Chapter Text
He remembers.
Sonic remembers him.
He doesn’t know what to do, because this is the first time anyone has cared about him enough to… to defy the gods. Chaos, not even Blaze remembers him. They weren’t supposed to— whatever Elise had done was supposed to erase it, to erase him.
But Sonic looks at him the same way he did all that time before, and, damn, Silver would be lying if he said those emerald eyes didn’t make his knees weak.
“Sorry,” Sonic says. He hadn’t noticed how much he missed the sound of his voice. Gentle, but firm, like the first ray of sun after it rises. He wonders, though, what he is going to tell him. Hi? I missed you? I love you? “Do I know you?”
“For the future of the world, I’ll destroy you!”
Silver doesn’t get the hype for the Iblis Trigger.
Well, he might understand some aspects of his fame. Yes, he’s selfless, yes, he’s charismatic, yes, he’s quite attractive (he can't deny that), but he’s just a guy. A guy who does a lot of heroic deeds, but will end up fucking up the future. A guy with superpowers, but not a super. He’s just there. But— there’s something unique in the hedgehog, he doesn’t know what it is yet.
(He’s terrified of the fact he finds it strangely endearing.)
“You,” Silver pants. “Are very difficult to kill.”
The blue hedgehog has the guts to find it funny. “Maybe, then, don’t try?”
Huh. “I’m not gonna let my future be destroyed!” He throws him a slighter bigger piece of debris. He evades it easily. Really, it shouldn’t be that difficult.
The Iblis Trigger groans. “Just how many times— you are being lied to. I don’t even know how, or what Iblis is.”
That is exactly what the Iblis Trigger would say. “Sure, Iblis Trigger!”
“Look, dude, I’m a bit busy right now, got an egg to crack, yadda yadda. Rain check?”
Can he take anything seriously? “It’s no use. You will die today.”
He mutters something along the lines of why do I always get the sickos, and attacks him.
He was, embarrassingly, stupidly, almost too quickly beaten.
“Hey!”
He still can do it. He can end it, he can save everyone, he can save himself.
Even he can recognize he’s being delusional.
Silver rubs his eyes. He fucked up. What is he going to tell Mephiles? What is he going to tell Blaze? Well, the Iblis trigger would most likely kill him, so he doesn’t really need to care about that.
But his people would—
They’d…
They’d… They wouldn’t care. They’re not his people. They don’t even know him. He’s a stranger, an outsider. His death would be inconsequential. They’d still have a protector in Blaze. His sacrifice, if it could be called that, would be in vain.
“Hey,” The Iblis Trigger extends his hand. And, in that exact moment, Silver has the chance to attack him. He’s distracted, he won’t see it coming. He just needs to make a small hand movement… But he looks at him with something all too close to pity. “We don’t have to be enemies. Yeah, you did want to kill me, but you’d be surprised with how many of my friends tried in the past. And I guess that really says something about me needing a better friend group, but, hey, what can you do? So, what do you say?”
“Wha—Why?” He falters. This can’t— This must be a trick. “You don’t even know me. Why should you trust me?”
“Well, that’d be because you’d have to trust me first. And I know that’s a difficult thing to do. Trust has to be earned, so this is my way to do it.” And, Silver’s sure he’d never seen that glimmer in anyone. His eyes are— no, he’s bewitching. Ethereal, heavenly.
Too perfect to be true.
He throws him towards the wall.
Too bad he knows that behind all that flawless beauty, he’s rotten to the core.
…Right?
—
“If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic!”
—
Silver doesn’t try to stop Amy. She’s long gone before he even blinks.
She’s crazy. No sane person would choose their love over the world. She’s crazy and wrong. He needs to kill the Iblis Trigger to save the future. He must. Who cares about morality when you’re in danger? When hundreds of thousands of people are in danger?
He, apparently.
He sighs. He ought to find Blaze.
He stares at the bluest sky he has ever seen.
It’s more than pretty. It’s the best thing he had the pleasure to lay his eyes on. But his mind can’t help but wander to what happened earlier. Is it really the right thing to do? To kill, to murder? Even if it’s for the greater good? Especially if it’s for the greater good?
The sea (is that its name? He’s pretty sure of it, but it’s not like his time has many water bodies) twinkles under the light, a couple of boats in the dock. The sun actually feels good in his fur. It’s great, even. Warm. A foreign feeling blooms in his chest. Calm? Peace?
Serenity?
What a peculiar concept.
