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Chapter Text

The clouds loomed low, obscuring the sun and showering the world in gray as a lone raven landed on the bones of a long-dead animal. He tapped his beak to the skull, as though to test its resilience, his eyes flashing with a sense of superiority before he looked back at the empty dirt path that cut through the grass, spread his wings, and took off into the air.

The path did not remain empty for long; a girl ran along it just a moment later, her long violet cloak drawn closely over her head and shoulders, and her boots kicked up dust as she raced along. She clutched a staff tightly to her chest, which heaved with exertion as she kept running, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

At first, everything behind her looked peaceful and devoid of life, and her shoulders relaxed.

Then, from the endless gray that covered the land, dark creatures spawned from the shadows, transforming from black forms with glowing eyes to massive beasts of all kinds, both landbound and flying, burly and nimble, all of them clad in faded, heavy armor while wielding great blades that glinted dully, even with the lack of sunlight.

The girl stopped as she realized that she was trapped, while from a nearby tree, the raven watched calmly. As the monstrous warriors surrounded the girl from all sides, the bird took flight, swooping high into the air before dropping down, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed.

One minute, there was a raven in the air; the next, a pair of black metal boots touched the earth, and the imposing figure of a man in heavy armor stood at full height before the frightened girl. He approached her, drawing his blade, his eyes glowing amber like twin stars through the slits in his helmet as he made his way forward, promising death. In the air, thick with tension, his voice cut through, clear and full of malice.

“This is the end for you and your treason. I will see to that myself.”

The girl’s hands trembled as they fumbled with her staff, then steadied themselves with a great show of effort. The girl took a deep breath, forcing down her nerves, and struck the ground with the magical artifact, chanting and summoning a blue light all around her that had the armored beasts recoiling and the man with the sword halting in his tracks.

That was all she needed to finish her spell.

“O brave knight, swift as the wind! Heed my call!” she implored, looking up at the sky as though the answer to her troubles would fall before her. From all around her, the cyan light glowed bright until it exploded upwards, a column of magical might, piercing through the clouds and striking the heavens, leaving a sole spot of clarity in the otherwise gloomy sky.

And something did, indeed, fall down to her, and it fell with a scream that cut itself short as the being — a blue hedgehog — faceplanted in the dirt road.

Truly, this wasn’t what Sonic the Hedgehog had been expecting out of today.

He lifted his face, shaking away the gravel, and scrambled to his feet, scampering forward until he caught one chilidog that, like him, fell from above, and then threw himself down in the other direction to catch the second one just before it hit the ground. Sonic sighed in relief, then brought himself back to his feet and took a look around.

“Hey… where am I?”

The sound of footsteps behind him prompted him to turn around, and he saw the girl approach him, her eyes widening and her lips parting as she looked upon him. For a second, no words came from her, but she appeared to find her tongue quickly. “Being from a distant world, forgive my abrupt summons!” She knelt beside him, still shaking from her run, and slid her hood down, revealing delicate features and long, pointed ears.

That’s not something you see every day on a human…

Movement from over her shoulder distracted Sonic from the girl’s unusual ears, prompting him to look over at the group of beasts in armor, which were beginning to encroach upon them. Sonic took a look behind him, noticing the armored man who stood stock-still, beholding him without a word while his shadowy aura seeped through the gaps in his armor and grew thick around him like an inky black fog.

Sonic let out a chuckle, quickly finishing off one of the chilidogs in his hands. It didn’t seem like he would be having lunch with Amy after all, but he couldn’t let such a delicacy go to waste. Making a mental note to apologize to his friend once this was over and maybe reschedule the whole thing, Sonic tossed the second chilidog to his other hand, spinning it idly around as he spoke to the girl. “Oh, I get it,” he reassured her. “No problem! I’m used to stuff like this!”

Enemies all around? An overwhelming sense of dread? Tension in the air so thick you could choke on it?

He was called in to fight and to rescue this girl, he was sure of it.

With a grin, he threw his snack high into the air and dashed off, leaving behind a gust of wind, powerful like a shockwave. He vaguely heard the girl gasp as he ran through the cluster of armored enemies, creating another shockwave that, to his surprise, made them evaporate without any more fuss. Sonic pushed his surprise away 一 there was bound to be a reason why, and it wasn’t like he had to know it now or anything 一 and refocused on returning to his spot, catching his chilidog again before it was anywhere close to the ground.

He glanced back at the girl, who was staring at him with open astonishment, her hand in front of her mouth and her eyes wide. Sonic allowed himself a small, self-satisfied smirk at demonstrating his abilities so cleanly, then turned back toward the last enemy, the armored man, who still hadn’t moved from his spot and was still staring at him.

Sonic began spinning his snack around again. “Don’t forget to blink,” he taunted, and finally, the man moved, bringing his sword 一 a bright, golden blade that didn’t match his dark getup at all 一 up and before him. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a face like yours,” the man said, pointing the tip of the blade at Sonic.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. You’ve got all that metal in front of your eyes! How about I knock it away and you can get a real good look--”

“No, you mustn’t!”

A hand grabbed tightly over his arm, stunning him enough that he fumbled with his free hand and sent his chilidog tumbling to the ground. Sonic looked from his ruined treat to the girl who stopped him as she swung her staff before them both, causing a vortex of dirt and wind to surround them. As Sonic felt himself begin to get pulled away, he reached out a hand to his fallen treat and the final enemy that he had yet to even try to defeat, but it was all in vain. The armored man charged forward, but his sword only struck empty air. 

The man cursed under his breath, turning away from the vanishing point and walking a few paces away, crushing the chilidog underneath one of his boots without a second thought. “She’s slipped away from me again,” he growled, the dark aura around him growing stronger. “And now she has an ally of the worst kind…”

The man kicked at the ground, wiping some of the remains of meat and beans away as he did so, and wasted no more time in jumping into the air and transforming back into a raven, shedding a single feather as he soared away, over hills and valleys, clearing a town and swooping over the outer wall of a magnificent castle, landing before five people standing in wait, clad in polished, presentable armor. He transformed back into his true form, and all five knelt before him, bowing their heads without hesitation.

My knights...

For just a moment, the man’s gaze swept over the five before him, something akin to pride sparking deep within him, before the feeling extinguished itself as quickly as it came, leaving nothing but coldness in its wake.

“She’s escaped me again, but I shall continue to give chase,” he informed them, seeing a few ears perk up as he spoke. “At this point, I cannot stand another day knowing that she evades me. Spread out, and slay her on sight. I no longer care if it is by my hand or not.”

Five heads nodded, still bowed, and the man felt satisfied until he remembered the other important piece of information.

“She has recruited an ally, a magical warrior. You will know him when you see him. Do not fall for his tricks, and slay him as well. Mercy is not an option. We have no time to lose.”

With that, the man turned away and leapt into the air again, transforming back into a bird to continue his search, while behind him, the five lifted their heads and got to their feet.

“That was vague,” one spoke; a green hawk with two fanned blades.

“Hush, Brother,” another one said; a purple cat wielding a rapier. “Our king has much to handle and no time to spare. It is our duty to help shoulder his burdens as best as we can.”

“I apologize, Percival,” a third one piped up; a pale gray hedgehog with long spines, “but I must agree with Lamorak. We do not know what this ‘magical warrior’ of hers looks like!”

“More likely than not, he will be traveling with her, ” yet another spat; a black hedgehog with red streaks in his fur. “If we find one, we will almost certainly find the other, and even if we don’t, our king has made it clear that we will know him when we see him. Now, let us depart.”

“But must we?” the final one asked; a red echidna with two ax-like swords. “She is the Royal Wizard, after all!”

The black hedgehog’s head snapped over, his voice taking a hard edge as he spoke. “She was the Royal Wizard, and in any case, the king’s orders are absolute, Gawain.”

“Yes, but--”

“We have been given our task,” the gray hedgehog said, walking up between them both. “If he demands that they be slain, then slain they shall be.”

This seemed to pacify the black hedgehog, who nodded once before racing off, with the gray hedgehog close behind. The one named Gawain heaved a sigh as the one named Percival approached him. “Without loyalty to the king, we are nothing,” she reminded him sternly, though the next second she looked off to the horizon, where the hedgehogs had become little more than specks. “Still, the king… he has changed,” she murmured, much softer and thoughtful. “And this kingdom…”

“That would be putting it lightly,” the one called Lamorak scoffed, nudging Percival with his shoulder, much to her annoyance. “I need no magical gifts to see that there are troubling times ahead of us. However, there is not much else for us to do.”

“Only our jobs, and to trust our king’s judgement,” Gawain finished the thought, looking at one of his blades with a resigned slump to his shoulders. “Very well. I shall not be the one to disappoint him!”

Yet even with those words, the unease did not leave the knights as they left the castle walls in search of their targets.

Chapter Text

Sonic’s feet kicked up dirt and grass as he walked along. “Why’d you stop me?” he complained to the girl from before as they marched through the trees. “I could have taken him down, no problem!”

“You do not understand,” she replied, solemn and grave enough to dissipate Sonic’s annoyance. “He cannot be wounded.”

Sonic stopped in his tracks. “How can that be?” he asked, turning to face his companion who had also ceased to move. Her eyes had closed, and a mournful look had taken over her features.

“He bears the blade and scabbard of Excalibur.”

Excalibur…?

“Hey wait a second,” Sonic said, tapping his fingers to his chin in thought. “I think I’ve heard that name before… Um… Let me see…”

It was on the tip of his tongue… What was it from…?

The girl reopened her eyes, smiling softly as she watched him struggle to recall where he had heard the name. “Excalibur is King Arthur’s sword,” she explained, and everything clicked into place.

A wide smile spread across Sonic’s face as memories of reading stories about knights and quests came back to him, filling in several blanks at once. “Oh yeah, right! So that means…”

The girl nodded at him. “So you do know of this place... This is the land ruled by King Arthur.”

“Whoa…” Sonic looked around him in amazement. “The last time something like this happened, I was in a desert, but a kingdom is pretty cool, too!”

The girl’s smile faltered. “The last time?”

Sonic laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, I’ve done this before! But hey…” He sobered up as he remembered the encounter they had just had; the armored man pointing his sword at them, ready to kill. “Was that really the king? I mean, he seemed way different in the stories…”

“Stories? As in legends? Or do you know of what is to pass?”

Sonic waved a hand. “Forget about it, it’s a lot of explaining, and it sounds like you really need my help if you called me here.”

The girl still seemed confused and agitated, but she slid the hood of her cloak back up over her head, obscuring her features once more. “Let us go. We can talk along the way.”

Sonic swiped at his nose, shooting her a grin. “Sounds good to me!”

They walked along, more amicably than before. “Let me introduce myself,” the girl said. “I am Merlina the Wizard.”

In response, Sonic gave her a thumbs up. “I’m Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Merlina smiled at him again, though she became morose as she explained her plight. “The king was once a wise and just ruler. He was blessed with noble knights and praised by all… Or… nearly all...”

“Something happen to him?” Sonic asked, brushing his fingers against a tree as they passed on by.

“Yes. Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, granted him Excalibur to use in a terrible battle that threatened our kingdom. He emerged victorious, and was set to return the sword. However… he was bewitched by the power of immortality that the scabbard bestowed upon him, and kept the sword for himself. Now he has become immortal, summoning legions of knights from the underworld to do his bidding, and plunging his kingdom into a world of horror and chaos!”

Sonic snickered. “A bunch of zombie ghost knights? It’s just like a big ol’ haunted house! This’ll be cool, like Halloween all year long!”

Merlina let out a noise of discomfort. “M… Maybe so, but I fear that there will be nobody left to enjoy it. We must act now.”

Sonic blinked, throwing up his hands in surprise. “You mean take out King Arthur?” he asked. “No wonder he was after you! And what about the whole ‘immortal’ thing?”

Merlina shifted uncomfortably, pointing eastward with the head of her staff. “Beyond this misty lake sleeps a sacred sword,” she told him, prompting Sonic to squint into the mist, holding his hand over his forehead like a visor. “With that sword--”

Oh, so it’s one of those things again? Get the weapon, beat the bad guy. Easy enough!

“Yeah yeah, I’ll go get it. Be back in a flash!” he said aloud, stretching out his legs and warming up for another run.

“Wait, Sonic!”

The hedgehog paused in his routine, looking up quizzically at Merlina as she withdrew a couple of things from within her cloak. First, she fastened a gauntlet around his right hand, causing him to whistle in appreciation as he wiggled his fingers.

“Man, a real piece of armor! I feel like a swordsman already!”

“That’s not all.”

A small sword was pushed into his hand next, and Sonic grinned from ear to ear as he looked it over. “Very nice!” he praised.

“I do not want you to go after the sacred sword unarmed,” Merlina explained. “Nor do I want you to hold it without experience, and so, I shall lend you Clarent for the time being. I have trained a few squires in the basics of swordsmanship, so perhaps I may assist you as well?”

“I’d be honored!” Sonic gave the weapon a few practice swings, making a few vocal sound effects as he hit imaginary enemies. “With me on your side and a magic sword in my hands, King Arthur won’t stand a chance! Now let’s go!”

Merlina seemed to brighten at that. “Yes, let’s. And Sonic?”

“Hm?”

“Good luck.”

Sonic gave her a wink in farewell before he rushed through the grass and the trees. All around him he heard absolute silence; no birds chirping, no sounds of villages bustling, no signs of life at all save for his own feet hitting the ground. The sound of the wind flying between the trees was the only thing to accompany him, and Sonic began to understand the true gravity of the situation at hand.

This kingdom wasn’t just overrun by the dead; it was dying.

Then a target materialized in front of him, and Sonic skidded to a halt in surprise.

“Can you hear me?” 

Merlina’s soft voice rang in his ears, but a quick glance around told him that she wasn’t there with him. “Yeah,” Sonic replied, scratching at his head with his left hand. “But how? I don’t see you anywhere.”

“It is but a simple bit of magic I can perform,” Merlina explained. “Now, do you see that target before you?”

“Yeah. You want me to hit it, right?”

“Correct. I’ll be making a few obstacles for you to practice with, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all! Let’s do this!”

Gripping his sword tightly in his hand, Sonic swung at the target, cleaving it in two, though one half was noticeably larger than the other.

Hmm. Gotta aim a bit lower if I want to hit the center.

Two more targets sprang up as he kept moving forward. Sonic slashed through them both, keeping track of how he was swinging his blade and how he could improve, learning more and more in the blink of an eye. With every target that appeared, the sword felt more natural in his grasp, and his accuracy improved.

“This is starting to get easy, Merlina,” Sonic teased as he cleaved through yet another target, slicing cleanly through the middle. “Don’t you have something more exciting than a boring old wooden target?”

“Ha ha. Very well… Why don’t I prepare something a little more challenging?”

Sonic didn’t even have time to quip a reply; the winds around him picked up, and from the fog up above, he saw a massive figure make its way to him.

“Behold, the ruler of this lake: the Mist Dragon!”

Sonic’s jaw nearly dropped as the gigantic scaled beast landed before him, beating its leathery wings hard enough to send gales of wind ripping through the grass, and opening its mouth wide to let out a roar that made his spines stand on end. Adrenaline coursed through him, his grip around his sword tightened, and his heart pounded with eager anticipation for the battle to come.

The dragon’s swampy gray head descended, its red eyes shifting all around and its nostrils flaring as it tried to sense out where Sonic was standing. Sonic shifted from left to right, swinging his sword, but it didn’t even scratch the surface of the dragon’s jaw. The beast, getting irritated, lifted its head and slammed it down in an attempt to crush him, but Sonic swiftly sidestepped the attack, lining up a futile one of his own.

“Challenging is one thing, but a dragon? You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Merlina?”

He kept dodging as the dragon shifted its head from side to side, slashing Clarent uselessly against thick skin and sharp teeth, his eyes darting all over in an attempt to find a weak point, until they alighted on the horn at the tip of the beast’s snout. Using the shockwave from another one of the dragon’s head-slams, Sonic flipped into the air, landing neatly on the dragon’s snout before slashing viciously at the horn.

Finally, he made a dent! The victory fueled him, pushing him to repeat his attack again and again, before the dragon could shake him off, and with only a few more strikes, the horn shattered and the mist dragon wailed, recoiling and slinking back. Sonic hopped off the beast’s head, running his fingers over the flat of his borrowed blade. “Well Merlina, how was that? Did you see my real power?”

The winds whipped around him as the dragon took to the air, retreating, and Merlina’s voice barely made it to his ears through the noise. “That was amazing! Defeating the Mist Dragon like it was nothing… The mark of a true knight!”

“Just don’t expect any shining armor from me,” Sonic quipped, resuming his run around the lake. No more targets popped up; it seemed as though Merlina was sufficiently impressed by his skills.

Sonic kept running until a rocky cliff sprang up in front of him, with a massive tree towering from above. At its base, he could see something that looked like…

A pull at the air next to him redirected his attention, and he turned around in time to see Merlina appear beside him, looking up at the rock face with familiarity in her eyes and a furrow to her brow.

Huh. Wonder what that’s about.

Sonic decided not to ask just yet, choosing instead to tap Merlina on her arm and hand her back her sword once he got her attention. “Think I have what it takes to swing around a sacred sword?” he asked.

Merlina pocketed the blade, her brow furrowing even further. “It is not my decision to make,” she replied, much to Sonic’s confusion. “But if you do not, then I fear the worst…”

“Hey, don’t sweat it!” Sonic reassured her. “Your magic called me here for this, right? I have to be the right guy for the job!”

A myriad of conflicting emotions passed through Merlina’s eyes, but they had wasted enough time standing around and talking. Sonic turned back to the cliff and jumped up from rock to rock until he was standing at the roots of the tree, with a sword buried in the stone at his feet.

The hilt was a mix of dull silver and antique bronze, with an intricate circular design attaching the blade to the handle. Sonic reached out his gauntleted hand, grasping the sword, expecting to feel some sort of magical energy or for lightning to strike when he touched it.

Yet, nothing happened.

“Are you ready?” Merlina asked from down below.

The question made him pause. “Ready for what?”

“If you remove that sword and defeat King Arthur with it, you shall forever be the worst of knights, and a slayer of kings.”

Sonic mulled it over. He wasn’t used to playing the role of a villain, but Merlina had made it clear that King Arthur was no longer a hero and needed to be stopped. It was nothing like the stories he had read, but then again, he wasn’t usually in the stories he read, either. Maybe this was something that needed to be done, regardless of who did it, in a world that wasn’t his to begin with.

Sonic figured that he could live with the title ‘King Killer’ in a storybook.

“Guess I can’t be the hero every time,” he replied to Merlina, before grasping the sacred weapon in both hands and tugging upwards.

It took more effort than he had anticipated, but the sword did slide upwards, and with a second tug, Sonic had unsheathed it from the stone. The blade glowed a soft orangey-gold, as though reflecting the sun, but the effect was short-lived, and Sonic went from dazzled to mildly disappointed as he looked the sword over.

“So this is a sacred sword…”

“It goes by the name ‘Caliburn’,” Merlina supplied from her spot at the foot of the cliff.

Caliburn, huh?

“It’s kinda sorry-looking,” Sonic remarked, turning the sword over again.

“Fool!”

The voice was unexpected, much deeper than Merlina’s and far too close to be hers in any case. Sonic cried out in surprise, the sword flying from his grip, but it landed easily on its point, and from the circular design near the hilt, Sonic could see two blue eyes staring at him.

“It talks?!”

Somehow, the sword seemed just as surprised as he was. “You… You couldn’t be…”

“It’s been a while, Caliburn.”

Sonic’s head whipped around as yet another voice made an appearance, and felt his spines raise instinctively at Merlina’s frightened scream. King Arthur floated by the cliff face, his shadowy aura seeping from the joints in his armor, staining the air with a menacing gloom. Sonic felt the winds pick up again, and to his astonishment, he saw Merlina vanish without a trace, leaving him alone to face off with the dark king.

Sonic hardly had time to feel betrayed when King Arthur spoke up again. “I foretold this, did I not? That you, too, would conspire against me.”

“You are a greater fool than any if that is truly what you believe,” Caliburn returned, voice stern.

“And yet there you sit, in the hands of my foe’s chosen warrior.” King Arthur let out a noise, and obscured as it was by his helmet, Sonic could still pick up the telltale sounds of upset. The king drew forth his own blade — golden, gleaming Excalibur — and pointed it at them both. “Fine then. Show me your reasoning. Show me why this worthless wretch is worthy to wield you!”

With those words, King Arthur darted forward, striking a blow that had Sonic stumbling from the effort it took to block it. “Whoa, he’s fast!”

“Of course he is!” Caliburn snapped in reply. “Fleeing from the king has never been an option!”

Sonic looked back at his adversary, sizing him up. “So all that’s left to do is fight him… Okay then, let’s give it a shot!”

After all, he had a sacred sword to help him now. The least Sonic could do was try.

The hedgehog jabbed forward with Caliburn, anticipating the king’s parrying and twisting to make a sneak attack from the side, but King Arthur’s reflexes proved to be just as quick as his strikes, and Sonic found himself pushed back, immediately switching to the defensive as King Arthur sent forth a barrage of attacks, nearly knocking Caliburn from Sonic’s hands several times.

“Keep your stance strong!” the sword barked as Sonic blocked and defended for his very life. “Remain calm, and stop gripping me so tightly!”

“Shut up and let me fight!” Sonic argued, gritting his teeth as one of King Arthur’s strikes landed on his gauntlet, sending Caliburn clattering to the ground. He started toward the sword to pick it back up, but Excalibur’s blade pressed itself to his neck, stopping him in his tracks. A cold, cruel laugh sent chills down Sonic’s spine, but the sword was removed from his person the very next second.

Sonic looked over in surprise as King Arthur sheathed his sword, his laughter still echoing in the space around them. “What a joke,” the king scoffed. “To think that you and Merlina would select such a novice as an ally… My knights will be more than enough to finish him off. In the meantime, I have a wizard to find.”

“Hey!” Sonic protested, picking Caliburn off the ground. “I’m not done with you, yet!”

“Silence, knave!” Caliburn ordered, much to Sonic’s annoyance. “You’re hardly a passable warrior, let alone ready to go up against the likes of Excalibur’s might!”

“Well maybe if you didn’t keep talking--”

Another gust of wind interrupted Sonic, and he looked up to see that King Arthur had disappeared, and the only sign of life being a raven soaring away. Sonic groaned, kicking at the pebbles by his feet. “Great! Now what?”

“What do you mean, ‘now what’?” his sword demanded. “Now we must train you.”

“And here I thought I got my fair share of training with that dragon,” Sonic grumbled. “Speaking of, what happened to Merlina?”

“My apologies, Sonic.”

The hedgehog’s ears perked up at the sound of the familiar voice coming from the inside of his head again. “Merlina? Why did you disappear like that?”

“I am truly sorry, but King Arthur desires to see me killed. I admit… I panicked when I saw him. I regretted leaving you behind immediately, but I doubted I could have been of much use to you. Caliburn is a much more suitable teacher.”

“I don’t know if I’d call a smart-mouthed sword a good teacher, but if you say so…”

“Hmph! The impertinent one here is you, knave! You were striking as though you wished to wound him instead of disarm him… I daresay you know not of his immortality?”

Sonic faltered, looking back at the sword in his hand. “You mean you can’t hurt him even though you’re a sacred sword?” he asked.

