Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was Sonic's turn to guard the Master Emerald, but today he'll unfortunately also be the only one watching over the house since he is still grounded for not telling Tom and Maddie about that egg-head Eggman, luckily Ozzy is there to keep him company. Tom is out doing his patrol before going into the office to work on police reports with Wade for the rest of his shift, as it was only a couple weeks ago nearly the whole town was in ruins. Maddie is shopping with Knuckles and Tails for food, but they were probably going to do a little bit of regular shopping for other things too. BUT! That doesn't mean he can't have fun while they're gone. 

Throwing himself out of his shared bedroom, Sonic makes his way out of the hall with Ozzy hot on his tail. Making his way over right into the kitchen, going into the pantry Sonic got out two popcorn bags. Pushing a stepping stool that Tom had bought for him and his brothers in front of the microwave, jumped up, and threw one of the bags into it. He went over to one of the cabinets and pulled out one of the large bowls Maddie and Knuckles liked to use for popcorn, sliding it over the counter back by the microwave.  

“So, Ozzy,” Sonic looked down at his most beloved Earth animal companion, hands perched on his sides “What should we watch while the others are gone?” Ozzy looked back at him from looking at the loud microwave and barked. “Hmm, I don’t know, scary slasher movies when it's only 8 in the morning. Hard pass!” Sonic dramatically stated for his own entertainment. When the popping started to slow, he took the bag out and let it finish cooking itself while he set the other bag to take its place. 

“We could watch at least a few movies while everyone's gone,” Sonic took hold of the now-silent popcorn bag, opened it, and took a big whiff. “Oh, that smells good! Wanna sniff?” Sonic held the bag closer to Ozzy's nose. Ozzy tried to shove his snout inside to get some. “Hey! No no, if you wanted to have some you could have just asked.” Sonic pulled the bag back up and poured it into the bowl while pushing back on Ozzy's snout to make sure that he wouldn't try anything else. 

Sonic looked back down at Ozzy, who was now using the ultimate weapon in his arsenal against him. Puppy eyes, “Fine you win. But only because I like spoiling you.” Sonic said with a smirk, grabbing a handful of popcorn, and kneeling at Ozzy's level. As he was still standing on the stepping stool, letting him eat out of his hand. 

Hearing the popping starting to come to a slow pace again he went back to taking care of the bag, even if Ozzy wanted to keep licking his buttered-up hand. He repeated what he did with the other one, opening it and pouring it in. He made his way to the fridge, and in the bottom cubby was the Master Emerald surrounded by a couple of fruit and yogurt cups. Sonic picked up the huge emerald into his open arm and then closed the fridge door with his foot. 

Sonic and Ozzy made their way over to the rebuilt living room. This time Tom and Maddie had gotten a larger couch to compensate for his new brothers so they could all watch movies or play games together more easily. Sonic set the bowl onto the new coffee table since he didn't want Ozzy getting to it as he went through all of his parent's ‘old’ movies.  

Sonic eventually found a short series about cool-looking space robots. “How about this one Ozzy?” Showing off the cartridge to his fellow companion “Look cool enough?” Ozzy responded with a confident bark from atop the couch. “Let’s get this marathon going!” Sonic put the first movie in, grabbed the TV remote, jumped into his favorite spot next to Ozzy popcorn bowl in hand, put the Master Emerald at his side, and pressed play.

It was when Sonic got to the last movie of the series, that he started to feel like something was off. It started with a feeling in his chest, like a line of wire slowly but progressively turning into a tight coil, but he put it off as just nerves and anxiety from not seeing either his parents or brothers since saying their goodbyes that morning. 

Until it got worse the longer he ignored it.  

Sonic held his chest as he suddenly felt a strong painful tug within it, making his lungs feel as if they were being constricted. He sat up and started to do some of Maddie's breathing exercises to try and calm himself down. Ozzy was making worried yips and jittering while hopping across from the floor to back onto the couch only to run out of the room. Sonic couldn't find the air in his lungs nor the strength to call Ozzy back. 

Sonic looked over to see the Master Emerald, as it started to spark energy and lift off the couch. His brain and ears suddenly felt like they were filled with cotton. Before he could do anything, the powerful gem set off a bright light and the world went dark. 

The first thing Sonic noticed when he woke up was that it was raining hard. Heavy and dark clouds fill the whole sky. The raindrops hit his body and the surrounding area continuously, soaking Sonic down to the skin. He was out for what must've been hours but instead of feeling well-rested, Sonic felt like he had gotten hit by a car going over one-hundred mph. Sonic pushed himself up to check his surroundings. 

The entire plant-based wildlife of the area was only similar to a couple of planets he’s been to, and the forest surrounding him was surprisingly bright with color, glowing coming from the plants themselves from further away. But there was one light that Sonic knew well, not five feet away from him was the Master Emerald innocently sitting in the wet grass.  

“Traitor,” Sonic said with zero hate behind it. Scooting over to the Master Emerald, he picked it up and put it onto his lap. Although Sonic couldn't tell if he could stand at the moment, somewhat overstimulated from being suffocated and blacking out only to wake up in unknown territory, he still needed to find out how he was going to get home. “Where did you take us?” Sonic whispered to himself trying to focus on the surrounding forest, but he couldn't hear anything other than the rain pelting down on the large trees and plants. Plus, only getting a good look around on the floor of the forest wasn't doing him any great favors, as the dense foliage made it harder to see past the first few bushes. 

“Need to get a move on, I can’t stay here.” Forcing himself to stand, Sonic stumbled to decide where to go. He couldn't stay in one place for too long as he could be found. He's very well-known around the universe, with people wiping across and searching entire planets trying to look for him and the power he possessed, but that was few and far in-between.  

Tails mostly found out about him from the people in his village telling stories and rumors. Knuckles from his tribe, before that day . Then from others that Knuckles would come across within his travels for both him and the Master Emerald. Most of the stories are about how fast he could go and how much power he had because of it. ‘Fitting for a legend.’ Tails words, not his.  

He took a good look around the area again, no other lights that he could see that were artificial that Sonic knew of. Just as he was thinking about it, a short tug on the coil in his chest pulled to his right, Sonic looked back down to the Master Emerald with curiosity. It obviously wanted him to go somewhere but since it took him to this place why couldn't it just bring him to where it wanted him in the first place? Sonic could feel himself getting more irritated but decided to get moving before the Master Emerald would try anything else. 

Sonic jogged over to where the small open area ended and where all of the brush and foliage met. He could already tell that the forest was a lot denser than he thought it would be, making it where the Master Emerald was frustrated with going slower than it wanted. It was better to get moving on anyway while he felt the loneliness finally settle in. Dad would panic as soon as he would get the call from Mom that he wasn't home with his phone left in his room on the charger. Knuckles would probably search the forest and town for him while Tails would try and track where he was with his Miles Electric.   

‘Hopefully, they’ll be able to find me.’ Sonic thought to himself, he didn't know how long he could last all by himself again. Knowing that he had zero rings on him meant that he would either have to steal from another person or try and do a task for someone to get paid rings. “Usually getting paid in rings means it’s a hard job in the first place,” Sonic's foot started to tap the forest floor. 

“But stealing would either get me caught and brought into custody for stealing and then get recognized,” Sonic's foot quickened its pace. “Or just get recognized and captured for having a power that I didn't want in the first place.” Sonic shook his head and put a stop to his assault on the forest floor. It just always had to come down if people knew him or not, or was a greedy person. 

Good thing the Master Emerald chose for him what to do at that moment, once again pulling on the coil and breaking him out of his immature rant that he unconsciously stopped walking for and started talking out loud about. An old habit he wishes he could leave behind. 

Deciding to just think about it later, he made his way through the brush. Since it was thicker than on Earth, he couldn't just make his way through by instinct. Immediately realizing that even if he wanted to, the rain would make it even harder to go at a faster speed than what humans are capable of due to how slippery everything is. 

“Today's going to be a long one, isn't it?” He looked down at the Master Emerald not expecting a response, only to feel a light tug on the coil, reminding him where he was supposed to be headed. Sonic sighed and started moving on to his new ‘adventure’.  

The gloomy weather didn't get much better over time, the only changes being that lightning had started to form overhead in some areas. Never seeming to find a spot on the unknown planet to land, but the rain had lightened up a bit, making it easier to navigate the area. The glowing woods weren't helping. At certain turns around random trees in his way and through some bushes, Sonic would just come across complete walls made of thorns and harsh poison-smelling bushes. 

So, he continued on his way through what he could. Either trying his best to get a good jump over top, or roll up and crash through it, or take the easy route finding a way to go around. One of the options was very dangerous, another was risky, and the last probably was just going to make the Master Emerald think he was trying to go the wrong way. 

It was when Sonic got to the 11th barricade, that he started to voice his annoyance more to the overgrown emerald. “It has to be on purpose! There is no way that these are all just here from growing naturally!” He did a swift kick to the thorn wall in frustration, a couple of them nearly hitting and poking his leg as it shook, but just went back to laying inanimate immediately after. Sonic stared at the thorns as if his glare was hard enough that they would disappear entirely. 

They continued existing and sat indifferently to the 13-year-old hedgehog hating their entire existence. Some of his energy started to spill out of his quills and irises out of anger, but he quickly noticed his subconscious usage of his energy, “UGH!” Sonic flopped down on his back, making a splash, which hurt but he didn't care. Putting the Master Emerald on his belly he sat and tried to calm himself down while the rain continued to cover them both. 

“You know, I hope whatever you brought me here to do is worth it.” He looked down at the glowing gem. No response was made, of course, nothing other than another annoying tug on the coil in his chest. Sonic moved his attention up onto the stormy clouds above, watching as the lightning and rumbling thunder that accompanied it swirled above, its droplets falling onto the ground of the unknown universe thought to be an unknown planet.  

Sonic tried to feel good about taking his time to calm himself down but only felt as if he was wasting it all. He had to of already spent a couple of hours just traveling from the open area to where he was now, laying uselessly on the wet tall grass of the odd forest. That didn't even include what could have been hours or maybe even days that he had been passed out. Sonic felt the stinging of tears in his eyes as his chest tightened up to get his sobs out as his powerful energy lashed out again. Sonic quickly pushed the feeling down deeper into his chest. If he were to cry, he could risk causing another electrical wave, and he couldn't think about how worried his family must be. He had to find whatever the Master Emerald was trying to take him to and hoped afterward that it would be kind enough to bring him back home. 

The Master Emerald didn't rush him into getting back up. After his little break, Sonic finally got back up, giving himself slight vertigo but shook it off and continued the journey. Sonic decided to attempt fate by jumping over the high thorn walls and the smaller areas of poison bush overgrowth, no longer ‘wasting time’ trying to find a way to go around.  

Once again, the Master Emerald helped point him in the correct direction, and he kept on moving, blindly following. 

“I-is that a path? FINALLY!” Sonic finally made his way out of the glowing forest, looking a bit rougher than he was when he arrived, even some leaves, grass, and thorns hung onto his quills. The Master Emerald's soft green glow hit the cobble, limestone, turned mud trail. “Oh my god, I'm NEVER taking hiking trails for granted ever again!” Sonic fell onto his knees and hugged the ground in gratitude, unfortunately covering his face, chest, and arms in a thin layer of mud. He paid no mind to it, just happy that there was some sort of proof of civilization. 

Sonic soon got back up and looked in both directions he could go, both ends of the path slowly disappearing further into the forest at each end. “SOOO- are we continuing forward or are we taking the path?” Sonic looked down at the Master Emerald in his arms. It took a few seconds for the overgrown emerald to answer this time, the tug pulled to his left instead of forward. Which meant they were getting closer to where they were heading too. 

“Finally, I thought that this was going to take forever.” Sonic groaned out his frustrations from all of the shortcomings he had in the large forest, unable to go at top speed without crashing face-first into the soaking wet floor. “Ok to the left.” Sonic got himself into a starting position and ran down the path at break-neck speed, without the slippery grass he could go nearly as fast as he wanted. “Now this should be over lickety-split!” Without any more complicated obstacles covering his way; Sonic still calls bull on those thorn walls and poison bushes, the only thing he had to worry about at this moment was now being listed in his head. 

1. People seeing him.  
2. Trees and sticks that had fallen onto the path. 
3. Tight turns. 

And maybe mud pits, but he didn't think those would be a real problem. 

It felt like only moments had passed but something flashed in the corner of his eye. Backtracking to where he had seen it took a couple of tries and passes as he was still full of pent-up energy. He looked at the forked crossing in the path that led into a much less dense area of the woods. He looked down the path with curiosity but hesitated and looked down at the Master Emerald. He put a foot down in the direction of the forked path and slowly walked down it to check for any resistance toward his actions. None came. 

 Sonic continued his curious search down the path, finding different colored types of wildflowers and natural gown grains. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a few with him for Maddie as an apology for disappearing for so long, the smell reminding him of wildflowers from Earth. He gathered at least 3 of each from different flower families. Sonic then cleaned out the unwanted pieces from the forest that he had collected and replaced them with a near rainbow of flowers. As he continued after that, Sonic noticed it had stopped raining.  

The clouds overhead had not changed though, ‘this might only be temporary, or worse it's going to get, y’know, worse’, Sonic honestly thought the former was a better choice, but deciding to not look at a gift horse in the mouth Sonic shook every single drop of rain off of his fur and body along with all of the mud, but was careful to keep the flowers in. 

Happily moving on the path even further Sonic found a flooded area, with a path connected to ruins, turning the path from rock to a wooden pathway that resided right within the area where all of the water had gathered too. However, it did seem that was on purpose, as the sides seemed to be carved out and sloped down for the water to cultivate on the bottom properly. Like a moat for castles, the water is just a little higher than what the ruins were probably built for due to the constant rain. 

“Man, this place looks cool. Oh! Maybe it used to be a popular trading place, with merchants and stuff!” Sonic exclaimed to himself. All that seemed to be here though were ruins that hadn't been taken care of for some time, and even by the looks of it some pottery in the entrance seemed to have been smashed into pieces. Sonic decided that it was time to investigate further. Because hey, if the Master Emerald wasn't stopping him why can't he explore the place? 

Instead of just running through the place he decided to use this exploration as a mini stress reliever. Going past pillars that had seemed to have been used for lanterns, shown by the blackened burn marks that stained the top of them, so far seeming unchanged by the rain or any weather. Sonic made his way over to the entrance of the ruin, pottery broken and left all over the floor. It looked odd, as if what or whoever broke it just continued as if nothing had happened, and it looked as if it must have been more recent then when the ruins had become, well- ruins. 

“Strange…” Sonic looked over to the other large pots and vases of pottery, and he put the Master Emerald down next to one while he used one of the more jutting-out stones in the wall as something to stand on top of as he tried to get a good look of the inside.  

Only for the worst to happen. 

 ”AH!” Sonic lost his footing and fell forward, tipping the old pottery along with him, both of them crashing to the ground, only one of the two of them breaking. “Oh no,” Sonic said with soft but potent sorrow. Sonic looked over at the mess he had created with an uncomfortable sadness. He didn't like it when he would break old things, even the lame stuff, but this pottery was probably a part of somebody's history. Even if the place was probably left abandoned for no one to take care of it, he still felt bad. Looking at the broken pottery shards something caught his attention. Something golden and shaped like a thin stretched-out donut. Quickly but carefully, he moved the broken shards off to the sides and grabbed onto what he found, a ring. 

Well, he thinks it's a ring, it seems to be made out of the same material as the ones that he would keep inside his bag that Longclaw gave him. Somehow still shiny and golden, protected from the elements inside of the vase, now freed. Sonic remembered how he lost all of his when he fought Knuckles for the second time, so he didn't have one for side-by-side comparison but this one was too large. Heck, Sonic bet if he tried, he could fit the thing over his head to around his neck, but Sonic knew that once it was on it wouldn't be coming off. He didn't remember what the experiment was called but; if you tried to put an egg or worse a light bulb into your mouth and behind your teeth, you wouldn't be able to take it back out. Only breaking it in the process of trying, at least for humans that's how it would work.

Sonic shutters at the thought of it. Looking back at the odd ring he thinks of how his rings worked. “Maybe they're the same?” Sonic decided to stand up and do a mini experiment, he looked at the wall and thought of home, his family, and the planet he was supposed to be on right now and threw the ring forward. Nothing happened, and the ring bounced off the wall and then to the floor, falling onto its side with a ‘clink’. Sonic felt his eyes start to sting again, but he did his best to push the emotions back down even further and rubbed at his eyes before going over and picking up the ring off the floor. 

“Well, I guess that wouldn't work would it.” He looked back over to where the Master Emerald was sitting, a small and oddly soft tug pulled toward it. “Yeah, I doubt you'd let me leave just like that, wouldn't you?” He walked over and crouched down in front of it. “You'd probably just pull me right back here.” The Master Emerald seemed to agree, as it pulled softly again. Sonic rubbed his eyes again before picking the Master Emerald back up, and setting the odd ring into his quills to have Tails take a closer look at it later. 

He walked to the next area, the path was back to grass again, seeming to take a random turn to the right before going into another ruin’s entrance. Broken columns seemed to be sinking into the mud and water of the area, and delicate designs were carved into the sides of them. Sonic walked over to one of them that was on the side of the path, lightly gliding his gloved hand over it, tracing the lines. It had seemed to nearly survive the test of time. He could still see the hand-carved details right now, it was beautiful.  

He continued further down the path only to see around the corners were groups of frogs, lying lazily across the muddy ground. Desperate to continue distracting himself from his feelings, Sonic quickly made his way over and only slowed down to get onto his knees to get a closer look without scaring away the smaller critters. Sonic carefully and slowly put down the large gem and started his advancement of carefully catching one of them. 

First, he tried to get one that was closest to him, but before he could catch it jumped out of the way and back into the moat. Sonic didn't want to use his speed to his advantage as he probably just needed more practice while doing things at normal speed in the first place. If he was going to get someone to think that he was a normal hedgehog, he had to get used to reacting and doing things at a normal speed.  Even if all of the frogs he kept on trying to catch kept on escaping right before he had them. Now all that was left was one last one, and it seemed to be a big one too, and they were both staring each other down. 

Sonic started a countdown in his head, he had to be perfect on how he caught this big froggy because he needed this badly. The big frog continued to look right at him and when the internal counter hit zero he striked, Sonic looked down at where his hands had cupped the ground after a few seconds of silence. He carefully lifted one of his hands to look underneath and behold, he caught the big frog. Picking the big guy up, Sonic had the smile of a million suns, even if other people couldn't see it, they could still feel the warmth from it from miles away.  

“Hello, aren't you a big one!” He said in a baby-talk voice. Sonic lifted the frog to his face, the frog croaked in response. “Aww, alright I’ll set you free.” Sonic put the frog back down to the ground and waved goodbye, the frog croaked again and leaped into the moat with all of its other amphibian friends. Sonic looked back at where he had put the Master Emerald, ran over, and picked it back up again. 

“Well, that was some good practice. Back to exploring!” He made his way back and over to the next part of the path past the ruin overhang. Not far down it was some sort of tree, he also noticed even more broken pottery but he decided to ignore it this time. The reason that the tree captured Sonic's attention so well was the fact that it seemed to have some sort of dark red fruit connected to its branches. He made his way over, going over the top of another wooden bridge that led straight underneath the tree. Now looking up and close Sonic instantly realized that it was an apple tree, and he also found out that he was starving.  

He once again put the large gem down, looking up and down calculating how he would get at least a few down. Sonic lightly pushed on the tree's stump to see how locked it was to the ground; it was pretty solid with its roots doing their job. Sonic backed up a little bit and got to a runner's startup position. Running up the trunk and then to one of the branches was easy, the hard part was getting the apple off of the branches without breaking it and him falling down along with it. 

Carefully Sonic started to shake the limb of the branch he was sitting on top of, some of the apples taking their time to break off and fall to the ground. Deciding that the amount that fell was enough he let himself drop down and collected both the emerald and apples at a spot where he could hang his feet off above the water and just sit and eat. 

The perfect spot was just a little further ahead, a couple of stone bridges with more fire-stained lantern pillars. The railings were the perfect size to hold Sonic, the Master Emerald, and all of the apples he had gathered. Sonic put himself and the rest up with him and began chowing down on the ripe and clean fruit. It took him a second, but Sonics' logical brain quickly realized that most planets don't have the same fruits that grow on trees. Normally they would at least differ in shape and size but taste the same as they would commonly be made up of the same ingredients, or whatever compounds are. 

But he's not the type of person who knows things like that, even with how many nature documentaries he likes to watch. Tails did though, he even went on a long rant about it once. Sonic looked down at the fruit in his hand, half-eaten, the insides also the same as an Earth's apple. Sonic looked over to the Master Emerald that was sitting next to his side. 

“Any clue what to make of this?” The gem made no effort to calm the nerves of his suspicions. Sonic sighed and looked forward at the flooded ruins laying in the moat. It just didn't sit right with him, the forest being completely different from what's on Earth only to have the same fruits or at least one of them. He looked back at the rest of the ruins he intended on exploring, was it really worth his time?  

“You know I came in here to be less stressed only to find more things to be stressed about. It sucks.” Sonic just went back to finishing the rest of the apples, eating all but two, putting them into one of his quills in case he got hungry later. Sonic grabbed the Master Emerald and went back on his little expedition.  

On one of the flatter bridges, there was a lot of pottery and vases just sitting off to the sides of the bridge, they all seemed to be untouched, and the only thing probably affecting them was the rain filling them to the brim. He continued being careful not to run into any of them in case they were fragile. The bridge brought him to a more open area, where a forest path reconnected with the moat, bending over to the left and coming to the right. Heading into the woods once again brings Sonic into a disconnected part of the moat ruins.  

More pillars for lanterns, and an impossibly large step, or just a wall that was just a little bigger than him? Dad, Mom, and Tails would have no problem getting up this thing, Knuckles had the upper limb strength to pull himself up, but for him, he would have to jump. So, he backed up and did so, skipping both steps and landing very close to where even more pottery had been broken. 

“I swear someone must have a vendetta for these old pottery. Because this is getting ridiculous.” He looked away from the pottery and continued forward. 

“Ooh, that's a lot of columns. What could those have been… Maybe a roof?” The whole empty and overgrown yard was filled with large columns, some more broken than others, but nothing was telling Sonic what they could have been used for. Some did tend to be connected with arches, but other than possible doorways, there was no other use he could piece together. When he went to continue walking something wooden hit Sonic’s foot, it was a broken part of something and whatever it was, was painted red and white, and rounded on the non-broken part of the piece. It seemed to have been sitting outside for a long time though, as one side had been more sun-bleached than the other, and the paint was nearly peeled off.  

Sonic looked around at the floor and found the rest of what had been what seemed to be a target. With that puzzle solved, Sonic put it back where it belonged and continued the exploration. Coming across more and more targets, some of them even still having halves of them still standing up and out of the ground by their sticks.  

“Those are some clean cuts! I wonder- no I need to get a move on. This place was larger than I thought it would be.” Sonics' brain helpfully filled in that the cuts were done with a sword. He looked back down at the Master Emerald tucked underneath his arm. It did nothing, nothing other than glowing its green glow, with no tugging on the coil. Thunder from the clouds above snapped him into continuing to move. If it was going to rain again, he'd prefer that he didn't get soaking wet this time. It didn't take that long of a jog, but he found the end of the moat ruins, ending with one more set of lantern pillars sitting next to the entrance to a cave. More thunder erupted from the sky, Sonic looked up at the storm, 

“Oh boy,” he ran into the cave. Sonic looked over to the entrance to see that it had started to pour again. The only thing close to comforting him was the glow from the Master Emerald showing a path further back into the cave.  After moving further down, he found another entrance that led back outside. It also seemed as if the path continued even further into the woods just outside of it. But the rain continued to make Sonic hesitate, he didn't want to get wet again, he was still cold from being soaked earlier. The rain seemed to get even more aggressive, assaulting the ground's surface very harshly. 

“Did you know it was going to storm?” He looked back down at the gem; he was beginning to realize that this was becoming a habit. The gem didn't answer. “I’ve barely been awake on this planet, for what? Three hours? And I’m already trying to have conversations with an all-powerful emerald.” No response, the rain seemed to lighten up again. Sonic pinched his muzzle above his nose “I'm going to go insane if I don't talk to a real person soon.” He looked back out to the rain, and back to the Master Emerald, and just like how fast it came the rain stopped again. 

Sonic continued down the path, which was positioned next to a river on his left and the forest on his right. For only traveling for what felt like a short jog he could already see another set of ruins not that far down the trail. A bright flash of light and a tremble of the ground struck before the loud rumble of thunder deafened Sonics' poor sensitive ears. Yelping, his hands shot up to them, sliding his feet on the path to a full stop. It seems the lightning finally decided to hit something, Sonic looked up at the sky unhappily rubbing his ears, and he went back to making his way over to the next ruins. The wind started to pick up, never a good sign. Sonic would just have to be a bit more careful in open areas to not risk getting hit, not a problem unless the Master Emerald decided that there would be no other way to get to wherever it was leading him. 

The trail's surroundings turned from being next to the river to being only in the forest before disappearing into the grass as it reclaimed the area that it intruded into. Stopping right before the end of the trail, Sonic looked back at the pathing. 

 “Hmm, should I keep going?” Sonic looked over to where the path seemed to be continuing, in the far distance was an even more open area where there seemed to be more flowers. “Never mind! It's worth it!” He quickened his pace, stopped and picked a good few out, and smelled them. They had a more potent smell than the other flowers he had collected earlier, a smell akin to both lavender and pine or mint. They even looked like lavender flowers. The only change he could see was that the flower bud part of the plant had a lot larger buds than the ones on Earth, he stuffed a few more than necessary into his quills and continued on his way.  

A lake stood in the way of his exploration, looking off to the side though there seemed to be an unmarked path going into the next area.  

“Not too shabby, but whoever made the last place must have made this one too.” From what Sonic could already see of the ruins, everything looked cut and pasted from the ruins before. Other than a few changes in what used to be buildings, it wasn't that far away from the first one. ‘Could the ruins of been mini living areas where people could travel from one to the other?’ Sonic stopped himself from becoming more sidetracked and moved on. 

One of the main buildings rested in what seemed to be a lake instead of a moat this time, but the buildings looked completely different from the others. It immediately caught his attention, and moved across a wooden and stone bridge. More broken pots sat on the ground and another broken target.  

“Again, who must hate these things this much! What did a pot do to them?” Sonic sidestepped the shattered remains and continued across the bridge, hopping above the broken target to keep a spring in his step. Past the grassy curves and a pair of broken pillars lining a part of it, Sonic came across a couple more targets and something new. It seemed to be a wooden target with an unknown species painted on it. Seeing as it was untouched by whoever was having a rampage around these ruins, they were not looking to harm anyone of the species.  

“Oh, are these what the locals look like?” Sonic came right up to it to study, the paint that was worn down and slightly sun-bleached was a bit difficult to see all of the intricate details. They seemed to be bipedal, their ears pointing out of the headdress or hood they wore, and they had an outfit that covered most of their body. Even gloves to cover up their hands like him, but he couldn't fully make out the feet of the paint sadly. The painting also suggested that they had front-facing eyes. Sonic remembered that Animal Planet said that if an animal had front-facing eyes they were a predator species, while prey had side-facing eyes. 

“I got to give props to whoever painted this thing, I can still make out a lot of details. Heh!” Sonic tapped the side of the wood when he passed it. Around the tight curve were the mentioned different-looking ruins. Tall and made up of what seemed to be three different layers of walls and non-curved overhangs made up the base of it. Its offshoots and carvings are intricate and smooth, with much larger and sloped overhangs coming down and into the lake. More broken pots and targets sat in front of what seemed to be a rail of sorts. It didn't look like it served a purpose though.  

“Is this really the only way to get through?” Sonic looked up to the top of the ruin, an idea popped into his head. He ran up the side and found himself on the top of one of the higher pillars connected to the base of the ruin. Some of them had shingled tops, with it being a neat touch to Sonic that they were still holding on, not seeming to be affected much by any harsh conditions. 

He realized that he could see above the tree line from where he stood. Looking around he saw the other ruins in the distance not too far away, unfortunately from what he could see there was nothing else of interest within the area other than hills and one tree that was bigger than the rest. He looked back at the pillar he stood on top of. The rush of doing something potentially dangerous filled Sonic, as the pillar could crumble under his weight and aggressive treatment, but he trusted that it wouldn't fall as the pillars were quite thick. He was correct as the pillar stood unaffected by the small hedgehog; the wind on the other hand nearly pushed him off with one big gush but he got his footing back, keeping himself from falling. The rails that look just like the bottom showed up on the top too, Sonic wondered if they were connected. He let himself get a good look around. 

A lot of the area was connected; there just seemed to be a lot of empty space in odd areas. He saw a spot that seemed to go into a new grassy area. Sonic ran along where the rails were, noticing once again a plethora of broken targets. When he got to the end of the railing, he saw that the rest had gotten overrun by a multitude of big-leafed vines. The closest place where he could keep a good footing was a couple of long stretches of empty and hard-to-reach railings. He could make it but the chances of actually getting from one spot to another could make him fall since he wouldn't be able to catch himself with both of his arms, since one would be holding onto the emerald.  

“Or we could just zipline on top of the big vine…” Sonic knew it was a long stretch to think that the areas could be connected, he didn't want to risk losing the Master Emerald all because he misplaced a jump. The only risk with the zipline idea would be that if the vine broke, it would just lead him into the water and not the ground. Sonic looked down at the lake that sat not thirty feet below him, he didn't know how deep it went, and he didn't have anyone to help him if he started to sink to the bottom. Sonic shook his head and forced his gaze away from the unmoving dark water; his family tried their best to teach him how to keep his head above water, one of the most important things to learn for beginners. He was going to be fine; he definitely wasn't going to panic and just flail around just like all of the other times he couldn't feel the bottom and his head was close to going under, with Knuckles or Tom ending up helping him stay above the water as they walked him back to where he could reach the floor.

“UGH!” Sonic clutched the sides of his head. He was stuck at a standstill with himself, either risk dropping the Master Emerald and losing it, and his tribe will never forgive him for losing it, or both of them fall into the dark abyss of the lake, he drowns, and the emerald is lost forever.  

Sonic walked over to the vine and decided to gamble with his life, he threw the Master Emerald up into the air and jumped down to cup his fingers together over the top of the vine, the Master Emerald falling right where his legs reached and pulled in to hold it to his chest nice and snug. They quickly began to move, accelerating at a speed that he didn't know could happen using a vine like this, he could feel a burning hot sensation on his fingers but he ignored the rugburn. Sonic zipped through multiple overgrown areas, some spots where more and more of the ruins seemed to be broken down by the elements. 

It was when the vine started to get lower that Sonic started to panic just a little bit. Then it got lower and lower, and lower. Sonic's tail was a few inches off of hitting the lake's surface, but even though that was way too much for him, with his breath quickening and the feeling of shivers running up his spine. Luckily the vine did connect to a stone path with an overarch instead of leaving him to the lake's endless abyss. Right before he hit the side of it Sonic swung himself up and over, grabbing the Master Emerald to his chest and rolling up into a ball. Hitting one of the sides of the overarch and onto the floor.  

Sonic unraveled and assessed his quills, the flowers seemed to have survived the hit and the apples and ring stayed inside of his quills. “Well, that wasn't too bad was it.” Sonic patted the top of the glowing emerald, stood up and brushed himself off. He readjusted the Master Emerald underneath his arm, and jogged under the overhang and through the bridge connected to it. Leading to the other side of the lake where his shoes finally hit grass not surrounded by water.  

He passed by more broken normal targets and wooden people. A couple was even in a straight line that he decided to try and jump over. The path took him back to another area of lake ruins, this time he tried his best to breeze through it. The place looked more complete than the others, with larger overhangs that kept water out of what was underneath the walls, connected by another bridge. Past the bridge it connected to multiple small islands with some of the shorter stone bridges connecting them, and back onto the outer ring of the lake. Then the path came to another high jump spot, basically a repeat of the first ruins. Sonic cleared it and made his way into another huge pillar area, this time however there seemed to have been a big fight. A lot of the surroundings had been torn up. Trees were broken off of where their trunk’s stood, and the ground was smashed and torn through until it seemed as though someone was trying to aggressively till the land.  

“Big mess must have been a big battle. Wha-WOH!” Sonic fumbled on his words, what caught Sonics' full attention was the large crystal sitting on the forest floor. “This thing is massive!” he proclaimed loudly, nobody made out of flesh and bone hearing it. If it was standing straight up it would be more than a few inches taller than him on his tippy toes, or just an inch or two taller than Knuckles. The colors were a shining beacon compared to the dark gloom of the sky, a bright baby blue, and when inspected closer the crystal had flakes of white within it. The bottom of it was jagged as it seemed to have broken off of something. Sonic circled it a few times, taking its beauty in. 

Sonic knew from his strength that he wouldn't be able to carry it and bring it home, as beautiful as it was and how much he knew Knuckles would love it. With the Master Emerald's weight in his arms as a reminder, he continued down the path, wishing he had his phone on him to at least take pictures of it all. Even with the gloomy weather the forest and the ruins were still wonderful to look at. Sonic’s mind went back to the ideas of what he should do, none of them were even close to soundproof. All he could think up was that Tails would find him again if he was lucky, he’d be back home before… he still couldn't gauge how much time had passed since he passed out in the living room. He just hoped to get back home as soon as possible. 

Sonic missed his family, he missed when he could recognize his surroundings to get home in less than a second. Sonic's train of thought was cut off when he tripped on a tree root and face-planted onto the floor, the Master Emerald flying out of his arms. “Ow.” Sonic pushed himself off of the wet grass and looked back to the root that came out of nowhere. Looking around Sonic realized how deep in the forest he must have been, ‘I couldn't have traveled that far right?’ Sonic looked over to the Master Emerald and picked it back up, he looked back to where he came from or where he thought he came from as the forest had covered where the path had stopped and where he started to wander around. Sonic could immediately tell that he was lost again. The trees rustled as the wind picked up once again. 

“Um, maybe now would be a good time for some guidance?” Sonic couldn't keep the nervousness out of his words as he lifted the glowing emerald to his eyeline. 

No response. 

“Ok, you're just being mean.” Still no answer. Sonic pouted as he decided to continue the way that he was going, just a little slower and more focused on not tripping on random flora.  

Sonic eventually came across the tree he had seen earlier. Next to a marsh that had some stone structures in it, was the large tree made out of tons of different trunks planted on the top of a triple cliff, although small in their size. Sonic looked at it with curiosity, something was at the top hidden beneath some vines and weeds. Hopping from place to place on the elevated areas Sonic made it to the top, from the new height he couldn't see far but, from what he could tell he wasn't anywhere near the set of ruins, but luckily he could still see the tippy tops of them but they were pretty far in the distance, and he could barely make them out of were the tree line was.  

“Wow, what a … view,” Distracted when he looked back over at the vines and weeds he kneeled next to them. He tried to get a good look at what lay underneath, and from what he could see without removing anything there was gold and silver metal. Taking the chance that removing the weeds wouldn't break the thing lying within its grasp, Sonic pulled at the roots ripping whole chunks out of the wet dirt that it clung to. Revealing the form of what must be a sword. Sonic had to manually go through and untangle the weeds that had used the sword as a crutch. With the work done, the sword had once again stood proudly in its spot buried in the ground. Sonic admired the detail on the hilt and the base of the metal, not a single piece of it was rusted. 

“Pretty neat, who left a beautiful sword like you here?” Saying it as if it would answer back, Sonic continued to look at the beautiful blade in front of him. The sky rumbled loud and furious right before lightning struck somewhere further away this time, still making him jump a bit. A pull on Sonic's chest coil startled him, making him look down at the Master Emerald, sitting on the floor patiently to be picked up again. 

“What is it?” The Master Emerald pulled up toward the sky, “Oh, are you worried too?” Sonic felt the coil tugging in no particular direction. “It’s understandable, we're nowhere close to a sheltered area. At least I don't think so- Wait!” He went over and plopped himself crisscrossed next to the overgrown gem with enthusiasm-’Chaos I’m getting desperate.’ “Do you know where one is?”  

The Master Emerald pulled in a direction that seemed to go further into the forest. Hopping back up, Sonic looked as far as he could into the direction that was given. The only notable thing is that the trees seemed to get taller than the normal-sized ones for this planet. If he squinted enough, he could see some lights that were coming from the weird types of plants from way back when he first woke up.  

Sonic whipped his head back around to the emerald, looking appalled. “There's no way,” The Master Emerald tugged in the direction again, “You have to be kidding me!” Sonic threw his hands into the air before pinching his muzzle and putting his other hand on his hip. Sighing Sonic accepted his fate, grabbed the emerald from where it sat, and made his way down the high cliffs. Right about when he was going to leave, his foot hit something on the ground, it seemed to be semi-submerged in mud and grass as if the ground hadn't had enough time to fully consume it yet. The emerald seemed to be curious too, as it pulled toward it.  

Leaning down on the ground Sonic dug at the grassy spot finding “Another sword?” This sword was a lot older and busted, its bust and cutting edge had rusted over, and the hilt and blade had some cracks and dents in it. It was a far cry from the near-pristine golden and silver sword. “Who would leave this, it may not be sharp anymore but at least you could have still fought with it.” He picked it up to examine it further, its weight was pretty decent, not too heavy, but it also wasn't light enough to feel like he could swing it around and hurt himself easily. 

Sonic looked back up at the golden sword, Sonic's brain clicked together a puzzle he didn't know he was putting together. The golden sword seemed to be like one of those fantasy stories swords, where a knight or someone else would come and try and take it out of the ground. And the sword would only let them have it if they were good of heart and chose them to be the next king or something. Don't get him wrong, Sonic liked those types of stories but seeing the possibility for it to be him claiming the throne wasn't what he was here to do. Also, he decided that he didn't want to be a golden god, so why would he want to be some lousy king who takes everyone's money via taxes?  

He looked at the Master Emerald and the old sword that sat in both hands respectively and made a decision. “New souvenir!” The sky flashed and rumbled again. The Master Emerald finally decided they were done wasting time and pulled on the coil in the direction to go again. “Way ahead of you. Let's go!” Sonic made a quick dash into the wood; this time he was prepared for what was to come. 

When he got to the darker and light-filled wood, whenever Sonic was stopped by a wall of thorns, he used the old sword to help cut through it to not waste time jumping over. Unfortunately, when he got to any of the poison bushes he would have to go around, but he made great haste as he had slowly gotten used to the types of plants that stood in his way. The slippery ground had gotten more traction to Sonic's shoes than he thought it would as he hasn't slipped once from trying to slow down. Sonic did once when he tried to take a sharp turn to avoid running into a poison bush consuming a whole tree. At some point the glowing forest was replaced with a normal one, it also was less packed with greenery.  

Sonic came across another lake area with ruins, this time it seemed to have just one long-running bridge. The sky started to open up again, rain falling slowly before it got faster and faster. Deciding to not take his time Sonic ran right through it, turning to the right when the bridge did. Only needing to be careful at the end as the ruins stopped and a little gap between the ground seemed to be. Sonic jumped and landed; a yelp slipped out when he slid on his landing all because the grass was still wet. Brushing himself off Sonic got back up and continued on his way, old sword in hand, and with the guidance of the Master Emerald. 

Sonic came across another large pillar area once again, this one having dozens of broken targets and a good few of the pieces sitting out in the open. This time having blocks of rock with targets on them at the end of the line. One of them was destroyed while the others just looked worse to wear with the slashes in them.

“Oh, that's cool!” Sonic pulled his attention back to where he was going as the Master Emerald pulled the coil forward once again.  

Sonic's fur was starting to get more soaked; he was failing to keep himself dry more and more as the rain made it harder to go faster than a human could go, and whatever shelter or cover from the rain the Master Emerald was trying to lead him to was nowhere in sight. But he kept his head up and persisted, as the rain and thunder only seemed to get worse as time moved on. 

It wasn't long before Sonic found another thing worth his attention. He stood on top of a cliffside, looking at a calm resting city. One outer side of it is right next to a large channel going into the ocean. Not far into the channel was a landmass that housed a large, destroyed building, he guessed that it was a castle, but its presence made his gut churn, so he turned his attention back to the city in front of him. The city is surrounded by thick stone walls with rainwater coming out of large side drains. Lights made by indoor fireplaces or candles lit up parts of the town, but the alley and walkways were shrouded in darkness, grass and bushes were flooding over the tops of the buildings in a couple of areas. The drawbridge was pulled up, no one was getting in or out, and by the looks of it for good reason. The entrance was beaten and damaged by either battles or failed raids.  

Sonic pondered on how he would get himself inside to find shelter before the coil in his chest was pulled on again, this time not toward the city. He looked down at the powerful gem confused, “Isn't this the place you're trying to get me to?” The Master Emerald tugged the coil in a direction that suggested past the fortification. Sonic looked and saw a bridge that went over the channel and to another area full of more buildings before connecting to the other side of the channel to small plains and hillsides. “Are you kidding me? I’m sick of these charades!” Sonic whisper-yelled at the Master Emerald, keeping his tone down so as not to alert any guards who were probably making their rounds. “I got to run through a place probably full of nooks and crannies that I can wait out this storm in, but no , I got to go past all of it and into another forest that has no shelter from the rain.” He glared at the large emerald giving him the silent treatment for a second before sighing, “Fine. Have it your way.”  

Getting into the city and traveling across it was easier than Sonic expected, being able to pick up his speed. There was no one outside and with the storm, it was understandable, but the place nearly felt like a ghost town. The only thing making Sonic know that people lived here was the number of full trading areas that sat outside, and the fireplaces or candles lit inside of the buildings. The rooftops were easy to jump from one to the next. Sonic just needed to try his best to not land too harshly, he didn't need the locals to know he was there. Nothing seemed amiss when he dropped down from the outer wall to the bridge connecting the two different areas of the city. Getting past the other area went just as smoothly, only taking a little longer as it was larger than the first half of the city.  

When Sonic got to the other side of the channel, he didn't expect the largest tree he had ever seen to be chilling in a forest. Sonic ran down the path that went into the forest only needing to slow down as he got closer to a cottage next to the path and was just quiet enough to not alert anyone who could be home before dashing off. 

The plains had more trees than he expected and were even going downhill at some points. Sonic continued on his way as trees slowly swallowed the area, getting denser and denser the further he went in before it just became woods. If Sonic didn't have the Master Emerald on him, he wouldn't be able to see five feet ahead of himself, the storm clouds blocking nearly all of the natural light from the sky and the trees doing the rest of the work to nearly make it pitch black. Sonic's spine shook in fear of what he couldn't see, but luckily the glowing plants started to filter in the further he went making it easier for Sonic to navigate where the Master Emerald wanted him to go versus where he had the option to go. 

Sonic stopped himself before falling prey to a drop-off. Holding onto the emerald he dropped the old sword down; he then held the emerald in his grip as he carefully slid down the cliff. Picking the old sword up he saw something in his path.  An old broken and degrading wagon sitting on its side, one of its wheels had broken off and sat dejected off to the side of a path. 

“Hope whoever was controlling this thing didn't get hurt, and whatever was pulling this thing too.” Sonic curiously looked into where the wagon would have been storing things, a broken box, wheelbarrow, and a reddish rug sat tossed out of place but stayed close to where they originated. Sonic quickly let himself unroll the dirty rug out to adore the design hidden within that he could see in the emeralds lighting before leaving once more. 

As he moved on, he found some broken and abandoned boxes, but as he made his way farther, he noticed the trees had opened up a bit as the light started to filter through. Looking not even a bit further down to the tree line he saw what had cultivated him from before. The large tree sat calmly as the wind tried to push it around. 

Sonic stopped at the bottom and looked up; its size was a marvel to him. “It's GINORMOUS!” If Sonic had to guess just the trunk of the tree could have been as tall as a twenty five story building. As he marveled at it, he noticed its roots. They wrapped around and lifted high off of the ground making some sort of pathing underneath. Sonic ran underneath them, having some fun as the roots continued to give him some coverage from the rain before coming out from underneath.  

The Master Emerald pulled on the coil again, but this time Sonic could feel the urgency of it, confused but willing he made his way to where there was what looked like an abandoned area of wooden fortification. Sonic could see where people must have set up tents, and buildings sitting empty with no lights coming from within. Everything was scattered around as if everyone had left in a hurry. 

Multiple broken pots and boxes sat in what looked like to be the main walking path of the derelict area. Sonic's gut churned again; this time he didn't know why. He nervously made his way across the empty fort, carefully looking all around himself like something could still be living here, but uninvited. It just felt off, the whole place was left barren, even if they had drawbridges on both entrances, they were left open for anybody to come in. Sonic shook some of his nerves out as he went to leave, deciding not to investigate further, all it did was leave a bad taste in his mouth.  

All it took was a snap of a twig to make Sonic stop dead in his tracks. The Master Emerald tightened its grip on the coil in his chest, the silence felt suffocating as the rain pattered onto the grass and wood. His breath quickened when he heard another snapping of twigs this time only closer to where he stood, legs uncharacteristically frozen in fear as he shook in place with his ears swerving everywhere listening for any other sounds. Sonic felt like a deer in headlights or like prey that was being hunted and knew it.  

A large dark figure jumped out of the brush of the trees above, barely allowing Sonic to dodge the attack; he rolled off to the side, getting into a defensive position. The enemy was shrouded in what looked like dark armor and cloth with red glowing highlights. In its hands, it held what looked like a sword but instead of an edge, it came down to a point. He dodged backward as the enemy lunged at him again, he had to think of a solution soon otherwise he would become a pin cushion. The attacker went for another strike, this time Sonic wasn't planning on dodging, he quickly put up the old sword in the way of the other sword and prepared for the hit. 

Something stenched like death. 

