Sol Dimension, Blaze's Castle
Whisper woke up with a raging headache. She groaned softly, before sitting up on what appeared to be a medical bed of some sorts. Something about it felt off to Whisper however. It felt strangely… old fashioned?
After a moment, her vision cleared and the headache subsided somewhat, and she was able to get a decent look around the room she was situated in. It seemed to be a medical ward, if medical wards were in a medieval theme. She looked down on the blankets covering her, all colored a deep purple, and noticed that she was heavily bandaged on her stomach. She sighed, before grabbing her head in pain. Doing that, she also felt that her head was heavily bandaged as well.
She turned around and saw all her regular gear on some kind of stand, propped up next to her. Her wispon was missing however, and that sent a jolt of panic through her, resulting in her trying to get up too quickly. A shock of pain hit her from her back this time, and she winced, causing her to grit her teeth in pain and suck in air. Just as she was about to very slowly crawl out of the bed, a door she hadn't noticed opened.
She turned over to the sound only to notice with surprise Silver standing in the doorway. Something she also noted with surprise was that Silver looked extremely relieved to see her conscious. Although to be honest, I shouldn't be that surprised he looks relieved when I'm like this, Whisper thought, another stab of pain through her head.
"Whisper…? Are you ok?" Silver asked quietly, which Whisper appreciated. "M'fine. Just banged up, that's all." She said, her voice sounding raspy. Silver sighed in relief, before walking closer to Whisper to help her out of the bed.
"That's a relief. Whisper, who did this to you?" Silver said, sounding both concerned and very angry. Whisper gave him a side eye in surprise at his tone of voice, she honestly didn't believe that Silver knew how to get that angry.
Whisper thought back to her fight with Dark Tangle, how outmatched she was, and winced, this time not in pain. She didn't make any eye contact with Silver. "Tangle did…" She quietly said.
She could feel Silver stiffen with what she assumed was shock. "Wait, Tangle… WHAT?" Silver shouted, making Whisper wince at the pain that shot through her ears. Silver immediately felt bad, but the shock didn't lessen even a bit.
TANGLE did this!? Silver thought, completely stunned. Suddenly, certain context clues started piecing themselves together in Silver's head, and he nearly facepalmed. He was an idiot. No wonder the wisps looked angry when he asked about Tangle, she was the one who hurt Whisper! Which, was also something that he was struggling to come to terms with. Tangle was the one to beat Whisper unconscious? Tangle was the one to leave Whisper in the forest for dead?
What the hell did I miss while I was gone!?
Silver just kinda stood there with a blank face, helping Whisper get her gear back on. Whisper couldn't exactly blame him. Far as she knew, Silver had gone back to his own time a couple of days before Tangle was hit with the morality switch, so he would've been completely in the dark about everything that was happening at this point. So suddenly hearing that Whisper's best friend, the kind and bubbly Tangle, was more than happy to beat Whisper half to death? Must've been quite a shock.
Honestly, it's still a shock to Whisper too.
Speaking of shocks… "Silver, where are we? This isn't Restoration HQ's medical wing, and I don't know of any hospitals that decorate in this… style." She said, gesturing to the medieval style of the room. Silver looked at her, the shock quickly disappearing from his face, "Right, you wouldn't know. Here, let me show you." He said, sounding happy for the first time since he's entered this room.
After Whisper attached her face mask to the side of her head, Which was badly cracked, ugh. She followed Silver out of the room into what could only be described as a hallway of a palace. She didn't get a chance to stop and admire what she saw though, as Silver was clearly leading her somewhere specific. After another few minutes of walking, they both stopped in front of two large purple doors.
Silver quickly knocked on the doors and waited, while looking at Whisper to make sure she was ok. Whisper gave him a small nod, ensuring him that she hasn't been exerting herself. Suddenly, the two doors opened wide, and Whisper could see a purple carpet, leading to an honest to Gaia throne. The throne was made of gold, and seemed to be able to be inlaid with seven squarish jewels, which seemed to be missing at the moment. Sitting in the throne, was a purple cat islander, who was holding her head in one of her hands.