“Of course not! Excalibur’s scabbard has powers that far outweigh most other magics in the land--”

“Then what was the point of finding you?” Sonic groaned, waving the sword around as an outlet for his annoyance.

“Stop this foolishness this instant!” Caliburn ordered. “I am the sword who chooses his handler, and I say that I shall train you until you are worthy of fighting King Arthur as you ought to!”

“Yet as long as he bears that scabbard, we may be unable to defeat him…”

Sonic frowned at Merlina’s message, glancing back down at Caliburn, who glared at him in turn. “So what’re we gonna do?” he asked, hoping that in the middle of all the magic and talking swords and immortal kings that someone had an idea of what to do next.

And as it happened, it appeared that it was the sword who had a plan.

“We must ask the scabbard’s former owner how to hinder its power,” Caliburn said, sounding bossy as ever, though this time around, Sonic didn’t find it in himself to mind as much.

“And who would that be?”

“Nimue, the Lady of the Lake,” Merlina responded. “The one I mentioned earlier.”

Sonic nodded, the plan laying itself out in his head. “Okay then, let’s go pay her a little visit.”

“I fear that it may not be as simple as that,” his sword warned him, making Sonic pause and look down.

“What do you mean?”

“You shall see for yourself. Onward, my young knave!”

“Stop calling me ‘knave’!” Sonic demanded. “I’m Sonic the Hedgehog!”

The sword hummed. “Very well then. I shall call you… Knave the Hedgehog.”

Sonic rolled his eyes and started running. “Whatever, you oversized letter-opener.”

Chapter Text

As Sonic ran through the plains and the forests of the storybook world, he kept his eyes and ears peeled for any other signs of the king. The last thing he wanted was to be caught unawares… especially with such a lousy, whiny sword who took every opportunity to complain.

“Hmm. I suppose something must be done about this…”

Sonic slowed down. “What are you talking about now?” he asked, holding the sword up and in front of him to more easily speak with it.

Caliburn paused for a moment, averting his eyes before replying. “My edge has grown blunt. Being in that rock for so long has taken its toll.”

Sonic snickered. “And you said my skills were lacking? Looks like you aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed either!”

The sword managed to frown, which might have impressed Sonic if he hadn’t made such a bad first impression. “That’s because a gentleman shouldn’t have such an edge,” the sword replied loftily.

“Gentleman? Who’re you calling ‘gentleman’?”

Caliburn ignored him. “Seek out the blacksmith in the castle town,” he ordered. “I must be presentable when we meet the Lady of the Lake.”

“You’ll just keep complaining if I don’t,” Sonic figured aloud, lowering the weapon back to his side and skidding to a halt, scanning the view around him to try to get a glimpse of where the town could be. He looked past the edge of the forest, over a field of long grass, dotted with small orange flowers, until he saw what looked like the shape of a castle on the horizon.

He had scarcely taken one step forward when Merlina’s voice rang in his ears once more.

“Why do flowers bloom, knowing they are destined to wither?”

“Huh?”

That question, coming out of nowhere, was enough to keep Sonic rooted as he tried to make sense of the sudden query. He lifted his foot; on his first step alone, he had landed on one of the flowers, and the sight of the crushed bloom with its broken, scattered petals seemed to prompt a sigh from Merlina.

“Their time of beauty is so short-lived…”

The flower on the ground, indeed, seemed to wither and die more and more with every passing second, until the petals 一 once a brilliant orange 一 were a dull gray.

It sent a chill of unease through Sonic, and the hedgehog shivered it away.

“You feeling okay there, Merlina?” he asked. “Sounds like you’ve got something on your mind.”

“It… is nothing. Do not worry about it, I apologize for bringing it up. In any case, I think I will leave you to it for a while. I must focus on keeping myself out of King Arthur’s sight, as well as away from his knights. They know a great deal of my usual spots to visit, so--”

“So you gotta keep moving,” Sonic finished for her. “I get it! Just call me when you’re ready and I’ll give you an update… If I’m not already done by then!”

“Hmph,” Caliburn sounded from his hip. “I highly doubt that.”

“Do you want to be sharpened or not?” Sonic warned the sword as he took off once again through the field, the town beyond in his sights.

The town was cleaner than Sonic had expected. All those medieval stories kept talking about dirt and death and disease, but the streets were relatively clean and everyone seemed just fine. The hedgehog decided there wasn’t much use in questioning it 一 it is what it is, after all! 一 and kept jogging from street to street as the civilians clamored to let him pass by.

The sight of smoke coming from a chimney gave him a hunch to follow. Blacksmiths work with fire, don’t they? Sonic knew it could just as easily be someone’s home, but his instincts proved correct as he turned another corner and found himself in front of a building with an array of weapons displayed in the window with all sorts of intricate, carefully-crafted designs in their blades and handles.

Whoever works here must really love their job…

Sonic pushed open the door, and stopped in place as a very familiar face looked up from its work to see who had come in.

“Tails?!”

The fox blinked his eyes in amazement before hopping away from his workbench at the back of the store, and that’s when Sonic saw the blacksmith’s garb on him. The hedgehog shook his head, remembering the last time he had been sent into a world like this one. Something similar had happened there, too, with Ali Baba, s o, no matter who he looked like, this wasn’t his little brother. That was fine. It just meant that Tails was back home, doing what he loved, instead of being brought into a strange world like he was.

“Sorry about that,” Sonic called out as the blacksmith approached him. “This is the smithy, right?”

“It sure is!” the fox greeted, seeming almost starstruck by Sonic’s presence.

Huh. I guess he doesn’t get a lot of customers?

It seemed to be the case, with the way the blacksmith bowed his head to him. “Welcome, Sir! How may I assist you today?”

“Do not waste your pleasantries on this one,” Caliburn quipped from Sonic’s hand. “He is not who you think he is.”

Sonic glared at his weapon. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The blacksmith, however, seemed even more amazed by Caliburn than by Sonic. “What a magnificent sword!” he exclaimed, coming closer with his eyes wide open. “I’ve never seen one that talks before!”

“Oh, it talks all right…”

Caliburn glared at him the entire time as they made their way into the back of the shop. Sonic handed the grumpy blade over, and stood idly by, drumming his fingers on his thigh as the blacksmith looked it over.

“I know a fine blade when I see one,” the blacksmith murmured, causing Sonic to smirk.

“Great! Think you can sharpen this dull piece of rust?”

“Fool!” Caliburn thundered from the blacksmith’s grasp. “It is you who is dull!”

“Think you can sharpen his wit as well?” Sonic snarked. “His comebacks could use a lot of work.”

The fox laughed, a little too politely for Sonic’s liking. “I can absolutely work on the blade for you, Sir! It should only be a moment.”

“Thanks a lot. We’re in a bit of a hurry and--”

“Oh! In that case, I could move some work around and…”

Sonic let out a hum of confusion. “Hey, you don’t have to make it the number one priority if you…” His voice trailed off as the fox leapt over to clear his workbench, apparently determined to get this job done as soon as possible. “...well, if you say so…”

The people of this storybook world sure are polite, Sonic thought as he leaned against a wall, tapping his fingers as he waited and the sound of a grindstone dragging across metal sounded through the workshop. The swords on the other hand...

Caliburn was sharpened and ready to go before the hour was up, and the blacksmith insisted that the service was on the house. Sonic decided to be grateful for that 一 he didn’t have any of this place’s currency on him to his knowledge 一 and he dashed back out into the world, sword at the ready, and started making his way back over to Misty Lake.

“That’s where she lives, right?” he asked Caliburn as he vaulted over a raised tree root.

“Indeed,” Caliburn responded, seeming in better spirits now that he was taken care of.

“You know, a lake in the middle of the forest isn’t something I see every day. It’s usually grassland or a mountain gorge or…”

Sonic skidded to a halt, his ears perking up and his head turning from side to side as he scanned the area around him. “Did you hear that?” he asked in a whisper.

“Hear wha--”

“There!” Sonic hissed as a soft rustling noise sounded over the whistling of the breeze.

“Approach with caution,” Caliburn advised, and Sonic fought the urge to roll his eyes. He pushed through the foliage, finding it just about impossible to avoid making noise. Accepting that he couldn’t make a stealthy approach, he gripped Caliburn more tightly as he stepped out from behind a tree into a small clearing, where another figure was standing with its back to him.

Sonic had only barely taken in the sight of black spines when a familiar voice sounded out, cold and hostile.

“I have found you, magical warrior, enemy of my king.”

Sonic took a few steps closer. “Who the heck are you?” he asked. As he approached, he noticed streaks of red running through the dark quills, and his eyes widened as he made the association with…

“Shadow?!”

The other let out a haughty huff, still standing with his back turned. “I am Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table. It would be wise to remember the name, for I shall strike you down for the glory of King Arthur!”

“Well in that case, you might want to turn around,” Sonic remarked dryly, gripping onto Caliburn and getting into a fighting stance, already regretting engaging in this back-and forth. He had a kingdom to save, and he was pretty sure any battles against seasoned swordfighters would just lead to more sass from the weapon in his hand.

But Sir Lancelot didn’t move an inch. “You are a cocky one… You hardly tried to cover your tracks. Did you not think we wouldn’t learn that you stole Caliburn? The next stop after that was obvious.”

Sonic felt himself begin to zone out; Shadow was never this wordy, right? Maybe a little bit when they met, but…

Then, to Sonic’s relief, Sir Lancelot finally turned to face him. “Did you really… think…”

Sonic waited. Sir Lancelot didn’t continue speaking. Sir Lancelot hardly moved at all, standing stock-still, not even raising his sword.

“Hello?” Sonic tried, waving a hand in front of Sir Lancelot’s face. “You still with us?”

Still no response. Sonic turned to his sword. “He seems speechless.”

“I wonder why…” Caliburn responded, tone neutral.

“What… What is this?!” Sir Lancelot finally whispered, and Sonic didn’t know how to answer that one.

Well, at least he was responsive again…

Sir Lancelot raised his sword, brandishing it with a renewed ferocity. “I challenge you to a duel!” he cried, more in line with what Sonic would expect from a Shadow lookalike.

“Some things never change…” Sonic sighed, and in response, Sir Lancelot’s blade wavered, but before Sonic could comment on the knight’s unusual disposition again, Caliburn piped up from his hand.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh nothing. It’s just that he looks like trouble.”

He heard a sharp intake of breath, and when he looked up again, Sir Lancelot appeared outraged, like he’d been insulted. “What shall it be?” he demanded, still pointing his sword at Sonic. “Will you abandon your sword and flee, like the fraudster you are?”

Fraudster… Sonic almost laughed, another meeting with another hedgehog in another forest coming to mind. Some things really never change…

“Sounds good to me,” he returned, already turning back in the direction he came, ready to get back on track, before Caliburn bellowed from his hand.

“Fool! A knight never flees his foe!”

And as though his hand was possessed, Sonic’s arm raised to point Caliburn back at Sir Lancelot, who rose to take the bait.

“State your name, arcane warrior!”

“He is Knave the Hedgehog,” Caliburn quipped before Sonic had finished drawing in a breath, “and he accepts your challenge!”

“Hey, wait just a second here!” Sonic protested, glaring down at his outspoken weapon, but it appeared that the decision was made for him as Sir Lancelot responded instantly.

“Very well then! Brace yourself, Knave the Hedgehog!”

Above them both, a raven landed in the branches of the trees, hardly making a sound, and yet Sir Lancelot still looked upwards and breathed in deeply before refocusing on Sonic.

“Now we shall see what you can do!”

With that, Sir Lancelot dashed forward, aiming a strike that Sonic sidestepped with his incredible speed. The knight skidded to a halt, turning around, his hands trembling for a second before he struck out again but…

But this strike was remarkably weak and easy to deflect.

Sonic parried it with no issue, bracing himself for a counterstrike, but one never came. Seeing an opportunity to gain the upper hand, Sonic gave a strike of his own, and grinned when Sir Lancelot immediately went on the defensive.

Sonic kept swinging.

Sir Lancelot kept defending.

It was kind of disappointing.

“You sure you’re a knight?” Sonic taunted, hoping that some banter would breathe life into this battle. “Because it looks like I’ve got you on the ropes.”

A snarl tore itself from Sir Lancelot’s throat, and the knight pushed Caliburn away with more ferocity than before. Sonic raised his sword again, expecting Sir Lancelot to charge forward, but the knight stood his ground, his sword shaking as he looked up at the branches above.

The raven was gone.

Sir Lancelot’s sword lowered, to Sonic’s continued confusion, before the knight sucked in a labored breath. “This is… This isn’t… Mark my words, Knave the Hedgehog, I shall return, and you will know no mercy when I do!”

And with that, Sir Lancelot turned on his heel and ran off through the trees, leaving Sonic underwhelmed and nonplussed.

“So he was one of the Knights of the Round Table?” he asked Caliburn as he resumed their own trek through the trees. “Could have fooled me…”

“He was,” the sword assured him, sounding faraway as though he was deep in thought. “The mightiest of all and the closest to King Arthur.”

“Well if he’s the ‘mightiest’ then this should be a breeze!”

“I disagree.” Caliburn sounded solemn enough that Sonic held back his retort. “He was very clearly off during this fight. He is known to clear battles with ten opponents without so much as a scratch on him afterward, and to flee a battle as he just did… Ordinarily, he would never have done such a thing.” The sword’s blue eyes looked sharply up at Sonic. “I want you to understand this, and to not get a swelled head. It is only due to luck and circumstance that you won just now. Something was wrong.”

“Huh, you don’t say…” Sonic thought it over. “He was acting kinda strange, now that I think about it.”

“Tread carefully,” Caliburn advised as Sonic broke back into a run. “Misty Lake is not far, and should we find any other knights, you might not fare so well.”

“If you say so,” Sonic returned, only half-listening, as the fog between the trees grew thicker and thicker.

Chapter Text

The fog was thick enough that Sonic couldn’t even see his feet below him, and trekking through the trees proved much more difficult than before. Now and again he would stumble when a sneaky raised tree root or a hidden bush brushed against his shoes and gave him trouble, but Caliburn kept urging him forward, paying no mind to the obstacles.

“If you are to be defeated by a mere plant, then I fear the worst for this kingdom,” he remarked gravely.

Sonic retaliated by using him as a cane to feel his way forward for the rest of their journey.

Eventually, the mist parted, and Sonic blinked as a tranquil lake came into view. He made his way down to the waters, peering over the shoreline to see his reflection in the lake. The waters were crystal clear, with hardly a ripple forming, even as a breeze whistled past.

“What is this place?” Sonic wondered, looking back up.

As if to answer him, a wooden path appeared over the water, leading to a small island in the middle. Large, ornate, wooden arches decorated the path, and small glowing blue lights led the way. Sonic peered at the lights in wonder; they glowed bright like lightbulbs, but that couldn’t be the case, not in this story, setting, or time.

It must be magic…

Slowly, tentatively, Sonic took a few steps forward, creeping along the path until he was sure it was solid. Once he was satisfied he wouldn’t fall in, he marched along more urgently, until a figure in blue materialized several feet in front of him.

Pink fur. Green eyes. A wide smile. Sonic’s eyes grew wide as she beckoned him forward.

“I’ve been waiting for you, knight from another world.”

The voice caused Sonic’s spines to rise as the memory of his promise to have lunch with Amy that day slammed into him with all the force of a truck, and Sonic felt the immediate urge to flee the wrath he had certainly unleashed by failing to show up.

He cried out, turning to run, but Caliburn forced himself in front of him, hopping in irritation. “Fool! Where are you going?” he demanded, blocking Sonic’s only route of escape.

“But that’s…!” Sonic protested, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he wondered how he would pay for skipping out on his plans this time and oh, Chaos, she was right behind him and the sword was keeping him from running and there was water everywhere and--

“You are being rude to the Lady of the Lake!”

The Lady…?

Sonic turned back around, his new reality catching up to him as he noticed what the pink hedgehog was wearing 一 a long blue dress and a matching blue headband. She stood calmly, regal and serene, nothing to suggest that she was angry or disappointed at all.

Sonic could have slapped his own forehead. After his run-ins with the blacksmith and Lancelot, he should have known that this wasn’t really Amy.

“Bow your head!” Caliburn hissed at him, and Sonic decided to play along, kneeling and looking at the ground in front of him.

“I think I know why you’re here,” the lady’s voice said from in front of him. “It’s about Excalibur, isn’t it?”

Relief swept over Sonic like a tidal wave; finally, someone who didn’t beat around the bush and speak in riddles! “Yeah, that’s right!” he said, rising to his feet and making his way over to her, swinging an arm over to rest on her back. He would have expected a blush and a giggle from Amy, but the Lady of the Lake only seemed surprised. “You don’t waste any time, lady!”

“Show some respect!” Caliburn hissed, much to Sonic’s annoyance, but the Lady of the Lake only smiled serenely, gently shrugging away Sonic’s arm and beckoning both warrior and sword to the pagoda on the island. Sonic and Nimue sat down with Caliburn in the middle 一 “I must keep an eye on you, lest you do something else insulting and boorish!” 一 and the lady began to tell her tale.

“I’ll tell you how to hinder the scabbard’s power of immortality,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “I’m the one who gave the sword to King Arthur… so I fear that I must take some responsibility. But still…”

Her head bowed, and her gaze fell to the ground. Uncertainty clouded the air, mixing with the mist, and Sonic couldn’t afford to keep stalling. “Still what?” he urged, and Nimue’s head rose again, her solemn green eyes meeting his own.

“Whoever defeats King Arthur and takes his scabbard… might end up turning out the same way, correct?”

“I see…” Caliburn murmured, while Sonic considered the implications of the Lady’s statement. Was she really worried that he would become just like King Arthur?

Before he could open his mouth to refute the notion, Nimue continued. “So I have three tests for you. Would you like to hear them?”

It only took Sonic a second to mull it over. Merlina’s request was urgent, but if Nimue thought that they had time to spare, then he couldn’t say ‘no’ to a bit more practice and exploration.

“Sure! Fire away.”

The lady smiled warmly, and held up one finger. “First, free the innocents from King Arthur’s dungeon.” A second finger joined the first. “Next, offer compassion to those in need.” The third finger flew upwards, completing the set. “And finally, defeat King Arthur’s knights of the underworld.” Her hands landed back into her lap. “Do you accept my terms?”

Sonic grinned, already getting to his feet. “You bet I do! I’ll help fix up this world in no time!”

Nimue giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand, before she rose as well and escorted Sonic and Caliburn out of the pagoda and back to the island. “I’m sure you will. And Sir…?”

Sonic turned back to her. “Sonic,” he offered, introducing himself to her. “What is it?”

“There is a time limit. I will give you three days to complete my trials.” The mist descended on all three of them, bathing Sonic’s vision in white, and when it cleared again, neither Nimue nor the pagoda were there anymore.

Yet, her voice lingered in the air. 

“Good luck, Sir Sonic.”

As Sonic made his way back down the walkway, he thought about the trials that Nimue had left for him. “I get it,” he said to himself. “She’s only gonna tell the secret to a true knight.”

“Are you up to the task?” Caliburn asked, sounding solemn instead of condescending for once. “This will not be easy.”

“Heh!” Sonic swiped at his nose with his free hand. “I’m the world’s fastest hedgehog! Check it out! You’ll be calling me ‘Sir’ before you know it!”

Caliburn hummed, as though he wanted to say something else, but ultimately said nothing as Sonic grabbed him by the hilt and rushed off to face his tasks.

Defeating the knights of the underworld was the largest task by far, given that they always seemed to spawn at a whim, but as Sonic kept finding them and practicing his skills over the course of the first day, he started to figure out more about the world around him.

He discovered the powerful assistance of the faeries, from granting him the ability to attack foes with a soul surge, to gifting him with rings that he could give to the townsfolk to complete his second task. He discovered the dangers of bats and butterflies and how they hindered his speed and messed with his perception.

By the third day, he was ready to free the innocents from the dungeons, clearing the remaining knights of the underworld from Camelot Castle as he did so, and before long he was running through the forests again, feeling much more confident and at ease with the weapon in his hand.

“It’s close,” Caliburn remarked, sounding guardedly impressed, “but somehow you made it.”

“Too easy!” Sonic deflected with a grin. “Piece of cake.”

“Do not let it go to your head, fool!” Caliburn returned, though it sounded more like a jest than an insult. Sonic smirked, ready to quip a retort, but a noise in the air tickled his ears and he slid to a stop. “What’s wrong?” Caliburn asked, and in response, Sonic pointed further down the road.

It was one of the townsfolk, a child, sitting on the ground and sobbing loudly. Sonic called out as he approached them, “Hey, what’s the matter? Are you lost or something?”

The child looked up at him, tears streaming down their face and soaking their skin. “A great big dragon attacked my village!” they cried in between wet, gasping sobs.

“A dragon?!” Sonic’s eyes widened as he remembered his fight against the Mist Dragon; that one had been plenty big and tough, but there hadn’t been any houses or people around. A beast like that around a village meant…

“It took my mommy, a-and my daddy, and ev-everyone else away,” the child blubbered on before sinking back into terrified gasping and crying.

Sonic considered his options. Either he could run back to the lake, get there on time and learn what he needed in order to defeat King Arthur, or he could take a detour and help this child out.

He smiled. The answer was obvious. How could he say he showed compassion to those in need if he left this kid here right now?

He squatted down beside the child, patting their head to help them refocus. “You know where the dragon is, kid?” he asked.

The child was still struggling to breathe, but they held up a trembling hand and pointed back the way Sonic had come from, to a large rocky summit in the distance. “It’s in the big cave at the bottom of that mountain.”

“All right.” Sonic stood up, taking a moment to stretch. “I’m on it.”

“Wait!” Caliburn protested, hopping up and down with urgency. “Don’t tell me you’re going off to slay a dragon now!”

“Yes,” Sonic affirmed, taking the blade back into his hand. “We are.”

“What of the Lady’s tests?!” Caliburn continued to argue. “You will never make it in time!”

“Yeah, maybe but…” Sonic mulled it over, wondering how to phrase his thought process. “I play by my own rules,” he declared, lifting Caliburn away from the ground and toward the mountain. “Remember that.”

With that, Sonic rushed off, shooting the child behind him a thumbs-up while Caliburn grumbled in his other hand.

“Hang in there, kiddo, I’ll get your folks back!”

And if that meant that he would fail Nimue’s test, then he would just need to find another way to discover Excalibur’s weakness.

Sonic had a feeling that the past three days had been less challenging than they could have been; his encounter with Sir Lancelot still bugged him, especially since that had been the only knight he had met. Didn’t King Arthur have a whole Round Table of knights following him? A great many of them, ranging from around twelve to two hundred?

It was almost a relief to see an armored red echidna standing in the middle of a bunch of rock slabs on his way to the dragon’s lair.

“I don’t suppose you’re gonna let me by?”

The knight stayed silent.

“Heh.” Sonic eyed the new knight up and down, unable to hold back his smile. “You look just like this knucklehead I know!”

That one got a reaction.

“Ho!” Two ax-like blades unsheathed themselves, and the echidna’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “You dare mock Sir Gawain, Knight of the Round Table? An act most unwise, my friend!”

Gawain, huh?

The echidna dropped into an offensive stance, and Sonic realized a little too late that making fun of this knight while he was on a time limit was probably not the greatest idea.