“So this is where you are.” He doesn’t turn his head. He knows exactly who it is. “I’ve been looking for you.” He doesn’t answer. There’s nothing to be said. Blaze gets closer to where he’s sitting. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, uh, Blaze…” He hesitates. Would she understand? The thoughts plaguing him are unnecessary at best, and detrimental at worst. “To kill someone to save the world… Is that really the right thing to do?”
She scoffs. “You’re so naïve.” That does make him turn. He’s not! He’s just. Inexperienced. “Whether it’s right or wrong, I can’t really say. But what I do know is, if we don’t take this chance, the future will remain exactly as it is.”
Silver blinks. Once, then once more. She’s right. If he has to sacrifice his morals to be the hero, then, in all honesty, nobody could mind. They shouldn’t.
He can do all the worrying alone.
“Since he’s after Doctor Eggman, let’s sneak into Eggman’s base. Maybe we’ll learn something new.”
This thing, however it’s called, (snow?, that’s something he never thought he’d experience), is freezing, sending shivers down to his very bones. He’s not made for this climate. Maybe, in another universe, he could've enjoyed this day. In another universe, he could’ve not be a sad, empty hedgehog who needs nothing but to prove himself. In another universe, he’s just Silver.
Not the time for complaining, though.
He has said that to himself more times than he can count. When will, or would, giving his only task utterly failed, it be time to—?
When he has time.
For now, he has work to do.
The sky is falling apart, and it leaves diminute specks of heaven behind.
And, well, Silver has been locked out of paradise for too long.
He tentatively opens his mouth to try it for, uh, scientific purposes? Yes. That. When it finally falls, it does with a delicate, unhurried movement.
For a second, a dreamy second, this world, this life, doesn’t exist. He’s not on a mission to kill. His future’s not doomed. He’s happy, it’s a typical day, everything is fine. It’s a snowy day. He’s just a bit cold. He’s going out to meet his friend. Friends. He wonders what he’ll eat when he arrives home.
He wonders what is home.
Then, as soon as it came, it’s over. The ice burns his tongue. He quickly spits it. Ew. It tasted like shitty water. How could he ever have believed something like that was tempting?
But then again, he has recently discovered, Silver’s quite prone to believe half truths. To fall for them.
The Iblis Trigger is just his latest one.
His heart races at the thought.
Thump thump, mocking him. Thump thump.
He’s not scared of him, not at all. No, it’s something completely opposite.
He tries to think about nothing the rest of the journey. It’s a futile effort, as usual.
As the guard falls to the ground, broken, he realizes his nose is bleeding.
Shit, shit, shit.
Nosebleeds could only mean one thing—he overused his telekinesis. Oh, c’mon! He didn’t even fight that much. It was an extended fight, yes, but that was nothing compared to what he had endured before. This should’ve been a walk in the park compared to Iblis on a good day.
You don’t want to do it. The whisper in his head he had once considered his voice of reason murmurs. You’re holding back, because you don’t want to kill Sonic.
You don’t want to take his life. Even at the cost of your own.
He wipes the blood swiftly. It’s okay. Silver doesn’t need to rest.
He just needs to ignore the pounding in his chest, and the way the world is spinning out of his control.
“Are you okay?” He hears someone ask in the distance. Blaze asks? If he doesn’t recognize his own friend, he’s worse than what he thought.
“Yes. I’m fine.” He gasps, struggling to breathe. Sweet, sweet oxygen eluding him like a rabbit escaping a fox. She eyes him for what feels like an eternity before going towards what the guard dropped.
He lets out a sigh of relief. He can’t be benched now, just when he’s so close.
He follows her lead, and in a short time, he catches up. Partially covered by the snow, lies a bright blue jewel. The color is eerily similar to… Nope, not thinking about him. He picks it up. There’s a strange pulse coming from it, as though it was calling him. It’s powerful, there’s no doubt. “That’s a Chaos Emerald.” Blaze seems to read his mind. Silver gets up. “It’s said this gem can transform your thoughts into power. Collect seven, and a miracle’s supposed to happen. Keep it as a lucky charm.”
With that said, she leaves him and his pondering alone.
“It transforms your thoughts into power…”
If he had the chance to make a wish… If he could change anything about his life… Would he?
Once again, he recalls his fight with the Iblis Trigger. To have defeated him back there? Would that solve his problems? For him to had never existed in the first place? That would do the trick.
But, but he finds himself wishing exactly the opposite. In the short time he’s known him, the Iblis— Sonic had carved his way to his heart.
Everything would be far easier if he had never came. Or better yet, never even existed.
He blinks. He didn’t mean that. He did not.
He needs to take a single minute to think, and everything will be alright.
He didn’t mean that.
He didn’t mean that.
He didn’t mean that.