Archive of Our Own

The future is beautiful.

That’s what Silver thought even in his darkest moments. To Sonic and his friends, the “future” was what they called Silver’s home as if it was a distant land or another dimension like Blaze’s, but in the time traveler’s eyes, it goes further than that. The time he’s from was his “present” after all.

He could see it all from where he stood-- up in the skies, looking over the edge of a land once known as Angel Island. Sprawling forests that stretch across the continent, mountains that are only a hair’s breadth away from heaven, shimmering seas untainted by filth, and lively cities filled with the laughter of happy citizens and are very much not on fire-- this was Silver’s ideal and what he dedicated his life to protecting. This was the “present” he wished he had from the start.

And yet, like an inevitable omen, nostalgia crept in. There were days when he found himself missing those apocalyptic days.

It was a fact that brought neither joy nor sorrow to his confused brain, at least, not anymore. The first time nearly crushed him with guilt; it was just a few spoiled kids trying to have fun at the expense of others. It was just a passing thought. If only their world crumbled before them and they were forced to fight for the tiniest luxury. It wasn’t fair to them. Kids are just kids.

However, Silver was once a kid, too-- many would even say he still is one in some respects. He remembers back when the future was not something to be changed, but something to accept. The rivers of lava pulsing throughout the earth like cancerous veins, the ashen rain that could make you sick for weeks, and the resentment towards past heroes whose failures created an insurmountable monster-- that was reality and according to the experts, immutable. In less than a century, life would be extinct. Debating on what was the best way to die was a common topic.

Silver’s answer was “to die bravely and more heroically than anyone else in history”.

“Got something on your mind, Silver?”

A deep, familiar voice came from behind and something thick, cold, and slimy pressed against the hedgehog’s back. Silver reaches over to touch the amorphous creature creeping up to his shoulder. He was being embraced by someone very dear to him.

“Just thinking about the past, Mephiles.”

“How rare, albeit earned.” The god chuckled, tickling the hedgehog’s back with his rumble. “You worked hard, Silver.”

“Yeah…. Just when I was getting used to peace, that Phantom Ruby made a mess of things.”

Silver didn’t completely understand it, but the ruby was an anomaly in many ways; even a genius like Tails never fully figured it out. The working theory is that the Phantom Ruby traveling forward in time with a younger Sonic was enough to bend the entire timeline off balance, causing the future to shift before his eyes into Eggman’s mechanical nightmare. Mephiles claimed that the past ruby’s and the present ruby’s existence overlapped during the duration of the war, and may have contributed to things being wonky.

He recalled Mephiles's exact words. “The disturbance wasn’t as large as the Time Eater, but the flow of time cannot run smoothly when two objects of the same continuity exist at once. There's a reason why I don’t allow you to tread over old ground; two Silvers running around at the same time would be more trouble than it’s worth.”

The somewhat concerning question of where Phantom Ruby was now was one Silver never got an answer to. Investigating what would later be known as the Metal Virus pandemic and suppressing it didn’t leave much time to be wasted on distractions.

“Are you still nervous? Worried that there will be another anomaly to snatch the current peace away?” Despite his deep tone, Mephiles always manages to sneak in a playful cadence to his voice. Silver couldn’t bring himself to match.

Still, he didn’t give anything less than his true feelings.

“...Am I worried? Or am I hoping for another disaster to come by?”

“Oh ho… Mortals had a name for this if I recall correctly. They called it a ‘villain origin story’, yes?” Mephiles’s amusement prompted a brief smile out of the hedgehog, but he shook his head.

“Nah, it’s not like that. I just… I talked a little bit with a friend about this before, actually. Do you remember when you sent me back without warning?”

“Yes. After you came back and resolved the Metal Virus, you looked… stifled. I thought that with all the adventures you had, you would be more comfortable with your companions in the past.”

“Well, I ended up panicking because of that. I thought that I had upset you somehow….” He tried to not sound too bitter-- it’s all water under the bridge. “Of course, I didn’t mention you, but I consulted Espio-- the, uh, chameleon if you don’t remember-- about my problems. I was overthinking things, trying to figure out whether there was some unseen disaster that I was blind to. ‘Why else would I be back here?’ I thought. ‘Did I mess up somewhere? Is that why Mephiles is angry with me?’ Espio didn’t give a direct answer to the big picture-- there was no way he could, but he was right to say that all I could do was have faith in myself and the others. Getting caught up by fear doesn't help anyone.”

Getting used to fighting without the assistance of future knowledge is a good thing anyway, he thought. Isn’t that how people normally live? Ignorant of what lies ahead? It’s just like back when he was fighting alone….

Mephiles hummed. “I apologize for all of that, Silver.”

“It’s alright, really. You were right about me being stifled, and it was me who chose to keep my mouth shut instead of talking to you. Something like this is… I’m still used to keeping to myself. It’s not your fault.” Unraveling emotional knots felt like a waste of time when food and water were considered lucky finds. He forgot when, but he remembered Blaze confessing something similar. He supposes that is just how it is for people with heavy responsibilities.

“That’s kind of you to say-- expected from my chosen one.” Mephiles’s blob-like body inched towards his chest, nuzzling with affection as Silver softly pets him. He briefly wonders if all gods liked being pampered.

Chosen one. With the way he's spoiled, Silver certainly felt like one. The privilege of being granted the ability to time travel is heavy-- almost too heavy for him and his psychokinesis to carry. How many obstacles did he have to go through just to make it to this point and how many were impossible without Mephiles’s gift? It makes his duty to him nothing less than sacred-- the duty to maintain the order of time.

Or maybe, it’s Mephiles himself who is sacred to me. For a split second, Silver’s hands stiffened.

“I cannot force you, but you can always confide in me, Silver. What, pray tell, is plaguing your mind?” Mephiles prods. “If there is one thing we have plenty of, it’s time.”

“It’s… complicated. Between being scared of disaster or praying for one-- is it weird to say it’s both?” Silver sighs. “I can’t make sense of it. I was honest with Espio; the idea of another calamity causing the end of days or perpetual suffering hurts me, but when I come back here to see happy smiles I just… can't imagine myself thinking that this future is my home, even though I had dreamed of it for so long! No one here knows what I’ve been through besides you and because of that… I can’t fit in.”

