AN: At last, it has come. I have made you wait long enough, so here is the epilogue to Remnants of the Past. I don't know when, but there will naturally be a sequel. Thank you for bearing with me through this story that I have worked on for so long. With that...
"…And who is Libra to weigh on your mind?
To show you these secrets and feed you these lies?
We made you our warrior, but soon did we find
The all too telling sign of your cries
You were no vulnerable Andromeda
You weren't an outcast, weak Omega
Too much on our shoulders,
Too much too bear,
We were no Orion, rebels of the era
When we become the stars,
Vengeance sweeping darkest colors.
When we become celestial,
Blackened-charred will be all.
Imperious threats, listen to the wind.
We ride on fire, your souls to rend…"
~Excerpt from Orion's Ballad
^/\^|v\/v
Syaoron the Fox Presents
Following the Events of Sonic '06
Accompanied by Various Music and Themes
Remnants of the Past
Epilogue
Forever Hold Your Piece
^/\^|v\/v
Soleanna
December-31-2506
20:00 Mobius Time
Sonic sat solemnly, leaning against a great pane stained glass. He looked out the window and saw a view distorted by solid color. Three months had passed, and nothing seemed the same; nothing would be the same. Here, the church was their refuge, their sanctuary. It would not be long, he knew, before even this bastion of sanctity would grumble under Imperious' iron grip.
Notes continued to sing into the air, soft and full of hope. Sonic looked over his shoulder to see Silver humming that hymn again in the pews. Next to him sat Blaze, with hands clasped over his.
"Are you still singing that song, Silver?" asked Sonic
"I am. What of it?"
"We can't sit here forever, twiddling our thumbs. Singing is hardly a way to honor Tails' death."
Silver gritted his teeth, and his leg began to shake. "You have always been impatient, Sonic," he mumbled. "You think I haven't been working? I've been gathering as many people as I can to create a resistance group. We cannot let Imperious remain in power, I know that."
"Then why aren't you doing anything?"
"Now is not the time," Silver replied, calming down. He had figured out the hedgehog by now; after spending so much time with him, he grew to understand that Sonic was hopeless when it came to logic. He was a passionate thinker. "Imperious just took an entire nation. We have to recuperate, gather what resistance we have left, and rest. We must wait so our morale can heal.
"And you're awfully presumptuous, by the way."
The offhanded comment had Sonic scrunching his brow in a squinty glare. "Presumptuous?"
"Yes, and superficial," Silver responded.
Blaze's hand clutched onto the white hedgehog's hand. "Don't be so rude, Silver," she reminded him.
"I…" Silver paused. He inhaled a deep breath of air and nodded. "Of course," he said before giving Sonic a brief apology. "All I mean to say is that a song can honor death just as much as—if not more than—an action.
"Remembrance is honor, Sonic. We cannot act in the name of a martyr right now, because we're too weak for that. But we can remember him."
Sonic was too tired and weak to respond directly. He instead looked around the hall at the people. Some were tired, some were scared, some were infuriated, and some were hopeless. It was a healthy mix of negative emotion. They were scared of what the new regime would bring, and they were especially frightened of the new Corrective Committee, a brutal brigade of soldiers armed by Imperious himself to enforce new peace.
The hedgehog snapped his head toward the side door by the chapel where a red echidna snuck in. "What did you find?" he asked Knuckles. The guardian had been out on reconnaissance, checking the city and the overhead Angel Island.
"Nothing that you'd like," the echidna mumbled as he kicked back in a pew, leaning his head down to relax. "There's propaganda all over town, and it's spreading. The papers and posters claim that Imperious is their hero who came in their time of need. Advertisements are posted all over town to encourage citizens to watch the television at 20:30 tonight."
"Do they say what channel to watch?"
"No, it must be some kind of emergency broadcast."
