It seems so," Shadow said, but something soon caught the hedgehog's eye about the portal. Something was...different. It took a few more seconds of looking at it when he saw what was catching his eye.
"This portal is an out-going portal. See the rotation? It's rotating outwards instead of inwards. Something...or someone is coming out."
Rouge fluttered her eyes for a brief second. "I wonder what or who..."
She didn't have to wait long for an answer. Just a few seconds later, the portal spat out the body of a fox whom both Shadow and Rouge noticed had two tails. Next came the body of a heavy browed Echidna, his dreadlocks flailing as he dropped, and Shadow saw with mixed amusement that he had landed on his shoulders, making his head slam against the pavement. Finally, out came the body of a blue-spined hedgehog.
"Well, it's like a family reunion," Rouge said wistfully.
Shadow said nothing. His mind was wondering why in the world Sonic, Tails and Knuckles had gotten dumped here as well. The black hedgehog looked down at them, and noticed that they were not unconscious from the time travel that Rouge and he were forced through.
Tails, the bi-tailed fox was apparently suffering from mild vertigo, for when he managed to get into a sitting position his head would not sit squarely and just rocked back and forth. Knuckles was still lying on his back, and was rubbing the tender spot on the back of his head. Sonic seemed almost completely unaffected and was already standing upright and looking around the room, possibly from all the intense sonic-speed running he's done nearly his whole life.
Shadow and Rouge stepped back, out of sight. They wanted to hear what these three were going to say; perhaps they would say why they got here. Had they tangled with Mephiles too?
"Whoa, someone had a barbecue..." said a voice, medium-pitch. That was Sonic.
"Boy, do I feel dizzy," said a higher younger voice. Tails.
"Wanna trade?" said a deeper voice. Knuckles. "I have a splitting headache that you are more then welcome to take."
"Guys...," said Sonic. "...does this room look...familiar to you?"
A pause. Shadow imagined them looking around the room. "I can't tell; it's too much of a wreck," Tails said.
"I'm telling you, I swear I've been here before..." A sound of rapid snapping of fingers, it was Sonic's usual behavior when he was trying to remember something. Sonic said something else in a small voice, but Shadow caught it. "C'mon, Kintobor, where did you put us?"
Rogue caught it too. "Kintobor?" The Doctor sent them here?" Rouge whispered.
"It would seem so," Shadow whispered back.
"A time machine. What would he want with that?"
Shadow in his minds eye looked at the idea of a time machine and its significance. At one, two words flashed in his mind: Project Solaris. More research would need to be done to confirm this theory, but it was too much a coincidence for Shadow. Time must have something to do with Project Solaris. An experimental engine. Time-travel. Project Solaris must be about how to harness the power to control time.
But there was still one question unanswered. Why?
"I believe we've heard enough, Rouge," Shadow said. "They're going to need our help finding a way out of here."
"Whatever you say, handsome," Rouge said. Strutting like a fashion model, she walked up to the ledge, Shadow followed with a completely normal gait.
"Oh, my, why look who's here!" Rouge said aloud, sounding as if she never noticed the boys in the room below. "I never thought I'd see you boys again..."
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles looked up, and all saw the white bat dressed in tight clothes and the black hedgehog shadowing her, wearing his trademark dark expression. "Rouge! Shadow!" Tails exclaimed.
"Hi, boys," Rouge winked. "Long time no see, Sonic..."
Sonic grinned with a smirk. "Hey, Rouge! Going my way?"
Leave it to Sonic to play along, Shadow thought with an inward annoyance.
"How'd you two get here?" Knuckles said.
"We were caught in a warp...much like you," Shadow replied.
"Any clue where we are, Shads?" Sonic asked.
"You wouldn't believe us if we did...," Rouge said, batting her eyes.
"Just answer the stupid question!" Knuckles growled.
The three were all ears, and Shadow saw no point in acting mysterious. "We are in the old White Acropolis base."
Tails and Knuckles looked surprised, and Sonic snapped his fingers. "Aha! I knew I saw this room before..." Just as quickly, a look of confusion took his face like a spasm. "...what happened? What the phrack happened to look like...this!?" Sonic turned full-circle with outstretched arms, motioning to the mess."
"We have arrived in the distant future...far removed from the time we were in."
"The future!?" the three exclaimed, and Tails alone continued. "That means Dr. Kintobor's machine has the power to teleport anyone he wants through time!"
Sonic had the look that he expected the future to look a bit more...glamorous. "Man, I thought the future was all about high tech, moving sidewalks and flying cars. What a letdown!"