Perhaps it was akin to missing an abusive partner, he thought-- missing all those moments of respite between the deaths and chaos. He had this one memory where he passed by a group playing Russian Roulette. They were a very diverse set of sapients: short and tall, young and old, women and men, human and mobian-- and yet despite those differences they still chatted away like old friends about a CD they found, snacking on rations without restraint and passing the gun with click after click. Eventually, a bang rang out-- the first “winner” earning their ticket to the afterlife. There was no moment of silence. They all clapped, hooting and congratulating their fallen friend before continuing their conversation on whether the album they listened to was good or not. In that world, you didn’t think about whether someone was mad, strange, weird, or whatever-- everyone was in some way. That’s why he didn’t question it. He watched until one person was left standing.

That person, an elderly human, noticed the white hedgehog and before his departure, decided to spend his last moments with a stranger. It was nice. Silver remembered being flustered because of how many compliments he was getting pelted by whether it be about his fortitude or the strength of his powers. “To be able to find meaning in this hopeless world is an admirable and fortunate thing,” he said. “We were weak-- painfully so. We stuck together because we were scared of dying alone.” The old man had a typical mindset of the time, which was both expected and disappointing.

Even in his darkest moments, Silver thought that the future was beautiful. He held onto that tiny kernel of hope-- that if anyone was going to change the world when all else had failed and show everyone the light he sees, it would be him. Having powers wasn’t unique, but being as powerful as him was at the time, so despite that flaming beast rising and rising again, there was value in kicking it down over and over again. He got stronger and as minute and temporary victory may be, even the illusion of progress can be satisfying. The future was beautiful because it had the potential to be better.

Not everyone felt the same. He knew that. He didn't judge that man or the others for embracing their own kind of peace. (It felt like abandonment.) Still, he liked to think that those small compliments helped keep him going.

(He felt like there should’ve been someone else-- someone who could keep up with him, encouraging him, guiding him, but who who who--)

He didn't judge, but that didn't mean he wasn't lonely. Things have changed since then. Silver believed that in a world where people can afford to have hopes and dreams, he would find people who are not willing to die with him, but live by his side. …It didn’t quite work out that way, at least, not in the future he oh so loved.

Thinking back to those spoiled kids again, Silver recalled how that incident was resolved. He intervened with his psychokinesis, separating the bullies from their victims with gentle force. They were just kids, he told himself, but they'll just repeat their actions later if he let them go. He wanted to scare them a little. For pouring buckets of ice-cold water on other children, he thought it would be fair to hang them over the bridge, high above the river below so they could experience the weight of their actions. The kids’ innate drive to survive was well intact-- they cried for their mommies and daddies and threatened to get him into trouble before whimpering their apologies after Silver made them free fall until their noses touched the water. One of them tried to deflect blame onto their victim, so he took an unwilling swim with the fish. He didn’t let him die, of course.

A bystander claimed that he went too far. Silver, without thinking, said that “there are people out there who would do worse for less than him” and that “kids should be more grateful that they got to live as long as they have”. He meant it in the most good-natured sense-- he really was worried that these kids might provoke the wrong people one day, but he forgot that kids don’t drop like flies when the air is actually clean and lava monsters aren’t stalking the night. He forgot that in this functioning society, violence doesn’t come without consequence. That bystander didn’t take it well.

Silver learned how to fight in the apocalypse. He learned to act before thinking-- his instincts proved essential for his survival, but in this world, none of those things are particularly valuable. Where do “heroes” like him belong then? He could not find the answer.

There wasn’t a hint of humor in Silver’s smile, contorted and molded by his heavy thoughts. Maybe what comforted him most in Espio’s words wasn’t that he had reliable allies, but the idea that there would still be dangers where he’ll have to depend on the strength he’d cultivated for so long-- that one day, he’ll have to forgo fear and give it his all because no one would call it undesirable.

The fact that he has such self-centered desires aches his heart.

Mephiles listened carefully to his beloved’s words. “What about the past?”

“The past is… a good middle ground on the surface. The scenery then is just as beautiful as it is now and I’ve made friends who would welcome my company. Even without impending doom, there was so much to see and do there. People actually come to me for help, whether it’s cleaning up Eggman’s messes or something else… but I can’t see that place as home either. Maybe this sounds silly to you, given that besides you all of my friends are there, but… it would feel like a betrayal if I did.”

“It’s not silly at all, Silver. Your friend’s house isn't yours, after all.” Mephiles squirmed a little as he slinked away from Silver in favor of the ground. The body heat was making him too warm for Silver’s tastes, he could tell. “The future is what you have dedicated your life to; it's where you return when a job is done and catastrophe is averted. I understand your frustration, Silver. Saving the world is a thankless job when no one lives to understand the dangers-- an inevitable struggle as beings unbound by time, I dare say.”

It’s true, he thought. Unlike Sonic, who is celebrated by the world in his time, Silver’s impact is at best registered as mere history in this time frame. With neither the pre-apocalypse nor the post-apocalypse in recent memory, wouldn’t people just be grateful they weren't there? …Is that the core of his discomfort? A yearning for attention?

No, he thought. It’s more selfish than that, isn’t it?

“There is something you must keep in mind, however,” Mephiles continued. “A home is not a time period, but a place or to some: people. You don't just return to the future, Silver. You return here-- to me.” Mephiles poked the side of his shoe. “You’re a good person, so it’s only natural that you concern yourself with the well-being of others outside of your ‘home’. That mentality of a hero needs a problem to exist to feed into it, so if no problem exists, feeling detached is just par for the course, is it not?”

“I guess that’s right…. The future changed so drastically that it’s basically a foreign land. Maybe I should explore as if it was.” That urge to feel needed, to feel like the proper hero he dreamed of being as a kid-- perhaps there is no use in expecting to satiate those feelings in a future that doesn’t need him.

“But what is there for me to do now? I’m happy to help in the past, but knowing that things will work out with or without me, it’s….”

“I still need you, Silver.”

“...!”