It was early in the morning when Lancelot woke up from his restless sleep. It had been exactly two years and three months since the true King Arth- King Sonic had come into the world of Camelot, dethroning the fake King Arthur only to leave his right to the throne empty. As His Majesty Sonic needed to return to his home world eventually, no matter how much he- they wanted him to stay. Leaving a hole where the king was, leading the Knights of the Round Table to break apart and finally move on from a kingdom without a leader. 

They all of course protected their people still to this day, as Merlina the royal wizard's foolish decision to use Knights from the Underworld as the fake King Arthur's army had left a gateway in between the worlds. Allowing the demons of darkness to cross, but without a guide from the phony king, they had no one to control them. Putting whole villages at risk of attacks and raids. Merlina had not found a foolproof solution to this problem yet, only able to temporarily put seals on the gateway, but Lancelot had to admit that she was doing her best in the position and pressure she was in to fix her mistake. The only good thing about it was that the connection was helping their world stay alive.

He arose to make his dull morning meal, some bread with potatoes and meat that he had cooked the night before. Lancelot’s mind wondered what route to take to do some patrols around the different settlements for later in the day. A frown formed on his face as he thought about the other knights, how they were, and what they were doing. The morning sun started to peek out from the hilltops that surrounded his humble abode. Out of the way and not near any settlement or fields for crops, other than his garden, with no one to bother him, laid his home. It was the closest to paradise he could get. It was supposed to be a great morning to train in, the dark clouds coming from the opposite direction went unnoticed until he went outside with his sword Arondight around noon. 

Yesterday's brightness had not forecast that it was to rain, the dark clouds looked as if they were consuming the sky rather than moving in and replacing where the bright and loving blue and orange of the sun once sat. He knew that it wasn't supposed to be there the moment he had seen it, unnatural to what he had grown up with when he still lived with his mother, Nimue, Lady of the Lake. Even when young magic users were to practice summoning rain to help townspeople’s crops grow, it paled in comparison to what darkness covered the sun's golden warmth. Thunder and rain came from the dark clouds, Lancelot looked at them with scorn. 

His mother would know what this darkness befalling the land was, and what it meant for the innocent citizens of Camelot. Lancelot gathered some bread for the journey, put on his black and red iron armor, grabbed Arondight just in case the knight came across any trouble, and dashed right back out the door. 

Unknown to the knight, a trained mail crow, carrying a paper on its leg, landed at his home door step. With no one inside the bird dropped the sealed letter off at the foot of the door, and flew back to where it had come from.

The clouds had changed from typical showers to no rain, then pelting rain and harsh winds once he had finally reached the lake his mother lived within. Lancelot rushed across the brightly lit bridges, blue fires on top of the small stone pillars blazed on, the rain unable to put out the fire due not only its high heat but the magic cast to keep it alight. He could see Lady Nimue was looking up to the sky with clear concern, Lancelot quickened his already fast pace. 

He slowed down once he got closer and bowed in greeting Lady Nimue looking at her son with a quick smile before bowing herself. “I have been awaiting your arrival, Sir Lancelot.”  

Lancelot cut to the chase. “Lady Nimue, do you happen to know what is happening? Or the cause of this sudden veil of darkness?” Although typically thought rude to be so blunt, Nimue only pondered on how she was to answer him rather than remind him of his manners toward his mother.  

“I have never seen a storm that looked like this in my whole life. I can feel magic in the air feeding the storm, but it is hard to distinguish, it’s almost as if it's not from here or the Underworld. I at least know what that type of magic acts and feels like.” Lancelot looked at his mother in shock, a deity of water, not understanding something when it came to her profession. He quickly straightened his face not to be rude or out of disrespect.  

“Do you think it's out of malice?” Lady Nimue looked back up to the sky, the rain filling the silence as it hit the lake surrounding them. She held out one of her gloved hands, allowing water to gather in her palm. Closing her eyes, she focused on the magic connecting the water to the clouds above. Lancelot watched, letting his mother concentrate properly to get the best results. 

“With my knowledge, this isn’t done out of hatred. The magic feels unguided as if it’s fueling anything it can around it, with no real direction telling it what to do. But it's in such large quantities of magic that it can't be misguidance, can it?” The last part was more quietly said as she looked at her son. Lancelot thought about it, a lot of magic was causing it, it may or may not be an accident due to it not being malice or with any real purpose, and it's not from here or the Underworld. 

“It could be, but we won't know until we find the source of it.” Sir Lancelot looked to his mother for confirmation if his plan was valid, luckily, she agreed with a nod.  

“Follow me.” He was guided to the main table that sat underneath a gazebo. Sitting on top of it was a set of teacups and a teapot full of the warmth and fresh sweetness of Camellia tea he could smell from outside. Nimue took a seat and motioned for him to do the same. The face of the table lit up with his mother's magic creating a reflection of water before showing a valley from a top-down view. 

“Tracking the source of the magic is difficult but using a fishing net method, I can pin down a ring of where it might be coming from as there are large quantities of the magic gathering in some areas leaving a trail for us to follow. It started around a patch of deep wood before moving.” The reflection moved from the woods to a path for carts and luggage, when taking a closer look Lancelot could make out what looked like a very small track of footprints following where they were tracking the origin. Whoever caused this was in a hurry as they moved from place to place. 

It was when the view came to some ruins Lancelot became more intrigued, ruins inside of woods were only common in specific places of interest, and if they were able to see the old crest of the site, they would have no trouble finding whoever did this faster. The river they also followed would be helpful too. The bird's eye view moved past more ruins coming to a few short stops, showing what the person had taken interest in. It went back into the forest again shortly before coming to a tree, and then to a long broken bridge before coming to more woods. Lightning cracked in the sky above them. 

It was when the magic view showed a very familiar stone city both Lady Nimue and Sir Lancelot looked on in shock, Camelot Castle. The eagle eye view sat above a cliffside before making its way over the top of the city and across the bridges connecting the two sides of the channel, moving across the short plains and then the forest that the lake they both sat within resided in, the origin was closer to them than they had thought.  

Sir Lancelot shot up from his seat putting his hand on the hilt of Arondight when he heard a scream in the distance. He snuck a glance at his mother, catching each other's eyes before he ran in the direction of a settlement that had to be abandoned due to a large quantity of Underworld soldiers that often gathered there. His legs pumped as his steel boots shot out a crimson fire to speed his travel further and faster. Taking sharp turns around trees and fallen trunks he quickly found himself in front of the battered wooden fort and rushed in, finding something unexpected. Someone small struggling to use all their limbs to push up their sword to not get crushed underneath the weight of the undead knight’s sword, blood was spread on the tip of its weapon. 

Lancelot felt rage fill his chest and went in for a clean strike to the side of the torso using his power to teleport next to it, the demon swerving its head in his direction right before the hit landed, throwing it back to the other side of the fort and crashing into multiple crates on its way. The dark knight stood back up quickly and ran straight towards the knight with all of its attention on him. 

“Spear!” Sir Lancelot formed spears above his head and nonstop assaulted the dark entity making it stumble in place as he went for the finishing blow. Once again, he sliced Arondight into the torso, this time finishing off the demon of the Underworld for good.  

Allowing himself to breathe, Lancelot's attention was turned back to the small huffing figure, it was obvious that it was a child. The small stature and proportions along with not having the skills nor proper armor to take on the dark knight gave it away, even in the darkness of the forest covering most of their more specific features to him. 

He remembered the blood on the blade, “Are you alright child?” Lancelot saw them flinch in response; he couldn't understand why they would have a response like that to a simple question. ‘Maybe they thought he was mad that they went out on their own without any proper protection and were afraid of the consequences?’ Lancelot couldn't understand it otherwize.

“I saw blood, you must be injured.” He kept his voice calm as he walked closer to the child. But stopped right as they picked up a large green glowing gem that he had failed to take note of. It was strange, had the air felt this tight when he arrived? The feeling was as if something was smothering him and making it harder to breathe. He snapped out of the feeling when the child finally decided to respond, still sitting on the ground. 

“N-no I’m fine, just a small scratch! Or I hope it's just a scratch, I can't feel anything right now.” Lancelot looked at the child with shock, the green glow letting him see their face. Soft, round, and nervous. A cut sitting on the left side of their forehead bled down the side, staining the blue and peach fur a dark red. The kid looked eerily just like-  

“Sonic?” He didn't mean to say it aloud, but Lancelot could tell that it was a mistake to open his mouth the second the softness was replaced and now showed the type of fear that he always wished he’d never have to see in a child. The Sonic look-a-like's breath shortened and became sporadic as they tried and failed to push away from him, but their limbs not having the strength to do much else anymore, they slipped easily. Sir Lancelot noticed the fearful glances at his prized sacred sword and slowly leaned down to the wet grass to set it down. 

Other things that Lancelot had seen were the color of the child's arms, they were blue, the eyes were different as well, disconnected from one another, and other small details that he couldn't afford to think about. If he thought of it, the kid only looked like King Sonic if all you got was a glance. 

Harsh rain fell to the forest floor, uncaring for the two hedgehogs below it. 

“Hey, it's alright, I mean no harm to you. I’m sorry, I must have confused you with someone I used to know.” He kneeled across from where the smaller hedgehog sat shaking, lifting the part of his helmet that covered up his eyes Lancelot let the kid see his full face. “I’m Lancelot, ex-knight of the round table, it was rude of me to not introduce myself sooner. What is your name?” It seemed to work slightly, as they had relaxed but still looked terrified of him getting any closer. Lancelot was going to try again with a different approach before the kid stopped him. 

“M-my name is Sonic. Sonic Wachowski.” Some of the fear had now been replaced with confusion, wanting to know who Lancelot knew looked like him or if what he was saying was even true. Lancelot would ask about the last name later at a more appropriate time. But for the moment Sonic just stared at the armored man with multiple questions running through his head. 

“I know what you’re probably wondering about. I used to know a king that has the same first name as you do. Just your arms don't have the same color pattern. And he certainly was not as small. Although he still was a hedgehog.” The child, now dubbed Wachowski for his sanity, looked at him with doubt. It was understandable, but he had to quicken this up otherwise the cut that hadn't stopped bleeding yet would probably get infected.  

“You have a cut on your forehead, will you allow me to take a look at it?” Wachowski’s face lit up in surprise before reaching a shaking hand up, feeling around, and flinging back with an “Ow” once he finally found the open wound. Pulling the hand back into his view, the fingertips stained with blood, his eyes seemed unfocused for a second before shaking it off and putting his hand back down. Wachowski looked back at Sir Lancelot in thought before making a difficult decision. 

“You promise not to do anything?” Lancelot could barely hear the small and delicate voice over top of all of the rainfall. 

“A knight would only know dishonor if they were to lie in order to hurt others.” Sir Lancelot internally cringed as he realized he sounded just like Sir Gawain, but it seemed to make the small one feel safer as they stopped shaking from fear and opened their posture up more, now only shaking from the cold wind and rain. 

“You sound just like my older brother.” Wachowski’s eyes filled with sorrow at his own mention, a smile replacing the frown. It looked more at home and natural on his face. Sir Lancelot tried to keep his face neutral but still felt the sides of his lips turn up, glad the King's look alike was more comforted in his presence. Even if the reason was because he copied something Sir Gawain would have said more naturally.

“I’m going to come closer to look at the wound, is that alright?” Lancelot asked again, as he held his breath hoping that he had finally made Wachowski trust him enough to help. 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Wachowski’s shoulders slumped down. His body felt numb and on fire at the same time, but he knew for a fact that he was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. 

Sir Lancelot walked over and knelt in front of Wachowski, he made sure that the kid could see what he was doing with his hands as he took hold of the sides of his small head. Lancelot made Wachowski turn his head this way and that to get a better look at the wound without needing to touch it. 

“Good news. The wound isn’t very deep, but there's a lot of surface level trauma and it’s still bleeding. We’ll have to get cloth or bandages to help stop the flow.” He absent-mindedly started to clean and straighten the child's quills, a nervous tic he usually reserved for his own quills and not others. Being careful to leave the flowers in that haven't broken from the attack. 

“Are you capable of standing?” Lancelot was worried, the smell of poison hung in the air where the rain hadn't swept it away. If the kid got poisoned, and poison was usually carried by the demons of the underworld so it's very likely, the smaller hedgehog wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while, and there will be a lot of pain. 

Wachowski's face scrunched up, “I think I can?” and tried to stand up on his own using the sword as a crutch but failed and fell forward. Lancelot caught him before he could hit the wet ground. Some sorrow made its way onto the child’s face once more, as he realized his body felt like it was full of lead. “Never mind, still can’t feel, hurt too much.” Lance pulled Wachowski onto his hip, letting him slump his head against his shoulder as his arms and legs were left limp. ‘The child must feel exhausted.’ He thought to himself as he put the large emerald in between his arm and Wachowski's chest. Then he took the sword into the hand that wasn't keeping the small hedgehog to his side. 

“Were we goin’?” Wachowski slurred his words, a common effect from poison, as Lancelot picked up Arondight.  

“To my mother, she has a dry place you can rest in as we get bandages for you.” Sir Lancelot struggled to keep his pace slow for the injured child as he left the abandoned fort. Wachowski only mumbled back something he couldn't make out. 

When the lake finally came into view after some back traveling through the wood’s Lancelot quickened his pace to get them out of the rain faster. He rushed over the bridges connected to where Nimue waited for them both. 

“Isn't that-” His mother, shocked, covered her mouth with her hands, recognizing the blue quills from the small hog. 

“No, we'll talk in-depth about it later. Do you have any cloth, bandages, or poison antidote you can spare for him?” Panic laced his tone and voice, making Nimue take a second to realize that it came from her son, ‘Last time he spoke like that was when Galahad was sick for a whole week.’ She thought.

“Yes, I do. Where are his wounds?” She approached where her son had sat the child down under the gazebo, out of the rain, noticing the blood-stained fur that covered part of his face, some of it had even gotten into one of the eyes making him keep it closed, his face tense. ‘Poor boy.’ She thought, noticing that he was shivering from the cold. 

“Only one on his forehead, but I fear it's been poisoned.” Lancelot glanced back at his mother with worry in his eyes before going back to make sure the child was at least comfortable. 

“That's not good, it will be in his system longer because of it. I’ll be quick, make sure he doesn't fall asleep while I’m gone. It could cause irreversible damage to his brain.” Lady Nimue disappeared in a flash of light. Lancelot kept his attention on Wachowski, shaking his shoulder to gain his attention. Wackowski half opened his clean eye and looked around his surroundings before focusing on him. 

“Do your best to pay attention to what I’m about to say. Try to stay awake, if the wound is as bad as we think it is, it's not a good plan to fall asleep. Can you try and talk to me?” One of Wachowski's ears twitched as he digested what he was hearing and tried to nod before forcing himself to try and straighten his slouch. Wachowski reached one of his shaking hands out and Lancelot took it into his and rubbed it with his thumbs. The child's hands were so small compared to his, that it reminded him of his son’s when he was younger. Normally he wasn't this touchy, even with his family, but if it was going to keep Wachowski from fully falling asleep so be it. He tried to come up with some questions that would be simple to answer. He looked at the flowers in the child's quills. 

“What's your favorite flower? Mine is the Larkspur, it's purple, and the petals look like dolphins. Sometimes in the spring and summer seasons, real dolphins come to swim and play in the channel. Do you like dolphins?” Lancelot let himself run his mouth to distract the kid. Wachowski's eyes seemed to brighten a bit at the mention of dolphins, slowly nodding to the latter question. 

“Fav’ flow’er sunflow’r.” Wachowski smiled proudly at his answer. Lancelot hadn't heard of any flowers named so boldly like that before. 

“Can you describe what they look like to me? I don't think I’ve ever heard of sunflowers before.” Wachowski looked at the hand that Sir Lancelot held in his, before focusing on his face once more. 

“T-tall, erm, mid’ full of seeds, seeds taste re’lly good. They are yellow, very poin’y.” The slurred speech seemed to be getting better but was still concerning to Lancelot. He was about to ask another question when Nimue came back in another flash, in her arms, sat bandages, a cleaning cloth, and a blanket. In her hand was a vial of antidote. Lancelot held his hand for the antidote first, keeping his other hand clasped around Sonic’s. Lady Nimue handed it to him as she set the bandages on the table, took the blanket, unrolled it, and then put it carefully around the small hedgehog's shaking body. His green iris watching her the entire time, Nimue only let a worrying but caring smile spread across her face for him to see. 

“Wachowski, I need you to drink this, it will help you get better. Can you do that for me?” He looked into the child's eye, and when he didn't respond Lancelot repeated the question. “Sonic, can you please do this for me?” Wachowski looked at him with panic crossing his face but was replaced with trust just as fast and nodded. He lifted his shaky arm to try and take the vial, Lancelot put it into his hand and grabbed onto the child's gripping fist, helping him steady it while trying to bring it up to his lips. Wachowski choked on the taste at first before taking the rest pretty easily. He’s had worse before after all, just not in a long while. 

“You're doing great, Wachowski. I have to clean off the blood from your wound now, is it alright if I touch your head again?” After Wachowski nodded, Nimue got the cleaning cloth ready and gave it to her son.  

Lancelot once again took the child's head into his hands, and gave the hand he was holding onto to his mother. Wachowski would flinch each time the cloth brushed past the cut, but otherwise, he didn't do much as the rest of the blood was mostly just dripping into his eye and on his fur. Until the time came to clean the cut itself. That's when he started to squirm and whimper at the careful touches. 

Both Lady Nimue and Sir Lancelot softly hushed him, once they were done it was time for the bandages. Wachowski yelped and jumped each time more pressure was applied to the cut but tried to stay in place as much as he could to get it over and done with. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but Wachowski didn't allow them to fall, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand once Lancelot was finally done patching him up. 

“You did great, Sonic.” Lancelot praised him. Nimue loved the smile that formed on the child's face from the praise. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and Lancelot's words to Wachowski faded into background noise. 

“Where did those come from?” Lancelot looked at his mother and then at where she was pointing at. It was Wachowski’s dejected sword and glowing emerald resting next to it.  

“Found them with Wachowski, he was using the sword as a shield to not get crushed by a Knight of the Underworld. The emerald I don't have any leads on. He had it when I found him.” Lancelot turned back to the child and tightened the blanket around his shoulders better, making sure to tuck the blanket underneath his legs as well, saving the child from the cold seat. Wachowski tucked his legs to his chest, going into the fetal position, burrowing himself further into the blanket. 

“I recognize this sword.” Lancelot swerved his head to his mother and looked at the old sword. Nimue picked it up by the old brown handle and studied the rusted design in the hilt. “It's the fake King Arthur’s sword he used to have before I gifted him the scabbard of Excalibur. Clarent. He must have thrown it away after he got it replaced, this old thing is looking a lot worse from being left alone for all those years.” Lancelot couldn't immediately remember a time when the fake king used to have such a small thing. All he could think about was the large and imposing Death Calibur, just like its wielder. He shook it out of his mind, he didn't need to think about that foul fake anymore. 

“Where did he find this?” Nimue’s question was only met with silence, neither of them having any clue how a child had found such an important relic, and Wachowski not hearing the question because he fell asleep in the short time the other two older hedgehogs were distracted.  

Nimue looked down at the large green emerald and set Clarent back next to Arondight. She paid close attention to the energy surrounding the glowing gem, it felt like watching fire alchemists. It surrounded her homely abode, explosive, powerful, and dangerous if they weren't careful. And unrecognizable from what she had seen in her many years. Nimue realized why her water watcher spell had to look from such a high view. So much of it was being produced out of it and with the energy focused in one spot was forcing the clouds to react poorly, causing the rainstorm to happen at that moment.  

She picked the large gem up and set it on the table. She had experience with gems like this but on a much smaller power scale. Silently casting a calming spell onto the emerald Nimue put her focus on not failing the spell. As powerful of a deity as Lady Nimue is, she could get the other two hurt if she made a mistake. When the spell was finished, she looked up to the sky for the results she was looking for. The clouds turned from their near pitch black to a light gray. Harsh rain turned into soft showers, and the blazing wind was gone. Glad at her achievement she turned her attention back to Lancelot and Wachowski.  

During the time his mother had inspected the jem, Lancelot got his attention back to Wachowski. Squawking once he realized snoring was coming from the tight bundle. Lancelot opened up a small opening and watched as Wachowski's face scrunched up from the cold hitting it before relaxing once more. He tapped Wachowski’s nose a couple of times, the child opened his eyes and looked at him confused and sleepy.  

“Wake up, I told you that you couldn't fall asleep yet.” Lancelot made sure to make his disappointment apparent in his tone. Wachowski stretched out his arms before tightening the blanket back around him, his eyes were droopy and struggled to keep them open. 

“Are you hungry or thirsty by any chance?” That got the child's attention, Wachowski's eyes lighting up, but instead of answering right away he reached into his quills and pulled out two apples. 

“Don't worry, I’ve got these!” Wachowski held them up proudly as if he was a genius for keeping them.  

“Oh good. Well, would you like some Camellia tea to go along with it?” Wachowski nodded as he put one of the apples down on the table and started eating the other. Sir Lancelot got up and grabbed one of the empty teacups that sat next to the still-warm tea kettle and filled it up. After handing it to the child, and making sure that he wouldn't drop it, he got himself some of the Camellia tea as well and took a seat next to the blue hedgehog. The armor clanked against the polished stone. He took a sip while he watched his mother perform an unknown spell on the glowing emerald. The symmetric glow of magic caught Wachowski’s attention too, curious about what she could be doing to it. Both kept watch till she was done. All three watched the sky change back to a calmer state, the other two looking back at Lady Nimue when she turned her attention to them. 

“Do you like the tea?” She took her seat at the opposite side of the table and put her hands on her lap. Wachowski hummed & nodded, not wanting to talk with his mouth full like his mom taught him to when they were guests or when guests were over. 

“Yes. Quite sweet, but not too sweet.” Lancelot liked the more bitter teas, but he always made an exception for his mother's favorites. Taking another sip Sir Lancelot noticed his mother's gaze set firmly on the child. Wachowski did not notice as he was busy trying his best to not spill what he had left of tea in his cup as he drank it. They both waited until he was done eating the rest of his apple to ask their questions. 

“Do you feel better?” Sir Lancelot asked.  

“That vial of antidote should have helped with any of the pain caused by the poison.” Lady Nimue continued off of her son's words. 

“Ye, I feel a lot be’ter ‘ompared to earlier. Only the cut s’ill hurts a lot. Um-” Wachowski had to pause and set the apple down before continuing. “T-thank you, for helpin’ me. It means a lot.” He wrung his hands together on his lap and bounced one off his legs. A smile makes its way onto Wahowski’s face as he looks at them with as much gratitude as he can muster in his still-tired state. 

“Good, there shouldn't be any too harmfull lasting effects.” Lancelot did his best to sound convincing, not wanting Wachowski to get worried or panic. It wasn't like he was wrong; he just didn't want the child to start worrying about something that wasn't happening… yet.

“That's good to hear. Now, is it alright if we ask you some questions?” Nimue kept her eyes on Wachowski’s expression as it changed to confusion. 

“Sure?” Wachowski could feel his nerves start to form butterflies in his stomach. He knows he can trust them they both helped him after all, but the feeling only got worse as doubt clouded his mind. He tried to calm himself down as Nimue and Lancelot prepared their questions. 

“Where did you find Clarent?” Lady Nimue asked. 

“Who’s Clarent?” Wachowski asked back.  

“The sword you had brought with you.” Nimue quickly corrected. 

“Oh! Didn't know swords had names… I fou’ it under this big, weird tree, there was another one there too bu’ I didn't want to take it, sort of jus’ stuck in the ground. Looked pr’tty cool tho.” Wachowski started to fidget with his hands.

Lady Nimue nodded and took a sip of her tea. 

“What did the other sword look like?” If Lancelot's theory was correct this could be where Caliburn was settled back into stone. Maybe find a new king to rebind the Knights of the Round Table together under their rule. He knew it was just wishful thinking to want some cruel form of familiarity. He and his mother looked at the child curiously, awaiting his answer. 

“It was golden and silver. Had some pretty carvin’s in the, what is it called? Hilt? Yeah, I think it's called that.” He looked back at the other two. “Why do you ask?” Nimue and Lancelot caught each other's eyes before Lancelot decided to answer. 

“Remember when I was talking about the King that I used to know?” Sonic nodded. 

“And tha’ we apparently look just like one another and have the same first name. Yep! I rem’ber that.” Wachowski went to take a sip of his tea, then remembered that he had already had the rest in his cup when nothing touched his lips. Lady Nimue gestures for him to bring the teacup to her and happily refills it, giving him a glad smile. 

A quiet “Thank you.” was gladly given back. 

“He used to have a magnificent sword that helped him take down-” Lancelot had to think of a watered-down explanation of everything. “A horrible tyrant that ruled with an iron fist, using Knights of the Underworld as his soldiers. That wasn't it's only use, however.” Wachowski was engrossed, hoping for a cool story. “As it was bound to stone before he took it, only moving for those that were worthy of being the next king. That sword's name is Caliburn, just one-half of the sword of Excalibur. The other half is the wielder himself, Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind. Turned King Sonic, ruler of Camelot.” Lancelot caught himself getting carried away. The absorbed look from the young hedgehog made him go on longer than he needed to, but once the story stopped the child looked confused. 

“And? What ha’pened?” Wachowski shook Sir Lancelot's arm slightly, and Lancelot responded by playfully flicking off his hand. Lady Nimue hid her smile behind one of her hands as she chuckled at Wachowski's enthusiasm, happy that he was being more like himself around them. A sad smile took place on Lancelot's face as he remembered why King Sonic had to leave. 

“Well, he had to go back to his true home. Merlina, the royal wizard of Camelot and the person who summoned him here said that if he didn't go, our world would slowly poison him to death. As his body isn't fully compatible here at Camelot for the long term.” Lancelot decided that was enough and took a drink of his tea. Wachowski looked confused. 

“Wait ‘e was summ’ned? Could this mean I was summ’ned? Cause definitely I’m not from ‘ere.” Surprise and hope filled Wachowski's expression. Lancelot looked down at his teacup in thought. Lady Nimue looked towards the Master Emerald piecing together something she didn't know what could mean for the child.  

“Was anyone with you when you arrived here?” Lady Nimue asked, her eyes still on the large gem. 

“Nope, just me and-” he noticed where she was looking. “-the Master Emerald.” He gestured at the gem to get its name across. “No one else. Or if there was, I wasn't awake at the time to see them.” Wachowski shrugged and took a drink of the warm tea. Lancelot looked at the Master Emerald. It had a suffocating strong aura surrounding it, and thankfully due to his mother's spell it kept that aura to itself. Lady Nimue thought of only one possibility but needed one more piece of the puzzle. 

“Do you know anything about how you got here?” Nimue was nervous, if the origin of his arrival wasn't found it could mean trouble for the child. Whatever brought him here had to be powerful.  

Wachowski nodded. “I was watchin’ a movie w’ile I was guarding the Master Emerald for my big bro. Something made me stop breathin’ while the Master Emerald was doing some weird glowy thing. Then I passed out an’ woke up in the forest. Pretty sure the Master Emerald brou’ht me here but I’m not 100% on it.” Wachowski felt guilty knowing his family was probably worried sick, he just wished he knew what the Master Emerald wanted and just to get back home already. Both the older hedgehogs grew worried. A powerful gem like this doing something to this degree wasn't normal without someone or something meddling along with it.  

“Any idea why?” Lancelot asked.  

“No, not really. Oh, it was guiding me to something tho’!” Wachowski’s attitude immediately brightened back up. Lady Nimue looked confused, a gem being able to guide someone? But she quickly remembered that she had seen more baffling and strange things throughout her time as a deity. Lancelot just kept on listening to the childs' explanation. “There's this weird coil feeling in my chest that the Master Emerald pulls on to guide me places.” Lancelot and Nimue looked at the child surprised. 

“Does it hurt?” - “Are you sure that's what it’s doing?” Lancelot and Nimue's voices overlapped with each other, making Wachowski have to decipher what each had said before they could just ask each other to go first. 

“No, it doesn't us’ally hurt, only the first time. And it led me here instead of just wandering around the forest.” Wachowski was proud of the Master Emerald’s ability to guide him, “Even if it got annoying sometimes.” He whispered under his breath, rubbing his hand on his chest. 

“It led you specifically here?” Lance asked after trying to piece together what it could mean. 

“Ya, don’t know why yet.” He shrugged, Lancelot slowly nodded, “But I do have a few ques’ions myself.” Wachowski said. 

Lancelot straightened his back, ”Yes?” 

“Ask anything,” Lady Nimue said with a smile. 

“What did you do to the Master Emerald? With the light thin’y. What was that?” Wachowski didn't want something bad happening to the gem while it was under his protection. Tails and Knuckles would be disappointed in him, the ladder would disown him because of it. Longclaw would be disappointed too.  

“Just a calming spell. Your Master Emerald was putting its powerful energy into the sky causing the storm from earlier, so I made the emerald keep its power to itself instead.” Lady Nimue let out a nervous chuckle. “Although I must admit, I haven't dealt with a gem this powerful before. I had to use all of my concentration.” She took a sip of tea.  

“A spell? You can do magic?!” Out of excitement, Wachowski could have jumped up and onto the table if his legs were not trapped within the warm blanket or weren't still shaky. But Wachowski made do by just slamming his hands down onto the table with a wide bewildered smile on his face.  

Lancelot let a short chuckle out as the excitement from children learning about magic was always a great thing to experience. Sadly, he had not been able to see it a lot lately, keeping the safety of the residents of Camelot Castle and the farmers that continued to live outside its walls safe from the Underworld’s knights was more important than seeing a child light up in wonder while seeing a mage or wizard in action. Lady Nimue let out a laugh, also finding the reaction charming. Both forgetting that he potentially wasn't from their world.

“Did you not know? It's a well-known practice in some settlements of Camelot.” Lady Nimue laughed again at Wachowski's open mouth expression. 

“No! I thought magic was ‘ust one of those things adults made up!” Wachowski sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Man, I’m missin’ out.” His shoulders sagged. Wachowski knew such things as powerful Master and Chaos emeralds existed, it felt suitable for those types of powers to exist, but things like that of fantasy stories weren't real.  

“You might be able to learn it, only if we had better circumstances.” Lancelot gently patted the top of the child's head, careful of the wrapping. 

Wachowski softly batted at Lancelot's hand, “Agreed. I wana to go home as soon as I can.” He looked between Lady Nimue and Sir Lancelot. “So do e’ther of you know someone that could get me home, or know how to get the Master Emerald to ta’e me back?” 

“Yes, that would be Merlina, the wizard I mentioned earlier. She might be able to send you to someone who will be able to help.” Lancelot knew that there were stories that King Sonic told him and the other ex-knights while he was still in Camelot. The powerful gems called Chaos Emeralds, using them to defeat God-like beings. King Sonic stated that using one Chaos Emerald led to being able to ‘Chaos Control’, the line coined by one of his friends. Lancelot also remembered being compared to this friend a lot, whether it be his personality or the power he had been training to control ever since he was a young boy. 

If they could get ahold of King Sonic, they could figure out a way to send the kid home. 

“You think she woul’ be willin’ to help?” Wachowski said worryingly. 

“Absolutely she would.” Lady Nimue said, “The only thing you should be worried about is if you can get her to stop burying herself in her work to take the time off to help.” She drank the last of her tea and then refilled her cup. 

“Ok, so one last impor’ant question…” Wachowski's voice dramatically dropped to a more serious tone. And it was all he needed to do to get both Lancelot and Nimue's attention. 

A dramatic pause passed. 

“Can I keep Clarent? I know you were saying some’hing about it being owned by someone earlier, I just don’t want to take something if it’s still wanted by them. Even-if-they-obviously-didn’t-care-about-it. ” Wachowski asked and rubbed his arm nervously. Lancelot looked to his mother, she was the one to know more about it, the history, even the faker that used to wield it before letting their true colors shine.  

Nimue lost her current thought expecting a more serious question but quickly concluded an answer. The Fake King Arthur showed no care for the sword the second the scabbard was gifted to him, and the child seemed to want to take responsibility and care for Clarent even if it was barely useful for the wars it was made for conquering. 

“With pleasure, you have shown that you care for it. More than the man that used to own it.” Lady Nimue knew her choice was correct as Wachowski's face lit with delight and he bounced in place. It would make a good training sword, its dull blade wouldn't be able to hurt anybody, but holding the weight of a true sword was good for training the muscles. Although she wished that it could be the same for the young ones in Camelot castle, the light in their eyes fading when training to become knights once reality sets in. 

“Yes yes yes! Thank you so much! I would hug you but I just met you.” Wachowski was relieved, as carrying Clarnet around wasn't for nothing. Lancelot couldn't help but smile at Wachowski's reaction. He was also happy that the child's speech had nearly gone back to normal. 

“Is that really all you wanted to ask?” Lancelot was genuinely curious. He didn’t normally talk in the Fake King Arthur's meetings with the council of the kingdom, or the single one that King Sonic attended to help decide how Camelot would run without a king. But he was enjoying himself, so why not try and continue the conversion.

“Eh.” Wachowski shrugged and drank from his cup. ”Not really. I just wan’ed to know somethin’s before we decide to do anything.” Lancelot nodded and drank more of his tea. 

“Yes, we’d need a plan for what we would do. That's good forward-thinking Wachowski.” He patted Wachowski's head again. 

“Wait, why do you call me that? Why not just my first name?” Wachowski picked up the other apple and prepared to eat it the second that Lancelot started answering his question. 

“Oh! I wanted to know about that too. Is that your surname?” Lady Nimue interjected. She heard her son call the younger hog that name multiple times yet would use the given name in small opportune moments. 

“Yep!” Wachowski gladly nodded, only knowing what the word surname meant from when Tom and Maddie wanted to know if he had an actual last name or if it was just ‘The Hedgehog’. Wachowski was happy to finally have a full name, something only really used for groups of people related to one another. But for the Wachowski tribe it was for a bond of care and protection, and most importantly family. Chaos, he missed them.

“I just call him Wachowski to help myself tell the difference between him and King Sonic,” Lancelot said, keeping his pout under a neutral face. But Nimue, being his mother, picked it up immediately. 

“You're still calling him King Sonic even though he's not the king anymore, Sir Lancelot?” The accusatory and teasing tone made him glower at his mother for embarrassing him. He dramatically folded his arms and turned his head away from her to get her out of his sight, avoiding the question. Wachowski snickers at Lancelot's childish manner.  

They sat in comfortable silence as they finished up the remaining tea, the rain sprinkling overhead. 

“Merlina should be in Faraway Avalon. You'll have to take a boat to get there but the only place with open docking is near the Crystal Caves since Dark Hollow is an ample area for the undead.” Lady Nimue pointed out the areas on the map she made so that both Wachowski and Sir Lancelot could see. “The only issue you could have is if Dark Knights intertwine your path.”  

Lancelot looked up from the map to his mother's calculating face. “I should be able to deal with undead knights just fine, there shouldn't be any complications-” With Lady Nimue's upset face, and her looking right into his eyes, Lancelot shut his mouth.  

“With Wachowski being unwell and inexperienced, he is unable to properly protect himself or run away. I know you have experience with escorting, but he is going to need your full attention and protection if anything goes astray.” Lancelot sat quietly in thought. If he did get distracted and the kid was cornered, Wachowski would have no way to protect himself from the Dark Knights. Sneaking a look at said child after he noticed how quiet it had gotten, Wachowksi was fidgeting in place. The Master Emerald is back in his arms and lap with an uncomfortable look on his face.  

Sir Lancelot looked back to his mother and bowed his head, “I agree. We’d need a plan in case it ever happens, but I can discuss that later with Wachowski. We should be leaving soon here; the journey will take about a day and a half if we're only walking.” While his mother nodded, Wachowski looked slightly confused. 

Lancelot turned to the kid fully “What's wrong?”  

Wachowski jumped slightly, before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I jus’ expected it to be shorter, Sorry.”  

“No, it's alright, how did you think it could’ve been shorter?” Nimue looked at the kid with interest. 

“A while ago, back in an area of the forest, I saw a broken carriage. So, I was wondering, do you by chance have horses?” Wachowski rubbed his hands over one another in a soothing motion. 

“Yes, but on the account of the dark knights killing off a lot of farmers' cattle, they will be too expensive to rent for this occasion, unfortunately.” Sir Lancelot answered. 

Wachowski slumped, resting his forehead on the table, “It would be way faster if we could. My arms and legs still f’el weird.” He didn't want to feel like he was coming off as rude if he started going on and on about wanting to be home faster, so he kept it to himself. 

Lady Nimue butted in, “Do your arms and legs hurt or just feel odd?”  

“Like- you know when your arm- or well a better example would be the legs- whatever doesn't matter,” He tried to shake off the awkwardness, “feel like pins and needles are poking every single inc’ of them from it falling asleep.” He picked up his arm wrist with his other hand wiggling it back and forth as he made it go limp. “It's like tha’ but worse and instead of it going away it's just coming back in waves. It's giving me a headache; I miss it when I couldn't feel ‘em.” He set his arms back down to hold the Master Emerald as he set his head back down on the table once again.  

“Hmm, you’re recovering faster than most people when they're poisoned. Normally you wouldn't get feeling back in your limbs until at least half a day would pass.” Lancelot decided to not dwell on it for too long and stood from his seat. “Besides that, just means you'll be in better health sooner and we can make it over to Faraway Avalon quicker. But I suggest we get a move on right now since the rain is gone.” It had stopped during their conversion, Wachowski only noticing once Lancelot pointed it out. 

“We should be able to make it to a village near Great Megalith to rest for the night and travel the rest the next day.” He gathered Arondight and Clarent from where they had rested, putting Arondight back into its scabbard and holding out the other for Wachowski to take, knowing the kid wouldn't be able to take even just a few steps without falling.

Wachowski took the rusty sword happily and finally got moving. Leaving the blanket where he was seated,he did his best to stand even if his legs were wobbly. “Bye, Ms. Nimue! It was nice meeting you. If I ever find a way to visit, I wouldn't mind having some more tea with you again.” He waved goodbye with his only open hand, the other arm keeping the Master Emerald on his hip and Clarent in hand. 

Sir Lancelot bowed, “Thank you for the tea, Mother. I will make an effort to visit under better circumstances.” 

Lady Nimue softly laughed and bowed her head back, “Oh don't worry about that, I’m happy whenever you come to visit me. Just promise to come over more?” She knew he was usually busy protecting the citizens, but selfishly still wanted her only son to visit once and a while. Maybe she could have him convince Galahad to come over more too.

Lancelot straightened back up and nodded, “Certainly.” He turned to where Wachowski stood patiently wobbling side to side. “Ready Wachowski?” 

“Yep!” Wachowski slightly bounced on the heels of his feet, full of excitement and unused energy. 

“Then let's get moving.” Lancelot and Wachowski made their way off of the stone pier and into the forest line following a dirt path, Lancelot having Wachowski hold onto his arm for balance.  

“Hey I was wondering, when you said the King me was summoned from his world. You're talking about another planet right? Not a separate reality?” Wachowski asked nervously, nearly sliding back down the hill. They both were trying to get above the steep cliff that he had slid down earlier. They both failed a couple of times, (*Cough mostly Sonic Cough*)  before the both of them could move on.

“No, I was indeed talking about something akin to a separate reality.” Lancelot pulled Wachowski up and gave him back his things before they continued. When they got further down the path he then asked, “Why do you ask?”

'`Oh nothing that's too important,” ‘It's not like I’m going to have an existential crisis about the multiverse existing, or whatever!’ Wachowski kept his face as neutral as he could to keep himself  from freaking out about it, because he could do that later, just not now.

“Isn't this the way back to Camelot?” It had been a moment since the two hedgehogs started walking, but the path they had taken was the same that he had taken. Trees giving way to fields that are wrapped around by hills, and the trail now being supported by some fences. 

“Yes, we're making a quick trip over so that you can have Clarent fixed. And buy some food for dinner.” Lancelot knew that if Wachowski were forced to fight again it would be easier for the young one to fight back if the sword was in a better condition. “It would be unwise to go into battle without the proper care needed for it. There is a blacksmith there that should be able to repair it back to the former glory it once had.”  

Wachowski looked at Lancelot with hesitation, “Won't that take us longer?” 

“No, the shortest road from here to Great Megalith is back in the East sector of the city.” Sir Lancelot was in silent disdain, not being able to show the rest of Camelot Castle to the smaller version of his retired king, but he hid it behind his usual scowl. 

“Oh.” Wachowski swayed his arm slightly back and forth in boredom. 

They fell back into silence, their footsteps, clanking of metal, the calling chirps and songs of the native birds filling it for them. A lullaby of nature soothing the need for talking, but the increasing need for something to talk about was still there for Wachowski. 

“What would you say the people here are like?” He asked Sir Lancelot. 

“Kind and strong-hearted, but they can be easily frightened. They used to have a big banquet nearly every month for basic gossip and casual conversation in the Northwestern public square. Sadly, they had to stop these last few months.” Sir Lancelot thought about how King Sonic had been able to converse with the locals. His majesty had such a way with how he could keep a chat going even if when he spoke it was very odd or talked about a reference to something that they couldn't understand. 

“Why'd they stop? It sounds like it was fun.” Wachowski's question pulled Lancelot out of his thinking. 

“They didn't. Dark knights usually destroy any crops they happen to come by. So, the farmers can’t have a decent harvest; they won't have enough food to keep the feasts going.” An area with some cottages began to fill into view, going temporarily unnoticed by Wachowski. 

“Oh, that's too bad.” Wachowski stopped swinging his arm back and forth for a moment of sobriety before continuing. 

“It is unfortunate, but they have replaced them with more casual meetups where food wouldn't be involved. Well, other than water, beer, ale, and apple cider but those are drinks.” Sir Lancelot tried to lighten the mood for the kid, slightly making Wachowski feel better about it. 

The cottages were now nearly fifty feet from where they were walking, now close enough to grab the attention of Wachowski. A couple of villagers can be seen tending to nearby small gardens and farm animals. But it was clear that they weren't just going to ignore the two of them as they walked by. 

“Do you think they’ll confuse me with the other Sonic?” He moved closer to Lancelot's side. 

Sir Lancelot looked back down at the anxiety-ridden child, then looked back to the very few local villagers who started to work on their outside chores since the rain had finally gone away. “I wouldn't doubt they would get confused at first, but you both are unique from each other. Both in looks and personality.” He stopped in the middle of the trail making Wachowski look back at him again and took his hand into both of his own. 

“You're going to be alright.” Wachowski looked down to the floor and then to Lancelot's hand covering his own before looking into Lancelot's eyes. 

“Promise?” Wachowski's voice was stern and quiet but still filled with anxiety, still a far cry from the first time he had asked Sir Lancelot to promise him something. 

“I promise.” He gave the kid a reassuring smile and squeezed his hands lightly. 

“Ok.” As they continued walking Wachowski pushed into his side even more before hiding behind him entirely by the time they reached the cottages. 

Once the residents noticed their local Knight of the Round Table, they greeted him. Glad to see Sir Lancelot visiting the outer community of Camelot Castle. They also quickly noticed the new small visitor hiding behind him right after, one stood and stared in confusion before going back to work. While others would simply say hello and wave to the small hedgehog. After a few greetings, Wachowski started waving back, it was a lot calmer of an interaction than he had expected. What he wasn't expecting at all was some sort of automatic translation of what they were saying. Something in his gut just knew what they were saying, even if it only sounded like chirps and music. Although he still slightly hid behind Lancelot until they had gotten further away from the working farmers. 

“See, you did great.” Sir Lancelot lightly patted Wachowski's shoulder. “Although you're probably going to have a harder time within the Camelot walls. There's not much room inside some of the alleyways we’ll have to take.”  

Wachowski looked up at him, “Do they unintentionally crowd people?” 

Lancelot stiffened slightly. The time when he was promoted to be the tyrant's first Knight of the Round Table was probably the second worst day of his life. Not because people were ashamed of how he was the one chosen while others weren't, simply because he wasn't as soft as the other knights, not willing to loosen up while on the job. But because of how many people were asking and prodding him like a caged animal, he didn't have a single second of peace that day. Although that was the worst part, he couldn't just excuse himself for a simple break. It could've made the fake king angry and then he would be dismantled from his duty as a Knight of the Round Table on his first day. Something he sees as ridiculous now. 

Luckily the frustration he had from that first day didn't follow him back home, he’d hate himself if he had put that on his son back then. “Yes, but I wouldn't dwell on it for too long, they don’t do it much.” 

Wachowski hummed, deciding to not follow up on the conversation. 

When they got to the bridge people on the other side were setting up shops and tending to anything soaking wet from the storm. Wachowski held onto Sir Lancelot's hand tighter and hoped for a smooth journey. 

But something felt different and off, the coil in his chest being pulled in the direction of the shambles of a castle in the middle of the canal, with a lingering bad feeling in his gut. The sensation of just looking at it made Wachowski's back shiver like a leaf in the wind. He looked down to the Master Emerald still resting in his arms, as it finally made a sign of being conscious. “Why are you awake now? Why for that place? I already know we'll be heading there.” Wachowski whispered for only himself and the Master Emerald to hear. 

“Did you say something?” Sir Lancelot's voice cut through his concentration. 

“Uh- no not really, but what happened to that place?” Wachowski pointed to the partially destroyed castle. Lancelot's face twisted as if he had gotten backhanded across the face after he saw the crumpled building. 

“Nothing good, first the summoning and expansion of the Underworld destroyed some quarters, and then the battle between King Sonic and Merlina nearly destroyed what was left of it. It certainly wasn't pretty, but in the end, he won.” Sir Lancelot shook his head lightly in dismay. 

Wachowski looked back at him, confused, “Merlina and the other Sonic were fighting each other? Why?” 

Sir Lancelot sighed, “I’ll tell you while we make our way to Great Megalith.” Wachowski hummed passably, only letting the question go for now. He’ll just annoy the knight about it later. 