"How do we get back to our own time?" Knuckles ventured, saying the same question aloud that everyone else was silently thinking.
"The same way we got here: a spatial rift." Shadow waved his hands around to illustrate what they needed to do. "We will need to create a tear in the time-space continuum to create the rift."
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles blanched. Shadow was saying to get back, they had to create a hole in the barrier between dimensions. Anything could happen there!
"The problem is that this will require an immense amount of energy," Shadow finished.
The implications were strong. There was only one thing that all of them knew was capable of harnessing that much power: the Chaos Emeralds.
"So, you mean we have to do like some Chaos Control?"
"No, not Chaos Control," Shadow said, his voice turning sharp. "Chaos Control is indeed very powerful, but it cannot make a tear in the continuum. Chaos Control alone is insufficient!"
"Shadow," said Knuckles, his voice edged with worry and somberness. "Do you realize what might happen if we tear a hole in the time-space continuum?"
"Yes, Knuckles," Shadow replied quickly. "However, I have a hypothesis. If we find the Chaos Emeralds or the Talismans of Essence, we might be able to manipulate the tear like Chaos Control. We will need two Chaos Emeralds or Talismans of Essence to do this."
"What are Talismans of Essence, and what do they have to do with this?" Tails asked.
"I have discovered that the Talismans of Essence behave on the same level as Chaos Emeralds. I was able to perform Chaos Control and Chaos Relocate with one."
Knuckles' eyes widened, and Tails stared as if he should have realized. Sonic didn't seem the least bit surprised. "That makes sense," he said. "I had the Talisman of Fire before and the stone looks an awful lot like a Chaos Emerald."
"Same for the Talisman of the Earth, the one I found. I have reason to believe that the Chaos Emeralds when they came to this world merely either became the Talismans of Essence or merged with the Talismans."
"I figured something of the same," Sonic replied. "So, the trick is to find the Chaos Emeralds."
"Leave that to me," Rouge said. "I can find jewels better then anyone on Möbius."
Knuckles was quick to interject. "Yeah, whatever. You couldn't find the Master Emerald pieces and I was able to find every single one. I can find a Chaos Emerald better then you can..."
"We shall see, Knucky..." Rouge replied, followed by a throated laugh.
"I suggest we leave this place," Shadow said. "We need to find the Chaos Emeralds as quickly as possible. The time-space continuum should still be relatively unstable from two tears that have been torn into it. The more stable it becomes, the more energy we will need."
"Okay, Shadow. Looks like we're going to have to work together to get out of this place," Sonic said.
Shadow only nodded.
"Then let's go!" Tails said.
The five began the trek to escape this base. As they travelled, Sonic felt a rock in his stomach. If this is what the base looked like...what about...Soleanna?
- - - - -
Amy was hopelessly lost. The red-garbed and pink-furred hedgehog had managed to curb her carsickness and growing nervousness as she was transported in her box up to Dr. Kintobor's base, which she later discovered to be called White Acropolis. Judging by how cold it was and seeing the snow, it was an apt name. Once she felt that her box was now left alone after being moved about a second time, she escaped her box and picked through the warehouse to the gate, hammer at the ready.
Now she was wondering blindly through a strange base, ducking through hallways and travelling slowly, as if she expected the next step to be her last. You never really knew with an enemy's base; they could have weapons built into the walls that would blast you into oblivion before any questions were asked.
She had come up to this base to look for Sonic and warn him about what Silver was trying to do to him, and why, but from the looks of things, she looked to be in trouble. Several times, she nearly was in big trouble. If she wasn't so careful and peered around every corner she came across, she would've been caught much sooner before now. As it was, she escaped capture with her constant care nearly a dozen times. Luck or God was on her side tonight.
One time was almost too much for this poor girl, let along a dozen times; she was feeling the wear of this constant sneaking, and was opting to withdraw.
"Perhaps I should just go real quite-like before I actually do get spotted," she said quietly to herself.
It took her a few minutes to convince herself to follow her own advice, and when she did she was still presented with the problem of getting back. "Oh, darn it. This would never happen to Sonic!" She continued to roam the halls, looking for some kind of map readout, just so she can find her way back to the warehouses. There were freighters going back and forth to Soleanna, so getting back would be just as easy as getting here.
It was in her roamings when she encountered the Princess of Soleanna.
Just a few moments ago, Elise had been praying locked inside her gloriously decorated chamber for what may have been hours, but time was currently meaningless to her. As she prayed, something Sonic had said echoed through her mind like a loud songbird in a vast canyon.