Silver pointed to a small boxset television in the corner of the room. "Well, we ought to tune in, don't you think?" he asked. Blaze was the first to run up to the TV, with Silver right behind. She crouched in front of it and pressed the power button just as the clock struck 20:30.
The others gathered round in a semicircle about the screen. They were dirty and tired, ragged and worn out, and whether rich or poor, man or woman or child, they gathered round to see the fate of their country:
A black and red insignia blazed over the screen, displaying the image of a soaring dragon, the mark of Imperious' Reich. Blasting trumpets and low horns rumbled from the TV as the image suddenly changed to that of Imperious in his lesser form. He stood at a podium before an unmitigated crowd of Reich supporters, Soleanna royalists, and moderates—indifferent about either side or undecided on their emotions.
Imperious laid his hands on the gunmetal podium and looked over his people. No microphone was need; his voice was sufficiently booming. "Soleanna has fallen into a ruinous, destitute state," he spoke. "When Iblis broke free and rampaged across the city, the city of Soleanna was not there to stop the beast. It surely had sufficient means, the highest-end defense system, the best surveillance… it was a system ready to defend us.
"This did not come to pass. Why? Here, politicians and professionals are just dogs who lick the soles of their mistress in order to gain an extra bone. Here, the dogs' mistress is nothing but a swindling, Evil Counselor. Must such a woebegone government continue to exist? I should think not. People deserve protection; maintaining a social contract with the people, and taking only what is necessary to maintain such operation, that is what government is supposed to do; that is what we intend to do.
"It is an appalling inheritance which we are taking over.
"The task before us is the most difficult which has faced Soleanna statesmen in living memory. But we all have unbounded confidence, for we believe in our nation and in its eternal values. Farmers, workers, and the middle class must unite to contribute the bricks wherewith to build the new Reich."
The camera shifted over as Princess Elise, tattered and torn, withered and worn, was dragged to the stage where a guillotine was set up. The beautiful dress she once donned had become rags. "It is time for a new power to rise, one that will befit the people of Soleanna. The task of this front, therefore, is not merely the protection of individual peoples, but the safeguarding of Soleanna, and thereby the salvation of all."
Elise was dragged and propped into the guillotine. Silver saw a brief glimpse of her eyes and knew that she was already dead. Her heart still pumped and her lungs still breathed, but those things, he knew, were completely separate from her. He had felt the same when he killed Tails. Elise wasn't lucky enough to be resuscitated though.
There was the sound of a rope being pulled, a lever catching and releasing, the metal blade cutting through the air with a shriek, and just the faintest breathe that cried for help. Elise's body fell slack, with her head in a casket.
Silver frowned. Hours later, when they sat back down, Blaze approached him and held his hand. She looked into his eyes, searching for something that could constitute happiness and finding nothing. Only a reflection of herself. "Silver, talk to me."
"I… I just don't know what to say."
"Then don't think about it. Just tell me what the first thing is that came into your mind."
Silver sat then for a moment and disobeyed her instructions; he thought carefully about what he had just witnessed and felt himself distanced even more from security. "We know the world won't be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent," he whispered, tears streaming down steadily. He did not shake and he did not falter. He spoke.
"I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'
"I suppose we all thought that one way or another."
Blaze sighed and held his hand, making sure to warm him. "Silver… Don't think that way."
"But what other way should I think?" mumbled the weary hedgehog. He rubbed at his eyes and held his face in his hands. He no longer sounded defeated, simply tired. "Everything we fought for, all our hardships, all was for nothing. Fixing paradoxes created a causal chain which led to Imperious' coup. It was all planned, and all our efforts were meaningless."
Blaze turned his head to the side at that moment, and a gaze as fierce as her fire pierced Silver's eyes. "Don't sound so helpless," she said, poking his forehead. "You're still naïve, Silver. I don't think you will ever grow out of it."
