Chapter Text
Act I: The Coronation
They hadn't been certain what to expect when Solaris - the true Solaris, complete and uncorrupted - swallowed them whole, enveloping them with light that consumed all of their senses and all of their thoughts. Elise thought, for a moment, that perhaps she was dying. If so, it was warm - perhaps even comforting. If nothing else, she would be content to die with the image of being surrounded by friends, with Amelia holding her hand as Sonic and the others radiated ancient power and guarded them against the flares of light that erupted from Solaris as it started to die. Moreover, she would be content to die with her dearest friend at her side and the memory of when she was little playing out before her - with her father lovingly explaining the beautiful little flame within the altar to a whimsical little girl with so many dreams before everything had collapsed underneath her feet.
But nothing was collapsing underneath her feet, for, now, they were on solid marble tile that her heels clacked against as she and Sonic stepped towards the angel-shaped altar, wings poised for flight and body positioned in prayer. In the center, a translucent shield - a barrier - standing between them and the object of their desires - Solaris.
Solaris when it was still but a tiny flame, white and growing stronger with each passing day. Elise let a small smile raise the corners of her mouth, her eyes soft as she regarded the flame that had caused her and her friends so much misery.
"This is where everything began," she said, breaking the silence between them. She shook her head. "Who knew such a tiny flame could cause so much destruction?"
Sonic didn't say anything. She didn't think she expected him to. He talked a lot, sometimes without a filter, about anything that came to mind as if to fill a silence she couldn't hear. But he also seemed to know when it was best not to say anything - she admired that about him.
"I remember thinking Solaris was beautiful when I first saw it," she continued, "My father used to tell me so many amazing stories about what it could do, and what we would be able to use it for when it was fully grown. His intentions were noble. But they were also misplaced."
Elise let her fingertips graze the surface of the barrier surrounding Solaris, and it fell at her silent command, exposing the tiny flame to the world. Carefully, she cupped her hands around the bottom of Solaris's holder, a bright blue light - cold and impersonal but not unwelcome in the slightest - illuminating the space between, and brought Solaris out of its alter, holding it before her in all of its small and minimal glory.
It seemed ridiculous to be afraid of such a tiny thing. After everything she had seen, she wasn't certain if being unafraid was foolish for not.
"I never imagined Solaris as evil," she said, turning slightly to face her small friend but never taking her eyes away from the white flame in her hands, "Really... I don't think it ever was. I believe they made it that way - my father and the researchers. My father's experiments were fueled by his dreams. I don't believe Solaris was ever evil... I think they taught it how to be."
Elise bit her lip momentarily, and pulled her eyes away from Solaris, resting them on Sonic instead.
"I don't want to think ill of my father... I know he never meant to do anything wrong. But I also know that, in the end, he may have been the one who caused all of this in the first place. He was so fixated on his ideals and his hope for humanity... that he couldn't see the damage he was doing to Solaris - what he was turning it into."
Her shoulders drooped as she released a shaky sigh, pressing her mouth into a thin line. She understood what came next - it had been explained to her a long time ago. It had been a theory, more than anything, based on stories and facts that they had believed to be true. In her heart, Elise knew that it was. She just didn't think it would be this hard.
"I suppose everything is said and done now," she stated, feeling the corners of her eyes start to burn, "You three reverted Solaris to its original form. Soon... I'm sure the Flame will flicker away in the Rift." She stopped before her voice hitched in her throat and didn't understand why she was reacting this way - that was a good thing. It was a good thing, but the best thing was...
"And..."
She almost jumped when she heard Sonic speak up from beside her and looked towards him. His expression was delicate as he shifted his feet as though he couldn't stand to stay still for more than a few moments. She wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
"...what do you think about that?"
His tone was soft and his green eyes unsure as he asked his question. He wasn't used to these kinds of situations, she could tell. Elise lowered her own eyes as she considered it, the marble beneath their feet so familiar and yet so foreign all at once. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, careful and hesitant as she spoke.
"It's probably for the better," she said, at last, looking back to Solaris as it gently danced in her grasp, "If Solaris is permitted to exist in the regular world, then it is likely that the same series of events will happen all over again - maybe forever... And if the Flame dies in the Rift, then the rest of reality will likely be unaffected - for the most part, if nothing else. The only thing that will remain constant is that it happened. Of course... I can't exactly say what that will mean for everything, but..."
This is what she had been afraid of. It was something that she had always known and something that she had always accepted, but it was never something she thought she would have to carry out. When it had been explained to her so long ago, it had sounded easy - like the easiest thing in the world. But, now that she was here, she didn't think it could be any more difficult.
"But," the word tasted bitter and acidic in her mouth, "if we were to put out this Flame... this particular Flame... then Solaris will cease to exist, right here and now. And then we would never have to worry about the Flames of Disaster. Which means..." she swallowed thickly, trying to drown the stone that was sinking in her gut and the tears that threatened to burst forth. She had been doing it for her whole life - there was no reason she shouldn't be able to do it now, so why was it so hard? "All of these events will have never come to pass-" Sonic moved suddenly in her peripheral vision as if he was just now realizing what she had known for the grand majority of her life, "-You and I... will never meet. It will never have happened..."
Her eyes stung. The pull in her throat hurt. She closed her eyes tightly against the onslaught, looking up towards the ceiling in all of her attempts to stop herself from crying.
"It will never have happened," she repeated, her voice breaking, "but that's the best ending, right?" She felt the slide of wet tears down the sides of her face and the sobs that were building up in the back of her throat after years of suppressing them. The Flames were no longer in her, but, somehow, she still felt like she was failing everyone.
"Elise," a gentle, gloved hand touched the side of her leg just above her knee and she clung to the light pressure like a lifeline, lowering her leaking eyes to the blue hedgehog that looked at her with eyes so filled with compassion that it was nearly overwhelming. He smiled at her insistently. "Just smile."