"Nothing actually starts unless you actually do it. Worrying is a waste of time. Take it from me, Elise. If you've got time to worry, you've got loads of time to get up and run like the wind."
She had understood it then, and now it had more meaning. She wasn't so powerless after all! She could resist. Dr. Kintobor wanted her power, is that it? Well, he would have to take it from her.
Another fanatic idea popped into her head. What if she could escape? If there was a will, there was a way. Her gaze fell to the door. Kintobor was smoldering with rage when he found out that one of the Talismans of Essence he had obtained was stolen while he was preoccupied with warping Sonic and his friends to an undetermined place in time. Was there the slightest chance that he neglected to lock it?
She didn't know if it was luck or her god Solaris that inspired her to try the lock, but she thanked one or the other because the door was not latched properly. Quietly and ever so softly, she pushed the door. The hinges creaked slightly, and she stopped. Breathlessly, he waited for two agonizing minutes to see if a robot had heard the noise or not. Nothing came, so she opened it more. Once the door was open wide enough for her to slither out, she slipped through the door and out into the hall.
The metal and grey hall sharply contrasted the plush and velvet room she was kept in; Elise had taken just a few steps when she grew alarmingly aware on how much noise her walking made while she was wearing her high-heeled shoes. She remedied this by leaning against the wall and sliding off her shoes. The floor was cold, but bearable. If she had to bear this to escape, that was fine with her.
She stealthily whisked down the halls, her feet now making no noise against the metal-tiled floor. Surprisingly, there were very few guards, and Elise was able to get past them without incident.
She had just escaped Cell Block 17 when she ran into Amy Rose, who like herself was roaming the halls.
"Oh!" Elise cried out in surprise, but quietly.
Amy blinked in surprise. She didn't expect to run into someone else here. For a few seconds, both stared dumbly at each other; the human wondering where the pink hedgehog came from, and the pink hedgehog wondering where the human came from.
Before anything could be done, alarms started blaring through the halls, and a computer voice was announcing the reason. "Alert! Prisoner has escaped from Cell Block 17! All available units search out the prisoner immediately! Alert! Prisoner has escaped from Cell Block 17!"
"Quick!" Amy said. "This way!"
"Ok!" Elise replied.
Amy took Elise by the hand and both began running down the hall. They could hear the robots clanging around some distance behind, but neither could tell if they were actually following them or just happened to be down the hall searching.
"We have to get to the warehouse!" Amy said. "There are freighters that go back and forth to Soleanna. We can hitch a ride there!"
Elise nodded wordlessly. Seemed like a good plan.
Suddenly, Amy skidded to a stop and so did Elise.
"Robots! Ahead of us!" Amy said.
Elise's eyes roamed the hall for a hiding place in near-panic, and her eyes rested on a door to their side. "Let's try this door!" Letting go of Amy's hand, she tried the door. Locked. "It's locked! What do we do now?"
"Stand back!"
Elise by sheer instinct stood away from the door, and it was a good thing too. Amy whipped out a really large hammer that complimented her colors, and with a cry of attack and a hefty swing, she smacked the hammer into the door. It shuddered and opened, the lock breaking.
"Get in!" Amy said.
Elise didn't need any further encouragement. Amy followed in one-half second later and shut the door behind them. The room was dark; the only light came from the small window in the door. From the small amount of light, they both determined it was a storage room of some sort. There was a desk covered with some boxes, and the walls were lined with unmarked boxes from floor to ceiling. Both listened as the loud metallic thumping of robots walking was heard from outside the door. Not too much later, they subsided. Soon, the only noise was the alarms.
"Ok, sounds like they're gone," Amy managed to breathe.
Elise was sitting down, so she wouldn't be visible in the window. "Okay." She got up, when something caught her eye. Something was shedding a slight bluish-light on the desk. Slowly getting up, she looked to see what it was. It was behind some of the boxes. Moving them aside, she found that she was staring into the cool blue light of the Talisman of Water, one of the Eight.
There was a creak of hinges, and the door swung open. Amy peered out. "Coast is clear. Let's go," she whispered.
Elise snatched up the talisman and followed Amy out the door. One talisman was stolen from the Doctor today, and Elise figured that she could delay his plans even more by stealing another one.
Several minutes of running through the halls later, they found themselves in one of the warehouses by pure luck. Even luckier, a freighter was being emptied, almost ready for a trip back to Soleanna for another load. Luckier still, the guards that were patrolling the warehouse had left to find the escaped prisoner from Cell Block C-17.
"We have to get on that freighter. It'll take us back to Soleanna!"
"But there are still those robots loading and unloading those boxes," Elise said, pointing out the worker robots.
