REVERSE/REBIRTH: ESPIO'S TALE

Epilogue: Seven Days Left

A year has passed since the disappearance of the Keyblade Master and Espio's conquest over the darkness. But to the outside worlds, the extraordinary events that occurred within Castle Oblivion were nonexistent in living memory. In addition, the existence of the Keyblade Master had faded from the minds of all with the exception of a few individuals.

The scene opens to the Great Maw, which existed outside the borders of the Hollow Bastion town. Even from a distance, some notable changes were seen as the residents of the town were reconstructing the world after Black Doom's hostile takeover. Trudging through the stony wasteland, three well known characters were crossing their way through the Great Maw in the direction of the town. One of them was King Jet, who seemed untouched by the passage of time.

Deathwing had gone through a dramatic change in his twelve months of existence - the young foal had matured to a full-grown Thestral. The beast of death still resembled a winged house with reptilian features added, but he had grown considerably taller to the point where he towered over his partner by a head. Deathwing carried three scars of battle over his spine and his left wing was partially ripped, giving him a rugged demeanor.

Espio had changed with ages as well with the sudden increase of his size, giving him the same stature as the king. The chameleon's horn had been cut off from an unknown battle and his scales held a permanent dark tinge. In addition to the Dark Cloak, he had collected a black cloth to wear over his eyes with a neon-lavender symbol (take a guess). As they continued their travels, Espio suddenly dropped to his knees and gained the attention of his friends.

"Hey, you ok?" King Jet asked as Deathwing nudged his partner. Espio was breathing heavily and clutching the fabric over his heart. "Its Mephiles again, isn't it? Maybe we should take a short rest?"

"No..." Espio panted. "We've got a job to do."

"It's not worth it if you overexert yourself." King Jet stated firmly.

"Everyone else is already fulfilling their duties." Espio said, grunting as he stood up. "Terro has continued to leak information from the Order, Kumori is repairing Sonic's memory, and Tomo agreed to guide him when he wakes up. Our mission is simply to gather new recruits. I think it would be better if we split up from here."

"It would help us find Metal and the others a lot easier." King Jet nodded. "But are you sure you'll be ok without my help?"

"I'll be fine." Espio waved nonchalantly. "Besides, I've got Deathwing with me."

The King of Babylon Garden didn't seem reassured, but he was not ready to argue with the short period of time they had left. Their mission was to gather to new recruits, spread the news, and leave the world immediately. With a short nod from the Keyblade King, the group went in opposite directions. King Jet his way to the town to meet with Metal and his friends while Espio and Deathwing traveled in the direction of the Dark Depths.

"I heard Sonic's mother was buried there." Espio murmured softly. "Maybe we should pay our respects before searching for our target." Deathwing squeaked lowly. "I know it's not going to be easy. How do you convince the Mother Heartless to join a group like the Seekers?"

The scene alternates to an unknown hidden between the realms of light and darkness. The majority of the world was covered by dreary black streets and overshadowed by the towering neon skyscrapers above. This area was deemed suitable for the existence of the Heartless and over thousands of Neoshadows flocked the dark alleys, hoping to discover a new prey. But hovering over the suicidal city was a pure white castle with a number of turrets and decorated with the symbol of the order: a turned heart with a pointed cross. Terro was sitting on the bed in his private room, staring out the window into the eternal darkness that covered the sky.

"Why didn't you report in?" The Deceptive Rogue turned back to greet and old friend, No. VII.

"Oh, good to see you, too." Terro said sarcastically. "You're welcome, thanks for the kind words."

"I am told that Kumori has gone missing." No. VII said indifferently. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

"Believe me; I have no idea where she went." Terro said lightly. "She was there for one minute and then gone the next. She's really light on her feet when properly motivated."

"Have you searched every room?" No. VII questioned sharply.

"You're kidding, right?" Terro said exasperatedly. "That's like counting grains of dust in a building full of sneezing people."

"What about the chamber?" No. VII hissed frustrated. "Did you find it?"

