Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.
Exalt 12.6
Fern wasn't fast, or quick. Blaze saw every move he was going to make long before he did it. No, what Fern had that kept Blaze on the backfoot the entire time was that Fern was...skilled. He pulled off tricks and stabs with the spear that she thought were nearly impossible. Parries of impossible speed and strength, feints that were so real it felt like he'd committed everything to each one.
Blaze was no slouch with the rapier in hand, but in a fight of a spear or a sword, the one with reach usually won out. And even when Blaze did get in to try and get a few hits in, Fern knew how to use that range advantage, casually using the end of the spear as a staff instead, ignoring that he was gripping by the spear end all of a sudden.
Spark was diving in and out to get some hits in, and yet the channeler never had any luck. With each one, he either dodged out of the way or flared his fire just enough to make her flinch.
Fern was basically toying with them. And Lightning's eyes were a pure glowing silver now. Either he was concentrating entirely on Fern, or something was happening elsewhere that demanded the panther's attention. As much Blaze hoped for the former, she suspected the latter.
As much as Blaze didn't want to hurt him, she strongly suspected she was going to have to kill again. "Fern too much, for you? Kitty-cat?" Lightning smirked. Blaze made her own spear of fire, throwing it at Lightning while barely looking in his direction. "You're going to have to do much better than that, kitten. Be like Fern. Use something real."
She jumped back as Fern slammed his spear down where she'd been standing. Spark had taken a few hits already, each one knocking the ring out of her and forcing her to scramble to grab it. The vixen was simply not good enough, or the ring was making her arrogant and make mistakes.
Either was costly.
An idea came to her, though. When she'd ran through her version of the flower garden, of Reveniah, hadn't her copy, her doppelganger, used a spear? She'd never trained to use one...unless she was trained in Ikan'Thoa.
But that just meant she knew what she was doing, even if she didn't remember it. She threw her rapier down, focusing on the stream of flame that would be the new spear.
Come on Solaris. If you're within me...You've bothered me most of all my life. The least you can do now is help me out!
Her feet took a stance on the glassed sand, one she had never done before. The spear was down, focused flame becoming real. Fern knocked the ring out of Spark again, who'd been trying to keep him busy for as long as she could, before she was knocked away with a second swing.
The coyote stood, mimicking her own position as he stared listlessly into her eyes.
She began to move, in ways she'd never felt or done before. Yet her body was accustomed to it already, more than just her soul. She fought on instinct as the two spears slammed into each other. Despite one of them being immaterial, it acted as if it wasn't, slamming sounds being heard by all. Her mind was awash in flame. She wasn't seeing straight, seeing things that couldn't be real. Her body was moving in ways she knew she had never moved in, and yet had perfectly been adjusted to.
"That's not right. That's never happened before..." Lightning commented idly. His silver eyes blinked, the silver dying out as he raised a hand to his head.
Fern changed. Immediately, from trying to kill her, to instead trying to...dance? Their spears clashed, again and again, fire meeting metal in ways that only two pyrokinetics could do. Blaze saw why they clashed like that; Fern coated his spear with fire at the barest of moments. Her vision wavered for only a moment.
Her rapier pierced Fern's heart. "You can do it, Blaze. Kill him!" he shouted, his voice rapidly dying.
The two spears continued to clash as memories that weren't hers flashed in Blaze's mind. Slams and slashes hit the glassed sand, both of them no longer using the edge bit. "Why is this different...? It wasn't like this before, this hasn't happened! This can't happen!" Blaze heard Lightning's voice shout from the side.
Katia slammed her dagger's into Obsidian's back, giving Blaze a grin before Spark's sword found its way into her own. "Spark! This isn't you!" Katia called out, roaring to a silver-eyed tiny vixen, standing where Lightning was.
"He's not controlling me, now. But I still can't help but doing what he wants. What did you say fire did, Blaze?" Fern's voice asked quietly. "When we met...the day before the Choosing. Before you ran, before you made the smart move and ran."