Now closer to the entrance of the city Sir Lancelot was getting more and more attention. Locals once again greeted him and took interest in the familiar yet new visitor. But the two hedgehogs either only gave a greeting back or kept on track with where they were headed, some tried to keep up with them but ended up failing with all of the twists and turns the alleyways presented. They continued until they stopped in front of a building with a familiar crest of two tails hanging above the stone front door. Leaving Wachowski slightly confused but confident of who could be running this blacksmith's shop. 

“Blacksmith?” Lancelot called out as he and Wachowski walked through the doorway and into the workshop.  

The scent of iron, burned wood, and hot leather hit Wachowski's nose once he stepped inside. The forge fired up and melted metals sitting within, prepared for any repairs needed for whatever a patron brought in. Right in front of it was an old anvil, dents in the top middle, and scratches from manhandling blades covered some areas. The floor is slightly covered in soot closer to the forge, making it blacker compared to the tan stone flooring further away.

The rest of the floor was wooden floorboards, closer to the work desk seated on the other side of the room, and the rug that sat underneath it. With papers scattered across it, with a charcoal pencil, inkwell, and short stubby quill that sat on top of the more scribbled papers. Some leather sat atop the desk too, parts of them cut down or lines etched on top showing where the next cut will be.  

Countertops lined the walls but left a big enough gap to fit the blacksmith onto the other side. Another desk sat more off to the side with open compartments filled with more leather or multiple pots, and hooks on the wall with multiple different smithing tools hanging from them. On a different wall hung finished and fully furnished swords, all having a distinct design from one another, and one detailed tapestry. 

A doorway off to the right attracted Wachowski's attention, a voice calling out from the upstairs of the building, the doorway seemingly leading to a staircase. 

“I’ll be down in a second!” The voice was familiar but so detached from the Tails he knew. Not squeaky, slightly deeper, and with an off accent he couldn't put his finger on. They could hear footsteps coming down the stairs before the person creating them speed-walked into the room. 

“So sorry about that,” As Wachowski suspected, a yellow fox with two tails had joined them, sporting a pair of reflective goggles, metal cuffed shoes, and a blue and white shirt with a leather apron with his two-tail crest marked on it. 

“I had misplaced one of my rivet setters, you know how busy it can get nowadays. Now how can I- '' The Fox stopped in his tracks as he made eye contact with Wachowski with an exasperated expression washing over his face. He didn't notice the huge glowing emerald. Wachowski couldn't stop a smirk from forming, while the blacksmith fox stood in place confused for a moment before approaching him.  

“Sir Sonic? Why are you- why do you look so-” Blacksmith Tails leaned in closer to get a better look at the former kings' look alike. That's when Wachowski realized that this Tails was taller than him by at least a half a foot. 

‘Explains the voice difference’ Wachowski thought to himself as he resisted the urge to start laughing. 

“I’m not the Sonic you know,” Wachowski said cheerfully with a chuckle, pulling his hand away from Lancelot's to pose more confidently with his now open hand on his hip. This time he didn't wobble in place.

“Oh! I should have come to that conclusion.” He laughed nervously to himself, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m Camelot's local blacksmith, it's nice to meet you!” Blacksmith Tails reached a hand out to shake, Wachowski ecstatically took his hand and shook it. 

“Call me Wachowski, and it's nice to meet you too.” His smirk was replaced by a smile. Lancelot cleared his throat and had a pointed look. 

“We need this sword repaired and given a new scabbard,” Lancelot said as he pointed to the rusted sword within Wachowski's hand, which he lifted to let Blacksmith Tails take it into his professional hands instead.  

“Sir Lancelot, this sword is in a horrendous state. What happened to it?” Blacksmith Tails looked at the blade first before looking at the hilt. Said hilt close to breaking off, cracks formed in the nearly fully rotten hickory wood with the leather overtop of it loose to the point it could be peeled right off by the wind itself.  

“The original owner decided that it wasn't good enough for him and threw it away into the forest,” Wachowski explained, “But I found it, so finders keepers!”  

Lancelot pointed a slightly upset look to Wachowski, who silenced himself, “With permission.”  

Wachowski nodded, “Yep, with permission!” 

“Hmm.” Blacksmith Tails continued to analyze the dull, rusted, and cracked blade. “I should be able to fix this in less than an hour, no problem!” He straightened his back and moved over to his anvil, setting Clarent on it, picking up a pair of heavy-duty gloves, a hammer, and a few other things from the forge wall. “Should I sharpen up Arondight while it's here too, Sir Lancelot?”  

“No need for that now, but-” Lancelot sent a glance to Wachowski and the Master Emerald he held. “Do you by any chance have any large satchel bags? We're going to need one.” Blacksmith Tails paused with the items he was gathering and looked to Sir Lancelot for more context. Lancelot just pointed to the Master Emerald within Wachowski's grasp. 

“Can’t I just carry it?” Wachowski looked at the larger hedgehog. 

“You need two hands to properly carry and fight with a sword, Wachowski,” Lancelot said naturally.  

“Ok, got it.” Wachowski shuffled back and forth slightly. 

“Well, I do have one, but I’ll have to check if it's the right size for the?” The Blacksmith pointed to the glowing gem. 

“Emerald.” Wachowski finished for him. 

“Right. The good fellow who bought it from me found out it wasn't the right size for his things. So, I’ll gladly let you have it for free, I have no other use for it after all.” Blacksmith Tails quickly set his things down and ran around the wooden countertop, searching underneath and making a loud ruckus before exclaiming happily.  

“I found it!” The fox lifted a clean and newly made large bag into view and brought it over to the tiny hedgehog. 

Wachowski thanked him, grabbed it, and undone the leather buckles to the opening before setting the Master Emerald inside snugly with some wiggle-room left over. “It does fit!” Wachowski gasped excitedly with an idea and reached into his quills, pulling out the large golden ring and pressing it into one of the sides filling the rest of the space left.  

Blacksmith Tails smiled, “Glad you like it, it’ll be useful to just add the scabbard to a new strap, but now I need to get to work.” He went back and grabbed his things once more to get the blade ready.  

“Now I suggest you two find something to do, this is going to take a while.” He put his goggles down over his eyes and prepared for the heat of the forge. 

Sir Lancelot hummed in agreement and turned to Wachowski, who was putting all of the flowers that were still  in his quills into a different pocket on the side of the satchel. “Ready to go?” Wachowski looked up from his bag, quickly strapping the buckles back into place securely before skipping over to where the armored hedgehog stood.  

“Ready as I’ll ever be!” 

 Lancelot held his hand back out for the child to take, but Wachowski shook his head.

“I think I can walk on my own for now. Feeling better already.” Wachowski of course was only half lying, the headache had gotten worse but he could at least somewhat feel his arms and legs again without the painful feeling going through them every second.

“Ok, just let me know when you need help.”

“Don't worry, I’ll be fine.” Wachowski laughed it off.

Both walk back out of the stone building, the steady sounds of metal hitting metal escaping the entrance and into the street. People peacefully walking to and from their destinations walked past them. Although a small crowd stood near the entrance, mostly just nosey kids and the occasional young adult snooping and gossiping. The two preoccupied hedgehogs ignored them and made their way to the market.   

At the first vendor, all there was fruit, the normal kind that you could find at a gas station, and Wachowski was disappointed already. Only thing that was entertaining was the sound the local villagers made when talking, a chirping bell would be the closest he could describe it. 

But Wachowski was still bored.

“Where’s all the cool stuff?” He questioned. 

“Not here and too expensive,” Lancelot said back with a snark. Wachowski slumped slightly, expecting more of this new -and admittedly cool- place.  

At the second vendor, there were loaves of bread that were harder than stone, properly called scones. 

“What did you say you use them for?” Wackowski asked, his hand gripping the leather strap, slightly disgusted. 

“You put them in soups, which makes them more flavorful and filling. Have you never had a scone before?” Lancelot seriously asked, as the simple idea of never experiencing such a thing had not crossed his mind. 

Wachowski fake gagged, “That's so gross. I like garlic bread, but unless it was tomato soup I would never willingly put this bread this hard into my soup just to get it soggy, let alone how flavorless this thing has to be. Yuck,” He involuntarily shivered as the thought went through his head, he couldn't even smell the bread, which makes his brain say that it's in-editable. Do you know how hard it is for food to not have a smell, it's nearly impossible. 

“Spoiled,” Lancelot said half jokingly under his breath. Unfortunately, Wachowski is shorter than his breath and therefore heard it. 

“Oi- I am not spoiled!” He pointed at the taller hedgehog. “I just have better and greater taste than you,” Jokingly offended, Wachowski ‘aggressively’ dropped the already paid-for bread into the bag with the fruits.  

“And I may have gone as low to eat literal trash before,” Lancelot was immediately taken aback and stared at the small hedgehog, “but at least then I knew what I was getting myself into, and THIS !” He violently pointed at the basic bread in Lancelot's hands. “Is below trash.” Lancelot continued to stare at Wachowski as he started to move on to the next vendor without him. 

Wachowski looked back once he noticed that Lancelot wasn't following. 

“What?” Wachowski asked harmlessly. 

“Am I supposed to ignore what you just admitted eating to me?” Sir Lancelot said with snark, and crossed his arms. 

“Yes, now come on!” Wachowski waved his hand in a ‘follow me’ motion and left without him. Lancelot followed Wachowski, telling the kid to stay within his view, not wanting him to get lost, and for answers. 

Once they had gotten to the vendor with some vegetables Lancelot decided to enact a punishment. 

“You're carrying the bags on the way back,” was said with no warning or mercy. 

“What? Why?” Wachowski was taken aback. 

“You not only do not know how good scones are, but you also called them lower than trash for crying out loud-” Lancelot talked with a slight joking tone but he was still sturn.

“Because they are!” Wachowski tried to interject.  

“-But you also just ignored me asking why you have eaten actual rubbish!” Lancelot scolded Wachowski seriously. Lancelot knew the punishment probably wouldn't make Wachowski open up about it but he's never had to do this type of mentoring, but while he knows he's not the best at it Wachowski will be fine in the end.

Wachowski looked at him upset, “These bags on their own are heavy already, are you sure you want this?” 

“Yes, unless you tell me about why you ate something that could've gotten you terribly sick; you’re going to carry these bags until we get back to the blacksmith’s” Lancelot picked out some veggies from the piles they were stacked in making sure they were of good quality before paying and getting another bag for Wachowski to hold onto. 

Wachowski was only a little upset at the situation he put himself in, and he understood where the concern was coming from, but still. “I only tell people about stuff like that if I’ve known them for a while…” He said quietly. He looked at the bag in Lancelot's hands for a second before sucking up and taking it from him with an annoyed look. 

“I’m going to complain the whole time!” Wachowski exclaimed. Lancelot nodded, hiding a smile as they moved on to the next vendor. 

“Alright, that should be all we need, let’s go,” Lancelot started his walk back, at first Wachowski kept pace with him before he slowed down toward the end. 

While the trip overall was short and easy, at least from Lancelot's perspective, the kid dragging behind him told him otherwise as they walked. 

“It isn't that bad.” Lancelot tried to consult, taking the necessary turns and checking behind him for Wachowski. Keeping a constant eye out and stopping to wait for him when they’d get more than ten feet away from one another. 

“ Yes. It. Is. ” Wacowski just flung his arms up and down firmly, struggling to keep up. All he wanted was to keep his past to himself, his parents, and Crazy Carl. Was that too complicated to ask for? Not even his brothers knew about it, and they didn't need to know. He didn't want them to think of him differently, he doesn't need that type of sadness from back and following him everywhere anymore. He’s doing better now and that's what’s important. 

Wachowski shook his head, shaking away the internal argument as he nearly walked right into Lancelot and another person walking down the street. 

“You don’t know anything,” Wachowski mumbled to himself. “Ugh, why don’t you have better bags?” His shoulders slumped as the weight of the heavy bags in his hands weighed his arms down. Sir Lancelot chuckled to himself amused.  

“It’s not funny.” Wachowski drew the word out, trying his best to express how exhausted he was; he also wondered if the knight had forgotten how weird his arms and legs still felt, even if they were getting better. Lancelot just laughed to himself again, before turning his attention back to where they were heading, as the Blacksmiths shop was just down the street from them. 

“Come on. We're almost there, see.” He pointed to the entrance, and once Wachowski saw it, he immediately righted himself and ran right past Lancelot, making him jump slightly in surprise, this being the fastest he had seen him move.  

“Wha-Hey! Don’t run off again!” Lancelot picked up his pace immediately following a laughing Wachowski as he hightailed it into the building. The kid seemingly got a bit of energy back from their uneventful trip and had effectively outrun one of the fastest Knights of the Round Table. 

“HI! We're back!” Wachowski quickly set the bags on the counter near where Blacksmith Tails was working on the extra trimmings of leather for the scabbard, and he jumped up and sat down criss crossed on the counter. He pulled off the bag with the Master Emerald, which was once again disturbingly quiet, and set it on the table. 

Blacksmith Tails chuckled at the small hedgehog's silly behavior. “Already? While the scabbard is nearly done, your sword is still cooling down. Do you want to take a look at it while I finish this up?” He pointed over to the cooling sword, its blade no longer cracked and rusty, replaced by a smooth coating of new metal wherever it was needed, and nearby sat its new oak handle waiting for the hot metal to get to a safe temperature before being put on.  

Lancelot finally ran inside. At least King Sonic had been followable, as they were about the same size and height so anywhere he could go, Lancelot could follow easily. Not Wachowski though, his small size helped him get through the crowded street just fine, whereas he had to keep dodging multiple passing villagers. Lancelot glared at Wachowski, who just looked back at him with a smirk and laughed at him before looking back at the blacksmith. 

“No, I’d rather just watch what you're doing. I don’t know much about swords anyways” Wachowski leaned his arms onto his knees as he watched Blacksmith Tails do his expert handcrafting on the leather. 

Sir Lancelot shook his head and looked over to the metal cooling rack that held Clarent and walked over. Looking at the blade he noticed the slight color shifts from one another as the metal from the forge and the blade made contact. It was elegantly made and sharp but sadly looked to be rushed. 

Lancelot hummed and made his way over to them, watching along with Wachowski as the blacksmith finished up his work. Leather being trimmed off loosened up, and eventually glued down. Blacksmith Tails looked at his craftsmanship for a moment before remembering something important. He turned to the satchel for the Master Emerald and grabbed the strap of the bag. He took the new strap that was connected to the back of the scabbard and attached it to where the original straps of the bag were. He lifted the bag into the air and tugged on the scabbard to check if it stayed in place and held up to stress.  

“Here,” Blacksmith Tails handed it off to Wachowski. “Try it on, I need to make sure it works properly.”  

“Alright,” Wachowski slid off the side of the counter and put the satchel on, he had to tighten it a little bit but it wasn't a problem. The scabbard didn't hit the floor as he walked around, or fall off when he tried jumping in place. He looked to Lancelot and Blacksmith Tails right before he put some power in his step. The blue lightning energy pumped his legs up and down rapidly as he ran in a small circle in the middle of the room, making the whole bottom floor of the building vibrate aggressively for a quick second. 

Sir Lancelot and the fox blacksmith held onto the counter in surprise. Wachowski stopped and smiled happily to himself, then his face fell as he wobbled back and forth, knees suddenly not able to hold up all of his weight fully. 

“Wachowski?” Lancelot asked worriedly. Then the wobbling stopped as quickly as it had begun.  

“That's not good.” Wachowski let himself be guided back to the countertop by Lancelot and sat down. Lancelot took the satchel off of Wachowski and silently checked him over. 

“What was that? Are you alright?” Blacksmith Tails said worried.  

“Ya, I’m ok.” Wachowski resisted pulling himself away whenever Lancelot accidentally touched a sore spot. 

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Lancelot asked, he didn't know what to make of the situation other than Wachowski was possibly hurt more than he thought he was.  

“I'm sure I’m fine. Just didn't expect to get so shaky.” Wachowski folded his legs into criss cross, pulling them away from Lancelot, and let himself recoup. Lancelot’s eyes lingered on Wachowski for a moment before going back to the Blacksmith. 

“How much will the sword repair and scabbard cost?” Lancelot knew that they were going to leave right now, the sooner the better. The only problem is that Wachowski might be unable to keep up with him if he keeps up like this. 

“It's eight gold. I know that's expensive, but you know how low on supplies everyone has been because all of the Dark knights showing up lately.” The blacksmith looked at the armored hedgehog apologetically. 

“That's alright. I expected it to be higher actually.” Lancelot took the gold out, handing it to the fox, who put it into his pocket for later.  

Wachowski caught a glimpse of the gold before it was put away and wondered to himself how the money worked here. He knew Lancelot was using silver when paying the street vendors. And at home gold is EXPENSIVE , but it seems while it wasn't the same here, it was similar. Wachowski refocused his attention on the other two in the room once one of them spoke up. 

“How long until it cools?” Lancelot asked looking back at Clarent. 

“It should be cool enough right now. Let me check.” Blacksmith Tails went over to the repaired sword and cautiously checked its temperature. Finding it's just cooler than the heated air around the forge. Blacksmith Tails brought it over to the table and grabbed the handle, putting the handle on and hammered it in, then grabbed the satchel and placed it inside the scabbard, the blade fitting perfectly inside. “There, that should be all, unless you have any more commissions for me whilst you're gone?”

“No that should be all, thank you.” Lancelot and the blacksmith nodded to each other in goodbye. 

Wachowski grabbed his satchel and put it back on, surprised by the new weight, but it remained light enough for him to carry comfortably. 

“Thank you for the bag, and maybe we’ll see each other again one day. Bye!” Wachowski said his goodbye as Lancelot grabbed the bags full of food and stood by the door. The two of them left as the blacksmith happily waved them away, wishing them a safe trip.

They made their way down the street, and all Lancelot could do was worry about what could happen while on the move, but knowing they should be up in Great Megalith right before sundown lighted his spirits a little bit.

“There will be small huts for rent at the village we’ll be staying at. There should be firewood too,” He whispered the last part to himself. “It won’t be too far away once we get to the main roads,” Lancelot said, looking down at Wachowski.

“Sounds good,” Wachowski looked at his surroundings, at all of the different types of buildings, walls, and people that passed by as they made their way out of the stone city. 

The people caught his interest the most, some tall, most short, and now and again he would see an apprentice following a knight doing their rounds. Every once in a while, they would make contact and the apprentices and knights would try to make conversation before being waved off by Sir Lancelot. Walking around with probably one of the most famously silent and lonesome of the Knights of the Round Table would make a lot of people do double takes. Not that Wachowski would truly know, he just got here.

They stopped right before the gated entrance on the East side, streets now only having one to three people walking by or coming in and out of indoor shops, but with a ton of guards along the top of the walls that went around the whole city. The road ahead had only a few carts coming into the castle walls, not a single one going to leave. No one wanted to leave except them. The wind blew and gently rustled Wachowski's quills.

“Do you think you'll make it all the way there?” Lancelot asked, needing some reinforcement that the kid would make it so that he could rest properly without any complications.

“Oh absolutely! I bet that whatever happened in Tail’s- I mean at the blacksmith's was just a fluke.” Wachowski scolded himself, but it was a small hiccup so he tried to just let it pass.

“Very well,” Lancelot paused for a moment, discreetly getting into a starting position. “Then let's try it out.” He put his metal vizier back down over his face with a quick ‘clunk’.

“Try what out?” Wachowski asked, grabbing onto the strap of his bag in unease. There was a strange edge to Sir Lancelot's voice, and it was playful. “What are you doing?”

“Let's see if you can keep up.” Lancelot's armored shoes lit up, fire coming out of the bottom, propelling him forward faster than the blue hedgehog could react.

“HEY!” Wachowski ran right after him, picking his speed up until he was ahead of Lancelot before slowing down a little and stabilizing his speed to stay by Lancelot's side as they both sped down the gravel and limestone path. Trees rapidly pass behind them, and bushes that they pass are assaulted by the wind that tunnels behind them. 

“Is this payback for me walking off without you earlier?” Wachowski called to Lancelot over the wind.

“Maybe… Ok yes, it is,” Lancelot laughed a little to himself. Wachowski just rolled his eyes but smiled along with him, a fun idea forming in his head. The Master Emerald hummed mischievously along with him.

Sir Lancelot's arms tightened around the bags of food as he picked up his speed. Hoping to outrun the younger hedgehog, he pushed further and further as much as the fire blasting out of the metal shoes could carry him. The bends in the road became harder and more complicated the faster he went. It was when he couldn't hear Wachowski's incredibly fast footsteps trailing behind or next to him he skidded to a full stop and turned around. The younger hog was indeed no longer in sight, and only Lancelot's own trail of blown-up dust followed behind him.

“Wachowski?” Nothing other than the sound of rustling leaves from the wind answered him, anxiety and regret kicking in as he felt like he made the worst decision of his life all because he wanted to have fun with the child. Wachowski could have gotten too tired and had to stop, or worse; he was in pain from all the running and collapsed.

Lancelot was about to call out again but louder, when- “You know you can't outrun me right?” -interrupted him.

Lancelot jumped, the kid nearly scaring a scream out of him, Wahowski did get a gasp out of him though. He took a 180 turn and was met face-to-face with the ‘missing’ blue hedgehog. 

“Where the hell did you go?” Lancelot looked back and forth from where they came from, trying to figure out how Wachowski appeared out of nowhere. 

“Went straight through the trees, made it easier to catch up,” Wachowski smiled apologetically, a laugh coming out as Lancelot stood across from him at a loss. “Did I do something? Or?” Lancelot continued to stand still, Wachowski just standing right ahead of him was now confused. 

“Are you ok?” Wachowski worryingly asked the armored ebony hedgehog.

“I-, How?” Lancelot pointed straight to the forest exasperated. “How’d you get ahead of me while traversing a forest you've never been in before?” He approached Wachowski, still confused out of his mind.

“The Master Emerald helped me,” Wachowski answered honestly, if he were to go in alone he wouldn't have made it out without a challenge at most, and at the least he wouldn't make it out alive, if at all. “Did you forget that it can lead the way for me?” 

Lancelot felt like he was a king's personal fool at that moment. ”Yes, I remember now.”

Wachowski continued to smile at him as he apologized. “Sorry if I make you worry,” He tapped his foot onto the gravel a couple of times before talking again. “Do you want to get going? We do have to get out of this forest before it gets dark right?” He pointed his thumb behind him where the path continued.

“Yes,” Sir Lancelot sighed and readjusted the bags in his hands. “How fast do you want to run?”

“Not as fast as you were trying to go,” Wachowski jokingly said laughing. “So long as we get there in time.” They started walking slowly picking up the pace.

“Agreed.” 

Running, they both had now reached a great speed, swiftly passing the path corners and any trees that had fallen onto the path. Lanclot's shoes had fired back up again. Wachowski kept pace, staying right next to the older hedgehog.

Valleys full of trees surrounded by hills slowly turned into empty fields that rolled and twisted up and down, with only a couple of trees and patches of bushes growing in an area or two. The path turned from gravel to plain dirt, still wet and soft from the rain. The wind is now more noticeable, no longer being nulled by the trees blocking and filtering its path. 

It hit Wachowski's quills like an old friend, a familiar sensation of running along the American plains that spread across the middle of the country filled his heart. Sadness followed afterward, missing the feeling of wandering through the tall winding woods that sat right outside of his home. Missing the sound of his parents talking to one another about weird things like what one of their neighbors found in their garage or new movies coming out. His heart missed the sound of Tails laughter coming from the other side of the room and Knuckles's boots hitting the floor from upstairs.

He missed his home and wanted to be with his family.

“You wanted to know the story behind Merlina and King Sonic fighting right?” Sir Lancelot had noticed Wachowski's sober expression and was determined to change it.

That broke Wachowski out of his longing spiral and he focused his attention on the older hedgehog thankful for the distraction. “Yes, I do. You sort of brought it up out of nowhere so I forgot about it.” Wachowski laughed at himself for forgetting something that sounded extremely interesting by his standards, and something that the Master Emerald seemed to show some sort of interest in the battleground that came from it.

“You told me that you had eaten trash abruptly, but I didn't forget that easily.” Lancelot quipped back.

“Oh har har. Don’t rub it in.” Wachowski jabbed back jokingly.

“I wasn't trying to.” He silently laughed. “But if you want to know everything that I know about the battle you're going to stay quiet,” Wachowski responded by motioning that his lips were sealed. 

“Well, it all started when Merlina’s grandfather, a wizard like her, created a fake vestige named Arthur to become the king of Camelot. It somehow delayed the decay of our world. At first it was kind, and it was around this time I had joined his Round Table, I was the first one even. Then after showing he was a great leader of Camelot he was given a scabbard of immortality blessed by my mother. This was sadly an unseeable error of hers as it twisted his mind into only wanting power over the people with an iron fist, for all of eternity.” Lancelot took a deep breath in. 

“The now tyrant went as far as to create a connection to the Underworld, a place full of Dark knights to make them his army. It cast a horrible rule over the land, full of fear and loss, I was, to what I can admit, too loyal to see the destruction that it was causing to my own people. I thought just like the others who were a part of our Round Table at the time, that what we were doing was just and righteous all because we forgot that we didn't only serve the king. We were knights, to help and aid the people when they needed us was our duty, not to harm them.” Their run started to slow down as Sir Lancelot had to choose his words wisely, picking what would make the best sense to the child. Wachowski slowed down naturally too, while the history of not only this world but the person he had quickly grown to trust had soaked into his brain. 

“It wasn't pretty, not a single sliver of this was. I am still ashamed of my actions to this day Wachowski.” Lancelot took a needed breath in.

“One day the Fake king told us that we had to capture and turn in Merlina, the last royal wizard. She had deviated from the kingdom extremely early into his tyrant rule. She started taking drastic measures to get a hold of the scabbard the Fake king held onto obsessively. Eventually we did find her.” Wachowski nodded along but stayed silent, waiting patiently to hear it all. 

“The Fake king was the one to corner her in the middle of a road. Merlina got what was the safest idea she had, and summoned a great warrior from another land to save her and help defeat the king. Who ended up being King Sonic, he did what she asked of him and quickly defeated a small army of Dark knights the tyrant had surrounded her with. Before trying to fight the Fake king all by himself. Merlina stopped Sonic in his tracks before he could get himself killed and made a swift escape to somewhere safe.” Lancelot looked at the ground as he thought over how the interaction went from where he and the Knights of the Round Table had seen it.

Wachowski took the small tidbit of silence as an invitation. “So, King Sonic and Merlina were on the same side at first? But I’m assuming something happened?” Wachowski was surprised and confused, among a lot of other emotions that he wouldn't want to get into just yet.

“Yes they were, but you'll know why they fought soon.” Lancelot said looking down at the young hedgehog and continued what he knew of the story.

“After they had escaped, the Fake ordered us to hunt them both down. We searched high and low but for the most part, all of us only ran into him by chance. I don’t know exactly when but King Sonic had gotten ahold of the golden sword that you had found, Caliburn, and used it during a duel with the Fake King. He would have been the victor if the Fake didn't have the scabbard. But I think this near-death made the Fake more cautious. It didn't come out of its castle again until King Sonic had arrived there himself later on.” Lancelot thought again, trying to put together the full timeline from what his fellow knights and Merlina told him. 

Lancelot cleared his throat and continued. “The Fake and King Sonic fought, Sonic won and took the scabbard to Merlina. During his fight, we in the Round Table had cornered her, but King Sonic made it there in time to stop us and gave it to her. What she did next none of us knew she had been planning. She told us of the plan to keep Camelot from falling apart, a complete merge of the Underworld and Camelot. The Grand Kingdom, the Highlands, even the Outlands, everything would come into one to live in pain but also in eternal life, our world wouldn't be allowed to die, no matter how much torment it would cause.” 

Sir Lacelot shivered at the fate his home nearly had. “It started on Faraway Avalon, a swarm of darkness consumed everything in the castle, and we all ran. King Sonic taking the lead of getting us out of the castle and the island it sat upon as it was consumed completely. All of us in the Round Table gave up, but King Sonic didn't and told us about how it was time to protect our home and to never give up on our duties. Lady Numie appeared backing him up, and told us of four resting places for the sacred swords each of us owned.” Lancelot cleared his throat, voice box not used to talking this much.

“These resting places would seal the Underworld's corruption. All four of us had successfully made it to them all, but King Sonic had a plan he didn't tell us of and went inside the seal before it could close entirely and made his way to Merlina. Numie, I, and the others tried to make him back out, to run away, since Merlina had all the power in the world she needed to get rid of him entirely. She even broke Caliburn. He refused and didn't back down, which through the sheer determination to help Merlina free herself, so that she could revert the world back to normal was when it was revealed that the other half of Caliburn needed that determination to turn it and its user into its true form. Excalibur, a holy sword that chooses the new king when taken out of stone. And King Sonic won with it.” Sir Lancelot looked up at the slightly clouded sky and chuckled, still slightly awestruck by watching something so fascinating.

“After the battle was over, King Sonic was surprised when we bowed down to him and called him the True King Arthur. Caliburn had turned back into its normal form and explained that since it chose the king, King Sonic had technically been the ruler of Camelot for nearly the whole time he had been here,” He laughed again. “But sadly he was extremely against this and made it clear it wasn't what he wanted, and not long after putting some rules in for the kingdom to be stable, he left for his true home.” Lancelot looked down at Wachowski once more. Unsurprisingly Wachowski looked like someone had told him the secrets of life.

“Wait wait wait, let me get my thoughts straight.” Wachowski stopped in his tracks and pinched the bridge between his eyes and nose. “This was about Excalibur and King Arthur? I know I’ve heard something about it from somewhere,” He rested his hand onto his hip. “I even thought about it when I first saw Caliburn, I thought about how when some guy pulled it out of the stone, he became the king because of it.” Lancelot looked down at him confused.

“You've heard of a story like that? Exactly like that?” Lancelot felt lost, how could someone know of the basics of Excalibur’s legend, especially when they weren't from his world at all?

“Yeah, one exactly like it. Don’t remember where I heard it from though,” Wachowski looked ahead to the road they were supposed to be traveling on at that exact moment. He looked at Lancelot with a smirk anyway. “Ended up dodging a bullet, didn't I? Cause I agree with the other Sonic, I don’t want to be the king either,” He swung his arms back and forth. 

“Alright! Come on!” He grabbed the knight's arm and pulled him forward.

Lancelot sighed and let himself be dragged faster and faster, “Do you remember anything else about the story? When did it happen, and who else was mentioned in it?”

Wachowski hummed, “No, but I can do some research when I get back home. Search it up and see what it's all about,” He playfully wracked their hands back and forth as they started to run once again before letting go at a comfortable speed. “It’ll be fun! To see what's different compared to here.”

Lancelot mumbled in agreement and kept in pace with the kid, “I suppose it could be fun.”

“That's the spirit! Now let's go!” Wachowski laughed as he rushed off, making Sir Lancelot go faster. A small smile stayed on his face as they went from spotted to empty plains while the sun slowly made its way to twilight right before they made it to the small village just as sunset began.

They stood in front of an inn, the home of a well-known landlord who gave renters empty huts for a few nights before they would leave the next day. To Wachowski he would just consider it a Motel or an Airbnb at that point, and to Sir Lancelot, while it could be a shady business at times, that's all you would need to have a completely successful business as just being a good person will get you to be deemed as reliable. 

The small village normally had about one hundred people living in it at max but for now it would have about over 50% moved out. Now the town mostly just used it as a stopping point, like they were about to do. This village was sadly only usually protected by low spiked walls, with their Knight of the Round Table not only not living close enough to his check up patrols, but also being too small to properly care for, but no matter. They had business to attend to.

The two hedgehogs walked in, the air smelling like someone had recently spilled a sickeningly sweet drink but didn't have the time nor care to properly clean it, and old wood. One person was working at the front desk with a few lit candles sitting next to them. It was the landlord, and they were looking over some papers with an ink jar, quill in hand. They looked up from their work. Lancelot nodded in greeting, walked up to the desk, and talked about renting out one of their rooms for the night. The landlord nodded at Sir Lancelot and pulled out two different papers, one had the layout of the inn’s rooms that Sir Lancelot would have to choose from, and the other was the contract he would have to sign before paying.

Wachowski was distracted by the board and mailing boxes that sat behind the landlord, both nearly empty with papers that needed signing, needed approval for their residents, or were just old and new newspapers alike. He looked out of a window of the building and watched the sun get lower into the hills making the town slowly get dimmer. Barely noticing that his eyes were getting droopy out of exhaustion, Wachowski continued to stare out the window until Lancelot tapped his shoulder startling him and making him jump. 

“Sorry about that, but I paid for the room where we'll be staying in.” Lancelot motioned for Wachowski to follow him, they walked through the entrance leaving behind the landlord in the lobby, and walked up to the second to last small hut. Lancelot opened the door to be greeted by a relatively medium room, a chimney with a small pile of firewood and a pot meant for cooking sitting inside of a spot overtop of the fireplace. 

On the other side nicely sat a thin bed, the insides filled with hay, with two blankets and pillows full of duck and chicken feathers folded at the bottom of it, and a small bedside table next to it. In the middle of the room sat a thin rug with a table and two chairs sitting on top of it, as well as a water spout in a corner of the room and one window that showed the outside road and the buildings that sat on the other side of the street. 

Lancelot set the bags on the table, pulled his head wear off, setting it on the table. Then pulled out all of the vegetables before moving over to a tall cupboard on the wall that had the door. Inside was a knife block with only two knives, basic seasonings, wooden plates, bowls, silverware, and a flint striker. Lancelot grabbed what he needed carefully and set it all on the table. Grabbed the striker, a piece of the bag that held the vegetables, and brought them to the unlit fireplace and quickly set the piece on fire. 

He carefully placed it underneath one of the less charred planks of wood and blew some air onto it, giving it more life. Letting it start the plank on fire. Lancelot grabbed some of the wood from the pile that sat nearby and put a few on top of the burning piece, then went back over to the table and prepared the vegetables for cutting. He stopped right before he did so, remembering something important.

Wachowski looked around the room curiously before putting his bag onto a random coat hanger that sat in the opposite corner of the water spout and took the Master Emerald out. The green glow lit up the room as he walked over to the bed and sat the large gem on top of the bedside table. He made half of the bed for Lancelot slower than he wanted, but he knew he just didn't have it in him to go faster. Wachowski ignored the sound of cupboards opening and closing when he sat on the unmade side of the bed, discomforted by the rough feeling of hay separated from him by a thin piece of cloth. 

He shifted from side to side trying to at least make it more comfortable before giving up and grabbing the Master Emerald, holding it to his chest as he watched Lancelot do his thing. Steadily falling asleep as the soreness from everything that had happened throughout the whole day had once again set back in. Reminding him that he had been pushing himself since the moment he had arrived here.

“Right, the water,” Lancelot reminded himself. “Hey, Wacowski?” Lancelot's voice tapered off once he looked over to where the child had settled down. Wachowski nearly looked like he was about to finally fall asleep fully, but still lifted his head up and hummed in question.

Lancelot silently chuckled, “Can you please fill this pot halfway with water and put it back over the fire? Then you can sit back down at the table while I take care of everything else,” Lancelot waited for the younger hedgehog to respond but Wachowski only put the large emerald to the side, silently walked over and grabbed the pot. 

“You alright?” Lancelot asked.

Wachowski nodded, “Just tired.” He carried the pot to the spout, carefully filling it to half, turned it off and struggled to carry it back to the fireplace. Wachowski put it back in the top area of the fireplace. Any water that was stuck to the bottom of it boiled and steamed off from the heat. He knelt next to the fireplace, letting it warm him for a moment. Then went over to Lancelot tapping his arm and pointed to the pot.

Sir Lancelot looked to where Wachowski was pointing, “Oh, good job. Thank you, you can go sit back down now,” Lancelot said, patting Wachowski on the head. Then went back to cutting up the rest of the vegetables.

Wachowski took the seat and laid his head down as the repetitive sound of the knife hitting primed wood lured him to sleep faster. The sun had nearly set fully behind the mountains, covering the small village in shadows, no more warm light shined down onto it.

“Wachowski,” He felt someone pushing his shoulder gently as he woke back up slowly. The voice came back again a lot clearer, “The soup is done, you need to eat before you go to bed.” He opened his eyes to see Lancelot nugging his shoulder, a steaming bowl in hand with a spoon sitting on the table next to his arm.

“Thanks,” Wachowski took the warm bowl. He saw no other bowl in the older hedgehog's hands. “Did you already eat?” He asked.

“No, the food just finished,” Lancelot sat down with his own bowl at the other end of the table. Wachowski hummed and began eating the plain but memorable soup. It tasted oddly like home, the flavors being only off by a little, as if there was a bit of well tasting rusty ‘omf’ and effort put into it.

He looked down to his gloved hands as he finished up the rest of the soup. The dark red blood that had stained the near pristine white looked jarring, reminding him of the throbbing pain on his temple. Wachowski looked to the faucet and grabbed his bowl and spoon, and turned the water on with a slow stream, washing and rinsing off the dirty tableware.

“Done already?” Lancelot asked, just about finished with his own bowl.

“Meh, I’m naturally a fast eater.” Wachowski chuckled out, then set the now clean tableware down. He took off his blood stained glove and ran the water over it and tried to rub, scrape, and pull the blood off. The water stuck to his fuzzy hands as he tried and failed to get all of the blood out, a thin but extremely noticeable stain of red had stayed on the tips of the glove. Wachowski sighed and squeezed what water he could out of the glove before taking off and doing the same with his other one. He debated how close to the fire he should put them in order to let them dry. 

“You done? I still have to clean my own dishes after all,” Lancelot asked as he cleaned up his spot at the table.

“Yah I’m done.” Wachowski got up and moved out of the way for the older hedgehog. As Sir Lancelot washed his dishes Wachowski put his away in the cupboard. 

Then he placed his wet gloves next to the fireplace, and kicked his shoes off, finally noticing that the insides had been soaking wet since it had rained, a little bit of water poured out of the shoe when he tipped it over. Wachowski stuck his tongue out and made a noise out of disgust as the smell hit his sensitive nose. He placed them next to his gloves, the opening pointing to the fireplace, and debated adding his socks too but decided they should be dry enough by the time he went to bed.

Wachowski heard Lancelot walk behind him and watched the tall hedgehog put his own dishes away. Lancelot looked around the room before finding the hanger Wachowski had set his things onto, and hung his helmet and Arondight up next to Sonic's bag, and began taking off the rest of his armor.

“What are you doing?” Wachowski asked.

“Can't properly rest with armor on Wachowski,” Lancelot jokingly snarked, Wachowski snorted at his tone before going back to minding his business and soaking in the warmth of the fire. 

Sir Lancelot set all of his armor onto the floor in order, taking his chestplate off last, leaving on a light green tunic that he wore underneath. He sighed at all of the weight that was gone from his shoulders. Lancelot looked at Wachowski, more specifically the bloody bandage that was still wrapped around his head, he walked over and knelt next to the blue hedgehog and copied him, soaking in all the warmth the fire had to give.

“Come here,” Lancelot ordered after a little time had passed, patting the floor next to him.

Wachowski complied, scooting closer wondering what Lancelot had in plan. Lancelot undid the bandage slowly, the blood that had dried to both the cloth being used as gauze underneath and Wachowski's fur made it harder to take off without it possibly hurting. So he tried to make it easier for them both by poking and scratching at it, making the cloth break away faster and more smoothly. It fell away and was put to the side as he went to assess the cloth used as a gauze, the fabric stuck to the sides and the wound itself like glue.

“This is going to hurt a lot,” Lancelot gripped at one of the less stuck sides of the cloth and put his other hand onto Wachowski's head, “You ready?” He could feel the kid tense up and freeze like a statue.

“Um- Yeah, Ready,” Wachowski spoke quickly, his voice shaking slightly.

“Do you want me to count down?” 

“No, j-just get it over already!”

“Alright, don't yell at me.” He shook out his elbows a little, letting them be more relaxed as he pulled the cloth from the skin. A bunch of ow’s followed. The cut underneath, while sadly still open, meant that the blood had not dried enough to stick to the cloth entirely, leaving the outside to glue itself to Wachowski's fur. Lancelot separated the two as carefully as he could while making sure to not let Wachowski lose all of his fur around the cut, but as he got to the last piece that was still stuck it came right off without needing to be painfully pulled off.

“Done.” Lancelot watched as Wachowski relaxed immediately.

“Finally,” He watched Lancelot stand up and walk to the water faucet “Cleaning it?”

“Yes, it's the only decent piece we have,” Lancelot ran the water over it and watched as the dried blood broke off in chunks and whatever was wet ran off and spilled into the drain below. Some of it stained the old and worn gloves he wore, he frowned once he noticed. “Could you roll up the wrap please, for then it's not all over the place?”

“Ok,” Wachowski wound it into a cylinder, ignoring what was left of the blood that was still on it so as to not pass out or throw up. Earlier when he first found out that he was bleeding, he wasn't really thinking about how that was the first time he’s ever seen his own blood. A feeling just short of horror started to set in but he ignored it like last time and set the wrapping down next to him. The sound of the water turning back off and shoes approaching him helped distract him.

Lancelot knelt back next to him and started to wipe the now damp cloth across his forehead before lightly dapping on the cut itself, trying to soak up and stray blood left behind as the wound was still trying to fully clot. After he was done Lancelot walked back to the facet and cleaned it out again, this time ringing it out after it was done. Lancelot got as much water as he could out before laying it in front of the fireplace, closer than Wachowski's gloves. He grabbed a couple more wood pieces and put them into the fire, then sat back down next to the younger hedgehog. Lancelot didn't want Wachowski to feel all alone sitting on the floor.

They made conversation with Wachowski filling the silence with random ramblings of his favorite shows and stories, with a description of what a T.V. is and a shoty explanation of “No it's not an in person performance.”, as the two of them waited for the gloves and cloth to dry out. 

Once Wachpwski checked his gloves and Lancelot; the cloth, and both were dry, they pulled them away from the flames. Wachowski's hands felt like they were getting smothered in warm clothes from the dryer, he held his hands inside one another warming them both up to an even warmer temperature. He could feel a rumble from the back of this throat but it went away as he felt the pleasant warmth fade out. 

“Give me the wrap,” Lancelot pointed at it. Wachowski handed him what he wanted and moved to face the knight instead of the fire. Lancelot got another good look at the cut, the size now looking bigger than it did before because of the clots that had only formed onto the outside of it. The insides of it were left wet and still bleeding slightly.

“Just so you're aware,” Lancelot began applying the gauze cloth to the cut. “The cut might scar.” He watched confusion sweep across the blue hedgehog's face.

“Didn't you- Ow,” Wachowski flinched as Lancelot pushed down onto the gauze cloth with the wrapping. “Didn’t you say that it wasn't deep?”

“Yes, but poison from the Underworld acts very differently compared to poisons from around here.” Lancelot wrapped Wachowski's head easily and patted his head once it was over. 

“Think of it like a…” He thought for a moment, “Do you know what corrosive means?” Lancelot stood up.

“Yes?” Wachowski followed Lancelot as he stood.

“Good, Underworld poison usually slowly eats away at organic living things,” He organized the fruits that they were going to eat in the morning and picked them up. Wachowski leaned on the table looking more confused. “and since you were mostly poisoned through your bloodstream and my mother provided you with that antidote; you will live,” Lancelot put the fruits inside of the cupboard, away from the heat of the fireplace. 

“But what's left that hasn't gotten inside of you is still eating away at your skin and fur, which is why I have to keep washing it, we have to make sure that it won’t at eat you anymore than it already has.” He walked back over to the table and leaned on it too. 

“Is that why it still hurts?” Wachowski asked, the headache from all the way back at Lady Nimue’s made more sense now.

“Most likely. It shouldn't hurt anymore by tomorrow afternoon.” Lancelot thought of the worse case scenario for a second. “If not, we're going to have to get a healer to check over you.”

Wachowski sighed, annoyed. Too much had been put onto his plate today. He listed everything in his head, 

‘- Keep a close eye on the Master Emerald.

- Keep his new sword in good condition and treatment.

- Make sure that the flowers you picked don't break, for then you can give them to mom.

- Don’t die.

- Get home.’  Wachowski rubbed at his eyes, tired and ready to go to sleep already. 

He looked to the bed seeing that Lancelot had already moved over and begun to puff up the hay filled mattress. Lancelot then grabbed the blanket and pillow that Wachowski was supposed to sleep with and made the other side of the bed. He sped over and took them both, also grabbing the Master Emerald, and started setting them up in front of the fireplace.

“What are you doing?” Now Lancelot's turn to be confused. 

“I just met you, I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you.” Wachowski puffed the pillow up slightly before wrapping the blanket around himself.

“But you shouldn't be sleeping on the floor either.” Lancelot put his fists on his hips, upset.

“Not my problem!” Wachowski hugged onto the Master Emerald facing his back to the knight and tried to fall asleep without thinking and termoiling about how much he missed his family and how much they must miss him.

“It is! It's going to become a problem for you tomorrow!” Lancelot was getting more agitated. Wachowski ignored him, letting himself absorb the warmth of the fire and fall asleep. Snores escaped his bundle on the floor.

“Wachowski? Are you listening?” Lancelot’s voice cut down on itself after he noticed that the kid wasn't responding in any way. He sighed when he finally heard the snoring, defeated he decided to finally lay down and rest too. 

The small village was mostly silent, with only the rare sound of awake cattle or poultry. The lanterns that lit up the main roads started to flicker before going out completely. Streets were now nearly pitch black, the sliver of the crescent moon only lighting up the night slightly, only getting worse when clouds covered it over, darkness swallowed the town whole.

Any villagers still awake in their homes felt an uneasy feeling wash over them as something close to dread and the sound of heavy armored footsteps seemed to fill the streets. 

A spark was lit, and panic filled the hearts of those that lived in the town.

