Fixing My Broken Heart

Chapter 9 - Mephiles's POV

(Around 4pm...)

River purred in my lap, begging me for more ear rubs. I smiled. Barely even a day staying here and she had already warmed up to me. Maybe there was hope for me. If a cat liked me, then others had to like me too, right?

"Come on, Mephiles, don't go get your hopes up," the voice in the back of my head said. "River's a cat, not a Mobian. Not even Shadow seems to trust you, so what's the point of trying? You should just leave while you can, before he kicks you out himself. Who says you need him?"

I sighed. I didn't need him; I wanted him so, so badly! But I knew it would be a miracle for me to have him. Why would he love someone like me? I was a villain, and he was one of the heroes who defeated me. It would be impossible for us to find love between us. I heavily doubted he would love someone like me anyway.

That's when, the front door opener, and I heard the footsteps walk inside. I jumped over the couch to greet Shadow, but tripped and ended up falling into my back. The hedgehog laughed, closing the front door and lookin down at me. "That excited to see me, huh? You're not the Mephiles I knew five years ago."

I blushed, but frowned at him. "Is that supposed to be an insult?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, not at all," he said. "Can't I state something I notice about you? I mean, hasn't a lot changed about me since you last saw me five years ago?" I blushed even more. He helped me up, and stood me up straight.

Our eyes locked, and we both seemed to get lost in what we saw. His ruby eyes were so beautiful. Nothing compared to my own. I wanted to stare into them forever. How amazing that would be.

After a while, River meowed at us both, bringing our attention back to our surroundings. Shadow sighed, then headed into the kitchen. River followed him. He was probably going to get her food, and that was why she was meowing.

I sighed, sitting back on the couch. Did he see me blushing? Could he read my thoughts? Did he know that I had feelings towards him? "Hey, Mephiles?" he asked from the kitchen. I jumped a bit, and rushed to see him.

Shadow finished filling River's bowl for food, then looked up at me. "So, when was the last time you saw Iblis? I'd like to help you find him, since he means so much to you, but I need to know the details." My heart leaped with joy. He really wanted to help me. It meant that he trust me!

"Uh, Mephiles? You gonna answer my question?" I gasped and nodddd in excitement. Yes, anything he would like. Anything just to see him happy. "Well, why don't I show you myself?" I said. He looked confused, and I didn't blame him.

With my magic, I created a shadow portal right next to my feet, just enough for us to fit, one at a time. Shadow stared down at the portal, shocked and confused. "Don't worry, your apartment isn't ruined. This is just how I get from place to place without being noticed."

To demonstrate, I hopped through the portal, landing in a dark alleyway on the darker, more dangerous side of Station Square. The portal was right above my head, and I could hear Shadow gasp from the other side, though with the portal being a shadow itself, I couldn't see him.

"Don't worry, Shadow," I said, stepping to the side. "I promise it's safe. It'll close once you go through, but you're gonna need to be quiet. We don't want to draw too much attention." He sighed on the other end. I didn't blame him; this all was probably crazy for him.

After a few seconds, he jumped through, landing beside me. Like I said, the shadow portal closed once he was on the ground. The hedgehog looked around, and seemed even more confused. "Where are we?" he asked, looking out the alleyway. I looked out too.

"We're in the middle of Criminal Hotspot, Shadow."

On the streets, a few sketchy Mobians walked around, and past many homeless people. There were even a few "please help me" signs. From what I had heard from Shadow's reports while watching him, "Criminal Hotspot" was the name that G.U.N. classified this bad area of Station Square, since many gangs met up in the area to discuss plans.

"This alleyway was exactly where those weird scientists took Iblis," I said, walking back into the alleyway. "There's a farmer's market not too far from here where I visit on occasion. It's not that bad, since so many people are struggling down here. But from aside that...Iblis and I were ambushed here. They practically beat me to death, and stole Iblis when he wasn't on guard and...trying to heal me. You can actually see some of the evidence."

I pulled back a trash can, where a burned outline of a human lied. Shadow cringed. "Yeah, this guy wasn't so lucky as everyone else," I remarked. "Oh, here's another mark." I tossed aside a trashbag to reveal a bunch of dried purple blood, in the outline of my body lying on the ground.

Shadow gasped. "Yeah, this could have been where I died," I stated rather casually. "It probably would have, if Iblis hadn't tried healing me. He could have saved himself...but he didn't." My heart began to ache. My best friend risks his life for me, even though he could have ran away and left me to die. That thought had lingered with me for the past few months now, as a sickly reminder that I was the reason Iblis had been captured in the first place.

"Hey, what's this?" Shadow asked, and picke up a rather worn and ripped lab coat. On its left side, a patch with a pair of red wings was adorn. I gasped. "That belonged to one of the scientists who attacked me and Iblis! That can be used-" "To find the facility and Iblis!" Shadow finished for me. I looked at him in disbelief.

He smiled, then came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Mephiles. I'm gonna help you find Iblis. I swear on it." My hear leapt. This was one step closer to the bigger goal in mind; affection.