Blinded by darkness: Chapter.4
By HeroKichona & Edited by sircharles
After Blaze had burnt all the food she had prepared for Silver, the two of them decided to order Chinese food. Most of the time when they ate, Silver was the one to make conversation; but this time, the two enjoyed a silent meal together.

Afterward, Blaze took a seat on the couch. In her kingdom, Blaze never felt comfortable enough in her kingdom to relax; but in her small private home with Silver, she could relax on the couch and take as many catnaps as she wanted.

“Blaze, I think I’m feeling well enough to move around,” Silver said as he leaned over the couch.

“That’s good, but why the hurry? You should rest your body properly, Silver” Blaze responded, worried for her friend.

“I know, but I have to warn Sonic and the others about my encounter with Mephiles’ minions.” Silver looked down at his own hands, trying not to remember how Mephiles’ touch felt, how it made him crave for release.

"Alright. Shall I come with you?"

"It's alright, Blaze, I'll be back soon and someone needs to stay here."

"Okay...but be safe, Silver" Blaze knew Silver could handle himself, but any time she was away from him, there was always that slight tinge of worry in her heart.

With the power of a chaos emerald, Silver created a portal and hopped through it before appearing on the other end, 200 years into the past. Silver needed to find Sonic and his friends fast. He couldn't help but fear Mephiles would try to mess with them the way he did to him.

"Silver, you came back!" Amy ran towards Silver as he emerged from a strange glowing portal. Silver blushed as she hugged him tightly, excited for his arrival.

"H-Hey Amy" He smiled nervously under Amy's innocent gaze.

"Did something happen? If you're looking for Sonic, he's probably making out with Shadow or something," she said begrudgingly as she crossed her arms.

"Uh…" Silver knew the two heroes were a couple, but he didn't exactly want to picture them kissing. He also never understood why Sonic hadn’t ended up with Amy instead of Shadow. She was kind, caring, compassionate, cute, and her short temper was easy enough to get over.

"Amy I….uh…" Silver's words trailed off. He wanted to ask if she had seen Sonic, but whenever he was around the girl, his mind always got caught on questions like “How are you?” Or “Do you still love Sonic? Because I like you” But he never actually managed to voice any of those thoughts and for good reason.

"Why don't we look for him together, just like old times!" With a sweet smile and giggle, Amy took Silver's hand into her own and dragged him along on the search for Sonic. Silver blushed brightly, feeling the gentle warmth of her hand.

Amy usually had a good sense of where Sonic was, but this time her instincts lead her to Tails' workshop. Amy knocked on the door, surprising the young fox.

"Amy? Silver? What's going on?" Tails was worried. Silver almost never came back to their world unless there was trouble, and the last thing he heard about was Mephiles’ return.

"We need to find Sonic. Have you seen him?" Silver asked, stepping past Amy.

"Yeah, he and Shadow went back to Soleana to look for clues," Tails answered. 

Silver's eyes widened a bit. It had been years since he had been back there...back to when Mephiles had led him to believe Sonic was the Iblis Trigger, back to when he met Shadow...back to when Mephiles had become Solaris…

Lost in his own thoughts, Silver could barely hear the muffles of Tails agreeing to take the two over to Soleana.

He didn't know why but for some reason, every bone in his body said going back would be bad.

"Alright, guy, hop in the tornado and we can start flying!" Excited to be airborne again, Tails hopped into his precious jet plane. Amy and Silver followed, buckling in before they took off. Amy was quickly taken by the scenery, chatting with Tails as he used his extensive knowledge to explain many interesting facts to her...but not Silver, his mind was elsewhere; his thoughts trapped in the uneasy feeling of returning to Soleana, fearing Mephiles' return, fearing what he wants with him…

"Silver, are you okay…?" Noticing the faint shaking in Silver's hands, Amy gently put her hands over his, quickly gaining his attention.

"A-Amy??" A bit startled and confused, Silver's shaky hands were quickly coupled with pink rosy cheeks.

"Silver, you seemed really pale...Are you okay?" Amy thought of many solutions in her head that could have made her friend scared but something in her heart told her it was something serious.

"S-Sorry if I worried you, it's just...I have this gut feeling that...something...bad might happen" Silver explained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be alright, especially with Sonic around." With a reassuring smile, Amy brought comfort to Silver's troubled mind.

"Alright, guys, we're here!" Tails happily announced as he landed the tornado. The three hopped out and took in the nostalgic sight. Memories of the past flooding back, knowing that Princess Elise and all of Soleana are left without those memories.

The sun had already begun to set when they got here. Lights, and even lanterns were lit to guide the townspeople through the city streets, all while the stars and moon watched over them.

"You guys go find Sonic, I'm gonna look around town for some extra supplies to take back for my workshop."

"Alright, Tails" Amy replied with a bright smile.

Silver, on the other hand, felt eyes on him almost immediately after landing. He wasn't sure if it was Mephiles or something else, but regardless, Silver would stay sharp; ready for any threat that awaited him, especially with Amy around. He'd have to protect her.

