Blood Bonds

Part 7 - Mephiles the Light...?

As Eclipse peered around his empty dorm room, he glanced anxiously at the squirrel who had brought him there.

"You can hang out with me until the day's over and get started tomorrow, if you'd like." She said pleasantly. "Otherwise, the next bell chime indicates that your second class will be starting soon, and you can cozy up here till then."

The alien looked away. "I'll just wait here."

"Of course! Refer to the page beside the phone if you need anything." The door shut.

Eclipse slunk over to one of the beds in the room that looked untouched and crawled up onto the sheets, sulking. He looked at the piece of paper again, glaring at the words as tears stung his eyes. There was no hope that he'd ever see any of his fledglings again, no way to escape this awful school.

"Well, I haven't even stayed here for a day and I'm already making assumptions..." He thought out loud to himself, before sneering and clenching his hands, wrinkling the page. "Who am I kidding? The future of the Black Arms is doomed, doomed to be influenced and warped by Mobius' twisted morals... our traditions lost and our ancestors forgotten... And it's all that blasted hedgehog's fault!" He hugged his knees to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the rest of the world.

He sat like that for a while, hearing the bells ring several times, but never once got up to go attend his classes. Several long hours passed, before he heard the doorknob to his dorm room click and twist. The alien looked up as the door opened, and his eyes widened in shock at the brooding hedgehog who stood there."

"Shadow?!"

The hedgehog regarded him in silent amusement before shutting the door and lurking over to one of the beds. In the light, Eclipse saw that the hedgehog appeared in every way to look like Shadow. The only difference was, his irises and his stripes were cobalt instead of crimson red, and his pale muzzle was nothing but smooth skin, lacking both a mouth and a nose where what should have been. He even had matching azure cuffs on his white gloves, along with the same golden inhibitor rings.

"You are mistaken, dear misfit. My name is Mephiles the dark."

Eclipse relaxed, but only slightly. "...Mine's Eclipse. But why do you look so much like him?"

A look of awkward discomfort passed over Mephiles face. "It's a long story, one I'd rather not talk about. Let's just say I'm a fan." He then turned the conversation towards his new roommate. "But what about you? How do you know the Ultimate Lifeform?"

Eclipse rolled his eyes. "How do I know him? He kind of killed off my entire species. I'm the last one left."

Mephiles' eyes widened at the alien's tired tone. "That must have made quite an impact on you."

"What does it matter? That murderer walks around scot-free while I take blame for all the Black Arms' wrong-doings." He turned away and instead glared at the wall, still hugging his knees to his chest.

The caliginous hedgehog looked to his school bag, from which he pulled out a notebook for one of his classes. "Well... luckily Nutmeg will help you walk away scot-free, too..."

Eclipse shot him an unconvinced look. "Yeah, right. As if she has all our best interests in heart."

Mephiles chuckled, giving him an amused glance. "You don't believe in the sanctity of her intentions?"

"She seems fake. Her kindness is probably forced. And besides, she's a filthy Mobian."

"Well I'm the prince of darkness, and I haven't once noticed anything but radiating brightness from her heart." The hedgehog's attention was captivated on something he was writing in his notebook, making him miss seeing the disbelieving look of disgust the alien was giving him. "Look at it this way..." he paused his writing and gave Eclipse a sidelong look. "These Head Counselors are the first people to see you for your full potential, and not as you or anyone else might see you. They believe you are a good person even before you've stopped viewing yourself as irredeemable. Even when you think everyone's out to get you and that nobody could possibly love you, they welcome you with open arms and genuine excitement. It's kind of poetic in a way..."

Eclipse's unbelieving gaze dropped to the floor. "Ok, I get it, you're secretly in love with the Head Counselors. No need to bring me into it."

Mephiles let out an abrupt laugh before he resumed writing, still chuckling under his breath. "Secretly in love... that's cute. Y'know, sometimes a star shines brightest when it's alone in the darkness."

The alien looked back up at him with an expression of disdain. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know." The hedgehog chuckled in delight. "It's just another one of the beautiful poetic pieces the counselors here give you. It seems like absolute nonsense, but there will be a time when a quote clicks."

"Okay..."

The room lapsed into silence as Mephiles continued to scribble on his paper, and Eclipse brooded in silence.