“As someone who was blessed by me directly, I can see through your eyes. All of your struggles, all of your victories, and all of the little things you couldn’t enjoy in an apocalyptic wasteland-- those are all memories I got to share with you. When you are gone, I can’t speak to you. When you depart from this island, I can’t leave with you. As long as I am incomplete-- as long as I am ‘Mephiles’ and not ‘Solaris’, I can only take what I am given.”

“Mephiles….”

“It’s valuable to me, that despite everything, I still get to see you.”

The reason why Mephiles brought him here and trained him was to be the enforcer of his will-- to protect the flow of time and the future’s potential. He knew that he was needed because if Mephiles could do it himself, he would’ve done it, but… he never considered that he was the god’s only window to simple pleasures. Maybe he assumed that being a god and all, Mephiles was beyond such feelings.

Silver wilted a bit. Guilty conscience tells him that he was foolish to assume that aligned goals come with omniscient, mutual understanding. He’s a psychokinetic hedgehog, not a mind reader.

For what felt like the millionth time in his short life, he sighed.

“...I guess I was overthinking things again. You’re right, my home is… you are my home.” Silver tried to laugh lightheartedly, but it came out all cracked-- his throat was too dry for it to sound pleasant. It seemed so obvious in retrospect: what else could a home be other than the one constant in an ever-changing future? Who else in the world would accept his dark thoughts without judgment? “Putting it that way, someone might think we’re married or something. Maybe ‘roommates’ is a better term?”

“I heard that being married and being roommates are the same thing to mortals.” That might’ve been a joke, but it’s hard to tell with Mephiles. Silver felt obligated to at least give him a chuckle.

“I don't know about that, but…” Silver scratches the back of his head, bashful and flushed. “I think I feel the same way as you. I can't imagine coming back to a future where you aren't there. The idea scares me even….”

It was a strangely easy confession for someone so cagey not long ago. Perhaps there was something about the air that was making him more vulnerable than usual.

The puddle of ink-like darkness perked up and after a pause of silence, a swell of laughter picked up from the tail end of Silver’s words. Mephiles’s mirth and Silver’s heartbeat rose together in tandem, but only one of them had their ears twitching and their eyes captivated.

“How kind! How kind you are-- I am happy that it was you I found that day.”

The white hedgehog feared that his heart might explode.

A familiar figure emerges from the shadows-- a hedgehog’s silhouette with an inhuman spin. Silver had seen this before and he knew that he’d be called strange if he said it out loud, but he couldn’t help but think that it was a beautiful form-- the god’s eyes slitted and striking and his absent mouth charmingly cute. The looming, cold darkness felt like a nice breeze against his quills.

Perhaps one would compare Mephiles to a devil based on appearances, but Silver knew what hell looked like and Mephiles wasn’t its ruler.

“Now that I think about it, you never told me why you picked Shadow’s form of all people.”

“...He has a nice face, doesn't he?” Mephiles held out his hand. “Walk with me?”

Over the centuries, Angel Island changed. The Master Emerald was still here, keeping the place afloat, but at the center was no longer the ancient echidna shrine but rather a temple of an entirely different culture. This was the doing of a Soleannian cult, worshippers of Solaris who split off from the main sect for claiming that their god was killed by the royal family. Banished and disgraced, they became known as infamous extremists who did everything they could to revive their beloved god.

Eventually, they made their home here, long after the passing of the last echidna. Transforming the land to their liking while simultaneously claiming it to be their holy land, they executed numerous rituals and experiments here away from prying eyes-- their studies evolving rapidly without the constraint of ethics or law. One day, their prayers were finally answered with the summoning of Mephiles, who was found in a deep crevice within what they called “the divine realm”. He claimed that they were all dead when he awakened-- that they sacrificed their lives for him.

After becoming the island’s sole inhabitant, Mephiles renamed it to “Onyx Island”. There wasn’t a deep reason for it. It was just his favorite gem.

It was clear that Solaris's importance to them transcended life itself-- something they believed was vital to the world despite the indifference of everyone else. Silver used to find it confusing-- a god’s existence felt so vague and intangible to the world’s benefit, but wasn’t he similar? Mephiles told him that he found strength in something equally intangible-- a promised future that was too distant for most to grasp. Without time travel, he lacked the power to prove its existence. Without results, his words would have amounted to empty promises.

Silver was a quick learner and Mephiles was very proud of that. Just like the future was to him, their god's fate was not something to accept, but to change. The cult proved the world wrong and intentionally or not, saved the world several times over as a consequence. Silver then felt obligated to be thankful for their madness. Mephiles, using what remained of his godly powers and the technology that was left behind, was the one who rescued him from the “divine realm”, after all.

He did feel a bit bad about Knuckles’s legacy though. Mephiles can show understanding of that at least.

“I, too, have been feeling nostalgic lately, Silver.” At the drop of his voice, Mephiles could see Silver snapping out of the little daydream he was having. It was cute how easily Silver’s full attention was captured, he thought.

“Past, present, and future-- back when I was whole, I never thought about those things in relation to myself. I was an existence that transcended those terms, an entity that observed its domain instead of participating in it, but after waking up here, I find myself defining my experiences as my ‘life’-- a clear chronology of events that I can trace back until my ‘birth’.”

When he was Solaris, Mephiles didn’t see the world through the eyes of his core, the flame that was once trusted to Soleanna’s care. He saw the bumps and twists of time as if they were rivers and valleys, the flow of Chaos as if it was air, and the greatest tragedies in history as patterns on the universe’s grand tapestry. He had no dreams, no ambitions, no desires, and no matter how much he believed to be the one being who understood everything, he was too distant to truly know anything.

Then one day, his core was gone and the most brutal, searing pain in his life tore him in half. He remembered Iblis disappearing before his eyes-- their connection fizzling into silence alongside the warmth in Mephiles’s heart. Flung into a dimension crack the cultists had the gall label as “divine”, he was frozen in place without any of his limbs. With Iblis gone, it was only then he learned how much he cherished him.

Silver made for much more than a decent replacement.