Silver's cheeks simmered in embarrassment. There, she called him by that endearing adjective again. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Arms wrapped around him and pulled him tight into a warm embrace. "You did succeed at something, Silver. You brought me back," whispered the cat while Silver rested there, nuzzling into Blaze's comforting warmth. "To me, that means more than anything; to everyone else, that sends a message. You're a capable leader, Silver. You just need to have faith in yourself."
Gripping his leg and bearing the tiniest grin, Silver shed a tear. "Thank you, Blaze," he whispered. "That means a lot to me."
"You know that I love you, right?"
"I know…" Silver mumbled, chuckling meekly. It seemed he had failed to cherish that these last few months. "I love you too. Quiet, now; the ceremony is about to start."
Blaze and Silver sat in the front pews, and others gathered to sit in their own pews. Finally, after months of sorrow, there could shine a glimmering moment of happiness. A priest stood at the front by an altar, with bible in hand and servers all around. To the right of the altar stood John Murray, three months removed of his codename, dressed in black suit.
The doors from the antechamber were flung open and down the hall strode Samantha, dressed all in a white, flowy gown and a white veil in front of her face. She was guided by Thunder, the best man. For a moment, everyone's tension vanished like the world before a fogged window, and smiles donned everyone's faces.
"Even the brightest light shines low and dim every now and then," Blaze whispered as Samantha came up to the altar and the ceremony began. While the priest spoke his passionate verse, Samantha and John locked eyes in what could only be the purest amorous feeling. "But it never goes out. Remember that, Silver; the light never goes out."
A round of applause erupted when the couple gave their vows and spoke their bonding words. Tied now in love, matrimony, and determination to live, Samantha and John embraced and relished in a loving kiss. Silver pulled off his glove and ran his thumb over Blaze's slender knuckles, smiling when she returned the hold on his hand. The couple rejoiced as rose petals flew into the air and passion renewed resounded in tears of joy. Couples all around embraced in loving embraces and kisses.
As Silver looked around at all the smiling faces and at the content smile of his beloved, he came to a sudden realization. Imperious had taken much from them; their leader, their country, even their very way of life as not safe from his tyrannical onslaught. Still, with all else lost, he could not take their hearts.
^/\^|v\/v
Soleanna
January-1-2507
0:00 Mobius Time
After the ceremonies had past and the spilt blood was wiped away, Imperious and his apprentice returned to the castle. "Make preparations for another room, Chameleon," Imperious ordered while he swiftly returned to his gargantuan throne.
"Another room, master?" Chameleon asked as he peered down the shadowy, column-lined walkway at the ancient dragon. "Are we expecting a guest?"
Imperious nodded. "Not simply a new guest, but a new ally. He will be your right-hand man when the time comes, and he will be helpful in your eventual rule. So, like I said, go prepare him a room."
Chameleon ran off swiftly, leaving Imperious alone in the throne room, with only the dim, blue torches for ambient light.
Imperious sat back and watched, a spectator to the perfectly timed phenomenon of space-time teleportation. A great rift that bent and twisted light ripped open in the midst of the court and dropped a black, battered, and beaten echidna. As quickly as it entered, the rift collapsed with a resounding clap.
"You must be Thanatos. Or as I understand, you are called Hunter," Imperious declared.
Weakly, the echidna grasped at his head. He was cold and tired, hanging onto his last strand of life with burning hatred. "Where am I?" grumbled the echidna openly.
"You are in my domain," Imperious called out to him. He glowered down at the echidna to remind him of his vulnerable situation. Hunter shuddered under the oppression of that red glare. "You have been defeated in battle, for I have seen it. You are in a completely different universe. Will you join me?"
"Join you in what?" Hunter asked speculatively, not trusting Imperious.
"World conquest," he simply answered.
Imperious waited for a long time as Hunter considered his options. Of course, what other choice did he have than to become an underling, with no power to his name any longer? He nodded, though reluctantly
"Good, let us go," Imperious said. He stood and disappeared into the deep darkness of his abode. Reluctantly, Hunter followed him into whatever this new world may hold.