“Wait, wait!” Sonic held up a hand, as if to stop Sir Gawain’s approach. “I’m not trying to pick a fight with you! I was heading to a cave to save some people from a dragon--”

“Bah! You cannot fool me with your lies!” The knight held his weapons up, gripping them tightly. “A foul trickster like you is no doubt plotting against my king, but I will not be swayed by your wicked deceptions! If you have any honor at all, you will face me!”

Sonic heaved a sigh, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Oh man… You sound just like that knucklehead, too!”

Sir Gawain growled and struck forward. Sonic dodged on reflex, but from that one attack, he could tell that, though Sir Gawain was slower than Sir Lancelot had been, his blows were much more powerful; had he not moved in time, he was sure that the hit could have taken his arm clean off.

“You have defied King Arthur!” Sir Gawain shifted, his bronze armored boots kicking up dust. “This place shall be your grave!”

So it was true then; unlike Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain was aiming to kill.

The next swipe missed him by less than an inch, and Sonic swore he saw tiny pieces of blue fur blow away in the breeze close to the connection point. “Say your prayers, you thieving rat!” Sir Gawain spat as Sonic raised Caliburn in defense.

“Again with the rat thing? For the last time, I’m a hedgehog!”

“Nay, only a rat would steal a sacred sword for his own bidding!”

Sonic couldn’t even muster a response as Sir Gawain’s attacks kept coming at him; though they were easy to block, the sheer might behind them kept pushing him back, and Caliburn’s frantic reminders that he was not indestructible kept Sonic on his toes.

Getting Sir Gawain on the defensive seemed close to impossible, and overpowering him was clearly not happening. Sonic knew he had to think smarter for this fight.

How do I usually get the best of Knuckles…? Oh! Right!

Sonic dodged one more blow, sidestepping it in the hopes that Sir Gawain’s balance would be thrown forward by his own force. Luck was on his side, and as soon as Sonic saw the knight take an extra step forward, he made a strike of his own, slamming the flat of his own blade into Sir Gawain’s side. The knight let out a cry of surprise as he lost his balance, and with another hit from Caliburn he was knocked to the ground with one of his blades flying from his grasp.

Still, Sir Gawain held the second sword up, defending himself to the end, but finally Sonic had the advantage, and with a few well-timed strikes, the knight was defeated on the ground.

Sonic grinned, happier at this victory than he had been with Sir Lancelot’s, but the knight before him appeared to be crushed as he pushed up his visor and got to his knees. One fist struck the ground with enough force to make the earth shake.

“How could I lose?” Sir Gawain asked, looking beside himself with rage and upset. “And to a mere apprentice… I have been disgraced!”

Sonic was ready to tell him that it wasn’t that big of a deal when the knight grabbed his remaining blade and pressed it to his neck. The hedgehog’s eyes widened. He isn’t about to--

“Only death can remove this stain upon my honor,” Sir Gawain growled, morose as he closed his eyes, and once again, Sonic relied on his speed to save the day.

“Give me a break!” In a flash, Sonic had swiped away the remaining blade, leaving the knight weaponless on the ground. His spines were raised as the sudden tension and fear crashed into him.

He had almost watched someone die again.

“What’s up with all this drama?” he demanded, backing away to pick up the other sword; he wasn’t going to risk the possibility of Sir Gawain trying it again.

“Silence! Silence I say!” Sir Gawain was still beside himself, beating his fists to the ground and making it shake again. “A knight who fails their king is unfit to live, and that’s what I am!” Enraged violet eyes looked up at Sonic, barely holding back an avalanche of fury and shame. “A failure!”

Sonic frowned, looking at the swords in his hands. “Isn’t there more to being a knight than serving a king?”

“No.” Sir Gawain’s response was immediate. “A knight pledges their life and loyalty to the crown. To fail is unacceptable.”

Sonic hummed, tossing one of the blades into the air and catching it again. “Well in that case, try to make it up to your king. I think he’d rather have a redeemed knight than a dead one, don’t you?”

“...Huh?”

Sonic took a quick glance over at Sir Gawain, who now looked more surprised than crushed. Good. Let’s hope he listens. “I’m outta here,” he announced, turning the new swords over in his hands. “People to save, you know? And hey, if you ever decide that you want a rematch later on, I’m game! But until then, I’ll hang on to these for you.”

With that, Sonic raced off, stowing away his new weapons and leaving Sir Gawain to rethink his choices.

From the top of one of the stones, a raven watched as Sir Gawain stayed crumpled on the ground, defeated and disarmed. As soon as the red knight got back up to his feet, the bird turned away and took flight, not looking back.

Chapter Text

“The appointed time has passed.”

Caliburn’s disappointment was palpable as Sonic kept running along the path. The hedgehog’s endeavor to save the villagers from the dragon had been successful, but the victory turned sour as his sword kept reminding him of their original quest.

“Yeah,” he grumbled as he kept jogging along the path through the trees. “Don’t remind me.”

The air was thick with the sword’s disapproval, pressing down on Sonic with the weight of failure, but the hedgehog carried on, determined to not let this get him down. Maybe Nimue would be lenient? Give him a second chance? He wouldn’t know if he didn’t try.

They turned around a bend, and within seconds a child was within their sights. Sonic skidded to a halt, throwing out an arm to stop Caliburn as well, and his eyes widened as he recognized the child from before. They stood in the middle of the path, eyes wide as he approached.

“You’ve been waiting here the whole time?” Sonic asked. “Sorry about that! But good news, everyone’s safe!”

The child blinked their eyes once before smiling softly, a gentle and serene look crossing their face that seemed wise beyond their years. Their head bowed to him, but before Sonic could assure them that thanks wasn’t necessary, they spoke in a familiar voice.

“Thank you. And… Sorry about tricking you.”

“Huh--”

Peals of powder blue light glowed around the child, sparkling up into the air and obscuring them from view. Sonic took a step back as the winds whipped around him, swirling around the child as they became encased in light, but as the brightness faded away, a new figure was left standing in their place.

From the middle of the path, the Lady of the Lake beamed at Sonic, paying no heed to his astonishment. “You have shown courage, strength, and compassion,” she announced, causing Sonic’s ears to perk up and Caliburn to stand more firmly on his point.

“Huh? Then…”

Nimue nodded. “I will show you how to blunt the power of Excalibur.”

“I see,” Sonic murmured, nodding and tapping his foot. “So I have to defeat the Knights of the Round Table and collect the sacred swords?”

“Yes.” Nimue gestured to the two blades that Sonic had taken from Sir Gawain. “The five sacred swords, combined with your Caliburn, should dispel the power of immortality that protects him.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Sonic remarked. “I’ve already got one, and the other knight I fought wasn’t too hard to go against.”

An odd look passed Nimue’s features. “Tell me… I see that you have Galatine, Sir Gawain’s sword, but whom else have you encountered? Which sword did you nearly take?”

“Sir Lancelot’s, my lady,” Caliburn offered gravely, and Nimue closed her eyes, sighing softly.

Sonic looked between the two of them. “Something the matter?” he asked. “I know Caliburn said he’s tough, but he was kind of a pushover when I fought him.”

“Enough to run away, still armed…” Nimue’s eyes reopened, a faraway look in them. “I must reiterate what Caliburn has told you. The next time you find my son, he will most certainly be aiming to kill. Be on your guard if you ever wish to hold Arondight amongst the other swords.”

Sonic's jaw dropped. "Your what?!"

"My son," Nimue replied calmly, folding her hands on her lap. "I am the mother of the Ultimate Knight, the one who helped hone his incredible talents, and I would recommend that you cease thinking so little of him."

The unspoken threat of a mother protecting her son's honor hung in the air, and Sonic closed his mouth, nodding quickly in agreement. He still had his doubts, but if two people told him to be wary, then the advice was worth taking. “So where to next?” he asked, eager to get their plan into motion.

“The Molten Mine,” Caliburn stated as Nimue nodded in approval. “That is where you are most likely to find Sir Percival, and Sir Lamorak is never far behind her.”

“Two in one, huh?” Sonic grinned, getting up from his seat. “No time to waste! I’ll have three swords before the day is out!”

“We’ll see about that…”

“Hey, c’mon!” Sonic snapped, picking up Caliburn after the sword’s quip. “Isn’t it about time you gave me a little credit?”

The sword’s eyes stared firmly at him as he replied. “Your next opponent is Sir Percival. She is as strong as she is noble, and one mistake could be your last.”

Sonic’s spines relaxed as he realized why Caliburn was telling him this. It wasn’t that he doubted him…

...he’s just worried.

“Don’t worry!” Sonic reassured his sword, and sure enough, he saw Caliburn’s eyes soften just a fraction. But Sonic needed more than just a fraction; he needed Caliburn to trust in him as well, and there was no better way to build trust than with more trust. “I’ve got one of the great sacred swords fighting with me.”

Caliburn’s eyes widened and the sword cleared his throat. “O-Of course! It’s… about time you figured that out!”

Sonic snorted, readjusting his grip on Caliburn and making sure Galatine was safely attached to him. “I’ll make this look easy,” he claimed, feeling Caliburn’s weight in his hand. The sword felt less like something to drag along now, and more like an extension of Sonic; a bond much more befitting of a knight and his weapon. Sonic grinned as he claimed, “She won’t know what hit her! And I’ve gotten pretty used to you, too!”

“That is exactly what I told you not to do!” Caliburn scolded from Sonic’s hand, but Sonic didn’t take his words to heart. He knew it wasn’t a bad thing that he was starting to understand his weapon.

After all, how could they work as a team if they weren’t on the same page?

Sonic bid Niume goodbye and raced across the walkways, over the water and into the woods beyond. As he ran, he swore he could hear her voice, carried by the wind.

“Fare thee well brave knight, chosen one of Caliburn…”

“Chosen one…”

Sonic glanced down at his sword, who was barking directions at him every now and again, and smiled as he faced the world ahead of him.

It’s about time that I chose you as well, huh Caliburn?

Caliburn’s prediction proved correct as Sonic sped through the boiling rocks of the Molten Mine. The third knight was standing in wait by a pool of lava, her sword already drawn as Sonic slid to a stop nearby, another familiar figure, though her face was hidden away. Sonic barely had a moment to bite back the impulse to call out “Blaze!” when she spoke, her equally-familiar voice dissonant with this world’s old, formal way of speaking.

“I am Sir Percival,” she announced, “Knight of the Round Table and servant of King Arthur. State your name and your master, sir!”

She wasted no time. Sonic rather appreciated that as he readjusted his hold on Caliburn’s hilt.

“I’m Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!” he claimed, maintaining his stance and looking directly at her visor, as though staring past it to her eyes. “I have no master, except the wind that blows free!”

“Did you come up with that on your way here?” Caliburn muttered from his hand, and Sonic lightly shook him once in retaliation.

Sir Percival, however, seemed to take him seriously as she appraised him from head to toe. “Very well,” she stated, raising her own sword; a long, deadly-looking rapier. “Sonic, Knight of the Wind, prepare for battle.”

In turn, Sonic held up Caliburn, and the cat seemed to prickle at the sight of that sword being held against her. “Bring it on!” Sonic urged, and with that, the fighters clashed together.

Caliburn hadn’t lied when he said she was strong, but he neglected to mention how fast she was, too. Sir Percival was keeping up with Sonic’s quicker jabs, her own sword light and easy to maneuver. Sonic heard the wind whistle every time she struck, and he could tell in mere seconds that a single hit from that thing could mean his demise, just as Caliburn had warned him.

But that wasn’t much different from fighting Sirs Lancelot or Gawain; the main difference now was that his opponent was more likely to keep up with him.

With that in mind, Sonic found himself putting more distance between them, giving Sir Percival room to dash forward, looking for openings to sidestep and counterattack or to strike as she recovered from a miss. It was more challenging than his other fights, but Sonic thrived on the thrill of the fight, whether his strike was blocked or he was faced with a vortex of flames as Sir Percival conjured up her powers.

“Impressive, Knight of the Wind,” she praised him as they fought.

“I taught him everything he knows,” Caliburn boasted as he blocked yet another blow.

“Hey, watch your big head!”

But even the bickering with his sword felt lighter now, and over the course of the fight, Sonic had to laugh, because suddenly he was having fun again.

No more obstacles. No more time constraints. No more animosity with his partner. His life was still in danger and not much about the world had changed in the last four days, but all the same, Sonic was having the time of his life.

Sir Percival seemed to falter at the sound of his laughter, and Sonic took the opportunity to strike at her wrist. The cat yelped in shock as the hit connected with its target, and her sword was sent flying through the air before landing at the base of a rock, causing the raven sitting atop it to take flight. Sir Percival sucked in a breath at the sight, taking a step back, suddenly tense as she turned back towards her opponent.

“Well done, Sir Sonic,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she kept backing away, straying far too close to the edge of the lava-filled basin for comfort. Sonic's blood ran cold as a familiar situation involving knights and failure resurfaced in his mind.

Was she going to do what Sir Gawain had attempted?!

“Wait--”

The knight took a final step back and the rock beneath her feet crumbled, and Sir Percival didn’t even scream as she fell down towards the lava.

“Percival!” Sonic cried out. There was no time to think; he jumped after her, closing his eyes against the unbearable heat wave that collided with his body, diving through the air until his hand clasped her wrist, and with a wild thrust to the side, he jammed Caliburn’s blade into the cliff, slowing their descent into a stop just a few feet above the lava.

Sonic exhaled in relief, looking up towards the sky for a bit of relief from the heat. That had been way too close for comfort.

“Why?”

Sonic glanced down. Sir Percival’s visor had lifted during the fall, and amber eyes were narrowed at him, trying to make sense of what had happened. “Why did you…?”

She didn’t finish her question, but she didn’t need to. Sonic gave her a one-shouldered shrug as he replied.

“I guess you could say that whim is my other master.”

Free like the wind, just living by my own feelings…

“Save the hugs and kisses for later.”

Sonic glanced up at his sword as Sir Percival looked down, suddenly bashful. “What?” he teased. “You jealous or something?”

Sonic almost laughed again as Caliburn let out an indignant noise. “For a knave such as you?” the sword protested. “R-Ridiculous!”

Sonic groaned, repositioning himself to face the cliff and start his way back up with Sir Percival in tow. “Enough with that ‘knave’ stuff already!”

For a while there was no reply as Sonic helped Sir Percival brace herself against the rocks as well, and together they climbed up in silence. As they neared the top, however, Caliburn spoke again.

“Hm… actually…”

Sonic glanced over at his sword. “Yes?” he prompted, and Caliburn closed his eyes, his face relaxing into a satisfied smile.

“Sonic the Hedgehog, you have mastered the code of chivalry. From this day forth, you shall be Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind.”

Sonic paused in his climb, Caliburn’s words sinking into him all at once. A smile of his own stretched across his face, and he let out a chuckle as he continued climbing.

He had plenty of quips in mind to respond to that, but he kept them all to himself. There was something new between him and Caliburn, a bond of trust that they had finally been able to forge through facing their challenges together, so just this once, Sonic decided to hold his tongue for the sake of the moment.

After all, it wasn't every day that he got knighted.

Chapter Text

Laevatein was easier to carry along than Galatine; the rapier was long but light, barely affecting Sonic's speed as he brought it along.

After he had left Sir Percival to recover from her near-death experience, Caliburn had suggested checking out the lands further to the south for Sir Lamorak.

"Ordinarily, he can be found around the Great Megalith, near to your recent battle against Sir Gawain," the sword had told him. "However, given the circumstances, I think it is more likely that he would choose to stay close to Sir Percival."

Sonic hummed in thought, already wondering whose counterpart this would be. Someone close to Blaze, enough to stand by as backup in one of the warmest places on the map? Silver came to mind, so Sonic kept his eyes peeled for long, gray spines. However, as he approached what Caliburn dubbed ‘The Cauldron’, he caught a glimpse of green feathers and steel armor, and memories of racing fast through the streets on Extreme Gear came flooding back to him.

Sonic fought back the urge to smile. It had been a while since he'd seen Jet.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," the hawk sneered just like his counterpart, causing Sonic to narrow his eyes in confusion. "It is about time you showed up."

"How do you know my name?" he asked as the bird walked toward him.

From under the helmet, Sonic could see a familiar smug smile spread across the other's beak.

"A little birdie told me."

A flash of movement caught Sonic's eye; Not-Jet was twirling a small black feather between his fingers.

"He also told me that you managed to get the best of my sister," he continued. "I will admit that's impressive; Percival is known for many things, but 'defeat' isn't one of them."

Sonic's mind skidded to a halt. "Wait… did you say 'sister'?"

"So, Sonic the Hedgehog," the knight continued, ignoring his question entirely, "it shall be my turn to see what you can do." The hawk dropped the feather to the ground, and the very next second, two fanned blades were in his hands, twirling between his fingers in a show of dexterity. "Sir Lamorak of the Round Table challenges you!"

"Cocky as ever," Caliburn muttered from Sonic's hand.

“I’ll say,” Sonic agreed. To Sir Lamorak, he called out, “The Knight of the Wind accepts your challenge!”

Sir Lamorak sneered, pointing one of his blades at him. “Another master of the wind? Well then, we shall see if that form of yours lives up to expectations!” 

“Another fight so soon,” Caliburn remarked as Sonic held him at the ready. “Are you prepared?”

Sonic only grinned, eyes alight with the promise of yet another challenge. “I was born ready.”

As though reacting to his words, Sir Lamorak ran forward and struck, catching Sonic by surprise. After dealing with Sir Percival’s speed, Sonic supposed he should have guessed that, as her brother, Sir Lamorak would be similarly fast, but the hawk was moving rapidly, striking with more speed than his sister had, though with less strength and finesse.

As their swords clashed together again and again, Sonic started to figure out where Sir Lamorak fell on the scale of speed and power within the Round Table: his fighting style was like a mix of Sir Percival’s and Sir Gawain’s; while his strikes were speedy, they lacked the brute power that either knight possessed, but his dual wielding proved to make up for that. With every passing second, Sonic found himself deflecting blows from both sides and all angles, unable to counter with one of his own. Sir Lamorak proved relentless, and as his attacks kept on coming, endlessly energetic as well, never slowing down or letting up.

“Not as fast as you claim?” the hawk taunted. “With that face, I would think you would put up more of a challenge!”

“Don’t worry about me,” Sonic returned as Caliburn blocked yet another attack. “I’m just getting started! I’ll have you running off to your king in no time!”

Yet oddly enough, the knight scoffed. “I am not fighting for King Arthur today. He has not been himself for a while now. No… this fight is for me.” Sir Lamorak’s blade swung down, more measured than his other strikes. “In any case, anyone who can best little Percy in battle should be a good challenge for me!”

Sonic leapt back, mulling over Sir Lamorak’s words, and by the time his feet touched the ground, he was grinning again. This was something he understood; a personal battle, a test of strength and skill, pushing himself to his limits to see just what he was capable of, and then some. A moment to forget the rest, to divorce themselves from all the urgencies to do with kings and wizards and evil dark knights from the underworld, and just have a fun battle.

“Okay then,” he agreed, swiping at his nose with his free hand. “If it’s a good fight you want, then I’ll give it to ya!”

The two shot towards each other, Sonic reaching his target just a moment sooner and landing his first blow. Sir Lamorak wheezed, coughing once before he recovered from the strike, bashing Caliburn away with one of his weapons and jabbing forth with the other one. Sonic smirked, leaping back and putting more distance between the two of them, preparing for another jab…

...when the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared.

“What the…!”

Sonic was floating a foot above the ground, and he flailed for a moment, managing to flip himself over backwards until he was at an awkward diagonal. Thinking quickly, he thrust Caliburn at the ground, using him as a support to right himself up again.

“What’s that all about?” Sonic asked his sword while the knight across from him scoffed.

“I forget sometimes that you do not know…” Caliburn mumbled, his words striking Sonic as odd. Still, before he could ask, the sword spoke up, louder than before. “Sir Lamorak has the ability to change the forces of gravity around him. Stay on guard or--”

Sonic felt his feet slam back onto the ground, stunning him for just a second, but that was all the hawk needed to dash forward and strike at his hand, almost knocking Caliburn free. Sonic silently thanked Merlina for giving him a gauntlet; he was pretty sure that his hand would have been taken off if she hadn’t.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?” he demanded, to which Sir Lamorak sneered.

“What is the matter, self-proclaimed Wind Master? Is your reaction time truly so bad?”

Sonic smirked at the taunt, feeling the adrenaline rise and readying Caliburn once more. “You wish!”

Sir Lamorak seemed pleased with his answer, and the battle continued with fast, unpredictable strikes until Sonic found himself airborne again.

However, he was ready this time.

Once again, Caliburn helped ready him in the air, and that’s when Sonic noticed that Sir Lamorak was also floating, unable to move while he was using his ability.

That’s the weakness!

“Hold on tight!” he called out to Caliburn, and that was the only warning the sword got as Sonic dug him into the rocky surface below them and used him to swing in the air, vaulting himself toward Sir Lamorak feet-first, tearing his blade from the ground as he did so. The hawk let out a squawk of surprise, unable to drop to the ground in time as Sonic collided with his chest, sending them both flying through the air until they crashed against a boulder and crumpled to the ground. Sir Lamorak struggled to sit up, feeling around for his blades and growling when he failed to find them 一 they had been knocked from his hands upon impact.

Sonic, meanwhile, grinned as he pressed Caliburn to the hawk’s throat. “I win.”

“No!” Sir Lamorak pounded his fist against the ground. “I demand a rematch!”

“Hm… Well, if you insist--”

“You cannot be considering this!” Caliburn barked. “Take Pinel and go, or have you forgotten your mission?!”

“Keep your hands off my sword!” Sir Lamorak screeched back. “And stay out of this, Caliburn!”

Sonic glanced between the two of them curiously. “So you’re both on first name terms?”

Sir Lamorak groaned. “Of course we are! He’s--”

“Lamorak!”

Sonic’s head shot around at the new voice; Sir Percival was walking towards them, still scuffed up and unarmed but otherwise no worse for wear. Her visor was pushed up, and her face stern.

“Give him your sword,” she said, much to Sonic’s surprise and Sir Lamorak’s outrage.

“What! No! It’s my weapon!”

“He won this battle,” Sir Percival responded curtly. “And so he has won the right to your blades. Such are the rules to combat.”

“We weren’t fighting for the right to steal weapons!” Sir Lamorak protested, shoving Sonic off of him remarkably easily, in order to storm over to his sister, whose tail swayed in displeasure. “Perhaps that’s what the rest of you are doing, but I am not the same!”

“For goodness’ sake, Lamorak, pretend you have an ounce of dignity and just do it!” Sir Percival snapped, finally at a limit. “This goes much further than what you want!”

Sonic glanced down at Caliburn, wondering how to interject this sibling’s squabble, but the sword looked unmoved, as though this were something he had seen many times before. Once again, Sonic wanted to ask how Caliburn knew everyone so well when he had been buried in a stone cliff, but a rush of wind redirected his attention to a pair of fanned blades being thrust at his face by a very unhappy hawk.

“Take them,” Sir Lamorak snapped. “‘Chivalry’ and all that.”

It felt wrong. Sonic had won their fight fair and square, but he knew that they hadn’t really been fighting for the rights to each other’s sword. He had a feeling that, had the fight ended differently, Sir Lamorak would have gloated and sent him on his way, not demanding Caliburn as a tribute.

