Chapter Text
The sun was setting, giving the cool evening a soft orange glow. It was quiet and secluded, a perfect place for someone who wanted to be alone, had they any choice.
Above, the sky seemed locked in a battle between light and dark, one side displaying its proud glow, while the other boasted its black cloak dotted with hints of diamond stars.
In between the two, pale blue clung stubbornly to its place in the heavens, but the glitter of the impending night already hinted towards the anticlimactic conclusion of that battle.
Darkness would prevail to swallow the twilight as it had always done, from the beginning of time, to the end.
Mephiles was bored.
The flower field he’d found himself sitting in was familiar; this had been a favorite of his ward as of late, which meant that the white hedgehog— he didn’t spare the effort to learn his name— would soon be arriving to engage in his usual ritual of reflecting on his journey and breaking the peaceful silence of the night to tell the fireflies stories they couldn’t care less for, unable to comprehend any such tales.
It was a great annoyance, but it wasn’t something Mephiles had the power to change. It was only in these brief distortions in reality that he could even perceive the real world, before once again being plunged into a void of non-existence.
He expected that it wouldn’t be much longer before his role would become obsolete, and he would become permanently lost to oblivion.
It was his duty to remain on standby to open the portal to realign the young, time-traveling hero with his proper time period. When that journey inevitably reached its conclusion, there would be no need for a gatekeeper any longer.
He glanced down at the ornate shackles decorating his wrists, chaining him to the inactive portal and the duties that came with it. Punishment for a crime he didn’t commit, but was without a doubt guilty of. His power was reduced to nothing more than a convenient tool for others to use.
Without really thinking about it, Mephiles delicately snapped the stem of one of the flowers between his thumb and forefinger. A purple one, a color he particularly enjoyed. He didn’t know what variety it was— what did it matter?— but he had to admit the shape was appealing. On the single stem was a cluster of several smaller flowers, with dramatic petals like a six pointed star, all curling back slightly to add to the grace.
Perhaps this location wasn’t such a chore.
“That’s a nice one.”
Mephiles started at the voice behind him, an instinct to defend himself trying to activate powers he used to have, but at the same time never had. Either way, it was like shouting into a dark abandoned well and expecting a response— there just wasn’t anything there but emptiness.
That accursed white hedgehog who’d snuck up on him was already apologizing, but Mephiles’s wide-eyed stare wasn’t just because he’d been caught by surprise.
He wasn’t supposed to be on a plane where mortal creatures could perceive him. He was invisible, or at least he’d thought he was. How long had the hedgehog been aware of him?
It would be best to just ignore him. What use was it, entertaining a conversation? Mephiles turned his head away, looking elsewhere. But the persistent young hedgehog didn’t seem to take the hint, just moving to plop down cross-legged in front of him, just slightly too close
“I’ve seen you around before.” He stated, answering Mephiles’s unasked question.
“Is that so?” Mephiles glanced at him from the corner of his eye, trying not to show too much interest.
“Just a glance, when I’m passing through the portal.” He tilted his head, “In my own time too.” Idle hands fidgeted with a long blade of grass, betraying a hint of anxiety, “What exactly are you?”
Ah. That explained the forwardness. Mephiles was a new unknown relating to a power he’d foolishly thought he was in complete control of. He was seeking comfort in knowledge.
But his question was not easily answered. Mephiles didn’t possess a physical form. He had no way of knowing what shape he had taken in the hedgehog’s eyes. He supposed that was irrelevant, but he decided to humor his unexpected companion with an answer anyway, “I possess the power to travel through time.” He lifted his hands slightly, showing his shackles, “However I do not possess free will to use it as I please.” He lowered his hands back into his lap, “You aim to return to your own time, am I correct? That is my role.”
There was a long silence before the hedgehog answered, “I could probably remove those chains for you.”
While it was a tempting offer, it lacked thought. The offer was simply irritating in its naivety, not worth considering.
Mephiles turned his head slowly, flopping it to the side to mirror the other’s inquisitive head tilt, “You don’t know what you are saying.” He got to his feet, slow and stiff, trampling his discarded flower as he did so, “I exist for the sole purpose of moving you through time. So move.”
The hedgehog seemed to wilt a little, but he still got to his feet, “Alright, alright.” He held a hand, “My name is Silver.”
The hand hung unacknowledged for an awkward amount of time before its owner sighed and let it drop, “Fine, you don’t have to tell me who you are. But…
“Thanks for your help anyway. I appreciate you sharing your time travel with me.”
Mephiles simply glared back. He didn’t have a choice to be here, Silver’s gratitude was misplaced, and therefore invalid.
Without saying anything more, he focused his powers along the invisible chain to activate the portal.
Obediently the gateway forward in time opened like an eye, neatly tearing through the fabric of reality like a razor blade through skin. That was about as theatric as it got before materializing into a copper colored ring with what looked to be a dark, reflective fluid inside.
Just as he started to turn his attention back to Silver, he felt the heavy impact of a tackle, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there.
He didn’t feel any need to fight back so he just let it happen, it wasn’t as if Silver could kill him. But it didn’t seem like harm was the hedgehog’s intent, as he quickly released Mephiles from his grip and got to his feet.
Mephiles continued to lie there, only half paying attention as some sort of struggle ensued just above, very quickly ending with Silver electrocuted and unconscious on the ground beside him.
It might make things easier, Mephiles decided, finally sitting up. If Silver wasn’t conscious then he could just toss him through the portal and call it a day.
As he looked towards the portal he could see someone else examining it, a tall man with a mustache. He was consulting a flickering holographic child. Must have been an ambush to gain access to the portal. Fascinating, but annoying.
The man paid no attention to the pair of them on the ground, Silver was unmoving and Mephiles apparently wasn’t visible to anyone but the white hedgehog. The man was in perfect control of the situation.
There was nothing that could be done in this circumstance; the only way the portal could be closed was if someone passed through it, and this man seemed intelligent enough not to throw himself into random gateways without knowing where they went.
Mephiles’s job was only activating the portal, not defending it, so he didn’t bother. He didn’t listen to any spoken words, he didn’t react when an odd hedgehog-shaped machine scooped up the unconscious Silver up to take him away, and he didn’t react when a decent sized airship arrived to collect the group.
He also didn’t react when a sudden glowing beam of energy from the ship struck the portal, freezing the dark fluid in the middle, causing Mephiles to feel pain like he hadn’t experienced before, but was somehow intimately familiar with, before his vision blacked out.