The boy simply nodded along. Whether he actually understood what Mephiles said was irrelevant. This was all just nostalgia-- unjustified honesty that felt like spilling out one day and cleaning up his vomit wasn’t one of Silver’s duties.

“Before you left to resolve the Metal Virus pandemic was the war to take back the planet and before that was…. ”

“I think it was that car racing tournament held by that alien tanuki,” Silver answered promptly. “I’m surprised that people can just do that-- sending invitations to the future, I mean.”

“Ah, yes.” Mephiles remembered how Silver’s inability to fully relax dampened his enjoyment, but the experience ended up being a net positive experience for him anyway. The thrill of racing outweighed the doctor’s imposing presence.

“I allowed that letter to arrive at our doorstep. It seemed like something you’d like.”

“Allowed it?” Silver tilted his head, a gesture reminiscent of curious school children.

“Incomplete as I am, I’m still the god of time. Time travel was supposed to be something that could only be done with my permission, lest mortals abuse it, but little can be done about their curiosity and growing intellect. Allowing objects to be sent to the future-- and only the future-- is something of a compromise-- a line in the sand, so to speak.” Mephiles chuckled. “Though the tanuki’s coordinates were just a tad incorrect. I had to make a small correction.”

“That makes sense. Unless it changes my actions, whatever they send to the future won’t affect their present, and I wouldn’t do anything to the timeline’s detriment.” The flow of time only goes one direction after all: from past to future. If Silver was the ‘moderator’, that makes Mephiles the universe’s ‘admin’, and anyone who sends themselves forward in time can’t go back without his permission. Hopefully, no one is foolish enough to do that.

“Yes, and if they somehow managed to travel to the past, well, we’d just have to intervene. Although, there are times when mortals surpass my expectations, whether it be by using the miraculous gems this planet has, or a primordial power that even I didn’t know….” Mephiles sighed, melting into a puddle as they passed through a narrow road in Death Yard Zone. The cultists were utterly wasteful for them to have a scrapyard this large.

Mephiles was referring to the incident that occurred at one of Sonic’s birthday parties, at least, that was when it occurred from Sonic’s perspective. From Silver’s point of view, it was any other day in the future and what he saw that morning was… it would be an understatement to say that it gave him a heart attack. His feelings were so intense that they constricted Mephiles’s chest through the connection they shared-- strange, given the lack of muscles in his anatomy.

Silver recounted the incident to him once even though the god already knew it all. To see Crisis City once again was a bizarre memory come to life: flaming tornadoes sweeping across the ruined city, the scent of rust and ash inescapable, and a sky too cloudy to see the stars. For a moment, Silver thought everything he experienced was a dream: Mephiles’s existence, time-traveling, everything, so the first thing he did was try to find and fight the undying flames once again. It was like muscle memory, he said-- his mind clearing itself of any emotion in favor of focus, his psychokinesis sharpened and wild like a storm of blades. Perhaps he was feeling too much to process anything; he doesn’t even remember if he cried or not.

He did, Mephiles remembered. Though he looked more crazy than sad.

It was only when he spotted Sonic running around did Silver got his bearings, even if he got beaten up due to his quick assumptions. (“In all fairness, if I wasn’t sure that the environment was real, how can I assume that Sonic is?” Mephiles chose to agree to avoid a tedious argument.)

“We’re pretty lucky that it was settled as nicely as it did.”

“Indeed. Time will try to self-correct itself when the abnormality is removed, but it could lead to unpredictable changes. I suppose our heroes managed to resolve it before the Time Eater could do too much damage.” Mephiles, who was flung towards a different corner of White Space, opted to watch through Silver’s eyes and stay out of view throughout the incident. The blue hedgehog’s familiarity with Crisis City bothered him more than he liked.

“A dangerous being that consumes time… did you know anything about it?” Silver asked.

“No, but I can speculate.” Mephiles hummed, emerging from the ground as the scenery changed from a dull scrapyard to a lush forest. He can answer the question fine, but it wasn’t one he wanted to think about too much. “Whoever snuffed my core, the flame of Solaris, shook the timeline to its core, so it’s possible that unnatural phenomena born of my power could occur. It must’ve been quite a shock to see your old home again, though. To think that a fragment of an erased timeline would show its face not long after you decided to have fun at the doctor’s amusement park.”

Silver winced. Just like the racing tournament, that was also a more “frivolous” use of time travel. Mephiles considered it a good reward for bringing peace after the previous incident and could tell that Silver himself was curious. Seeing Silver’s jaw drop when he realized that of all the amusement parks in the space-time continuum, Mephiles picked Eggman’s unethical, outer space disaster, which garnered a lot of laughs from him. Still, with Sonic and friends there, Silver didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sky Park on Onyx Island was too desolate to be enjoyable.

(When Silver found out that Eggman discovered the Time Eater right after the park’s demise, he was kicking himself in the shin for days. Silver can be so hard on himself; high standards with high principles make for an interesting, yet predictable character, especially for one who only knew violence for most of his life.)

Silver cleared his throat. “It’s embarrassing to think about it-- my behavior at Crisis City that is. I didn’t freeze up when I went into the Ifrit’s dimension and that place was also a flaming city, but somehow I just… knew that place was my old home.”

“I saw it myself. You lived a tough life.”

“The experience put a lot of things into perspective for me.” Silver smiled, wry but too slight to be twisted. “After finding out what good air conditioning feels like, I understand why people wanted to kill themselves back then a bit more.”

An interesting, yet predictable character indeed.

The two arrived at the underground temple, where the Master Emerald was relocated when the cult took over. They built this place like a maze, protective of their new “sacred relic”, but both Silver and Mephiles knew this place like the back of their hands, even the places that were meant to be inaccessible. Mephiles made good use of the various death traps as part of his chosen one’s training routine back when he had less control over his psychokinesis. Aside from the massive gap in his memories, Silver’s recollection of the erased timeline was retained, but when it came to combat, nothing beats practical experience. Mephiles rewarded him with candy when he did a good job. Silver never asked where he got them.

Silver had always been so obedient-- a dutiful angel through and through. Today won’t be an exception.

