Wretched Blessing

Chapter 9

        Sonic paced the room again. He went back and forth and back and forth, moving between the window, the wall with the invisible door, and each corner of the chamber. I was slumped on a comfy sofa placed against the wall opposite the bed, listening as the hedgehog boy muttered to himself. For the past hour, Sonic had been trying to form a plan to get out of here. We knew that Mephiles had the Chaos Emerald hidden somewhere, but even if we were to get our hands on it, Sonic had said it would be very difficult for him to induce Chaos Control with only one.

        "Maybe," announced Sonic as he turned toward me. "Maybe you can use the emerald to teleport. We still don't know all that you can do—you've been full of surprises along the way. If you and Mephiles share the same energy, that might mean you'd also have the same power to travel with one Chaos Emerald."

        "I don't know if I'd be up to it just yet," I yawned. Ever since I had left the demon's side, I felt as if my energy was slowly leaking from deep inside my bones and exiting out the pores of my skin. Tiredness took hold of me. All I wanted to do now was lounge on the sofa for a few hours longer, listening to nothing but the quiet hum of the atmosphere, surrounded by crystalline forms.

        "You might be able to do it when you're stronger," Sonic said, nodding to himself. "It's not as if we have the emerald already, there's time to rest." The tap of his footsteps stopped in front of me. I looked at him, tired (eye color) irises meeting emerald green.

        "So, we just wait?" I wondered, and by the expression on his face it was obvious he didn't like the idea.

        "I think we at least need to get out of this 'palace,' where Mephiles won't have control," he said. Stepping toward the single window in the chamber, Sonic peered out with narrowed eyes, straining to see far into the distance. I wasn't sure what he thought was out there. Did he expect to find a place that would conceal us from the evil entity's sight?

        "Sonic," I drawled out, getting the boy to look at me. "Mephiles built this world. I think he has control everywhere. It doesn't matter if we stay in this palace or not—he'll know where we are at all times."

        The hedgehog furrowed his eyebrows out of annoyance. "Why are you putting down my plans? You're not even trying to find a way out. It's as if you're okay staying here!"

        My mouth hung open for a second as I grasped what he was accusing me of. Then I snapped my teeth together, top lip curling over them in a snarl. "How could you say that?" I growled, getting to my feet and towering angrily over the anthropomorphic creature that was almost two feet shorter than me. He looked up at me with gleaming eyes, the scowl on his face growing more prominent.

        "I don't want to be here anymore than you do, Sonic," I continued. "I know what Mephiles will do if he gets his way, and I don't want that. All this time, everything we've been through, we did it to stop him. When you and everyone else abandoned me, I still felt that way. You even came back for me. And now you're accusing me of joining him! Do you know how betrayed that makes me feel?"

        "I'm not accusing you of joining him," the hedgehog took a step back. "I'm just saying you could at least try to contribute a little more to making a plan. You've had plenty of time sitting around to do it. Mephiles even took you outside and showed you around the place, so, of course, the best person to look to for ideas is you." He spat out that last remark, spines bristling.

        An irate breath sucked into my lungs, and I stared at the boy with all the fury I could muster. "Well, maybe I don't have any ideas at the moment."

        We glared at each other, both feeling as fury began to envelop our bodies. The temperature seemed to rise between us, causing our skin to become damp with sweat. The air was rigid with intense emotion. Sonic and I had never gotten into such a heated fight before, it felt unnatural. It had gotten to the point where I wanted to plant my fist in his puny and pathetic face.