The now familiar smell of death filled Wachowski’s noise, making him wake up immediately with a painful churning in his gut. He jumped up leaving the Master Emerald on the floor, a smell of burning was now more distinguishable from the death smell, the room was dark, the fireplace nearly completely dark other than a few coals were a bright red. He looked out of the window, it was still night but a building was being burned somewhere in town across from them, the sight startling him. Shock keeping him in place before a couple of dark hulking figures ran past the window, chasing down a running townsperson. 

Wachowsko ran over to Lancelot and shook him awake immediately. “WAKE UP! The village is being attacked!” Lancelot shot up and ran to the window taking in the situation.

“Stay here,” Sir Lancelot grabbed his helmet and chest plate only, not caring to put anything else on other than his shoes. “If this building catches fire or if one of those things comes in, run away and out of town and find me later once the sun comes back up.” He grabbed Arondight from its scabbard, pushed his visor down and threw the door open.

“Be careful.” Wachowski said as he left, looking lost as the weight of the situation set in even more. He closed the door as quietly as he could and watched carefully through the window, making sure he wasn't seen by any of the Dark entities that passed by. Some parts of the sky were lit by fires that stuck to houses that were both vacant or full with people.

He felt a strong pull on the coil in his chest, a deep gasp came out of him as he looked to the Master Emerald that laid on its side, disturbed from its comfortable omnipresent watching from Wachowski's embrace. The glow from the emerald lit up the room entirely, and Wachowski suddenly wished that the window had curtains.

“What is it?” Wachowski quickly went over and kneeled next to the Master Emerald and put it upright. It pulled the coil toward Clarent, Wachowski put two and two together.

“I don’t know how to fight with a sword, are you crazy?” He hissed, careful to not alert anything outside. The Master Emerald just pulled on the coil again, this time conveying a smoothing feeling, as if it was trying to tell him that it was going to be fine. 

“I can't! I’m probably just going to get myself nearly killed again,” He stood up and paced across the room over and over again, his thoughts clouding his mind as the feeling of uselessness consumed him. A scream from outside stopped him in his thoughts as a villager right outside was cornered. That made Wachowski make up his mind, he sped himself up, time slowing to a dull pulse. He put on his shoes, threw the bag on and shoved the Master Emerald inside haphazardly. 

Wachowski ran outside and sped around the building to the back, meeting face to face with two Dark knights, one had blue accents in their armor and the other had green. A local that looked to have slipped and fell onto the floor cowered beneath them, head held by their arms as they shook like a leaf in the wind. The stench of death that hung around the knight's bodies made Wachowski flinched back.

“Ew! Do these guys not understand what a shower is!” Wachowski got a hold of himself and pulled out the fixed sword with shaking hands. At first holding it more like a bat before the Master Emerald pulled on his arms and hands, putting them into the right position, the end of Clarent now infront of him instead of behind. Its blade glowed green, looking more akin to how metal looks and reacts when heated up by fire, rather than an ethereal glow.

Time quickend its pace and went back to normal. The horrid knights took notice of him immediately and both rushed him, weapons drawn. With his speed and the Master Emeralds help, Wachowski ducked underneath the green one and got a solid hit into the middle of its torso, black ooze spilling out and burning on the sword, the blade only going half way through its torso. He dashed out from underneath it as it stuck its weapon down where he had just been. The Green knight staggered but remained standing straight as it tracked him, readying another attack with its axe as the other flung its lance at him.

Wachowski jumped back, dodging the hit and jumped onto the Blue knights arm, swiped Clarent right at its head, it bent the knights helmet before the strike went down onto the neck. Wachowski jumped off quickly while the Green knight tried to hit him again with the axe, but missed and hit the other knight. Wachowski rolled onto the ground, landing next to the trembling local as the sound of screeching filled the air, the Blue knights body dissipating and whatever that was left was carried off into the wind. 

Everyone sat still for a moment before the Green knight throwed itself around in a circle, outraged with the axe held out, making itself an automatic ‘Sonic-Slicer™’. Wachowski pushed himself and the villager out of the way before the knight's axe could get too close. The villager yelped in surprise and looked confused and shocked at seeing him as the both of them rolled into a dirt path. While the Green knight clashed into the building that they were just sitting next to, Wachowski made sure to keep himself in between the locals and the more than pissed off Dark entity.

The building debris hit the knight and distracted it for a moment. And that moment was all that Wachowski needed to get a good hit in. He ran to and up the knights back and struck down with a modified spin-dash, letting the sword hand in his hands outside of his protective curl up, the maneuver slashed right though the Dark knights head. Its body doing the same as its deceased companion as it crumbled to the floor. 

Wachowski took in a couple of deep breaths, the deadly glow from the Master Emerald faded off of Clarent. “That was… easier than I thought it would be.” He turned back to the still shaking local. “You alright? No scratches or anything?” The chirping sounds the person made conveyed that they were panicked, scared, and thankful. Wachowski nodded along.

“Come we need to get moving,” He held his hand out and the villager took it, after successfully pulling the person up to their feet he looked around off to the different areas of the small village he could see. “It probably isn't safe to stay in one spot like this.” Wachowski explained to them more before scanning the area one more time before the Master Emerald once more pulled onto the coil in his chest, telling him to go to a larger set of buildings that didn't look like the homes surrounding it, there weren't any fires that way other than one. He nodded to the emerald, to the local it looked like he had come to a conclusion, and pulled on his hand that they still held lightly in question.

“Oh, we're going to, Uh-” Wachowski tried to decipher what the Master Emerald was telling him before just winging it. “We're going to those buildings to set up a camp, it's a good space for more people to group up in to hide.” The Master Emerald hummed in half content, Wachowski sighed to himself upset at the horrible communication he had with a glorified shiney rock that somehow can turn people into god.

Wachowski led the local quietly across the buildings, sometimes stopping whenever they heard the noises of Dark knights nearby. Closer to the large building was a small group of villagers, the only thing was that they were fully surrounded by what looked like ten -Purple flying fish?” Wachowski slapped his hand over his mouth after he accidentally spoke, nearly giving his and his new friend’s snooping spot away after the bat winged fish started to look around for what made the noise.

“Stay here, but once I get rid of all these things, wave the others over to hide with you in case any more Underworld thingies come.” Wahcowski whispered, the villager nodded and Wachowski gave them a thumbs up and got into a running position. The blade on Clarent once again glowing a fierce hot green, and this time his arms went into the proper position within his own command.

Wachowski ran straight for the closest winged fish, jumped up and hit it straight on, the slice cutting the thing in half. Wachowski tried to stop himself from letting out a laugh, as he thought that the smaller size might have meant that they were going to be harder to kill off. However it seems they were practically butter to this hot knife he wielded at the moment. He dashed toward another as the rest started to dive bomb him. Wachowski dodged each attack easily, only needing to side step a few and if he wanted to he could easily walk out of the way for most of these dives, since the winged fishes weren't even faster than Tom’s jogging speed. 

Once the one he was running to in the first place was finally in reach he easily sliced through its body before turning around and sliceling the few that kept up with him into pieces.

“Looks like it’s only you four left,” Confidence filled his chest as if it was pride while he watched what was left of them try to catch up to him.

Wachowski ran forward and brought down the first two with a basic slice, the third he had to jump into the air to reach and sliced its wing apart with a spin. When it hit the floor the blue hedgehog didn't give it time to try to move away, as he stabbed it through the head, killing it immediately. The last one flew higher than the others and hadn't flown down once to attack him. Wachowski watched it as it stayed in place for a few moments before the fish suddenly hightailed it out of their little skirmish with a loud screech.

“Ow! What the-?” Wachowski held his ears in pain before he ran up the side of the closest building and launched onto the flying fish, making them both crash into the ground. He held the winged fish down and stabbed it just like the last one. Wachowski sighed in relief for his ears once the screeching faded into the sound that all the other Dark entities made once they passed.

“What even was that?” He thought of some possibilities before thinking about the worst one. “Hopely not a call for help.” He stood from the ground and made his way back to where he told the villagers to hide. When he got over all of the ones from the group looked relieved, with his friend looking proud of themself. 

That's when Wachowski noticed that they weren't to the full height that most of the other villagers were, any that were their size or smaller hugged onto one or two taller locals, and Wachowski put it together that his friend was probably only just a teen. 

Then they all started speaking to him and he couldn't understand it all at once. “One at a time please!” Wachowski yelled in a hushed tone. The villagers quieted down as one of them asked and gestured where they all should go.

“Didn't have time to tell them?” Wachowski asked his friend, and they shook their heads no.

“Ok,” He pointed to the large building. “That's where we're heading, you're all going to settle down in there while I look around for more people that need help and tell them to come here too.” Wachowski explained. “The Knight, Sir Lancelot is here too, if I bump into him I’ll tell him the plan but if any of you come across him. Please tell him the plan as well just in case. Everything sound alright with all of you?” The crowd of people nodded and began to move toward the building. 

With Wachowski's friend keeping an eye on the back of the group and Wachowski himself taking the lead making sure no more Dark knights would disturb the movement of their crowd as they went to their temporary safety. One of the things they came across right before making it was the burning building. Wachowski quickly handled it by searching the nearby houses for waterspouts and buckets or water barrels and used it to instantly put it out all at one. Making the area semi flood as all of the water inside and out drenched everything nearby in the matter of a second. But other than that it seemed like everything was going as smooth as he had hoped, it even seemed as if the Dark knights hadn't touched this half of the village. No telling when they would.

They stopped right in front of the building's doors, carefully and watchfull of their surroundings. Wachowski pushed the door open, it creaked and groaned but wasn't as heavy as he thought it was going to be. The inside smelled of smoked meats, and preserved vegetables. The walls and the ceiling supports had multiple carvings in them that reminded the blue hedgehog of the carvings that were at the ruins. 

‘That felt like forever ago now’ Wachowski thought to himself before getting a better look at what the building had inside of it. Bags and crates of all kinds lined the floor, the smell of meat and vegetables came from them. Wachowski ushered everyone inside, keeping the door only a sliver open for once he left.

“Hide high, hide low, whatever you do don’t let anything see you.” Wachowski pointed to the sides of the building, where it was most likely where the Dark entities weren't going to see them, as there was another door at the other end of the building. After they all hid, except for his friend who put their foot down, they were going to keep an eye out for any one passing by. 

“Goodbye, be careful and safe.” He said that last part toward his friend specifically, and waved as he closed the doors nearly all the way. His friend poked their head out and waved goodbye and chitterd sorrows to him as he ran off.

Sir Lancelot had his metaphorical hands full the moment he stepped outside of the rented hut and left Wackowski to his own devices. He forced his mind off of the kid and refocused his mind on running after a mix of Dark knights with crossbows and swords that were terrorizing a villager, holding them up by the scruff of their neck and dress. The bottom of his shoes flared up and sped him faster, making the first hit on the one holding up the innocent villager near fatal. It dropped down to the floor immediately, the others either dove in for a strike with their swords, or backed up to get proper shots with their arrows.

SIr Lacelot didn't give them a chance as he teleported out of their way entirely, not letting himself get hit once as he didn't have all of his armor on that he would quite prefer to have at the moment. 

“SPEAR!” He screamed, and an overwhelming number of them formed around the Underworld's soldiers and struck them down with a fury that matched their summoner’s. Lancelot landed onto a nearby building watching as all of their bodies dissipated into smokey nothings. He teleported again this time back to the floor and watched the villager pick themself off of the floor.

“Find a place to hide and don't come out until the sun's back up, you know the drill.” The locals nodded and ran in the opposite direction of where they came.

Lancelot huffed and ran toward the sound of screeches and deep guttural yelling, a staple of gathering Dark knights. Once he had settled into a suitable highground that sat a good few meters away from burning buildings that were surrounded by Dark Knights and captive townspeople. It looked like they had gathered a lot of the villagers in this part of town to these burning buildings. Using the burning houses as beacons and bringing everyone they had on hand to them. 

Lancelot had to think of a plan of how to get these things under control and fast before a proper base for these horrible things could be built. First he would have to pick off any that were in smaller groups, then he would have to move on to taking down or trying to distract and divide the biggest group that sat in front of him now. The sound of wings in the air startled him, the sound was at first not heard because of the burning buildings. Lancelot looked to the skies frantically, usually when Dark Knights crossed over to their world they could only take troops, and the others that looked more ungodly were left behind. Since they were not efficient soldiers to take a full footing in their world, which meant that they were confident in over-running this town. 

They were called fish in the Underworld, which didn't make any sense other than that they can breathe under water and vaguely looked like fish, the ones that were flying toward the group in front of him all had the white highlights. 

Lancelot furrowed his brow, gripped Arondight with annoyance and jumped off the top of the building and made his way around the winged fish, because if they sent their weakest warriors out that meant the most annoying ones were here too. Sir Lancelot was proven correct as he ran into five that were sprinting down one of the main roads that led to one of the smaller and contained house fires. These more stressful underlings were named crawlers, their ability to run on all fours and climb walls with the longest claws that any creature could somehow live with. 

He took a stance and went into an attack immediately before any of them could attack first, their speed was nearly as fast as his and King Sonic's speed. And proving that they were true annoyances, the one that he tried to strike was just quick enough that they dodged the attack, fortunately the other two they were just inreach for his blade weren't able to hop back in time, but neither of them went down.

Lancelot swerved to the side when the other two that stuck to the back jumped at him, claws ready to strip off chunks of his body. He had to loop around one of the buildings when they ran after him. The two injured ones were further behind the others, then they rounded the corner of the building Lancelot got a solid slice on them both, making them wipe out onto the ground, and he had to jump to avoid wiping out with them. Once he again rounded another corner on a different building, the remaining three crawlers still followed him like a pack of rabid dogs.

After Lancelot had gotten out of their views he teleported onto the building's rooftop silently. Making them continually run around the same building over and over again. To Sir Lancelot, their stupidity was the only reason that they were even bearable. He quietly summoned three large spears, they appeared into the air slowly and semi see through, not a single noise was made since he had to be carefull. 

When they turned around the corner where he was perched above he sent the spears down, the crawlers none the wiser were taken down, the spears going straight through their bodies. He mentally sighed and went to jump down from the building but something beat him to it by tackling him from behind.

Sir Lancelot and whatever hit him off the roof fell to the ground and as he rolled to absorb the landing he saw that another crawler had joined the fight, he shook off his disappointment as he realized the constant sound of fiery boosters and multiple other crawlers running after him was probably not as quiet as he was hoping. The sound of a screech from it drew him back into the fight. Blocking the slashing of claws with his sword, the barrage pushed him back slightly but as the crawler tired itself out, he went in for an attack. The attack throws the crawler back, crashing into one of the houses.

Lancelot rolled his shoulders and prepared Arondight for another attack that was all claws before a screech filled the air for what forever, but only lasted around five seconds. The crawler lost all interest in him and looked to where the sound came from and Sir Lancelot watched as it started to run to where it had come from. He sprung into action, teleporting overtop of it before it could get to full speed and sliced straight through its torso, the sound of its death deafened him slightly.

“Must have been a call for help,” Lancelot looked around the way it came from. Only one fire seemed to be in the distance. It felt off to him, “No one else should be here, unless Sir Gawain got the news.” But he knew that was almost entirely impossible; he didn't even know the village was under attack until Wackowski woke him up.

…

“Wackowski!” Sir Lancelot immediately started up the basters in shoes, and sprinted across the village, going to the origin of the sound. ‘You shouldn't have left him alone! He’s Sonic; or a Sonic? Of course he’s not going to stay behind and not do anything.’ He scolded himself, Lancelot wished the child would just stay behind and not get himself into this mess, with his inexperience it could be the end of him. He watched as multiple Dark Knights started to move in the same direction. Keeping his stride as he killed any he crossed paths with, no matter which ones he came across. 

With a quick glimpse of the ground, for once he was happy it had rained like hell, because of the now soft dirt he could see the unique shape of Wackowskis shoes. Lancelot followed the footprints around many buildings, one time the ground was slightly torn up with signs of fighting. What he wasn't expecting were the footprints that belonged to one of the villagers following behind Wachowski. 

‘Perhaps they crossed paths at one point,’ Lancelot thought, he kept running and didn't let himself take his eyes off of the tracks for long. 

Eventually he came across where all of the Underworld entities that had left the bigger group had gathered together. They hung around a very wrecked area, the ground looked run across by multiple people, some of Dark knights were trying to follow the tracks but with how much overlapping there was they couldn't make a full decision on where a whole group of people went. Lancelot took this as an opportunity to take down as many of them as he could while they were distracted and disorientated. 

First he took out the ones that looked to wander off, taking them down silently by teleporting behind them and slicing off their heads before they could even know he was there. Next was any of the more vigilant ones, they were going to be the worst as they were already starting to spread out and look for their missing members, but that did also make it easier to pick off even more of them. And then the little party the Dark knights had rounded up were finally down to a number he could handle. Ten roamed around in a big group, careful of not getting plucked off like the others. 

Sir Lancelot rushed into the group, jumping into the unsuspecting fray and took down who he could with Arondight before having to resort to using his spears once more to take down the rest as they tried to all group up on him at once. After the short battle was over he checked the skies for the winged fish before jumping onto one of the buildings and checked the area for any more Dark entities that he could have missed. It also looked like no more were on their way.

Sir Lancelot's chest heaved slightly, he’d used up a lot of the energy in his body, and there were still going to be more Dark knights to defeat once he made sure that the kid was being safe. He let himself take a moment while his energy refilled before jumping down from the rooftop. Lancelot looked for the unique footprints for Wackowski, and only found them once he rounded a few buildings that the crowd's footprints had gone through. He grumbled to himself whenever Wackowskis footprints were covered by the crowds, making him have to trust that the kid didn't run off or disappear somehow. At one point he came across a soaking wet building, any actual damage on it looked to be from a fire. He wondered if Wackowski was the one who put it out while he wasn't paying attention.

Lancelot followed the tracks to one of what looked like a community storage building used for food. The door was open slightly, making sure he wouldn't be caught off guard, Lancelot kept his hand on his sword as he approached the door, but before he could grab ahold of it, a head popped out.

It looked to be a villager, a teen no less. They stared at one another before they beckoned the knight inside, opening the door just a smidge enough to let him through. When Lancelot got inside it looked like twenty or so people had gathered and hid within the building. The teen informed him of Wackowskis plan.

“But when did he leave?” Lancelot asked them. The teen gestured to the right and chirped.

“What do you mean I just missed him?” Sir Lancelot rushed to the door and looked to the floor, fresh footprints littered the floor that went where the teen said he went. Right back to the area that was crawling with Underworld soldiers. He resisted palming his face and looked back at the teen who waited patiently behind him.

“Keep doing what you were doing, I’ll make sure to do my part as well.” Lancelot was about to leave but he remembered to add on one last piece. “Try to stay out of sight.” 

The teen nodded and he left it at that, once more following the tracks the blue hedgehog had left behind.

Again and again, Wachowski kept on running into more and more Dark Knights, the number of them increasing when he went into a specific direction. Some seemed more common than others. Like the ones with crossbows and were purple came in packs of three to five, the blue and green ones either only came by themselves or had one or two side by side, meanwhile the red ones with swords were practically everywhere. Wachowski was happy the flying fish weren't the same, only coming in packs of ten rarely.

There were a few he knew next to nothing about, like the ones that looked like they were melting and had a huge eye, freaking purple spiders the size of Ozzy, and ones that looked like a demon dog and a horrific bat had the worst baby in existence. They were fast too, not fast enough to catch up with him, but enough that whenever he wasn't at a car's speed they were going to catch up with him. He avoided them whenever he could, not that he was slowly getting tired or anything.

Wachowski also noticed they were bringing a lot of people to the buildings they set on fire, with over fifteen to twenty Dark knights would be around the area it would be hard to set them free but he made due with what he had. The smaller house fires were easy to put out and deal with, none of them being able to keep up with him the slightest, and there only being two. The only ones giving him trouble were the winged fish. They would try and fly away or out of reach for then they could cry for help. No luck to them, Wachowski would still reach them by running up the side of a house and jumping before they could properly get away and call once more.

The only good thing was that his speed paired with the Master Emeralds power within Clarent made every single one that he came across was quick work. Didn't stop his heart from feeling like it was going to explode whenever a sword would get too close to hitting him, or when a bunch of arrows launched at him and he could barely move out of the way before they demolished anything that was sitting behind him. 

As time went on, Wachowski started to feel the effects of not sleeping a full night's rest. Each fight getting harder and harder to get out scot free. The feeling in his gut getting worse and worse only making it worse, to the point that some of these Underworld things had actually gotten some -not deadly- hits in. 

Like right now, he was in the middle of taking down one of the bigger fires when something- like the flip of a switch- changed.

The Red knight he was fighting at that moment had nearly hit him straight on before he could get a hold of himself. Wachowski pushed backwards, nearly bumping into the crossbow of a different Dark entity that tried to sneak up behind him. Wachowski kicked the crossbow out of its hands before cutting its head off, but due to the sleeping feeling that slowly was taking a hold in all of his limbs he only got a decent cut into the throat, lucky that it seemed to kill it too. 

Wachowski's mind felt numb as he backed out of where the Red entity tried to hit him again, he kept backing up even as the Red knights sword kept hitting the air in front of him. His arms and legs felt as though they were being filled up with water, nearly tripping over rock shot his brain back into action. Running around and up its back Wachowski went for a head strike. Suddenly Wachowski felt like he was going to barf when his gut suddenly felt like it was being twisted. Nothing felt right, nothing was going right too. He tried to keep his balance on the knight's shoulders but fell off the second it shook itself to get rid of him.

“Ow,” Even his voice sounded pathetic, it felt scratchy and hurt more than it should. “I want water.” Wachowski told the Red knight that wasn't listening to a word he was saying. The knight went in for a stab through his torso but before it could reach him, Wachowski rolled out of the way, careful to not let Clarents blade touch himself. He could feel the heat radiate off of it. Wachowski wished that it was just cool enough to touch safely so that he could hug it while he falls asleep with the tummy ache he had. But now wasn't the time as the Red entity tried once more to get a single strike on him, he rolled away once more this time speeding up and pushing himself off the ground for then he could at least wound the ugly thing.

“Uggh.” Another wave of nausea hit him but he toughed it out and got back onto the back of the Red knight, finally getting a good hit in as he stabbed straight through its shoulder and into where he presumed where its lungs were. Its body falling to the floor screeching, also making Wachowski fall to the floor. Clarent clashed into the ground as he laid there. Taking his time to let himself lay, Wachowski thought about how he felt. The energy in the blade faded out so that it wouldn't cause a fire.

“I don’t think not sleeping is supposed to do this to someone.” Something in his gut felt as if he was being stabbed, the pain was beyond anything he's ever felt before. He went into the fetal position, cradling his stomach even long after the pain was gone. The Master Emerald hummed in understanding and tried to sooth him, the situation out of its metaphorical hands.

“It hurts.” He pleaded for the first time to the Master Emerald. Due to the sleepy delirium and pain, Wachowski felt like he was going to have another meltdown like the night at the baseball field. But this time instead of not only being emotionally hurt he felt as if something was trying to kill him slowly from the inside out. Electricity pulsed out of his body and quills, burning the grass and ground wherever it struck.

Wachowski’s headache came back with a vengeance though the sleepy numbness, making him want to tear his own skin off and rip open his skull to dig out the part of his brian that was hurting too just; Make. It. Stop. Too bad his limbs felt like they were now full of lead instead of water. He silently let himself cry, the cold of the night and the Master Emerald being the only things to sooth him as he felt his body shake with shivers from the pain. Wachowski didn't know how long he sat there crying to himself but he knew it had been a while before something interrupted it.

That thing being the sound of fire being blasted out of armored boots. He tried to look behind himself but couldn't get his limbs to support himself or move for that matter.

“Wachowski?” Lancelot's voice sounded as if it was blurred and smudged, but Wachowski’s brain fuzzed over and he couldn't feel the pain. Only for it to come back twice as bad right after, with a new uncontrollable feeling of cotton filtering his lucidity. 

“Wachowski!” Sir Lancelot's voice was a lot closer. Wachowski saw Lancelot try to go around the lightning strikes he was causing.

“What happened?!” Wachowski heard the pure worry in Lancelot's voice, he tried to take deep breaths and calm himself down. At least enough to keep his power at bay. It took some time, with even Lancelot taking notice of what Wachowski was doing and trying to stay on track with him. By the time Wachowski calmed himself down Lancelot was all over him, but all he could focus on was to not throw up on him. The torturing pain in his stomach and the cotton feeling started to slowly go away. Pulling the child into his lap, the latherd and wet breaths he could hear weren't getting better. 

Lancelot was in shock, not expecting when following a path of footprints that twisted that went into every single small beacon burning, only to stop at the first big one. With only the small hedgehog and the burning building left, no Dark entities in sight, and lightning coming out of the small body hunched into itself. He couldn't make sense of what was happening, but for now he’ll have to simply hope whatever that was, won't happen to the young hedgehog again.

Snapping out of it, Lancelot finally noticed that Wachowski didn't look to be all there, . He took the kids shoulders and softly shook them to try and gain his attention. When he did, Wakowski was still crying, his eyes looked nearly as red as the stripes in Lancelot's quills, but he still didn't look like he was fully aware of everything. As if he was asleep and awake at the same time or simply not paying attention to the world surrounding him. But the good thing was that Wachowski had stopped crying in pain.

“Are you ok?” Lancelot mentally slapped himself, because ‘Oh boy, how obvious of a question is that.’ he thought to himself, then brought his attention back where it was supposed to. Wachowski opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times before he covered his face with his hands and somehow curled into himself further on the floor.

“Sorry.'' Was all he could make out of the broken and sore voice, the sound not matching the kid that was crumbled to the ground. Wachowski on the outside looked like he had been through hell, half of him looked as if he had been dragged through the mud, and Lancelot didn't let the multiple small cuts and wounds get past him. The Master Emerald continued to sooth the coil in Wachowski’s chest, making sure he knew Lancelot wasn't the only one there that he could turn to for help.

“No, no!” He tried comforting Wachowski as he started to cry again. “There's nothing to be sorry about, why are you apologizing?” Lancelot pulled the blue hedgehog into a hug, he didn't care if the younger hedgehog was dirtier than a farmer's boots, he himself was just as bad, if not smelled worse with his sweat sticking to his fur all over his body.

“I left when you told me not to, and now-” Wachowski tried his best to explain why he was actually crying but he couldn't even put everything properly together himself. It felt as if everything had finally dawned on him through the pain, he wasn't probably going to see his home again in what was going to be days. He could die tonight and his family wouldn't even know what happened, worse they could think that the first moment that he had alone with the Master Emerald he ran off with it and disappeared without a single trace. He made a total stranger protect him and spend money on him that they didn't have to, and not only that because he was crying in their arms at that moment. Everything hurts and it wont stop coming back after finally going away, his whole body felt more and more wrong the longer he stayed here. Is this how the other Sonic felt before he could finally go home? Or was this worse? He felt like nearly everything he's done tonight won't be important enough to help him get home, if anything he felt as if he was being punished for it. Wachowski continued to cry, but his sobbing had only gotten worse the longer he thought about everything that was happening, while Lancelot just let him be held as he cried. The only thing that would've made him happy if he even noticed was that he wasn't shooting lightning everywhere while having his breakdown.

After a good while the smell and sound of an innocent house burning to the ground had gotten real tiring to smell and listen to. Wachowski pushed away from the hug lightly, letting Lancelot know that he was done after he had finally stopped crying. 

“I think we should take care of that.” Sniffling, he pointed to the burning building, and he put Clarent away with a shaking hand. Lancelot looked over and finally realized that, yes it would be a good idea to put out a fire that could be the cause of many peoples family homes being burned down completely.

“Yes, but why don't you just sit and rest for a moment while I take care of it.” Sir Lancelot said as nicely as he could without sounding like he was giving an order.

“Why can’t I help? I’ve already put out a few of the others.” Wachowski wiped at his teary eyes and runny nose, trying to look a lot more put together than he actually was. Even if he didn't feel fine in the slightest he still wanted to help.

“Because if you want to continue to help me, you need to rest.” Lancelot explained in the simplest way that he could without stressing out the kid further. He knew that once he had this fire put out that he was going to carry the small hog straight back to the rented hut, and be laid down to rest.

“Ok.” Wachowski’s voice cracked and broke, but he didn't care and let Lance win. He tried to limp over to one of the buildings that had a porch with chairs on it, but only got as far as two feet on his own before Lancelot had to step in and help him walk over to the steps and railing before going off to find a bucket and a water spout.

Once Wachowski got to the top of the stairs and sat down, Lancelot had already gotten two full buckets of water and threw the water on fire quite effectively. Wachowski watched as Lancelot walked back and forth over and over again. Around the middle point Lancelot made his spears carry multiple buckets at once to himself for then he could throw more into the fire faster. At the end the smell of burning wood was swept away by the wind and most of the village was back to its resting pitch black, other than those two other burning buildings. Lancelot turned to the green glow that was the only signal of where the kid was resting, he approached Wachowski.

Wachowski reached his arms out tiredly, Lancelot got what he was trying to do and picked the smaller hedgehog up and rested him onto his hip as Wachowski rested his head onto his shoulder.

“What now?” Wachowski asked, he knew the second he was allowed to, he was going to crash. His whole body felt as if it had been put into a grinder and had weights pulling him down.

“I’m taking you back to the hut.” Lancelot tried his best to not look exhausted. From not getting a full night's worth of sleep, all of the running, fighting, following the kids footprints only to find him in pain on the floor, and then stress on top of all of that had differently tore him down a good few pegs. He knew he still needed to get the job done, but it could wait.

“Mmh.” Wachowski's voice finally gave out fully. Lancelot walked them both back to where the rented hut was as fast as he could.

When they got inside Lancelot put Wachowski down onto the floor next to the water faucet, Wachowski kicked off his shoes and dropped the bag onto the floor. Only caring to grab the Master Emerald out from inside. After getting himself a drink Wachowski sat as still as he could, even if the water was freezing cold, to let Sir Lancelot use the water to wipe him down. Getting as much dirt and grass out of his fur as he could. Lancelot also cleaned off any cuts or burns he got from the many fights he ran into. Especially the spot where a Dark knight with a crossbow had got a full on hit of him, the wound looking like it had cut straight though a part of his upper arm. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was though, as it had already clotted.

After he was done Lancelot shifted slightly side to side, looking as if he was trying to find out what he was going to say.

“Are,” Lancelot hesitated slightly. “Are you alright?”

“Well other than a lot of bruises, and one hell of a sore shoulder,” He subconsely grabbed said shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I'm going fine for the most part. I have no clue what happened back there, honest.” They both sat in a short awkward silence. 

“Are you ok?” Wachowski tried to ask back to make it feel less like neither of them knew how to keep the conversation going at the moment. All because the one of the two of them felt like the second they touched a pillow they were going to be knocked out immediately. 

“No- well, I mean- Yes , I’m doing just fine, but I was asking because of what happened earlier.” Lancelot couldn't help but bounce his leg. “I’m not mad at you for leaving when I told you not to. You're not the type to want to just sit back and do nothing in situations like this.” He took a breath. “But what I am seriously concerned about, is what happened back there with the whole lightning thing.” 

“Uh,” Wachowski laughed a little with a fake smile, trying to pass what happened earlier as not important. “I was just a bit overwhelmed.” Lancelot's look told him that he wasn't buying it. “I’m fine really!” Wachowski's voice cracked again, the water had not worked as he had hoped.

Shaking his head Lancelot kneeled down and put his hand onto Wachowski’s arm, “I know you've only met me yesterday but I need you to know, as not only a knight, but as father of one, and an adult, that you can tell me anything as long as you're comfortable telling me.” Wachowski looked at the floor. “So please be honest with me, and tell me what happened back there.” A moment passed, Wachowski rubbed at his eyes before his neutral mask broke and he started to tear up again.

“Everything started to hurt out of nowhere, and I don’t know why or how it started. It just hurt so bad.” Wachowski wiped his eyes, getting rid of the tears doing his best to not fall apart again. Lancelot hugged him, and was careful of the kid's quills when he rubbed circles into his back. “I just wanna go home.” He struggled to say it out loud.

“It’s going to be ok.” Lancelot held onto Wachowski for a while longer until his breath evened out. He held Wachowski up. “You're going to be back home sooner than you think.” Lancelot quickly hugged him one last time before patting him on the head and took him to the bed. 

“Okay.” Wachowski sniffed out and let himself lay on the bed. Lancelot grabbed his blanket and pillow from in front of the fireplace and placed the pillow under him and laid the blanket over top of Wachowski, making sure to tuck him in. The big gem made a humming noise and warmth went over his whole body, helping him relax as he fell asleep. 

Lancelot went back over to the faucet to wipe himself down just a little bit, getting all of the dirt he could, and as much sweat as well. Afterwards he grabbed the flint striker and relit the fireplace, and put more firewood in. Wachowski was already snoring. 

He focused on putting the rest of his armor on that he hadn't earlier. With it on he could get this over and done faster, and he won't have to take as many precautions. Grabbing Arondight, he headed for the door ready to go back to work when an odd noise from behind him caught his attention. It sounded like an object was moving in place at a high speed. Looking back at the bed he saw the Master Emerald humming. Lancelot looked down at the large gem in concern and walked back over. Putting his hand just over top of the blanket that poorly covered the emerald's glow, careful not to touch Wachowski and disturb him, he could feel the pure heat radiating off of it. 

Lancelot looked down at the kid disturbed, ‘How could he even stand touching this thing?’. He couldn't make full sense of it until he remembered how cold the water they used to clean him was. He checked Wachowski’s temperature, softly laying his hand overtop of his forehead. 

“God you're freezing cold,” Sir Lancelot grabbed his blanket and put it over top of the small hog until he came back. “Sleep well kid.” He left the hut as quietly as he could, speeding off to the two last places of burning buildings filled to the brim with Underworld soldiers.

When he got back to the hut almost half an hour later, he took off his armor silently and grabbed the blanket off of Wachowski, who was still snoring. The warmth of the fireplace mixed with the extra warmth from where the blanket had been resting on the Master Emerald nearly lured him to sleep immediately. The last thing he did was pull the blue hedgehog closer to him so that he too could leach off of the gem's warmth as he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Wachowski slowly awoke, the warmth of his bed and the Master Emerald making him drowsy. With the arms that cradled him only holding tighter each time he struggled in place to wake himself up. Sunshine from the window slowly crept into the room, making it harder to convince himself to open his eyes. Through his blurry thoughts, Wachowski thought about the weird dream he had; a cool world filled with knights and magic that then turned into a nightmare as an indescribable pain that rebounded inside his body constantly. That woke him up faster, as he cracked open his eyes not being met with the red fur of his older brother, snuggling him in his sleep, like he assumed. Whoever was holding him was bigger than Knuckles but smaller than Tom.

Being met with a stranger's arms, Wachowski panicked and tried to push away only to get tangled within his blankets. All of the movement made the arms hold onto him tighter, and Wachowski's chest was constricted between the well-known stranger and the Master Emerald's diamond-cut shape. Wachowski only struggled harder, limbs still asleep were nearly useless against the bigger figure.

With all of the noise and movement, the person using him as a plushie finally started to wake up with a groan, loosening their grasp on Wachowski. The kid used his legs to push himself away, but before he could get a good view as to who this person was, the push was too strong, and he yelped as he fell off of the bed. Landing on the floor helped wake his brain up fully, the ceiling of the room finally going noticed.

“This isn't my room!” He heard another sound from the other person waking up, looking more off to his right to where the sunlight was creeping in. The room should have been something new, and not familiar. His thoughts of panic were soon filled with sadness and dread as a question rang through the air.

“Wachowski?” The voice was rough but he knew exactly who it was, the dream finally being put together as reality. Wachowski heard slow shuffling before Lancelot stuck his head over the side of the bed.

“You alright?” Lancelot asked, yawning when he stepped off of the bed.

“I’m fine.” Wachowski tried to get out of the blanket, but he was stuck. Lancelot watched silently, trying to understand what the younger hog was doing. After a few more seconds Wachowski gave up and looked at the black and red hedgehog, “A little help?”

“Oh! How’d you get stuck?” Lancelot, now fully lucid, straightened himself and started to untangle the smaller hog. 

“I don’t know,” Lancelot found a proper corner to start peeling the blanket off the kid. “I probably did it in my sleep or something.” Wachowski waited as patiently as he could while Lancelot rolled him out, freeing the Master Emerald from being practically glued to his chest for the whole night.

“Thank you,” Wachowski pushed himself up.

“Any time.” Lancelot walked over to the window and checked where the sun was. “I was hoping to be awake hours ago. It's going to be past noon if we don’t get moving here soon.” He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the fruits that he put away the other night. 

“Would you like to eat the apples or the bananas later?” Lancelot looked back to Wachowski, who was getting a drink from the faucet.

“Apples later please.” He turned the faucet off, grabbed his shoes from where he kicked them off, sat at the table with the Master Emerald, and put them on.

Lancelot brought all of the fruits and sat them on the table, passing a couple of the bananas over to the kid. Taking a couple as well he ate them as he grabbed his armor from where he had lazily put them down. Wachowski happily ate the fruit, humming as the warmth of the sunlight from the window hit his back. 

Once Sir Lancelot was done putting on all of his armor he grabbed Arondight and set it onto his hip, ready to leave. He looked at Wachowski finishing up his fruit, comparing the buzzing ball of energy the kid was right now to just how exhausted he was the night before. Lancelot was happier that the kid was doing better, but he had to make sure.

“Are you feeling any better than yesterday?” Sir Lancelot threw the banana's skin into the fireplace, then grabbed the last bag and leaned onto the door frame.

“I do feel a lot better, just a little sore.” Wachowski grabbed his bag and stuffed the Master Emerald inside before putting it on.

“Are you positive that you're going to be fine?” Lancelot asked, he couldn't help but look at the bandage on Wachowski's head.

“Yes! Now stop worrying about it, and do it later.” He laughed.

Wachowski pushed the door open and left the room, Lancelot followed behind. The sky was nearly clear of clouds, with some smoke coming from some of the house's chimneys. The sun's warmth hit Wachowski full blast, to the point that it felt as if he was wrapped back in the blanket. A soft wind hit his quills, making a chill going down his spine. Wachowski held out his arms and found which direction it was going and let it flow through his hands. He looked behind him when Lancelot shut the door to the one-room hut.

“So which way are we headed now?” Wachowski looked from his left to his right on the road. No carriages in sight, or people for that matter. 

‘Well, that's concerning.’ He thought.

“We're going to the right, but first I need to drop the key off.” Lancelot walked to the main building, and Wachowski followed right behind him. 

Opening the doors to the landlord's lobby, Lancelot gave the keys back to the landlord at the return desk. They thanked the two hedgehogs for saving the village and reached into their desk for something. Wachowski came up closer, curious, poking his head right over the top of the ledge. They pulled out a gold broach, with the design of a snake curled around a staff with a gray marble at the end, with the base of the broach shaped like a flower. The landlord smiled happily at them, pushing it across the table for them to take.

“Thank you,” Lancelot took and admired it. “We are grateful.” 

They bowed to one another in goodbye. But as Wachowski went to follow Sir Lancelot out the landowner called him back. He turned around pointing to himself in question and the landlord nodded their head. 

Wachowski held their hand up “One second”, the landowner nodded understandably. Wachowski opened the door quickly, somewhat startling Lancelot. “I’ll be back out in a second, they want me for something.” 

Lancelot nodded, “I’ll be right here.” He continued to examine the broach. Wachowski went back inside and ran back up to the desk, eager to see what they wanted from him. 

The landowner pulled out a decently thick book, the outside was dark leather with golden trim designs along the cover, and the edges of the paper were gold. They handed the book over to the young hedgehog, looking happier than earlier. Wachowski took the book and opened it up, skimming past the pages he noticed that it was all in a language he couldn't understand and filled to the brim with hand-drawn pictures.

He was about to tell them the bad news but with a short, quippy tug from the Master Emerald, his eyes felt strange. It didn't hurt or anything, but it was at least somewhat uncomfortable, with the very back of them feeling like they were heating up. 

Suddenly the page he was currently on shifted to English where a green halo had formed around in his vision, with anything outside of it was still in the native language. Taken aback and making sure he had not somehow done drugs in his sleep, Wachowski flipped through the pages again, only ending on the same result. He looked to the landlord, since they were staring at him awaiting his reaction since he grabbed it.

“Um, thank you, I’ll see if I can find a place for it.” Wachowski walked back to the door. 

“Bye.” They waved goodbye to one another as he left the building.

He continued to look at the book when he rejoined with Lancelot. Noticing the book Lancelot had became interested.

“Looks like an encyclopedia.” He pointed to the pages that Wachowski kept skipping through. “Want to see if you can find this?” He held the broach to Wachowski’s reach. 

“Sure,” Flipping the pages until he had gotten to B’s, he quickly went through it all, looking for something that looked like what they were looking at. It didn't take any time to find a drawing of a broach that looked close to the one they were gifted.

“Ok, says here it is called a Cure-all Broach, cool,” Wachowski looked further down the page. “It's made to ward off the effects of different kinds of fish Dark knights.” He let a small laugh out as he closed the book. The back of his eyes went back to feeling normal as there was no need for translations.

“Well, that's nice.” Lancelot looked at the broach for a moment and then looked at the younger hogs bag. “Here,” He grabbed the arm sling part of Wachowski's straps and clipped it on. “You’ll need this more than me.” 

“You think so?” Wachowski asked.

Lancelot stepped back and examined the kid then nodded. “Yes, now are you ready?”

“Yep!” Wachowski shoved the book into his last empty pouch on his bag, it was a hard fit but in the end, it fit nice and snug. 

Lancelot started walking and Wachowski kept up next to him. As they walked they only ran into very few people inside of town, with them saying thanks and their goodbyes. When they had gotten to the edge of town, it changed with people lining the sides of the road. 

From everything Wachowskis saw in smaller towns, it looked like when a float in a festival or celebration was going down the road, and people would line the sides with the chairs that they brought from home. But they were the float, and everyone was standing and even a few approached to give them gifts.

One of the younger ones that had run up to Wachowski, had a little knight doll, with a red torn cloth as a shirt, and a little sword that was tied to its waist with leather twine. He thanked the child for the cute gift, patting them on their head before they ran back to where their parents stood. 

Sir Lancelot was better at ignoring the gifts they tried to give him, he only needed to hold his hand up to stop them from giving anything to him so that he could watch the kid have fun interacting with the ones that he rejected. 

Ultimately, they had a couple of very interesting gifts ranging from basic foods like sweet tarts to some smoked ham that Lancelot had to carry in the bag with fruit. A beautiful blue gem necklace, a small vial of bright cyan liquid that had a long enough sting that Wachowski could fit it nicely around his wrist, and a smooth round Turquoise gemstone. Wachowski could tell it was real just by the weight, he put it into his bag's main compartment along with the Master Emerald, the large gold ring, and the doll.

When the crowd started to thin out the further they got from the village, they thought that was going to be it. But with the sound of someone running towards them from behind, they both turned around to see that a very familiar teen was running straight for them.

Wachowski stopped walking and happily waved hello, Sir Lancelot stopped too. When the friend got to the two hedgehogs they had to take a good few breaths before they could hug Wachowski. They thanked them for the help, Wachowski was about to tell them to at least loosen up the hug so then he could breathe before they gave him some space and wrapped something around his neck. Looking down, it was a red ribbon fastened into a cute bow, the details in the lace were little flowers with small white beads in the middle of each one.

“Thanks, hopefully, we’ll meet again. '' Wachowski waved them off after they gave each other one more hug and he finally learned their name. It sounded like two chirps with a long draw of a caw, odd but he didn't mind.

Lancelot laughed, “Are you sure you should wear that, you could be grabbed by it.”

Wachowski glared at him, “If someone is close enough to grab this thing, it means they're going to be close enough to grab me by the neck or my quills.” He poked his tongue out at the knight.

“And it’s not like I’m going to be wearing it for long, I’m going to wrap it around my flowers later when we're on that boat you were talking about.” Wachowski started walking. 

“Make it look pretty ya know?” he shrugged.

Lancelot sighed, “Whatever you say.” Truth be told, he just didn't like the implications, it all depended on whether or not they were trying to be friends or not. The red on the ribbons means a lot of different things, just like roses, and the white beads would seal the deal if the color wasn't also loaded with different meanings as well. “It's just better to be safe than sorry.”

Wachowski lightly elbowed him, “They're a friend, I’m not just going to take it off the moment that they give it to me.” He looked down at the vial of mystery liquid and the dark blue necklace he was debating putting on. “I’ma see if I can find these in the book before we start running.” Wachowski pulled the book out.

“Go ahead,” Lancelot said indifferently.

“The one for the necklace says it’s called; Mermaid’s Tear” He looked at it with a little bit of awe before turning to Sir Lancelot. “How cool is that?” 

“Sounds nice,” Lancelot looked down at the page as he walked.

“I agree, but it also says here that it can help keep the person wearing it from being viewed as a bad person?” Wachowski turned back to Lancelot. “What does that even mean? People just trust you no matter what you do?” 

“No, I don't think so, I might make people be more- How should I say it?” Lancelot tapped his hands together for a few seconds before finding a better description. “Let's say, you stole from someone.” 

Wachowski quietly laughed, “OK?”

“So without the necklace, other people will start running away,” The blue hedgehog laughed louder and Lancelot tried his best to not join in. “But with it, they will at least give you the time of day to approach them.”

Wachowski’s laughs died out, finding the page he was looking for. “That doesn't make much sense, but I get it?” He held up the book to a better reading view. “Want to hear the next one?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Ok, so it says; Vial of Calm. Sounds mid.”

“Mid?” Lancelot asked, perplexed at the wording.

“It means mediocre, it's just shortened and mixed a little bit,” Wachowski explained. Lancelot bobbed his head, happy to extend his vocabulary.

