The Festival of the Sun continued as various smaller events went along, however, one of the biggest events of the festival had yet to start as it ironically enough started at sunset. This event was a ceremony of sorts that featured one of the members of the royal family itself. This position was known as the "Barrer of the Flames" which was symbolic of a war in their past and the brave princess of old who uses the flames of disaster to vanquish their enemies. This legend has passed down to generations and it was the right of each new Princess to take on this role until the next.
The current monarch was Princess Elise, the current ruler of the kingdom and currently the only surviving member of an incident that happened when Elise was but a little girl. An incident that has mentally scared the young ruler so great that she has shut off herself from her people, the only time she has ever shown herself in public has been during this very festival and while her citizens are ecstatic and can't wait to see their princess, Elise grows to fear this obligation each and every time. But, she can't let that get to her, she has to remain stoic or else, it will happen again.
"It can't happen again..."
The voice came from the princess herself as she stared into the mirror of her room. She left her face blank as she just stared, watching to make sure there wasn't a slight hint of her failure.
"No fear. No sorrow. No emotion."
Elise continued her ritual that she'd developed over many years she had to fulfill this role in the ceremony. Everything had to go perfectly, for everyone's sake. The public could not know. These walls were safe, these walls kept her people safe, by keeping her away.
"They can't know. They must stay safe. Safe from you."
The reflection continued to look back at her. No emotion, perfect. If only it were that simple though. If only that was the only thing she had to do. But no, the ceremony was precise. She could change it, fake it even, but that would dishonor her family and their legacy. She would honor them even if they also gave her this curse. So, Elise looked over, and lying on her nightstand was the ceremonial torch. It wasn't lit of course, but it would be what she used during the ceremony. She reached over to it, keeping her mind in check as she collected the instrument and held it up in front of her.
"Concentrate. Let the fire flow."
Elise held the item as she concentrated. Suddenly, a small flame ignited into the torch before growing to a decent size. Elise held the flame using her own power. This power was her curse. It was easy to lose it, but hard to keep it concentrated. She hated this curse of hers. It was unstable, and uncontrollable without much practice. Had she not feared it, perhaps she could have done more than just keep it in check for just a few hours that it took for her to do her duty as the Barrer of the Flames.
"Focus... Focus... Focus..."
Elise continued to concentrate to keep the flame lit. She just had to keep it like that until she brought it to the large lantern, where the oils and other materials would keep it going until the festival's end. As she continued to concentrate, a knock came to the door causing her to put the flame out. Keep it in check.
"Princess... it is nearly time."
"Very well," Elise replied to the voice at the door. Even though most of the palace staff, little as they were, knew of Elise's curse, it was still for their safety that Elise maintained constant control over her power to keep them safe.
Elise looked in the mirror one final time to make sure she was ready.
"Control, focus, no emotion."
With that, she left the safety of her fireproof room for the final touches before it was, once again, time for her to step outside again.
"Find anything?"
The words came from Shadow the Hedgehog as he, Rouge, and Omega were looking through the old ruins of Soleana's old Castle they had rendezvous in the castle courtyard after splitting up to cover more ground. Seemed mostly looters had long since cleaned the place out of anything Valuable, though not that Shadow cared, as long as they didn't find the one thing they were after.
"Nothing," Rouge said sounding a little disappointed in herself, "Maybe a few things the scavengers missed but not what we're looking for."
"Negative," Omega replied, "Scepter of Darkness Search result, inconclusive."
Shadow stood there as he was thinking. If the scepter wasn't here, it could very well be in their current castle. He addressed this to Rouge.
"I'm not sure," Rouge said, "It is possible but nothing that I was able to dig up suggested it. It's still worth looking into."
Shadow nods.
"Not easy to check there without getting noticed though," Rouge admitted.
"Aren't you supposed to be the world's best thief?" Shadow said and Rouge giggled.
"Perhaps," Rouge said, "But this isn't exactly like last time. I knew where the Chaos Emeralds were. So, this time it will take some time."
"I've waited long enough," Shadow said as he thought, "The Princess may know of its location, and even if she doesn't, we can always trade her for the information."
"Sounds like..." Rouge began but was suddenly interrupted by Omega who had turned around.
"Dark energy detected. Dark energy detected."
"Dark energy?" Shadow pondered curiously as he looked around. He didn't exactly see anything. Rouge was also on the alert. Neither Shadow nor Rouge was able to see it but that's when it appeared out of nowhere. It was a mass of dark energy matter. The energy didn't waste any time as it dive-bombed at the group, seeming to aim for Rouge. Rouge didn't have time to react as the thing was fast, but one particular hedgehog was faster.
Bam!
Rouge suddenly found herself knocked out of the way as the energy struck Shadow head-on. Shadow gave a massive grunt as the energy absorbed into him. Shadow laid on the ground after the attack as he was surrounded by a dark aura. Rouge looked at that a little worried.
"Shadow?" Rouge said concern in her voice. She glanced at Omega as she motioned for it to be prepared for anything. After all, she had heard of what happened to Sonic, and that energy made her think of the Black creatures from before. The dark energy began to fade before Shadow slowly began to rise. Rouge was cautious but was optimistic.
"Shadow?"
"That's the second time I've had to save your butt," Shadow said looking up, slightly annoyed at Rouge.
"Aww, I didn't think you cared," Rouge teased him. It didn't seem there was anything that happened.
"I don't," Shadow said, "You're still useful to me."
Shadow glanced around looking towards the spot where the shadow aura had materialized.
"What was that thing anyway?" Shadow asked.
"I'm not sure," Rouge said, "It reminded me of the Black Aliens that attacked the planet while you were away. May have had to do with that, but I thought Sonic wiped them all out when he defeated Doom."
"Might have been a straggler," Shadow mentioned.
"Hmm... it seems I've made a miscalculation."
The voice, was deep and gravelly as Shadow quickly turned around. He heard it, yet it was hard to tell where the source was.
"Shadow, what is it?" Rouge asked.
Shadow knew he heard something when suddenly he heard the sound of laughter. It grew louder and louder as Shadow quickly darted around but couldn't locate the source.
"I know you're there!" Shadow shouted not in the mood for games as he continued to look around. Finally looking to Omega. "Omega, scan for the source of that voice." This caused the robot to tilt his head slightly. Even Rouge peaked up.
"Voice?" Rouge said, "What Voice?"
"That voice," Shadow said just as the laughter died down.
"You're an interesting specimen, Shadow," The voice mused, "I wonder what your origins are?"
Shadow growled at the voice from seemingly nowhere.
"Who are you?"
Shadow was angry at whoever was toying with him. he didn't like it.
"Oh, where are my manners," The voice continued, "Please, look over to your right and I'll introduce myself."
Shadow looked, yet all he could see was what looked to be a pillar made of marble giving it a reflective texture, there he saw himself looking back at him, but it wasn't him that was looking back. Instead what looked back at him was paler than before, but with piercing blue eyes. No mouth could be seen as the reflecting gave him a slight bow.
"My name is Mephiles, Mephiles the Dark."