"Don't you think I would have told you if I did?" Terro replied shortly. "I looked everywhere and found nothing of value. However, Duskmon did say he know where the room was." The unknown member stiffened expectantly. "But he wasn't saying anything. And seeing as how he is locked for eternity, there's no chance of interrogating him." He crossed his arms with a smirk. "You know, I've really gotta hand it to ya. You seemed to know everything about Duskmon and the traitors. It's almost as if you had planned everything."

"All I did was finds a place to send everyone who was getting in the way." No. VII stated coldly, turning his back to the Deceptive Rogue. "I just needed them out of the way."

"Nice to know where I stand." Terro said sarcastically.

"Did you come back in one piece or didn't you?" No. VII questioned rhetorically

The unknown member slowly walked away from his traitorous ally, who was glaring a hole in the man's back. As the emotionless interrogator crossed the threshold of the room, his attention was drawn back.

"I killed Oracle for you." Terro stated; the comrade looked back. "With him out of your way, you're one step up the ladder. That's how you wanted it, right?" No. VII said nothing. "I'll just play it your way...for now."

The next scene alternates to the city streets within the city below, beneath the towering structure properly named as Memory Skyscraper. Two figures in Black Cloaks were motionless as the dark clouds above distributed their expected rainfall. The smaller of the two characters was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious as the other character stared down at him. But the true shock was who the second warrior was: Mephiles, the Seeker of Darkness. The revived demon stared down at the defeated warrior with an unchanged expression as a portal of darkness appeared to his left. The Seeker of Darkness swiftly drew his hood to conceal his identity before ZoN could see him properly.

"What happened?" ZoN questioned.

"This boy..." Mephiles said, disguising his voice to sound like Espio. "He could feel Sonic."

"Oh, he told you how he 'felt', did he?" ZoN said coldly, glaring at the defeated enemy. Mephiles felt immense satisfaction known he had fooled the leader of the Seekers. "Ridiculous. A Nobody cannot feel anything."

"If he had met Sonic, things might have ended differently." Mephiles commented.

While ZoN unceremoniously dragged the defeat warrior away, Mephiles stared down at his hands, not believing his luck. After such effort, the Seeker of Darkness had finally been revived. Espio put up a great struggle, but in the end, the darkness had found its way back into the realm of existence. Mephiles chuckled lightly and followed ZoN as she summoned a portal of darkness. The dark demon watched his unworthy opponent, sense a small trial of thought running through his mind.

Scion, don't be sad
I came from you and Sonic.
I will always be with you the same way I am with Sonic.
You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away.
Memories of you and me will always be together forever, inside him.
My feelings will never change even as I fade away.
I love you, Scion.

The final scene opens to the city of Soleanna at the moment the dawn was approaching. The sun began to rise over the window of a specific household, shedding light onto the sleeping figure within. The room inside only contained essential needs: a desk, a bookshelf, two lamps, a closet, and a single bed. The owner of the home was stirring, trying to block out the light of the sun. He was a jet-black hedgehog with six quills pointed curved upwards – red highlights on each – and a tuft of white hair of his chest. The hedgehog moaned, forcing himself to accept that the morning had come. The boy slowly sat himself up, shaking his untidy quills and stared at the opposite wall in thought.

"Another dream about him..." The hedgehog whispered.

Following the rays of the sun, the black hedgehog sat up and pushed the windows open, allowing the warmth to enter his household. He sighed peacefully as he watched the dawn come. Later that evening, the black hedgehog had dressed himself appropriately before leaving his home. He wore black and white shoes with red trims at the bottom, golden ring cuffs on his ankles and wrists, a pair of white gloves, and spiked 'X' chain around his neck, and a pair of emerald lensed sunglasses above his eyes. The black hedgehog was racing his way through the back alley, making his way to their usual meeting spot.

"Maybe today we'll finally hit the beach." The hedgehog grinned.

His friends waved ahead, greeting their friend with exuberant cheers.

Only seven days to go.
And then, my summer vacation is over

The End

We've finally reached the end of the road, but a new path has opened. And that's where you get to decide. From this point, I can continue the series with one of two choice. Choose wisely.

358/2 Day: Shadowed Origins

Kingdom Hearts II: Sonic Chronicles

Until next time, read and review.