Whisper had never got to really know her, but she did meet her once at the battle against Metal Overlord. She's also seen her around HQ a couple of times, but never really tried to interact with her. Supposedly though, Tangle made friends with Blaze around the same time she became friends with Sonic. Blaze the cat, supposed princess from another dimension. Meaning…
Whisper looked at Silver with her eyes opened and narrowed. "We're in the Sol Dimension?" She asked, a bit more angry than she was hoping for. But damn it, she needed to save Tangle! She shouldn't be here!
Silver just looked at her apologetically, while Blaze seemed to hear the comment despite how quiet Whisper naturally is. "Yes, you're in the Sol Dimension, my home. I do hope you've found it comfortable so far?" Blaze said, a slight smirk adorning her lips.
Whisper suddenly realized how rude she must've sounded to literal royalty. She slightly bowed, and in a far more neutral voice, said, "Sorry, your highness. I haven't been conscious enough to form a proper opinion of your homeland so far, but as you can clearly see, it's been treating me well enough."
Whisper looked back up at Blaze and was slightly surprised to see Blaze roll her eyes. "I'm merely jesting. Please, no formalities. Also, you may just call me Blaze, your friend Tangle did." Blaze said, smiling, before her smile disappeared and a more somber look appeared on her face. "My condolences for your loss." She said quietly.
Whisper just stared at her confused. Loss? She wondered, surely she doesn't mean my actual loss against Tangle, right? Suddenly Silver went forward to Blaze and awkwardly signaled Blaze to stop, which also seemed to make her confused.
"So um… About that, uh, I was wrong…" Silver said to Blaze, "um… About Tangle." He said, as to which only made Blaze look even more confused. Whisper was also having trouble keeping up with Silver.
"I'm sorry, what about Tangle?" Whisper asked, her confusion evident. Silver looked at her, embarrassed. "So um… It's a bit of a long story, but uh… I found you in the forest, and tried to ask your wisps what was going on. You were muttering something about Tangle, so naturally I asked about her too. When I asked about her, the wisps got noticeably angry, and I originally thought they were mad I was asking about her because she um… died?" Silver said abashedly.
Whisper could only look at him in stunned bewilderedness. "And you told Blaze that Tangle died as well, I take it?" She said, glancing over to Blaze, who seemed like she was either about to facepalm or giggle into her hand.
Silver just held up both of his hands, "Hey! In my defense, I can't speak wisp! And I've come back to futures where you and Tangle both already had-" Silver sputtered, before his eyes widened and he quickly covered his mouth. Whisper already noticed the slip up though, and she looked at him very critically.
"Futures where we had what Silver?" Whisper said very slowly. Silver just shook his head, looking like he really didn't want to say. At this point even Blaze was looking at him with sparked curiosity.
Silver looked in between the Whisper and Blaze, realizing he wasn't getting out of it, he slowly let his arms fall limp to his side, sighing. "Futures where you both had already died." He said in a very morose and subdued voice. Whisper could only look at him blankly. "What?"
Silver turned to look at the ceiling. "Sometimes, I don't go as far back as I'm supposed to, to stop whatever thing that happened which ruined the future. Sometimes I could be a year too late, or maybe even just a week. When one of those happens, I sometimes see… Why the day wasn't saved by Sonic or the rest of Restoration HQ." Silver said, before looking straight Into Whisper's wide open eyes, Silver uncharacteristically serious. "Sometimes it's monuments, graves, maybe Eggman gloating about it… Other times? Not so much." Silver said quietly, looking down at the purple carpet.
Whisper could just look at him shocked. Even Blaze just looked stunned. And he didn't stop. "Sometimes… The only signs I'd find of a failed struggle would be items belonging to people I knew, or burned out husks of houses. I've found Amy's Hammer cracked and in the dirt, I've seen Shadow's shoes, broken beyond repair, I've even seen Tail's lab, burned to the ground… And so much more." Silver finished quietly, sounding like he had forgotten there was anyone else even in the room. "So, when I saw you practically on the brink of death and muttering about Tangle… I just assumed the worst, I guess."