"There are only two of them, and once we get inside, we'll hide in the boxes that they put on, but we have to be quiet."
Amy and Elise slunk through the piles of boxes and crates, careful to not attract the attention of the remaining robots. Neither of the two was certain that these worker robots were armed, and neither of them wanted to find out the hard way. Thankfully for the two, they did not encounter any trouble, and boarded the freighter without event. The robots seemed to lack the programming to interact with people so they seemed to not mind the presence of a human and a hedgehog boarding their freighter; they just worked on industrially and tirelessly.
"They seem to be ignoring us," Amy said, observing the robots' behavior. "That's nice."
"It's good for us," Elise breathed. "I didn't think it would be this easy..."
Amy shrugged. "Well, now we just sit back and enjoy the ride."
- - - - -
Silver and Blaze were wondering the outer buildings of the base, looking for the Iblis Trigger, when the alarms had gone off, announcing that a prisoner had escaped from Cell Block C-17.
"Man, things are really exciting today," Silver said wistfully. Just a few moments before, both Blaze and he were batting the EG-1000 Genesis.
"That must be the princess escaping," Blaze said deductively. "The princess was captured by Dr. Kintobor at the Festival of the Sun I heard. She must be trying to escape...or...the Iblis Trigger is rescuing her."
Silver cast a glance at Blaze. That could be very well true. "Let's go find out."
Blaze started on down the halls, and Silver took a few steps after her when something caught his eye. It was the Talisman of Light in his hands...was it flickering?
Before he knew it, his eyes were overloaded by a bright light emitted from the jewel of the talisman. Shutting his eyes tight, he dropped the Talisman of Light to the floor and threw his hands before his face to shield his eyes from the light as much as possible. Once he dared to open them again, he found that he was now standing on...nothing! He felt like he was standing on something, but everything was white all around him. For all reason and comprehension, there were no walls, ceiling or floor that he could see. It was all just white nothingness. It was very unreal and made Silver uneasy.
"Hello!" Silver called. Not even an echo answered. He called out again, "Hello!?" No response again. "What the heck is this?" Silver wandered around in a full circle, half-expecting to start falling through this nothingness, but even though he could not see it, he could feel solid ground underneath him.
His foot interacted with something solid, causing Silver to look down. There resting at his feet was the Talisman of Light. Was it there this entire time or did it just appear there? He picked it up, and was suddenly aware on how different it felt, for somehow, it kept wanting to point one direction and one direction only. Experimentally, Silver tried bending it away from that direction and found he was meeting strong resistance. It was like a dipole magnet reacting to another: one pole would only attract to the other's opposite pole and would not accept any other.
Silver got an inkling that it was acting like a compass of some sort, always pointing one direction, north (or south depending on which hemisphere you reside on). Curiosity bit Silver like a pack of fleas, and it was just as itchy. Using the talisman as the compass point, he walked in the direction it was so attracted to, hoping to find something to explain its behavior.
He felt like he was walking for several minutes when he came upon a plain covered in deep-red flowers; there was no soil that it was growing on or so that Silver could see. The smell soon reached him and it suddenly made him feel peaceful. Kneeling down, he studied the plants: the flowers were many but small and clomped together, looking like a deep red wool duster, while the leaves in great contrast were larger and flushed with green, but the rims were blood-red.
Silver didn't think he had ever seen a more beautiful flower, but he never had actually seen that many. Just the same, that didn't take away from these flowers' collective beauty. Hesitantly and carefully, as if about to handle a glass chandelier, he stroked the flowers and discovered that they were very soft. It was simply amazing...
"The amaranths are beautiful, aren't they?"
Silver jumped from this unexpected voice that seemed to come from nowhere. His heart racing, he looked towards the source, and saw a young Echidna-girl, garbed in what looked to be ancient-looking attire, strengthened by the jeweled head-band.
She was quick to apologize. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"
Silver was trying to calm his pounding heart, but managed to reply, "It's okay. I didn't see you there. What did you call them?"
"Amaranths. It's a simply beautiful plant that grows and never dies. It also act as some of our food here."
Silver stroked the flowers again. "These are food?"
"Yes, the seeds from the amaranth are like wheat. It serves as our bread."
Silver's mouth formed a perfect o from this understanding. He soon felt the sensation of loss of blood in his legs from being hunched over and standing on the balls of his feet for so long. Standing up to let the blood flow be restored, he soon discovered that the girl was shorter then he was, possibly contributed partially by his flaring forelock. Unconsciously stroking his aforementioned forelock, he asked, "Where am I?"
"It's simply called the Promised Land," said the girl.