“Speaking of Ifrit, that troublesome doctor had an even more troublesome descendant, didn’t he?” Mephiles’s eyes narrowed at the bitter memory, bubbles surfacing on top of his head as if his entire body was simmering. “If I was at full power, such an unworthy human would not have been able to capture me in such a way.”

Chasing after Doctor Eggman Nega, a man who was somehow even madder than his ancestor, was perhaps Silver’s first mission in saving the world. That man’s unwanted presence proved to be more than a nuisance when he invaded Onyx Island without warning, clearing a destructive path towards one goal: the Master Emerald. Training was still in session, but duty calls whether they liked it or not.

Mephiles, who had all the arrogance a god could have despite his fall from grace, was helplessly turned into a card right before his student’s eyes.

“I guess that’s the loophole to your authority, isn’t it? You can’t be the timeline’s ‘admin’ if you were sealed into a card....”

“Unfortunately. Since he never came back to the future, there was nothing I could do when I returned to form.” Another embarrassing moment for Silver-- when Eggman Nega’s machine went out of control and turned the mad doctor into a card, Silver thought for sure that everything would be settled and was perhaps a bit overzealous when trying to recover Mephiles. When he used the Master Emerald to return Onyx Island to its original time, he only realized that he dropped the doctor’s card when found the entire planet torched by Ifrit’s flames. Mephiles said that it “wasn't a big deal since you can just go back”. He was just glad he wasn’t a measly card anymore.

Plus, the villain died back in Ifrit’s dimension, didn’t he? All’s well that ends well.

“What was fortunate was that he didn’t realize who I was nor did he reveal my existence.” Turning back into liquid, Mephiles went through the cracks of the gate before him and opened it from behind. There was no need to bother with passcodes or fingerprints. “I told you why you can’t talk about me freely, yes?”

“It’s because you don’t want to alert your followers, right?”

Never invoke his name outside of this time frame. That was the first condition Silver must abide by to receive Mephiles's blessing. The cultists’ records were well preserved, some of them predating Sonic’s adventures as it goes back to the cult’s inception and not their takeover of Angel Island, making them useful when trying to catch up on any altered history. It also gave insight into how the cult operated in the shadows, how they were able to survive in every disaster thus far (except for the Metal Virus) before their inevitable demise, and most importantly, the vast information network they managed to cultivate within a short time. Their eyes and ears were everywhere in Sonic’s world.

“My followers were enamored with the idea that my return would make them special-- that they would be rewarded for their loyalty. Many of their leaders claimed that Solaris’s judgment is inevitable and that only they would be saved should they devote their hearts to me and me alone… an obvious means of indoctrination and control most certainly, but effective regardless.” Mephiles flicked a few panels, displaying more documents on the cult’s achievements. “Their determination is very apparent, but I can tell nothing good would happen if you get involved with them. With the brilliant minds they managed to recruit, they might break something in their attempts to meet me.”

“I don’t get it. If they worship you, couldn’t we make them our allies?”

“Fanaticism is a double-edged sword-- they’re devoted, but it’s the idea crafted by their leaders rather than the real thing they worship. They are prone to taking extreme actions under my name, regardless if it’s desirable.” Tapping the side of his head, Mephiles’s eyes curled into an expression Silver found difficult to parse. “Mortal minds are complex-- their desires are often impure. You don’t have to worry about their fate, Silver. You and I are special, transcending the laws of causality after we entered the ‘divine realm’. Whatever their fate maybe won’t affect our existence, even if they were the ones who summoned me.”

To put it simply, Silver was Mephiles’s chosen one and no one else-- not even the people who freed him in the first place. The hedgehog was poor at hiding his desire for praise; strong fortitude didn’t make him immune to insecurity. In the past, Silver had witnessed many events that made him feel small-- things like Sonic’s brilliant smile at the end of every miracle, Blaze’s ever-calm mind during the midst of battle, the bravery of thousands when they were shaking in their boots months before, or even the doctor’s unwavering persistence despite his countless failures. They happened as many times as the number of mistakes Silver had made in his life.

But it was Mephiles who waited for him at the end of every journey! It was Mephiles who told Silver that he was the world’s savior!

Maybe it was time for Mephiles to reap the rewards of being such a “good” person.

“Correct, but there was one other reason.”

“What is it?”

When Mephiles stopped in his tracks, so did Silver. They have arrived at the temple's core, the Master Emerald's new altar. Behind it was a mural of what is supposed to be Solaris, a bird-like being with grand, pure white wings. Its body encircled the Earth as a symbol of his endless benevolence, and beneath that was some inscribed scripture written in the original old Soleannian language. Mephiles could read it, even though he had long forgotten when and where he learned it.

In accordance with the flame's blessing, His decree is as follows:

“Above all else, the future.”

It’s an interesting take, Mephiles noted. The main sect claimed that he was a wrathful god whose flames were only placated by the sands of time-- a terrifying existence whose anger meant the end of all things. It was fear that kept them in line, not his generosity, but it seemed that the cult had created their own mythos. Perhaps it was to portray his death as a great injustice-- a picturesque victim who fell before man’s evil after years of trust.

It’s laughable.

The records showed quite clearly what the cult did under the name of “love” and “hope” and it was several pages of cruel practicality… no, it was too excessive to be called “practicality”. Even their supposedly “pure” desire to revive Solaris was seeped with group politics and deep paranoia. Traitors, deserters, whistleblowers… because their souls are too “tainted” to be saved, their bodies had to be offered as repentance.

Since human experimentation was just the tip of their iceberg, Mephiles thought it would be amusing if he sprinkled in some irony-- if he treated them like they had treated their subjects: disposable animals subjected to the whims of intellectual curiosity. Finding creative ways to murder and torture was a good way to stretch out his sore limbs after being confined for so long. Some of them were even happy that they could do that much for him. Perhaps telling Silver that they “sacrificed themselves for him” wasn’t a complete lie, after all.

Although he liked to think he was above the cult’s hypocrisy, Mephiles must admit that they did give him some inspiration. The unblinking god gazed into the Master Emerald, glorious just as it was in the past, and opened his mouth with his carefully crafted words.

“I feel like the moment you do, I’d be passing the point of no return. Expanding my existence-- my ‘life’ to somewhere I don’t belong.”