Whisper could only look at him with anguished shock. Whisper always used to think that her past was the darkest out of anyone she had met, which is how she rationalized why everyone around her, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Tangle had been so upbeat and positive while Whisper just wasn't. But here Silver stood, just now speaking about the literally countless times he was faced with all his friends' deaths, and yet, he was one of the most upbeat and positive people Whisper knew. Almost childlike innocence. Hell, she could barely believe he even knew how to get angry!
Yet he probably had it the worst out of all of them. Whisper could see that even Blaze was starting to tear up at the thought of what Silver must have experienced, hands on her mouth with horror. Whisper just couldn't help blurting out what was on her mind.
"How do you cope with it?" She asked.
Silver just looked at her with a sad smile. "Honestly? In a funny way, I don't. I go back to prevent those futures from happening. I never truly lose my friends. But the memories still hurt, I guess. In the end, my only advice would be to keep moving forward, help who you can, and do it with a smile, cause Gaia only knows that going in with hate or anger doesn't help anybody." He said, the smile growing slightly wider.
Whisper only looked away. Blaze looked at him for a moment longer, before quickly wiping whatever tears she might have nearly had, before giving a sad chuckle. "Well, in that case, let me apologize for the mistake, Whisper." She said, trying to lighten the mood.
It didn't work for Whisper, but she put on a brave face anyway. "It's no problem, your highness. Besides, what really happened wasn't much better." She said, the current problem being more important than her feelings at the moment.
Blaze's smile quickly evaporated. "Yes, I've been feeling a problem in your world for around a week now. Care to explain what's been going on?" She asked. Whisper was happy to oblige the request.
Whisper explained everything that happened throughout the past week, where they had tried to raid an egg base, Tangle got corrupted, Mimic became a good guy, Tangle joined the enemy, Mimic saved her life, Eggman had started to steal Chaos Emeralds again, learning that the Chaos Emeralds gave islanders powers, and that Tangle was going after the Yellow Emerald, all culminating in Whisper getting defeated and knocked out. After the very long explanation, where Silver and Blaze didn't interrupt even once, Whisper just wanted to sit down and breathe as it certainly didn't feel good for the still recovering Whisper.
She noted the stunned silences from them both, not entirely surprised, before Silver and Blaze gave each other a knowing look. "So, Eggman's newest invention turns people evil?" Silver asked with a blank face, sounding as if he could barely believe the ridiculous statement. Whisper nodded, "Yeah, and it can do the opposite apparently. Maybe a fail-safe?" Whisper said.
Silver turned over to Blaze. "Well there's your answer on why the Sol Emeralds don't want you to interfere. You might end up getting hit with that thing and getting corrupted!" Silver said, a hint of fear at the thought. Blaze nodded slowly. "That does seem to be the most plausible answer." She slowly said. Whisper just looked at them both confused.
"What?"
Silver quickly explained (with some interjections by Blaze) that the Sol Emeralds were warning her against traveling to Sonic's Dimension, despite also telling her there was a serious issue on the other side. "And now we know why." Blaze finished. "The very real threat of the emeralds' guardian being corrupted would be a very plausible explanation for why they were warning me away."
Blaze looked down contemplatively. "If that were to happen, I do not know how the Sol Emeralds would react. I am their guardian, based on my heart and duty. But if that duty were corrupted and my heart twisted? Either the Sol Emeralds would outright abandon me for another, more suitable guardian…" She paused, a hesitant look coming across her face. Whisper motioned for her to continue. Blaze sighed. "...Or they would be stuck with a twisted guardian, who would happily abuse their power."
