Chapter Text
The group of travelers didn't reach the edges of Deep Woods until dusk- delayed a bit more by Mandolin insisting she prepare them one last meal before they left for Camelot. "Allow me to grant you the gift of the Spice Trade one last time, my knights..."
That last meal had given Silver time to arrive, and he insisted on accompanying them to Nimue's Lake. He'd missed part of the adventure, and as a fellow time traveler himself, he wanted to see how it all ended.
Lancelot once more took the point into the dark, gloomy wood, but this time, the forest seemed less eerie somehow. The supernatural darkness still hung over it as it had before, but the atmosphere was still and quiet. No birds, no insects, just the soft pattering of their feet in the moss and brush on the forest floor.
The only light that they traveled by was that of Silver's power, a flickering blue glow that stretched out and split the shadows into strands as they passed the trees and bushes.
Shadow had thought of using his chaos for more light, but the trees remembered his burst from days prior and firmly put their roots down on the matter. Sonic had to put himself between snapping branches that were threatening to smack the Ultimate Lifeform on the head.
Tails held his tablet close to his chest as he looked around, "I'd love to come back and learn more about this place when we can..." he whispered with an awestruck smile.
"I would be happy to provide you some knowledge, Miles." Caliburn remarked, smiling back at the fox who seemed far more interested in the land's history than Sonic had when they first met. "Much to share..."
As they continued onward, Silver's glow was joined by others. Crystals and mushrooms along the path ignited into color, auras of blues, greens and purples joining the cyan. The black trunks of the trees glittered like stars were etched into their bark, and they all followed a trail formed by them through the darkness, around the looming roots of the Behemoth Tree, and then all the way to the edge of the lake's sunken ruins.
"The lake..." Percival hummed, "...You spoke of the water's fading, but-"
"It is quite the shock when you first see it." Sonic comforted, "Come on, the entrance is this way..."
He led them over to the crumbling pavilion, pushing the stone away to reveal the steps. "Watch your head, it's a tight space here at first."
They all climbed down into the dark, and Silver hovered alongside the steps. Down here, his powers ignited the walls further than before, and Sonic could see the cavern was even larger than the lake above it.
"Incredible..." Percival whispered, "...I hope Nimue was not harmed when it fell here."
Shadow huffed, "Hardly seemed hurt to me ..."
They reached the bottom and Sonic approached the water, but even when they were prepared, the sudden brightness of the water when he touched it made them all step back and look away to adjust.
You have returned, Knight of the Wind...
Sonic smiled, "I have... The quest is over, and I was hoping that you may be able to return them home, as you did so for me all those ages ago."
Of course... Your victory was sure, for I have memory of their tales of their time here...
"If you knew everything was going to be fine, why not tell us that before ?" Shadow complained.
And spoil the entertainment of watching your journey unfold...? I get such fun so infrequently.
Shadow glared, but Lancelot placed a hand to the other's shoulder, "Do not take it personally, the spirits can be that way at times..."
"The being who raised you knew you'd be harmed and didn't bother to warn you to avoid it?"
"Maybe... It was inevitable ." Silver grumbled under his breath, "As annoying as it is for me to say something like that. I like to think all tragedies can be avoided in some way or another."
"An optimistic thought..." Gawain whispered, but he didn't seem to have that same sentiment. "...I suppose this will be our farewell."
"Yes, I suppose so."
Sonic turned to the three knights and their blades, giving a smile. "Even if our reunion was brief and full of peril, I am happy I got the chance to see you all again, and to hear that Camelot remains peaceful thus far."
"Indeed, it was quite the quest." Percival took Sonic's hands, squeezing them a little. "But we too enjoyed the moments we got to see of your world, and the allies you have here. It is a relief to know that you are not alone in your struggle here."
"No, I never am ." Sonic looked to Tails, to Silver, and to Shadow. Each of them gave nods or smiles in return, and then Sonic reached back and grasped Caliburn's hilt with one hand. "...And you helped bring one more friend back to me."
"I have no doubt that your quest of defending this realm will be greatly eased with your sacred sword once again at your side."
The boat appeared from the mists, bobbing up and down along the top of the water and shimmering with its own colors.
"Keep each other safe, won't you?" Sonic asked.
"You have our word as you did before, Arthur." Lancelot informed, and then gave a nod to Shadow. Something passed between the two of them, but Sonic didn't ask what. It wasn't his business what the two dark hedgehogs had with each other.
"And you blades keep one another safe, alright?"
