A/N: Please read Author’s comments after you finish this. Only if you like this though. Otherwise, you just won’t care.

–

Tails had flown the hedgehog triplets in Sonic’s own plane, the Tornado. Needless to say, Sonia and Manic were stunned. “Dude, Sonic, you have your own airplane? How come you never use it?” Manic questioned.

“Cause I gave it to Tails. He helped me and Uncle Chuck make it, so Uncle Chuck put him in charge of it.” Tails blushed in recognition.

“I’m more amazed that he can fly it!” Sonia gaped. “Tails is what, six?” A nod from the fox. “And he’s already flying a plane?”

“Told ya he was a genius.” Sonic grinned and spread out his arms to keep his balance. Both him and Manic decided to ride on the wings of the plane while Sonia sat in the passenger’s seat.

“You two are crazy...” Sonia shook her head.

As the approached the arctic regions, the wind began to pick up. The Tornado rocked dangerously and the two hedgehogs on the wings ducked to keep steady.

“The wind’s too strong, Sonic!” Tails yelled through the howling winds. “I can’t fly in this!”

Sonic opened one eye. “Land there, Tails!” He pointed. “This is good enough! We can make it on foot from here!”

With some difficulty, Tails managed to safely land the plane on a strong sheet of ice. Once on solid ground, Sonic and Manic leaped off the wings.

“Wicked ride, dude!” Manic exclaimed while giving a high-five to his brother. “Let’s do it again!”

“Manic, we have a priority here!” Sonia grumbled.

Sonic ignored his two siblings as they argued and turned to Tails, who was checking the bi-plane for any damages. “Hey Tails? Can you stay here?”

“Huh? Why can’t I come?”

“Well...” The blue hedgehog sheepishly scratched behind his head. “The Oracle is supposed to be a secret...I don’t know if he wants other people knowing where he lives. It’s bad enough that Robotnik knows.”

“Oh...” Tails ears drooped and he curled up into his blanket.

“Sorry Tails...” Sonic ruffled the kit’s hair. He felt bad for having to leave Tails out here in the cold, but he really didn’t have a choice. “Really. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

“It’s okay. Just hurry back, it’s cold.”

Sonic nodded and have his friend a thumbs-up. He then dashed over to his siblings, who had finally stopped fighting, at least long enough to get moving. “Alright guys. We ready to go?”

“That depends. Do you know the way?” Sonia asked with a raise of her eyebrow, referring to the last time they had come here.

“Oh come on, Sonia!”

  –

After a few twists and turns, the hedgehog triplets found their way to the Oracle’s cave. However, what they saw was not what they expected.

“What...what happened?”

They couldn’t see past the entrance. It was completely frozen over. Manic knocked on it to make sure it was solid and not an illusion. Definitely solid. “Don’t tell me...”

“It’s Robotnik. Has to be.” Sonic was furious. Robotnik had beaten them to the punch. How did he get here so fast? Let alone subdue the Oracle in that short of a time?

“Sonic, can you break this ice?” Sonia questioned. The blue hedgehog nodded and quickly unleashed the strongest spin dash he could muster up.

It took a few minutes, but the ice eventually shattered. Sonic spun out of his ball and shook his head, trying to get the dizziness and migraine out of his system. “You okay, bro?” Manic asked with concern.

“Yeah. Ice was thick.” With the dizziness almost gone, Sonic raced in. “Let’s go!” Soon enough though, he stopped short when he saw something else he didn’t want to see. “You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

“What?” Sonia and Manic ran up. Then they understood and groaned. The hole leading into the Oracle’s cavern had been sealed in ice as well. Robotnik was certainly serious this time around. The two looked at Sonic expectantly.

“Do I have to?”

They continued to stare at him.

“Okay, okay!”

–

“Everything’s...”

“Demolished...”

“Yeah...”

The Oracle’s cavern, normally clean and organized, was completely destroyed. Pages from spell books were everywhere, bookshelves were knocked over and split apart, everything was gone. It was almost painful to look at for the hedgehog triplets. How could anyone do such a terrible thing?

“Oracle?” Sonia called. “Oracle, are you there?”

No answer. That worried them. Either the Oracle had escaped or...

“Let’s split up,” Sonic said, his voice trying not to shake. “If he’s not here, then he must’ve escaped.”

“What if he was captured?”

“I don’t even wanna think about it.”