Silver blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Mephiles had no mouth but didn’t need it to convey the image he wanted. His body, which was usually languid and relaxed, became tense like a violin’s strings. His eyes, which were usually fearless as they were bright, cowered from making direct contact with Silver’s. He crossed his arms, rubbing them like it was a self-soothing motion. He needed to look vulnerable because what better way to touch an aimless hero’s heart than someone begging to be saved?

He will be a different sort of “heroine” than that cat he erased in Silver’s memories. (Along with all the other “problematic” memories he had.) He will play the role of an irrational maiden who is too kind for her own good.

“I’m saying that I don’t want to be too greedy after receiving so much. Now that I have you, I am… afraid of losing it all, Silver.”

Afraid. It was a hilariously out-of-character trait for Mephiles to have, but Silver, despite his suffering, still had that naive edge to him. He couldn’t tell the difference between a “new truth” or a “blatant lie”.

“I… still don’t understand. It’s not selfish if you don’t want to be a secret. I won’t leave you for that.”

It was all too confusing for Silver who couldn't see the connection Mephiles was making, but that wasn’t a problem. Careful guidance was all that was necessary for a good listener like Silver.

Mephiles shook his head. “I’m not referring to direct cause and effect. I was thinking of karma. Fate. Destiny. Whatever you would like to call it.”

“Oh.” Silver supposes that a god would know things like that better than him.

“I told you before that I never thought of my ‘existence’ as ‘living’ until recently, and I realized since then that there are many things you mortals take for granted. For example…”

Silver yelped-- his body jerked forward without warning.

“...being able to hear the voice you make when I get close to you like this…”

He was pulled until his head went past Mephiles’s shoulder, close enough for Silver to feel his ears tingle whenever the god spoke. It felt desperate instead of playful, tight instead of gentle, and the surface of Mephiles’s skin felt colder than before.

It’s odd.

“M-Mephiles…!”

He couldn’t see it, but Mephiles’s eyes gleamed with a mischievous glow as his hands melted against Silver’s back. It didn’t feel bad per se, but….

“...being able to see through your eyes as you look at me like this…”

The coldness spreads, but even as the sensation traces up to his muzzle, Silver doesn’t budge. He couldn’t even if he wanted to.

“...being able to taste the comfort foods you’re so fond of after all you spent so much effort to learn…”

There was no space between them, but they became closer and closer, breaths intertwining, bodies melding, enveloping, consuming--

“...and being able to smell the cologne sample you refused to waste despite caring little for the scent….”

It only registered to Silver then that he was being embraced by someone dear to him.

“...Those things that I am now able to process through my ‘senses’, are now ‘memories’ that I want to keep.”

“Mephiles, I….”

Silver returned the hug-- he felt like he had to, but it was too intense. As if he could read his mind, the god gave him a compromise and loosened his grip. That was enough for Silver to regain his focus. He noticed that the back of Mephiles’s quills had sharpened into crystals, its glitter as beautiful as it is sharp. The god’s eyes had become bloodshot and what once a soft, emerald glow was an acidic verdant. Fragility was not a word Silver would ever think to associate with a god of all beings and yet….

The smile in Mephiles’s eyes looked like it could break at any moment.

It was the perfect act.

“Fate has gifted me with you, a lost soul from a lost time, and in exchange, took away my ability to traverse my own domain. You became everything to me, Silver, you know that? I am helpless without you.”

It felt strange. Was Mephiles always this kind of person? Or did he really change this much because of me? Thoughts like those didn’t make it out of his lips. Silver didn’t want to sound like he was questioning Mephiles’s sincerity.

Something sharp stroked the side of Silver’s muzzle, but nothing bled. Even as Mephiles’s form changed into something more terrifying-- something more sharp and raw before his eyes, he is still the gentle darkness he always knew. Silver was never the type to judge based on appearance. Mephiles appreciated that very much.

“Perhaps there was some meaning to my circumstance-- some hidden purpose or lesson that I was meant to learn from living more like a mortal than a god. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be unwise to ask for more? Shouldn’t I be living for the future, satisfied with the cards I was dealt now that the timeline is in the good hands of my champion?”

Mephiles closed his eyes.

“And yet, I dream of the things I saw through your eyes and imagine it as if I was there, weaving through the threads of time as if it still belongs to me. It’s unsightly. It would be unsightly of me to insert myself in a time where I don’t belong nor deserve….”

It didn’t suit him, Silver thought. It’s too pitiful. Mephiles’s voice shouldn’t crack, shouldn’t have that same hopeless complacency that plagued the apocalypse survivors in his old world. Fallen or not, Mephiles is god! He should see the light he sees-- living by his side unfettered by anything like the higher being he is. Anything he wants, Silver would be happy to give…

…because if not, what reason would he have to stay here?

Silver’s teeth clenched into a tight grit.

“...You say all of that as if you’re a criminal accepting punishment.”

“No need to be dense-- I’m sure you’ve suspected it at least once. Why was your future erased? Why was I ‘killed’? And why were we both coincidentally found in the same realm? Perhaps these things are connected. Perhaps the splitting of Solaris was a necessity for the world….”

It lined up too well. Something must’ve caused the catastrophe and something must’ve happened to erase said catastrophe. The legends that spoke of Solaris’s flames being the source of disaster may be true….

In fact, they are.

After slaughtering the cult and cleaning up the mess, Mephiles tinkered around with the equipment and found another presence trapped within the same place he was summoned from. Rescuing Silver and reading the memories from his then-unconscious body was just a whim, but he didn’t think there would be anything in there that could shock him. The arrogant wishes of man to erase the mistakes they were responsible for, the tortuous abuse of his core and the scientists’ gall to call it the “Solaris Project”, his schemes to destroy the very thing he was meant to rule and love, and what the hedgehog before him did alongside the blue and black one-- the memories flowed inside his head like it was a movie and its ending left him strangely empty. Mephiles did not bear the same scars as the Mephiles in that timeline; his “death” was rather quick compared to the Solaris Project.

