I still couldn't believe my eyes. My mother, granted as a spirit, hovered in front of me.
"How are you here? WHY are you here?" I asked, trying to hide my fear.
"I am here to assist, of course." She began. "But also to teach. I have much to explain to you"
"Explain? What do you mean, Mother?" I sit on a nearby log, curious now.
"I haven't been fully honest with you when I was alive." She sighed and sat beside me. "I will show you personally."
Her hands touched my temples. They were warm, unnaturally warm. My body suddenly seized up, and I felt my own soul thrust out of my body and into the past. For a moment, there was only darkness. There was a rush of wind, the sensation of falling, and then the damp scent of moss faded away. Suddenly, I was standing on polished stone. The echo of my breath bounced off high, arched ceilings. My vision swam as I struggled to adjust to the flickering torchlight illuminating towering columns and faded banners. I realized with a jolt that I was no longer in the forest.
My clothes felt strange. I was now wearing baggy pants and sandals, which slapped softly against the cold floor. My hair was longer, brushing my shoulders. I had a banner around my waist with a flame detail at the bottom. It was as if I'd stepped into a memory, but everything was so vivid I could almost taste the dust in the air. I was in my mother's body, young and scared, staring up at a woman I instinctively knew was my grandmother.
I had never met her till now. She wore a long dress and sharp heels. Her gloves ran all the way to her elbows. Her claws were sharp, and her fangs made her look like a monster. She reminded me of Eggman Negative in many ways. Beside me stood six unfamiliar guardians.A young raccoon shifted nervously, her eyes bright and curious, with a faint shimmer of water clinging to her fur, as if she'd just stepped from a riverbank.
A brash kangaroo stood solid and unyielding, every movement purposeful, like he was rooted to the stone floor itself.
A cold, and harsh, snow leapord with an icy stare. Her fur shimmered with ice crystals and her breath was able to be seen even now.
A koala with a gentle-eyed and composed stance, with leaves woven into the gray of her fur, and carried the scent of earth after rain, something ancient and reassuring about her.
An owl who perched cautiously, his feathers ruffled by an unseen breeze, his gaze sharp and wise, with a subtle crackle in the air around him that made the torches flicker with energy.
And finally, a dingo who lingered in the shadows, mysterious and hard to read. The wind seemed to swirl around them, like a friend.
Even though I couldn't place them, there was something elemental about their presence, something that hinted at powers older than the castle walls.
"You think you can stop me?" My grandmother's voice rang, grave and strict. She wore a smirk; she had a plan. "I've already won. I have control now. The power of Sol will be mine to command!"
As those words left her lips, the very air seemed to pulse. Shadows coiled around my grandmother, thick and oily, drawn from the corners of the ancient hall. The Sol emeralds quivered in her grip, their brilliance flickering, then dimming as darkness crept across their surfaces. A cold wind swept through, carrying a bitterness that stung my eyes. A monstrous shape began to rise from the gloom behind her. Entropy, a dragon made of pure shadow, was born from hatred and a hunger that seemed to echo Eggman Nega's worst desires. The ground trembled beneath its weight.
My thoughts scrambled for a solution, but I realized these weren't just my thoughts. They were my mother's, sharp and urgent, urging the guardians to action.I tried to move, to shout, but my body wasn't fully my own. I felt every heartbeat, every breath, but my arms and legs responded to someone else's will. My mother's memories steered me, her instincts guiding the team. I could feel her confidence and her fear mingling with my own confusion. Every decision she made, I experienced. Her voice, not mine, rang out: "Guardians, now! Together!"
The raccoon's paws shimmered as water circled her, ready to strike. The kangaroo slammed his tail, stone cracking and rising at his command. The koala, steady and ancient, used the power of nature to trap the dark creature and keep it back. The raccoon, using the power of water, fueled the Koala's nature powers. The Snow leopard used her ice abilities to freeze the shadow dragon in its tracks and slow it down. The owl's wings sparked with static, and the air tingled with electricity. The dingo darted forward with the speed of the wind, using harsh hurricane winds to launch debris at the dragon. They looked to me, their leader, without hesitation, and I felt the burden and pride of command settle on my shoulders.