“Come on Silver, let’s hurry and find Sonic!” Running off ahead, Amy was eager to find her favorite blue hedgehog, leaving Silver behind.

“Amy wait!” Silver quickly chased after her. He knew how she could be sometimes but now was not the time, and he couldn't risk losing sight of her, so he continued following her, resisting the urge to use his powers to keep her in place.

After what felt like hours, Amy had led them to what must have been the Soleana Archives. She and Silver stepped inside; quickly taken by the beauty of the interior and all the history that filled every corner of the room. Even the ceiling was a portrait of the map of Solean.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Amy's eyes sparkled with amazement.

"I just can't believe all of this is open to the public," Silver stated, remembering how Blaze's royal archives were locked away from any and all that were not of the royal family.

Like a tracking device, Amy picked up Sonic's signal and quickly began leading Silver through the building. It didn't take long before the two finally found their blue hero, looking through old books with Shadow beside him.

"Found you, Sonic! Oh, and Shadow too…" Disappointed to see the black hedgehog, Amy crosses her arms before sticking her tongue out at Shadow.

"Hey Amy. Silver, you came back?" Sonic was surprised to see his friend of the future return so soon.

"Did Mephiles appear?" Shadow asked.

“Yes and no.” Silver started. “I didn’t exactly meet Mephiles, I only encountered some of his underlings and had to fend them off.” He lied, but thankfully with a straight face and clear words, no one caught on.

“What could they have been doing? Or maybe they were seeking you out in particular…” Amy said, trailing off as Silver began to think to himself like he often did, only voicing what’s necessary.

“Damn it! We haven’t even found anything useful here yet and he’s already attacked!” Sonic cursed, frustrated with his own lack of knowledge and power.

“You guys didn’t find anything out?” Silver asked, worried that maybe Mephiles could have destroyed any information about himself.

“Well, like I told Sonic...The only thing I know that leads to anything is the Scepter of Darkness. Back when we time traveled, Elise’ father gave it to me, saying I could seal Mephiles away with it.” Shadow said.

“We already knew that,” Silver said.

“Yes, but it’s how he worded it… He said, ‘Seal it with this.’” Silver still couldn’t understand what Shadow was getting at until Sonic helped to explain.

“It means Elise’s father not only knew how to seal Mephiles away but that maybe he had done it a few times before,” Sonic explained.

“And on top of that, I was able to create a new Scepter of Darkness using an old method I discovered from a Soleana researcher. It proves that they have not only sealed Mephiles away before but even knew how to create the means to seal him away with.” Shadow finished.

Silver was surprised to hear this, while Amy was still a little confused about what was going on, as she was never really involved in the events of Soleana. She had never even seen Mephiles.
Silver thought for a moment before finally looking up at the two other hedgehogs.

“So just...how old is Mephiles?” He asked, but Sonic and Shadow both shook their heads. None of them could be sure of that.

All four of them remained silent for a while before Amy finally spoke up, noticing a delicious smell in the air. It was coming from the town food stalls that had opened up for the night, cooking up their traditional Soleana food.

“Come on guy’s let’s forget about Mephiles and get a bite to eat,” Amy suggested, delighted by the sight of the food stalls. Sonic honestly couldn’t agree more.

“That sounds like a good idea Amy” Sonic said, although Silver and especially Shadow didn’t seem all that interested.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can go stuff your face if you want, but finding a way to stop Mephiles is far more important.” Shadow said coldly, turning away from the group as he began to walk away. Watching him, Sonic made a playful expression.

“Come on Shadow, relax for once, and besides. Don’t you want to share some food with me?” Sonic asked, almost teasingly so. Shadow paused.

“Hmph...Fine, but let’s not waste too much time. We still need to research Mephiles’ history.” Shadow said with a sigh of annoyance.

He brushed past Sonic out the door. Sonic in return, chuckled as he followed the brooding hedgehog to catch his hand as they walked together.

Silver and Amy looked at each other, not exactly sure how sharing food with Sonic would change Shadow’s mind. Sure they were lovers but even so… They were very confused.

“Come on Silver” Amy said, following after the other two hedgehogs.

Silver still wasn’t sure and he wasn’t even that hungry since he had eaten with Blaze, though it had already been hours since their meal; Silver never had a very big appetite, especially when more serious matters were on his mind.

Just when he was about to follow Amy and join the others, he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He quickly turned around; ready to attack with his powers, there was only a book that had fallen from its shelf. He sighed with relief. Since he got here, he felt eyes on him, even now and it was beginning to put him on edge more than he meant to allow it to.

Silver levitated the book to return it to its place, but a small slip of paper had fallen out. Curious, he picked it up. It was a letter, a letter to him that read. “Find me in the desert ruins”

“Mephiles!” He clutched the piece of paper tightly into his fists. He wanted to tell the others but then he remembered the danger Amy could be put through, and how happy Sonic was to get Shadow to relax and eat food together… So he decided to head towards the desert alone in order to find and confront Mephiles.

He wasn’t sure what he would be able to do, and there was a chance things could turn out badly like last time, but maybe if Mephiles was only after him, then maybe he could keep everyone safe by fending off Mephiles on his own.