So what did he want if not revenge? Well, there was some truth within his lies. He really did learn how it felt to live like a mortal-- how it felt to live with a desire so powerful that he can no longer call it a “whim” or a mere “curiosity”. Cravings aren’t the norm for gods…

…and yet, he wanted Silver to be his.

Meanwhile, Silver had a completely different train of thought. Did Mephiles feel guilty? Was Mephiles the kind of god who was capable of guilt in the first place? No, that’s the wrong way of thinking about it-- the answer was right in front of him: Mephiles learned “the feelings of mortals”. He learned what makes people like us happy, so why would negative emotions be an exception? Why would guilt be an exception? To realize that he once destroyed something he was meant to protect, this is the natural outcome…

Silver clenched his fists.

But even so… even so!

His head was floating somewhere above the realm of rationality, fleeing through the crack in his principles.

Even if it's the whole world, he should be above that.

Restraint, doubts, logic-- those things were washed away by Mephiles’s rose-colored image.

“...It doesn’t make a difference.”

“Hmm?”

“While we reminisced on the way here, it was always about what I've been through-- what I felt and what I did…. You said that you should be grateful for the ‘life’ you were given, but there is no ‘life’ for you to speak of, isn’t there? You haven't made any attempt to live in a ‘normal’ society like a ‘normal’ mortal at all.”

“...”

“Or maybe, you're like me.” Silver’s voice tapered into a gentle whisper. “You couldn't even after you tried….”

Mephiles didn’t intend for Silver to make such an assumption, but he didn’t mind. It worked in his favor. With a demure sigh, he continues to goad Silver’s heroic instincts.

“I'm fine with living through you.”

“No. You don't have to settle for this.”

“Silver--”

“Even if that was all true-- that you were the one who destroyed the world-- that it was you who crushed everyone's hopes and dreams and that this was somehow your punishment for it…!” Silver shook his head, his speech outpacing his breath. “You still deserve a future that you want! The future is beautiful because it can be better. No one-- and I mean no one deserves to live thinking that it can't….”

It was a generous take-- too generous. If the only consequence for ending the world was “not being able to time travel”, most people would be outraged, but Silver wasn’t thinking about justice. Stories of heroes come in many shapes and forms, but what touched his heart as a child wasn’t “the punishment of evil” but the “ease of suffering”. Force may be quick and effective, but with Mephiles, who has done nothing but good for him… the answer is clear.

Silver tightened his embrace over Mephiles, unaware of just how much strength he was exerting. He doesn’t care what happened in the past. He doesn’t care for the memories he had long forgotten. He was lost in Mephiles’s scent; the smell of ashes and iron reminded him of home. (Mephiles is his home.) It must be love, Silver thinks. He could feel his god’s pain through the thread that ties them together. Mephiles thinks it’s a savior complex-- helping others is his chosen one’s method for maintaining his ego.

It was self-serving all the same.

An epiphany befell upon the hedgehog-- a shooting star spotted by chance-- signaling the endgame of this charade.

Silver asked, “...If you were whole again, would you get all of your powers back?”.

“I would,” Mephiles affirmed, “but despite all the timelines we’ve witnessed and the changing records that came with it, my other half, Iblis, was nowhere to be seen. He… didn’t make it to the divine realm like I had.” Iblis was either wandering in the fourth dimension, too far out of reach or had completely dissipated.

(Though through Silver’s memories, he found out that there was “another” Iblis who was stolen away by a certain cat-- a sacrifice for a future that no longer exists.)

“Maybe Iblis--” Silver winced from a sudden ache. “--is sealed somewhere, like how you can be sealed into a card.”

“It's not impossible, but it'll be a wild goose chase,” he lied. “I’ve… thought of something, but-- no, I shouldn’t. I already asked so much from you.”

“Tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Please.”

“Are you--”

“Please.”

Eager to please with a tinge of desperation, Silver looked like a puppy with eyes that shined like the sun-- golden with a hint of green from the Master Emerald’s ambient glow. He had always been like that-- unapologetically hopeful to the point of blindness. Mephiles didn’t need to see it to tell that Silver’s tail was wagging. An invisible smirk lay beneath his muzzle.

“Then Silver…”

The sweetness of temptation and the soft tremble of a nervous maiden wrap around each other into one voice-- one whisper to crawl into his victim’s ear. It was finally time.

The devil speaks softly.

“...would you like to marry me?”

“Of course!”

“...”

“…”

“...”

“What?”

“...You don’t know how that would help me.”

“But you do, right?”

With the smile he’s wearing, no one could interpret Silver’s intent as anything but sincere. Mephiles couldn’t hold it back.

“Pfft…hahaha!”

So trusting, this child. He offered him poisoned fruit and he took it without question. Is it because of his childhood that he isn’t picky or despite it? No, he had seen it himself that Silver wasn’t one to give out trust freely. Mephiles is just that special to him. Those tiny ‘spells’ he cast bore fruit.

Well, that’s good.

“Indeed, but when I say ‘marry’, I refer to what Iblis and I once shared, not whatever fanfare mortals like to perform.” Mephiles let his claws dance freely atop the hedgehog’s back, gently stroking the fur that’ll soon be his. “We would experience everything together in every sense, not just in what we see, but also what we feel both physically and emotionally. I will always be with you. You will always be with me. We will be one.”

“To be one with Mephiles….” Silver blinked. “Then, will we still be ‘ourselves’ or…?”

“We can be if you want. We could take turns fronting… unless you want to become something new together.” It’s good for Mephiles that he only said that lightly because Silver only gave a soft chuckle in response. His ego isn’t at the point where such a thing wouldn’t feel like death.

“I will be able to travel through time with you and together, we will always be at home, but I understand if it--”

“No! It’s a wonderful idea, Mephiles. If it makes you happy, I will share my body with you.” Silver already made up his mind-- an idyllic result manifesting in his head before it even happened. “My question if anything is… how? Psychokinesis and time traveling aside, I’m just a regular hedgehog.”

Mephiles found it amusing how Silver could just brush aside his powers like that to call himself normal. When he was wallowing that being unable to time travel made him mortal-like, he was at least self-aware to some extent.