“Makes the wearer less suitable for panic effects?” He looked down at the tiny vial around his wrist. “Never mind, I’m not taking this thing off.” That made Lancelot laugh. Wachowski put the Mermaid’s Tear into the main compartment with everything else and put the encyclopedia back into its pocket.

“Why are you so happy at not panicking?” Lancelot asked straight forward.

Wachowski looked him dead in the eye, “What do you think all of that electricity that was coming off of me was?”

Lancelot's jaw dropped, “I thought that was what was hurting you?!”

“No!” Wachowski laughed at his expression. “That lightning show was me being scared for my life,” He let himself get a couple of breaths in before explaining more. “Some time at the end of a fight with a group of Dark knights, something just flipped or snapped. I don’t know how to describe it really,” Lancelot listened in close, somber to what the child was talking about.

“All of a sudden it was as if all of the adrenaline in my body stopped randomly, I could feel the build-up of pain and soreness all over my body.” Wachowski let himself talk through it. “And after taking them down, I sort of crashed? I felt like someone had physically stabbed me in the stomach, I couldn't move it hurt that much.” He tried to laugh at that last part and it came off as half-hearted.

“But everything just hurt, as if my body was trying all at once to rip apart from itself. That's when I started to panic a lot more, and then you showed up,” Lancelot felt like someone had ripped his innards out, thrown them into an iron maiden, and chucked them down a waterfall. “And since I was nearly out of it when you found me, I had to calm myself down so that you could.”

Wachowski let that sit in for Lancelot. Silence from the both of them was thickening as they continued walking. Wachowski wondered if he had said too much.

“Are you positive you're going to be alright?” Lancelot asked weakly. Wachowski suddenly felt bad.

“I don’t know.” He looked down at the ground ignoring Sir Lancelot's concerned stares as they walked. Wachowski heard a deep exhale come from the knight before he stopped them both on the road by putting his hand on his shoulder. All of the nearby trees and bushes rustling in the wind suddenly sounded a lot louder than the younger hedgehog thought was necessary.

“If you begin to feel like that ever again, no matter where I am, you come straight to me. OK?” Lancelot hoped he didn't sound like he was pleading.

“Ok,” Wachowski continued to look at the floor, he wasn't going to go against Lancelot's wishes but it just felt humiliating. Needing help when you’re known for being one of the fastest things in your entire universe AND you’ve even turned into a god before, it feels sucky. He felt Lancelot lift his head so that they were eye to eye and when Lancelot saw Wachowski's doubtful face it made him second-guess the approach he was going for.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just some stupid stuff.”

“Well, when your face looks like that I don’t think you think it's stupid. Now please tell me. You're making me more worried than you think,” Lancelot urged, hoping to get the blue hog to open up just a little bit more so that he could get the full picture.

Wachowski thought of what the older hedgehog had told him that night, “I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to tell you about it.” It sounded scripted but he didn't want to be in this conversation any longer than he needed to be. He looked to the side so that he wouldn't have to see Lancelot's upset face, but since he was looking away he couldn't see the hurt that was there instead.

“That’s alright.” Lancelot patted him, he was once more distracted by the bandages. “We're going to have to stop at a healer to get proper bandages for you before we go to Faraway Avalon.” Wachowski looked back at Lancelot. He put on a calm smile for the kid and started to walk again. Checking behind him to see if Wachowski was next to him or at least close behind.

Wachowski stayed silent for a moment before getting an idea to help lighten the mood to something happier. “What’s your favorite sweet?”

“What do you mean?” Lancelot and Wachowski’s pace started to speed up, with Sir Lancelot's shoes lighting up and Wachowski’s legs getting faster and faster.

“Like for food. Which one is your favorite that’s also a sweet?” Wachowski wanted to know, and he had a good reason.

Lancelot thought for a moment, “Have you ever heard of a marzipan cake?”

“No, what is it?” 

“It’s a cake that's made out of almond paste.”

“Sorry to be rude but that’s a little gross. A whole pan filled with mushy almonds?”

“No it isn't just the almond, it's a normal cake but with almonds and it tastes amazing. But my favorite toppings for it, I hate all the other flavors by the way,” That made Wachowski laugh a bit, and Lancelot smiled. “is when the whole outer layer is covered in dark chocolate, and there are sugar-coated cherries on top.” Lancelot merrily said, glad that Wachowski wasn't going to stay quiet and indifferent to what he would say or do. 

“Well, when you say that then it suddenly sounds edible.” Wachowski chuckled.

“It was edible the whole time.” Sir Lancelot fired back.

“No, it wasn't,” Even as Wachowski joked around, he was putting this in his head for later.

 Once he gets the chance he’s going to make Lancelot that odd dish as a way to say thank you for helping him and a way to repay him for getting him stuff. Being thankful for the older hedgehog staying by his side and taking care of him was a given.

They ran, falling back into a familiarity of conversations and explanations. The journey to the next stop at a seaside town near Crystal Caves already felt like they were halfway there.

Seeing the town from the outside felt sort of off, it felt as if it was more of a higher quality of materials and abundance of people, and the smell. Wachowski could practically taste the salt in the air but the smell of sweetness that only food could bring, felt as if it was oozing out of the town. Sir Lancelot didn't seem to be put off by the smell much, other than when he had looked over and saw the knight scrunch up his face as if he had eaten a lemon, it smoothed over right after. They walked into the town walls, the sun was halfway through the day.

“So what are we looking for?” Wachowski asked, looking around the streets were full of baked goods and barely any item shops. But they didn't need any food, since the apples they had left, and the ham & tarts the villagers had given them were quite filling. Practically a whole meal.

“A healer. I’ve already told you this.” Sir Lancelot looked from storefront to storefront, the buildings around them not indicating where anything he was looking for was.

“I know we’re looking for a healer, but I meant; What does the place look like?” Wachowski asked as they rounded a corner and went down the next block. 

“Well, its sign is white and has some surgical tools on it,” Lancelot was getting frustrated, he hadn't been in this town in over two years and wasn't familiar with the town streets anymore. “I don’t recognize anything around here.” He vented out his frustration with a stressed voice. Wachowski watched as the older hedgehog got more and more irritated, with his walking speed picking up too.

So Wachowski thought up a plan. “What do the tools look like?” 

Lancelot snuck a quick glimpse at him before looking back to where they were going. “A saw, syringe, and a roll of wrap.” 

“Thanks!” Wachowski ran off, and going at his quick speed he found the entrance to the healers only two blocks away. On his way over and back he took note of what turns he took and what was the shortest way to get back to the building. And while Wachowski was gone Lancelot watched nearly powerless to stop the kid from running off. 

“Wait!” He powered up his shoes but he didn't get the chance to move any further than a foot before the blue hog was already back by his side.

“You should have warned me!” Lancelot de-powered his shoes. Wachowski smirked as the knight looked down at him disapprovingly. “Where did you go?” He said with his arms crossed.

“The doctors,” Wachowski said back, he pointed off to the left to a corner he came back through. “Turns out it was only two blacks away.” He gestured his hand to tell Lancelot to follow.

Lancelot reluctantly did so, “Stop running off like that, you could get hurt.” Wachowski laughed.

“I can handle myself for a few seconds alone,” They turned a couple of rights and lefts. “I’m sad you don’t think I can handle myself.” He said playfully and posed as if his heart was broken.

“I know you can, but I’m still concerned after-” A pause. “after what happened last night.” Wachowski noticed Lancelot's face fall from being annoyed to disturbed.

Wachowski hummed and went back to paying attention to the road to not lose track of where they were. He wasn't the best at comforting other people, but maybe if he at least tried, it would make the knight feel slightly better.

“It wasn't your fault, you didn't know anything about it.” He nudged Lancelot with his elbow lightly. “Or how to make it go away, but I’m glad you were there to help me get through it.” Wachowski felt the words awkwardly leave his mouth, his throat feeling like it was dry and inflamed, and the ribbon felt tight around his neck. Simply put, he felt as if he had stage fright all of a sudden, which to him feels like it should be impossible. He held onto the shoulder strap of his bag with a tight grip and rubbed at the broach with his fingers, hoping for the feeling to go away.

Sir Lancelot sighed, looked down at the smaller hog, and patted his head. Wachowski wanted to push the hand away but Lancelot put it back down to his side before he could.

“It’s a part of my duty as your escort and temporary guardian.” Lancelot left out how he was grateful that he had made Wachowski’s struggle passable. He looked right down the street and finally saw the sign of the healer's clinic. 

“How did you find the clinic so fast?” Lancelot asked.

“Went up and down every street looking at all of the signs that were white.” Wachowski rubbed the broach’s snake as if could feel the petting. ”For me, it took a while but I bet it was only a second for you.” Wachowski chuckled and looked up at Lancelot, the sun shone into his eyes and he winced. His headache had returned, and the feeling of his heartbeat throughout his whole head suddenly. 

Lancelot looked at him with concern, “Everything alright?” He looked behind him, the sun was slowly being claimed by a cloud.

“I’m fine, just give me a moment.” The blue hedgehog rubbed at his eyes, the pain had faded but he could still feel the pulse. 

They stopped at the entrance of the clinic, Lancelot looked down at Wachowski. He pointed at the doors. “You should come in. We could get you checked over and have your bandages replaced at the same time rather than buying a whole roll.” 

Wachowski hummed, “Sure, if it makes you stop worrying.” He giggled when he saw Lancelot's mouth pout, with his vizor down it was the only part of his face he could see.

“I don’t worry that much.” He folded his arms.

“You admitted to it back at Great Gegalith.” Wachowski teased as they walked in. The smell of old-timey sterilization hit his nose, his snout scrunched before he could get used to the smell.

“Fine, I do. More than I ever should have too,” Lancelot admitted again. 

Looking at the desk that had the clinic receptionist, he could tell by their scrubs that they were the resident healer's assistant. The waiting room was thankfully empty, which could mean they were able to make a walk-in appointment.

They walked up to the desk, “Could we get an appointment set up?” The receptionist nodded, pulled a paper out, and asked a few basic questions for info for the doctor to go off of. Lancelot thanked them before he motioned Wachowski to sit down with him on one of the wooden benches after he was done. 

Kicking his feet back and forth, Wachowski watched the assistant leave the waiting room. He patted his hands onto his legs with no rhythm in mind and distracted himself. Lancelot was occupied with looking at the carvings that riddled the ceiling and the room's baseboard. 

“The wait should be fast,” Lancelot said, but he didn't actually know how long it could take, seeing as they were earlier than he had anticipated it should be fine.

“Hm, ok,” Wachowski was bored already. “This is my first time to a doctor.” He didn't know what possessed him to tell Lancelot about it, but he'd never been to a doctor for people he’d only been to the vet with Maddie, and the second closest thing to that was whenever Tails would scan him after he had absolutely wiped out during a couple of their runs together to make sure he hadn't broken any bones.

“You've never been to a healer before?” Lancelot asked, perplexed.

“Never,” Wachowski shook his head. “The closest thing would be my mom, Maddie, she’s a veterinarian.”

“Wachowski, vets take care of an animal's health. Not us,” Sir Lancelot did not like the thought that the kid had possibly gotten hurt and his parents didn't provide him with the proper care. “Are you positive that you’ve never been in a healer's care?”

Wachowski shook his head again, “Yep, never stepped foot in one either.” 

He made a big toothy grin at Lancelot when he looked at him with an unamused face. The knight sat silently before groaning, “Every time you talk, you say the most horrid things any person could hear.”

Wachowski amused, laughed again “It's not like they would let me in any way. Unless my dad made them treat me for whatever reason.” He also thought about G.U.N. The idea of them jumping at the opportunity to examine his brothers and him if they ever caught wind of them getting hurt made his spine shiver.

“Not let you in? You're just a child, there's no reason they shouldn't let you in.” Lancelot was confused and angry now. His tone of voice was starting to concern Wachowski.

“Calm down, the doctors where I’m from don’t know anything about me. Also, I’m not ‘just a child’. I’m thirteen,” He counted on his fingers, “One they don’t know my name, two my basic health, three what medicines will and won't kill me, and four I don’t know them either. They could be horrible people for all I know.” He crossed his arms, upset. 

“I have no reason to go to a place where they aren't going to be able to help me, let alone WANT to help me,” Wachowski said the last part to himself through gritted teeth. He knew the struggle of getting help from strangers who even knew of his existence since he had first unintentionally revealed himself fighting that madman. They would either just stare at him or put on the fakest smiles that he’d ever seen. It was infuriating, and to put on top of it, with his experience with doctors who are total strangers, they probably wouldn't pass up the opportunity to dig around his insides if they had the chance.

‘Yeah, hard pass.’ Wachowski suddenly felt a wave of calm wash over him, the feeling of dread and anger fizzled out. He fluttered his eyes a couple of times before he could feel his body again. He looked down at his wrist where the vial sat, some of it was now missing as if it was used. Wachowski put two and two together and sighed with relief and thanks. He didn't want to panic at his first time at an actual doctor who could try and treat him that wasn't his mom.

Lancelot noticed the sudden mood change from teasing to resentment, then to relaxation. Lancelot’s anger wasn't gone but now he was plainly disoriented. 

He also took a mental note that Wachowski said, ‘Only two years younger than Galahad.’ That was a shocker to Lancelot.

He shaked his head. “They should still be doing their job. Everything you listed isn't a qualified reason for them to deny you basic service.” He thought it over just a little bit more, putting together a horrible conclusion.

“Are they-'' Lancelot didn't know if he should even say it, his voice tapering off at the end from hesitation.

Wachowski looked up at him. “Are they what?” With the calm now spread throughout his whole body, he felt drowsy. He held the feeling back from affecting him fully since it was only a small side effect.

“Do they deny service to people that look like you and me?” Sir Lancelot needed to know,  it was rare to have people like… that in the position of doctors since they were required by the law to treat anyone that walked into their doors.

“Oh, you're asking if they're -!” Wachowski sat up straight, cutting himself off, the shock making the rush of calm fizzle out as he had to think about it. “I don’t know, but they could be but I have no clue.” He started thinking about it too hard. “I guess they probably have perceived notions about us? And that's why?” He shrugged his shoulders, not expecting the conversion to get this deep.

“Wachowski, that's what it’s nearly entirely made up and based on,” Lancelot said, deadbeat.

“Ah! Well, I doubt all of them are xenophobes. They just fear things and people they know nothing about,” He thought back to G.U.N. again, “Sort of like how kids are scared of the dark, they're not afraid of the shadows, they're afraid of what could be hiding inside of them.” 

“What’s an xenophobe? I thought we were talking about people who hate other species?” Lancelot was getting more confused.

“UH,” This was the first time an adult didn't know a big word that he had learned from trying to look up random things on the internet that were technically related to him.

“OK, I’ll try to explain it since we're not on the same page.” Wachowski cleared his throat. “Where I’m from, a xenophobe is someone who hates others who aren't from where they are from. Or in my case, others who aren't from the same planet.” 

‘Which is stupid.’ he thought as he waited for Lancelot's opinion.

Lancelot pondered on Wachowski's words, understanding each part of it, but the end piece is what concerned him the most. “You’re not from the planet you’re currently living on?” 

Since he was a high scholar, you weren't allowed to become a Knight of the Round Table otherwise, he had read the books and scrolls about how the sun and moon worked, and how many planets they had in their solar system. It was even now quite taboo to think the world was flat. But he had only heard of space travel from King Sonic, but even then it wasn't about traveling from one planet to the next.

“No I’m not, and so are my brothers.”

“What about your parents?”

“They aren't my bio parents, and my brothers aren’t my bio siblings either,” Wachowski chuckled at the repetitiveness.

“You’re all adopted?” Lancelot asked intrigued.

“Sort of? Definitely not legally, I sort of just moved in right after Dad first met me, and after we met Tails and Knuckles they moved in as well.” He smiled, remembering the first night that they spent together in his room. 

The middle of his room was turned into a huge blanket fort that Knuckles set up, the insides were under Tails’ control, with large pillows and the fluffiest blankets spread across every inch to make a large nest. He was in charge of the snacks since he knew more about the food from Earth, and he only got them the best of the best, even if he wasn't allowed to bring the entire pantry up into his room for all of them to try. Especially since he was grounded from eating most of the snacks. They stayed up nearly the whole night, with the first one to fall asleep being Tails, which caused a domino effect on the older two to nearly fall asleep immediately after. Ozzy and Tom were the ones to wake them up in the middle of the afternoon the next day.

“I miss them,” Wachowski said aloud on accident, but it didn't really matter since Lancelot already knew that he missed home.

“You’ll be back with them soon.” Sir Lancelot patted him on his head again. He recognized the names of people that King Sonic had spoken very fondly about, but since this child is also Sonic, it was to be expected.

The sound of footsteps approaching them let Lancelot know that they didn't need to wait any longer. Looking to his left was a healer in more casual garments, waiting patiently for them at the door that led to the examination rooms.

“Looks like they’re ready,” Sir Lancelot stood up and lightly grabbed Wachowski’s shoulders. 

“I’ll just say this for now, if those people do deny you or your brother's care when you do eventually walk into those doors, whether they believe it or not, they are not good people. Is that clear?” Sir Lancelot knew the lengths that the Sonic he knew would go to show that people can change, but he knew that some would never do so. No matter how much people try to help them.

Wachowski's ears drooped, he wished that Lancelot left the conversion behind, “Yes.”

 Lancelot patted his head, again. “Good.” 

He and the young hog followed the doctor back into a mostly empty room. Save for a desk with a sink built in that was connected to a cupboard, three normal chairs, a trashcan, and a cushioned examination chair that reminded Wachowski of the hospital beds he would see on the TV. The sterile smell of the room was stronger than out in the waiting room but it wasn't enough to make him feel like he could puke, unlike some of the rooms in his Mom’s clinic.

The resident doctor closed the door after they walked in, Lancelot put Arondight up onto a hanger, then told Wachowski to give him his satchel and put it up as well. With it off of his shoulders, Wachowski finally noticed all of the weight he had been carrying around. He rubbed and rolled the sore muscles and tried not to look pained whenever he could feel an indent left in his skin from the straps. 

The healer pointed across to the two of them, asking which one they were checking over. Since Sir Lancelot was the one who had their name put down on paper.

“Him,” Lancelot pointed to Wachowski. 

Wachowski waved to the doctor, “Do I sit in the big chair?” The doctor nodded so he jumped up with a little help from Lancelot and got as comfortable as he could be in a real examination room, which wasn't much, even if the seat was cozy.

The healer took his chair, moved it closer to where Wachowski was sitting, and put the paper down. They pointed at the bloodied wrappings on his head with the question of what happened.

“Dark knight got the jump on me,” Wachowski shifted in place, already getting nervous.

“Its blade was poisoned but we got an antidote into him not long after.” Lancelot finished for him.

The healer hummed, then got up and lightly touched the wrappings and asked- If it was alright to remove them.-

“G-go ahead,” Wachowski shakingly permitted them, ‘Stop freaking out!’ he told himself but the feeling of cold from the healer's fingers seeping through his fur down into his skin only made it worse.

They pulled the wrapping off and put it in the trash. When they finally took off the main fabric they had been using as gauze, the healer looked over the enlarged cut with worried eyes. 

Stating that it was inflamed and looked like it was more of a chemical burn than a poisoned cut, they asked the two hedgehogs if they had been washing it out enough and at regular intervals.

“No, we didn't have access to proper clean water other than last night and this morning,” Lancelot said.

The healer asked when the incident happened.

“Yesterday, around noon,” Lancelot answered again.

They briefly mentioned the weather but moved on from that. Saying they had to properly disinfect it before applying a burn ointment.

The healer walked to the cupboard and grabbed out a couple of glass tubes filled with unknown liquids, and little cloth squares. When the healer opened the bottles a sickening sweet smell came out. 

Wachowski plugged his nose and watched as they poured the liquids into the cloth squares before gently rubbing it into the wound. He did his best to stay quiet but he broke when they accidentally pulled up a large scab that was stuck to a part of the cut that was still bleeding. The disinfectant seeping into the cut made it burn, and the healer apologized. Lancelot had to comfort him whenever the healer had to quickly wipe the new blood away from the now-open wound. 

After the healer was finally done he grabbed actual gauze, applied a burn ointment onto one side, and put it on the cut. Lancelot made sure that Wachowski didn't rip it off the second the kid could since he could see the absolute irritation on the younger's face. 

The healer grabbed a weirdly sticky wrapping that only stuck to him beyond the outer edges of the gauze instead of needing to be wrapped around his whole head. 

The healer told them that it was best to replace the bandages every twelve hours. They handed the ointment, a packet of gauze, and the sticky wrapping over to Lancelot and informed him that he had to only pay for the oils.

Sir Lancelot gave the healer the amount of silver it cost before turning to the kid, who looked like he was contemplating his existence with his ears drooping down.

“Actually, could you help us with one more thing?” He asked them. The healer nodded and sat back down in their chair.

Lancelot tapped Wachowski's snout, breaking him out of his disconnection. “Tell them how you felt last night.”

Wachowski rocked back and forth in place as he talked, “I-it felt like I was dying. My head hurt a lot, it felt as if someone had stabbed me in my stomach and it hurt so much I nearly threw up,” As he listed it out the healer grabbed the paper and started to write things down on the other side which made him more antsy. “And my whole body felt like it was trying to rip itself from my bones, but also including my bones?” He decided to leave it at that.

“You -um- have anything that could help with that?” Wachowski struggled to not start fidgeting at a faster speed than normal people, and Sir Lancelot tried to not let his neutral face fall and reveal even more of his worry because it had already happened and was hopefully never going to happen again.

The healer looked over their notes for a couple of moments before they looked like they had given up, and asked if Wachowski had any chronic illnesses that he knew about.

“No, this is new, very new,” Wachowski hoped that the medical professional could find out how to help him find a solution to his new problem because he was not sure he could handle going through that much pain again without literally blowing everything up.

The healer then shook their head and apologized, they didn't have any idea about it or how to help prevent it.

“That’s alright. Thank you for the help,” Sir Lancelot said, then grabbed Arondight from the rack and Wachowski's bag. 

“Thanks,” Wachowski hopped down from the cushioned chair and grabbed the bag from Lancelot. 

All three of them walked back to the waiting room. The healer grabbed something from the receptionist and handed it out to Wachowski before they left for where their office was. Looking into his hand were two plastic-wrapped candies, he ate one as he followed Lancelot out of the clinic door; it was lemon flavored.

“Was that better than you expected?” Lancelot asked when they started walking down the street in the direction of the canal that was attached to the ocean.

“Do you want me to be honest?” Wachowski asked back.

“I would prefer it.”

Wachowski puffed up, “It was not fun at all, and whatever they put on burns.” He rubbed at the bandage.

“It’s not supposed to be fun, and it's just some disinfection and oils,” Lancelot paused. “But I am upset that they were not careful enough with cleaning it.” Lancelot stopped walking and pulled back the kid so then a cart being pulled by horses could cross the street.

“Yep, I would like to not lose any more blood than I have to.” Wachowski dropped his hand and instead held onto his bag's straps.

“You got a treat though,” Lancelot pointed out.

“Candy doesn't magically make everything better,” Wachowski laughed. “At least it tastes good.” He popped the second one into his mouth and let the taste of sweet strawberry set in and mix with the lemon before he munched down on both.

“You’re supposed to suck on hard candy, not chew it,” Lancelot didn't know the rules to candy. Not really being a sweets person can do that to a person.

“And? I like chewing them. ‘Cause sometimes they get these little slivers in them that pinch my tongue,” Wachowski hopped up onto a line of raised dirt and balanced as they walked. “So chew ‘em instead, nothing wrong with it.”

“Is that true?” Lancelot sarcastically asked the kid,  “Also get down before you fall.” Wachowski chuckled and hopped off of the long mound of dirt. 

Wachowski shivered at the sight of the ocean water up close. Its small waves that hit the sides of the long dock weren’t what bothered him. It was the instant darkness that sat below. An endless nothing that wanted to swallow him whole. Off to the far left, some ruins showed where a bridge used to sit, now just a crumbled husk swallowed into the canal's waters.

Sir Lancelot was busy getting a helmsman to sail them to the island that held that disturbing castle. Wherever he laid eyes on it he could feel his gut churn more and more. Wachowski looked back at the town that smelt like sweet foods that he never got to try to distract himself. He kept reminding himself that he was going to be fine.

“Wachowski!” Lancelot called and motioned to him to hurry up. 

When he got over he was met with a local that looked to be their fifties to sixties. They had a layered uniform that reminded him of a fisherman. Which fit because the small boat that they were about to board was a decently sized paddle boat filled with fishing supplies and a nearly full bucket of fish bait. The smell was familiar to the smaller hedgehog, going on all of those fishing trips with Tom and Wade desensitized his nose.

Lancelot carefully climbed down into the boat before reaching his hands out to help him get in. While they sat down and situated the helmsman untied the boat from the docking and climbed in. Taking the seat that had the paddle handles, they started to push the boat out and into the more open waters. Once they were, the helmsman put up a small sail, and with the wind picking up they started to move at a decent pace.

Wachowski watched as the shoreline got further away, dread filled his stomach but he pushed it down and distracted himself.

He grabbed at the ribbon around his neck and slowly pulled on one of the ends, making sure he had a good grip on it as the wind tried to pull it from his hands. After it was off he bunched it into his hand and opened the side pouch that held the still fresh flowers. Wachowski grabbed each one out one by one, ensuring that they didn't lose any pedals, and wrapped the ribbon around nicely and tight. He failed to make the bow at the end and struggled to make a proper knot without pulling on the beads.

“Need some help?” Lancelot asked, noticing the younger hogs struggle with the small fabric.

“No I got this,” Wachowksi tried a couple more times before he nearly dropped both the flowers and ribbon. He looked to the knight, “Maybe a little help will work?” He chuckled embarrassed.

Lancelot laughed at him softly before taking the ribbon and holding Wachowski's hands up while still holding the flowers. “Do you want a bow or just a decent tie?”

“A bow please!” Wachowski happily cheered.

“Ok, I’m going to go through this step by step with you,” Lancelot told him each step of where he had to properly put the ribbon as it crossed and looped around itself before he physically did it. The blue hedgehog watched and noted each move and paired it up with the steps. It ended with a bow that looked bigger than the bow that was around his neck.

“It's bigger now,” Wachowski said, confused.

“Your neck is larger than a bundle of flowers Wachowski,” Lancelot made sure to tighten it just a little bit more before he let go of the ribbon. He let the kid pull the bundle of flowers to take a closer look. Wachowski looked at them for just a little bit longer before speaking up. 

“Thank you, it looks amazing,” He packed them back into the side pouch they were originally in. His neck felt bare and naked, he shook the feeling off.

“You’re welcome,” Lancelot looked back at how far they were from Faraway Avalon. 

With the speed they were at, they were probably going to get there in less than fifteen minutes. He looked back down at the child, who had brought out the encyclopedia and started reading random pages. He silently chuckled to himself, the wind burying the sound, as he noticed Wachowski had to keep both hands tightly wrapped around both sides of the pages of the book so that they wouldn't be flying all over the place.

A few minutes passed by and Wachowski gave up on distracting himself with the book and looked into the main compartment in his satchel. He debated what he should do with what he had. 

‘I’m not getting the Master Emerald out, as well as the wonky ring… Maybe I could just stare at the turquoise gem?’ The wind blew harder causing some of the salty water to hit his back. He yelped and shook in place for a second before he made up his mind and pulled out the children's toy of a knight instead. 

‘Better than staring off into the ocean or losing something important.’ Wachowski sighed and looked at the doll closer. Its wooden sword was longer than half of its body. He squished it in his hands a couple of times, feeling the dried beans and rice that filled the insides, making it heavier than a normal doll. 

Wachowski sat and messed around with it for as long as he could, distracting himself by playing with it when the waves picked up and hit the sides of the boat. Causing the boat to rock back and forth. Due to his nervous shivering, Lancelot noticed his distress and had to take hold of his shoulder to get his attention.

Wachowski turned to him, “Yeah?” His voice cracked a little bit out of stress.

Lancelot simply held his arms out, letting the younger hog make the decision. He looked to the water and back to Lancelot a couple of times before scooting closer, letting the knight hide him away from the deep channel. He leaned on the older hedgehog for the rest of the time that they were in the open waters. Holding the toy to his torso, eyes closed, and ears flattened against his head. 

“Not a fan of deep water?” Sir Lancelot asked, recalling how King Sonic felt about oceans, deep rivers, lakes, and how he was deathly afraid of them.

“No,” Wachowski mumbled out.

“Well, you won't have to worry for long. We're nearly there,” Lancelot watched as the dock that connected to the lonely island got closer. Wachowski didn't look and stayed attached to his side.

When they had gotten close enough the helmsman put the sail down and started rowing towards the dock. They slowed down quite a bit, nearly close enough to have the boat tied down. Wachowski looked up. The dock bumped the side of the boat as the helmsman jumped out with the ropes and loosely tied it down. 

Sir Lancelot helped Wachowski exit the boat safely, then climbed out himself. They both thanked and waved the helmsman goodbye as he went back out into the channel. 

Chapter Text

Sir Lancelot was looking at the road that went up to the castle before he turned to Wachowski, “Ready?”

Wachowski put the doll away before he looked at the older hedgehog, and nodded, “Ready.”

“Good,” they both walked off of the dock and started traveling up the road. 

The afternoon sun, while covered by some clouds, helped warm and relax Wachowski as a slow increase of anxiety and dread started to plague his whole being. The closer to the ruined castle they got the more he felt as if something had its eyes on him intending to eat him alive. The only other place to look was either out across the channel of flowing water that surrounded him or the tall island, or straight down at the overgrown road they were walking on. Even as they made their way up, abandoned fortified walls and unknown structures that could hold a city's worth of people lined the outside of their stone path.

So Wachowksi kept his head down and tried to dismiss the brewing build-up of negative emotions that was giving him not only a headache but a hard time in general. All of the tension in the air surrounding the younger of the two only went somewhat unnoticed by Lancelot. He looked over at Wachowski a few times before he decided to say anything.

“You shouldn't be worried. Merlina is a very kind person,” Lancelot said, guessing that was what was bothering the blue hedgehog. Wachowski looked up from his thoughts before he straightened himself. 

“I’m not worried,” He smirked. “After all, you’re here if anything goes wrong.” Wachowski gestured to the knight, happily distracting himself with the conversation.

“Then why were you slumped like that?” Lancelot retorted back.

“I-” Wachowski didn't know what to say. Does he confess that something about this place makes him feel like he’s going to be murdered or - ‘Nah!’ He decided not to talk about the big red flag this whole island had been the moment he had seen it for the first time. 

“It’s just that we’re still surrounded by the ocean.” Wachowski told his half fib.

Lancelot looked to the edge of the path they were following, its side dropped off completely and fell to the water below. “That’s understandable, but we should be fine. Boats come over here all the time since Merlina needs a lot of different things from all over Camelot for her hard work.”

“Hmm, what is she doing here anyway?” Wachowski asked, the idea of someone wanting to stay here, even if they were trying to right their wrongs. Didn’t seem like a good idea whatsoever.

“She looks over ‘The Tear’,” Lancelot shook away a shiver at the mention of it. “I’ll show you once we get up to the top, and you’ll understand.”

Wachowski stared at the older hog, “That doesn't sound safe.”

Lancelot met his gaze, “Because it isn't, tears in our reality are how the Dark knights come into our world.”

Wachowski thought about it. “Wouldn't that mean it’s a two-way street? Couldn't you guys send soldiers in?”

Sir Lancelot shook his head, “Can’t, too dangerous. We’d be going in blind, no one but Merlina and Sir Sonic know what’s in there.” 

Wachowski let a wide teasing smile across his face. “You called him ‘Sir’ this time!” He laughed when Lancelot looked away in embarrassment.

“I know, it's- Ugh.” Lancelot lifted his visor and rubbed at his face, he felt like a disgrace. “I respect Sonic’s decision to leave, but I do wish he stayed and be the king longer. Merlina on the other hand,” He sucked his breath in. “She would berate me whenever I would call him king after he resigned.”

He sighed and put the visor back down, “Let’s just call it muscle memory.”

“Afraid of getting yelled at?” Wachowski teased the knight.

“Maybe,” Lancelot mocked back.

Finally, at the top of the island, where the crumbled castle sat, Lancelot and Wachowski stopped before they approached the doors. Outside were a good few tents with crates, so that they wouldn't get wet, others sat next to the slightly open doors that separated them from the inner yard. Its walls, a dark grey, were breaking down but they stood tall. Even with the space in between where Wachowski stood and the castle itself, his gut told him that it wasn't safe to approach a single step. 

Sir Lancelot turned to the kid, “Stay here, I don’t want a misunderstanding to happen.” 

Wachowski looked to one of the further away boxes and ran over and sat atop the ones that were stacked the highest. Getting comfortable he looked back down to where Lancelot still stood and gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll be right here!”

Sir Lancelot nodded, “Good, I’ll come and get you after I tell her everything.”

“Bye,” Wachowski waved Lancelot goodbye and watched the knight for as long as he could before he disappeared out of view. The broken castle’s unnerving and threatening aura made his back shiver as he looked down from what felt like staring into the eye of a territorial predator.

The Master Emerald sent a rippling wave over his chest that tickled, making him nearly fall off of the stack of boxes out of surprise. He opened the main compartment and pulled out the Master Emerald, setting it onto his lap.

“What are you doing?” Wachowski asked the large gem that had been nearly silent since the night before. Another ripple went through his chest and he had to stop himself from laughing too loudly since the feeling of being watched was still there. 

“No, seriously what are you doing?” He batted the top of the emerald, trying to discourage its shenanigans. After a moment the coil in his chest was pulled to the side. When he looked over to see it was tugging toward the bend of the castle's wall, curiosity got the best of him and he ran over peeking around it.

Its wall turned into a gardener's nightmare further down, the wall busted from the inside, and large boulders were scattered across the unkempt foliage. The ‘entrance’ to the abandoned garden was visible from where Wachowski stood. He waited for a moment before he looked down at the Master Emerald. Weirdly, the feeling of being watched faded slightly.

“I’m supposed to stay put for Lance,” Wachowski mumbled the excuse. He did want to look and explore the place, but who knows how long it will be until Lancelot comes back. The Master Emerald pulled on the coil again, impatient.

“I shouldn't,” He whispered, the gem pulled again. Wachowski looked back at the doors with glances for a few seconds before he caved and sighed.

“I can’t believe I’m letting myself be bullied by a green rock,” The Master Emerald happily gave him the equivalent of a hug around his ribcage as he walked toward the unknown area. When he got to the destroyed wall he had to jump over it to get into the actual garden.

The sun was nearing sunset.

“Merlina! It’s me, Sir Lancelot,” Lancelot called out looking across the yard that held a couple of tents. One that was more off to the side looked to be her study and a different one was more of a dining room, with a moveable oven. The great hall and pantry were destroyed in the battle after all, she’d need to find a way to eat.

“Over here Sir Lancelot,” Turning to his right was Merlina exiting a larger tent. He bowed slightly and started walking over.

“Good afternoon,” Sir Lancelot faltered in his step when the other Knights of the Round Table walked out of the tent as well along with their squires following behind. Lamorak, a green hawk with a feisty temper like his echidna teacher, and Galahad, his son, who had just begun his training under Sir Percival in this last year. 

Galahad waved hello and he waved back, still confused.

“What took you so long!” Sir Gawain hollered at him with his arms angrily placed over his chest.

“Good day to you too Sir Gawain,” Lancelot gumbled out, annoyed at the echidna's lack of manners.

“Sir Gawain, keep your voice down. The boats at Camelot City were closed down the last time I was there. So I assume they still are now if I’m correct,” Sir Percival explained to her fellow angry knight, clicking her built-in heels on the stone path and looking between the two of them. Sir Lancelot nodded and Merlina spoke up.

“So I assume my letter found you well?” Merlina said with a solemn smile on her face.

“What letter?” Lancelot asked.

Merlina’s smile dropped, “The letter that told you to come to me urgently, ” When Lancelot didn't answer she gestured to the other four. “Just like the letters I sent to them about that storm?”

“I never got a letter from you, if I did It would have been sent around the time when I wasn't home,” Lancelot explained. “When did you send it?”

“Yesterday, when the rain first appeared,” Merlina looked down for a moment. “Were you not taking shelter?”

“You know who my mother is, Merlina. I was off to ask her if she knew what was happening,” Lancelot was getting worried. “Which is one of the reasons why I’m here in the first place.”

“Good, that means you know more than us,” Sir Percival walked forward. “Do you know what caused it?”

“Yes, a green emerald fittingly called the Master Emerald. That's the size of Sir Gawain's head.” He gutted his thumb at the said knight. “It’s been handled.”

“HEY!” Sir Gawain yelled, not taking the insult well. Lamorak hid his snickering from the red knight to not get demoted.

“There's no possible way that much magic was from one gem,” Merlina protested. “The possibility of such capabilities are too rare,” she gripped her staff harder. 

“Agreed, the storm had even reached us,” Sir Percival gestured to herself and the others. 

“It cooled everything down so much that half of the town in the Cauldron had perfectly running water!” Galahad gleefully exclaimed as it was the only upside from the other knights. The water pipes and such were usually overheating in the Cauldron, making the water come out as boiling or just plain steam since the town was right next to lava lakes and rivers from a constantly running volcano.

“Where did it come from? An emerald like that doesn't appear out of nowhere,” Merlina asked Lancelot.

Lancelot sucked his breath in, “Well, it’s definitely from nowhere that what we know of.”

“What does that mean?” Lamorak asked annoyed, hands now on his hips, full of sass.

“It means that it’s not from our world,” Lancelot finished after he was rudely interrupted. Merlina hummed, and the others nodded. “But it brought someone else with it,” Sir Lancelot informed them.

“Wait? I’m confused. Can’t magic stones only have one type of magic?” Galahad asked, looking between both Sir Percival and his father. Magic stones are rare when it comes to mixing different types of magic to the point it seemed impossible, based on what he’d seen in his studies.

“This emerald seems to like to be the exception,” Lancelot looked off to the side, thinking of all of the odd things he had seen from the Master Emerald already. 

Merlina let herself breathe at the explanation of that impossibility and rubbed at her hands. “What's important is that it’s been handled, but who did it bring?” Merlina looked back at the black-armored knight.

“A thirteen-year-old, and he’s not experienced with these types of things,” Lancelot gestured to everything around them. “I can confirm that this is a situation close to that of Sir Sonic’s. Which is the other reason why I’m here.” 

He looked to Merlina, “Since Sir Sonic has a friend who knows how to use these types of emeralds more than he does, we're going to have to go to Sir Sonic so that we can get help from that friend.”

Merlina thought for a moment, before looking as if she was searching for something in the sky, “You brought the child with you?”

“Yes… How did you know?” Lancelot asked, suspicions high.

“I'm a wizard Sir Lancelot, I know when something foreign in magic is approaching my residence.” Merlina snickered, and Lancelot hummed in agreement. “I would like to meet him, what's his name?”

“Wachowski, and I can go get him. He’s waiting right outside,” Sir Lancelot walked to the doors.

“Kid you can come in… now,” Walking through the doors he looked where the kid was supposed to be. It was empty. Lancelot took a deep breath in and realized he was getting too old for this. ‘That boy is going to be in so much trouble.’

“Well, what's taking so long!” Sir Gawain, impatient, pushed open the large doors. It probably would have scared off Wachowski if he had been there.

“He’s run off again,” Sir Lancelot explained to the impatient knight.

“There's nobody out here,” Lamorak retorted, not listening to the hedgehog. 

“Where do you think he went? It’s not safe to be running around here alone,” Merlina looked at how far the sun had fallen. “Especially with how dark it will be soon.”

Sir Percival and Galahad stayed silent, looking around for signs of anybody being around that they just couldn't see. After a couple more seconds of being bombarded with questions, Sir Lancelot couldn't take the constant noise from the two loud-mouthed knights anymore.

“BE SILENT!” Lancelot commanded. His authority of being the first Knight of the Round Table came in handy. Sir Gawain and Lamorak stopped their shouting. He took in another long breath, but held it in for a second before letting it out, calling himself down.

“Just give me a moment,” Lancelot's thrusters activated and he ran straight for the castle's walls. Jumping up as high as he could before he stabbed Arondight into it and launched himself off of it, higher and higher, until he was at the top of one of the watchtowers. 

Taking a stand at one of the tallest ridges and preparing himself, Sir Lancelot took as deep of a breath as he could.

“WACHOWSKI!”

Landing on the other side of the wall, Wachowski fell into an overgrown patch of reddish-purple flowers that looked like hearts. Overgrown hedges surrounded him like a claustrophobic maze, hanging onto them were multiple different types of vine-like weeds using them as a crutch to reach where the sun would hit. The feeling inside of the garden felt like a breath of fresh air compared to outside, with the feeling of being watched like a hawk fading to an amount that he could still feel, it was just dulled down to a very generous amount. 

Looking down the path Wachowski could see some twists and turns he could take, he got up from where he had landed on his butt and walked down to one of the first turns after he solved some of the flowers into his bag. Around the corner is a large overgrown water fountain. Some trees were bent every this way and that over top of it, and underneath a few were cracked stone benches. Creating a spot that would be picture-perfect to be reading a book if it wasn't getting as dark as it was.

‘If only it was the middle of the day. Then it would be perfect.’ Wachowski thought to himself while taking a closer look at the water. He could see fish that looked close to koi fish that he’d see in pretty pictures of people's ponds online. He’s never seen them one on one, but he wished he could. Underneath some lilypads and other water local plants, he could even see a couple of small bright green frogs.

“Doesn't look too bad.” 

Both the fish and frogs looked to be doing just fine, if anything they were excelling due to the overgrowth and lack of intervention. He took one of the lily pad’s flowers and moved on, flowing a random path that branched out to the side.

Wachowski crossed different turns, passing by some stone and marble statues that were cracked or fully destroyed and lying across the grassy floor. One time he passed by a tree that had fully lifted a whole marble statue off of the ground. 

The further into the garden he went the more it became overcrowded with the foliage. A couple of times he had to go underneath and through one of the hedges just to get around a thick wall of weeds and trees that had taken over the path entirely. Forgetting he had Clarent. The shadows from the hedges started to get darker, and the stone walls that protected the castle within were blocking most of the sun's light by now. Excluding that wasn't the fault of the sun already being as low as it was already.

The young hedgehog was having regrets because now he was sure he was losing it, as the creeping feeling of being watched came right back as he walked into a patch of glowing ferns and trees. Coming across the glowing plants that were the exact ones in the forest was probably bad, and a sign that he wasn't supposed to be there. So Wachowski decided it was best to leave. When he turned around and took his first step the Master Emerald pulled on the coil in the opposite direction he was trying to go. 

He whipped the glowing gem out and glared at it, “I’m already too far out here, I shouldn't keep going.” 

The Master Emerald pulled on the coil again. 

“It's not safe!” Wachowski stomped his foot on the ground a couple of times. 

The green gem pulled on the coil again, this time with the surge of energy given to him by the emerald as a sign of comfort. Wachowski looked back and forth between the shadows he dreaded entering and the rest of the garden that was still illuminated by the sunlight. He looked back down to the emerald and debated his choices.

“We’re going to be fine, right?” He asked the emerald. It hummed and gave him a squeeze around the ribs before it glowed brighter, lighting up the dark like a nightlight.

“I can be back before Lancelot notices,” He whispered to himself before he looked down at the emerald. “And if I’m late I’m blaming it on you.” 

Wachowski hyped himself up a little bit, jumping in place before he ran into the darker area of the garden. Master Emerald held to his chest, guiding him through the hedge-turned borderline maze. When he ran straight into a wall of vines he slowed down. 

After taking a few more turns a rustling sound made Wachowski stop in his tracks.

“Hello?” He called out, looking around he couldn't see anything that was too far from him and the Master Emerald's light. But with a small movement in the shadows next to the side of a bush. Ahead of him on the right, poking its head out, was a small figure. Nearly as big as a large bunny, but it had one purple glowing eye, or was it reflective? He couldn't tell from where he was standing.

“Hi?” Wachowski waved hello to it. 

The small figure darted away, “Wait!” He jogged behind it making sure to give it some room so that he wouldn't startle it any more than he already had. 

Wachowski could hear what sounded like a louder version of a bee flying, he noticed they weren’t running. Whatever or whoever he was following hovered right above the ground, if he squinted hard enough to look through the dark he could see what looked like a little pair of wings attached to their back. 

Left, right, right, left right again Wachowski followed the small thing. The hedges had nearly turned into pure forest by now, but every plant looked like it had been twisted in a direction that wasn't neutral. Turning to follow the small thing on a right turn he caught a glimpse of it going to the right into a small opening that glowed red and purple from something on the other side. He had to slide on his knees to get into the small opening, he regretted it when it started to sting. 

In front of him were four large, tall, crystals, covered with etched-in symbols, all glowing with energy that went into making the walls of an elongated icosahedron. With the small figure nowhere in sight, Wachowski investigated what was inside the long semi-translucent shape. But simply looking inside of it made his subconscious instincts flare up. Either to run, fight, or freeze. The cut on his head throbbed, acting like how people’s bad joints hurt right before a storm approaches or it rains.

A large gash of red that harshly faded into a pure oily black sat on the inside of the icosahedron. The Tear. 

Trees covered what was left of what he could see of the sky, nearly making it pitch black if it wasn't for the glowing from the crystals and the Master Emerald. The small hedgehog felt like he was going to crumble on the floor and have a panic attack as he froze in place. His hackles raised and quills sparked in blind defense when he could see movement on the inside. 

A black oil-like substance dripped from the open wound, but what really got his attention was the dozens of poorly camouflaged eyes that peered through it. All of them were just seeable enough so that he could tell that they were all staring directly at him. Un-blinking and unwavering.