"Fire is rebirth..." Blaze answered back. "An ember, given fuel, can still become an inferno. All one has to do is..."
"Ikan'Thoa is reborn in your flames. But that won't stay long, not while the Tides are high. Kill me, and focus on Lightning. Before the Tides choose another of you."
"Fern...why did he lose control...?"
"Because this hasn't happened before," Fern smirked, his spear crashing into her own. He flinched as Spark shoved her sword into his stomach, before he kicked her away, the ring coming out from her landing spot.
Why...there were too many questions.
The coyote stood there, spear at the ready, with the sword in his stomach. He pulled it out without a care of the blood on it, tossing it aside carelessly.
Blood splattered down onto the blade, and Blaze knew he'd signed his own death warrant. He would bleed out now, without care, and Lightning didn't seem the type to give it. And even if she tried it, he'd probably just burn off everything.
Tails brought his tails down on Ohm, bisecting her cleanly. "Spark can do it. Katia's with her. Trust in them, okay?" he said, looking over at Blaze.
"What was it you said again? 'Fire is more than just destruction. Fire is rebirth, hopes and dreams given form and flame. So show me, Blaze, show me what my rebirth will be like," Fern said, his eyes glistening a grassy green.
Lightning wasn't controlling him. He charged forward, his spear aiming right towards Blaze's chest, and she parried again, using knowledge she didn't know she had.
Blaze swung low, Fern swung high. A crash battered Blaze's ears, but still she followed through. Fern read her perfectly, and aimed for where she would hit. The coyote was grinning, and would slowly go faster and faster, using his own pyrokinesis to make his arms and legs faster. He wasn't charging them, but rather using his flames in the same way she did. Blaze smirked as she copied not his movements, but his kinesis. Where once the crashes would hit a few times every second, it became a roaring wind of sound as they crashed into each other again and again.
"Am I an ember, or a flame, Blaze?" Fern asked with a sad smile. He was starting to slow down, Blaze noticed, while she had plenty of juice left.
"Always an inferno," Blaze smiled back. "It's not possible to save you, is it?" she asked.
"Lightning! Blaze has nothing to do with this!" Fern yelled as he fought alongside her. Katia was already down, blood coming from her legs and torso, soaking onto the sandy platform.
"No. It isn't. His hooks are deep in there, now. I can barely control myself even now, when he's having a mental breakdown," Fern answered. Their spears clashed a few more times.
He stopped moving, just in time for Blaze's spear to slash against his neck, the same instant that Spark came from behind, a dagger hitting the back of his neck. Blaze dropped her spear of fire. She watched as he fell, collapsing like a puppet with their strings cut. Spark's eyes widened as she watched Lightning's eyes turn a brilliant silver.
"The final sacrifice!" Lightning yelled to the sky. "Finally! I thought you wouldn't going to succeed before being sent back!" The seven idols and gems he had on him turned a brilliant black.
Fern's body hadn't been on the ground for five seconds before Blaze incinerated him, cremating the coyote until nothing but ash. Whatever Lightning had planned for the body, Blaze didn't want him to have any bit of it.
The panther leapt into the sky, his eyes a shining silver, while the rest of his body seemed even darker, as if absorbing all the light around him. "Foolish...you think burning the body will do anything!? I am beyond life and death!" Lightning said, a bolt coming from underneath the panther, from the sand itself, striking him roughly.
He stood there as if on a floating platform. "The Terra Jewels need anguish to work properly. And what better anguish could there be than forcing two innocents to fight to the death...again and again!?" he said.
Blaze stared up at him. This was probably the end then. He'd gone the equivalent of Super or Burning. What did Tails call it, once? An Ascended form?
And with all the power that such a form implies. Invincibility, practical immortality...there was only trying to run, now. "You have a plan?" Spark asked, a far too hopeful look on her youthful face. Blaze shook her head.