But Sonic knew what he had to do, and he took Pinel from Sir Lamorak, though not without a final word.

“As soon as this is all over, I’ll bring these back to you. Then we can have our rematch, alright?”

He grinned at his opponent, and Sir Lamorak stood there for a second, regarding him quietly before letting out a huff.

“I shall hold you to that, Sir Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Still, Sir Lamorak sounded considerably less peeved than before, and as he turned away to dash off with his sister, no more complaints were given. Sonic looked onward after the pair of them as they faded into the distance, then looked at the new weapon in his grasp.

Galatine. Laevatein. Pinel.

He just needed two more.

Chapter Text

The sound of rock crunching underfoot rapidly turned to the soft, cushioned patter of footfalls as Sonic headed back towards the Deep Woods, as per Caliburn’s advice.

“It is where Sir Lancelot is most likely to challenge you for a rematch,” the sword had said. “And given the circumstances, Sir Galahad is most definitely staying near him. I’ve said it many times before, but keep your guard up. Those two are in a league of their own.”

Sonic tried to shove his doubts away as he dodged the oncoming trees and leapt over raised roots. People kept insisting that Sir Lancelot was much more formidable than his less than stellar first impression, and he knew that he should heed their warnings… but their first fight had been so disappointing . If their rematch was going to happen, then Sir Lancelot had better bring his A-game!

“Why was he so off when he fought me anyways?” he asked his sword, instinctively lifting the blade as they went through a thick cluster of bushes.

“I’m surprised you had to ask,” Caliburn remarked, sounding so genuine that Sonic slowed down to better see his weapon. There was no uppity look in Caliburn’s blue eyes, just mild astonishment. “Did you truly not know? You--”

“So we cross paths again, fraudster!”

Sonic blinked, holding back a laugh. Now isn’t this familiar? “Fraudster?” he quipped, craning his head back and forth to try to get a glimpse of the hidden knight. “I think you’re the false hedgehog around here. You’re comparing yourself to me? Ha! You’re--”

“I would never stoop so low as to compare myself to you!”

A rustling in the trees was the only warning Sonic got before Sir Lancelot jumped out at him, but Sonic’s reflexes kicked in, and he sidestepped the attack as quick as lightning, looking back as Sir Lancelot’s sword plunged through the air where his gut had been only a second prior.

Now that was more like it!

“Finally aiming to kill this time?” Sonic taunted, raising Caliburn as Sir Lancelot pivoted to the side and thrust his sword forward again. “And not even giving me the chance to accept the duel?”

“Any chivalry would be wasted on you,” the knight spat. His armor hid a lot of the telltale signs, but Sonic could tell his opponent was laser focused and entirely hostile. Maybe a bit much for what this fight was supposed to be, but so long as it wasn’t a letdown like the last one, Sonic wasn’t going to complain.

“Don’t tell me you’re having fun with this,” Caliburn groaned.

“Maybe I am. What’s it to you?”

"Our lives are at stake you fool!" Caliburn snapped as Sir Lancelot readied his own blade. "I've told you many times to take him seriously, and I won't have my end at his hand!"

"Sounds like something personal," Sonic remarked, and his sword fell silent. "But you gotta remember that my story isn't yours." The blue hedgehog stretched his arms, limbering up his joints before standing at the ready. "I write my own story, ending and all."

Sir Lancelot's blade quivered for just a moment, then held firm. Seconds ticked by as both hedgehogs looked at each other…

Then they jumped into battle, their blades clashing so hard that sparks flew. Sonic’s legs nearly buckled below him from the force of Sir Lancelot’s strike, and he felt his shoes dig small trenches in the forest floor below him as the knight pushed forth with all his strength.

Yes…

Yes!

Now this was the battle he was hoping for!

They both wrenched their weapons apart, the forces nearly sending them both flying, but Sir Lancelot struck forward again with no hesitation, and Sonic let out a grunt at the next impact, skidding to the side. Dirt and dead leaves flew into the air as he twisted himself into a stronger stance, but Sir Lancelot proved relentless as he drew back his sword for another strike. Sonic rose Caliburn just in time; a split second too late and he would have had a sword through his chest.

Sir Lancelot truly was aiming to kill this time around, with no speeches, no pleasantries, and no glances into the bird-less branches above. There wasn't much else to do about it but laugh, and so Sonic let out a hearty guffaw, which hardly phased the knight on the attack.

"I was wondering when I'd be seeing the legendary Sir Lancelot in action," Sonic hooted, ducking underneath the next strike, and throwing out one of his own at the knight's ankles. Sir Lancelot jumped cleanly out of the way, giving Sonic time to get back to full height and block his next attack. "Gotta say, you’re not disappointing this time around!”

An honest-to-god growl escaped Sir Lancelot’s throat; Sonic’s spines rose as the hostile aura the knight was giving off was magnified tenfold. “How dare you!” he snarled, jabbing at Sonic with increased fervor but no less precision.

Sonic kept dodging, his heart pounding at the increasing challenge presented to him. “Well I mean, at least this time you’re focusing on me and not some bird in the trees.”

Sir Lancelot fumbled, and Sonic grinned; it seemed as though the knight’s powerful emotions were going to be the key to his victory. The knight’s head shifted, as though pushed by the urge to check up above, but he ultimately held his ground, his focus remaining on Sonic. “Not this time,” he claimed, tightening his grip, reversed around his sword. “I won’t fall for your evil magic again! I won’t allow it!”

Sonic didn’t even have time to make a snappy retort before Sir Lancelot was back on the offensive, just as violent and vigorous as before, his rage empowering his strikes and his determination preventing him from losing his focus. Sonic could keep up in terms of speed, but after a few strikes it was clear he was at a disadvantage when it came to power; Sir Lancelot’s strikes hit hard, and every clash of their blades took more out of Sonic than it did the knight.

Sonic decided to try pushing him a little further.

“You keep 一 oof! 一 talking about ‘evil magic’ and ‘frauds’ when it comes to 一 whoops, missed me!” Sonic sucked in a breath as Sir Lancelot followed through with his attack, spinning quickly around to aim at him a second time; this one shaved a few hairs off of his arm. Sonic knew he had to get the upper hand, and fast. This was really pushing him to his limits! “Don’t tell me my dashing good looks and charisma scare you that much!”

He had been hoping to rile up the knight, to crack his composure, get him to slip up and claim victory while he was blinded by frustration, like he could sometimes pull off with Shadow…

But Sir Lancelot stopped in his tracks, freezing entirely. It was so odd, so foreign to what Sonic had envisioned that he, too, was taken off-guard, lowering Caliburn just a little bit as his brain caught up…

Then a steel boot planted itself firmly into his chest, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a tree from the sheer force behind the kick.

“How dare you?”

Sonic struggled for breath, coughing hard as he tried to sit up, his arms shaking as his hands pressed to his chest, which burst with pain from the smallest touch. His head swam, and Caliburn’s shouts of concern were drowned out by the pounding of blood in his ears. All the while, the dark knight loomed before him, radiating fury like heat from a furnace.

“You scum!” Sir Lancelot hissed, aiming a kick at Sonic’s wrist. His boot connected again, and this time, Caliburn was sent spinning through the air with a yelp, landing several feet away. Sonic hissed in pain, almost recovered enough to make a quip and hopefully buy himself some time, but cold steel pressed itself to his throat, leaving no room to move unless he wanted to hasten his way to a painful, abrupt end.

“You are nothing,” the knight spat, and Sonic couldn’t even breathe without feeling the blade rub against his skin. “I don’t care how many you’ve fooled! How many of us you’ve swept along! I will not stray… I will not stray!”

Sonic didn’t have to see Sir Lancelot’s eyes to know he was ready to kill, and his mind both stuttered to a halt while running a mile a minute. Fight, flight, and freeze instincts all mixed together as the muscles in the knight’s arm tensed, prepared for the final blow, and Sonic stared, wide-eyed and cornered, struggling with the realization that this might be it.

He knew he wasn’t going to run forever. He knew nothing would last forever. But to end so soon, and in the middle of an adventure…

Sonic wasn’t one to live shackled by his regrets, but the knowledge that his end was looming before him while he hadn’t finished what he had set out to do stung, and a fraction of water gathered at his eyes before he blinked it resolutely away and stared his aggressor head on.

Then, something odd happened.

Somehow, miraculously, the pressure at his throat lessened, and the blade that had him pinned to the tree lowered, little by little, and then all at once as Sir Lancelot let his sword slip from his fingers.

“I can’t do it,” the knight whispered, and Sonic’s incredulity only grew when he heard the pain in Sir Lancelot’s voice. The black hedgehog backed away, his feet dragging through the dirt, and Sonic took the opportunity to stand up, his hands scrambling for purchase against the bark of the tree, his breath returning to him in heavy gasps. In between the two of them, Sir Lancelot’s sacred sword 一 Arondight, his mind supplied helpfully in the middle of all the confusion and adrenaline screaming in between his ears 一 lied uselessly in the dirt.

Sonic’s breathing started to slow down, his spines lowered, and his ears picked up the sounds of the forest again as he realized that this wasn’t the end for him after all. He licked at his lips, his tongue just as dry as his mouth, and croaked out a “Wha--”

He was cut off as the knight dropped to his knees, both his fists slamming the forest floor with such intensity that a shockwave rippled through the ground. Up above, the leaves shook from the tremor, but no bird flew away, everything remarkably devoid of life. Sonic vaguely remembered his initial impression of this storybook world, how it was clearly dying, and a sense of urgency overtook him, pushing him to recover Caliburn before Sir Lancelot came to his senses and continued his attack.

He passed by the knight, still hunched over and whispering what sounded like ‘I’ve failed you again’ over and over again, and as he picked Caliburn back up, he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Why had Sir Lancelot stopped his attack? He had him right there, his victory in sight, so why hadn’t he--

“Get out of your head you fool!” Caliburn snapped, kicking Sonic back into the present. “Claim Arondight and carry on before something else happens!”

Sonic sucked in a breath and shook his head, forcing himself to snap out of it. “Don’t gotta tell me twice,” he quipped, starting to feel closer to normal as he turned back to the abandoned sword on the ground, its owner making no moves to reclaim it. 

All the same, Sonic rushed over to pick it up, but right as his hand went for the hilt, a new sword, large and tinged with cyan, stabbed itself in between him and Arondight, throwing him for yet another loop.

“STAY AWAY FROM MY FATHER!”

The sword raised up, aiming a jab right at Sonic’s chest, and the blue hedgehog parried it away with a quick swing of Caliburn, jumping away from the distraught knight on the ground and his neglected sword. Sonic sucked in a breath, trying to regain his bearings before another attack was aimed his way.

There were a few things making his head buzz in confusion:

First, the whole situation with Sir Lancelot not claiming the final blow.

Second, that yell. Had he heard the word “Father?”

And third, perhaps the most jarring at the moment, was that the sword attacking him had no owner.

“Caliburn?” Sonic uttered as he blocked yet another strike. “Is it just me or am I fighting a flying talking sword?”

“You should know a thing or two about talking swords by now,” Caliburn muttered dryly. “No, it seems as though Sir Galahad has happened upon us at the worst moment.”

“Galahad?” Sonic echoed, blocking another strike from the floating sword. Was this knight invisible? Or was it something else?

“Sir Lancelot’s son.”

Sonic nearly dropped Caliburn. “Say what?!”

“You shall pay for what you’ve done, arcane monster!” The voice echoed through the trees again, and now that Sonic was paying attention, it did sound familiar, albeit distant. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, but it was clear that the owner was far away, controlling his sword, exerting themselves but ultimately taking no damage.

“Hey, I won that fight!” Sonic protested, parrying another disembodied strike to his torso. “It’s not my fault he gave up!”

“TAKE THAT BACK!”

The blue sword flung itself at him with reckless abandon, and it took all of Sonic’s focus just to keep the blade from slicing into any part of him. “Caliburn?” Sonic yelled over the endless clashing of metal. “Any advice on how to deal with this guy?”

“Do not insult his father, for starters.”

“Oh, very helpful,” Sonic drawled, rolling his eyes. “Thanks a bunch.”

“You would do well to listen to me,” Caliburn snapped back. “Sir Galahad is powerful in a different way to the other knights, as you can see. Your usual tactics of mockery and observation won’t work. His aim will be to tire you out until he can land a finishing blow… and I dare say your scuffle with Sir Lancelot has taken quite a bit out of you.”

Sonic grit his teeth. He hated to admit it, but Caliburn was right on the money; he could feel his blocks growing weaker, his opponent’s hits making him stagger back more than he liked to acknowledge.

“So,” Caliburn continued, “naturally the best course of action would be to find where he’s hiding and knock him out of his concentration.”

“That simple, huh?” Sonic quipped. “What does he look like, anyway?”

“Another hedgehog,” Caliburn stated. “Who--”

Caliburn was cut off as the blue sword jabbed viciously at the hilt before making another frontal assault, and once again, it took all of Sonic’s focus just to defend himself. Another hedgehog? he wondered. The only other hedgehog he could think of was--

“It’s no use!” the hidden knight roared as the sword kept stabbing at him, and Sonic’s eyes widened as it all clicked into place. The sword wasn’t blue, it was glowing! Glowing with psychokinetic power!

With a loud grunt, Sonic shoved the floating sword away from him, spinning in an arc to thrust it into a tree trunk to buy some extra time. 

“You think that’s enough to stop me?” the voice demanded, and yep, he could hear it now. That was Silver’s voice, though a fraction higher than he remembered it. With that in mind, Sonic sped through the trees, looking high and low for a sign of silver fur or glowing hands before the sword caught up with him again.

Caliburn coughed as Sonic zipped through the woods. “As I was saying--”

“Silver, right?”

“How… How did you know that?”

“Call it a hunch.”

“Well,” the sword huffed, “I should hope your hunch tells you to look up above. The lad enjoys flying.”

Sonic smirked. “Sounds about right.”

With a surge of power, Sonic dashed up the trunk of a massive oak, pushing off of a sturdy branch into a spindash. He hurtled through the trees in the area like a pinball, keeping his movements erratic enough to avoid contact with the newest knight’s sword. All the while, Sonic kept looking and feeling out for Sir Galahad’s power, a familiar tinge of energy that could so easily stop people in their tracks…

He felt something, a light crackle to his right, like a spark of static, and redirected his course until he felt his body collide with a mix of fur and metal, a loud “Oof!” resounding as he fell to the ground, along with his target and, a few feet away, the newly-freed sword as well. Sonic fought away his growing exhaustion, pinning the young knight to the ground as the cyan glow around his fingers faded.

“I win.”

“No!” Sir Galahad struggled, clawing at Sonic, at Caliburn, desperately trying to reach or call over his sword, which was standing upright, point-down in the soft forest ground, and very much out of reach. “I cannot lose! Not to you! You will not besmirch my family’s honor any more today! You will not sully the good name of King Arthur while I still breathe!”

Sonic had to hand it to him, Sir Galahad was every bit as earnest and stubborn as Silver was.

“Sir Galahad,” Caliburn spoke up, and the knight paused in his struggles for a moment before trying again to get away with more fervor than before. “The battle has been decided. Do the honorable thing and--”

“What honor?” Sir Galahad roared. “You hit my father where it hurts him most, and you dare speak to me about honor?!”

Sonic frowned. “What do you mean--”

“Son.”

Everyone stopped moving at the low voice’s interruption. All eyes went to the dark knight as he trudged forward, Arondight hanging loosely in his grip, dragging on the ground. As Sir Lancelot passed by Sir Galahad’s sword, he picked it up in his other hand without even a passing glance until he stood before Sonic. Sonic, upon realizing that he was still pinning the dark knight’s son to the ground, hurriedly let him go, and as he did so, Sir Lancelot thrust both swords at him.

“What?!” Sir Galahad exclaimed. “But Father!”

“We were properly defeated,” Sir Lancelot said, calmly and evenly, an eerie lack of emotion in his voice. “Our swords are forfeit. This is our due punishment.”

Sonic blinked. “Punishment?” he echoed as the blades were handed over. “That’s a little harsh, I’ll give them right back once I--”

“That won’t be necessary,” Sir Lancelot interrupted, once again far too calm for Sonic’s liking. His mind raced back to Sir Gawain with his blade to his throat, and Sir Percival backing into a deadly fall.

“H-Hey, you’re not planning on--”

“Come along, Galahad,” Sir Lancelot ordered, turning away from Sonic, and the smallest tremble of emotion entered his voice as he said, “It’s all up to our king, now.”

With that, Sir Lancelot vanished into the trees, with Sir Galahad taking a few steps to follow, before turning back to Sonic. His visor remained down, but Sonic could still clearly see his lips curled into a snarl.

“If you harm our king,” the young knight said, his voice like a knife in the silence, “I will find you and slaughter you myself. That’s a promise.”

With that, he turned around again and sucked in a breath, concentrating again until he was floating, tinged in a familiar cyan glow, and then darted through the trees, following his father’s trail.

Sonic shook his head, still worn out from two fights back to back, coupled with a near-death experience and too many questions to make sense of. “I need a rest,” he mumbled, taking a seat against one of the trees, laying the swords down beside him.

“Remain vigilant,” Caliburn urged him, and Sonic fought the urge to point out that vigilance was rather counterproductive when it came to resting. “This is hardly the best place to take a load off.”

“Caliburn is right,” a voice remarked in Sonic’s head, and the blue hedgehog grinned at the sound. “You would be better suited to take a rest in town.”

“Now there’s a voice I haven’t heard in a while! How’s it going Merlina?”

A soft giggle fluttered in his mind. “I saw all that transpired in my reflecting pool. I have no words to thank you for all you have done.”

“Yeah, but it’s not over yet!” Sonic reminded her.

“Sir Sonic is right,” Caliburn added. “We must still defeat King Arthur.”

Sonic hummed in agreement, though it quickly morphed into a yawn. “Maybe after a little food and a nap?” he suggested.

“Hm… I could use another resharpening, myself,” Caliburn said thoughtfully, appraising himself.

“So we go back into town, shape up a bit, then go after the king,” Sonic said, standing up and stretching. “Sounds like a plan!”

“The king is on an island known as Avalon,” Merlina supplied helpfully. “I doubt he will move from there before you are done.”

“Great, thanks for the info!” Sonic finished his stretching, hearing a few satisfying pops in his joints before he reached down and scooped up the final two swords.

“Sir Lancelot’s sword, Arondight…” Caliburn informed him. “And Sir Galahad’s, Balin.”

“You have become a fine knight,” Merlina praised.

“Aw, cut it out!” Sonic grinned, tucking the swords under his arm by the hilts as he readjusted his hold on Caliburn. “Anyway, I guess I’ll go end this thing soon.”

“Good luck, Sir Sonic!” He could practically hear her smiling. “I’ll await you at Castle Camelot when you are done.”

The wizard’s voice faded, and Sonic made sure all the swords were well-fastened onto his person before running back into town. His most recent adventure was still playing in his head, the strange words and experiences jumbling into a confusing, upsetting mess, but Sonic couldn’t afford to dwell on any of it.

This story was coming to an end, and he would make sure it got the ending it needed, even if it meant that he couldn’t get all the answers.

Chapter Text

Sonic yawned, stretching until his muscles went taut, then relaxed on the small cot in a cramped room, the only room left in the dusty little inn that he had found and immediately deemed ‘good enough’. The innkeeper had let him stay the night, free of charge, and Sonic decided not to question the stroke of good fortune. Probably because it’s such a tiny room, he had figured, his half-asleep brain accepting the explanation as he let Caliburn rest against the wall and he collapsed on the bed, rolling around a bit until the embrace of sleep claimed him.

Sonic hummed, glancing at the fragmented rays of light as they pierced the shutters, dappling the dark wooden floors with gold that flickered and faded with the clouds in the sky.

“Awake?” Caliburn asked, and Sonic rolled over onto his side, looking across the room at his trusty sword. There was a heaviness in the air that he couldn’t ignore, and couldn’t shake off so soon after waking. “Today is the day, you know.”

“I know.”

Sonic pushed himself up, sitting on the cot as the thin blanket fell from his frame and pooled in his lap. He blinked a few times, letting out a yawn as his stomach let out a rumble. There was a lot to do that day; eat breakfast, get Caliburn sharpened, kill a king, meet Merlina, get sent back home before Sir Galahad came for his blood…

“I wonder…”

Sonic looked back to Caliburn. The sword’s blue eyes were downcast, struggling with something he hadn’t managed to put to words. Sonic waited patiently, happy to take a moment to relax and keep waking up, feeling the warm stretch of waking fight off the remaining chains of sleep.

“...No, this must be the way it has to be. I’m sure, at the end…”

Sonic waited, but nothing else was shared, and by the time he had fastened his shoes and combed his spines with his fingers, the blue hedgehog was more focused on getting something to eat than the easily-forgotten morning mutterings of his sword. He never asked, and Caliburn never elaborated.

There was far too much else to focus on, after all.

A good sleep and a warm meal always did wonders. It was like night and day for Sonic, as he ran through the streets back to the smithy, feeling ready to take on the world. Yesterday’s worries were in the past, and this story was reaching its end.

But when the wooden door opened and he saw the boy who was and wasn’t Tails look at him as though stricken, the good feeling rapidly faded.

The blacksmith waved them in, and wordlessly motioned for Caliburn. He worked equally silently, and the unusual tension in the air had Sonic on edge. He sat in the waiting area, drumming his fingers and tapping his feet, restless as could be without someone to talk to or something to do. The minutes crawled by, agonizingly slow, until Sonic could feel his heartbeat in his throat from all the anticipation and nerves.

All the while, the young fox barely made a noise, and Sonic bristled at the lack of interaction. Not out of hostility, no, but out of concern; Tails was so seldom withdrawn to this extent, and this reminded him of times when his little brother was upset or scared beyond his ability to comfort.

But the blacksmith, no matter how much he looked like him, was not Tails; Sonic had learned this lesson in full during his last visit before. Any attempt at breaking the silence might be too much for one or both of them, and so he sat, fidgeting until Caliburn was finished and returned to him.

“Thanks!” Sonic said, in a last-ditch attempt to lighten the mood before he ran off. When the fox didn’t respond, he cleared his throat. “So uh… How much do I owe ya?”

To Sonic’s horror, the blacksmith’s face screwed up in terror, his eyes beginning to water. The hedgehog held up his free hand, an instinctive but ultimately useless gesture to pacify the other. “Hey… Hey whatever’s wrong--”

“The knights…”

Those were the first words the fox had said the whole time, and Sonic didn’t know how to respond. Wide blue eyes looked up at him, clearly upset, though not at him.

“I’m so sorry, sir.”

Sonic, lost as could be, could only say, “Oh.”

The blacksmith led him to the door, bowing his head low as he opened it for him. As Sonic stepped outside, the door closed softly behind him, and it struck him again that he had received a service without payment.

“What’s going on lately?” he wondered aloud, his tense energy still at a peak and urging him to run, run, run until it was all gone.

“Word travels quickly through this realm,” Caliburn said, as though that explained anything. “Which means that the king will be expecting us. We shouldn’t give him any more time to prepare any nasty traps for us.”

Sonic exhaled, chuckling at the end of it. “Right,” he agreed, doing a few quick stretches. “So, Avalon Island, right? Lead the way.”