With that said, the three hedgehogs split up. It seemed like forever before Manic let out a shriek. Sonic and Sonia raced over when they heard it, Sonic arriving first of course. “What’s wrong?”

Manic looked pale. His hand could barely manage to point because it was shaking so hard. The other two hedgehogs looked to where he was pointing and immediately paled under their fur as well, Sonia letting out a gasp. They were staring at the now-frozen Oracle.

“H-he’s...”

“What should we do?”

“I can’t cut through that. I might hurt him.”

Luckily, the hedgehog triplets barely had to do anything. Sonia touched the frozen Oracle then pulled back with another gasp. He had began to glow like normal, and the ice shattered. The Oracle flopped down to his floor in a slump, nearly unconscious. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic dropped down immediately to his aid. “Oracle, are you alright?”

“Ah...yes. Thank you, hedgehogs...” the Oracle replied weakly. The warm glow around him refused to disperse, almost like it was protecting him. “I’ll be fine now...”

“What happened?” Manic asked the wounded prophet, although he had a pretty good idea on what the answer was going to be. The Oracle was silent for a while, eyes closed, gathering his thoughts.

“Robotnik. He took the Chaos Emerald.”

“I was afraid of that...” Sonic mumbled. Now Robotnik had the location and the access to this “Project Shadow” thing, whatever the hell it was. “We’ve gotta go after him, guys. If he releases that thing and gets its power, it’s gonna be bad.”

“But Sonic, we don’t even know where that base is!”

“Leave that to Tails and Cyrus. They can figure it out. But we have to act now.”

“A-alright...” Sonia was a little skeptical, but with Tails and Cyrus working together, it was plenty possible. She gave the Oracle one last check and headed out with her brothers following.

“Wait.” The Oracle stood up, his energy now flowing back to him. “I apologize, Sonia and Manic...but may I speak to your brother in private?”

“Huh?” Both Sonia and Manic looked at Sonic, who looked just as confused as they were.

Despite that, the blue hedgehog nodded. “Go on, guys. I’ll catch up.” Sonic had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The Oracle wanted to talk to him alone. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Maybe both?

Sonia and Manic cast confused glances at their brother before walking through the magical waterfall, leaving the two alone in the room, a nervous Sonic turning around and facing the one who had addressed him, staying silent.

The Oracle sighed. “You are conflicted, young hedgehog.” Sonic tensed slightly but remained silent and allowed the Oracle to continue. “You know the ones who broke you will be there.”

Gloved fists clenched. “They didn’t break me.”

“Maybe not, but they certainly came close.”

Sonic was trembling, only slightly, but enough to be noticed. He knew exactly what the Oracle was talking about. The memories still haunted him...

“H-hey! What are you-”

“Oh for the love of - Dingo, gag him, would you?”

“My pleasure, Sleet.”

“Get the hell away from me you - mmmph!”

He stopped there, had to. If he thought farther, he’d start crying. Tears were already starting to form at the edge of his emerald eyes.

The Oracle obviously knew what had happened. He put a hand on Sonic’s shoulder. “Sonic...I am not telling you what to do...But I feel that you should not go on this mission.”

“I can’t do that,” Sonic replied, looking at him with determined eyes. “This mission is important, especially if he came here. I have to help.” That look told the Oracle everything. Sonic was scared, yes...but he was going no matter what. Nothing could stop him, not even his fears.

He smiled. “Your confidence is inspiring, Sonic...” The shaking had steadied. “I would not usually do this but...you are obviously troubled. Would you like me to reveal something about your future?”

Confused emeralds blinked. “My future?” That was new. “That depends,” Sonic said with a joking smile, although the Oracle could tell it was forced. “You actually gonna tell me it or just speak in riddles?”

The Oracle chuckled. “No riddles, I promise.” With that said, he closed his eyes and glowed a little brighter. It died down again after a few minutes. “Again, I am not saying you should go on this mission...” he began. “Should you, however...it will set off a chain of events that will lead you to your soul mate.”

Sonic’s ears immediately perked up. “My...soul mate? As in, the person I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with?”

“Indeed. That is usually what a soul mate is, no?”

Well he couldn’t argue with that. Still...what an out-of-the-blue fortune. He certainly wasn’t expecting something like that. “You can’t tell me anymore? Like who she is or what she’s like?”

The Oracle shook his head. “That is all I am able to see.”