"If it's anything like the gems I know, no," Blaze answered quickly. "But he probably can't handle that much power for long. We run," she said, grabbing Spark's arm. To the vixen's credit, she grabbed on instantly and was prepared for the inevitable acceleration that hit them. Blaze raced across the island as fast as she could go. She'd hit mach one almost instantly, going over the dunes and almost getting air because of it.
"Go faster!" Spark yelled. Blaze turned her head to ask why, only to see Lightning flying next to them, a bored look on his face. His face turned into a crazed look, the silver eyes making it even worse as he tried to cut them off.
Blaze did a hard turn, sand being thrown up as she changed direction. Lightning cut right through it, sparks emanating from his black fur and glassing the sand as he flew through it.
"Can you grab the sparks!?" Blaze yelled, seeing the small sparks come from her friend's body.
"No, something's wrong with it! I can't touch it!" Spark yelled. Blaze gritted her teeth, and kept running forward, hoping to at least buy enough time for Tails to do his thing, or at least hope that Tides could take her back.
A re-do was better than dying to Lightning. Especially as she didn't know what would happen to Spark, or the panther chasing them.
The Elder suddenly appeared in front of them, almost teleporting. "Fast, yes, but...well, I'm faster," he smirked, one hand casually backhanding Blaze and Spark into the sand.
The cat hadn't been expecting it, and now half of her face was in pain. She felt the burst of wind from Spark's ring, felt it next to her. She made a reach for it, feeling the pain fade as it absorbed into her. Then she felt a bolt of lightning hit her back, tossing her into the sand again. The ring saved her, and she felt it leave her body straight up.
Right next to Lightning.
"No!" Spark yelled, trying to jump using her electroboost. Her hand reached out for it, only to be grabbed by Lightning by her wrist.
One hand was on her wrist, and the other...the other had the ring. "Such a useful tool, this is. Where did you find this artifact? It's powerful...almost too powerful," Lightning said, tilting his head as it was absorbed into the panther's dark body.
He carelessly tossed Spark into the sand, watching as she rolled away, ending face down. "Come now, channeler. Surely you've been trying to hurt me. Or do you take the Exception's word as more truthful than your Elder's?" Lightning said, tilting his head, a smirk on his face.
"You don't know what those gems do, do you? How they work, why they work...?" Blaze asked, breathing deep as she stared upwards.
"I know enough. Farewell, Blaze the Cat."
And Lightning charged.
-Side T-
Tails stood in shock at the alarming beauty of the area in front of him. It was an almost knee deep pool, and had some kind of crystal in the middle of it. The water was a deep grey, albeit much brighter.
Like a combination of mercury and silver. Dozens and hundreds of types of flowers lay on it, a twisting turn of red leaves that snaked its vines on the surface. Each of the vines, a deep green that reminded him strongly of a grassy hill, or the forests back home, wreathed and writhed together in a single movement. Each one led back to that crystal in the middle.
Despite the storm above, it wasn't raining. This place was almost too pure for that. Too pure for the rainwater to touch, too pure for the lightning to hit. There were no canyons, no walls, only the surface of the Tides. The silver water went up and down, breathing like it was alive. The flowers, colors of every possibility imaginable, tossed and turned in an invisible wind. Every once in a while, a single petal would fall off into the Tides, and the water would quickly raise up and grab it, dragging it down to the bottom of the pools.
The bottom of the pool was easily visible, despite the silver water. It reflected Tails' eyes perfectly, and he saw hundreds, if not thousands of flower leaves on the bottom, perfectly preserved. A flower lost its last petal, and instead of dropping down to the water, the other petals of the same color rose up out of the water, and Tails felt something grind into his head.
He blinked and looked away. The flower was perfectly in tact, all petals accounted for as if it was freshly sprouted.
Lightning surged above him, but Tails didn't care. There was an unfathomable beauty about the Tides, something that he couldn't identify. It made him want to move closer, dive into the Tides themselves. His foot moved as if controlled, and he was shocked and yet not shocked that it supported his weight. The vines were bouncy, yet hard as rock. The water itself was warm, like putting on warm socks after a cold day, or after they'd just been in the dryer.
