Constellations

13. Phantasm

"When will it end?! It feels like no matter how much we keep trying, no matter how many times we beat these demons, we're still always back to square one!" The young hog slammed his fists to the broken concrete of the building the two young teens stood on.

"Calm down, Silver."
"Then tell me what we can do put an end to this chaos permanently!"

Blaze shut her eyes as she calmly turned away from her frustrated friend. The princess was the most level-headed of the duo, her actions being thought through well enough before any action was taken. Prim and proper, the pyrokinetic cat was delicate but strong enough to defend herself if she or her partner were to ever be separated.

"Resolutions take time." She spoke, her voice calm as she knelt next to her friend. Her amber eyes flickering with intensity as she stared down at the pools of lava that flooded Crisis City.

"How much time, Blaze?" Silver looked to his friend before staring up at the dark and ashy sky. "Ever since we were kids, our world has been like this. Nothing but fighting pointlessly against these... cursed flames of disaster."

Spotting a falling piece of concrete from another building, he held a hand out to stop it. As the debris outlined in teal, another thought crossed his mind that made his ears flatten slightly. With a silent heavy sigh, he dropped the chunk of concrete into the lava.

"Are we just that powerless to do anything about it?"

"...You're so naive." Was the only response he heard from his friend. Without changing her gaze from the dancing embers below her, she continued, "what I can answer for, is we have survived our lives the same as everyone else: fighting and putting out these flames."

"Until most of them succumbed to the monotony of it and just... Gave up."
"That is what makes us different. The fact that we still continue trying to put out Iblis no matter how much He fights back, it shows our perseverance."

The hedgehog put his hands together, twiddling his thumbs in thought as he dusted some ash from his knees. Why did these thoughts have to haunt him in his dreams too... just... why. Didn't he suffer enough when he was awake? All he wanted was to sleep and... forget about everything going on. Yet it seemed like even that was impossible. Guilt and shame forming a pit in his stomach as he struggled with the choice of whether or not to tell Blaze.
Blaze, that close friend whom he held so dear in a different time, now was visiting him in his dreams. But she was real, she existed! She isn't part of his dream though, she's a real princess, isn't she? Or maybe they're communicating in a separate dimension?

Shaking his head slightly to try and quell the further confusion, Silver began, "Blaze?"
"Hm?"

"If... we're unable to work together anymore, for whatever reason..." He began before his voice trailed off. It took him a moment to find the words, hoping his friend couldn't see the tears glistening in the edges of his eyes. "What if one day, we lose the will to fight? Or what if... What if one of us has to go away forever? What if one of us dies or-"

"Those are exactly what they're called, 'what ifs'. They mark lines in the sand that have yet to be determined."

Ohhh she was most definitely real. This was certainly Blaze-- being cryptic and confusing him even further with her answers. Silver looked down at the swirling lava as he idly kicked his feet over the edge, stray broken pebbles and dust being kicked off into the lava.

The cat snapped her fingers, two tiny embers dancing around her fingers as she made them elegantly twirl around each other. Surprised by the sharp crack in the tense air, the hedgehog looked over at his friend.

"The white fires of hope and blue flames of fate cannot become one, but they can share a dance of passion." She spoke as if repeating a line from her heart. "When fate is obscured in the sea of darkness when fate has lost her spark to light, the luminous fires of hope light the way to her. The two meet and they dance once more, for we cannot keep the flames of hope from the hungry soul of fate." Her palm outstretched, the flames dancing above into obscurity as she turned her gaze back to the sky.

Silver could only feel his stomach knot up as his heart started to feel heavy. This story, that little tale, seemed to really pull at him. He didn't know what it was about it... no, he knew what it was. He knew exactly why it hurt him so much-- because he was the flames of hope, and Blaze was the flames of fate. Two souls destined to meet and yet they were ripped away by a time change. One shrouded and having to be found by the other. Except, instead of him saving the day and finding his friend, it was becoming more and more obvious that he was the one that needed saving.

Blaze's pointed ears turned slightly as she heard sniffling followed by raspy inhales. Was Silver... crying? This was... A first. The kid was usually a brick wall, not allowing himself to show any emotion other than positivity. She won't lie, the princess wondered how long he could've kept such a facade up.

One look at the younger kid's posture said it all- face buried in his hands, his five usually perky quills were bent back as well as his ears.

"I-I'm sorry, Blaze." He apologized, his voice shaky and broken as tears fell. "I just feel so unsure... or afraid? I feel really bad. Bad as in, 'I feel like what I'm doing will never be enough' bad." He clenched his fists, the bright teal pulsating in his hands as he struggled to stay composed.

Blaze hesitated in response, only giving him her full unabided attention. Her curiosity turned to uncertainty as she stood up, her hands being placed properly behind her back. She closed her eyes as she tilts her head up to the gloomy sky.

"You aren't speaking about Iblis, are you?"