“Oh...” Weird fortune or not, now he was interested. He was definitely going on the mission now. “Well, thank you, I guess...”

A crash and a yelp caught Sonic’s attention and he got on guard. “More stray bots?” The Oracle on the other hand, just sighed.

“No need to be alarmed, Sonic.” Said hedgehog gave him a confused look. “It’s alright Silver. You can come out now, it’s safe.”

There was a tiny whimper and Sonic had to look twice at what he saw. Another hedgehog walked out from behind a ruined bookshelf, covered in silver-white fur. His quills, Sonic noted, were a little odd. Two large ones sprouted on the of this hedgehog’s head, unlike the six quills on the back of his own, and five more tiny quills came up from his forehead. The fluff on his chest was quite large, curling all the way around his neck. His boots almost came up to the silver hedgehog’s knees and they, along with his gloves, had a strange pattern embedded on them.

He barely looked as old as Sonic. Maybe a few years younger. What the heck was he doing here?

“Sorry Oracle...” the silver hedgehog muttered, looking down and ashamed. “I couldn’t do anything. There were too many. I just hid while they destroyed your home...”

“Don’t worry,” the Oracle replied while putting a hand on the strange hedgehog’s furry shoulder. “I am just glad that you are not hurt.” He turned to Sonic. “Sonic, this is Silver.”

Silver gave a shy wave and Sonic smiled at him. “I’ll start cleaning up.” He walked over to one of the many broken bookshelves and sighed, raising his hands in front of him. Sonic was about to ask what he was doing but stopped short as his question was soon answered.

Silver had started to glow, a blue aura surrounding him. Along with that, the symbols on his boots and gloves glowed as well. That same aura enveloped the bookcase and it stood up, fixing itself almost instantly.

“Wha...?” Sonic was speechless as the Oracle let out another chuckle.

“Silver is a telekinetic, Sonic.”

“Wow...” Emerald eyes turned to the Oracle, still a little confused. “You never struck me as somebody who would take somebody in.”

“I found him wandering out in the snow, nearly frozen to death. Once I nursed him back to health, he demanded that I let him repay me.”

“But what was he doing out there in the first place?”

The Oracle was silent for a while. “I am ashamed to admit it...but I do not know.”

Sonic didn’t know what to say to that. Something the Oracle didn’t know? Was that even possible? “But...how...”

“When I found him, he had lost his memory. All he knew was his name. The telekinesis just seemed to come naturally for him over time. I did try to gather information about him...but I saw nothing. Nothing came to me in my visions.”

“Nothing? Not even his family or anything like that?”

A shake of his head. “Nothing. It greatly intrigued me, which is another reason I took him in. He had nowhere to go.”

“Oh...” Sonic watched Silver as he finished fixing the bookshelves, now settling on all the actual book scattered around. Then he remembered Sonia, Manic, and Tails were still waiting for him (hopefully). He turned to the Oracle with a small smile, one that wasn’t forced. “Thanks, Oracle. I’m glad you’re okay. Don’t worry, we’ll get your Chaos Emerald back.”

“Be careful, Sonic,” was the reply, his eyes fierce. That surprised Sonic. Never before had he seen such a powerful look before in the prophet’s eyes. “Those two will be there. You know this. Do not let your guard down.”

Sonic’s breath caught in his throat and he swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me twice...” Right as that was said, Sonic ran off, vanishing in his blue streak.

“You were right, Oracle,” Silver said while walking up. “He’s really fast.”

“Indeed.” The Oracle turned around, now noting another presence. “Ah, Your Highness. What can I do for you?”

A figure walked out of the shadows and removed the hood covering her face, revealing Queen Aleena. She looked troubled.

“Silver...” Her voice was kind. Silver immediately went to attention. “I’m sorry, but may I speak with the Oracle in private?”

“Huh? Oh...oh, yes!” Silver was a little startled that the queen had addressed him like that. “I’m sorry, I’ll continue cleaning.”

The Oracle couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Silver scramble around, clumsily tripping a few times. After making sure he was okay, he turned to Aleena, already knowing what she was going to ask.

“Delphius...” the queen mumbled. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

No answer was given to her.

“I mean, letting Robotnik acquire a Chaos Emerald, especially like that...is that wise?”

“Do not worry, my queen,” the Oracle replied mysteriously. “Everything is going the way it should.”