A spark of electricity from his quills attacked the shape that contained the gash, making most of them disappear into the black oil before being replaced by new ones. The icosahedron’s shape flickered for just a split second. Breathing heavily, Wachowski couldn't help the feeling of bile start to push up at the back of his throat, he was about to throw up. 

Suddenly a familiar feeling of intoxicating calm drug through his body along with a humming jittering feeling of the Master Emerald hugging its presence onto the coil in his chest to calm the hedgehog down further. Sharp breaths were replaced by deep ones. If he could sweat, he was sure he’d be drenched. 

Wachowski breathed in and out, the panic swallowing his whole body wasn't fully gone, but he was better. More of the teal liquid in the vial had disappeared; only a quarter of it was left. He swallowed down the saliva that had filled up the back of his mouth as he played with death by looking around for a possible exit that he could get to without getting closer or taking his eyes fully off The Tear. 

There was a space to the left that looked like it went straight to the inner walls of the actual castle of Faraway Avalon. If he could just move his legs he could book it to the castle’s walls and get as far as he could from this thing.

“WACHOWSKI!”

The sudden yell scared the crap out of Wachowski, making him jump out of reflex. He felt disappointed in himself, he didn't want to take this long. He had to move, and Wachowski took a risk by taking a step backward. The Tear didn't react other than the eyes following him shuffled back and forth, copying his movements.

The Master Emerald pulled on the coil, telling the blue hog to go to the side and not backward when he nearly fell as he stepped on a loose rock he couldn't see. Following its guidance he safely made it to the opening that led to a door on the inner walls and back up slowly. 

When both the shape made of magic and The Tear didn't move, other than its eyes, Wachowksi booked it to the wall. 

Running straight up it, he launched onto the rooftop and ran straight for where he could see Lancelot perched on one of the tallest outer wall lookouts. He had traveled further away than he thought, only a little bit further and he would have ended up at the back end of the fortified castle. He hurriedly launched from the inner walls and rolled up to absorb the hit from the soft dirt, accidentally demolishing and ripping apart the ground to not take heavy damage. Wachowski shook off the pain, and dirt, that spread throughout his back and ran to and up the larger wall.

“So sorry,” Wachowski said as he vaulted over the top, startling the knight.

Lancelot quickly recovered and crossed his arms, “Why did you run off? I told you to stay put.”

“Blame the Master Emerald not me,” Wachowski puffed out catching his breath, the feeling of being watched wasn't gone but since he now knew where the feeling came from and that it was contained, he didn't need to worry too much about it at the moment. “I didn't want to leave, it did.”

Sir Lancelot looked down at the large emerald and then looked back up to him after sighing. “Where did you go?”

“Some random garden,” Wachowski took in one more deep breath before straightening himself out. “I’ll tell you more about it later.”

“Hmm, you can tell me about it when we replace your bandages,” Lancelot walked up to the kid and picked him up, resting him on his hip like the day before.

“What are you doing?” Whackowski asked, grabbing onto Lancelot when he walked to the ledge. “Lance, what are you doing?!”

“We're heading down. You’re going to meet the rest of the Knights of the Round Table,” Lancelot jumped onto the battlement’s ridge. 

“Besides, since you have such a bad habit of running off,” He pulled Arondight out of its sheath. “You’re staying by my side from now on.”

Looking at the higher height they were at compared to the inner walls of the castle Wachowski couldn't help but stare down at the drop-off from the side. Not noticing the people that were looking up at the two hedgehogs from down below. 

He screamed the moment Lancelot jumped off the side.

The knight shoved the sword into the thick stone wall, slowing their descent to the bottom by a lot. Wachowski hugged Lancelot by instinct, holding onto him like a cat does to a tree by burying himself into the knight’s armor. Sparks flew from the wall but Sir Lancelot kept his grip strong on the sword's handle. Landing on the soft grass was easy with the speed they were at. Lancelot simply pushed off of the wall, pulling Arondight out with him, landed off to the side, and put the sword away.

“See, it wasn't that bad,” Lancelot patted the spooked blue hog's head.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Wachowski pushed himself off of the knight and shook off his nerves. “Don’t do that ever again.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” Lancelot looked at the group approaching them and held his hand out to Wachowski. “Now come on, there's a good few people you need to meet.”

Looking over Wachowski only recognized one person, that being Knuckles’ look-alike, the others he didn't have a clue about. He looked at Lancelot, “I thought I was only meeting Merlina?”

“She mailed them to come when the storm appeared, she also sent me a letter but I was with you when it arrived.” Lancelot watched as they picked up their pace recognizing the blue hedgehog, he put his hand down wondering ‘What the hell are they doing?’ Lancelot watched Wachowski stiffen up when he saw how fast they were approaching. 

The kid hid behind his back when Sir Gawain yelled something about him being an imposter. Lancelot grabbed hold of Arondight when he saw the echidna pull out his dual blades, the blades’ names being Galatine. 

An idea came to him and he looked down at Wachowski and his satchel, “Put the necklace on.”

Wachowski looked up at the knight, “You think it’ll actually work?”

“Better to have something than nothing.” He looked back at the fast-approaching red knight.  Wachowski pulled out the Mermaid’s tear necklace, quickly put it on, and hoped it worked.

Sir Percival, Merlina, and his son were yelling at Sir Gawain to stop. Lamorak followed behind them as his teacher's defense, his dual blades also drawn. 

When Sir Gawain finally made it to them he slid to an angry stop, “Move Lancelot.” Said knight didn't budge, glaring at the red knight. “I said, move.”

“Stand down Gawain, he’s just a child, not Sir Sonic’s imposter.” Sir Lancelot said sternly.

“Like hell it is!” Sir Gawain tried to go around Lancelot but he faced Sir Gawain wherever he went, keeping Wachowski behind him and out of his reach.

Gawain pointed one of his blades at Lancelot, fed up with the protective hedgehog, ”Get out of my way!”

“Don’t make this mistake.” Lancelot knew the second Gawain went in for a strike that it would be the echidna's end. The others finally arrived before it could escalate to that.

With Sir Percival pushing Sir Gawain back, Lamorak took the red knight’s side, waiting for any commands from his superior. Merlina stood between Sir Lancelot and the other Knight of the Round Table. 

Galahad joined Wachowski behind his father, startling the shorter hedgehog but he quickly calmed down when he showed the younger his hands in a gesture that he meant no harm. He quickly grabbed Wachowski's hand and pulled him away from the group.

“I’m Galahad, Sir Percival's apprentice, and Sir Lancelot's son” Galahad pulled up his vizor, an apologetic smile on his face. “I’m sorry you had to meet all of us like this.” He brought Wachowski closer to one of the tents, filled with barrels to get a greater distance from the angry knight.

“It’s ok, not your fault,” Wachowski looked back at the arguing adults. “But,” He looked at the silver hedgehog with intrigue. “I knew Lance was a dad, I never thought I’d meet any of his kids while here.”

Galahad chuckled, “I’m a single child, but you’re not wrong. You probably would have never met me if I wasn't under Sir Percival's teaching.” He looked down at the necklace the blue hedgehog wore, “Nice necklace.” He said, hoping to make more small talk to distract from the situation.

“Thanks, I just got it as a gift this morning. Along with all these other things,” Wachowski happily showed off all of the things he had gotten to someone more of his age group.

“Whoa, that's a lot of stuff!” Galahad was surprised at the amount of things that Wachowski could hold in his bag. But before he could ask more about all of the items, a yell caught both of their attention.

“That thing is an imposter, and you are foolish to think otherwise, Lancelot!” Sir Gawain yelled, swinging his hands around furiously, and by extension his sacred blades. Sir Percival had to take a step back to not get struck by the aloof hands.

“You are the one acting irrationally, Gawain,” Merlina scolded the furious knight.

“He isn't being irrational,” Lamorak bit back. “Sir Gawain could be right, and we won’t know until whatever or whoever that ‘Wachowski’ is, either reveals itself to be a Dark fairy or proves that they aren’t one.” He said the young hedgehog's name like it was a bad word. 

It made Lancelot fume.

“He isn't a Dark fairy!” Lancelot yelled at the hawk apprentice. “Nobody has even seen a normal fairy in years! Let alone a dark one!”  His patience for his fellow Knight of the Round Table and his student was running thin. The black knight hated the feeling of being questioned.

“But now is the perfect chance for one to come back, and all it would need is for one of us to believe its innocence!” Sir Gawain shouted at Sir Lancelot.

“No, he is not a Dark fairy! Are you even hearing what you’re saying right now? He’s a kid!” Sir Lancelot was close to losing it.

Gawain tried to step closer but was held back by Sir Percival’s arm as she stepped back in again, “Yes I am.” He said through gritted teeth. “For all we know, you could be under its control.”

That was the final straw.

“YOU HALFWIT!” Lancelot pulled Arondight out and launched at the offending knight. Sir Gawain went into defense to block the attack, while Lamorak jumped forward and swiped at the more experienced knight as a pre-measure.

The attacks on both parties didn't hit, as all three were grabbed with teal-blue magic with circles with multiple symmetrical spell patterns inside of them, dividing each one of them from the other. 

Sir Percival looked back to where the younger two hedgehogs stood; Galahad's arm was in the air, magic flowing from his arm like a corkscrew. Wachowski was next to him, watching the group with a tense stance, one hand on his sword’s hilt, the other grabbing a hold of something within his satchel.

Galahad motioned for the younger hog to stay put as he walked back to the group.

“Thank you,” Merlina smiled with thanks to the silver hedgehog.

“Good job, Galahad,” Sir Percival praised the squire, Galahad nodded. He walked right in between the stuck adults.

“When I put you three down, you better all behave like responsible people and talk it out like actual adults. Am I clear?” Galahad scowled at all three of them, and each one eventually nodded. He hummed before finally releasing them gently. 

“Now, talk to one another without going for each other's jugulars like rabid animals.” He walked back to Wachowski without another word.

Sir Lancelot looked from his son with pride to looking back at Sir Gawain and his apprentice with annoyance. The feeling turned out to be mutual as they both were glaring right back at him.

“I still don’t believe you,” Gawain said without remorse, Lamorak nodded.

“And I think you’re both sods ,” Sir Lancelot spat back at them through gritted teeth.

Gawain glared at him, “What even makes you think that could be the real Sir Sonic? It looks nothing like him!”

Sir Lancelot was nearing his boiling point again already, but he calmed himself down before he said anything. “Gawain,” He looked over to the knight’s student, ”and you too, Lamorak. Let me ask you both something very simple. Tell me, when did I ever say that Sir Sonic was back?”

Confusion took place on both the mammal’s and avian’s face.

“Uh, when you said it was Sir Sonic,” Sir Gawain answered with such confidence that he started acting as if he had already won the argument.

“No,” Lamorak looked to his boss, “He never said anything close to that. Sir Lancelot never mentioned that Sir Sonic was back, only that it was a situation like his.” Lancelot watched with glee as the hawk squire's face fell when he finally realized, putting away his swords.

The red knight huffed, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“What did I call the kid?” Lancelot quickly asked the question, hoping to have the dots connect in his fellow knight's empty cranium.

“What?” Gawain's arms fell to his sides, no longer pointing them at Sir Lancelot.

“What is his name? We all heard it loud and clear when he screamed it at the top of his lungs earlier,” Sir Percival asked for the black knight.

“Wachowski? I believe,” Sir Gawain looked at the more calm cat. 

“Why would I call him Wachowski if I believed he was Sir Sonic?” Sir Lancelot hoped that this would be the spark that would finally catch on to something for the red knight.

“You wouldn't?” Sir Gawain looked even more confused, then stared off into space for a moment before Sir Lancelot could see the little fabricated story of what was happening fall apart in his head and be replaced by realization. Gawain put his blades into their scabbards with solemnness.

“Oh… oh no ,” The echidna didn't take the truth well, deciding to sit on the grass instead of standing, hands covering his face out of shame.

“Sir, get up, right now isn't the time to feel sorry for yourself on the floor,” Lamorak tried to encourage his supervisor to take a stand at the very least.

“No, Lamorak. I was trying to attack an innocent child.” They could all hear the waiver in his voice. “I'm a disgrace to the kingdom.” You would be able to tell Gawain's voice was now teetering on crying if you knew him well enough.

Lancelot grabbed Sir Gawain’s arm and pulled him back up, “No, you’re not, but you are to me until you go and apologize to him. Now come on.” 

He dragged Gawain over to where the children were talking to one another. Both were too distracted by each other’s new conversation to notice them all approach until they were only about ten feet away. Sir Gawain felt worse about the whole situation when he saw the blue hedgehog hide behind Galahad at the sight of him approaching. 

They stopped about five feet away from the two young hogs, Sir Lancelot let go of Sir Gawain's arm and motioned him to speak. However, to Wachowski’s appallment, the knight got down on one knee and fist, the other hand resting on his other leg before he spoke a single word.

“I’m sorry for what I said and did and how badly it must have scared you.” Sir Gawain said. “Please forgive me and my squires actions.” 

“I'm sorry and I will take full responsibility for my actions.” Lamorak followed his teacher’s example, both keeping their heads down, awaiting an answer.

Wachowski gocked at the kneeling soldiers and then looked to Lancelot for help. 

“It's your decision to forgive them or not,” Lancelot explained. Wachowski looked back down to his brother's look-a-like and shivered out whatever awkwardness he could from seeing someone apologize like this. 

“Uhm, you’re both forgiven. Since it’s understandable, but I think you should be asking Lance for forgiveness. You both nearly attacked one another,” He looked at Lancelot. “Maybe you should apologize too.”

Sir Gawain and Lamorak got up from where they knelt and looked at the ebony hedgehog.

“Why me?” Lancelot asked, offended, “Them apologizing to you is what I will be taking as their apology to me.”

“You’re the one that attacked first,” Wachowski stated.

“Only because they kept on insisting that you were a Dark fairy pretending to be Sir Sonic. And not just being yourself,” Lancelot fibbed. The thought that something from the underworld tricking him and manipulating his thoughts and actions was what set him off. ‘And the thought that it’s from such a silly and sweet kid as Sonic Wachowski? No chance he was going to let that pass him.’

“And?” Wachowski said back with sass. 

‘I take it back. This child is going to get me an early grave.’ Lancelot thought as he rested his fists on his hips.

“And? AND?” Sir Lancelot sassed right back, “I was defending you for being another Sonic, that's why.”

“Doesn't mean that you get to attack your coworkers.” The blue hedgehog said flatly.

Lancelot and Wachowski had a one-sided stare-down, with Wachowski winning since he wasn't taking it seriously at all. The black knight sighed and turned to the echidna and hawk, bowing down to a respectable level.

“I am regretful for attacking fist, and I will atone for it.” Sir Lancelot said it as fast as he could to not humiliate himself further all because a child was more stubborn than him. 

“I forgive you. If I knew more I would have done the same, if not sooner.” Sir Gawain said, sighing out whatever disappointment he had left in him for himself.

“I’ll hold onto your ‘apology’ for a little bit longer for trying to attack my superior,” Lamorak said, explaining away his expected attitude toward Sir Lancelot in the future. 

Sir Lancelot straightened his stance with a glare at the green hawk.

“Well, I’m happy we finally have this settled,” Merlina spoke up with a gentle clap of her hands. She then kneeled to Wachowski’s height, “My name is Merlina, the royal wizard of Camelot.” She watched the blue hedgehog take in what she looked like, with it being the first time he got a proper look at her up close she let him.

“Are you an elf?” Wachowski pointed to his ears, showing her what he was asking about specifically. She laughed at the cute gesture.

“Yes, I am. You are quite the observant one, aren't you,” Merlina said with glee. 

“That's so cool. Is that your magic staff?” He pointed to the scepter in her hands with excitement.

“It is. Here,” She held it closer to the kid to let him see the staff better. Wachowski didn't take it but he did grab onto it as he glided his hands across the blue crystal ball that sat at the end. Running his fingers across its surface he could feel the power surging inside of it, the energy professionally contained and controlled. He let go, letting the wizard take it back.

“Oh, I forgot,” He put his hand out for her to shake, and she took the much smaller hand into hers. “I’m Sonic Wachowski. It’s supposed to be a longer title, but it’s boring to say out loud so I won’t.” He let go of her hand after shaking it, “But just call me Wachowski, it's easier that way.”

“That’s your name?” Galahad asked.

“Yeah, I mean it used to just be Sonic the Hedgehog,” He shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s adopted,” Lancelot explained to the others.

“You’re another Sonic!” Sir Percival finally figured out the true full puzzle.

“Bingo! You got that right, congrats! It’s not as if Lance just said that like, a minute ago,” Wachowski said with a smirk and a thumbs up.

“Another Sonic, how extraordinary!” Merlina silently studied the hedgehog. “It’s odd, you and him do look so alike and yet so different from one another.”

“I know, Lance told me about it a while ago.” He pointed to the older hedgehog.

“Hmm.” Sir Percival hummed before walking up to the blue hog. “I’m Sir Percival, current Knight of the Round Table, and Galahad’s mentor until he graduates to become a Knight of the Round Table like us.” They shook hands.

“Nice to meet you,” Wachowski turned to the silent echidna and hawk. “So what are your names?”

Lamorak spoke up first, “Lamorak, I’m Sir Gawain's student, like how Galahad is Sir Percival’s.” 

Sir Gawain huffed, “As he said, I’m Sir Gawain, a Knight of the Round Table, and he is indeed my student.”

Neither of them moved to shake hands, Wachowski awkwardly put his hand back down.

“Well, it’s nice meeting you all, so what are we going to do?” Wachowski asked, happy to get a move on.

“Oh, how you will get home?” Merlina asked, he nodded. “I would prefer to discuss it within the castle walls, it's about to be sundown.”

Looking up at the sky, it was indeed in the middle of a sunset, and in due time it was going to seep behind the hills and disappear for the night.

“I agree, shall we head inside?” Sir Percival asked the group. A ring of yes’es and hums of agreement came from each respective person. “Good to hear, let’s go then.”

Lancelot grabbed Wachowski’s hand, which reminded the younger hog about the ‘never leaving my side from now on’ from before. He grumbled and followed behind. Galahad silently laughed at him. Just a little empathic to the youngest hog's situation, being reminded of back when he was about four years old chasing around the townspeople’s poultry and being caught misbehaving by his father. Never allowed to leave his side from then on for a whole week.

While walking into the doors Merlina remembered something important. “I have terrible news. I forgot to prepare food. I got too distracted,” she looked at her empty stove with sad eyes.

Galahad and Wachowksi awed, both sad to not eat at a reasonable time.

“How about you sit down with Wachowski and me, while the others figure out what to make for then we aren't eating any later than we should be,” Lancelot asked Merlina as he closed the castle's outer doors behind them.

“That's nice of you to bring up, but I’m supposed to be your host for tonight,” She said nervously.

“It’s not a problem, Merlina. If Lancelots out of my way for the whole process I’ll happily cook a whole feast for us.” Sir Gawain said, punching his fist into the other with a wide grin. 

Lamorak nodded, “He’s too neat when it comes to preparing meals for this many people, leave it to us!” He ran for the crates that he knew were insulated to keep the ice on the inside from melting and for then the veggies or meats don’t go bad.

“You’re not the only one choosing the ingredients!” Gawain chased after his squire.

Sir Percival turned to Lancelot with a small smile, “I’ll make sure they don’t burn the place down.” They nodded to one another before she went to where Merlina kept her spices and went through them all to find the best of the best.

“May I join you?” Galahad asked them.

“I don't see why not,” Wachowski spoke up first, deciding for the two adults.

“Good, because I still don’t know how to make food without burning everything,” Galahad explained with an embarrassed chuckle.

Wachowski laughed, “Everything-everything?”

Galahad sighed, “Yes, -”

“He’s burnt water before, so I can affirm that he does burn everything,” Lancelot cut his son off, taking the chance to be an annoying father to his son.

“Father stop, you’re not helping!”

“I’m not trying to help.”

Merlina and Wachowski watched the father-and-son have their squabble with entertained smiles.

“Alright! We get it. Gal can't cook no matter how hard he tries, and Lance can't help to try and make food as perfect as he can,” Wachowski broke up the two by grabbing them both by their arms and pulling them to the large table that sat close to the kitchen.

He looked back to Merlina, “You joining us?”

She was grabbing a couple of lanterns from the ground, “In a moment, I have to give a couple of these to Sir Percival so that we are not eating in the dark.” He gave her a thumbs up as he sat down and watched as she approached the purple cat, giving the knight all of them except one. 

Bringing it back to the table, she held up her scepter and waved it above the lantern with a silent mantra, a blue fire on the inside lit the candle. Wachowski watched it flicker and spark to life with astonishment. She set it down in between the four of them, her and Sir Lancelot on one side of the table, Galahad and Wachowski on the other.

“Just to clarify, how much of the plan do you already know about, Wachowski?” Merlina asked.

Wachowski hummed, thinking. “We have to find Sir Sonic. That's all I know, we didn't really talk about the plan much.”

“Ok, that’s mainly my fault.” Lancelot cleared his throat. “I was busy thinking it through. But I can say what I’ve figured out so far after we meet up with Sir Sonic. We’re finding Sir Sonic's friend, learning how to use the chaos control from that friend, and getting Wachowski back to his home.” Sir Lancelot listed out everything they had to do for the group. “How long does everyone think it’s going to take?” He asked them.

Galahad raised his hand, “I think it should take about three days at most. It shouldn't be hard to find Sir Sonic since you’re going to be summoned into his home, the only real problem is learning chaos control.” He looked at Wachowski. “And since you will be chaos-controlling straight home, you should be just fine.”

“Thanks, but I think it should only take two, but I like the three-day idea. I just want to get home as soon as I can.” Wachowski leaned back into his chair, putting it together that chaos controlling is a way to teleport to different places.

Lancelot hummed at the suggestion, “Three days is a good time limit.”

“Then it's decided,” Merlina said with a simple smile. “But, you’ll both have to wait till the morning to leave. I have to be sincere, it is best if we all turn in early tonight for the occasion.”

“Yes, it is integral that we sleep well tonight, especially Wachowski,” Lancelot thought back to the earlier night. The frightful feeling in his heart when he found the youngest hedgehog like that, it was not the best for his health, but at least the young hog went to bed right after. It was the best for his health at the time.

Wachowski snickered, “I think I’ll be fine.” 

Lancelot wanted to scold Wachowski but stopped himself. ‘Right, it’s not going to happen again, it won’t happen again.’ He repeated it over and over in his thoughts before Galahad started to talk about his recent studies he had with Sir Percival.

Wachowski leaned further back in his chair to look past the silver hedgehog as the others started to talk about something he wasn't interested in. Looking off to his right were the two knights and hawk apprentice, all trying to talk out how long a piece of large meat, that was cooking in the stove's oven, should stay in for. On top of the stove was a large pot, and from the smell he could tell it was filled with vegetables, mostly potatoes. The food smelled delightful.

It didn't take long for food to be done, with Sir Lancelot eventually getting out of his chair to help when Lamorak looked away for what he said was only a second to help Sir Percival with grabbing the plates and silverware, only for the pots oily insides to boil over the top and cause a fire that if Lancelot hadn't taken care of would have set the entire place ablaze. 

Lamorak was forced to sit at the ‘kid's table’ with Wachowski and Galahad when the food was finally passed around as punishment.

The meal was simple, a large piece of ham, buttered potatoes, and other basic vegetables. While bland on its own, with only butter to its name, it tasted like fine dining after Percival added the extra seasonings. Everyone would have mostly eaten in silence if Wachowski wasn't a fast eater and talked to them all as soon as he could so that he wasn't sitting in silence.

Lancelot took the chance to inform Sir Gawain that the Great Megalith had been raided again. Which angered the echidna, knowing that it was quite the hot spot for Dark knights to appear in and raid. The red knight reluctantly thanked the two hedgehogs that took care of the situation.

Once the meal was finally over, Merlina grabbed the lantern she lit, “Wachowski, would you kindly blow out the rest of the lanterns except two, give one to Sir Percival and another to Sir Gawain please?” 

Wachowski gave her a thumbs up, “Yeah! No problem.” He sped around the clearing, blowing out every one of the lit lanterns, only leaving behind the ones that sat the closest to the table. He carefully brought them down from where they hung, walked them over to the armored cat and echidna, and handed them over.

“Now, follow me. We will be heading to the dormitory,” Merlina looked back at Wachowski when he made a ‘eh?’ sound. “It’s the sleeping chambers for the knights.” She watched Wachowski's face change when he understood the explanation with a silent chuckle.

Sir Gawain helped her open up the set of doors for the castle. She guided the front, Sir Gawain in the middle, and Sir Percival stayed at the back, lighting up the whole group.

With the feeling of eyes re-settle onto him Wachowski shivered automatically.

“Are you cold?” Lancelot asked, still having the kid hand in hand. It was indeed getting colder, as the wind would get cooler in the night.

“No, just-. I’ll talk to you about it later,” Wachowski did his best to shake off the feeling. It’s all he could do with the knowledge of what was causing it.

“Mhmm, alright,” Lancelot left it as they entered the castle. 

The inside was dark, but oddly warm and not empty and cold like Wacowski assumed. Broken chandeliers had fallen onto luxury areas where he assumed guests would interact with one another and have conversations. It did look like it was in the middle of being cleaned up. Windows on the inside were mostly shattered, but at least he could see that most of it had been cleaned up entirely and new replacements were learning on the walls next to them. There were cobwebs in the very tippy top corners of the room, where the blue hedgehog assumed that no one could reach. 

‘This is depressing,’ he thought, while the idea that a fully abandoned castle would be cool, all it meant was that no one was going to be there to clean it up other than Merlina. And from what he had learned, she already had a lot on her plate. Wachowski looked back to where he was going when Lancelot pulled on his hand to keep him from running into a table that held some old and dusty candles in the hall they were going down.

After some turns, they were finally at the sleeping chambers. Sir Gawain and Lamorak dropped themselves off first, into separate rooms of course, and then Sir Percival went into hers. Making sure to give the lantern to Lancelot beforehand. Merlina turned off into her chambers before they made it to where Sir Lancelot's old room was.

When Lancelot opened the door Wachowski didn't expect to see a perfectly clean room. It had basic things a room needed, but there were drapes of different fabrics on the ceiling and walls. Making the room feel less constricting by covering up all of the stone walls. Other than that there was a manikin that Lancelot started putting all of his armor onto, minus Arondight, in the far corner of the room. Galahad walked up to a large wardrobe that was closer to the door and put all of his silver armor into it, along with his odd-shaped sword that looked like the head of an arrow.

Wachowski marveled at the odd shape of it before he kicked off his shoes into a random corner of the room, and settled his bag next to them. Pulling out the Master Emerald, its glow filled the room, captivating Galahad to stare for a moment before he rushed to get the rest of his armor off. Lancelot kept at his regular pace but nearly laughed when Galahad fell over while rushing to take his greaves and sabatons off.

Wachowski tried to resist laughing at Galahad but broke when the teen hedgehog glared at him from the floor after hearing some of his failed silenced snickers. He then analyzed the single bed in the room, covered in three to four thick blankets and a single leather and fur hide from an animal he couldn't make out.

“Are we all going to sleep on this one bed?” Wachowski asked for either of the two hedgehogs to answer. While yes, the bed was quite large, surely it wouldn't fit them all.

“We’ll find a way,” Lancelot finally got all of his armor off and set the lantern on the bedside table that also looked like a writer's desk. “It’s larger than you’d think.”

“It’s not actually,” Galahad said as he finally shut the wardrobe, he was still wearing the simple white shirt he always wore underneath all of his armor. Galahad pointed at the sides of the bed. “Don’t you remember how many times I’ve fallen off of this thing over the years?”

“Only because you don’t like it when I grab onto you in my sleep,” Lancelot stated as he started fixing the blankets so that they could all get in comfortably when it was time.

“Because I can never get out early in the morning when your arms lock around me. You know I can’t sleep like that, I’m not a kid anymore,” Galahad turned to Wachowski and pointed at his dad with his thumb. “You have no clue how horrible it was to sleep in the same bed with him.”

Wachowski let out a calm laugh, “That's funny because I have.” Galahad looked at him skeptically before turning to his father with surprise when he hummed in agreement. 

“Why were you two sleeping in the same bed?” Galahad was befuddled.

“The place I rented out last night didn't have any open rooms with two beds in them. So I had to rent one with only one bed, but do you want to know what this kid’s great idea of a solution for it was?” Lancelot turned to Wachowski, arms now crossed. “Not five hours after getting poisoned by a Dark knight,” Lancelot’s tone started to drive it in.

“I know it wasn't the best but I didn't want to share a bed with a stranger. That's it!” Wachowski wanted to cower away from being called out for not doing things that were the best for his health.

“Wait, he was poisoned yesterday?” Galahad's question defused the small scolding in the room.

“Yes, while he did recover from it faster than anyone else I’ve seen. He’s still just a child,” Lancelot looked at the bandages covering up said wound. “Thank you for pointing it out. Come here I have to replace those bandages.” He ordered the youngest hog to the side of the bed.

“Fine,” Wachowski walked over and jumped up, noticing this time the bed wasn't made of straw and hay-like last time. It was probably wool or fluffed-up feathers. Whichever one it was, he fought the urge to hop into the middle of the bed and fall asleep then and there.

“So… what did he think was a good idea?” Galahad re-asked.

“He thought that right in front of the fireplace was better,” Lancelot explained as he slowly pulled the sticky wrapping and gauze off the cut.

Galahad looked at Wachowski with sadness, “That's horrible. How did you handle sleeping there?”

“Meh, I’ve slept in colder and rougher places before. If anything, that spot was like heaven compared to what I was dealing with the whole time since before Lance found me.” Wachowksi chuckled. 

Lancelot grabbed the ointment and smeared it across the new piece of gaze before he laid it over the wound. Wachowski responded with a hiss. “Keep still,” He grabbed the sticky wrap’s new pieces and put them on in the same order that he remembered seeing the healer put onto the kid.

Lancelot let out a deep sigh, “Why are you still confirming that every time you say something you are trying to put me into an early grave; via heart attack?” Lancelot asked, grabbing and squishing the small hog's face between his hands before letting go. An old quirk he hadn't dealt with since Galahad was about nine to ten and his face was still chubby with baby fat.

Wachowski batted at the older hedgehog's hands at the breach of personal space, “I’m not trying to! I’m just being honest.” He set the Master Emerald on the writer’s desk, scooched over into the middle of the bed, and waited to cover himself with every blanket until the other two were in with him.

“Well,” Lancelot got into the bed too, also waiting to cover up with the covers for when Galahad would get into the other side. “Maybe, for then you don’t kill me. Keep it low and not as haunting from now on?”

“I doubt I can keep that kind of promise,” Wachowski stated, with full honesty. He chuckled as he remembered something from the day before, “ Especially if you still want to know why I ate garbage.” He laughed as he watched Lancelot’s face twist like he had eaten a lemon without warning. 

“Don’t remind me.” The now even more tired old hedgehog groaned.

“Whatever, but I still want to tell you about where the Master Emerald brought me to.” Wachowski elbowed Lancelot, the knight simply hummed to tell him to explain as Galahad looked at the large emerald before getting into the bed, which fit all of them even if it was a bit cramped. 

“It took me to what I think was ‘The Tear’.” Wachowski shivered. “Freaky place, 0/10 stars. Never going again, felt like I was being watched the whole time,” The Master Emerald tugged on the coil in no particular direction. “If I don’t have to.” He added on and the large gem ‘hugged’ him again.

“It what,” Wachowski looked over to Lancelot not expecting a face full of horror.

“It brought me to the Tear. If you’re worried I did something to it I swear I didn’t do anything,” Wachowski quickly added before he was cut off from explaining further.

“No no no, not that. It brought you there, and you still don’t know why?” Lancelot asked, worried again for the large emerald’s intentions with the demonic connection between their worlds.

“Yeah, I still don’t know. If anything the Master Emerald could have just wanted to look at it?” Wachowski shrugged.

“You don’t sound very confident about that.” Galahad butted in.

“Because, for some reason, it plays charades with me instead of just telling me what it wants.” The blue hedgehog took a breath in and looked down at the sheets of the bed. “It probably can’t, even if it wanted to.” He rubbed at his hands before he laid down. “Can we just drop it? I’m tired.”

“Sure,” Lancelot pulled up all of the blankets over all of them. “Now sleep, both of you.”

“Sweet dreams,” Wachowski softly whispered, snuggling into the soft blankets and pillows.

“Goodnight.” Galahad wrapped what he could of the blankets around himself since he was on the edge.

The room fell into silence, after a little bit Galahad was fast asleep with Lancelot following soon after.

Chapter Text

‘I hate this,’ was all the homesick hedgehog could think at the moment, not voicing his complaints to not wake up the other two.

Wachowski couldn't keep his eyes closed for more than two minutes without thinking another person was in the room with them. It didn’t help when every now and again he thought he could see a shadow of something or someone in a random corner of the room whenever the lantern's candle flame would flicker. The candle within was probably going to go out soon, its wick slowly getting closer to drowning within its own wax. 

While there was a window it was small, and very much covered by one of the darker fabrics being used as a curtain. The light bouncing off of the moon just barely seeped through the cover. He couldn't tell for the life of him how long it had been since Lancelot had fallen asleep. Creating his personal purgatory as he waited for something, anything, to happen in the silent room.  

Sleep escaped him, no matter how tired he was getting. The feeling of something pressing against the back of his head, that he knew wasn't the soft pillows, and was now at a painfully slow and constant build-up.

The blue hedgehog tried to get comfortable but each shift and movement he made had Lancelot grab onto him out of reflex, and no matter how much Wachowski would love to have a hug right now; it wasn't the appropriate time. His constant shifts would also make Galahad grumble in his sleep and twist and turn closer to the edge of the bed. 

So, he was stuck.

The Master Emerald had dimmed its light before Lancelot was asleep, but it hadn't lighted back up until hours later; it had been only half an hour. Wachowski let out a quiet sigh of relief as the room was lit up to a comfortable amount. All corners of the room were now visible, but he could still feel the eyes of whatever dark beings were stuck in 'The Tear'.

He felt a tug on his chest and looked over to the Master Emerald, its glow now acting like a heartbeat, slowly pulsating in and out, allowing the room to go back into darkness whenever the light died out before returning. Thankfully the shadow didn't come back as the large gemstone did its little light show telling him to come over. Wachowski slowly pushed himself back into the pillows, so that when he sat up he wouldn't pull the covers off of the other two sleeping hedgehogs. He stared at the pulsing emerald for a second before another soft tug on the coil convinced him to get out of bed. 

But that was easier said than done. When he pushed the blankets off of his legs Lancelot had nearly gotten a fist to the face -out of surprise, not malice- when he grabbed onto the blue hog. Wachowski slowly pushed the knight's hand off of his leg before he could continue crawling to the end of the bed. He made sure not to touch Galahad's legs too much so that he wouldn't unconsciously roll himself off. When Wachowski finally got to the bottom edge of the bed, he slid off, carefully not dragging the fur pelt off with him.

Soft thuds filled the room, sounding louder than they really were, the silence amplifying the noise. Wachowski’s ears flattened to his head as he winced. He slowly looked over the bed to the sleeping father and son. Neither of them moved much, other than Lance’s hands twitching every second or so, wondering where the warmth they had grown accustomed to went. He let out a sigh of relief.

Wachowski turned to the Master Emerald, it tugged on the coil again. He walked over to it, careful to not make a sound on the wooden boards that covered the raw stone that made up the foundations of the castle underneath. Looking at the writer's desk, there weren't any papers but there was a dried-up, glass inkwell, and a feathered pen. Wachowski grabbed them, and when closer to the light from the candle he could see that the ink inside was thick and chunky, with the pen’s tip stuck inside. He looked over the quill, the feather’s color was a starch white, and its size and shape told him that it was a swan's primary feather. Not a goose's primary like he assumed.

The gem pulled on the coil in his chest, he simply turned to it and clocked his head to the side. Wondering what it wanted from him. The coil was then pulled toward the door, he snuck a look at it before going back to staring at the large rock to say ‘So?/And?’ The green glow stopped pulsing before it hummed in place, making a rumbling sound on the table. He quickly picked up the emerald, repeatedly shushing it, and looked at Lancelot and Galahad, tense. 

No movement. 

‘Still asleep,’ he slumped and glared down at the Master Emerald. Waiting to see if the Master Emerald would pull on the coil again he looked back down at the inkwell and quill. 

‘Old habits die hard I guess,’ was all he could say to explain himself as he walked over to his bag, both new items in hand. Sitting the Master Emerald back down made it rumble again, but the green rock thankfully stopped when he quickly put a hand up. 

The hedgehog thought about how he could safely remove the quill from the dried ink so that the feather wouldn't be damaged badly by sticking straight up in his bag. Grabbing as far into the base of the ink well as he could at the base of the pen and with his other hand he held the inkwell and pulled as hard as he could without making any noise. Which was hard as he grunted and sucked in air at each failed attempt. He had to be very careful not to damage the quill's hollow structure. 

The feeling of the quill concaving onto itself and a sound of velcro was all the warning he got before his arms shot away from one another. Each had still held firm onto the glass and feather respectfully. But he did end up falling backward and onto his butt, the loud blow practically reverberated around the room.

Wachowski’s ears flattened onto his head again. After waiting a couple of seconds he looked back up at the bed again, both older hedgehogs were still fast asleep. Galahad did roll over just a bit closer to the edge. Wachowski wouldn't be surprised if the silver hedgehog's legs were hanging off of it at this point. He let out a louder breath of ease and looked down at the feather, dreading the worst. 

It wasn't damaged as bad as he had thought, only two cracks at the ends of where his thumb held onto it, they were thankfully small and didn't go down or up the whole quill. A dried ink chunk clung to the bottom of the metal nib. Getting a closer look the metal was covered with engravings that were squiggle lines that went next to one another instead of overlapping. At the ends of the lines they either went until they were at the edge or the ends curved and doubled in size to make an indented shape of a leaf. He looked at the inkwell. It looked normal, the missing chunk was seeable, and if he didn't know better he’d think that it was still wet in the deepest area. 

Wachowski opened the bag and carefully set the quill inside and the inkwell off to the other end so that it wouldn't be lying on top of the old feather. 

The Master Emerald pulled on his chest again, reminding him of the mission that it had in mind. Whatever it was. He automatically yawned right as the pressure at the back of his mind pressed further in. It wasn't painful, but it sure as hell reminded him of the feeling he had the earlier night. He forced his eyes open as he stood up, ignoring that he hadn't noticed when he closed them. 

Wachowski walked over to the door on his tippy toes, using the emerald as a light source as always, and opened the door. It creaked and groaned, but it was a lot quieter than when he fell on his butt so he didn’t bother looking back when he shut the door behind him. 

“Ok, where to now?” Wachowski asked, finally able to talk aloud, the Master Emerald pulled to his right. He looked down the hall, the darkness faded away as the green emerald glowed brighter. Due to the brightness, the cut on his head flared up from the dull drone that the oil Lancelot put onto his head. Wachowski quickly covered his eyes, momentarily solving the issue. When the gem caught onto what was happening and  brought the strength of its light back down to a semblance of the brightness from a small night light.

“Thanks,” Wachowski grumbled before slowly moving down the mainly empty hall.

There were unsurprisingly no large windows on the side of the castle he was on. If there were windows into the castle around the area where the guards lived, how would they protect themselves if they were raided at night? When he got to a wooden door that opened to a more fancy hallway he got his answer. 

The hall’s windows were multi-colored glass; ‘or was it called stained glass?’ Wachowski tried to shake off his confusion as best as he could without making the pressure at the back of his skull push further in. Its windows held multiple portraits of who he assumed were important people or historical events, some were broken but for most of them, they were untouched. None of them looked interesting other than one with the sword Caliburn, sitting within the stone with a halo of golden glass behind it. 

Wachowski moved on after admiring the golden hue saturated by the moon's light for a couple of seconds. Finally noting the wooden covers that sat on the outside of the windows, the coverage for the before-mentioned night attack. Only about one or two windows had their covers closed, by the looks of it both of their glass was completely shattered. Not even the metal wiring that kept each sliver of colored glass was left behind.

The floor of the hall was clean, no broken glass or dust sat anywhere. However, he did notice that the dark red rug, which was long enough to go from one end to the other, was quite old. Some patches were torn as if the fabric had given up on keeping its composure, the strings pulled this way and that. Wachowski didn't pay much attention to it, only when they crossed his path he would simply walk around them. Too tired to make a game out of it by pretending that they were the spots in a river where rocks stuck out, and jumping from rock to rock until he would get to the other side. If he had someone to race against he wouldn’t mind having fun, but the blue hedgehog couldn't help but to drag his feet across the floor as he walked to the other end of the hall.

He walked through another door, this one felt heavier but Wachowski just had to use his legs as an extra push. On the other side was another hall, it was like the one that led to the knight's old rooms but one side had normal windows and the other side was decorated with hanging red fabrics, at the ends of them were gold tassels. Separating the fabrics from each other were columns that held intricate carvings within. 

Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. The dust flew through the door and into his face, he sneezed on instinct. On the ground, if it were day, he would have seen old footprints in the dust on the floor, that went out only a few feet before returning to the door once more. Whoever put them there had decided that going further with their cleaning was not worth their time. Wachowski had to hold his nose and put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from having a sneezing and coughing fit. 

The Master Emerald tugged at the coil in his chest again, reminding him that they had to keep moving, he hummed and continued forward. He hated the feeling of dust picking up and sticking to his feet so he tried to rub off what had gathered. It was to no avail since the rest of the floor was still covered in the stuff. The hedgehog mumbled something close to a curse on the dust's existence before speed-walking down the long hallway, upset to be ruining the only pair of socks he had at his disposal.

The pressure in the back of his head grew, turning into an unpleasant dull throbbing with an unwavering buzz of numbness following along with it. He stuttered out a breath and grabbed the side of his head with his free hand, scrunching his face, the unpleasant feeling nearly blasting through it.

“No, not again, please,” Wachowski’s pleas didn't go unanswered as the Master Emerald sent a ripple throughout his chest before it pulled on the coil again, caring but urgent. 

“Sorry Lance,” Wachowski apologized, remembering the promise he made with the knight. “But this is more important than you think.” 

He willed himself to continue on forward, even if his socks were ruined by the time he found a staircase that went down. The Master Emerald hummed, brightening its light so that the blue hedgehog wouldn't trip over his feet trying to go down. Even if it hurt his head more.

Every step made his headache only get worse by increasing the pressure at every drop of his foot. “I only have like…” He counted the stairs, “fifteen more steps to go. Come on.” Wachowski continued down to the best of his abilities, knowing that whatever the emerald wanted to have him do or see was probably the only way he was ever going to be allowed to leave this world. Even if Merlina did send him and Lancelot to Sir Sonic’s world -he laughed at the naming convention- Wachowski knew that the Master Emerald would easily bring him right back.

Finally reaching the bottom of the staircase, he shuffled into a middle-sized room, with about four wooden doors. Only the door that led outside on his left was important to him and the Master Emerald. Two windows that glowed with a prominent purple sat on both sides of the door. The room was used quite a bit, the floor was covered in dirt right in front of the exit door.

Wachowski opened it, the wood creaking and pushing back against his efforts. It eventually swung open, showing both the garden and 'The Tear'. The glow from it filled the room behind the blue hedgehog.

He took a brave step forward and the world tilted. His brain couldn't keep up, causing a momentary blindness as if he had merely closed his eyes.

“Oh, I fell.” His voice box croaked out, face stuffed into the grassy floor.

With his headache turning into a margarine and his gut feeling as if something had reopened a still healing wound and was now literally prodding its fingers inside to attack him from the inside out; he couldn't help but to lay there hopelessly. Tears gathered in his eyes, the pain was on a higher level than the earlier night. His quills sparked and shot across the area, attacking at an unseen force that wasn't really there. The defensive attack didn't connect with anything other than the cold air and the dirt he laid on. 

He noticed the feeling of wet on his wrist, looking over he saw the broken vial. Its glowing liquid had spilled all over his glove and the floor. The calming drug was now gone, but not useless as some had slowly absorbed through his fur and skin though his glove. Unfortunately it didn't help with the pain in his head or his stomach.

The Master Emerald smoothed over his back when he threw up in his mouth. Determined not to lose his supper or lunch, he forced himself to swallow it back down. The stomach acid burnt his nose. 

Wachowski couldn't bring himself to push himself back up until the large gem pulled the coil in his chest toward a marble bench. It was more out of the way of ‘The Tears' suffocating presence and view. All of the eyes looking at his smaller form made him shiver.

Wachowski dragged himself and the emerald over to the bench. He took deep breaths so that he could properly breathe, trying to get rid of the feeling that he was choking on the air itself. Forcing down more puke that had entered his mouth after he set the emerald down on the bench the young hog couldn't bring himself to pull up onto. Opting to lay his head on the cold marble while sitting curled into himself on the floor, helping out his headache. The pain eventually passed but the pulsing from being near 'The Tear' stayed. 

Although nothing helped with the painful churning in his stomach that slowly stretched out across his whole body, Wachowski rocked back and forth, waiting impatiently for it to pass with tears staining his fur. Mentally cursing out the existence of whatever was making him go through this torment.

After a painfully long time, it had finally died down. Sadly, at the expense of finally puking up his supper. Which was gross, he could see chunks of what he had eaten not two hours ago. The burning in his mouth was unbearable, he tried to spit out what he could of what acid was left in his mouth. Upset that he didn't have any water to wash it out.

“Ugh- eww,” Wachowski weakly pushed himself away from the pile of liquidated bile, finally pushing himself onto the bench. He grabbed the Master Emerald and hugged it to his chest, the gem ‘hugged’ him back. He rocked back and forth again, waiting to feel just a little bit better before trying anything. 

“When was the last time I even threw up?” Wachowski muttered before he searched through his memories the best he could as the feeling of cotton layered over his lucidity again like the night before.