Yet, even as they raced to their final battle, Caliburn was also oddly quiet, only giving the occasional direction, and Sonic felt the unease that had been seizing him grow stronger as he ran along.

The winds guided them both to Avalon, and paved streets led them to the center, whereupon they found a large, dark steed pawing at the ground, and an armored man walking up to it. King Arthur looked over at Sonic, his dark aura spewing out into the air like ink in water, thick and menacing.

He looked smaller, now, closer to Sonic's height. The air didn't have the same energy as last time either.

King Arthur looked and felt less powerful… and much angrier than before.

With a determined hoist, the dark king mounted his horse, and just like that, any semblance of him being weaker or smaller vanished as he towered above Sonic and Caliburn. The horse dragged its hoof over the cobblestones, making the small amount of dust that covered the streets float into the air in a miniature cloud.

It was time.

Sonic held Caliburn in front of him, meeting the king’s cold gaze without flinching. “I’m Sonic the Hedgehog, Knight of the Wind,” he introduced himself, a final modicum of respect to the legendary king whom he would soon strike down. “Let’s settle this once and for all, King Arthur!”

The king’s aura grew denser, choking the light from the air around them and overwhelming their surroundings with an intense melancholy. “It seems your impersonation of a knight has improved somewhat,” King Arthur spat as his steed pawed at the ground.

“I learned from the best,” Sonic replied, thinking not only of Caliburn in his hand, but all of the knights of the Round Table, with their different strengths, weaknesses and styles, all helping mold him into the warrior who would slay the evil king…

…and King Arthur recoiled as though he had been slapped. His aura flared, even blocking out the sun for a chilling moment that had Sonic’s spines stand on end. “You dare mock me like that?” King Arthur demanded, drawing his beautiful, divine golden blade from its enchanted scabbard. “Very well then! Let us have another look at that unsightly swordsmanship of yours.”

Sonic shook away the prickling feeling of unease in his gut, and held Caliburn aloft. As the king looked down at the sword pointed at him, his aura flared again, and the world around them seemed to cry out in pain.

“You’re gonna be sorry you asked.”

As the king readied his steed, Sonic turned to the sword in his hand, oddly quiet despite the circumstances. “This is it, old pal…” he murmured, barely acknowledging the way the air filled with upset again.

It took Caliburn a moment to reply, and even then, his voice sounded too thoughtful, too faraway. “Indeed,” the sword murmured, looking over at the king with a solemn sadness that Sonic wasn’t sure how to fit in with all the other pieces of the puzzle that he held. “Give it everything you have. Only then will you prevail.”

The heaviness of the world felt like it was suffocating him, but Sonic still smiled through the unease, the sadness, the sense of loss and fear… and Caliburn blinked, returning the smile slowly but certainly.

They were ready.

Sonic approached the king, who turned his steed around to face the same direction as him. It got his heart pumping; it felt like the beginning of a race, and it prompted him to send a small taunt his opponent’s way.

“Bring it on, King Arthur!”

“You shall regret the day you ever raised that sword against me,” the king snapped back, his hostility ruining all sense of fun. He pulled on the reins, and his horse whinnied, rearing up on its hind legs before cantering forward, working its way up into a full gallop. Sonic was right on his heels, steadily increasing his speed as he felt the winds fly past him, holding Caliburn parallel to the ground to slice through the air with ease.

“Let’s finish this off once and for all.”

“Onward Sonic, Knight of the Wind,” Caliburn ordered, and Sonic increased his speed, coming up to the side of the horse.

He barely had time to dodge when the first strike from Excalibur smited down on the ground in front of him, breaking up the cobblestones. Sonic stumbled as his shoe caught on a loose stone, turning his fall into a smooth forward roll.

He had forgotten how fast King Arthur was. Many of the knights had incredible speed, but this was…

“Watch yourself!”

Caliburn’s warning had Sonic leap out of the way as King Arthur summoned a bolt of lightning with his sword. Excalibur gleamed gold as a similar beam of mighty light struck downward, further destroying the road that Sonic was racing along. He dodged it over and over, looking for an opportunity to race ahead and overtake the horse, to land a blow on the king and put them on more even ground.

The lightning faded, and Excalibur seemed to dull for a second before steadily regaining its glow.

That’s my cue!

With a burst of power, Sonic soul surged forward, leaping into the air and vaulting over the horse and its rider to aim his sword at the king. However, King Arthur reacted quickly, meeting him blow for blow, his speed on par with Sonic’s own. But the blue hedgehog refused to back down, keeping up his strikes. 

“Show me you can land a combination attack!” Caliburn commanded, and Sonic summoned all his might, gripping Caliburn with both hands as he sent out a flurry of attacks that King Arthur struggled to deflect with such a large sword and with one hand confined to his horse’s reins.

With a massive feint to one side, Sonic followed through with a brutal attack, and finally, he met his target. The blacksmith’s sharpening handiwork proved beyond compare as Sonic managed to lob off a chunk of King Arthur’s helmet.

Dark navy fur and one glowing eye stared back at him in shock, then fear, then fury, all in a split second before the helmet started to reform, growing back like skin until King Arthur’s armor was fully reformed. The sight was so grotesque and instantaneous that Sonic forgot to strike again, giving King Arthur the opportunity to knock him away with a swipe of his arm.

Sonic hit the ground less than gracefully, but picked himself back up before King Arthur had managed to charge his next attack. He saw a golden glyph appear above and below him, and narrowly dodged the area before Excalibur stabbed through the glyphs as though they were a portal.

“What was that?” Sonic wondered as he started running again.

“Yet another one of Excalibur’s abilities,” Caliburn explained. “Watch out from all angles.”

“Not that!” A gleam of gold from the left had Sonic dodging yet another faraway strike from the legendary sword. “I meant when he--”

“There is no escape!” King Arthur taunted as he urged his horse along, and Sonic decided that this wasn’t the time for questions anyhow.

“Who said anything about escaping?”

He darted forward, ducking under another summoning of lightning as he closed the gap between them, and once he saw Excalibur dim again, he took the chance to leap up again to engage the cruel king in close combat.

Their swords met again and again, the sound of metal smacking and scraping together echoing in their ears, but when Sonic unleashed his combination attack, he aimed the flat of his blade to King Arthur’s side when the king rushed to protect his head again. The royal let out a grunt of surprise, and with an extra push from Sonic’s shoe, he was sent falling from his horse. Sonic barely had time to laugh before the steed reared onto its hind legs again, bucking him off before disappearing into dark, wispy smoke like a nightmare come to life.

There was no time to recover; Sonic knew that this was it.

“Ha ha ha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” King Arthur laughed as Sonic pushed himself up to his feet. The sovereign held the legendary scabbard close to his chest, while the sword lay a few feet away, forgotten. “I am immortal!” he roared, sounding only a few steps away from complete and utter madness, and Sonic shivered as the world around them went even darker and colder. “You cannot defeat me! None of you shall ever take anything from me again!”

Sonic saw the scabbard in King Arthur’s hands begin to glow and felt the lifeforce of the world continue to be sucked dry, only to be replaced by more hopelessness and despair.

Is that the secret of the scabbard? Does it take the energy of the world, at the expense of your heart?

“Now Sonic!” Caliburn, ever the master at refocusing Sonic’s attention, snapped him back to reality. “The five sacred swords!”

King Arthur’s grip slackened. “The what?” he demanded, panic seeping into his tone, but Sonic paid him no mind as he ran around him in a circle, stabbing sword after sword into the ground.

Arondight. Galatine. Laevatein. Balin. Pinel.

As the final blade stabbed into the ground, a new glyph appeared, surrounding the fallen king with the five points of a star. The scabbard stopped glowing, and almost instantly, the world felt warmer, livelier.

“No…” The mad king clutched at the now-useless scabbard like a lifeline, gripping it so hard that his hands trembled. “What did you do… WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Sonic didn’t answer. With Caliburn held firmly in his grip, he dashed towards the enraged king, and with one strike, he sent his helmet flying through the air, where it crashed to the ground and rolled out of sight as King Arthur knelt on the ground, finally unmasked.

Long, dark blue spines. Glowing yellow eyes. Gaunt, exhausted features.

And a face that Sonic knew all too well…

Caliburn nearly fell to the ground as Sonic stared his own face down.

That’s me… 

King Arthur… is me?

“Sir Sonic?” Caliburn asked, but even his trusty sword couldn’t break Sonic’s horrified focus on this warped vision of himself.

King Arthur, looking more and more like a cornered animal, began to shake as his lips curled into a snarl. “Why do you stop? Are you mocking me?” he demanded, and without the helmet muffling his voice, oh yes, that was most definitely Sonic’s voice, sounding as though it were shoved through a darker, more regal, and intense filter. “What more could you want, you demon? You've stolen my face, my sword, my knights… I won't let you take my life as well!"

With that, King Arthur reached out for Excalibur, but the blade was beyond his reach. In desperation, Sonic’s counterpart lunged for one of the sacred swords, but he failed to make Arondight budge even a centimeter out of the ground, no matter how hard he pulled.

And Sonic… Sonic only felt lost.

“What happened to you?” he asked, and the king, trapped and desperate on the dusty ground, turned his glowing amber eyes to him, baring his teeth like a cornered animal.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, making an attempt to scramble to his feet, only for his legs to buckle under himself. The king fell back to the ground, his armor scraping against the stones below as the hedgehog let out a cry of surprise and pain; all the same, he gripped at the useless scabbard as though it would still save him. “Why do you hesitate? I am right before you, at your mercy, so why do you draw this out? Why do you torment me? If this is to be the end, do not prolong my misery!”

Despite his words, Arthur still reached out for Laevatein, but the light rapier, too, would not budge from the ground, even with all his efforts.

Sonic felt sick.

“I’m not killing you,” he said firmly, causing Arthur to pause in his struggles at stare at him with demented eyes. The king did not appear convinced; if anything, Sonic’s claim seemed to fill him with more mindless terror, and so Sonic lowered Caliburn to his side, watching as the fallen king followed the gesture with his eyes.

Teeth clenched, the king could only hiss out another furious, “Why?”

“Because you’re me,” Sonic said simply, watching the other’s eyes widen in shock and then narrow in distrust, “and I would never choose immortality. To live off of something else’s power… something has to be--”

“Then you aren’t me!” Arthur interrupted, his spines raising again. “You cannot be me, foul changeling, because if you were, you would know exactly why I chose to take the scabbard!” Armored fingers clutched at the fine leather, though the magic no longer touched him as it used to. “I was done living in fear! I was done having my life threatened!”

“Threatened?” Sonic echoed, and Arthur bristled again as everything deep inside him seemed to explode to the surface.

“Years! For years and years I’ve seen attempts made on my life! Ambushed carriages, deadly gifts… even my food must be tested before every meal! I’ve had swords at my throat, written threats in letters and spoken ones spat in my face…” Arthur’s face screwed up in emotion, and Sonic worried that the other might start crying.

Instead, Arthur screamed. 

“I’ve been nearly dead too many times, and I haven’t been allowed to live yet! And now you, a liar and a thief of face, claim to know anything about me?!”

Arthur’s chest heaved, and Sonic stayed silent as the weight of the king’s words pressed down upon them both. The sky above them grew darker, then a single raindrop fell between them with a loud tap. A second followed, then a third and a fourth, then several all at once as the clouds let the rain fall freely.

Though it was cold and unexpected, Sonic didn’t flinch. Not when this was the most real this world had felt since he had arrived.

King Arthur seemed to deflate as the drops fell to the ground. When he spoke next, his voice was much less hostile, and volumes more defeated. “To be king… it takes such a toll on one’s life. People vy for your power, misunderstanding what can be done with it, and some aim to take it by force. Before one knows it, his freedoms are taken away. No eating food untested. No walks outside the castle for leisure. No speaking to a guest without another present. My life… ceased feeling like my own a while ago.”

A singular drop that was not from the rainclouds ran down Arthur’s nose and dripped to the ground.

“My one solace was knowing that I would not forever be king. Someday… One day… I would be able to live life as I have dreamed, leaving the kingdom in the hands of a worthy successor… And with any hope, having done my best to make it a wonderful one to explore. But then, to experience such an awful betrayal, I… I…”

Sonic knelt down in front of Arthur as the king continued to crumble. “It was a way out,” he explained. “The scabbard. When I held it, I had nothing left to fear. I no longer needed people to watch my every move, I no longer needed to wonder if I would wake up the next day, or the day after that.”

“But that’s not it at all, is it?” Sonic asked, and Arthur flinched, raindrops flying from his armor. “You got even more scared.”

Arthur’s fingers stayed clasped around the scabbard.

“I couldn’t trust anyone,” he admitted. “Not my sword, whom I buried back into the stone and replaced with something stronger. Not my knights, whom I pushed away and ceased to confide in. Anyone, at any point, might try to take the scabbard away and return it to Nimue… and with it, any peace of mind I had.”

Sonic stared at the exhausted, drained hedgehog in front of him as the pieces kept clicking together. To go to such desperate lengths for a smidge of freedom, for a taste of serenity… he couldn’t imagine ever choosing immortality, for any reason, but all the same, he felt like he understood Arthur perfectly.

After all, he and the king led such different lives. Sonic couldn’t know for sure that he wouldn’t have done the same thing if he were stuck in King Arthur’s shoes.

“I have not breathed a word of this to anyone,” Arthur admitted, still quiet as the rain fell around them. “Yet… You have disarmed me, stolen my power, and still have gotten me to let my guard down so easily… If I truly am a fool, doomed to die today, at least it was at the hands of someone worthy.”

“You’re not dying today,” Sonic reaffirmed as Arthur’s exhausted yellow eyes looked at him in wonder. “Like I said before, you’re me. A different me, but me all the same, and I’d rather help myself than hurt.”

He held out his non-gauntleted hand towards the fallen king, as scattered raindrops continued to fall and splash onto the fabric of his glove. The rain had started to let up, no longer soaking the twin hedgehogs to the bone, though water still dripped from Arthur’s spines as he looked at the offered hand with uncertainty, not making any moves to take it, but rather looking at it like it could so easily be a trap as well as a lifeline.

And then, Caliburn spoke.

“Fear not, my lord.” The sword spoke firmly but warmly, in a tone that had Sonic looking down at the blade in surprise. “I have read this knight’s heart and I know him to be true. He means you no harm, and…” At this, Caliburn looked directly into Sonic’s eyes. “...every word he will say to you next shall be correct.”

“Caliburn…” Arthur’s voice was pained, shaking as he was from the cold. “My old friend, my trusty sword… After what I did to you… after I had forsaken you as another enemy to me, you still… you still care for me?”

“Arthur,” Caliburn said firmly, and the king’s eyes grew wide at the sound of his name. “I’ve watched you lose your way. I’ve seen you disregard my warnings and embrace the curse that was tearing you away from the life you fought so hard to live. I was unable to stop you from replanting me into the stone where you once drew me from. I have been disappointed, and angry… but my one wish was for you to see sense again before you had gone beyond a point of no return. I never ceased caring for you, and should my blade have taken your life today, I…”

All three went silent as the rain continued to ease up and the clouds began to part. Small columns of sunlight pierced through the expanse of gray up above and dappled the wet cobblestones with light.

Arthur’s hands started to slacken around the scabbard.

“You believed I could save him, didn’t you?” Sonic asked, finally breaking the silence. “That’s why you let me pull you out?”

“It’s why I trained you. Your manners may be lacking, but I shall never again turn my nose up at your skill and spirit. If anyone could save Arthur from himself…”

“...it had to be himself, huh?”

Sonic looked back down at the weakened king, and Arthur looked down at the scabbard in his hands, swallowing hard.

“It’s not too late, you know.”

Arthur’s fingers flexed around the scabbard, instinctively seeking power that would no longer come to him, but he looked back up to Sonic, who re-extended his hand to him.

“Come on. We both know that thing’s power is more trouble than it’s worth. And I know for a fact that your friends want to see you back to your old self more than anything, no matter how angry you might think they are. Not just Caliburn.”

The amber light in Arthur’s eyes started to fade. “My friends…”

Sonic nodded. “I should know. I’ve fought all your knights. Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, Lamorak, Galahad… They all want you back with them.”

Arthur drew in a sharp breath, closing his eyes. “My knights… my dear friends…”

The final raindrop fell to the ground, and instead of Arthur’s hand stretching out to meet Sonic’s, the scabbard of Excalibur landed in Sonic’s palm.

“...I mustn’t keep them waiting a moment longer.”

Arthur let go of the scabbard, and Sonic gasped as a feeling of unstoppable power overcame him. Any and all fears and worries faded from his mind as incomparable confidence invaded his heart, and he felt incredible, untouchable…

…and he vehemently rejected it.

Sonic didn’t need invincibility. Sonic didn’t need immortality. Sonic did not live the same life as King Arthur did, with the same degree of fear and restraint, and so the power of the scabbard failed to bewitch him.

Instead, he felt it fade and retreat back into the leather in his grasp.

Sonic’s eyes reopened, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well done, Sir Sonic,” Caliburn praised.

“Heh. No sweat.”

“No sweat yet. Now you must bring myself, the sacred swords, Excalibur and the king home, and he does not look to be in any condition to walk on his own.”

“What?” Sonic whipped his head around to look at Arthur, who had crumpled to the ground after giving away the scabbard, surrounded by wilting raven’s feathers that rolled away in the breeze. Without the power flowing through his veins, Arthur appeared smaller, closer to a normal size, with his spines a lighter, more familiar blue. His armor had faded away, replaced with a fancy white tunic, red cape, white gloves, brown leather boots and a golden crown. When Arthur’s eyes fluttered back open, they were no longer a glowing, lifeless yellow, but a faded yet promising green, like an emerald that simply needed some time to recharge.

And just as Caliburn said, he looked in absolutely no condition to be standing, let alone walking.

Arthur glanced away, a weak laugh escaping him. “It seems as though I’m not finished causing you problems…”

But Sonic grinned at him, swiping at his nose. “I think as far as problems go, this is the one I mind the least since I got here.”

Arthur blinked at him once in surprise, and then a twin grin spread across his features. The king laughed, rolling onto his back, dirtying his clothes and sounding so, so relieved.

Even though Sonic didn’t know for sure what was happening in Arthur’s head for him to laugh like that, he knew himself well enough to know that it was something that the king sorely needed.

Strongarming several swords and a king was no easy task, but somehow Sonic managed it. Arthur's arm was slung over one of Sonic’s shoulders, while his free hand clenched around the blades of Galatine in order to lighten Sonic’s load, even by a smidge. Originally he had reached for Arondight, but the heavy blade proved too much for him to hold. Laevatein was easiest for him to handle, however the blade was long and dragged on the ground as he held it, and he wished to do no more harm to his knights’ swords. Galatine and Pinel, though both dual blades, seemed to be the best options for him to carry in terms of weight and length, and in the end, Sir Gawain’s swords proved less likely to accidentally nick him in the leg as they trudged along.

Caliburn floated on beside them while Excalibur rested in its scabbard, strapped to Sonic’s back and peaceful for the first time in a very long while.

“Hey, mind if I ask you a question?” Sonic asked as Camelot Castle loomed on the horizon.

Arthur shifted his head to look at his double and gave him a tired smile. “After all you have done and are still doing for me? I will give you as many answers as you wish.”

“Hey come on, no one owes anything between us,” Sonic dismissed as he readjusted Arthur’s arm over his shoulders. “If it’s not something you want to answer, don’t answer, okay?”

Despite his manner, Arthur looked relieved. “Very well. What would you like to know?”

“Well for starters, how did you get to use Excalibur in the first place?”

“Ah.” King Arthur’s eyes grew distant, focused far beyond the horizon ahead of them. “A grand battle, one that threatened the kingdom as a whole, encroached upon us by the Saxons. I was needed on the battlefield and, despite everything, I agreed to go.”

“Even though you were worried about your life?”

“Indeed. I suppose that, underneath everything else, I still have the heart of an adventurer, and this felt like an opportunity. But, the fear for my life remained, not only from myself, but my supporters as well. And so, I went to Lady Nimue for guidance… and left with a sword that would lead me to victory, and a scabbard that would lead to my demise.”

“I see,” Sonic murmured. “So you didn’t give it back after the battle?”

“It’s… a little more complicated than that,” Arthur replied, his head bowing forward so far that his crown nearly slipped from his head. “I did plan on giving it back. I didn’t want to, yet to incur the wrath of Nimue…” Arthur shuddered. “However, on my way back from the war with the Saxons, my carriage was stopped by what seemed to be a group of bandits… but they weren’t bandits.” Arthur’s voice went stony and his spines bristled as he continued. “They were assassins, and they knew about the scabbard.”

“Whoa… Did they try to--”

“To rip it out of my hands and kill me? They did. And they nearly succeeded. If I hadn’t been the fastest in the land, I…”

Arthur began to shake. “How could I give either back, the sword or the scabbard, when one saved me on the battlefield and one saved me on my trip home? How could I give away the promise of another tomorrow? But I pushed everyone around me away, not knowing who was truly my ally… And then Caliburn, I slammed him back into that stone like he was nothing when he told me I was going too far… And then I… And then she…”

Arthur’s breathing grew erratic, and Sonic decided that now was the time to step in. “Hey, that’s all in the past, okay? It hurts a lot and it’s hard to look at, but look up ahead.”

The king swallowed, but obeyed, lifting his head. His eyes softened as they looked upon the castle, and Sonic smiled as he said, “Tomorrows aren’t promised to anyone, but it helps to look forward to them anyway, and one day the things that hurt us turn into ‘once upon a time’.”

Arthur’s spines started to lower as he mulled Sonic’s words over, and from the corner of his eye, Sonic could see Caliburn looking at him in approval. The three walked in silence, slowly approaching the castle that marked the end of their journey.

“Do you think…”

Sonic glanced over at King Arthur, whose brow was furrowed in a way that Sonic was unused to seeing on himself.

“You told me that my friends would be happy to see me, but… what of all the other people in the kingdom? I’ve neglected them, hurt them… will they accept me again? Will the attempts on my life only increase from here?”

Arthur’s grip on Sonic’s shoulder tightened like a vice.

“...Am I even worthy to be king anymore?”

Sonic didn’t know how to respond, but luckily, he didn’t need to.

“May I tell you a secret, my lord?” Caliburn asked as he floated beside them, redirecting Arthur’s attention. At the king’s nod, the sword continued. “Never in the history of the world has there been a perfect leader. I have found no flawless kings, no ideal queens, no impeccable nobles and not a single person beyond reproach. There are no perfect rulers; there are only those fit to rule. Knowing that distinction is what grants me the power to choose the one who wields me.” The sword looked calmly at the two hedgehogs as they stopped in their tracks. “King Arthur, by my power and discernment, you are still fit to rule… or perhaps I should say, you are now, once again, one of the only people in the kingdom I would entrust such power to.”

Arthur, stunned speechless, could only stare, while Sonic, smiling softly, spoke up.

“And if you’re really afraid for your life again… I can think of a few people who’d go above and beyond to keep you safe.” Arthur turned his head to look at him, and Sonic grinned at him. All around them the world seemed to breathe in, and the soft noises of life in the middle of all the nothingness were becoming reborn. For the first time since he had stepped into this fantasy land, everything around Sonic felt… okay.