The heat that once engulfed his entire being began to cool significantly, the embers that once kissed his light gray fur were now grayscaled and felt like raindrops. The appearance- er, memory?- of a burning orange Crisis City began to blur ever so slightly into a slightly sepia-ed tone as if the vision was and old smudged roll of film. They were still in this place, this chaotic hell city, but it began to feel more and more as if they weren't truly there.

"Blaze..." the hedgehog turned to his partner, tears gently falling past his muzzle, "what do you do when history starts to repeat itself?" He asked, awaiting a response as he stared at up at her.

The cat's expression softened from one of uncertainty to a gentle understanding. She hesitated on a response, knowing her friend had more to say. Her amber eyes gently fell to his glistening golden ones, giving him her attention.

Silver clenched his fists once more, placing them on his thighs as he stared at the slowly moving 'lava' below. "Why am I always destined to do this to ones I care for? Rather... why does it always have to happen to me?" He tightly shut his eyes, memories flashing past his mind's eye faster than he could even understand them. Memories of a blue hedgehog, one of a black and red striped one, the seven chaos emeralds spinning around the three of them and granting them unlimited power... All of it was so much. Memories of Blaze's death, memories of the two as kids growing up together, remembering the time when a darkened shadowy being had manipulated him into going against a friend... He was always messing up, wasn't he?
"I'm so easily manipulated, being told a past friend was an enemy, or either having to," he turned his head to Blaze, "seal my closest one away to another dimension."

Blaze's face held no emotion, only listening to her friend's woes. Silver was, well, a mess to say the least. His expression ranging from hurt to fear to depression to pity. He was no longer crying from the feeling of loss, rather the feeling of intense guilt that occupied his heart.

"I don't want to lose another friend, Blaze! I lost you and I... I didn't even remember you afterwards! W-what if the same thing happens?" He held his hands to his ears, a futile attempt to silence his own screaming flashbacks of that timeline. "I don't know what's wrong with me and I hate it! I want to save her-- save you! I want to remember more but I can't and... I..." His voice became lost once more in his own raspy sobs.

"You're worried about losing memories of those you hold dear."

How could she put such complex emotions into words so easily? He was always a wreck over emotions and how to process them, but Blaze always had the answers. She always did.

The cat reclaimed her seat next to Silver, a tad closer than before. Despite the chilling air around him, Blaze's fur felt so warm and inviting. She lovingly took his shaky palms from his head and kept her arms out, almost as if she was offering him consolation, to which he accepted.
Collapsing from the sheer weight of guilt, anxiety, and apprehension, the hedgehog threw himself into his friend's warm embrace. He hid his muzzle into her warm lilac fur, letting his deep-seated emotions out as she comfortingly stroked his back quills down. This was the first time they had embraced in all their years of knowing each other, and it was truly... Something special.

I don't care if this is a dream...

"I don't have the answers, Silver," The princess finally spoke, prompting the weeping boy to quiet down. "But, you should not have this much guilt over a past that never existed."

Silver pulled away slightly, staring into her amber eyes as he shook his head fervently, "No! It DID exist, Blaze! You were there! I remembered what happened, how I couldn't do the one thing you asked of me, how I-"

He silenced as Blaze placed a finger to his mouth before wiping some stray tears from his face.

"Time travel is a scary thing. It can erase times, memories, everything just by one single action." She gave him a comforting grin akin to that of an older sister, "even if you never remembered me, even if you couldn't fulfill my request," Blaze placed her warm palm against Silver's furry chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat begin to slow to a steady rhythm, "I will never leave your side."

Silver could only stare in bewilderment at how Blaze knew any of those promises seeing as she wasn't around him or Moly before. How did she know those words?... Something in the back of his head told him to not dwell on it. It didn't matter. All that mattered was him and Blaze, where they are right now and the moment they desperately needed.

"Keep hope alive, Silver," Blaze spoke again, pressing her forehead against Silver's, making the hedgehog slightly blush. "So long as you live, hope lives. If you hope and act for a certain outcome, if you hope to save her without a deadly turmoil, then make it happen."

Before he could say another word, Blaze placed her lips against his cheek. The warmth of her kiss fueled his whole body with comfort, stripping away any sense of fear. He felt... at peace. Even though he didn't have any idea why or how he began to feel... Okay. Hopeful, even. Rejuvenated was the word, right?

Blaze wiped his stray tears as they embraced for a few more moments.
As closure began to finally settle in his chest, he smiled and nodded at Blaze. A smile full of determination evident in his rekindled spirit as the two of them stood up.

"I will... I promise you, I'll make it happen, Blaze."
"I know you will."

He watched as Blaze began to dissipate again, however it was much more of a relaxing sight. The two smiling at one another as glowing gold and orange embers lifting her very being away. The sight was quite sad, but it wasn't a somber sight. Rather, one of closure. Something he needed. Nothing but awareness creeping back into his consciousness slowly as reality dawned on him.

I have to stay strong-- hopeful for my future, for the world, for Moly.

Dreamily, he opened his golden eyes...

A/N: sorry for the short chapter, I'm currently recovering from emergency surgery after a sepsis attack. The next chapter will be a lot longer and more interesting, so consider this filler!