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Ghost Lights in Your Eyes
It was a night almost like any other night at the Master Emerald Shrine.
The weather was fair on Onyx Island. There was a gentle breeze in the air that was slightly cool to ease off some of the warmth of the day. It rustled the grass and leaves of the trees.
The sky was a deep dark blue, speckled with various stars, and hanging in the middle was the moon in all its glory, shining bright though also bearing the gaping wounds left by the Eclipse Cannon over 200 years ago.
Despite the simplicity, there were some things that one could never grow tired of. A pleasant night like that was one such thing. If the world still keeps moving, he hoped moments like that could exist for at least another 250 more years and beyond.
Of course, he wasn’t alone in such sentiment.
“It’s a lovely sky tonight, isn’t it?” Tikal commented, manifesting behind him and walking slowly to his side. “No clouds. No smoke. No battles or war. Just the moon and the stars.”
Shadow smiled. There was a certain innocence to the Echidna spirit that he found admirable. It never failed to remind him that innocent souls still existed in the world.
“Well… Not all of the lights in the sky are stars.” Shadow commented. “Some of them are other planets reflecting their light all the way down here. Worlds unlike our own in this grand universe nobody could ever figure out completely.”
Tikal’s eyes lit up with intrigue.
“Where did you learn stuff like this?” She asked.
“It was a long time ago… Back when the Space Colony ARK was still in operation over 250 years ago. Maria and I… Back when she was still alive, I was placed in classes alongside her. Despite the uncertainty of her future, she always seemed so eager to learn about the world. I… I kept up, but I didn’t really see the point in the homework we were assigned. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything from those days. Since I was made on the ARK, I was assigned those classes because it would be my only real way to learn about Earth at the time, and in between the research, it was deemed important to me. I will admit, I took it for granted a little. You never quite know what you have until it is gone…” Shadow explained. “The teacher we had, was a little on the stricter side, but she didn’t exactly have much power in terms of punishment. At least, not to me anyways. Maria liked her just fine though and her eyes always lit up every time she taught a new subject. I learned that little fact from when she was teaching us about basic Astronomy. But that wasn’t all I remembered from it.”
“What else do you remember?” Tikal asked, seating herself down on a soft patch of grass and gesturing him to sit down next to her. “Do you remember which ones of these are stars and which ones are planets?”
The Ultimate Lifeform closed his eyes and tried to look back on memories of those old lessons. Over 250 years’ worth of memories was a lot to sift through after all.
“It’s still early in the evening… So, I think Venus may still be visible. It’s one of the brightest “Stars” in the sky. However, as the night progresses, it will disappear, then close to sunrise, it appears again until daybreak.”
“Oh, I heard of that disappearing star!” Tikal commented. “That’s the Morning Star! My mother used to tell me it was a messenger of the incoming dawn during long nights. So, you’re telling me it was never a star to begin with?”
“Precisely. It’s just another world. And… Though my astronomy is a little lacking I admit, it’s a planet that’s unable to contain any life known. It’s so inhospitable it makes some of the Apocalypses Silver allegedly came from seem like a paradise. Barren and torn by constant storms, like nature constantly at warfare with itself and everything caught in the crossfire.”
Tikal’s eyes lowered.
“That’s sad… The messenger of the dawn is a barren world…”
Shadow nodded in solidarity.
“Another sad fact about some of these stars,” He continued. “The actual stars anyways, is that they are so far away from us. So far that the distance used is a lightyear. It’s the amount of distance light can travel in around a year of time. Light isn’t instantaneous like lightning; it is just very fast that it seems that way. Many of these stars are millions of lightyears away. Because the light takes so long to reach here, there is a chance that the star it came from may have even burnt out long ago… So, some of the stars in the sky, even the ones that twinkle, may have disappeared long ago. Any moment, that light might stop reaching us and vanish from the sky altogether.”
“So, we are looking at the ghosts of stars? In some small way?” She asked.
“Like echoes of light, we witness the remnant light of fallen stars. But though they are gone, their place in the sky will remain for longer than we realise. Much like people once in our own lives, though gone, like the light of the stars above, their influence and impact in the world lives on for quite a while longer. Beit in history… or the memories of the immortal…”
Both of them went quiet. The painful aspect of immortality was that both of them lived to see the ends of those close to them.
But, it was also immortality that brought both the two of them close together. They knew and understood how it felt to continue existing with purpose beyond themselves.
Shadow rose to be a protector of the world, especially in light of Sonic’s eventual passing of old age. While Silver and other potential successors down the line could also fight, they weren’t immortal and would eventually meet their end at some point as well.