The sob that had been building in the back of her throat choked out of her all at once - but it wasn't a sob because it was a laugh, and she couldn't stop the rest that followed as she nodded and gently scrubbed her hand across her reddened cheeks and swollen eyes.
"Yes," she laughed, briefly taking her lower lip between her teeth but smiling a toothy grin regardless, "you're right. Somehow, you always are."
He looked sheepish at that, averting his gaze as he shrugged and rubbed his head just behind his ear. She guessed that he wanted to protest; he didn't, though maybe that was for her sake if nothing else.
Her laughter settling and several stray tears slipping down her cheeks, Elise settled her gaze back on the tiny flame in her hand. She felt... calm. Calmer than she ever had felt when gazing at the fire that would end up causing so much devastation in their world. It had been a long time since she was able to regard Solaris with anything other than contempt and fear and guilt. Contempt for taking her father away, fear for the destruction that dwelled inside her soul and guilt for letting that destruction escape in a moment of foolish - but shameless - weakness. Now... she was calm, at last. Carefully, she balanced the holder into one hand and brought the other up to the flickering light as though to caress its dancing form. The Flame curled around her fingers, softly licking the edges of her skin, playing with how close it could get without touching her.
Where it did touch her, there was only a comforting warmth that spread under her skin, up through her arm and into her legs and feet and the tips of her ears. There was no malice there. No hostility. Just warmth. At that, Elise smiled. Then she turned back towards the altar, gently placing Solaris back inside and rebuilding the protective barrier. She had never been sure if it was to protect Solaris from onlookers or to protect the onlookers from Solaris. It wasn't important, she supposed. Not anymore.
"The Flame is fine here," she declared, lowering her hand as the barrier was instilled once more, "The Rift will be Solaris' final resting place. That should effectively return reality to the way it was - with, hopefully, minimal change. And all of our memories still intact."
Solaris danced within the altar, reflecting the beat of Elise's heart as she watched.
"I know what the better choice would be... But if Solaris is dying in the Rift, then there's no true reason to destroy it here. If I were to blow out this Flame... everything would change. We would never meet; the Flames of Disaster would never exist; my entire life would be different, along with the lives of countless others. After everything that's happened," she clasped her hands - soft and undamaged, but still somehow worn by time - in front of herself, looking down at them in contemplation, "I value my memories. And my experiences. A lot. They've shaped me into who I am today. Even if who I am today isn't as great as it could be..."
She fell silent again, but the pause was full as she brought her thoughts together, built herself up, and raised her head to gaze at Solaris head-on.
"So from now on," her voice was powerful, more powerful than he had ever heard it from her small form, "I want to be better. I want to live for the memory of my father, and the good of Soleanna. I want to be the best Duchess I can be - the one they deserve, and the one my father would have wanted me to be. The one that I want to be. And..." her eyes softened, the corners of her mouth rising into a soft smile, "... if Solaris ever does come back... then I will devote myself to caring for it, and teaching it love; to be good - just as I always believed it was."
Slowly, she turned back to the hedgehog at her side, looking down at him with the same smile she had been giving Solaris, and shrugged her slim shoulders.
"I know it may be a little selfish... and I know that you know that, too," she paused for a brief moment to give him a chance to respond, but he didn't, and she glanced back to the Flame once again, "But I also know there's a purpose to all of this. A reason why all of this happened, even though we didn't want it to - even if we could prevent it entirely. Even if we could prevent it all right now." Her eyes were wide and bright as she looked back at him, filled with a love for something she couldn't describe. "And I want to try to discover that reason, even if I never can. I want to remember. I want to learn from my father's mistakes as well as my own, even if it means being a little selfish."
Sonic stared at her with wide eyes as she made her declaration, making no move to stop her. She regarded him with a sense of pride, and there were no doubts in her face nor her heart.
"I know that you might not approve, and, after everything we've been through, I do care about your opinion... But my time belongs to me. Just as yours belong to you. I value that. And I think... maybe... Solaris used to value that as well."
A smile broke over the hedgehog's face, and he raised an eyebrow at her as he placed a hand on his hip.
"Gee, what happened to you in the last few days?" he asked, the joke present in his tone, and she laughed despite herself.
"I learned from you, for the most part," she explained, wiping her eyes and never feeling happier than she had in her life, "But for the first time in a long time... I think I grew up."
The smile he gave her was genuine, with an emotion that she couldn't name if she tried. After years of keeping her emotions under lock and key, being unable to afford even a single moment of weakness, smiling until her cheeks hurt and laughing until she couldn't breathe and crying without restraint until her throat was raw and her eyes ached was overwhelming - but it was also exhilarating all the same. Finally, after spending so much of her life feeling like she wasn't real, she was now certain that she existed.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked, and Sonic nodded, reaching up - nearly on his toes - to give her hands a gentle squeeze, before letting go. Elise held her hands together tighter, hesitating for a moment as she itched with the urge to look at Solaris once more and perhaps never look away again. But she knew that wouldn't be worth anything. Right here and now, and whatever waited ahead of her, was what mattered. Solaris, half of Solaris, had been apart of her for years, consuming her every waking thought and persisting into her dreams even when she didn't realize it - but she wouldn't have to think about that anymore. Distantly, she wondered if that was scarier than her previous reality.
Elise drew in a deep breath, allowing it to inflate her lungs and straighten her back and square her shoulders, holding her head high as tears continued to quietly drip from the edge of her chin. Then she turned towards the doors that she knew would take them back to their reality, and walked forward with Sonic at her side, without a single doubt in her heart.
She didn't look back, and she was never certain whether she was proud of that or not.