Arthur would be okay. He had people willing to fight for him, to help him, to guide him back to the right path. In his heart, Sonic felt as though he had completed his part in the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

“Let’s not keep them waiting any longer.”

In Camelot’s courtyard, the sun shined down on the brittle grass and withered trees, seeming to breathe new life into them. Greens were more vibrant, the air was sweeter and easier to breathe in, and the sky above was blue rather than the endless gray that had plagued the kingdom.

Merlina inhaled, smiling in content as golden rays illuminated her pink hair. “The curse has been broken,” she murmured to herself, stepping further into the castle’s sanctuary. “That can only mean that Sonic has been victorious.”

The words had scarcely escaped her when she heard the clattering of plate mail heading in her direction. Sure enough, five knights were approaching her, and though they were unarmed, they still held an air of solemn, dutiful hostility, yet Merlina showed no fear as they drew near.

It was Sir Lancelot who broke the silence, his voice grave and cold. “We have orders from the king for your arrest and, if necessary, your life. Have you any last words?”

Merlina’s smile didn’t falter. The wizard remained calm, stifling a small giggle at the knights gathered around her. “Your king… surely you must have realized by now that he is no more?”

“What do you mean by this?” Sir Galahad demanded, stepping forward. “What have you seen or heard to make you say such outlandish things?!”

But Merlina shook her head, still eerily calm as a sense of dread pressed down on the knights. “Tell me, when was the last time the sun shined on this land? It was before Arthur had taken hold of Excalibur and refused to return it to its rightful owner.”

As though upon instinct, both Sirs Gawain and Galahad drew closer to Sir Lancelot, as the dark knight’s fists clenched so hard they began to tremble.

Yet it was Sir Percival who spoke next. “If Lady Nimue wished the sword back in her possession, surely she would have intervened?”

“Clearly, you do not understand the effects of Excalibur upon a mortal mind and soul.” Merlina knelt to the ground, where still-withering flowers were struggling to stay alive. With a single touch of her finger, the petals fell from the flower nearest her, and the plant crumpled. “The vitality must come from somewhere. It was your king who was killing this world, plunging it into doom faster and faster the more he used the power it granted him. Any intervention, by Nimue or a proxy, might have pushed him to drain all life in this world in an attempt to protect himself.”

“And so, by your reasoning,” Sir Lamorak continued, “the world is healing, for the king has relinquished the sacred scabbard…”

“...which you believe, could only be done through his demise,” Sir Gawain finished as Merlina stood up again.

“Dead or not,” she said, as the distress of the knights continued to grow, “your king is no longer a concern of mine. All I need now is--”

“HEY!”

Sonic’s yell echoed through the courtyard, and six heads craned around to see not just one, but two familiar figures heading toward them. Without a second’s hesitation, five pairs of footsteps clambered forward to meet them halfway, with all manner of relieved cries mixing together.

“My liege!”

“Your majesty!”

“You’re okay! You’re alive!”

“I knew you wouldn’t fall so easily!”

“Arthur! Arthur!”

The next thing anyone knew, several pairs of hands were gripping at the king, removing him from Sonic’s support to rest him on the ground. King Arthur weakly handed Sir Gawain his swords, and the echidna took them with trembling hands, while Sonic rapidly handed the rest back to their owners. While most took their weapons and went quickly to see to their king 一 “Are you well?” “You haven’t been harmed, have you?” “Have you finally come back to your senses?” 一 Sir Percival reached out a hand to stop him, lifting her visor with her other hand so that Sonic could see the profound emotion in her eyes that no amount of training and discipline could hide.

“Thank you, Sir Sonic,” she said to him as her tail swayed slowly back and forth. “Thank you for bringing him back to us.”

Sonic only grinned in response, holding out her rapier for her to take. “No worries. Look after him, okay?”

She took her sword, holding the hilt close to her heart like she was making an oath. “Forever and always, just like before.”

Sonic glanced over at his counterpart; King Arthur, though still exhausted and faded, looked overcome with emotion at not having been rejected by his knights. His hands were clasped by both Sirs Lancelot and Galahad, and he appeared to be returning the hold with all the strength he could muster.

“Glad to hear it.”

Arthur would certainly be okay, with knights like these.

With only one loose end remaining, Sonic left the reunion behind him to walk over to Merlina, who was looking at him with surprise. “Hey Merlina!” he greeted. “Looks like I performed a miracle today.”

“You did,” she agreed, still wide-eyed as she pulled away her gaze from the cluster of knights across the courtyard. “I didn’t believe that anyone could retrieve the scabbard without the king’s life being forfeit.”

“Well,” Sonic said, slipping the scabbard off of his shoulder, “I’ve got the proof right here.”

Merlina’s eyes shifted quickly between Excalibur and King Arthur, as though trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the two were separated. “Incredible… Sir Sonic, you are truly the most capable knight I could have called upon for this task.”

“Hey now,” Sonic deflected, “I just did what I thought had to be done. That’s all.”

After one more glance upward, Merlina closed her eyes, serene, and knelt down to Sonic’s height. “Well done, and thank you, Sonic…” Her smile grew into a grin, and when her eyes reopened, there was a wild look in them that Sonic didn’t know how to interpret. “Thanks to you, my wish has finally come true.”

“Huh?” Sonic took a step back. “Hey, what are you--”

“SONIC, NO!”

The urgent shout shot across the courtyard, and Sonic whipped around to see Arthur reaching out to him, a look of pure terror on his face.

“IT’S HER! MERLINA IS THE ONE WHO SENT THE ASSASSINS AFTER THE SCABBARD!”

Chapter Text

Arthur’s warning hadn’t even finished leaving his lips when Sonic felt the sword in his grasp get tugged away.

Thinking fast, Sonic’s hand gripped tightly around Excalibur, but he only managed to keep his hold on the sword’s hilt; the blade slid from the scabbard as Merlina snatched away her prize, holding the mystical leather item close to her chest with a wide, relieved smile. The scabbard glowed as the winds whipped through her hair and pulled it out of its braid, bestowing upon the girl the curse that, not even an hour ago, had been Arthur’s.

“Finally,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed as her form began to warp and change. She grew taller, her hair turning from a bright magenta to a sinister violet, and her clothes transforming along with her, stretching out into a long black gown with voluminous white feathers spreading out from the sleeves and neckline. Her smile grew bigger, freer, and utterly unsettling as her eyes reopened and shone the same amber hue that the king’s had been. Her gaze pierced through Sonic as she grinned, holding the scabbard aloft. “I can make my greatest wish come true…”

The flowers around Merlina withered and died as the wizard appeared to grow stronger; a manic look passed over her features like a flash of light as she lifted her arms…

…and struck the scabbard down into the soft, dry earth.

The ground shook with a violence that knocked Sonic off of his feet. The hedgehog shook his head, quickly regaining his bearings, but one look towards Merlina told him that the damage was already done; flashes of magenta light blended themselves with tendrils of shadowy energy, and all around him, Sonic saw the world shift rapidly between vibrant and dead, vibrant and dead, vibrant and dead until…

…nothing.

The air felt still, neither warm nor cold. The world was eerily silent, as though everything was holding its breath. Sonic sucked in a lungful of dry, stagnant air, but something about it felt off. Exhaling gave the same effect.

Sonic couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was happening, but there wasn’t much point in dwelling on it. Instead he shifted his weight, pulling Excalibur to his chest so he could stand up, and…

…

… where was his heartbeat?

His hand fumbled over his chest, but there was nothing to be found. No matter where he touched or how hard he pressed down, he couldn’t feel a single pulse.

Sonic was one to roll with the punches, but this was so perplexingly odd that he had to give pause. It was all coming together as he lifted his head and stood up, backing away from Merlina as her face twisted into a triumphant grin.

There was no life, anymore.

No life…

Only existence.

“This?” Sonic asked, fighting away his incredulity and disappointment. “This is why you brought me here? This was what you wanted all along?”

Tears gathered in Merlina’s eyes, yet they did not fall. She kept beaming as her hold on the scabbard remained strong. She tugged it out of the dirt; clods of earth clung on to the ethereal leather before falling unceremoniously to the ground and crumbling into nothing.

“It’s all I’ve wanted for a while, Sir Sonic.”

The sound of metallic footsteps had Sonic’s ear twitch toward the noise, but he kept his focus on Merlina as his grip around Excalibur tightened. “Merlina, listen! That scabbard isn’t helping you! That kind of power… if anything, it’s a curse!”

Merlina’s smile faltered, and she looked piteously at Sonic as her arms lifted the scabbard a second time. “The only true curse,” she claimed, solemnity painting her tone as her eyes glowed a bright, mystical yellow and her hands held firm around her prize, “is fate.”

With that, she struck the ground a second time.

Rocks fell as the walls around the castle grew massive fissures that zig-zagged from the base to the top, and the ground tremored so hard that Sonic almost fell over again, had a pair of gauntleted hands not caught him in time.

“What are you waiting for?!” Sir Gawain bellowed at his ear from behind as he helped Sonic steady himself. “Retreat!”

And though Sonic wanted to argue, wanted to fight and get through to Merlina as well, he saw that the wizard had already disappeared when he turned his head to look back.

The ground continued to shake, and the echidna kept a strong hold on Sonic’s arm. It looked as though he didn’t have a choice but to run.

The world kept crumbling and shifting and restructuring itself as the group tried to navigate through the warping castle to their freedom. They fled the back of the courtyard towards the castle, hoping to escape out front before they were crushed by falling rubble, while an orb of angry reddish-purple energy lifted above the castle and shot out its power, tearing materials from the protective outer wall to reinforce the edifice itself. It appeared as though, with Merlina’s curse of stagnation upon the world, things could not be added or taken away, only repurposed.

It gave Sonic chills to think that, anywhere in this world, people were doomed to remain in their current states, some at their happiest or most vital while others were forced to suffer with no end. Wounds unhealed, potential never achieved, no births or deaths, not even a heartbeat to show that anyone was truly alive.

But even if he wasn’t about to die in this world that Merlina had made, Sonic didn’t relish the idea of spending eternity stuck under rubble.

Sonic shot to the front of the pack, swiftly dodging and leaping over falling stones as they fled through the castle, with Sirs Lancelot, Percival and Lamorak close behind him. Further back, Sir Galahad floated on, carrying the weakened King Arthur along in his psychokinetic aura, while Sir Gawain brought up the rear, tossing his swords ahead to clear Sir Galahad’s path while smashing effortlessly through any obstacles that fell in his way.

Sonic, similarly, carved out the path in front of them, with Excalibur slicing through rocks as though they were made of paper; it seemed as though the sword and scabbard’s powers were not reliant on each other.

On and on, the group battled forward, bashing away rubble as the world around them threatened to collapse on top of their heads, and ultimately they broke free from the stronghold and into the still, sad world outside. They kept running without looking back, until the tremors subsided and they deemed themselves a safe distance away. A few of them collapsed, exhausted from their great escape, while others turned to assess the damage.

The castle had warped into a crown-like structure, and the gloomy skies had returned, summoned by the energy released by Merlina, leaving only one bright spot of blue over the castle. For a while, they watched in silence, processing the events that had just transpired. Now and again, one or two of them would check their wrist or chest for a pulse, only to come up with nothing.

“So, it was all a part of Merlina’s plot…”

Sir Lancelot was the one to break the silence; the knight stood with his arms crossed and his visor up, glaring into the distance at the monstrosity that used to be the castle he protected. “I should have known it from the start,” he growled, his lips curling into a snarl. He quaked silently in rage until a tentative touch from Sir Galahad appeared to soothe him, before the boy returned to check on their weakened king.

Meanwhile in the distance, a cyclone of red and purple clouds swirled over their reconstructed castle as bolts of energy struck down, continuously striking the landscape and sending more tremors through the world. The unchanging aura spread through the air like a fog, recoloring the clouds and swallowing the countryside.

“It keeps spreading…” Sir Percival murmured. Though she stood strong, Sonic could see her lashing tail and her fur standing on end, betraying how terrified she was.

“It’s only a matter of time before the whole kingdom is consumed.” Sir Lamorak walked up beside his sister, head tilted up to the sky as Merlina’s curse descended on the kingdom. He, too, stood rigidly, prickling at the sight of his home being taken over.

The ground shook one more time, though not from the pulses from far away; Sonic turned his head and saw Sir Gawain kneeling on the grass, his fist having created a small crater in front of him. “We are the knights of the Round Table!” he roared, eyes wide in desperation. “Must we simply stand and watch our kingdom’s ruin?!”

Sir Percival finally tore her eyes away from the ominous sight festering in the distance, to look sadly at her fellow knight. “Gawain...”

That was about as much self-pity as Sonic could stand, and by the strained noises of someone rising to their feet, it seemed as though Arthur felt the same.

Still, Sonic couldn’t wait for the king to make a royal address; these knights needed to remember that this was far from over.

“What, are you gonna give up, just like that?”

Several armored heads turned to him, with varying degrees of shame and indignation at his question, but Sonic stood his ground, fixing the knights with a hard look. “Is that the best that ‘chivalry’ of yours can do?”

“How dare you?!”

Sir Gawain jumped to his feet, looking beside himself with grief and rage, but Sonic was quicker.

“Listen, it’s like I said before… Isn’t there more to being a knight than serving a king?”

“And did you not hear my response?” Sir Gawain demanded, striking his hand through the empty space in front of him so roughly that the air whistled around his fist. “No! That is the purpose of a knight!”

“Sir Gawain.”

King Arthur’s voice rose above the rest, commanding the attention of all those around. The king had risen to his feet, supported from one side by Sir Galahad, who looked solemnly ahead. The monarch still looked drained and unsteady, but he swallowed, firming his resolve before speaking again.

“You ought to listen to Sonic.”

“But! Sire, you must know that--”

“I am asking you to consider it,” King Arthur entreated, silencing Sir Gawain with hardly any effort. “Your duty is to your king, yes, however…” Arthur sucked in a breath, his eyes moving past his knights to his home. “What of your kingdom? The people who reside within its borders? What about all those beyond my sight and my ability?”

The knights remained silent, hanging on to every word their king spoke. Sonic decided to take a step back; this was no longer his show to run.

“I have already failed this kingdom once, when I held on to that odious scabbard for too long and let it consume me,” Arthur said, balling his fingers into a fist. “Please… I cannot let that happen again, and certainly not so soon. I cannot give up on my home, so please… do not give up, either. Our people need you.” The king’s gaze swept over all his knights, standing at attention before him, and the hedgehog smiled softly. “They need you just as much as I do.”

“They’re both right.”

A soft, sweet voice sounded from right behind Sonic, and he jumped and spun around. Nimue of the Lake stood calmly behind him, her hands folded in front of her, looking far more alive than anything else in the world.

“Grandmother!” came a jovial shout from King Arthur’s side, and the rose-colored hedgehog granted Sir Galahad a smile and a nod before refocusing on the group before her.

“There’s still time to save your home if you act now.”

The knights all looked at each other, their looks of despair waning under the encouragement of their king and the Lady of the Lake. Light returned to their eyes, pride returned to their posture, and several hands flew to the hilts of their weapons, ready to be drawn.

Sonic smiled from the side. Now this looked more like the story this book was supposed to be telling.

With a wave of her hands, Nimue conjured a map of the kingdom beneath their feet, laying powder blue light just above the grass. Five red dots flared up, circling landmarks and centering around a black dot with a spreading violet ring around it.

“Use your sacred swords to form a barrier around the castle,” she instructed as the knights and king crowded around for a better look. “The barrier should prevent Merlina’s magic from spreading.”

“Then we better hurry,” Sonic remarked, drawing everyone’s attention back to himself. He raised Excalibur into the air, and even with a lack of sunlight, the golden blade shimmered like a beacon of hope. The point of a rapier quickly rose to join it, along with the sword with the permanently sharp edge, the large dagger-like blade held aloft by psychic energy, two fanned blades which whistled their way into the air, and two axe blades thrusting skyward with all the purpose in the world, until finally, the blade of Caliburn, held shakily by the hand of King Arthur, completed the group’s show of unity.

“For the kingdom and its people!” Sir Percival declared, and with a determined cry, the rest of the group echoed her.

“For the kingdom and its people!”

Their swords flew apart as everyone stepped apart, with Sonic moving to replace Sir Galahad at King Arthur’s side and lower the king back to the ground. “I’m counting on ya,” he said as the knights lowered their visors.

“Sir Sonic!” Sir Percival called out, turning around to face him. “What will you do?”

Sonic knew what he wanted to answer; he wanted to run alongside the knights, to fight back Merlina’s apparitions and ensure the job was done, he wanted to see his former opponents in action, enthused with the return of their king, he wanted to run and explore and peel back the damage done to this land…

...but a weak cough from his counterpart reminded him of the role he needed to play now.

“I’m staying here. Once the barrier’s up, I’ll look for a chance to jump in.”

The purple knight jolted in astonishment. “Surely you jest!” she exclaimed, and Sonic couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction.

“Nah, it’s just how I roll. Besides… someone needs to stop Merlina, right?”

“Charging in and taking the glory,” Sir Lamorak scoffed, but Sonic could hear the teasing in his tone. “How like a copy of our king!”

King Arthur wheezed out a light laugh. “Glad to see you are taking this all in stride, Sir Lamorak.”

“We have no more time to waste,” Sir Lancelot cut in. “We have our orders…” He spared a glance over at Sonic and Arthur, and squared his shoulders. “Now, let us protect our home!”

With that, Sir Lancelot dashed away to one of the furthest points marked on the map, with the other four knights making their own ways forward to their targets, leaving just Sonic, Arthur, and Nimue left on the hillside, watching Merlina’s curse as it continued to strike upon the world. Sonic watched them all go, running to the farthest ends of the world while he stood there in wait, his spines prickling from restless anticipation. His leg started bouncing and his fingers started drumming as the seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow. He kept staring at the map, watching the five dots signifying the knights as they inched toward their destinations.

“It’s enough to drive one mad, isn’t it?”

Sonic glanced around at King Arthur, who was similarly looking at the map with a faraway expression. “The waiting,” he clarified, though Sonic knew exactly what he meant from the moment the king had asked. “Sending them off to do their jobs while you just… wait and wonder.”

Sonic sat back down on the grass, pulling out a blade or two. “Wonder what it’s like to be out there with them?”

Arthur nodded. The king’s spines began to relax as the dots kept moving. “Wondering what they’re facing. Wondering if I would be able to do the same. Wondering if there’s any more I could be doing and why I’m not doing it.” The king sighed and shifted to face his counterpart. “Delegation is a skill I’ve had to learn, but to be so far from what is truly happening… It leaves much to be desired.”

Sonic nodded in agreement. He had only just done once what Arthur had been doing for his entire reign, and he felt about ready to jump into the action and do everything himself!

“But I trust my knights,” Arthur said, a little too firmly. “I trust them to do what I ask of them, and to do it well…” His voice trailed off as his ears drooped. “...yet I had given up on them on the day I accepted the curse. I only saw that my life had been in danger, not that I had been able to save myself with the help of my most loyal companions. I thought nothing of them as I pushed them away, but Merlina’s betrayal… how could I trust anyone after that? Who else was ready to catch me with my guard down?”

Arthur drew in a deep breath, screwing his eyes shut, shaking with tension as though he was in the heat of battle, and Sonic decided that it was time to intervene.

“They’re still there, you know. They still followed you, even when you tried to push them away. If anything, I think they’re happy to know that you’re back to your old self, not angry at you for getting all paranoid like you did. And even if they are angry… I think you’ll all be able to move past it. That’s what it means to have friends.”

“Friends,” Arthur echoed quietly, glancing back at the map with a softness that made Sonic smile.

“Don’t sweat it,” he assured the king. “I think it’s all gonna be okay for you.”

They fell into silence with that, as Nimue watched over the map of the realm. The first pinprick of light shone at one corner, then swelled into a glyph. Four others soon followed, creating a pentagon around the shadowy cursed mist in the center of the map; the barrier had been created, and in front of them, Sonic could see and feel the lines of protective magic rise up into the sky like a pale blue curtain, fighting back against the worst of Merlina’s curse.

Yet his heart remained still in his chest, and the clouds kept pushing forward, pressing against the barrier until they spilled over in a thin but steady fog.

“Oh no…”

Sonic and Arthur turned their heads; Nimue was looking down at her map in dismay, where the pentagon of blue light was being eaten away by Merlina’s curse. The mystical lady glanced over at them, her eyes troubled. “The barrier of the sacred swords is too weak… My scabbard alongside Merlina’s magic is a combination more powerful than I expected.”

“Then what do we do?” Arthur asked, his grip on Caliburn tightening until the sword began to shake in his hands.

Sonic hummed, then got to his feet. “Simple,” he decided, as he did a few quick stretches. “We take down the curse at the source.”

“You fool!” Caliburn bellowed from Arthur’s hand. “You cannot seriously be considering going after Merlina! Did you not hear the Lady of the Lake? The scabbard has boosted her powers far beyond what you are capable of facing!”

“Don’t count me out so fast,” Sonic warned, bending down to grab Excalibur from the grass. The golden blade still shone like the sun, despite the darkness choking the storybook kingdom, and Sonic grasped the grip like it was the last shred of hope in the world. “I’ll have Excalibur with me to go up against the scabbard.”

“Not only that,” Arthur added from his spot on the ground, “but you’ll have Caliburn as well.”

Sonic blinked. “What?”

“What?” Caliburn seemed even more astounded.

Arthur let out a troubled sigh, but his voice was firm. “I cannot fight in my current state,” he explained. “Though I wish I could, though I want nothing more than to run in and fight alongside you, to right my wrongs… I know I cannot.” The king sucked in a breath, rising slowly from the grass, trembling with effort the higher he stood. “I cannot simply do as I wish.”

Sonic remained silent as his counterpart slid the grip of Caliburn into his free hand, and Arthur smiled sadly as he continued. “But you can. It is as I said; I am no stranger to delegation. I may have given up on my knights before, but I refuse to give up on you… on myself.”

Arthur sunk back down to the ground, wincing in discomfort. “And so… I will relinquish the power of Caliburn, and give it to you, his other chosen wielder. I know you both will exceed all expectations, for miracles happen when Caliburn is brought into battle. For me… put an end to the suffering Merlina and myself have brought upon my people.”

The pain in Arthur’s voice wasn’t solely from his physical state, and Sonic understood how much this meant to the disgraced king. It seemed as though Caliburn did, too, as the sword gave no arguments.

“We will make you proud, Arthur,” the sword vowed from Sonic’s hand, and Arthur beheld them both, his eyes softening.

“Keep safe,” Sonic said as he swung both blades around, testing out his dual wielding skills in the few spare moments before his final showdown.

“Worry not,” Arthur reassured him. “Lady Nimue will be more than enough to protect me.”

“Your confidence in me is very appreciated, Your Majesty.”

The king grinned, with a spark of personality that Sonic felt resonate within himself. “Come now, Nimue, the crafter of Excalibur and the mother of the Ultimate Knight? I daresay I might be the safest person in the kingdom under your protection!”

As the lady giggled in mirth, Sonic let go of his lingering worries about Arthur. “Okay then,” he said, sparing the others one final glance. “The Knight of the Wind is at your service.”

“We shall not let you down,” Caliburn added, and Arthur gave them a nod of approval.