Tikal, meanwhile, was forever bound to the Master Emerald. While originally a sacrifice to keep the rage of Chaos in check, the former God of Destruction was no longer contained and was free to roam the world with rage quelled at Station Square 200 years ago. However, she is still bound to the mystical gemstone that controlled the 7 Chaos Emeralds. While not a traditional guardian like Knuckles was once considered in his time, her role evolved to an overseer of sorts. She keeps the power within the giant gem under control, and by extension has learned how to use it on the Chaos Emeralds as well to enhance or take the power away form them in accordance with the needs of the world when it was necessary.
Shadow remembered how they first met. It was once such instance when fighting a new evil that rose after Eggman’s time ended. While the Ultimate Lifeform was familiar with the Master Emerald, he didn’t originally know too much about it other than whatever was mentioned in Gerald’s recovered notes, that they were connected to the Chaos Emeralds, and the many comments from her late ally of her attempts to steal it as her ultimate prize.
He wasn’t privy to the fact that a remnant of the ancient Knuckles Clan resided within it.
It was a strange day for him when he learned that. The Chaos Emeralds stopped working one day, and he tried to locate the Master Emerald looking for a lead, only to find the orange echidna girl praying for the emerald’s power to be halted after the villain had some of the miracle gems in his possession.
It was quite an adventure between them. It concluded with her restoring the Emeralds’ power and enhancing them. It was the first time he ever got a taste of a “Hyper” form as opposed to the Super form he was familiar with.
When the dust settled, Shadow found himself visiting that sacred shrine more and more often. Then eventually, found himself having extended visits spanning over several days at Onyx Island. Then… he found himself more often at that shrine than not, watching over the sacred Master Emerald, and having deep conversations with the echidna from another time.
They often talked about where they came from. Shadow learned about how the Knuckles Clan lived and life over 1000 years in the past. Tikal learned about the Space Colony ARK, about the power of Chaos Control, about the Black Arms, and about the world he got to know once he arrived on Earth.
The good and the bad.
He couldn’t remember exactly when, but somehow, he ended up taking the responsibility of guarding the Master Emerald at some point. Either way, he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind her company, and he didn’t mind the peace and quiet of the shrine. He could understand why Knuckles enjoyed being on the island in between battles.
There was a strange peace to be had when they talked and watched the scenery shift around them as time kept ticking forward.
From cloud watching, to watching the flowers of the seasons bloom, to stargazing like they were currently doing. He knew a lot of time had passed, yet it didn’t feel long with her around.
“Back on the ARK, I used to spend so many nights with Maria, just looking out the window towards Earth. I didn’t know anything about what it was like down there or what the sky looked like from below. I didn’t understand concepts like rain, or sunsets, or flowers. They had none of those on the ARK. But the first time I saw the night sky… I wanted her to be there with me. But that didn’t happen. The first time I saw the night sky, I was on my quest for revenge…” He broke the silence. “But… I don’t look back on those times in anger or sadness anymore. Her, and her wish lives on in me. Though her star is gone, her light still shines in the skies of my heart, and as long as I am still breathing, I will continue to uphold that.”
“That’s a pretty noble way to put it.” Tikal commented. “But it was sad that your first time seeing the stars on Earth was when you were in so much pain.”
“You’re one to talk.” The Ultimate Lifeform commented. “You’re older than I am and you still haven’t seen much of the world. You have never been able to travel around, or visited cities. You probably haven’t even seen an…”
Shadow cut himself off. He had an idea. But unfortunately, it would be a little irresponsible unless he could figure something out. With Tikal being bound to the Master Emerald, wherever it went, so would she. Which also meant that if his plan was to work, it would involve taking the Master Emerald with him.
Fortunately, he was already experienced with using Chaos Control from the Controller of the Chaos Emeralds by this point. The issue was… Somewhere safe for it…
There was only one Emerald Shrine, maybe 2 if you counted Hidden Palace Zone. But those were still on Onyx Island.
It wouldn’t be enough to show her something he had an idea about. He needed somewhere further.
That’s when the realisation hit him so hard he jumped a little.
“Shadow? Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.
“I’m fine. But… I have something I would like to show you. Just trust me on this for a moment.” He assured her.
Shadow stood back up, and offered his hand to pull her up as well.
He led her to the shrine where the Emerald was embedded.
“Shadow? What are you planning?” She asked.
“Don’t worry, you and the Master Emerald should be safe.” He continued. “Just hold my hand. It will be ok.”
She nodded, and reached out to hold his hands, closing her eyes as she braced herself for whatever his surprise was.
Shadow nodded, charging himself up with chaos energy.