Blaze looked at Whisper and Silver again. "I do not know which fate would await if I were to be hit with that 'morality ray'. Simply put, all the guardians before me had great hearts and were committed to their duty. Because of that, there has never been a case in remembered history where the guardian stopped truly being suited to their duty by corruption." She said, with a downcast look.
Silver piped up, trying to keep her mood up, "But, Whisper said the laser seemed to bring out the worst traits of the person it hit, right? It didn't make them different or anything. Maybe you would still be a steadfast guardian regardless?" Silver said. Whisper nodded her head in agreement. The laser brought out the worst in Tangle, it didn't make her an entirely different person.
Blaze's head only hung lower in what seemed to be shame. "I'm aware of that, Silver. I'm also aware that if my worst traits were brought out and no longer restricted by my morality, I would most certainly abuse my position." She said quietly, seeming to stun Silver.
"But… But you're a great person! You're even a great leader! Surely your worst traits couldn't be that terrible, right?" Silver asked, a little desperately.
Blaze just sighed. "Silver, that may be true, but we all have truly dark minds when left unchecked. As I'm sure Sonic could attest to, I have a temper that could easily lead to bad decisions. Which did lead me to attempting to kill Sonic the first time we met. I've also had… thoughts-" Blaze said, spitting the word out like a curse, "in the darkest corners of my mind about using the Sol Emeralds to just finish off problems that I really have no authority in. Small parts of my head that whisper, 'Just burn Eggman to ash, solve the problem.' or 'Your ungrateful citizens should truly learn what you're guarding…'." Blaze said, currently looking incredibly vulnerable. Silver just looked a bit stunned.
"I would never act on those intentions of my one free will. Frankly could never act on those intentions without the very thought making me feel sick. But take away my inhibitions? Make my darkest thoughts my only thoughts?" Blaze continued, before looking away, not meeting Silver's eyes. "There's no doubt in my mind I would become a tyrant just as bad as Eggman." She finished quietly.
Silver stared blankly for a moment, before sighing and nodding sadly. If he had to admit it to himself, he probably wouldn't have been much better. He's also had those kinds of thoughts before. 'Just go back in time to when Eggman was a child. Make sure he never becomes a problem.' 'Just crush Eggman with your telekinesis, he clearly deserves it!'. So many similarly dark thoughts also circled through Silver's head sometimes.
Whisper meanwhile was thinking about what a 'Dark Whisper' could possibly be like, if she got hit with that laser instead of Tangle, or Mimic. She then realized what 'Dark Whisper' would be. A monster. A murderer. Someone who cared about no one, not even herself. For the very first time since the whole fiasco started, she was actually a bit glad that out of everyone who could've been hit with that laser, it was Tangle, who at her worst really just wanted excitement, despite the immoral way she went to get it.
Even at your worst, you're still one of the best of us, huh? Whisper thought, a sad smile breaking through her lips. Tangle really was someone Whisper didn't deserve to have as a friend.
Blaze seemed to calm down a bit from her moment of weakness. She looked up with a resolute expression. "Regardless of the risk, I cannot simply just sit back and watch my friends become my enemies. I'm needed in Sonic's world, and I won't shirk that responsibility. The Sol Emeralds brought you both here to show me the risks. Well, now I am aware of them, and I've come to the conclusion to help regardless. Are you both willing to help? If not, my home will remain your sanctuary if you so wish." Blaze said, determined.
Whisper clearly shook her head no, just as determined as Blaze to help Tangle. Silver also voiced his disagreement of staying behind. Blaze smiled. "Well then, I suppose we'll make haste first thing in the morning. Whisper, you clearly need to recover still. And Silver, you need to find where the wisps have gone off." She said.
Whisper turned to Silver so fast she gave herself whiplash. "The wisps are here? Does that mean my wispon is here as well?" She asked quickly. Silver just started rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. "Well, the wisps are, yeah… I, uh, accidentally dropped your wispon when the portal sucked us in. Sorry about that."
Whisper just shook her head, "No reason to be sorry. Just glad that the wisps are here." She said, feeling hopeful for the first time in days.