He took another step, and almost tripped against the vines. His hand grabbed onto a type of crimson flower-
Fire looked around. Something was different, this time. Ikan'Thoa was still young, and his predecessor had done everything that he was supposed to. The Terra Jewels were around, and if he remembered right, as he always had, there should be one in the swamp, just ahead.
He calmly left the oar on the canoe, knowing that it wouldn't move without his guidance. It hadn't moved before, ever. The temple was a rough one, but he'd survived it before. He wasn't going to die until he tried going after the Thorkoan temple, far into the mountains. He wondered if he could bring another contingent of idiots again; that had been cathartic after the tenth time.
The temple shone above him, and he moved with a prescience that denied belief. He'd done this before, almost hundreds of times. The grey rock was filled with traps, and yet not one touched him, even the ones that his scouting party had said were impossible.
He knew it wasn't impossible, because otherwise he would have died doing it. And he didn't die, so it wasn't impossible.
Tails took a deep breath, snapping out of whatever trance the Tides had put him in. The vines had crawled up his legs while he was seeing whatever it was that the Tides pulled him into see.
He twisted his tails, flying gently into the air. The vines didn't let him leave easily, but his claws, sharpened and hardened after months and months in the wilds, tore through them.
The same crimson flower he had touched had nearly half of its petals left. But whatever vision it was that he'd seen...had that been the second Fire? The one that Zephyr had said remembered?
He had acted like it, definitely. Tails hadn't caught anything else about the man, only that he was definitely aware of being caught in the loop. Tails flew lower, staring at it closer, without touching it. It wasn't just a crimson red, but rather had a black pattern on it that was faint. It was almost a fractal pattern, and Tails was more than half convinced it actually was. He stared over at a dark yellow flower, next to it, and saw that it, too, had the same pattern but with a light yellow.
His hand moved before he could tell it not to, and he touched the yellow flower-
Katia stared as she watched others play their games. She was still put out; she was just a channeler, not a caller, but that didn't mean that the kids should just not her play. Was she not a member of the Fire District?
Sticks came down and sat next to her. "What's wrong? You can't be that angry at them, otherwise you would've fried them all with your lightning," Sticks asked.
Katia smiled gently. "I'm not angry, as much. Just disappointed. I've been here for years, all my life, and still they treat me like an outsider. Like an Exception, minus the Choosing."
"Choosing's overrated. Who wants to get mated, anyways?" Sticks smiled. "Besides, you know that if you asked, someone would help with your hut. And you know that no one would say a word to the Elders."
"Just because no one else cares that the laws are broken, doesn't mean I don't," Katia said. Her ears fell, "And...I'm tired, Sticks. No one cares."
"I care," the gecko said. "Come on, let's show them how real warriors have fun!" he said, pulling the vixen up.
Memories. That's what he was seeing. Memories play out in real time, Tails thought. He flew up a bit higher, if only to prevent himself from accidentally touching another flower.
There was a sea of flowers, and he saw the Tides slowly raise up, as they had been for a while, sometimes enveloping the lower placed flowers. They struggled, writhing around, as the petals on some of them were lost quickly.
Within moments, the Tides went back down. Tails noticed that it hadn't gone above the 'viewing' area that he'd come in at. Which meant that the Tides had a limit.
He flew over it, trying to find something that he could use as a potential target. His eyes spotted the polyhedron crystal in the center, almost a glowing white even through the silver water. That was the best spot he was going to find. He slammed his hand on the Charger, feeling the electricity feed over his body.
He aimed it carefully, knowing it was his only one, before he sent it downwards in a large blast. The lightning bolt went into the Tides water, quickly dissipating among the silver water. It had done nothing.
His only bolt...and he'd wasted it. Tails' eyes widened as he realized his folly. The crystal was underneath the waters, and even at its lowest point, didn't look like it would do anything. The water absorbed it like it was nothing.
His attention was half drawn to an orange flower with blue fractals on it, out of the corner of his eye. Why his mind latched onto it, he wasn't sure, before he flew over to check it out.