We moved as one. I, as my mother, rushed forward, the scepter's weight familiar in my grip. The team unleashed their powers: water crashed against Entropy's shadowy form; stone pillars erupted to block its path; vines and roots snaked from the floor, binding and slowing the beast; lightning flashed, searing the darkness; and wind slammed harsh blocks of stone at the beast.The corrupted emeralds atop the scepter pulsed, struggling against the shadow, but the guardians' combined might forced new light into them. I could feel my mother's determination, her voice chanting words I didn't recognize, her arms raising the scepter as the void began to form into a swirling darkness hungry for the dragon.
"Now!" the owl cried, his voice a thunderclap.
Together, we poured every ounce of energy, will, and hope into the scepter. Entropy shrieked, its form breaking apart, sucked into the void as the Sol emeralds blazed with restored color. The final pull was overwhelming. I felt my mother's exhaustion, her joy, her relief, and my own awe tangled with hers.
Silence crashed down. The void snapped shut, and the hall was left in shuddering quiet, the only sound our ragged breaths and the gentle hum of the now-pure emeralds.Inside my mother's body, I felt the ache of victory and the strange, bittersweet pride of a memory not fully my own.
I was whipped out of the memory fast, my body falling off the log and onto the forest floor. My mind had to take a minute to catch up to the fact that I was back in my real body, my heart still pounding like I really did just fight Entropy.
"W-What does that all mean? How do I... find them? How do I even know they're still alive?" I looked to my mother, who looked down at my tired form.
"Nyx will show you. She was the nature guardian. Explain what you saw to her, and she will help show you the others. Sol didn't have time to explain everything, so I came to you personally. Only the power of all the elements can restore the Sol Emeralds to their glory. I believe in you, my ember." Before I could ask any more questions, my mother's form began to dissipate.
I looked up, seeing her vanish in the moonlight, with pain in my heart. The same pain from the night I lost her back then, too. I fell to the ground, clutching my chest. I sobbed, missing my mother all over again.
"NO, MOTHER, PLEASE! COME BACK TO ME!" I whimpered like a kitten, reaching out to a hand that was never there to begin with. For a moment, I lay there, heart pounding with echoes of memory. I could still feel it: the jeweled scepter's weight, the guardians' powers, my mother's fierce determination.
Her voice lingered in the breeze, soft but certain: "Remember, Blaze: you're never truly alone. Trust those who stand beside you, especially the ones who'd give anything to protect you. My love is always with you, Little Ember. No matter how dark it seems, a spark of me is always inside you."
Warmth pressed against my cheek, and slowly, the darkness receded. I blinked up at the pale gray sky, dew clinging to my fur, the scents of earth and wet grass sharp in the morning air. My body ached as if I'd run for miles. I felt someone shaking my shoulder and... Woke up? I'm being shaken by Gardon. It's day now, but I'm still outside.
Was it all a dream?
"Your majesty, you've been outside all night. Did... did you have a bad dream? Are you feeling alright?" His voice had worry in it. He definitely caught me crying. I wipe my tears from my tired eyes.
"I'll be fine, Gardon. Thank you for checking on me." I nodded, still dazed, but as Gardon helped me sit up, the emptiness inside me eased a little.
I quickly got off the ground to the smell of homemade syrup coming from Nyx's hut. Time for breakfast. I got up with help from Gardon as he escorted me to the hut. For the first time in days, a spark of confidence kindled in my chest. I didn't have all the answers, but I knew I wasn't alone. Whatever had happened in the night, I was ready to face what came next.
Time to prove mom right. I will find the guardians. And I will fix this.
Thanks, Mom, for lifting my spirits. I'll be your ember.