“It’s possible even if you aren’t of divine origin. We have the unifier of chaos right here, don’t we?” Mephiles gestured towards the sacred jewel. “This will be our ‘priest’. Just follow my lead, Silver. Trust me.”

Trust me. Those words echoed inside Silver’s head as he took Mephiles’s hand and climbed the altar. The tingle of chaos energy vibrated down to the marrow of his bones, but all Silver could focus on was the beat of his heart-- bumping and bumping against his chest with… anticipation? Fear? Silver was committed, but that didn’t stop him from thinking how grateful he was for Mephiles’s still hand. It felt like a bubble of air in the deep, blue sea.

The unchanging emerald glows with an imperceptible gaze.

“Now, Silver, listen to me closely. Look at me and take a deep breath.” Mephiles hummed with approval when Silver followed his instructions right away. “Good. Now, close your eyes. I’m going to cast a spell and until I say so, don’t open them.”

The air was always colder when Mephiles was around, but as seconds passed, the air went from chilly to icy; his limbs became sweaty to shivering and he could feel his warm breath pressing against his frosty lips. Somewhere beyond the darkness, something was calling for Silver-- a pull that was tugging his soul forward into the abyss. It may have been Mephiles, who was chanting something in a language he had no idea of or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was the electric trill of his psychokinesis, a common phenomenon when danger is near. He could feel flickering above his palms before it calmed into a blanket that enveloped him. As Mephiles’s voice gradually raised, the free-flowing energy from his body started swirling more and more with the arctic breeze and Silver’s mind started to feel dizzy as the spiral continued to spin on and on….

He was curious, but Silver didn’t open his eyes.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Until now.

“What…?”

His eyes were expecting the bright glow of the Master Emerald, but it ended up being the opposite. Everything was pitch black. He could see himself, but not the ground below him. He was floating in a starless void.

“Blink twice for me, Silver.”

Once. Then, twice.

It was still dark, but now Mephiles was in front of him again.

“...!”

Long quartz earrings that were shaped like the sun’s rays, delicate lace that lined his grand silhouette, shimmering silver dust that covered the trail of his divine steps-- Mephiles was wearing an outstanding wedding dress. He was still in that sharp, more demonic-like form, but there wasn’t a single tear in his pure white silk, fitting perfectly around his torso before draping down his sides. The bouquet he was holding smelled sweet-- consisting of the same white flowers Silver remembered growing in his garden.

Silver didn’t even notice that he was wearing a matching suit.

“This is our shared mindscape. There’s nothing in it right now, but over time, it’ll be filled with memories and color. There is just one final touch we need to do.” Mephiles took one of Silver’s now ungloved hands into his and closed in to speak sweetly once more.

“Silver the Hedgehog-- to many, you are a symbol of hope like I was to others, but to me, you are the world itself, the creator of the blue skies you loved to chase on your journeys. You are the light I was missing, the warmth that I cherish, and an experience that not even Iblis could provide. Even though I am of divine origin, it would be my honor to accept you as my partner… and for you to accept me for all of what I am.”

“M-Mephiles…!” The devil’s passionate vows left the hedgehog burning with a flustering red, scrambling to pick up the words he owed back. It took strength to not just kiss his bride right away.

“I… always dreamed of being a great hero. I wanted to be that person in the stories: a savior and protector of others, a figure who people would love and believe in, a person who no one would want to leave behind…. You made that possible, Mephiles.” Silver sniffed, struggling to hold back his joyful tears. His eyes were dull and flat. His smile was brighter than the sun. “If I am the world, then the world is yours. If I am your happiness, then I will become infinite. If devoting myself to you makes me insane, delusional, mad… then I will lose my mind as many times as it takes! I love you, Mephiles. I love you so much….”

The difference in dignity between the groom and bride couldn’t be more different, but there is no audience here to criticize their bond-- no dissenters to interrupt their sacred ritual. Silver takes up Mephiles's clawed hand and brings it up to his lips-- an expression of his devotion, love, and loyalty to the one who brings him purpose. With what’s meant to be an assuring grin and a wink, Silver looked up to face those bright green eyes. He could tell that Mephiles was smiling.

“I will be the person you need. That is why above all else, I swear to you: a future that you can love.”

The hero and his damsel, the devil and his angel, the manipulated and the manipulator, and the flames of disaster and hope-- their roles twist with new purpose, delaying what could’ve been a happy ending in favor of a new story for them to enjoy. Magic swept through the gaps between their fingers and bound them through a pair of silver and onyx rings. It suited them well.

Then, they kissed on the lips like all couples do and a question occurred to Silver.

I wonder what the others would think?

He didn’t find an answer before the kiss broke and by then, Silver was gone.

Silver, the earthly body, and Mephiles, the cunning mind-- perhaps they cannot be called a god in the same way Solaris was, but as they passed the crowded city streets, they would sometimes catch the eyes of certain folks. Silver looked the same as always, but people would say that something about him had changed. He became more refined, more calm, and to some people, more ideal-- an overall less of a hassle.

Of course, that was because the real Silver was sleeping peacefully, lulled by the dream of the perfect home they had built together. In the meantime, Mephiles decided to take it upon himself to take care of the body now that its original owner was far, far away. He even concocted a plan to surprise him when he woke up! A new friend would do the trick, he thought. Poor Iblis, who was trapped in a place far away, must’ve been lonely. What would it take for him to come back and live in harmony with Mephiles and Silver? Mephiles knew the answer. He could make it happen painlessly.

A certain cat would disagree, not that Silver could hear it.

As the threads of time unfold, Sonic and his friends would later realize the truth. Could they have stopped this if they were able to rewind time? Was there a possibility that all of them could get what they wanted without any of these senseless sacrifices? The one known as the ultimate lifeform would’ve scoffed at those questions.

“He chose him over us. This is what he wanted.” It went unspoken that if they truly respected Silver as a person, whether it be his heroic altruism or his hidden darkness, they would face him with their whole heart. There was no mind control for them to blame. There was no point even if there was.

Apocalypse or peace, romance or tragedy, past or future-- the sun rises all the same, its halo encircling the Earth like a warm embrace. No matter its fate, the world will always be worthy of its love…

…but some futures shine brighter than others.