Only found moments back when he was around five to nine. Wachowski couldn't tell exactly when everything happened by now; nearly all of those years had blurred together over time. Recalling when he was eating someone's garbage that lived at the edge of town, which ended up with him getting genuinely sick for the first time. Stuck in his cave and only left whenever he needed to drink water or to steal some of that liquid over-the-counter medicine, preferably the bubble-gum flavored one, from the old gas station out of town. Good thing he learned to read English by then, otherwise he might have made himself sicker by overdosing himself by accident. But the other time when he was even younger, he was trying out earth's wild berries for the first time. Only to throw them up immediately, as it was poisonous to his whole system; the stinging in his mouth should have been a good indicator but he assumed it was supposed to feel that way. He even compared it to when he ate the non-rotten piece of pineapple he ate weeks beforehand. Wachowski learned to not trust any wild fruits in Earth’s forests from then on out. At least the vegetables were a lot more reliable. Besides mushrooms-

“Wait, are mushrooms vegetables?” Wachowski’s confusion broke him out of the dissociation and his memories. He shook his head as the pulsing feeling within his head wound became noticeable again, then wiped at his eyes, getting rid of the wet tears. Getting up was harder than he thought it should have been, limbs feeling like they were full of lead, and not fully ready to support his weight. But he pushed through it and got up, stepping around the smelly puddle of puke, he went up to a corner of the hedge.

Sneaking a peek around the corner Wachowski watched 'The Tear' silently. With the eyes not noticing that he had come back into their view, they had wandered away. Only about a small handful were looking around for something. 

Wachowski looked down at the Master Emerald, “What are you planning?” 

The large gem pulled his attention to the purple crystals that surrounded the floating barrier, and Wachowski hummed in response. Gathering up as much courage as he could, the child walked out of his little hiding place and approached 'The Tear' with weak but brave steps. The second an eye noticed he was back what felt like hundreds came back through the black hole and watched him meekly approach it. Dread filled him for only a moment before he remembered that whatever those eyes were connected to, was stuck within the crystal's barrier. For now that is.

Wachowski let out a shaky breath as he got near it, getting closer to 'The Tear' than he'd ever been. He could smell something odd, it was caramel and burnt rubber mixed. Looking down at the bottoms of the crystals he saw circles of salt and sugar that circled them that connected by a straight line. The smell emitted from it as if it was being actively burned.

The Master Emerald pulled the coil toward the lines, expecting him to know what to do.

“What?” Wachowski whispered into the warm air, had it gotten hotter? “You have to be specific with me. I know, that you know, that I’m not the best at this.” The blue hog pointed to himself, to the gem, then back to himself to try and get the point across.  He thought back to all of the guiding the emeralds done over the whole time he’s been here. “Ok, maybe I’m able to guess most of what you’re trying to get me to do,” he looked off to the side embarrassed before going back to the green emerald.

It hummed in his arms, slowly increasing before the hedgehog guessed correctly that It wanted to be put down. He kneeled next to the gem as it somehow pushed itself over to the line, dragging itself right up to it. The moment that the gem’s side touched the white line of minerals, a bright light that formed a box of sorts all around the whole thing. One of the things that stood out was that the crystal circles lit up as a cocoon/cylinder around them, protecting them from outside forces from tampering with them. Sparks came off of its walls where the emerald made contact, the sugar and salt burning next to it. Wachowski covered his eyes from the bright light when it made his headache flair up again and wafted away the smell from his nose.

“Another barrier?” Wachowski backed up, taking a better look at it. “But if there was another barrier, then how was my lightning able to cross it and hit the big-shape thing earlier?” The Master Emeralds buzzed again, pulling itself away from the wall of white, causing the wall to disappear. It pulled on the coil right toward the line, not where the walls were, but the line of salt and sugar.

“You want me to touch that thing?!” Wachowski couldn't believe it, but he breathed in and out to calm himself down before he woke anybody up. “Real quick, how confident are you on a scale of one through ten, are you that this isn’t going to kill me?” He knelt back down to the Master Emerald.

It pulled on the coil ten times.

He looked at it confused, “Really?” Then looked over to the line, and back to the gem again. “You sure?”

It pulled again.

“I’m going to throw you across this garden if this hurts.” 

Deciding to go forward and trusting the Master Emerald, Wachowski lowered himself onto the floor, pushing the rest of his body as far away from the line of white so that if it lashed out at him he could pull away from it and not have to worry about giving himself distance. Taking in deep breaths he turned away from his outstretched arm, ears flattened against his head, tensed up, and slowly pressed his finger across the ground until he could feel the grains of sugar and salt.

…

Nothing happened.

Wachowski looked back up, forest-green eyes meeting the sight of the mixed whites doing nothing with the presence of his finger touching it other than it being warmer than the dirt surrounding it. He hosted himself up before he flicked at the white powders. Still nothing. He put his whole hand on the other side and then dragged his finger across the line, breaking it. That caused a reaction. All of the walling lit back up at once, but the one that was supposed to be at the line he broke didn't reappear like the others.

The dark eyes watched with unseen surprise and glee.

He shakingly stood up, dusting off his knees before walking up to the other walls and using his foot to break them. Walking up to the purple crystals he scratched out their circles with the same ease, then went back to the Master Emerald and picked it up.

“Now, I’m guessing you want that big shape barrier gone too?” The blue hedgehog asked the green emerald. The Master Emerald gave him another ‘hug’ for getting it right. Wachowski looked back up to 'The Tear' and shivered before speaking again. 

“But how? I can’t break these things with my bare hands. I’m not strong like Knuckles,” he pointed to the crystals still holding ‘The Tear’ captive.

With a green flash, Clarent was hovering next to him and fell to the floor. Wachowski grabbed the sword before it hit the ground and stared at it with awe. Back in Lancelot's room, both of the older hedgehogs were unaffected by the short flash that came from the corner of the room that had all of Wachowski’s things.

He noticed something sitting on the floor in front of him and turned to them. 

“My shoes!” The blue hog picked them up and stabbed Clarent into the ground. He set the Master Emerald down before doing a balancing act to keep upright as he hobbled around, dusting off his socks before slipping his shoes on. 

“Thank you,” Wachowski said while grabbing the sword and the green emerald off of the ground. The Master Emerald hummed before pulling the coil back towards the crystals. Clarent’s blade burned green again, the air sizzled around it.

“Yeah-yeah, don’t worry I got this!” Wachowski walked right up to the closet crystal and took a swing at it. The blade sliced right through with the top falling right off. The barrier’s shape distorted and broke for a second before stabilizing, with one of its main sources that acted like a battery gone, it started to fade in and out.

“Oooo~ that's interesting, I wonder what will happen if I destroy the other three,” Wachowski said in a joking tone, exaggerating his voice as he walked up to the next one, cutting it down easily. He did the same with the last two, the barrier’s shape finally weakened to the point of shattering. He laughed as the eyes on the inside looked around at the world confused. None of them are used to feeling the wind or seeing the world in its normal colors. 

Wachowski jutted his sword in front of him right at ‘The Tear’ with all of the confidence he could muster up, “Well? Who's going to come out first, and get the worst beating of their life?” The eyes looked right back at him and looked to be pondering their options before the black oil on the insides started to droop out at a faster rate. Some of the eyes started to pull out and in again, following the drops of oil out into the world. 

He took a hearty step back, his quills and eyes lighting back up with sharp blues. Then the large gem in his arms flashed its light at a maximal brightness; reminding him of the brights on expensive cars at night. The eyes shrunk back into ‘The Tear’. Un-shielding his eyes, Wachowski looked back to ‘The Tear’ then down to the Master Emerald.

“I thought I was supposed to be fighting these things.” He looked back to ‘The Tear’ once more. Holding up the emerald to his eyesight he shivered as a cold gust blew through the garden, “Is there something else?”

Wachowski felt the emerald pull out of his hands, surprising him. Hovering into the air the Master Emerald started to shake, its light slowly increasing as it lifted out of his arms. The eyes within ‘The Tear’ disappeared, running off to the protection that awaited them on the inside. 

A green beacon of light shot out of the large emerald, its light going up into the dark sky, clouds forming around it rapidly as the wind picked up in both the sky and on the ground. Lines of magic that surrounded the emerald broke and shattered like glass, the calming spell had finally run out of power against the emerald. 

Wachowski covered his face as the now harsh winds and bright lights practically smacked him across his weakened body. It wasn’t silent, with sudden fast winds and a loud humming of power, that reminded him of sound effects from the action movies Tom always watched, coming from the green gem and its beacon.

The winds were suddenly gone as fast as they had come, the sky clearing of any clouds; old and new. Looking up into the sky Wachowski could see the night's stars if he could see through the trees that covered most of his view. If he knew the constellations he would be able to tell that not a single one matched up with any of the ones on Earth. 

Seven stars lit up in the sky, and their size grew and grew; coming out of rips in reality that mended themselves as soon as they opened in the night sky. Each one was a different color. The beacon dissipated as the emerald's invite was answered.

Wachowski ducked down with a yelp as the mysterious lights landed near him and the Master Emerald. Although he didn't need to worry as they hovered around the larger emerald. Recognizing the energy that was in front of him Wachowski pulled together the courage to look ahead of him. 

Upon seeing the seven familiar Chaos Emeralds he had a few questions he needed answered.

“Why did you bring them here?” Wachowski looked between the slowly circling gems and the Master Emerald. They all started to drift toward him so he scrambled back a few steps.

“Wait wait wait! I would really appreciate it if I didn't have to turn into a god again!” Wachowski didn't care that he was yelling, he rejected the powers of the Chaos Emeralds the last time, and he didn't need or want them again. 

The Emeralds all hummed in a harmonie, all having their own tune to play; they were just missing one piece to make it perfect.

“Isn't there another way? Like, what if we did the same thing as last night like I was hoping?” Wachowski took another step back, wishing he had never lied to his dad in the first place so that he wouldn't have been grounded, which is sort of the whole reason why he was here alone. ‘Man, I miss home.’ The thought slipped out to the forefront of his mind. Distracting him and making him let his guard down momentarily.

A moment went by as if the Master Emerald responded with a sad, ‘Sorry, but no.’ Before they all rushed him. Faster than Wachowski could even blink with his super speed, the emeralds opened up his soul's heart and entered.

The light from his chest pierced through the darkness of the garden before spreading throughout his whole body. Blue fur radiating pure power; changing to red then orange before falling on yellow-gold. The light coming off of him made everything surrounding him look as if it was day. The coil in his chest undid itself, turning it into a loose spiral instead; still not at the straightened line it was supposed to be. 

Any dirt, grime, or stains that coated his body and what he wore burnt away in an instant. Effectively bleaching his body of any impurities.

The now immortal hedgehog sighed in relief. All of the pain that had been unknowingly pounding throughout his small body drifted away into nothing. His wound wasn’t healed, but it felt like it had recovered ages ago. The golden hedgehog touched his head, a non-painful feeling of boiling underneath his skull and skin passed through it. Burning away any leftover poison that had stayed within his system that was not reached by the antidote.

Wachowski huffed before he looked down at his chest with disappointment. He tightened his grip on Clarent, the sword could take it, the power from all of the Chaos Emeralds flowing from his hand into it. Its blade reshaped itself out of the new power, silver lining on the edge while the new darker metal covered over the middle; now sharper than ever. Its green glow, now replaced with solid gold.

“This is unnecessary, really unnecessary,” Wachowski floated up off the ground and crossed his arms, his necklace clinked against them. 

“I could have just gone in on my own,” he smirked when he felt the Master Emerald shine its disapproval through him. “I would have been fine if I just paced myself.” 

That was a lie, he never paced himself unless he wanted to stay next to someone when running, but never with fighting. It is why when he and Knuckles fought, the red echidna always won, he took his time to get used to his opponent's strategies and attacks before going in for a swift and brutal win. 

‘Eowch.’ Wachowski remembered the power behind every hit that Knuckles landed on him. Not a great experience but at least they were on the same side from now on. They were brothers now, after all. Not trying to kill one another over their past by talking and including Tails in everything they argued about as a mediator, was a very big improvement. Saved them a lot of unneeded spars. He shook away his feelings and refocused himself off of his family back home.

The gold hedgehog sighed again when every single emerald chimed in to tell him off by letting him feel their emotions, it was odd. Knowing that all-powerful rocks could feel emotions and have opinions wasn't on his bucket list of things he needed to know or learn.

“I would’ve been fine.”

All of the emeralds disagreed.

“Fine,” he caved in and decided to change the subject, “So what’s the plan?” 

Wachowski loosened his grip on Clarent and swung it around in his hands and in the air before dropping it when the emeralds more or less beamed information straight into his head like a Google slides presentation. Wachowski bit down on the inside of his mouth as he refrained from screaming out curses at the emeralds for the sudden breach of privacy into his own consciousness. It didn't hurt, but it sure as hell scared the crap out of him.

The instructions were simple. Go in, destroy everything dangerous, seal all holes in both realities, come back out, go home. The last part was less about him and more about the Chaos Emeralds. Turns out when something as powerful as them stops existing in his home universe, it becomes difficult for it to keep itself in line and not implode. -Or something, he couldn't get the full details out of the emeralds, with them actively keeping him out of the know was probably best for his stress.

Now knowing he was on timer, Wachowski spent no time grabbing Clarent, silently apologizing to it for letting it fall out of his hands like that, before going right up to ‘The Tear’. He hesitated, the black oil was admittedly intimidating, and he didn't have a clue what he was going to expect to see on the inside. ‘The Tear’ had some sort of suction to it, like a vacuum, it wasn't strong but it still lifted this Mermaid’s Tear necklace off of his chest and tried to pull it in.

With a little bit of encouragement from all of the emeralds, he bit the bullet and went in. It was like a black hole, swallowing him whole and taking away the bright light that was his body from the garden. Leaving no trace behind other than some broken crystals and sugary-salt-lines with a big trace of leftover energy.

Oh, and his puke… 

Ew.

Merlina felt it before she woke up in a cold sweat. Her short sleep was interrupted by the feeling of one of her most important spells breaking. She sat in startled silence for a short period before shooting out of her bed, grabbing the blown-out lantern and her staff. Relighting it as she raced down the stairs that went through the knight's sleeping chambers. Merlina hoped that what she felt wasn't true, dread and fear consumed her when she felt her seal-ment spells break. 

Merlina didn't bother to wake up each of the Knights of the Round Table, hoping her panicked running would be loud enough to wake them all on their own. She couldn't waste her breath as she ran all the way to the other side of the castle, each moment she wasted meant another second the Dark knights would have to escape ‘The Tear’.

Before she could reach the next staircase that went down to the level she knew that the door to the garden was at a sound that she’d never heard before blasted into her ears. A bright green light shot through any of the uncovered windows in the hall. Once the sound was over, the light disappearing along with it, she felt it, a power that reminded her of Lady Niume's godhood, but it was different- it was more. It blinked out of her senses for just a moment before it came back even stronger than before.

She busted through the staircase door and practically threw herself down the steps, not caring for her safety. Before she could even reach the bottom the powerful magic was gone, within what felt like a blink of an eye it was replaced with another powerful magic she was more familiar with.

Shooting into the room she darted to the Garden door, she expected it to be closed but it was wide open. She let out a shaky breath, she hadn't been in this room in weeks, avoiding looking at her mistake ever again. Merlina walked past the other open door in the room that held another staircase that led up to a hall that she didn't deem worthy of wasting her time cleaning. If she had simply looked she would have seen the only evidence in the dust of who she needed to know came to ‘The Tear’.

Just looking through the doorway was enough to give her shivers, the red gleam and endless black was horrifying to look at without its barrier up anymore. But the eyes she always hated and seen in her nightmares weren't there anymore. She shyly entered the garden when she finally saw Lady Niume standing next to the rip in their reality. Having transported herself from her home to here in an instant.

“Lady Niume, I assume you felt it too?” Merlina couldn't help but shiver again as she stepped closer, from both the situation and the cold air.

“Not exactly, I saw it more than feeling,” Lady Niume dusted off her dress from dirt that didn't exist. “It was quite the light show from Dark Hollow Lake, very pretty.”

“You’re not worried? ‘The Tear’ is free to let Dark soldiers through now,” Merlina failed to consider the lack of any coming out, still worried. Her sealing crystals were sliced in two, her sugar and salt mixed circles and lines were broken by a single drag of a line through each one. It confused and frightened her to no end.

“I’m sure that he’ll handle it just fine. He now has the power to clean up this mess, and finally end this story,” Lady Niume said so nonchalantly that Merlina thought they were talking about two different things for a moment.

“I’m sorry Lady Niume, but I don’t see how any of this isn't concerning to you. And what do you mean by ‘he’?” With her anxiety going through the roof Merlina couldn't think through everything fully. She gripped onto her staff with as much of her strength as she could so that she wouldn't yell at the goddess of water for not being as cautious as she was.

“I’m not concerned, because I know who is fixing our problem,” Lady Niume pointed to ‘The Tear’. “I’ve been watching over him ever since I met them. I knew that gem had big plans for him, and that I couldn't intervene without it going astray.” She turned away from Merlina once she realized.

“You knew Wachowski was going to do something this whole time? Why didn't you warn any of us?” Merlina tried her best to keep her voice down to a respectful level.

“Because I’m confident he has this under control.” Lady Niume was annoyed but respected Merlina's caution. “He’s a very responsible child. With everything I’ve seen him do, it's been out of the need to help someone else. Just like Sir Sonic.” She said the last part softly to the elf.

Merlina didn't know what to think other than sadness after being reminded of the great king they lost. Another version of him being brought to the world of Camelot just to fix the mess she created made her heart sting. She looked back up to Lady Niume with a more understanding attitude.

“Will this finally end the kingdom's suffering?” With a shaky voice, Merlina asked her final question.

“I hope so.” That was all Lady Niume had to say back for Merlina to break down. The deity walked over to her and soothed her, before bringing Merlina over to an old bench where she could let out her emotions freely as they both waited for the young hog to come back.

Hovering while squished between two realities that were interconnected with one another felt really weird, and claustrophobic. The two worlds contacted and rubbed against each other like actual fabrics, it confused Wachowski to no end. The walls bent inward whenever he pushed on them but they always bounced back. Of course, there were limits, but he didn't test them. Even Clarent couldn't pierce through it, and he was thankful for that. He couldn't stop his heart rate from picking up, even if he knew he was safe from practically everything and anything at the moment. 

Checking around where he could before he went to the side of ‘The Tear’ that went into the Underworld he found little cuts that he noted for later. The golden hog also took note of the fact that from what he could guess what was happening when he went in a straight forward line. Always finding himself back where he started in a matter of seconds and flipping upside down, even if there was no gravity. Concluding that he was in between a core, that was the Underworld, and the crust, Camelot's universe. 

So, if he thought about it a little too much; he was going to be entering a universe, that was the core of another universe, that resided inside of a book that existed inside of another universe.

It made his head spin so he decided enough was enough and finally entered the other side of ‘The Tear’.

The Underworld was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. 

With miles and miles of dead grassy plains, with humongous dead trees and other plants littering the place here and there, spread across multiple small hills. All of it together with the chilling wind, black sky that lit the Underworld like an unworldly day, made the place look empty and post-apoplectic. Any buildings he could see on the horizon were destroyed and in crumbles next to dried-up rivers and lakes. 

Besides right ahead of him. 

What were assumed to be broken wood pergolas with lines of stone pillars on each side of a long pool that was filled to the brim with moss and biofilm. It reeked of mold and fungus. At the end of the line was one of the largest stone gazebos he'd ever seen, something round sat floating inside of it; the whole place reminded him of old buildings in Rome. 

The air felt like he was moving in chunky water, when he looked at his arms as he moved them around, he could see ripples around them that reminded him of ice in water but if it were squishy instead. He bet that if he was still blue he wouldn't be able to breathe and would drown in the thick air.

The godly light that radiated off of him lit up the dull-colored world. Full of cold blues and dark greens and purples. All of it was pushed back in his presence. Static wind blew around him as he waited for something to happen.

And something did.

Within seconds Dark soldiers pulled themselves out of the ground that was suddenly covered with a blackish purple smoke. He recognized almost every version of the Dark knights, only one was brand new. Absolute giants suddenly appeared pulling themselves out of the smoke, with large battle axes that had four ends. 

“That's overkill if you ask me,” After voicing his opinions most of them screeched at him, the giants sounding more like a fog horn than their kin’s howls.

“Don’t get mad at me because I’m right,” Wachowski told off the armored demons. He got worried when more and more appeared, becoming a never-ending stream of Dark knights coming out of black smoke, forming an army. He eventually shook it off. Remembering how easy it was to slice through nearly every one of them with only the Master Emerald’s help.

The immortal hedgehog took a straight stance and puffed his chest out, showing off his bravery and pride to an audience of only enemies. “You may have numbers,” he got into a more appropriate stance for a battle with his sword. “But I have the power of gods and I’m running on a timer, YOU HAVE NOTHING ON ME! ” 

Wachowski hadn't meant to use his deafening voice but it worked out to be a great motivator for him, many of the Dark knights took steps back out of fear at the sound of his cry. The smell of glutamate -a chemical in brains that activates to release adrenaline when people get scared- was short of intoxicating but Wachowski kept ahold of himself before he charged in.

The pure heat of the sun that came off of his body made close combat for the Dark knights impossible, as getting nice and up close wasn't an option. The purple Dark soldiers tried to get shots in but before a single one could hit him they would just be swiped away or couldn't even touch him without turning into a molten puddle of metal clinging onto his fur.

He laughed as he started to use the malleable metals, grabbing onto the molten messess and turning it into a ball of pure steel before hitting it with Clarent. Causing it to shatter into shrapnel, ripping and tearing through the hordes of Dark beings that were still trying to reach and hit him by hand. No matter how futile it was.

The giants were useless against the golden hedgehog. When one tried to grab him with its large hand to presumably throw him into the ground, its hand immediately exploded the moment its armored hand touched a single gold hair. It fell back in pain grabbing onto its pulverized wrist, one of its kin of giants tried to hit him with its axe, but it melted in a straight line of where it was supposed to hit him, making over half of its blade fall right off. 

He glared at the Dark giant before he flew straight to its head, elongating Clarent's range by melting the blade itself, causing it to whip out like a long sting. He lashed the blade out, cutting the tall Dark knight's head clean off. He bolted right back down to ground level where a group of axe-wielding knights were starting to gather up to swarm him, slicing at them all; making quick work.

Suddenly he felt pain on his back, or what felt like the suggestion of pain. He could feel everything but things that hurt him, like the molten metal touching his unaffected fur, so he was confused. He turned around after cutting one more Dark knight down and took to the sky looking around for what hit his back.

Below him was a whole regiment of eyeball Dark soldiers, all aiming and firing at him with their beams of light. He moved side to side, avoiding their lights before he dive-bombed them, landing right next to over half of them. Their screeches of pain filled the air as the heat surrounding his body instantly boiled the black blood inside of their bodies. He thrashed Clarent around him with a spin, creating a blender.

A squadron of flying fish tried to dive at him, some sporting abilities that he hadn't seen from them yet, but he didn’t care. He solidified Clarent back into its original state and launched off of the ground, breaking it into large chunks. Hacking and slashing at the fish as he flew right past, all of their bodies falling to the floor before turning into nothing.

Hack, lash, whip, and slash was all he did for a while. None of the Dark knights surrendered or ran away from the fight. The ground was full of dissipating black blood, and the stench of burning flesh was nearly unbearable when mixed with the natural stench that came with the Dark knights already, but it filled the air making it impossible for his now more sensitive nose to handle the smell.

With every Dark knight he brought down, more would just come back up. With the undefined time limit he was on he had to think up something fast. He floated down to the ground, quickly extending Clarent out again to take care of the Dark knights that got too close before landing down fully. When he touched down onto the floor all of the smoky black and purple pulled away from his legs. 

Wachowski finally got an idea to get this over and done with.

The golden hog shot right back to the skies, and all of the Dark knights gathered underneath like he was a magnet, he moved Clarent to float next to his side while he gathered a ball of energy into the palm of his hand. When it sparked out and pooled out of his hand he decided that it was enough. Wachowski bunched his hands together, forcing the energy into a quarter sized ball, the power of it condensed into such a small shape should do what he was hoping. 

Wachowski looked down at the desperate Dark soldiers as they threw and shot everything that they had on them at him. He tilted himself sideways, facing down, and rolled his shoulders before he pitched the condensed ball of energy right at the large hoard like a professional pitcher. 

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” The call was the only warning the Dark knights got.

Hours of finally being able to play games with the kids in Green Hills paid off. Whenever they had him playing games with them he had to be in a controlled spot, so that he wouldn't ‘cheat’ by their standards, just because he couldn't help but run faster than cars sometimes. Which meant he was usually always the pitcher when they got to play baseball together. The adults loved his fast pitches, taking it up as a challenge some days to try and see if they could hit a home run with it. Wachowski loved it when they treated him the same as the other kids.

The screaming hiss that came out of the bomb he created pulled him out of his memories, recreating the sound of a firework when it would shoot out into the sky. Only this ‘firework’ was going the opposite way. In a split second, the ball made contact with the escaping hoard and everything was white. A half circle overlaid the land, the top nearly reaching where he hovered, it took a moment for it to go back down and dissipate.

With the equivalent of a miniature sun colliding with the ground, everything was gone underneath him. Everything but the dirt was gone, the odd gazebo off to the side and out of the battle’s range was left unaffected. All of the gas was gone, not a single Dark knight could be reborn into new bodies for now.

“Welp, I’m disappointed I couldn't put that together sooner.” Wachowski rubbed at the back of his neck out of embarrassment as all of the emeralds agreed with him. He shook himself out, getting rid of anything that might have stuck to his golden fur, the specks of molten metal and some charcoal fell right off of him. 

He grabbed onto Clarent before flying right back down to the ground, “So, I just have to close up any rip-” 

A sudden beam made out of shadows hit him dead on shooting him into one of the hills. Wachowski let some startled breaths from the sudden feeling of pain ripping through his body before dissipating back into nothing, automatically healing himself. 

Sitting up from the dirt that had caught on fire from either him or the sudden blast of dark energy, Wachowski looked back down to the stone gazebo. The dark ball of something that sat inside was now glowing with shades of purple with a wiry misty black floating around it. He huffed out of his nose with a grimace, steam pouring out his nostrils like a tea kettle. 

“ That was rude ,” the annoyed hedgehog hovered up into the air, the ball shot another beam. Wachowski moved to the side but put his hand up to see if when not caught off guard he was going to be able to take this thing head-on. 

The beam didn't blast his hand off thankfully, if anything it felt like someone was firing a water jet at his hand, it did sting. The feeling was like TV static when he pulled it out. Wachowski shook his hand out before he beelined it to the orb. It shot another beam at him; he dodged it easily since it couldn't move the beam once it was shot out. 

The gross water from the pool shot up as he passed it, splashing it everywhere, whatever landed on him boiled off instantly. The gold hog made sure to take it nice and ‘slow’ when he made it to the inside of the gazebo, as slow as he could get when he’s going at the speed of light just to be careful to not get blasted straight on again. Since being this close already put him at risk of it.

Wachowski drifted up to the sphere, getting a better look at it up close compared to where he was when he first saw it. The ball was mat, while it was only somewhat transparent he could still see that something was hiding inside of it. The hedgehog lifted Clarent and slowly pushed down on the sphere’s shape, cutting into it to give him an opening to rip it apart so that he wouldn't destroy whatever started squirming inside of it. 

When the golden edge cut through just the top layer of the ball, all of the energy that had built up on the outside disappeared. Seeing that Wachowski slowed himself down for real this time, no longer worried about being blasted into one of the hills nearby. He let Clarent go back to hovering next to him and dug his fingers in, intending to rip out chunk by chunk instead of slicing right through it. 

But something just a little odd happened. Like how the emeralds gave him instructions from what felt like forever ago but whatever he was touching was giving him memories from years ago to about twenty minutes ago.

First, it was visions of chubby balls of light playing together, all of them a different color. Their small wings allowing them to fly around in playful swarms. There were other fantasy creatures he couldn’t name off that played around in the forest with their friends and family. Most recognizable being unicorns, with near pristine white coats. With that connection, he deduced that the balls of light were fairies by the fact they had wings and were smaller than his thumb. Some of them were also of the more lanky variety, with their limbs and wings stretched out, reminding him of dragonflies. They still were only about the size of the space between the bottom of his palm and the tip of his middle finger.

The place they were in was surrounded by a lush forest, it looked exactly like the grouping of the lounge and pillars that surrounded the pool, because it was. The difference was that it was filled with clear water, its tiles on the inside giving the illusion of light since it was gold paneling. The skies were bright with saturated blues, pinks, and whites. 

Everything looked like an alive painting.

Then there was the sudden presence of Lady Niume, she was drinking some tea underneath one of the wooden pergolas. She watched the small fairies float around and play with one another. Other people were there, but he couldn't make out who or what they were. It looked so peaceful, the silence and the calm was pleasant.

Off to a different spot, underneath the gazebo was the sphere. It wasn't the same color as it was right now in time, its outside resembled a pearl and a ring of light circled it. Intricate designs and patterns covered it, with dusted gold on the ridges, making it resemble a heavenly ring.

A some type of a fairy walked up to it, resembling their kin in all ways besides size, its head shape resembling that of a crooked sleeping cap and its more unique color of black. Its eye glowed purple, the other eye on its right side had been clawed out by something. 

Information flooded his brain, the past behaviors of this Dark fairy, showing that they were a bully to their smaller kin and other native Underworld creatures. They flew up to the orb and touched it, the ball turned black at the base of where it touched before consuming it whole. Allowing the small blob to be let in inside to use the core of life for the world. Everything started to wither away in seconds, and the blob's small kin ran away and hid when they were confronted by Dark knights, they formed out of the thick smoke that appeared out of nowhere.

Lady Niume tried to use a defensive form of water magic, but as the water from the lakes and rivers dried up her resources became heavily limited before a beam of darkness was fired at her from the core. Blasting her back from where she held her position of defense against the Dark knight hoard. She was holding her place so that the other people and critters could run away. Lady Niume had to flee into what looked to be a gateway between worlds as a giant threatened to cut her down.

Next, he saw the old buildings he saw back at the beginning and others like it that were spread around Misty Lake. They were in perfect condition, and people were walking in and out of them; it looked to be places of worship. He noted the gateway that was visited the most and given the most expensive-looking offerings. 

Wachowski couldn't gather much more than that as his vision changed to that of carnage and flames. People, children, and adults alike ran away from the Dark knights as they infiltrated the worshiping grounds. It wasn't until the kingdom's army came that there was pushback against the Dark soldiers. But it was too late, as the buildings were not salvageable anymore. 

One of the knights that were with the army Wachowski recognized.

‘Lancelot… Who knew you used to be a shortie?’ 

The knight looked a lot younger, but not as young as his son, he was probably around his early twenties. The ebony hedgehog was taking orders from a heavily armored person who rode on a horse. More info infiltrated his brain. That was the fake King Arthur, the golden hedgehog could tell and even feel that his body wasn't real, that his conscience wasn't real. While it didn’t anger him now, he wasn't going to like what he was about to see next. 

The scene changed again, and even more info was given to him. The fake had fought back against the Dark knights successfully for about six whole months on his own. It and Lady Niume were at the stone bridge that led to her gazebo. Out of gratitude for all of the hard work to get her home back, Lady Niume gave him the scabbard of immortality as a gift so that if he was ever hurt in battle he could get right back up and finish the fight. 

The Fake took it with great gratitude, and at first, it looked innocent from the perspective that Wachowski was forced into, but the true colors were shown the second the fake had gotten mortality hurt.  

While the ‘dead body’ of the fake was in Camelot, having died in battle against a horde of Dark knights. Its ‘soul’ had moved to the Underworld for the first time with the key being the scabbard of immortality, instead of being met with greeting hands and welcoming smiles the magic soul was met with a world nearly dead of all that used to inhabit it. All except one, the Dark fairy welcomed the fake to where the sphere hovered and made promises of great power and unwavering devotion from its kingdom.

The magic soul was easily twisted by the Dark magic that surrounded it and took the deal, allowing itself to be transformed into something so different from the person it used to look and be like. Being replaced with black smoke and sharp anatomy, entirely erasing who it used to be. 

Wachowski couldn't help but let the anger pool out of him, the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald felt the same.

Back in Camelot, the fake king's knights helped get its body back to a comfortable position before it woke back up. They watched in horror as their king twisted into something otherworldly and demonic. It stood up proud, claiming that it now had control over the Dark knight army and that it would save the kingdom from itself with the power from the scabbard.

Most of the knights had it in their right minds to know the fake had made ‘a deal with the devil’ and quit right then and there running off before their twisted king could punish them for ‘being unloyal’. The other knights had hoped that this would just be a new age of the kingdom’s wealth and prosperity, celebrated with their king over the good news. 

Wachowski watched with horror when the fake ordered the remaining knights to search and kill off the knights that had ‘abandoned their duties’ and that they shouldn't feel mercy for killing ‘traitors of their kingdom’. The fake then threw Clarent off into the forest and demanded a new sword as a tribute to this new age of prosperity for the kingdom and its ruler. 

He couldn't help but notice Lancelot was one of the people who kept their heads down and agreed to help the fake get a more fitting sword, putting too much trust in his king that he was still the same kind person he was before the deal. He felt like he was about to puke, the emeralds soothed him as the scene changed again.

When Lady Niume learned of the deal the fake had made and was furious. She hid away, no longer helping anyone within the kingdom’s woes, not even her son. They got into a heated argument over something the golden hog couldn't hear, but he definitely knew that some very hurtful words were coming out of Lance’s mouth. He could tell from how hard Lady Niume started to cry when her son had left. 

Wachowski doubted that the words Lance’s mother told him got to him at first. Not until after Sir Sonic had finally killed off the fake king, showing that his faith in the fake had been all for nothing but the endangerment of the kingdom. Finally realizing that she was right.

The scene changed again, to Merlina holding onto the scabbard of immortality. That’s when he saw that other Sonic everyone had been comparing him to. They did in fact look quite alike, the observations about their arms not being the same, nor their basic shapes that made up their bodies. He noted Sir Sonic's height too, he was about Galahad's size. 

‘How young was he when he was brought here?’ Wachowski shook his head trying to un-distract himself from the important information he was being given.

Merlina made a dark sphere consume the castle and anything it could reach, doing her hardest to merge the two realities. Tears formed everywhere Wachowski could see, which was a lot as the vision kept changing and showing him a lot of them. All of the Knights of the Round Table escaped with their lives, but all of them gave up. Lost to what they should do, with no king to lead them and show their worth they felt useless. 

Sir Sonic spoke up, probably giving them the prep-talk he thinks Lancelot mentioned happening. Lady Niume joined in backing up the blue hedgehog knight and told them of the seal-meant measure that had four points that could seal off the Underworld from the rest of Camelot.

He was back to looking at Merlina, her sadness was apparent as she started to transform into something while still looking like herself, having more control over the Dark magic, but still changed. She was now in control of the Underworld’s army, the old deal made years ago moving from the failed false king to her; but due to her experience, she didn't have to do much to gain full control over everything. Even what the Dark fairy was controlling.

Wachowski watched Sir Sonic enter and be beaten out of his mind, he wished he could join the others to tell him that his life wasn't worth losing over a kingdom that was doomed to end, but he already knew how the story ended. That Sir Sonic was going to be just fine. He just had to sit through the hardships first. 

When the sword Caliburn broke, Wachowski couldn't help but hope that he wasn't going to watch not just someone, but himself, die.

His heart sank when Sir Sonic refused to back down still. Sir Sonics borderline suicidal passion to help anyone no matter how it had to happen to push him through the pain. 

Wachowski felt his whole body relax when Caliburn started to glow with divine light. He had to admit it was super cool to see Sir Sonic get the coolest armor set he’s ever seen, the gold that was plastered around his body reminded him of the golden god form he was in right now. He could feel the excitement radiate off of Sir Sonic.

‘Glad we both feel the same way, dude.’

Watching the battle was very exciting, he laughed when Sir Sonic flew up to nothing and gave a thumbs up to the knights and Lady Niume; to Wachowski, Sir Sonic had floated right up to where he technically was. It was very funny to watch.

The scene changed back to the Underworld, where the Dark fairy had been throwing a big fit the entire time Merlina had been in control of everything. Off in the distance, he could see the other light fairies looking past their hiding spots, momentarily safe from their bigger kin’s harmful treatment. Being brave enough to sneak looks was all they had time for, as the Dark fairy regained control once more the moment Merlina was freed. Deciding to have payback, the Dark fairy used a lot of power and magic to rip a large gash in reality right inside of the garden the moment the respected Ex-King was gone. All just so that it could continue to trample the already breaking-apart kingdom and its citizens out of frustration and anger.

The scene changed again to the last of the visions, all small cuts over a very recognizable day-and-half period.

The Dark fairy, sitting within the orb, had felt something change. Something was in Camelot that wasn't supposed to be there. Feeling the same thing that it felt when Sir Sonic had arrived, but this one had backup. Powerful backup.

It used the storm as a filter away from the sun and sent out a Dark knight to the closest area that was next to this new source. They used the Dark knight as a pair of eyes and stationed it in one of the trees above an abandoned post. Waiting for whatever had arrived to appear. 

The Dark fairy watched while throwing a tantrum when Sir Lancelot killed off the Dark knight, stopping it from hurting the new and weird-looking Sir Sonic. It pitifully made plans to sabotage the two hedgehogs' journey, using a lot of soldiers and energy to take back the Great Megalith, only to fail horribly. Throwing another tantrum.

The Dark fairy decided to check it out for itself when it felt the weird Sir Sonic get close to ‘The Tear’. 

-It didn’t need the main tear to get through the realities, it had its own back door that it made specifically so that it could go into the castle to speak with the king whenever the fake was alone a while ago. The dark fairy also used it more recently to mess with Merlina's things whenever it could, making her pay by having her ‘lose’ her things almost constantly. And her none the wiser.-

It flew through the garden with expert mapping. When the Dark fairy found and got a good peek at the hedgehog, it was surprised to see a large glowing gem nesting within the hoglet’s arms. The fairy felt a shiver go down its non-existent spine once it realized what that blue hedgehog was carrying around, it got so bad to the point that the fairy couldn't move until the Sir Sonic look alike locked eyes with them.

Cold green eyes. Curious and cautious of the fairy, but the Dark fairy was more afraid of him than he was of it. When the Sir Sonic copy said a greeting the Dark fairy ran for safety into its handmade rip, in reality, next to ‘The Tear’. 

The Dark fairy used the eyes of Dark knights in ‘The Tear’ to watch the weird Sir Sonic. Even more to its horror, blue lightning came from his small body and attacked the purple barrier. Nearly shattering it just by hitting the shape and not the crystals carved with sigils specifically made to keep things from the Underworld within. 

Relief filled its being when the hedgehog finally ran off after being called away by Sir Lancelot.

Later that night the Dark fairy's fears were shown to be true as emeralds used the Sir Sonic as a vessel to complete its form, and entered into the Underworld.

Five seconds.

It took only five seconds for all of that to be given to him, but it felt like hours of sitting in place. Able to see everything but not be able to move an inch.

Wachowski shivered when he realized that he could see out of both his peripheral and central vision with very-very clear vision. It felt weird, but he didn't want to think about the forced mutation of his eye's anatomy, so he changed them back to normal with a shake of his head.

His hands clamped down on the squishy mess of the ball before he started to rip it apart angrily. The Underworld transformed from its apocalyptic nature, leaving behind its destroyed buildings, all organic life dissipating. The sky turned an off-white, along with everything else as the Underworld reset itself; the core now needed a new host to be complete.

When he finally reached the lowest layer he tore off the final piece, meeting face to face with the Dark fairy. The golden hedgehog could smell and see the fear coming off of the small blob.

The Dark fairy inside tried to swarm away with its little wings but was caught by the back of its neck before it could even get a foot into the open air. They even tried to form a spear out of Dark magic to attack him, but the second the tip hit Wachowski’s arm it shattered. They still tried to trash around but they were easily forced to stay put by Wachowski holding them out from underneath their armpits and around their torso like a teddy bear. 

He could tell just by how the Dark fairy acted that they had the brain development of a three to six-year-old. Childish in the manner of not understanding the weight of their actions. It explained the childish acts and mannerisms, but that doesn't excuse anything they had done. 

“ You’re in big trouble, ” Wachowski accidentally used his godly voice again, but this time he regretted it as the Dark fairy looked at him with teary eyes before balling. Their tears crystallizing after leaving their eyes and falling into a pile on the floor.

Wachowski tried to quell the Dark fairy at first but it didn't work. He didn’t know what else to do other than hold the Dark fairy to his chest awkwardly; like he’d seen on TV when people were trying to calm down babies. He made sure the fairy wouldn't explode of course, by tuning his energy output down by 70%. 

It surprisingly didn't take long for the Dark fairy to calm down, they even stopped trying to fly away, and Wachowski was thankful for that. He pulled the fairy from his chest and put them back out at a shorter distance than earlier, and floated down to the floor. Sitting the blob of Dark energy onto the floor Wachowski stayed on his feet and crossed his arms around his chest as he mentally commanded Clarent to stab itself into the stone flooring not far behind him. Unintentionally scaring the Dark fairy more.

“Now, tell me what you did wrong, and why it was wrong.” Wachowski used the most effective form of interrogation he remembered from Maddie, because if it made him crack under the pressure of guilt whenever she said it to him, why couldn't it work on a hundreds of years old borderline toddler.

The Dark fairy let out a couple of hiccups and more tears before they let out a language he couldn't think of being able to speak but the emeralds translated for him. It was close yet so different from how the locals of Camelot spoke. Probably because of the way the air was.

They said a plethora of sorrys and pleas of forgiveness before Wachowski had to remind them that he was looking for an explanation of what they did was wrong, & etc. It took a few tries for the Dark fairy to get out what Wachowski wanted to hear without fumbling over their words through their tears. He let them take their time, but knowing that he was on a timer made him wish that he wasn't dealing with this.

Wachowski hummed, “I’ll forgive you eventually, but you have to do a little job for me for then I can.” The dark fairy looked up and nodded. “I saw that you can make weapons, so I want you to protect the Underworld's core. Can you do that for me?”

The Dark fairy rubbed at their eyes to get rid of the rest of their tears as they nodded.

“Good,” Wachowski looked outside of the gazebo, so many of the smaller fairies had gathered outside of it, all peeking in with curiosity on the scale to a million. Wachowski snickered, “But, I think your siblings need an apology too.”

The ball of Dark energy looked at him confused before he pointed at their kin. They turned around, and were surprised to see all of their siblings survived the torment that they had put them through the years. Living off of scraps of happy energy from the people of Camelot.

The Dark fairy started to cry again, shaking as they got down to a full bow. Hands on the floor and laying their head on them, and said the same things that they said to him. The dogeza bow would have been concerning to the golden hedgehog if the Dark fairy’s actions weren't so horrible.

While the Dark fairy was apologizing their kin started to file into the gazebo, and waited for their larger kin to finish apologizing and look up from their bow. The moment they looked up they had expected nothing else but disappointed faces and denial of their sorrow, instead they were greeted by the hoard of their kin tackling them with dozens of hugs; just happy to have their eldest and gruffest sibling back. Quick, joyful, and very impulsive to put the past behind them.

Wachowski laughed at the sight, he too was happy to finally get this all over and done with. He turned back over to the destroyed and malleable core and thought up an idea. To effectively replace something that was once bad you have to purify it by giving back good. He thought about some solutions to the empty core, its energy was slowly dying out but he was thankful it had put the world into what he could recognize as a ‘sleep mode’ for the Underworld. Keeping its energy on a low burner, and going into a deep lumber until something to replace the old host is put inside of it.

He could only think of one good idea that was going to be close to permanent. At least until a better one was used as a replacement. 

Wachowski put his hand out and pulled, his energy teleporting the bouquet from his bag to his hand. The most important part of the flowers was the beaded bow, with the emotions and reason it was given to him; the idea of a future friendship and loyalty was hard to miss. But the flowers were important too, showing how he was hopeful to get back home and give them as an apology to his parents for being gone. 

‘Not like it was my fault but I’m sure Knuckles will find a way to pin some of it on me.’ Wachowski was sad and disappointed at himself for that thought, and so were the emeralds as they hummed disapprovingly.

To seal the deal, he had to make sure that they were going to be a large source of energy. The dead hair and other materials that made up the bow wouldn't be enough at all, and the flowers were almost dead from being trashed around in the pocket and not seeing the sunlight. So, he put his hand into his gravity-defying quills to find one that was the perfect size. Once he found one he braced himself before pulling it out as fast as he could so that it wouldn't hurt. Having one of his quills in his hands that flowed with the power of gods felt surreal, he shook off what he could of the feeling and put it into the bouquet. 

It also felt weird when he felt the quill grow back in. Wachowski shivered at the feeling.

The flowers started to grow, un-wilting their dyeing pedals and growing off little parts of themselves before easing down, the bow was thankfully unaffected by the sudden growth.

Wachowski sighed with sadness before getting another idea. 

Focusing a lot of energy on his hand before grabbing ahold of one of the precious fabric’s ends. Pulling on them the energy pushed to his fingertips slowly forming and copying the bow, so he could keep one that at least looked like the original. He happily tied it around his wrist, replacing the string from the vial.

The golden hog set the bouquet inside of the sphere's inner layer, putting the pieces that he had ripped off overtop of it, the pisces reconnected and molded back with the rest of the core. When it was finished its cold black mat outside was replaced with bright splashes of color, most notably from the flowers and his quill. 

It only took a moment for that color to spread across the whole realm, covering every surface with new beginnings of sprouts of flowers that were in the bouquet and others he hadn't seen before, and even more that reminded him of some Earth’s flowers. Any exposed dirt was covered in clover grass or moss. 