It was on its last petal, he knew, and he cautiously touched it.
He aimed it carefully, knowing it was his only one, before he sent it downwards in a large blast. The lightning bolt went into the Tides water, quickly dissipating among the silver water. It had done nothing.
His only bolt...and he'd wasted it. Tails' eyes widened as he realized his folly. The crystal was underneath the waters, and even at its lowest point, didn't look like it would do anything. The water absorbed it like it was nothing.
His attention was half drawn to an orange flower with blue fractals on it, out of the corner of his eye. Why his mind latched onto it, he wasn't sure, before he flew over to check it out.
It wasn't just memories...it was actually what was happening. Which meant Katia had, when she'd died, gone back in time for a re-do, exactly as the Tides was supposed to do. Did that mean...that no one truly ever died? Loca, Katia, everyone in Ikan'Thoa, even himself...they all just reset. It was one thing to know it, theoretically, it was entirely another to see it.
He flew back over to his flower, seeing the single petal on the flower still there. There was a lavender one with gold fractal patterns, also with a single petal. And even that one seemed darkened, burned and blurred.
He touched it gently.
"No!" Spark yelled, trying to jump using her electroboost. Her hand reached out for it, only to be grabbed by Lightning by her wrist.
One hand was on her wrist, and the other...the other had the ring. "Such a useful tool, this is. Where did you find this artifact? It's powerful...almost too powerful," Lightning said, tilting his head as it was absorbed into the panther's dark body.
He carelessly tossed Spark into the sand, watching as she rolled away, ending face down. "Come now, channeler. Surely you've been trying to hurt me. Or do you take the Exception's word as more truthful than your Elder's?" Lightning said, tilting his head, a smirk on his face.
Tails took a deep breath. It was Blaze's flower, like he'd thought...but...what was happening with Lightning, there? His eyes were a sterling silver, and his body blacker than anything he'd seen. Tails looked around, hoping to see anything like that, maybe a black flower with silver fractals?
He looked down into the water, seeing his reflection back. Lightning hadn't had silver eyes, originally. Just as Tails hadn't, either.
Tails landed softly into the flowers. His eyes, normal a sky blue that he knew so well, reflecting as pale a silver as the moon.
And yet, he still felt like himself. There was no whispering voice, nothing that told him of anything. He was still himself...right?
He looked at his flower, and he could visualize the petal starting to fall from the flower. He'd run out of time.
It spat him out next to a tree, with surprising enough force that he had to use his tails to dodge out of the way. That had never happened before; usually the Special Zone nullified all momentum. Maybe it was because of the way he'd gotten there? Sure a lightning-charged laser...although if it was a chaos-created storm, Tails could see that causing some changes.
He could see the surroundings start to change. He remembered the Special Zone, and how it worked. How he got there.
There was no sound, Tails heard instantly. There were trees all around him, most of them taller than any he'd seen before. There was no sign of the Tornado 2, and there was no sign of Eggman either.
Desperation filled him. There had to be something, something, he could do! He had not gone this far to just end here!
The lightning surged from the storm above him. Tails couldn't feel it. Hadn't felt it since it started. At first he just thought it was too far away, but now he knew it was because it wasn't regular lightning.
It was lightning caused by the Blooming Tides themselves.
Tails punched into the water, feeling desperation start to enclose him. There was nothing he could do. He'd used his Charger, the one charge he'd still had, and it hadn't been enough.
He forced himself up, and looked around a bit better. There was no clearing, and it was complete luck he hadn't been sent straight into a tree. The grass here was wet, but there was no way to see the sky from here. Keeping his bail-bag tied to his waist, he flew up to the tops of the trees.
He was going to loop again. He was going to lose his memories of what he was doing, and he was going to effectively die.
The storm raged above him. In his desperation, Tails reached, one final time, for something, anything, to answer him.
The petal fell.
Lightning was called.
Fun fact. I thought about ending this fic here.
Until Next Time.