"Promised?" asked Silver. "To who?"
"To whoever has a claim to it."
Silver blinked. That was just plain vague.
"The Divine One always gives a claim to whoever asks him."
"The Divine One?"
"You don't know him?" Her face was touched by a hint of surprise.
Silver couldn't recall anyone called that, and said so.
"He is a kind and gracious Person. He loves all soul-kind regardless on what they have done, and it is his wish that everyone be in his family. Sadly, not everyone wants to be a part of his family."
"Why not?"
A pained expression spasmed across the she-Echidna's face.
"I wish I knew..." This must've been a great discomfort for her, for he quickly changed the subject. "How did you get here? Not many people come this way..."
Silver's mind had to switch gears before answering. "Uh...I actually don't know. This thing here pointed the way here and I just followed it."
The girl took a look at the talisman in Silver's hand, and was admiring its white glow, which was still evident in this brightly lit place. "Oh, you were called here."
"Huh?" Silver looked quizzical.
"I can't say much about it, for I don't know much about it. Come!"
The girl took Silver by the hand and led him through the amaranth field. As they went, Silver looked around at all the amaranth that was growing, soon seeing different-colored flowers of amaranth, ranging from light violet like Blaze's fur to a very deep red. As they traveled, the whiteness soon grew to other colors, melting into existence like a painting in progress. Silver saw the sky turn blue, a nice relaxing blue which made the sky that he had seen in his time's past dull and grey. Trees rose up and ponds dotted the surface around. The ponds were especially pretty, looking as if they were made of liquid glass, shimmering like silver. The air was simply singing with the voice of songbirds. Could anything be more beautiful then this place?
Soon enough, they came upon a shrine that seemed to be made of white marble. It was built like a pyramid, but covered with a marble canopy at the top. At its zenith was the biggest jewel that Silver had ever seen. It was as big as a boulder and shimmering green; made Silver feel really small. The girl must've seen it a lot as she didn't seem to be surprised at its sheer size. Silver soon noticed there was another Echidna, standing beside the giant jewel. Contrasting much with the younger girl, he stood taller then Silver; he was a dark violet color, his spines were rimmed with smaller spines as if he didn't keep the best care of his hair, and appeared aged, but seemed fit enough to rival a younger. One distinctive feature on this older Echidna was a crescent-shaped mark on his chest.
"Welcome, young Silver," he said, his voice deep and rick with wisdom.
"How do you know my name?" Silver asked.
The elder Echidna smiled. "We have been observing you for some time."
Silver didn't know if he should feel uncomfortable, or reassured that someone was always watching out for him.
"He was called here, my elder," the younger said to the elder.
"Indeed."
Silver couldn't stand it. "What are you two talking about? Why was I called here?"
"Patience, young one. In time, you shall understand it all, but for now, you must rest on the little knowledge that I am about to pass to you..."
Silver blinked. This was just getting weirder.
"I leave you with these words: continue on your quest in the past, for with it you will understand it all, but beware the one who calls himself "The Dark." He seeks nothing but ill for you. Now, you may go."
"Silver!" said a familiar voice.
Silver blinked, and found himself lying on the metal floor inside Dr. Kintobor's base. Blaze was standing over him and apparently was trying to wake him up. The Talisman of Light was lying undisturbed at his side.
"Wha--? Blaze?" Silver struggled to speak. Whatever he just went through had drained him.
"Silver, what happened? I turn my back for a few seconds and the next thing I know, you're sprawled out on the ground!" Blaze seemed slightly agitated, but it was mixed with worry for her friend and colleague.
Silver sat up--boy, did his head feel weird--and blinked in the harsh fluorescent lighting of the hallway. The blaring alarms were still going. Was he out for long? What did he just see? Should he tell Blaze about it?
He soon felt that Blaze wouldn't understand what had happened to him, so decided not to tell her. Picking up the Talisman of Light beside him. He lied with "I guess I tripped or something." He quickly felt remorse for lying to her.
Blaze saw through it, but reasoned that Silver didn't want to talk about it. "Silver..." she said, implying that she knew that the white hedgehog wasn't saying everything.
"I'm fine," Silver said. He got up and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. Blaze crossed her arms and shook her head slightly. "C'mon, Blaze, let's go."
Silver walked on down the hall, but kept one hand brushing the wall in case a dizzy spell would come along. Blaze remained behind for a little bit, staring after him.
Silver, I know something happened, she thought. You saw something, and I'll find out what. It's not healthy to clam up.
Blaze closed her eyes and sighed, then took off at a walk after the white hedgehog.