Sonic turned away, facing the castle once more and making his way towards the barrier. “Now’s the time.”

“Indeed,” Caliburn agreed, and while Excalibur remained silent, the golden blade emitted a strong pulse of energy as they got closer to the shimmering blue barrier. Sonic’s instincts flared, and he held the magical sword forward, the tip of the blade pressing into the barrier.

Excalibur was the key to breaking through the magic and getting back to the castle.

The blade cut through the magical energy like butter, and with a few twists and flicks of his wrist, Sonic was able to carve himself an opening to jump through, from the clear air outside, and into the inky purple smog that enveloped Camelot Castle like a plague.

This was it. Sonic’s hands held tight around both his swords. Somewhere inside that stronghold, Merlina was spreading her curse, and he was the last hope to stop her.

He was up for the challenge.

“Here we go!”

Chapter Text

Merlina was sitting in wait when Sonic arrived at the throne room. The solemn wizard sat upon the grand marble chair, her eyes closed like she was meditating, though there was no semblance of tranquility in the room. The air was electric with the curse’s power, rumbling through the ground beneath Sonic’s feet and pulsing through his body like a replacement heartbeat.

“I’ve been expecting you.”

The words were soft, choking the room in a sense of sorrow that pierced right through to Sonic’s stilled heart. He shook the feeling away, steeling himself. He would not let her influence his emotions. He would stand his ground.

He knew who he was, and who he needed to be. She wouldn't take that from him.

“Just one thing before we settle this,” he said, readjusting his grip on both his swords; Caliburn stayed silent and foreboding in his right hand, while Excalibur gleamed unabated in his left. Their weights kept him grounded as the wizard nodded at him to continue. “Why’d you do it? Any of it? Weren’t we trying to save the kingdom? Weren’t you the one who warned me about Arthur and the power of the scabbard? So what gives?”

Merlina opened her melancholic yellow eyes; tears seemed to swim within them, unable to fully form or fall, blinding her forever with her own despair. “The kingdom will fail one way or another. Such is its fate.”

“Huh?”

The kingdom failing? That didn’t sound quite right to Sonic.

“Do you know what is to become of this kingdom?” Merlina prompted him, and Sonic racked his brain, trying to remember the ending of the story he had read so long ago. Something about a betrayal… a queen… exile and--

Actually, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter at all.

This is not the same story.

“Beats me,” he said, flippant but honest. Merlina’s tale was one that wasn’t printed on paper, not like the others were.

Merlina frowned, her watery eyes reflecting both the dark pulses of her curse and the golden sheen of Excalibur as she stood up. She walked slowly towards Sonic, the sound of her shoes clacking against the stone floors echoing in the otherwise empty throne room.

Such a grand room, devoid of life like everything else in the kingdom…

“Lancelot and Gawain’s rift shall doom the Round Table,” she prophesied, her voice monotonous and firm, unshakable like destiny, and Sonic couldn’t stand to hear it. “Arthur is struck down by his son Mordred, and departs for Avalon.”

Sonic didn’t reply, only letting out a hollow hum. The story sounded familiar, that was for sure, but the players were different. He had met them. In a strange sense, he was one of them, an echo or double of the main character.

Why, then, did this story need to follow the same steps?

At his lack of reaction, Merlina’s shoulders slumped, and the forlorn wizard looked out one of the windows into the shadowy landscape outside the castle. The barrier’s walls were nowhere to be found in the cursed fog, and Sonic wondered what exactly it was supposed to accomplish. Why did Merlina try to send them all into a refabrication of the underworld, when she had been the one who transported him here to stop this same thing in the first place?

“This was to be our ideal world,” Merlina kept explaining, and Sonic only barely held back a quip about how ‘permanently cursed’ was a pretty far cry from ‘ideal’ by anyone’s standards. “But it will not last! King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table will end in ruin… and even if my mistakes have led to a less prosperous and sadder time, I can still take comfort that, at the very least, I have saved us all from the worst miseries in our story.”

“Mistakes?” Sonic echoed, and the sound of his voice seemed to pull Merlina from her thoughts, as she faltered, a grimace passing over her features.

“You remember, do you not? What King Arthur claimed in the courtyard not even an hour ago?”

Sonic frowned, lifting Caliburn higher as the sword’s eyes fixed on Merlina with a laser-focused stare. “He said that you were the one who sent the assassins after him to get the sword and scabbard.”

Sonic waited for a confirmation, a denial, even a small hint towards the truth behind the story he was pulled into, but Merlina didn’t move a muscle, nor utter a sound. The hedgehog tapped his foot, impatience rising, but it was Caliburn who spoke up before he could say a word.

“Is it true?” Caliburn demanded, an unusual acidity to his tone. “Did you send those people after our king, and throw his mind into disarray?”

The wizard’s shoulders started to slump, and her eyes looked like they were filled to the brim with unshed tears as she turned back to Sonic and Caliburn. “I did,” she admitted in a whisper, “but you must understand--”

“Understand?!” Caliburn roared, furious enough to leap out of Sonic’s hand and land on his point a few feet ahead, bouncing step by step closer to the distraught woman. “I now understand why he pushed those he had always trusted away! I now understand why he decided that I needed to be set back into the stone when I questioned his actions! What I do not understand is why you would send people to kill him when the fate of King Arthur and this world had you drowning in your own sorrows!”

“Because I didn’t mean to have his life in danger!” Merlina cried, the desperation in her voice so sharp and agonizing that Caliburn stopped still as the wizard wrung her hands, pacing back and forth. “Truly, I didn’t! I only meant to have the scabbard taken! I thought I was merely hiring some thieves that could be bribed with a bit of coin to retrieve what I needed… I only learned too late that they were assassins, already paid by the Saxons to take the king’s life, and I had given them a direct route to finding him and the means to claim one of the most powerful treasures in the kingdom!”

If Sonic’s heart had still been beating, he would have felt it sink in unease. It was all coming together now, the picture was piecing itself together and it was an unfortunate tragedy of errors, misinterpretations and regrets. In a story, it would have had him turning the pages, eager to find out what would become of the tangled web of hurried decisions and withdrawn information.

But while living it? He just wanted it to end so he could move on. So everyone could move on.

“I never wanted you to kill Arthur,” Merlina continued, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve. “I thought I had no choice, the bounty on my head was too great… but then you came to me, Sonic. The instant I saw you, I knew you would be the one who could take the scabbard from him without bringing any harm unto him! I knew you would be the one to reach his heart when no one else could!”

The wizard’s hands shook, and she seemed to shrink upon herself, manic joy and unfettered sorrow mixing into a mess of emotion that put a frown on Sonic’s face.

“The king was right,” Merlina spat, her bitterness suddenly lashing out and darkening the room. “King Arthur was right to call me a traitor… but I hadn’t meant to put him in true danger! All I wanted, all I needed, was this!”

From her sleeve, Merlina procured the scabbard, and she held it tightly in both hands, squeezing it as though it was her only link to salvation. Her eyes glistened with gold again, but in manic hope and joy. “I can succeed with the power of this scabbard, creating a kingdom that never ends, and a king who will never die!”

One hand detached itself from the scabbard, and Merlina snapped her fingers, summoning a flower into her hand. Sonic recognized the dark orange petals, the sight bringing him back to a run through a field of flowers as Merlina’s somber voice echoed in his ears from far away.

“Why do flowers bloom, knowing they are destined to wither?”

Despite being ripped from its place in the ground outside and sent through space, the flower remained picture-perfect, not a petal out of place, even as Merlina’s fingers gripped it so tightly that the stem buckled and bent under the pressure.

“Their time of beauty is so short-lived…”

“Arthur shall never fear for his life again under my power,” Merlina whispered, holding out the flower and scabbard in front of her. “He shall never fall… the Round Table will remain intact… the kingdom shall remain forever peaceful, as I’d always wished.”

The stillness in Sonic’s chest had never felt more sinister.

“What good is a world that goes on forever!?” he demanded.

Merlina’s wild smile froze on her face as his challenge registered. Her hands lowered gently to her sides as her joy melted away, leaving the familiar despair that suffocated the room in its wake, now tinged with a heavy disappointment that pressed down like a weight from the highest reaches of the sky. “My sorrow at this world’s ruin runs deeper than the depths of the Underworld,” she explained, but Sonic was starting to get fed up with the way both Arthur and Merlina had struggled to claim the narrative; Arthur with his dependence on invincibility, and now Merlina forcing her sadness onto every living being in the story.

Neither would be able to move on if nothing was allowed to grow, change, and live life.

“Do you not understand?”

She was pleading. Sonic could hear her soft voice coaxing him, pushing him to agree with her reasoning, but unfortunately for her, Sonic was not a permanent player in this storybook world.

This was not where his own story would end.

“No! And I don’t want to!”

With no words left to say, Sonic ran forth, grabbing Caliburn on his dash forward, and jumped into the air, thrusting both swords towards the stunned wizard in the blink of an eye.

A dome of purple energy pushed him back, effectively blocking Caliburn but only half-successfully turning away Excalibur, and Sonic found himself knocked back across the room, skidding across the stone floor on the soles of his shoes as he faced down the one who pulled him into this world. Merlina shot him a pained look, but before her lips had even parted for another plea, Sonic had made his second leaping strike, and she responded in kind, throwing up her shield with more urgency.

This time, the deflection had Excalibur flung from his hand and him thrown onto his back, his head smacking against the floor with an intense explosion of pain that had stars swimming in his eyes and a cry of shock escaping his mouth, but the effects of the fall dwindled and faded away almost instantly. Sonic grinned as he brought himself back up to his feet.

“Looks like your time-freezing powers work in my favor too,” he taunted, gripping Caliburn with both hands while Merlina gave him an icy glare.

“Your efforts are futile,” she snapped at him, but Sonic leapt at her regardless. With just the one sword in hand, he struck at her shield over and over, sparks flying around him, a mix of her magic and his effort. He put his all into his attacks, not letting up, hoping to see a chip in her armor, a way through…

Bam! A surprise jolt of energy jammed him in the gut, short-circuiting Sonic’s brain for a moment. One second he was right in front of her, the next he was in a dusty heap, face-down on the ground halfway across the throne room. “No way…” he gasped as he felt his stupor lift and the reality of the situation started to catch up with him.

He could keep picking himself up. He could keep attacking over and over again… but so could Merlina. He glanced down at Caliburn; his sword was frowning, a look of near-panic in his steely blue eyes, a clear question on his mind that rang similar in Sonic’s.

How do we get past this eternal stalemate?

“SONIC!”

The hedgehog snapped his head upwards at Caliburn’s yell; a black, armored figure had spawned behind Merlina while he had picked himself back up off the ground, the splitting image of King Arthur’s suit of armor underneath the curse, dark and foreboding, wreathed in magenta runes and blue flames, towering over the wizard like her eternal protector. Sonic’s heart sank.

This wasn’t a stalemate at all.

And with that thought fresh in his mind, the black knight shot forward one of the long, metal talons that made up its cape, aiming right at Sonic’s head…

…and Caliburn leapt upwards, shielding Sonic with the flat of his blade.

“Caliburn!”

“You fool!” Caliburn breathed out, voice shaking from the relentless, malicious pressure on his body. “A knight must always be on his guard!”

Sonic braced Caliburn with his other hand, feeling his shoes skid backwards as the talon kept pushing forward. His teeth ground together; were time still in motion, he would have been sweating. His muscles strained as the pressure multiplied, his spines raising in effort, his teeth grinding, his arms beginning to shake from the endless pushback that he needed to stand firm against. He wouldn’t let Caliburn down, not now that they were so close to fixing Camelot and the kingdom around it!

Even though it did him no favors, Sonic drew in a deep breath, pushing away the uncomfortable feeling of his hair standing on end. Something was wrong, something big was about to happen, but he couldn’t move from his spot. An unpleasant and rare feeling of helplessness overcame him as he looked beyond the clash before him. Merlina was holding her hand in the air, a blank look in her eyes and face.

No…

Merlina’s hand came down, and with a powerful jolt, so did the jagged talon from the armored figure protecting her. It twisted in the air like the flick of a wrist, the sharp edge slicing down onto the flat of Caliburn’s blade.

Sonic felt it before he heard it, the sudden release of pressure that had his arms flying upward, still clutching at Caliburn’s hilt. Sonic heard it before he saw it, the sad clanking of a single piece of steel hitting the floor. As he lowered his arms, Sonic finally saw it; Caliburn, his blade broken and his blue eyes closed like he was sleeping, while his other half lay a few steps away on the floor, dented and beyond repair, and not even the stilled passage of time could mend him.

No…

No!

“Nooooooooo!”

In a rage, Sonic flew at Merlina with Caliburn’s hilt still held firmly in his hands; even with a broken weapon, he was still aiming to strike as red hot fury pushed him forward. Her guardian blocked him effortlessly, and Sonic fell back to the ground, but he bounced back up on his feet, aiming again, and again, and again. He didn’t care that it was futile. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter if any of his strikes actually got through.

He just needed her to know, to feel how utterly furious he was with her.

“First Arthur,” he growled out as the armor tossed him backwards, landing him on his spine, which surely would have been bruised by now under normal circumstances, “and now Caliburn too?! How many people do you need to hurt just so you can feel better?”

Merlina’s eyes flashed, and her hands raised to her chest as Sonic made his next attack. In the split second before he was deflected again, he tried to catch a glimpse of her face, to see if he had gotten through to her at all, if she showed even a smidge of regret at having destroyed Caliburn…

Caliburn, his mentor, his friend, his trusty weapon who drove him up the wall but always tried to steer him right, even if it meant getting on his nerves.

…but her face was obscured with that damn flower, held up to her nose as though she was breathing in its picture-perfect eternity. 

Another armored talon had Sonic flip in the air, skidding on his front and facing away from his opponent. A brief but intense flash of pain made him hiss in shock and displeasure, but the rules of the world kept him from feeling it for too long. He picked himself back up and turned around to face Merlina again.

She had lowered the flower from her face, her tired eyes showing no signs of remorse or change. Instead, she announced, “It is time to end this.”

Her arms raised, magic flowing through her fingertips, and the cursed king-like figure behind her grew to three times the size, its talons multiplying and its armor fortifying as it absorbed her power. It glowed a bright electric blue through the cracks between the obsidian armor plates 一 the same color as the spell that she had used to summon Sonic to her world, he remembered with a start 一 and it was covered in magenta runes, feeding into the magic of the Underworld like the shadowy knights that King Arthur had controlled under the scabbard’s influence. Several of its talons ended in a hand carrying a massive sword, taller and longer than Sonic’s whole body.

And he had to face off with it somehow.

The first giant sword came crashing down towards him, and instinctively Sonic raised his sword to block the blow, but Caliburn remained bisected, and the enemy sword passed effortlessly by, skimming the broken blade that was once a proud sacred sword, sending out a small shower of sparks where metal ground against metal before impacting against Sonic’s body at full force.

A scream tore out of Sonic’s throat, quickly silenced as the rest of the talons went to strike him. Over and over, from all sides, Sonic felt the bone-breaking blows hit him with painful accuracy, overloading his mind until he couldn’t see, couldn’t speak. Yes, the injuries would not last, not with Merlina’s curse in play, but oh, the initial pain was still very, very real, and it was exploding all over him like fireworks, red hot pain blooming like flowers or the onset of an awful bruise. From skin through muscle and all the way to bone, Sonic felt the crushing agony of deadly proportions bestowed on him as many times as the dark armor had talons; once they had all retracted, preparing for a second strike, Sonic was lying on the ground, his mind struggling to come to terms with the hell he had just experienced and the uncomfortable reality that it no longer hurt… but it certainly would again in just a moment.

But… wasn’t that, in a way, what he was trying to explain to Merlina? That pain was inevitable, that passing by was natural? That it was these brief moments of clarity where he could either sink into hopelessness, or take action?

“Sir Sonic!”

A blue ear flicked as Sir Percival’s voice entered his mind, but a quick glance around told him that she wasn’t there with him. The cat’s voice sounded nearly panicked as she continued. “You’ve done enough!”

Sonic wheezed out a small laugh as he tightened his grip around Caliburn’s silent hilt. Had he done enough? No, he didn’t think so. As he pushed himself to his feet and met Merlina’s sorrowful eyes, Sonic could see that there was still plenty to take care of.

“No, Sonic!” Huh, now it was Sir Lancelot. “There is no point in continuing!”  

Sonic smirked, rebalancing as he focused straight ahead. The knights must have regrouped and gotten a visual from Nimue… At least they had found each other again. They weren’t alone, which meant that Arthur wasn’t alone…

And even though the sword in his hand had ceased to speak, Sonic knew that he wasn’t alone, either. His lips trembled for a split second before they spread in an earnest grin; he knew exactly what Caliburn would have said if he were here.

“A knight never flees his foe… right?”

A warm laugh resounded in his ear, and Sonic’s grin grew.

Arthur… You were thinking the same thing, huh?

The sound of whistling through the air had Sonic back on his toes; he saw the first giant sword come right for him and dodged it easily, but unfortunately the second sword came for him as he was suspended in midair, and the second round of relentlessly agonizing strikes came for him at full force until Sonic was lying prone on the ground, swearing his body had melted in red hot excruciation, his bones no more than sawdust and his muscles slashed and torn to shreds.

Then it was over, all over again.

“You fool!” Ah, there was Sir Gawain. “This no longer has anything to do with chivalry! Get out of there! Run!”

“It was never about chivalry for me,” Sonic grunted, picking himself back up again and facing Merlina once more. The mask was beginning to crack, and the wizard was looking more upset by the second.

“Then what about your wellbeing?” Sir Galahad this time. “Come back, and let us all come in and support you!”

“This may be our only chance,” Sonic muttered in reply, keeping his gaze focused on Merlina. “Come in and help me if you want, but I’m not moving from this room until this is over.”

“Do you enjoy being bested again and again?” Sir Lamorak joined the chorus of concern in his mind. “Have you gotten the sense beaten out of you as well?”

“I can’t say that I enjoy it, but if this is what it takes to bring an end to this, then that’s what I’ll do!”

Across the room, Merlina’s mouth twisted into a mournful grimace, and her arm raised again, but Sonic stayed true to his word, standing against her in the most grueling one-on-one he might ever know; and he would go through it again, and again, and again until she understood or couldn’t keep going anymore. His soul sang with the willpower of thousands, the strength and stubbornness of a mountain, the understanding that this, right here, was it. He was the one who needed to see this through to the bitter end.

“I just gotta do what I gotta do. That’s all.”

The knights cried out his name, one more time as the world around him seemed to glow in amber light, but even in the midst of their terror, one voice came through clearer than the rest.

“Sonic…”

The hedgehog smiled, true and genuine, at the quiet utterance of his name.

Arthur, I’m glad you’re watching. Hopefully I’ll help you learn a thing or two as well.

The amber glow grew brighter, the intensity reaching that of a spotlight, a floodlight, a wildfire, the sun. It engulfed him, golden and glorious, and Sonic felt renewed, stronger than before. In his chest, where there had been stillness, he started to feel the slow drumming of his heart, started to feel the breeze of air in his lungs. The light of the living flowed through him, rejuvenating his mind and body, allowing him to stand stronger than ever before in front of Merlina and her hopeless sorrows.

“The light of the sacred sword…” Nimue’s voice came to him in an awed whisper, smooth as water. “Quick, Sonic, grab Excalibur, but don’t put Caliburn down!”

Oh right! Excalibur!

Sonic sped away from his stance facing Merlina, zipping across the stone floors until he came across the fabled golden blade. The sword seemed to glow and fade in tandem with his newly-beating heart, and Sonic felt a magical glimmer of warmth the closer he got.

“Go on,” he heard Arthur urge him in his head, noticing with a smile that he could hear excitement warbling in the king’s voice. “Take it and see just what Excalibur can do when wielded correctly!”

The golden magic swarmed around him as Sonic reached his free hand out for the legendary sword, and the instant his fingers made contact, it burst outwards, drawing into and out from him in a mystical shockwave that shook Merlina’s warped, twisted castle down to every last stone.

Sonic’s mouth dropped open as armor phased into existence around him, enveloping him like a golden shield. From head to toe he was covered in magnificent, impenetrable magic metal, gleaming like a golden god, destined to wield the radiant sword in his grasp. A cape of regal crimson flowed behind him like a river, and a dazzling aura exploded from him and the sword in his grasp.

“Whoa…”

Unstoppable. Undefeatable. Super…

Sonic grinned at the familiar feeling that coursed through his veins like an old friend.

I think I understand you a bit more, Excalibur.

But the sword was not done, it seemed.

From Sonic’s other hand, a blinding glow manifested itself, and Sonic squinted through the piercing light, his eyes widening in awe once the brightness faded, and Caliburn lay fully repaired in his grasp.

“It’s about time!” the sword scolded, and Sonic’s heart swooped with delight at hearing that haughty, condescending tone again.

“Caliburn!” he cheered, his voice echoing through the golden helm that covered his head, contained except for the viewing slits in his visor. He held his friend up to see him more clearly and yes, the blade was whole, and blue eyes were looking at him with dry exasperation. “You’re in one piece again! But… how? And where did this armor come from?” He brought the hilt closer to his face, ignoring the urge to flip the visor up to speak more clearly with his sword.

“I can see why you would be confused; ordinarily, especially under a spell such as the scabbard’s, it would be impossible to create something from nothing. However--”

“Fae magic has oft been known to cheat.”

Sonic laughed; that particular comment had come from Nimue herself. In his jubilation, he swung both swords around; their weight was similar, their handling familiar. Sonic wondered if one had been made in the other’s image, or if this was just another bit of magic helping him along.

Ah well. It didn’t really matter that much, did it?

The golden knight turned his attention back to Merlina; from his distance and his visor acting as an extra obstacle, it was difficult to make out her face, but her posture was rigid, and her hands gripped her flower so tightly that Sonic wondered if the stem would snap. The wizard stepped backwards as the armor behind her wrapped her in its talons, shielding her in onyx and glowing blue. Wisps of inky black darkness bloomed around her like melancholy petals, drowning the stone floors, regal carpets and tapestries, swallowing up the light fixtures and the dim candles that would never melt, hiding away the thrones, the windows, plunging her half of the throne room into a void of empty despair… and the darkness kept crawling forward, reaching out to grab him as well.

Sonic raised his swords and pointed them at her darkness, and they held firm, light as air as the golden light continued to swirl upwards into the air. “Heh. Let’s do this!” he cheered, and the swords seemed to glow brighter in response. Encouraged, Sonic ran forward, feeling his feet leave the air as he began to fly up and out of reach of Merlina’s pitch black sadness before it could touch him. He was the lone golden light in that envelope of misery, and he knew it was his job to rip it open and let light back inside.

“You would not understand, nor could you understand…”

Merlina’s hopeless voice echoed across the void, and the darkness seemed to vibrate with negativity. Upset, bitterness, frustration, resignation, futility… All feelings that Sonic recognized, all feelings that he had seen in the eyes of his double as he talked him out of his reliance on the scabbard.

Hope warmed Sonic from the inside out, his aura pulsing and flickering like a warm fireplace. Yes, he was still angry at Merlina, but he also had a good gut feeling that he could pull her out of her stew of sorrow and self-pity. He might not have known her as well as he understood Arthur, but how could he let something like that stop him from trying?

“You burn when there is so little left in this world… there is only the peace that I have brought to it.”