The walls of the cave echoed with chirps, hums and high-pitched tones. "Good."
The knights waded their way into the water, each climbing aboard the wooden vessel and getting settled. Sonic stood at the edge of the lake, watching on as it floated out, the mists curling around it and slowly fading it out of view. Sonic could only imagine that this was how they had felt when he had traveled forward in time back to his own realm, watching the boat fade into the distance until finally... It was gone, and the lights of the lake faded to a duller, less vibrant light.
"Mission accomplished." Shadow murmured, gripping the hilt of Secace that remained strapped to his side. "...We should go, we have a long walk and then a long flight ahead of us."
"Never stop moving, huh?" Sonic teased.
"Shouldn't that be what we say to you , Sonic?" Silver joked right back, "Who knows? Maybe one of these days, we can all make a voyage to the past to see them again."
Sonic smiled wider, "Yeah... Maybe so... How long do you think before Eggman strikes again?"
"He'll definitely need a few days to pull together his assets." Shadow sighed, "We took down a lot of his bots the other day, but he'll be back with more... He always is."
"But next time, he'll have to deal with you and me using our blades to slice them to bits, huh?"
"Hmph. Just because I have a sword now doesn't mean I am going to use it. And aren't you worried Caliburn will get blunted using him that much?"
"Excuse me." Caliburn remarked, "I can hear you just fine. I am more than just a piece of metal, after all."
"You sure are, Cal... Best to head back. I'm gonna be so jet-lagged when I get back home..."
"Well..." Silver clasped his hands together, "...You all could stay at my place for the night? I've got a futon and a ton of blankets and stuff."
"That's really generous, Silver, but-"
"We'll take you up on the offer!" Tails announced, giving Sonic an elbow to the ribs. "Come on, Sonic. We've always been the ones hosting him before, let him return the favor, now that he's got a place of his own!"
Sonic gave his little brother a smile, and then an eye roll. "Oh alright, if you insist, Silver-"
"Yes yes yes! I've never had people stay at my house before! Gosh, just being able to say my house is so nice-"
"I'll have to dip out." Shadow remarked, pulling out the red chaos emerald from his quills. "I've got work to get back to. Chaos Control!"
The dark hedgehog vanished from the cave, and Sonic blinked. "...Did he have that emerald on him the entire time?"
"He's
Shadow
, Sonic." Tails replied with a shrug, "He always has one or is
looking
for one..."
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The familiar fwip! of a chaos portal closing caught Rouge's attention, but she barely looked away from the tiny screen she was leaned over as the green flash that had lit up the room vanished into darkness once more. "Didn't stay for the after-party?"
"No."
"I assume they all got home safely?"
"They're in the hands of some mischievous spirit now..."
Shadow came to her right, sitting down by the desk. "What did you find?"
"You know how hard it is to sneak in and get DNA samples done in a lab and then print out the results without anyone noticing? And at 3 AM, no less! ...But here."
She turned the screen towards the hedgehog, "See for yourself."
Shadow pulled the tiny computer closer, his finger scrolling down lines of text and code in front of him. Rouge eyed the blade strapped to his side, an intricate scabbard hiding the blade itself. A souvenir of some kind? She decided not to bring it up just yet.
"...It's close."
"Very, very close, Shadow..." Rouge leaned a bit onto the desk, "...Like... Parent and child close."
Shadow's brows furrowed, "He's not my father, Rouge."
"He's the closest thing to one you got! Genetically, of course."
Shadow sighed, "...This is ridiculous. Why did I even ask you to do this for me? It doesn't even matter."
"Because I think deep down, you wanted that connection to be true... You wanted to know that somewhere out there, there was family that got their happy ending."
"Hmph. Doesn't he ultimately die as a monk after being rejected by the love of his life...?"
" Sonic is King Arthur , Shadow. That pretty much negates anything I ever thought was true about the stories passed down in those old folktales. Lancelot could have lived a long, fulfilling life and died of old age, peacefully, in his sleep."
Shadow's ears tried to fold down a bit, but the hedgehog stood up and walked away from the desk. "I need time to think this over... Thanks for the help, Rouge."
"You're welcome... Don't forget to unhook that sword of yours before you go to bed. We don't need a mess."
"You worried I'd cut my leg off with it?"
"I was more worried about the mattress."
Shadow smiled just a hint, and then he warped back out of the room.
Rouge sighed, pulling the computer back to her and then closing it. "...I'll get that sword for my collection one of these days, I already know it's expensive ."