Pieces of Solaris

Storm on The Horizon

"It looks like a storm is coming." Tails observed as he and his friends were relaxing on the beach. "A big one too."

"That's not a storm!" Sticks panicked when she looked up to see the sky, "It's a demon from another dimension coming to murder us all in our sleep!"

Everyone gave her a rather blank expression that demonstrated what they really thought of her idea.

"Let's pack our stuff up and get out of here. The bonfire can wait until tomorrow if the sky looks that bad." Sonic told his friends, to which they agreed. Except for Sticks...

"How can you not tell it's a demon?! It's coming right toward us! It's going to kill us all!!"

Although the Sonic team was safe where they were for now- a ship far out was not as lucky. Caught in the middle, the little ship rocked violently as the waves crashed and thrashed. On board, the passengers weren't as easygoing either.

"He's catching up Silver!" a young human woman shouted through the storm as she tried to pilot the ship. "We're not going to be able to outrun him!"

The near white hedgehog accompanying her looked up at the sky dimly.

"We won't be able to outrun him." the hedgehog told her, "Brace yourself!"

The young woman nodded as the sea started to rock the boat at a rougher tension than before. The sudden blow had made her lose her balance- the force flew off of the ship's wheel and on the deck with a sickening crack. Attentive to the situation, Silver rushed over to her to make sure she was okay. For a moment, he was sure she was out of it as she lay on the deck.

"Elise!" Silver said in a near fear as he shook the young woman to wake her back up. The rain did not help the situation as it hit against their bodies like little poking pins. Slowly, the young woman did wake up and she groaned in doing so because of the considerable pain she was in.

"Silver," Elise mumbled as she woke, "Mephiles... he's..."

"I know." Silver grimly agreed as a crack of thunder sounded more like a sinister laugh. Silver helped get Elise on her feet again before he tried to hand her a small scepter. "Take this and get below lower deck before he gets on board."

Elise looked at the scepter then looked at Silver with an unreadable expression.

"I'm not leaving you." she told him with a shake of her head.

"Elise!" Silver snapped at her, "I don't know whether you're trying to be brave or stupid, but I need you to go below deck so I can handle Mephiles!"

A flash of lighting and a crack of thunder nearby made Silver and Elise cover their eyes- when they opened them again, something that held a texture not quite smoke but not quite liquid was on the deck. The substance was piling itself together as it emitted a cruel laugh that send shivers down the hedgehog and young woman's spines. Silver shoved the scepter into Elise's hand and prepared to fight as the substance started to take form of another hedgehog- this one without a mouth and its dark fur was tangled and knotted as if the corpse had been run over by a quick moving vehicle.

"You thought you could escape me?" the corpse asked in a malicious tone. "I am Mephiles the Dark, born from Solaris of Soleanna, will not be stopped at the mere destruction of his home!"

"It was my home too!" Elise shouted in anger and defense. Mephiles turned to look at her and gave a shallow chuckle.

"How could I forget Princess," Mephiles started, "Your father was the one who gave birth to me and my brother Iblis. He was the one who split us from our true form! He was the one who gave birth by killing Solaris! And you... Heh, what a good father- he trapped my brother inside of you to keep him from me!"

"And you still won't have him Mephiles!" Silver declared as he pulled out a sky blue gem. Even though the sky was dark with the storm clouds, the diamond cut gem glowed brilliantly as if it were under a shining sun.

"You have the...!" Mephiles started to exclaim, but was cut off when Silver tossed the gem toward Elise. The young woman caught it with surprise with one hand, due to the other still holding the scepter- then gave Silver an even more bewildered look.

"Silver, I can't take these!" she said frantically as she looked from the gem to the scepter then back at Silver again.

"You will!" Silver demanded as he raised a hand to telekinetically shove her off the boat. Elise let out a scream as she flew through the air with the gem and scepter clenched in her hands before crashing into the ocean.

"You fool!" Mephiles screeched with rage. "If she dies, Iblis will never be freed!"

"Then I suppose you need to go in after her." Silver stated in a dark tone. "And you're not going anywhere while I'm still standing!"

Mephiles growled.

"Fine. But I won't promise your bones will be in your body when I'm through with you!"

"Bring it on." Silver taunted.

Mephiles let out a horrible sound that was heard for miles beyond them as he lunged at Silver. Mercilessly, the shadow demon attacked- leaving Silver without a moment to breathe or defend himself.

"You thought you could take me on alone?" Mephiles asked as he lifted Silver by the head to look him in the eye. "I'll find her, then Iblis and I will be one again!"

With a sinister chuckle, Mephiles tossed Silver to the side as the demon melted into a fog form that disappeared into the sea. Struggling, Silver tried to look out into the ocean to where he had pushed Elise. He couldn't see her, and now that common sense was upon him, he realized that what he had done might not have been the best thing to do.

"Elise..." Silver mumbled as his consciousness slipped in and out, "Don't... let go... and... and don't... cry... I'll... I'll find you..."

Back on shore, the Sonic team had gotten all of their things and began to head back home. The wind was picking up more violently now- and even though they didn't believe what Sticks had said, there was definitely a certain feeling in the air that could have predicted imminent doom.