The void sang with fragile conviction, doubling down on itself until it became cacophonous, a desperate scream that could only hope to sound as strong as it wished it could be.

“That is why I, too, must do what I must do.”

A chill ran up Sonic’s spine as his words of steadfast determination were thrown back at him. The words that had invoked Excalibur’s mighty light were now used to pull out yet more of the scabbard’s power, and Sonic saw a flash of blue glowing across the void. Merlina, with the scabbard in her hands, seemed to blink in and out of existence, in and out, in and out, in and out like the blinking of an eye…

…and then, right where she once was, an eye appeared, giant and red and shakily looking around, the pupil darting side to side as though overcome with fear and paranoia. Magenta runes surrounded it as familiar onyx talons thrust out from it, making the space around them shake and tremble.

Sonic’s breath caught in his throat as he realized that this was it. This was the battle of the sword against the scabbard, his strength of will pitted against Merlina’s in their last stand. His heart pounded in excitement as adrenaline coursed through him, while Merlina’s final form burst forth from the eye, large and imposing and so, so scared.

Yet her voice remained cold and firm. “I am finished with you.”

The familiar jagged, rigid armor floated in front of him, though now it was twenty times his size and much more monstrous. Suspended on a serpentine tail and reflecting a mix of blue flames and magenta runes so brightly that it looked nearly crystalline, the black knight held forth four segmented arms, two extending from the shoulders and two others from the hips, each holding its own weapon, from glowing swords to daggers to clubs. The giant eye had fixed itself in the knight’s chest, peeking out from a cavity surrounded by what Sonic could only really describe as an eyelid with toothy fragments instead of eyelashes. In between two spiked pauldrons was the face of a man, made from the same obsidian metal as the rest of the body, with spires protruding from his head in a manner reminiscent of a crown and empty eyes which glowed blue. His mouth opened, showing off rows of angry-looking teeth in front of a blinding magenta interior. Dark mists flowed off the massive monster like smoke, catching the glow of magic before dissipating.

Yet, Merlina was nowhere to be found. Only the dying echoes of her voice rested in the empty space around Sonic’s ears, and the hedgehog frowned, deciding to take one thing at a time. Once he defeated this armor, he would find Merlina again. He was sure of it.

“What good is a world that goes on forever?” Sonic asked, his own voice filling the void as the armor readied up his weapons. With a cocky little point of his sword, Sonic grinned below his visor. “That sounds pretty lame!”

Merlina didn’t respond, and the giant knight whirled its upper weapons around, charging them with violet flames while the lower arms kept their swords raised, prepared for an assault. Sonic flew forward, both his swords at the ready, but the purple flames conjured up pale pink orbs of light that flew towards him.

“Dodge them!” Caliburn commanded, but Sonic was already way ahead of him, rolling through the void to get away from the projectiles. Excalibur’s edge clipped onto one of them, cracking it like glass, and a painful wave of energy erupted from it, narrowly missing Sonic by a hair. The hedgehog whistled, refocusing on his target, but another bunch of orbs danced in front of his vision, flying straight for him.

“Looks like dodging is the way to go for now,” he muttered, keeping on the defensive as he tried to make out a weak spot on his opponent.

“Can’t you get in any closer?” Caliburn asked as Sonic swooped out of the way of yet more pale pink projectiles. “We’d have a good chance to win if you could close the gap!”

“Trying my hardest here!” Sonic replied, smoothly dodging yet again, but he did double his efforts into coming in closer. The nearer he got, the clearer the armor came into focus, but where should he aim for?

There wasn’t enough time to consider it, though, as one of the sword-wielding lower arms raised itself for a strike, and Sonic raised his own swords in anticipation.

“Time it carefully,” Caliburn reminded him, and Sonic took a deep breath, remembering how finicky feints could be. He blocked the first strike successfully, only for more distracting orbs to be thrown at him as the knight prepared itself for a second strike.

It took pinpoint precise accuracy and perfect reflexes to dodge and then block, but Sonic was the fastest thing alive, pulling the maneuver off so cleanly that Caliburn gave him a spot of praise.

“Good show. But keep on your toes! There’ll only be more of that to come.”

As if to prove him right, Merlina’s armored monster raised another tentacle-like arm to slice into him, and Sonic sucked in a breath, preparing to dodge yet again.

“Are you ready, Caliburn?”

“I was forged ready, Sir Sonic.”

Another strike, another swoop; another toss, another dodge. Floating in the empty space of Merlina’s void, Sonic’s true speed was muddled, making his dodging less assured, and a few times he felt something scraping along the side of his golden armor, coming in too close for comfort.

“We’ll never get anywhere like this,” Caliburn remarked, the sword twisting in Sonic’s grasp so he could have a better look at their opponent. “You have enough energy in you for a soul surge, correct? Go full force ahead!”

Sonic rolled his eyes good-naturedly, hidden below his gleaming visor. “Where would I be without you, Caliburn?”

“Broken on the ground, sir. Now block!”

Sonic focused on his opponent again; indeed, the arms were lifting again, and Sonic could tell this one would be different from the others. He lifted one arm to counterattack 一 “No, you fool! Use Excalibur to parry, not me!!!” 一 and kept his lessons up until now in his mind.

Timing is everything. Counterattacking too early or too late won’t work and you’ll lose your window.

The first strike came, and the second one right after it, and a third right after that. The orbs were gone from the equation; it was pure physical power being unleashed on Sonic and Excalibur as Merlina switched up her strategy, but with the armor sporting less arms and heavier weapons than during their fight on the throne room floor, it had to stop attacking sooner than their fight before…

…and the instant it did, Sonic surged forward like Caliburn instructed, slashing at the hips and lower chest of the beast with both swords.

Caliburn made several excellent blows, but Excalibur carved through the metal like a hot knife to butter.

“There’s nothing Excalibur cannot cut through,” Caliburn remarked, sounding oddly prideful. “Keep slashing!”

So, Sonic kept slashing, hacking away at the armor until a burst of blue energy punched him back, far back into the void until he could easily cover the view of his opponent with one hand. With a burst of willpower, his own flying force counteracted the pushback, letting him fly forward again, back to the fight.

“You’ve weakened her,” Caliburn said. “Do not lose hope. Keep at it!”

“Did you really think I’d quit now?” Sonic returned as they drew closer to Merlina’s melancholic creature. “I’m just getting started!”

The air around Sonic started to feel off as he drew closer to the armor, and the hedgehog started to feel pushing and pulling, squeezing and releasing, as though the void was trying to shake him around and ruin his aim. All the while, Merlina’s voice came back to fill the space like a dark promise.

“Your blade will not touch me again.”

Sonic wasn’t too worried now that he had gotten an idea for her attack patterns as a sword-fighter, but the compression and movement of the space around him added a new layer of difficulty. One of Merlina’s orbs flew too close to him for his liking, and though he was able to break through it with a well-timed slash from Excalibur, the magenta magic still burned, setting his spines on end.

“What are we supposed to do now?” he asked Caliburn.

To which the sword replied, “The same as you’ve been doing. You must wait for the chance to go in for the kill.”

Sonic translated that as ‘She’ll get impatient, throw everything at you again all at once, and then there’s another chance to get in close.’ But true as it rang for him, it didn’t guarantee that she would make the same mistake a third time, especially if he failed to deliver the final blow in this round.

Well, he supposed that was a problem for later.

He somersaulted through the air, avoiding yet another jab and cluster of pink orbs, ending up lower down than he had calculated, right in the line of fire for another sword strike. Sure enough, one of the segmented arms was pulled back for a strike, but Sonic knew that it was time to stand his ground instead of dodge. With the shaking void putting off his aim, and the chance that he could goad Merlina into putting her all into attacking him, he knew this was an opportunity he couldn’t let slide.

Golden Excalibur cut through the darkness, paying the movement of the space around them no mind as the divine blade seemed to be drawn to its opponent’s like a magnet. Sonic’s heart leapt in excitement as Merlina immediately prepared a second strike.

This is it!

Another block, then another, then one more, and then…

“Now!” Caliburn called at the precise moment that Sonic flew forward, tearing through the obsidian armor with a wild ferocity. He needed to knock aside the magic, the protection, the fear to get to Merlina’s heart and finish the story.

“Do not underestimate our power!” Caliburn yelled out, his own voice filling the emptiness. “I will teach you the error of your ways!”

Sonic chuckled as both Caliburn and Excalibur carved deep into the enchanted metal. “My trusty sword’s gonna teach you a lesson!”

“ENOUGH!”

Another powerful shockwave ripped Sonic from his opponent’s body and flung him backwards into the void. The hedgehog grit his teeth; there went that window of opportunity. It wouldn’t be easy to eke out another one, but he had to try.

As he flew forward, the wizard’s fury became palpable, as heat seemed to radiate through the void, warming up his armor until he began to sweat.

“Your selfishness is going to be the end of it all! Do you not understand?”

Sonic recalled his own rage from just minutes prior, manifesting it into his own powerful aura, thick and gold. The light burst from him like the sun in the sky, warmer and stronger than that of the wizard’s. He pointed Caliburn at her, and from over his blade, he responded, his voice a touch darker than he had planned.

“I already told you. I don’t mind playing the bad guy every once in a while.”

Merlina’s burning fury seemed to die, replacing itself with cold fear as the wreath of bright blue flames around the black knight faded to softer red ones, but Sonic’s warmth held firm, keeping him moving through the void as he aimed at her again.

“Everything must have its end,” Caliburn agreed, his own voice as steely as his blade, “and we are going to be yours.”

The armor, looking darker and more sinister now that the blue magic holding it strong had faded, started making jabs aimed forward, sloppy and easy to avoid. Merlina’s voice shook the air as she screamed at them yet again.

“You could never understand my sorrows at seeing the ruinous future of this kingdom! Never!”

“Good,” Sonic snarked back as he flew out of the way of the familiar first wave of pink spheres, “‘cause I never want to know such one-sided sadness.”

Another strike. Another block. She was running out of tricks and out of confidence.

“Foolish wizard!” Caliburn admonished as Sonic flew in closer. “You’re willing to sacrifice countless others just to escape your own sorrow?!”

The armor’s attacks grew more desperate, swatting at Sonic like he was a wasp it was trying with all its might to get rid of. Merlina was clearly on her last legs; Caliburn remarked as much.

“You could probably get through to her now.”

Sonic’s ears twitched at the phrasing, a bittersweet smile spreading on his muzzle.

“Get through to her, huh? When did you get so double-edged, pal?”

Caliburn didn’t respond, but Sonic didn’t exactly expect him to. This was it, for all of them, from Sonic and Caliburn, to Merlina, to Arthur and the Round Table, and the lands beyond.

It was time to do or die.

Sonic flew back to the armor’s chest, his blades cleaving their ways inside, as though aiming for the heart. Merlina’s fear grew stronger and stronger, terror permeating the air like a foul stench.

This time, it was Sonic who kicked himself back into the void, backflipping in a graceful arc before pointing forward at the broken armor, hardly holding itself together.

“This is it,” he said simply, before taking Excalibur and Caliburn in both hands, allowing his golden light to pour into both blades. Sonic’s light broke apart the void around them like the shell of an egg, and daylight filtered through as he shot forward, a golden glyph spurring him on, courtesy of Excalibur’s might. Sonic powered through like a shooting star, and even upon impacting with Merlina’s creature he did not slow down, piercing through the breastplate like it was made of paper. Excalibur guided him, pulling him through the armor and the emptiness within until Sonic could see what the sword was guiding him towards.

In the empty cavern of the creature’s chest, the scabbard floated, its power siphoned out and spewing out the inky blackness and magenta runes that Sonic had had enough of seeing. As they shot through the armor’s chest cavity, Sonic reached out a hand and grabbed the scabbard before they ripped out of the armor’s back.

He heard Merlina scream first, terrified and agonized and filled with grief as her powers faded and the scabbard’s curse left her. He could feel the dreaded power of the scabbard beckon to him, promising him invincibility and eternity, but he ignored it in favor of turning around and watching Merlina’s idea of a perfect world crumble.

Without the wizard’s influence, the thread of time started to pass once more. The dark clouds disappeared, pushed away with the winds, promising better days to come. Camelot’s new spires crumbled and fell to the ground, bringing sunlight back into the throne room, and all the kingdom seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Sonic flew to the window, taking in the revival of King Arthur’s world with wide eyes. So this was the land of legend, with rolling fields and farmland, forests and towns, volcanoes and mines, and a big blue sky. Finally, it seemed to thrive in peace, and hopefully would for a good long while.

Sonic wasn’t too worried. This world has its own blue hedgehog to save it, and he doubted Arthur would make the same mistake twice.

A flash of blue caught his eye, and in the castle gardens, he saw the figure of Merlina appear in the middle of a blue glyph. The wizard knelt on the grass with her head bowed low and her hands clasped together.

Though Sonic could feel Excalibur’s power begin to go dormant, he urged it to help him out one last time.

The hedgehog took flight out of the throne room window, swooping high into the air before dropping down to the castle grounds, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed.

One minute, there was a golden knight in the air; the next, a pair of simple red shoes touched the earth, and the relaxed figure of an unarmored hedgehog stood before the dismayed girl. He approached her, sheathing away Excalibur and letting Caliburn relax point-down beside him, his eyes softening like newborn leaves in spring as he made his way forward, promising a lesson to be learned. In the air, teeming with life, his voice rang through, clear and full of sincerity.

“Merlina… Every world has its end. I know that’s kinda sad, but…”

He paused, picking a flower from the ground, his smile growing fonder as a few petals fell to the ground. It was still beautiful, even if it wasn’t exactly what it used to be.

He hoped she would understand.

“...That’s why we gotta live life in the time we have.”

He held out the flower to her; Merlina looked up at him with tired, grieving eyes, her messy magenta hair falling across her face. She turned her attention to the flower, noticing the missing orange petals on the ground, yet the petals were already gone, and the rest of the flower was still in front of her. Still lovely. Still good.

Her hand rose to meet his, her fingers encircling the stem as he let her take the bloom. Sonic flashed her a grin as he finished his thought.

“At least, that’s what I figure.”

Merlina drew the flower to her heart, her face softer than Sonic had seen in a while. Though she still let her tears fall, there was a small smile on her face as she brought the flower to her nose and closed her eyes.

Sonic knew that she would figure it all out.

A gleam of bright powder blue shone in his peripherals, and Sonic jumped to the side as Nimue materialized beside him, a big smile on her face. “Congratulations, Sir Sonic,” she praised, dipping her head. “You both fought exceptionally.”

“Aw shucks, it was nothing,” Sonic deflected, while Caliburn thanked her generously at the same time. Nimue giggled at their dissonance, still so stark and yet so strong together. Sonic, too, grinned down at his sword, and a glimmer of fondness made its way into the sword’s blue eyes.

“Oh! Right!” Sonic held up Excalibur, nestled snug and safe inside its sheath, and handed it over to the rosy lady. “This is yours, isn’t it?”

A gleam of delight shone in spring-colored eyes as the Lady of the Lake took her sword back, holding it carefully in both hands. As she touched it, no dark aura formed, no bright light shone; she handled Excalibur as easily as she could have held a stick she found on the ground, its magic having no effect on her, and Sonic felt another part of him relax.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble, haven’t you?” Nimue said to the sword and scabbard, as though scolding it. “I think you need a good long rest away from the hands of the mortals.”

“No kidding,” Sonic agreed, watching in fascination as Nimue slid her fingers down the side of the scabbard, and the sword disappeared in a flash. “Let’s hope it’s not going to be needed again for a long time.”

“I agree,” Caliburn said. “That sword can cause just as much trouble as it drives away.”

“True,” Nimue acquiesced, “but I believe there will be a time when Excalibur will be needed again. This power to help can easily turn into the power to hurt, but I believe that any mistake made through good intentions can be fixed.”

She punctuated her thought with a small nod toward Merlina, who was watching them from her spot on the grass. The wizard hadn’t moved an inch, and Sonic doubted she would. Merlina held an air of resignation in the middle of her grief and regret, and as the wind picked up and several figures appeared in the distance, running towards them, her head picked up and she looked at them all calmly, instead of running away again.

Galahad and Percival led the pack, with Lamorak right behind them; trailing a few meters behind was Lancelot, carrying Arthur along, and Gawain bringing up the rear. The knights ran up, gathering around Sonic and Nimue, all talking at once as Lancelot carefully set Arthur back on his feet. The king steadied himself, then took a few steps to stand before Sonic, grinning at him and clapping him lightly on the shoulder.

“You did it,” he said, his eyes livelier than Sonic had ever seen. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen what Excalibur’s power should truly look like.”

“Yeah? Did you go all gold when you first held it?”

“As a matter of fact, I did. But, holding it for too long…” Arthur frowned, his eyes going dark, before shaking it away. “Well, suffice to say I won’t be making that mistake again.”

The king turned to Nimue, bowing his head in remorse. “It might mean too little, but I wanted to apologize for using your sword and scabbard in the way I did. I let my fear consume me, and in doing so, I’ve committed a great many terrible acts, and I understand if you are never willing to offer me its aid again.” His head lifted, turning towards his knights, all of whom stood with their visors lifted, a sea of familiar faces. “And I understand that my mistake has affected all of you as well. In my cowardice, I turned you all away, fearing yet another one of my closest would be the next to turn on me. I should have trusted you all along, as you had placed your faith in me.”

The king closed his eyes, locking his fingers together, an image of regal tranquility that Sonic hoped would never appear on his own face. “I shall not run from this mistake of mine. It may take many years to regain the trust of my people, and I will understand if you, too, are not so willing to follow my command until I have--”

“Oh shove it.”

Arthur’s eyes blinked open in surprise at Sir Lamorak’s interjection. The hawk shook his head and rolled his eyes before opening his beak again. “Yes, you made a colossal mistake, and some of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen one right after the other, but that just means that you need our help! Face the facts, you’re lost without us, so I’m not going to be the one to turn on you when you’re picking yourself back up.”

The king’s lips parted, a look so stunned and touched overcoming his features at Lamorak’s roundabout declaration of fealty, but his mouth hung open proper as all five of his knights kneeled at the same time, bowing their heads to him.

“My brother speaks roughly, but he speaks the truth,” Percival said, tapping the hawk lightly with her tail. “Our oath goes beyond words and actions; as knights, our souls and lives are bound to you, and so we shall forever and always be with you.”

“All we hope for is to see you shine again and lead us back into times of peace,” Galahad agreed. “We will not abandon you in your time of need!”

“We shall not stray,” Lancelot continued. “Our oath to you has never wavered, and never shall.”

“We can tell that you feel true remorse,” Gawain finished. “I cannot speak for the rest, but that is enough for me. You have our trust.”

Sonic’s eyes swept over the knights, loyal until the end, past Nimue, beaming in joy, all the way to Arthur, still agape at the wholehearted show of fidelity. As Arthur’s eyes met his own, Sonic shot him a grin.

Told you so.

Arthur swallowed, and the quietest “Thank you” escaped him, prompting his knights to stand back up. Sonic could sense that there were more words to be said, hidden behind careful restraint and practice, but those weren’t words for him to hear. Instead, he watched as Arthur excused himself from the knights and Nimue, heading slowly towards Merlina as Caliburn bounced after him.

Both wizard and king regarded each other silently, discomfort and regret pricking through the air as Arthur stood a safe distance away, until he finally broke the silence.

“I… heard it, you see. About… you didn’t mean to have me killed.”

Merlina flinched, but nodded. “I suppose, though, that it doesn’t make things too much better.”

Arthur shifted his weight, looking at the ground. “I… I do think it was foolish, to hire people to take the blade and scabbard. The instant they saw it, even if they were simple bandits, they would have stolen it properly as their own.”

Merlina laughed, a small, bitter chuckle. “I was truly not in my right mind, desperate to get my hands on that scabbard before it was too late. My mistake led to so many more… and endangered you as well. I will understand and accept any punishment you name for me.”

Arthur winced. “I cannot deny, with the way your choices nearly led to my demise… I am not certain how soon I will be able to forgive you, if at all.”

The wizard’s head drooped, and she nodded silently as brand-new tears dropped to the ground.

“However.”

Her head perked up just a smidge.

“You were my friend, Merlina. For many years you’ve assisted me faithfully and I do want to believe in you as well. I do not know what will become of us in the days going forward, but I hope at least, in the future, I will be able to call you my friend again.”

Merlina glanced up, tears still dripping delicately from her eyes. She looked at Arthur, earnest despite his uncertainties, and at Sonic, quietly encouraging her.

“...I hope for the same, my lord.”

Arthur smiled, then turned and beckoned everyone forward. The knights, Nimue, Calibun and Sonic all gathered around him as Arthur gestured for Sonic to come closer. “And I must thank you, Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind, for saving me from myself.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” Sonic deflected with a flick of his hand. “I don’t need any grand speeches or anything like that.”

“Then I shall give you none,” King Arthur agreed, smiling warmly at him. “But what I may offer you is a trip back home. Merlina?”

The wizard’s eyes widened. “Oh! Yes, I should be able to do that in a few hours. I must regain some strength first.”

“Then perhaps we ought to have a small celebration?” Nimue suggested, folding her hands elegantly in front of her. “A celebration to the restoration of our kingdom, to the life of our king, and the miracle of Caliburn’s second chosen warrior.”

“Aw come on,” Sonic protested, “don’t make it sound like such a big deal! I know I helped and everything but--”

“On the contrary, it is incredibly significant,” Caliburn piped up. “I am the sword who selects his bearer, and decides who is worthy to rule.”

Sonic paused. “Wait… what does…?”

Nimue laughed. “It means, Sir Sonic, that you are also worthy to rule over the kingdom!”

Dread started to pool in Sonic’s gut as everyone turned to look at him, with looks of wonder, awe, and amazement in their eyes. “H-Hey, come on now…”

“What say you, your Majesty?” Caliburn asked, humor in his tone. “Shall we give Sir Sonic a month or so on the throne to give you a break?”

“Cut that out!” Sonic insisted, looking helplessly over at Arthur, who seemed to be genuinely considering it.

“Perhaps every once in a while?” the king asked, his tired green eyes boring into Sonic’s soul, tinged with the tiniest bit of hope, and Sonic had to fight the urge to run away as fast as possible.

“Look, if I say yes to the celebration, can we drop it? I don’t know anything about running a kingdom and I really have to get home.”

The memory of Amy waiting for him for lunch came back to him, and he grimaced. Poor Amy, waiting for him for, what, a week now? At least he had a good story to tell when he got back...

It was Nimue who called him back to the present. “Indeed, I daresay Caliburn would make a better stand-in at this point in time, but we may discuss it further another time. For now…”

Small flashes of powder blue light gleamed in front of everyone, transforming themselves into goblets that everyone took in hand. Nimue was the first to raise hers, followed by Lancelot and Galahad, and then the rest followed suit, Sonic included.

“For the kingdom and its people,” the Lady of the Lake said with a smile, and Sonic looked around at all the faces of this storybook world, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, new friends and old, and even himself…

His chapter in their story had ended, and it was all up to them, now. Sonic had faith that every one of them would be just fine.

In the moments until he was sent back home, he decided to enjoy himself a little longer, and his goblet clinked against Gawain’s and Arthur’s and Percival’s as he cheered along with the rest.

“For the kingdom and its people!”