“The servers are the seven chaos…” He started, channelling the prayer to focus his power over such a great distance. “Chaos is power… Power enriched by the heart… The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos… Take me where my heart may lead us and we shall return unscathed… CHAOS… CONTROL!”
As soon as he commanded the power to his wish, a bright light enveloped them.
When the light faded, they were deep in an old building, with a replica of the Emerald Shrine in the centre of the room.
“Shadow? Where are we?” Tikal asked. “Why is there another shrine here? I have never seen this before, but… It feels familiar.”
“The Master Emerald was here once over 200 years ago. Professor Gerald visited Angel Island once long before he created me, and was in such awe that he dedicated this section to replicating the shrine he saw. This is the Cannon’s Core, of the Space Colony ARK.”
The echidna gasped in surprise as she struggled to process it all. Most of the technology was more advanced than anything she was used to, despite the state of decay that was setting in.
“Why did you take me here?” She asked.
“Because I knew the Master Emerald would be safe here for now since this place has been abandoned for over two centuries. And from the ARK, I have something to show you. A nice change of pace from the star-studded skies we are familiar with now.”
Shadow extended his hand to her once more, and after a moment of hesitation, she took it.
“Hold on tight.” He warned her. “The place I want to show you is a little far, so this may be a bumpy ride…”
The echidna girl nodded, and Shadow picked her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest, and he dashed down the corridors.
It wasn’t the first time he carried her like that while he skated at breakneck speeds. But she could never get used to how fast he was able to move. She would liken the experience to a rollercoaster, but for all the details she was given about them, she didn’t have experience on one to really compare to.
Shadow jumped over great gaps, grinded down lengthy rails, and navigated with a scary level of accuracy. As she looked at the scenery, watching it all blur around her as the corridors and rooms kept going on and on without end, it reminded her of the true scale and size of Angel Island, and it’s current Onyx Island incarnation, and how expansive it really was when you had to explore every crack and crevice of it all.
“The Space Colony ARK… It’s like Angel Island.” She commented. “Floating in the sky undisturbed by time, even after the wake of disaster to everyone on it…”
Shadow thought about the comparison, and nodded respectfully.
“To think… one day this place was raided and few people ever stepped foot here since… One day the rage of Chaos was unleashed on Angel Island, and few remained…” He added. “Relics of another time… Like the lights of ghost stars, though the life is gone, the legacy left behind still lives on…”
She nodded.
“We both lost our families one day…” She commented.
“Gone, but not forgotten…” He added.
Another thing that likely drew them together, was the acknowledgement that despite the 1000-year gap of their timelines, they pain they felt in a single day was quite similar. And there was a comfort in knowing they weren’t alone.
But, Shadow wasn’t hoping to go on a trip down memory lane. He was planning to make a new and worthwhile memory with her. That was the intention of the surprise trip.
Eventually, Shadow made it to his destination, and placed Tikal down gently.
It was a large and expansive room with large platforms to stand on to look down at the world below.
“This is where I wanted to take you.” Shadow explained. “A place Maria showed me once all those years ago. You never saw the Earth before, so… This is our world beneath our feet.”
The echidna walked towards the edge of the platform to look down. Her eyes widened in wonder and awe.
“This’s what you used to look at?” She asked, eyes glued to the blue marble.
“Almost every day up until I got sent down.” He answered.
Tikal was almost frozen in place like time stopped. Her gaze on the planet wasn’t broken.
“This is what we are protecting?” She asked.
“This is the world we keep safe from evil.” He answered, walking to her side and gently taking her hand.
Her reaction was what he was hoping to see. He wanted to see the planet reflected in her eyes as she stood transfixed and forgetting to breathe.
As nice as the moment was, the universe had one more surprise for them.
Shaping across the atmosphere of the planet, green dancing lights began to form. The echidna froze in place as her smile broadened even more.
Even Shadow couldn’t help but gasp at the timing of the phenomenon.
“What is this?” She whispered, struggling to even speak.
The lights began to intensify and dance and swirl in the atmosphere, bathing them in a green glow.
But Shadow was transfixed not on the light, but how it reflected off her eyes. How it gave the both of them an almost aethereal glow. For a moment, they went from two immortals, to two ghosts on the haunted ARK, their fates intertwined like their fingers interlocking as they stood side by side.
And it would become a very special memory for the both of them. Despite the length of their lives, and the losses they suffered, there were still aspects to living that made an immortal life truly special. A moment of light to carry forward that neither of them would mind facing again and again.
“This is a special phenomenon caused by energy of the sun hitting the atmosphere. I believe it is called the… Aurora Borealis…”