The sudden sound of water rushing filled his ears as the empty rivers and lakes were full once more; the pool was sparkling clean, the water inside being replaced by fresh water. The skies were filled with welcoming pinks mixed with baby blues with soft bubbly clouds. Every other ten or so feet a tree would rapidly sprout from the ground, either weeping willows or any type of species of trees that bloomed flowers.

It looked amazing.

But Wachowski only got the minimum of a second to admire his work before he was tackled by not only the smaller Light fairies but the Dark fairy too. They were all expressing how they were so happy that he had helped them, for restoring their home to a liveable state and bringing back their big sibling back to being nice. The Dark fairy looked embarrassed whenever the latter was being mentioned.

“Uh, you’re welcome,” Wachowski could barely get the words out as what seemed like hundreds of little balls of light covered his whole body. The hoard dispersed except the Dark fairy, who had decided that the hedgehog's fluffy arms was the best place to take a nap. With the situation handled the Light fairies explored and played with their new surroundings, but Wachowski could still feel the sadness that bled out of them whenever they saw a destroyed building or structure, especially what used to be the pergolas and the gateways.

“I wonder…” Wachowski left the gazebo, Dark fairy still in his arms, and held his hand out. Mentally picturing the old rock, stone, and wood being picked up and mended together with the help of the plants around it with his eyes closed. When he opened them again he was met with them all being mended by either roots or an entry new plant that he had no clue existed. The gateways having been reassembled, opened back up the entryways into Camelot. 

He felt the joy coming off of the Light fairies, all excited to have everything back to the closest to their normal. They all again rushed him with another tackle, unfortunately waking the Dark fairy back up and making them fly out of his arms and to the pool to lazily float around. Some of their kin joined them but stuck to laying on top of some newly grown lily pads since the water would clog their wings and make them too heavy to properly fly.

This time a few of the fairies stuck around to mess with and catch a ride in his quills while he flouted around being guided by the emeralds to the small tears. 

When he found one he would reach in and pop his head into the space between the worlds so that he could mend Camelot's hole in reality as well. Wachowski would grab around the outside of it and push the sides in toward each other, and when they got close enough to touch, he used his fingers powered by the sun, like a welding machine. He would then repeat the process in the Underworld. 

Going from spot to spot, it was apparent that the Light fairies enjoyed his presence, especially the ones that were turquoise, blue, and purple. All of them had an affinity whenever he would pick up his pace while dashing around the realm. Racing against his speed and following him around. 

The red fairies would go out of their way to grab onto his legs and arms so that they could fight against the harsh wind while he flew around since they didn't have the speed their other kin had; it was the opposite of their white kin. They hung onto him lazily, looking around at the new scenery and nothing else, the green ones doing the same. Sitting atop his head and shoulders, not doing much other than enjoying the ride. 

The yellow fairies were doing something within his quills, but he could tell that they weren't doing anything bad so he let them be; it just felt weird was all.

It barely took him any time to find every rip in reality with the emeralds' help. Once he got every single one except 'The Tear' he stopped back at the main area after the emeralds ‘told’ him about something that Merlina would probably be interested in.

“Hey,” Wachowski softly called out to the Dark fairy, waking it up from where it had drifted to within the pool. “Come here real quick, I have a little question.”

The Dark fairy swished over to the side of the pool and pulled itself out, shaking off whatever water it could before waddling over to the front of the gazebo where Wachowski was.

He landed on the floor and squatted down to the Dark fairy's height, “Do you still have that soul the wizard, Merlin, made? The one that was supposed to replace King Arthur?”

The fairy looked ashamed and floated into the gazebo scaffolding, grabbing something from a hidden spot and bringing it down, shamefully holding the fake soul out. It was a dark orb that had cracks within it from dying over and over again until it was finally finished off. Wachowski thanked them and took it, when his fingers made contact it purified the magic and turned it back into Merlin's original spell, taking away any properties that any Dark magic had left behind.

“Merlina will be happy to have this. It will make a wonderful apology gift,” Wachowski patted the fairy on the head before sighing as he looked back to ‘The Tear’. It was the last one he had to close up.

The golden god looked back down at the Dark fairy, “Looks like it's time for me to go.”

Suddenly every single one of the fairies was grabbing onto him wherever they could, even his face. Pleading that he stayed just a little bit longer to play and do things with them. 

‘Right, I forgot their basically children. I’m their first visitor and person to play with them all, in over like… Ten years- or something, no wonder they're desperate.’ It was a melancholy reminder of what he had gone through.

“It's going to be fine, I might even be able to visit from time to time!” He said. Some had even started to cry, their tears turning into crystals and hitting the stone pathing with the sound of clinking.

When Wachowski tried to pull the Dark fairy off of where they had grabbed ahold of his chest, they grabbed onto his necklace.

“Hey-hey-hey, noooo. Let go,” he pleaded, not wanting it to break. After a little bit of tug-of-war with the bigger fairy, they eventually let go; only to wrap themselves around his neck. Wachowski let out a loud groan, letting them all know he wasn't happy with their actions.

The golden hedgehog could only think of one thing he could do, make a promise.

“I’ll come back to play and hang out, but I have to go home,” Wachowski had to say it a couple of times before they believed him, and he wasn't lying, he just had to make sure that they knew it too.

They told him an ultimatum: he comes back to play as soon as possible or else. The last part was given to him by the Dark fairy but he already understood that they were all tired of being all alone. All of their old friends were either gone or didn't know that they could come back to the land they once called home.

“I promise. I’ll even Power-Bump on it,” he held out his fist, and they all looked at him confused.

“Think of it like a pinky promise. You just have to fist-bump me back to seal the deal,” Wachowski explained, hoping they knew what a pinky promise was.

They all looked at one another before they all took their turn to Power-Bump his fist. He couldn't feel most of their hits, the only notably strong one was the Dark fairy’s; maybe they really were going to act upon their part of the ultimatum…

‘Best not to find out.’ The emeralds hummed, agreeing with the young hedgehog.

Wachowski gave them all one last hug to the swarm of fairies and said his last goodbye before grabbing Clarent and going back into ‘The Tear’.

Wachowski turned around looking at the part of ‘The Tear’ that went into the Underworld. The job to get this one put together was going to be harder than all of the others, but he had a plan for that. He pulled power back into his hands again, this time creating a thin gold string in one hand and a long needle the length of a standard pencil, but that was still as thin as a regular one.

He slowly threaded ‘The Tear’ together, doing a simple stitch, holding onto the end that wasn't tied to the needle in place so that he wouldn't have to worry about it becoming undone. Once he got the tread going from top to bottom he pulled at both ends, sealing up the hole, and held the thread tight as he welded the rip closed. Only taking the tread out once he was done then went through to ‘The Tear’ that entered Camelot.

“Do you feel better dear?” Lady Niume asked the wizard.

“Yes,” Merlina sniffed, “thank you. I’m so sorry you have to see me like this.”

“Don’t be, it's been a long two years since we could even think of the possibility of this finally being over.” The water deity looked up to the stars through the tree leaves, happily looking across and admiring one of her godly siblings' best and most inspiring creations. She couldn't wait to be back to her true home, one she lost years ago.

Merlina nodded, holding her staff to her chest, one of the first gifts given to her from Merlin before he tragically passed.

A strange light came from ‘The Tear’, catching both of the ladies’ attention immediately. They looked at each other before they both stood up from where they sat and walked into the middle of the path. Both witness to the colors of ‘The Tear’ change and shift. The oily black that filled its insides dissipated, turning into clear waters that reminded the both of them of looking up at the top of the water from the bottom of a large body of water. No longer dripping out of ‘The Tears’ insides into Camelot. The rash red at the edges turned into a golden yellow.

Lady Niume couldn't help but let some of her tears fall, “He did it.” She walked up to ‘The Tear’ and held a hand out, letting it graze across her fingers; the feeling of home closer than ever before. “Wachowski really did it.”

“It really is over,” Merlina said walking next to her. Admiring the bright welcoming colors that she used to hope to see one day back when she was just an elfling. The stories of the land of gods and creatures of holy legend all coming from a world lost long ago still fresh on her mind. 

They both didn’t dare to go inside. Knowing that if they did so now, whatever the young hedgehog was doing would be disrupted and could destroy everything they both had worked so hard for.

After quite a bit of time, when a golden light started to emerge, like the sun through ‘The Tears’ water, they both backed up. Merlina was anxious but Lady Niume was ecstatic about who was coming back to Faraway Avalon. The light shone brighter and brighter before a certain golden hedgehog finally popped out.

Other than Merlina’s lantern, Wachowski’s godly form lit the entire area.

Wachowski didn't look away from ‘The Tear’, doing the same to it that he did for the Underworld's side, not realizing that he had caught two people slightly off guard by his methods of closing rips in the fabric of reality. Once he was done he watched as the last whole faded and treated itself, finally able to recover from its wounds. The needle and thread in his hands burned away into dust, being carried away by the wind when he dusted them off.

Before he could do anything else Wachowski heard someone clear their throat behind him, he slowly turned around afraid to see a very awake and upset Lancelot, only to be greeted by his mom and Merlina. He recognized that they both had tear stains on their faces, he could tell Niume’s was fresher by the new salt smell. But the smell of happiness coming off of her told him she was just fine. 

Merlina was a different story.

“Um, so what are you two doing up so late?” Wachowski awkwardly asked the two, hoping to not get commented on how he was not a mortal anymore.

Lady Niume chuckled at the younger hedgehog, “Waiting for you to come back. How was it in there? Everything turn out ok?” She held her hands together.

“Um, y-yeah. It went very well for what I was expecting I was going to have to do,” Wachowski cleared his throat. “But, uh, why aren't the two of you freaking out?” He shook his head. “Wait scratch that, why aren’t you freaking out?” The golden hedgehog pointed to the elf after remembering seeing the pink hedgehog in the visions of the Underworld.

“Oh- I- I am,” Merlina whispered. Out of everything she had seen over the years, while this wasn't the most frightening it was definitely scarring her.

“Ah- sorry, I’ll try to look normal for you.” Before either of them could ask what he meant the brightness of his golden body turned down a considerable amount. Wachowski stopped floating and landed on the ground, Clarent dropping into his hands instead of orbiting around him like a moon. His quills stopped leading upwards and fell back down to how they normally looked. 

“This better?” Wachowski innocently asked them.

“Yes, thank you.” Merlina didn't want to be seen as rude, but there was just a natural fear she couldn't shake off. Perhaps from the time she had used the Dark magic of the Underworld to take over Camelot?

“That was astonishing!” Lady Niume walked up to him and silently asked for permission to touch his quills, he nodded, before running her fingers through them. “You can hold back so much godly energy like it’s nothing. Does it hurt at all? Because if it does-”

“It doesn't, at least not a lot, it's like a build-up of pressure.” Wachowski cut her off before deciding that his time was finally up. “I have to stop using this power anyway, but first,” Niume looked at him confused as he turned to Merlina, who was still holding the lantern. 

He held his hand out, “May I?”

“Oh, yes. Here you go,” She handed the metal lantern over to the small hedgehog.

Wachowski opened up the latch to get to the candle on the inside, quick to pull it out before giving it to Lady Niume then replacing it with the manufactured soul before putting his hand out to give it back to Merlina.

“This is a gift as a certain Dark fairy’s apology.” She took the lantern with shaky hands already recognizing whose magic it was. “You can already tell can’t you,” Wachowski kept his voice soft and knowing.

“Yes,” was all Merlina could get out before she started crying again. Lady Niume and Wachowski stayed silent out of respect as she hugged the lantern to her chest. A ton of quiet but repetitive thank yous coming through her sobs.

Wachowski made eye contact with Niume and nodded to her before backing up a step and finally letting all of the Chaos Emeralds go back home. He grabbed the Master Emerald out of the sky before it could fall to the ground. 'Were my quills always this heavy? Doesn't matter.'

Niume looked at Wachowski with sorrow.

“What?” He asked innocently, passing off the feeling in his chest of the line turning back into a coil.

“You got rid of your godhood.” She ghosted her hands over his head, missing the familiarity of being around another deity.

Wachowski looked at her apologetically even though he had nothing to apologize for, “I don’t want to be a god Miss Niume. That's not something I want to be.” He let out a snort. “No matter how rad or cool it is. I just want to be myself, and nothing more or less.” 

She smiled at the young hog, “Ascending to godhood isn't a thing people can just do Wachowski, but I understand.” She rested her hand on his shoulder, hoping he’d understand the fact that he’s technically a god’s chosen one, she just didn’t know which one claimed him.

“Thanks,” Wachowski looked between her and Merlina, whose cries had gone down to hiccups and sniffles. “But how did you get here?”

Lady Niume laughed, “I can use that mirror magic I showed to you to travel.” She brought back her hand, patting him one last time on the head.

“That's cool,” he whispered. 

Merlina finally stopped crying and lifted her head back up, surprised to see a normal, as close to normal as you could get when it came to him, blue hedgehog.

“What happened? Why aren’t you a god anymore?” Merlina asked worriedly. 

Wachowski's mouth contorted to a manic smile before he proudly took his chance to say something ‘out of pocket’ as his mom would say whenever he was tired, and declared, “I reject my godhood and immortality! Merlina!” Rising The Master Emerald to the sky in a stoic gesture. If a gem could laugh it would have, but it made its due by humming repeatedly and pulsating its glow.

Both Lady Niume and Merlina looked at him confused, Wachowski was disappointed that he forgot they wouldn't get it.

So he decided to explain it so that they would at least understand, “It’s a reference to a famous line in a book from Japan. The original saying is; I reject my humanity! Jojo!” Wachowski awkwardly sat still for a second while swinging his arms back and forth before speaking again, “So yeah, are we going to go inside and finally go to bed or? Because it is freezing out here.”

“Ah- yes! Do you need me to show you back to Lancelot's room?” Merlina asked him, suddenly being reminded that it was nighttime.

“Yes, please.” Wachowski started to go toward the door back into the castle but Lady Niume stopped him before he took a step.

“I’ll be seeing you before you go tomorrow, but I must return to my lake.” She held out her hands in a gesture for a hug, he gladly took it, the tiredness of staying up so late had finally set in; the power from the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald respectively couldn't hold back the exhaustion from his body any longer after they were removed. 

“See you later alligator,” Wachowski said before letting go.

Lady Niume laughed at the silly saying even though she didn't know what it fully meant, “Is there supposed to be a second part that I say back?”

“Yea’, it’s -After a while crocodile.” 

“After a while, crocodile.” They both waved goodbye before she faded away, unintentionally bringing the still lit candle back to her home with her.

Wachowski turned back to Merlina, “Let’s go in, I’m going to catch a cold if I’m out here for any longer!” He actually wouldn't, but the stark contrast of his body temp after being powered by infinite suns to the nighttime cold was jarring.

“Yes, go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” She followed the blue hedgehog inside, closing the door behind her.

“Which way are we going?” Wachowski asked, looking at the two open doors that led to staircases.

Merlina looked at the extra open door with confusion, “I swear that door wasn't open when I got here.” 

He chuckled at her, “And I don’t remember that one being open but it is now.” He pointed to the door she came out of.

She turned to him, “You came through here?”

“Yep.”

“I haven't been up that staircase before… What's up there?”

“Oh, just a really dusty hallway, with a bunch of red fabrics hanging from the walls. For-some-reason .” ‘A waste of fabrics is what it was.’ Wachowski made sure not to say that out loud.

“It wraps around the castle?” She looked up the stairs before looking back at the hoglet again. “Want to go this way?”

“You think it will be faster?” He cocked his head to the side.

 Merlina nodded, “Certainly.”

“Then what are we waiting for, I want to go to bed.” Wachowski stumbled up the stairs, and Merlina followed behind. Her longer legs made traversing up the stairs easier, while Wachowski nearly tripped over each step having a harder time going up tired than coming down them with a pounding headache.

“Would you like me to carry you?”

He nearly slipped off a step out of surprise and embarrassment, “No! I can do this. I got down these stairs, I can go up them too.” Wachowski sped up a couple at once before turning around looking apologetic. “Sorry Merlina, that was rude. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“It’s alright, you're just frustrated, Wachowski.” She looked as far up the staircase as she could. “We’re nearly there anyway.”

“Good.”

When they got to the room Merlina didn't take time to look at every single detail of the room having already seen it, but she did hold in a chuckle at the blue hedgehog's footprints through the dust-covered floor.

They made it to Lancelot’s room walking sooner than she did sprinting to the garden. She made sure to take note of the shortcut for her own personal reasons. Before she dropped Wachowski off she had to say something.

“Thank you.”

Wachowski hummed with a question, “For what? Fixing the Underworld?”

She chuckled, holding the lantern to her chest even harder, “That too, but no. For giving me the last living project of my grandfathers to me.”

He looked up at her with remorse, “I told you, the Dark fairy gave it to me to give it to you.”

“Really?” She asked with doubt.

“Yeah, I’m glad you're happy to have it.” It reminded him of Longclaw’s feathers he kept in his bedside dresser.

“Hmm, still. I wouldn't have it right now if it wasn't for you.” Merlina ringed her hand on her staff before he kneeled down and hugged the tired hedgehog goodnight. She noted just how warm he was; she wished she could bring him to her room just to sleep through the cold night comfortably, but he's a living being and not a warm blanket so she reframed from bringing it up. 

“Good night Wachowski, sleep well.” She stood up and walked away, going back to her room.

“Good night, and you too.” He said with a yawn before he opened the door and walked in.

Only a couple of minutes before Wachowski entered the room, Galahad fell off the bed, waking Lancelot in the process with the loudest thump in existence. The older hedgehog tried to get a good look around but the candle inside of the lantern was almost out of wick and wax, but he didn't need to as his son's grunts of frustration were all he needed to know about what woke him.

“Fell off again?” Lancelot asked grumbling.

“Mmhf.” Was all the answer he got back, but he knew that it meant a yes. 

Lancelot automatically reached out to hold the youngest, but when he was met with nothing but air or pillows he sat straight up and searched the room, going as far as lighting the room with a light spell. No blue hoglet in sight.

“Galahad, where's Sonic?” He asked his son, hoping he had an answer; accidentally calling the youngest by their first name, brain not fully awake just yet.

“Hm?” Galahad looked to where the young hog should have been, and after finding no one he checked under the bed just in case, lighting it up with his magic but after finding nothing he got back up. “No I do not, did you hear anything? Like him leaving?”

“No, I hadn't,” Lancelot muttered a swear under his breath and jumped out of bed when he saw that both the Master Emerald and the sword Clarent were missing. “Stay here, I’ll go and look for him,” Lancelot ordered his son, but before he could do anything they heard voices from just outside the door. Since its wood was so thick they couldn't hear anything until it was opened.

Wachowski entered with a yawn, finishing a goodbye to someone they couldn't see. 

Them being awake scared the young hog, as he held his chest out of surprise, “You guys scared the crap out of me. When did you wake up?” Wachowski entered the room as if he had never left, going over to his pile of things, kicking off his shoes, and putting a very much fixed Clarent away into its scabbard.

“Just now, Galahad fell off the bed,” He ignored his son's annoyed grunt. “When did you leave?” Lancelot didn't like it when the hoglet ran off out of nowhere for unknown reasons. Any parent would understand.

“And why?” Galahad asked as he pulled back up the fur hide that fell off.

“Aww, sorry about that. It was probably my fault, I accidentally touched your legs while trying to get out.” Wachowski yawned again before he continued speaking. “I had to find the bathroom, but I didn't want to wake anybody up so I tried to go alone with only the Master Emerald but I got scared and brought Clarent with me.” He lied, explaining away the situation as if he hadn't broken not one but two things he promised..

“Did you meet someone in the hall?” Lancelot asked, wanting to know who he was speaking to.

“Yeah, Merlina was up and helped me find it since the Master Emerald was being a big jerk.” Wachowski dropped off said emerald onto the writer's table.

“What was she doing up? And, you should have just woken me up, I wouldn't have been mad at you if you did.” Lancelot asked as Wachowski tried and failed to climb up the side of the bed, Galahad got in with no problem. 

‘Show off- shut up! Stop being mean.’ The blue hedgehog just wanted to sleep.

“I don’t know, and didn't want you or the others to be tired in mornin' is all.” Wachowski tried one last time to jump into the bed with his tired limbs before he gave up. “Can I have a hand please?”

“Of course,” Lancelot grabbed under the hoglets arms, but not expecting the heat radiating off of the kid, the knight nearly dropped him on the floor before he could set him in the bed. 

“You’re so warm, are you running a fever?” Lancelot asked worriedly, laying his hand across the blue fur on Wachowski’s forehead.

“Can we just go to bed, I wanna sleep.” Wachowski couldn't help complaining, and he deserved to complain. He's been up all night taking care of one of the largest problems he's ever dealt with before. Minus the scorn of an egg of a man that plagued his nightmares from time to time.

Lancelot looked at the blue hedgehog for any signs of bad health before caving in, “Ok, but make sure to wake me up next time. I won’t care how tired I’ll be in the morning, I don’t want you to get lost. This castle is bigger than you’d think. I’d know.” 

The knight hopped in next to the blue hog after he moved over, “I’ll also be checking you over in the morning.”

Wachowski hummed, not really caring.

Galahad couldn't resist the warmth Wachowski was pooling off of him and moved closer. Wachowski was instantly squished between the two, as Galahad ended up in his father's arms along with him. All three hedgehogs didn't care at the time, they all just wanted to go back to bed. 

The Master Emerald hummed with satisfaction of a job well done before letting its brightness die down so that they could sleep more comfortably.

Chapter Text

The sound of peaceful birds singing outside flowed into the knight's chambers, waking Lancelot. He yawned as quietly as he could to not rudely wake the two hoglets that were still in his arms. He slowly uncurled his arms from the pile of fur and limbs before pulling them out. Unintentionally rolling Wachowski onto his stomach, but the blue hog didn't react much other than shifting his face to the side so he could breathe. Lancelot pulled off the blankest from his legs and stood up before stretching out his arms and shoulders with another silenced yawn. His back and ribs popped with the motion, he relaxed at the satisfying feeling.

Galahad grumbled, waking from all of the movement of the bed, and sat up.

“Good morning,” Lancelot greeted his son as he checked the lantern. Its candle had completely melted, the wick fully burnt out and suffocated by the wax. Leaving a perfect circle around where it once was.

“Morning father,” Galahad muttered before getting out of bed himself and going over to the cupboard. Leaving Wachowski with the whole bed to himself.

Lancelot looked at the Master Emerald, its green glow had stabilized but he could tell something was off with it. The feeling was familiar, a suffocating presence filling the whole room, it mostly felt like whatever was coming off of it wasn't intending to do anything with itself. Just sitting quietly, waiting for whatever it was preparing for next.

The red-striped hedgehog refrained from shaking the feeling off, deciding to keep his eyes on the large emerald as he started to get ready to go to Sir Sonic’s universe.

All of the sounds of armor clinking together and shuffling woke Wachowski. He shot straight up, awakening from his dreamless sleep with a startle when he did not recognize the room before his tired eyes landed on the older two hedgehogs getting their armor on.

“Good Morning’,” Wachowski yawned and stretched himself out. He slid off of the bed with limp legs, holding onto the side of the soft mattress before grabbing ahold of the writer's desk to keep balance as he put the gem into his arms.

“Morning Wachowski. Did you sleep well?” Lancelot asked after remembering that the child had been awake longer than they had. 

Wachowski nodded, “Better than yesterday night, that's for sure. How’d you both sleep?” 

“Slept fine for the most part.” Lancelot wanted to say something about the emerald but decided that he could ask it as they had their meal before leaving.

“It was… fine,” Galahad grumbled out, still upset that he had been trapped between his father's arms again. At least it was warm.

Wachowski hummed as stumbled over to his satchel and slid the Master Emerald in before checking all of the other pockets to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Finding the bouquet gone gave him a miniature heart attack before he remembered what he had done that night. He mentally prepared himself at the reminder as he put on his shoes, the looming confrontation that he had lied about something extremely important to Lancelot was crushing him inside out.

Once he got his shoes on he grabbed his bag and turned around to check to see if the other two were done getting ready. Galahad was still picking things out of the closet and Lancelot had everything on and ready to go, but he had the new bandages and the burn oil in his hands.

“You alright, Wachowski?” The knight asked, noticing he was in distress. Lancelot set the wrappings and oil onto the desk and patted the spot of the bed next to it.

Wachowski corrected his sour face, “Thinking about something too much,” He hopped up the side of the bed with some help. “Feel bad about it.”

Sir Lancelot pulled off the wrapping on his head before he continued, “Was it out of your control?” He ghosted his fingers over the cut, it had finally stopped bleeding and fully clotted. Unfortunately, it was still warmer and puffy compared to the rest of the kid's forehead.

Wachowski had to think about it, because while no, it was under his control considering the lying; the reason why it happened was majorly the Master Emerald's fault. The only reason he left the room was because the big gem needed him to fix the Underworld.

But in the end, he lied and broke a lot of his promises, and it made him feel bad. The least he could do is be honest.

“I wish it wasn't, but I can’t change what happened.” Wachowski surprised himself with how troubled he sounded and swiftly changed the mood with a fake smirk. “Once again, I blame the Master Emerald.”

“That sounds abstruse…” Lancelot said as he looked down at the youngest hedgehog with worry, the new gauze layered in oils in his hands.

“What sounds abstruse?” Galahad asked as he closed the closet doors, finally done getting dressed and ready to go.

Wachowski didn't want to explain himself, but he was delaying the inevitable. “Nothing, just blaming the Master Emerald for all of my problems.” He could feel the gem gently hum disapprovingly inside of his bag.

“Oh, that does sound abstruse,” The silver hedgehog walked over to the bed.

“Yes, it does.” Sir Lancelot carefully put on the new gauze and sticky wrapping, then rechecked Wachowski’s forehead for the warmth he had felt that night. Thankfully it was gone. 

“Why were you so warm last night?” Lancelot asked, hoping to get an explanation out of the blue hog.

“I’ll be able to explain better once we meet back up with Merlina. And um-” Wachowski trailed off. Not able to tell them about the lie he told, but he hoped that what he was saying was intriguing enough for them to prod it out of him.

“And what?” Lancelot asked after putting the medical materials away. 

Wachowski did his best to organize his words into a decent formula before speaking, “I feel really sorry about it I swear, but last night I wasn't telling the full truth-”

“Excuse me?” Lancelot’s tone was all over the place but he could tell the knight was upset.

“I just wanted you to know before we met up with Merlina, that what I said I was doing last night wasn't what really happened…” Wachowski’s voice trailed off again. Both of the related hedgehogs looked at him confused and upset. 

“But um- nothing bad happened in the end! So you shouldn't worry!” He raised his hands apologetically.

“What did you do?” Sir Lancelot asked sternly.

“Nothing that Merlina and Nimue don’t already know about,” Wachowski responded. Hoping that the mention of Lady Nimue would at least ease him about the situation; only to realize he just made the situation worse for himself. So he immediately mentioned the part of the night that only he and the Master Emerald knew about to take the attention off of the mention of Lancelot’s mother. “Other than the puking, that part sucked.”

Lancelot's face went to surprise at the mention of his mother before going through the five stages of grief when he said the latter. If he could see Galahad's face he would see it was stuck in surprise.

“Grandmothers here?” Galahad asked racing to the other side of the bed to check Wachowski’s face for any lies before Lancelot could say anything.

“Yeah, she was here just last night. Don’t know exactly when she arrived but I was able to talk to her a bit before she left.” Wachowski turned back to Lancelot, “She said she’d be back in the morning so she might already be here again.”

Galahad looked at his father with begging eyes, and Lancelot knew that Galahad wasn't the one in trouble so he nodded.

The silver hedgehog ran to the door before stopping once he opened it, “If she’s here I’ll tell her you two will be out soon. Later!” He dashed through the door and didn't bother closing it behind him. 

Lancelot sighed before looking back down at the troublemaker, Wachowski kicked his feet waiting for the scolding, “Start from the beginning.”

Wachowski tensed up at the command but cleared his throat to explain himself anyway, “I couldn't sleep, and the Master Emerald kept bothering me to get up and take it to ‘The Tear’ so I left with it. When I got to the garden I might have not been feeling the best and threw up, it was the same thing that happened last time. When you found me on the floor.” He wrung his hands together.

“Wachowski, I told you to come to me no matter what if that happened again.” Lancelot couldn't believe his ears, the kid made a promise and didn't keep it.

“I know, it’s one of the reasons why I said I felt bad for lying,” Wachowski trusted Lancelot to understand where he was coming from. “And I couldn't just walk back to the room to come get you. I fell and could barely drag myself to a bench so that I could lay down properly.” 

Wachowski looked down at his wrist, “The fall broke the vial too.” He held his wrist up absentmindedly, showing off the copy of the ribbon that replaced it. “You could probably find the broken glass in the garden if you looked around hard enough.”

Sir Lancelot hummed, he was still worried but he needed to know everything that happened, “Then what happened next.”

“I broke both of the seals around “The Tear’ after I felt better, and I went inside of it. Then Merlina and Nimue showed up sometime before I came back out. I don’t know how either of them knew it broke or that ‘The Tear’ was now sealed, but they were there…” Wachowski said it as fast as he could so that he could explain himself without interruption and waited for Lancelot to speak.

Lancelot looked to be in shock, doing nothing other than staring at the young hedgehog with utter horror. Wachowski let him sit like that for a while, letting the older hedgehog think about everything he just said. Lancelot eventually walked up and sat next to Wachowski, elbows on his legs but they were limp and hung off the middle before he started to rub at his face with deep breaths.

“What else?” Wachowski could barely hear the question through Lancelot's hands.

“We talked, Nimue left and Merlina walked me back to your room. That's it,” Wachowski knew he skipped over the Chaos emeralds coming to the Camelot universe to turn him into a god, but it was for the best. He didn't want to think about it either, but he hoped that Lady Nimue and Merlina wouldn’t bring it up at all once they told everybody that the Underworld’s knights wouldn’t be bothering the kingdom of Camelot anymore.

“I mean what happened in there? You don’t just walk in and out of another reality, Sonic. Or fix a rip in reality without the help of something stronger than the gods,” Lancelot said with strained frustration. 

Wachowski tapped his fingers together while in thought before he continued. “I did a lot and I mean a lot of fighting, that's obvious. Defeated the Dark fairy that was behind it all, and made their life-long job to protect the core of the Underworld as a punishment. Uh, what else?”

Wachowski rocked his singular brain-cell powered noggin around a little for more details, “OH! The light fairies are all alive and well, they wanted me to stay and play but I had to go home. Then I left after taking care of all of the smaller holes in both of the universes.” He kicked his feet again, waiting for any more questions.

Sir Lancelot dragged his hands down his face before holding them together under his chin with a loud groan, “You didn't answer the full question.”

“Ah,” Wachowski opened the satchel's main compartment, pulled out the Master Emerald, and shoved it into Lancelot's hands. “The Master Emerald. It’s how I closed holes in Camelot and the Underworld.” 

The Master Emerald was hot to the touch in Lancelots, and he understood the suffocating presence now. He should have never assumed that it was a normal gem or just one that was more powerful than others. Lancelot couldn't understand how Wachowski could handle being with this thing all the time.

The green gem hummed knowingly.

Wachowski patted Lancelot's shoulder apologetically, “It brought me here to take care of the Underworld’s problem. Which is why I said what I said; I blame the Master Emerald for all of my problems.” He ended the sentence with a wink.

Lancelot turned to him and Wachowski couldn't make out the expression but he assumed that the older hog was still upset at him. “You have an emerald that can do more things than the gods can. How did you even get your hands on this thing?” Lancelot gave the emerald back to him with swift hands, not wanting to hold onto it any longer than he had to.

“A map, simple as that. But, it’s me and my brother's jobs to not let others get their hands on it and use it for their own reasons. It’s been like that for generations, all under my old tribe's careful watch and hidden protection, the role of guardian passed down to me.” Wachowski thought back to Longclaw’s last message to him for a short moment and let the memory fade away on its own.

They sat in silence together for some time before Lancelot broke it by standing up and grabbing the burnt-out lantern, “I think that's enough of an explanation for me.” He looked down at Wachowski and motioned for him to grab his hand. “Let’s go.”

“Way ahead of you,” Wachowski shoved the Master Emerald back into the bag and hopped off of the bed. Sir Lancelot grabbed ahold of his hand and walked him out of the room. He didn't mind because he knew that the next time he runs off again Lancelot would probably resort to carrying him everywhere instead. He’d rather hold hands than be carried around like a baby.

When they got outside to the outer Castle walls they didn't expect to see a whole assortment of breakfast foods laid out on the tables. The choices ranged from simple fruits to multiple trays of pastries. They both knew instantly that it was set up as a celebration of the Underworld finally being fixed and separated from their reality so that no more Dark knights could get through.

Lady Nimue was in fact already there, talking to her grandson with a pleased face. Next to her was Sir Percival, who was asking Merlina about the large breakfast she and Lady Numue had made. He didn't miss the lantern that she held to her chest. Sir Gawain and Lamorak were looking at all of the different fruits and debating who was going to eat what first. 

Wachowski chuckled nervously, “Hey, Nimue! Merlina! I don’t think we can eat all of this.” He called out across the small field between where he and Sir Lancelot stood and where the tables sat about fifty feet away. The call caught everyone's attention, but only the ladies and Galahad came over to meet them halfway.

“Good morning, Wachowski.” Lady Nimue said with a happy smile. Her mood had changed a lot, it was more bubbly and uplifting than before, but he noticed her startle from something unseen by him when she got closer. “I take it you slept well?” She asked.

“Yep,” Wachowski couldn't help but swing his arm and Lancelot's as he talked. “How did you two make all that food so fast?”

Lady Nimue laughed, “I didn't exactly sleep last night, I had to set something up for this special occasion. And visit some old friends.”

Wachowski pouted at the water god, “You should have at least taken a nap.”

“I know, but I was too busy with sorting things out in you-know-where,” Nimue said, with a hint of shyness.

Lancelot cleared his throat, “ Good morning to you all.”

“Morning, Sir Lancelot,” Both Sir Percival and Merlina greeted back. 

Galahad waved to his father before turning his attention back to Wachowski, “There's so many treats you have to try out! There's even a few I’ve never had before.” 

“After everyone sits down Galahad,” Sir Percival interjected. “Merlina and Lady Nimue haven't informed us of what is happening yet.” 

Galahad drooped at the reminder before he turned back to the younger hedgehog, “I’ll try and find the best ones for us to have. If Lamorak and Sir Gawain don’t get to it before us that is.” 

Wachowski laughed and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, “Sure thing.”

“Well, I think it is time we all gather up then. If you’re all ready?” Merlina asked them all, happy to share the exciting news.

“Everyone is curious by now, so let’s get started.” Lady Nimue said and started to walk back to the tables. 

Lancelot hummed with agreement and followed behind his mother with the others. Lady Nimue called Lamorak and Sir Gawain over to them, interrupting their debate about a pile of weirdly shaped fruits that smelled like strawberries.

“You finally going to tell us what's going on?” Lamoark asked before promptly getting jabbed by Sir Gawain's elbow for being rude.

Sir Gawain shuffled in place in agitation, “I apologize for that, but truly, what is happening, Lady Nimue? Merlina?” He ignored his student's glare.

“We both have great news,” Merlina clapped her hands together as she proclaimed.

“The Tear’ and all other rips in Camelot to the Underworld have been officially cut off or properly sealed!” Both Nimue and Merlina announced with the most glee any of the Knights of the Round Table had seen in a very long time.

“What‽” Lamorak and his teacher yelled. Sir Lancelot wanted to laugh at their reaction, but it was surprising news, so he didn't hold it against them.

Sir Percival and Galahad sat in silence for a moment but Galahad broke it.

“Was this what you were talking about earlier?” Galahad questioned Wachowski. 

The blue hedgehog chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed, “Yeah…”

“It wouldn't have been possible if he didn't get involved last night,” Lady Nimue pulled him out of Lancelot's hands and squashed him against her side as a hug of thanks. 

Merlina continued with a short explanation, “Even if the way he got it done was unorthodox. Wachowski found a way to seal off the Underworld from Camelot.” She looked back down at the young hog only to see him looking up at her with an anxious face and shaking his head as unnoticeable as possible so that the others couldn't tell, pleading with her to not explain what else had happened. She nodded back and made sure that Lady Nimue got the message too.

“Really?” Lamorak asked. He couldn't believe it, this was the second time a blue hedgehog had to come from another world to fix their problems. Merlina nodded at him with a worry-free smile. 

Sir Gawain mumbled something under his breath that wasn't out of unreleased anger for once; it was one of relief and prayer to the gods that watched over them. And to Wachowski, but no one needed to know that.

Sir Percival was stuck in thought, from the past eight years of the kingdom's suffering from the Dark knights of the Underworld and their corrupted king to Sir Sonic's slaying of Camelot's tyrant. To now, with a younger version of that same person showing up two years later to finish the job in less than two full days. It was surprising.

Galahad was just happy that it was all over; plus now he could gloat that he had finally met Sonic, even if it wasn't the same one that was the king for a day. Not in an undermining way, Wachowski is swell in his own way, especially in his feats.

“I checked the Underworld, and it’s practically glowing with energy again. The land has been nearly restored to its full glory, without all of the Dark magic eating away at it it's thriving quite well. All thanks to you,” Lady Nimue side hugged Wachowski again.

The blue hedgehog hummed and chuckled in embarrassment at all of the attention, “I think that's enough, Nimue.” He nudged at the Lady of the Lake, and she understood and let him go back to standing next to Sir Lancelot. Galahad joined him and stood at the other side of his father.

“So, we both decided to show our thanks for this brave and selfless act with a feast before he had to leave for Sir Sonic's world,” Lady Nimue said, happily raising her hand and gesturing to the piles of food waiting to be eaten. 

“And I suggest we get eating before it goes bad. I don’t think we would want to let the food spoil, after all.” Merlina said with a little bit of brass, before starting to head out to the tables.

Sir Percival turned to Wachowski and bowed to him in a short thanks, knowing he was already agitated by all of the attention, and then walked over to the tables on her own. 

Lamorak couldn't hide his confusion, looking in between Merlina and Lady Nimue as if they were going to say that it was just a cruel joke they both constructed together. But with both of them giving him no reaction to his confusion about the situation other than soft smiles from Lady Nimue he accepted it as truth and gave Wachowski a nod in thanks; knowing he was going to have to give the kid a better thanks before he left with Sir Lancelot. 

Unfortunately, he was starving. Plus, if he was fast enough he would make it to the tables before his superior and get the best fruits and treats before the other even had a chance.

Alas, Sir Gawain caught onto his student's plan faster than the hawk had hoped and turned to Wachowski with a speed quicker than Lancelot could ever produce before bowing as low as he could without falling over. “Thank you for your service to the kingdom. I will never forget you, and your honor shall be known along and side by side with Sir Sonics.” He shot back up and ran straight for the hawk yelling about his rude behavior and how unfair he was being.

All Wachowski could do was stand there and take all of the thanks. He knows he shouldn't be embarrassed but just yesterday two of these knights were nearly full-send going to kill him for ‘impersonating’ the other Sonic. And now they were the ones giving him the most thanks. ‘Is this what karma is called? Probably not.’ 

He jumped and yelped in surprise when someone touched his right shoulder, turning to the side he found Galahad, who removed his hand apologetically.

“Sorry about that, but are you ready to eat?” The silver armored hedgehog asked.

“Yeah,  I’ll join in a sec’. Go ahead and get all the food you can before the other two get their hands on everything.” Wachowski laughed as Galahad looked back to the tables with food surprised, before racing down to the tables since the other two had blown through one of the tables already; their plates full of random foods.

“I’ll do my best!” Galahad called as he used his magic to grab two plates, one for him and the other for both him and Wachowski to share as they ate the newer and unknown foods.

“Good luck!” Wackowski called back.

He turned to Nimue, eyebrows raised with suspicion, “So, what's with all of the hugging? You didn't do that the last time we saw one another.”

“I agree. Mother, you’re never this touchy, is something wrong?” Sir Lancelot asked too. He knew that unless something were going on she wouldn't be acting in such a way.

Lady Nimue softly laughed, “My home has been restored and is once again habitable Lancelot.” She looked at Wachowski, “I’m just thankful for all you’ve done, but It’s understandable that you're uncomfortable.”

Wachowski shrugged, “Meh, it's not a big problem, I’m just not used to things, like hugging, coming from people I’ve just met.” 

Lady Nimue sighed, understanding his view of it before speaking up again, “Well, still. I don’t know how to thank you enough in the little time you have to still be here. I just hope that you will visit me one day for tea like you said, and maybe I will be able to show you everything the Underworld has to offer. Is that alright with you?”

“Yeah, sounds fun even,” Wachowski said before turning to Lancelot and pulling on his arm. “Let's go eat. I’m hungry.”

Sir Lancelot snorted before shaking his head as the young hog pulled him to the tables. Lady Nimue followed behind, humming a song to herself that only she knew.

After grabbing a plate Wachowski walked over to the closet table out of the two. Across it were many more recognizable fruits, which he did not hesitate to grab, but some of the fruits he didn't even know were safe to eat. 

One looked like a dragon fruit but if it was purple instead of red and the size of a watermelon, its insides were cut up and laid out in neat small cubes and were a shade of yellow that you would get from a banana. Another weird fruit looked like a lopsided ball, sort of like a kiwi or pumpkin, colored with a green-to-blue gradient, and bunched together like grapes. 

He took a bite out of one of the smaller pieces of the weird dragon fruit in case it tasted bad, but it turned out to taste like honey and marshmallows mixed. So he took the piece he ate off of and another bigger one and set them onto his plate. Wachowski only took one of the lop balls and took a bit out of it only for it to taste like tomatoes. His face twisted as he realized that it was just weirdly shaped unripe tomatoes, as he saw that the insides looked like regular tomatoes too. Tomatoes were fine, great even, but not when they were ripe like this one was, but he made his bed and now he has to lay in it. So, he set the tomato onto his plate with disgust. 

By the end, Wachowski had quite a lot of food on his plate, one of which he regretted grabbing in the first place. He looked around for the table Lancelot was already sitting at, which wasn't far, Lady Nimue and Galahad had already joined him. The others sat at a different table, letting the family sit together without any distractions.

It felt weird being last for the first time.

“Got room for one more?” Wachowski asked when he got over to the table. Galahad looked up from his food and patted at the table across from him next to his grandmother. He took his seat and set his plate down quietly.

“Look,” Galahad pushed over the plate that had an assortment of different foods. “I grabbed anything that I thought you would be interested in!” He pointed out some of the different sweet tarts and pastries that he had gathered for the two of them to try.

“That's amazing, thank you,” Wachowski grabbed one of the jelly-filled tarts that looked like a pretzel and showed it to the silver hedgehog before setting it onto his plate. “Ever had that one?”

“Yep, it's sort of salty and sour, but the insides are apple and cinnamon. Sort of like apple pies!” Galahad said before he took a few bites out of a piece of bread that was covered in powdered sugar. He stopped and looked back up to Wachowski, who was eating grapes, “Wait, have you had apple pie before?”

Wachowski snorted and the grapes in his mouth threatened to shoot out of his mouth, “Yes, I have.” He could barely get the words out as he laughed at the question.

Galahad got caught up in his laughing and joined in, “Why is that question so funny?” 

Wachowski and Galahad met eyes only for a moment before they started to laugh hysterically together. Both tried to tone it down when all of the adults, even at the other table, looked at them. It was to no eval, as they kept locking eyes back with one another only for the process to repeat until they both couldn't breathe anymore. Wachowski had nearly fallen off the table chair a few times during the fit of shared hysteria, and Galahad had to put his head down on the table so that he wouldn't suffocate himself by laughing. In the end, both of them were reduced to giggling messes and had to manually calm themselves down before they could continue eating.

When Wachowski got to eating the dragon fruit a question popped in his head, “Galahad?”

“Yeah?” The silver hedgehog rescinded with a mouth full of blueberries.

“You know what marshmallows are?”

“Yes?” This time Galahad dragged it out after swallowing his food.

“Do you think these things taste like marshmallows?” Wacvhowski held up the last piece that he had of the strange fruit.

Galahad's face lit up before he rummaged around their shared plate, which was almost empty, and found two other pieces of the same fruit. “I grabbed a few for the both of us to try, I’ve actually never had it before.” He laughed shortly before bridging one of the pieces to his plate. “So it tastes like marshmallows?”

“Yeah, somehow,” Wachowski shrugged, “I didn't even know fruits could taste like marshmallows.”

“Well, I’ll see if it does,” Galahad said accusingly, hoping that Wachowski wasn't lying to him. He hesitated to bring it to his mouth but with the blue hog eating a different piece of the same fruit without a negative reaction he bit down. A recognizable sugary flavor flooded his mouth immediately.

“It does!” Galahad couldn't explain the confusion his brain and taste buds were going through. Wachowski had to cover his mouth as he laughed at the other young hedgehog's reaction.

Due to the large sugar intake, both of them got a sugar high and ended up running around the wider open area of the inner walls, chasing each other down with a game of tag or messing with Galahad's magic, before eventually playing hide-and-seek. It got them in trouble eventually, hiding inside Merlina's research tent wasn't allowed or safe and the loud banging of something metal falling over was a clear sign to the wizard of where the kids were. Both of the young hedgehogs had to sit back at the table with Lancelot and Nimue again, bored out of their minds as they waited for everyone to be done.

It didn't take long for the grown-ups to finish eating. Most but not all of the food on the tables had been eaten, with just some fruits and pie pieces left for anyone willing to take it home with them. Melina had everyone file outside of the walls for then they had a more open area to work with.

“Everyone here besides you, Galahad, and Lamorak, have seen what happened when I sent Sir Sonic home,” Merlina said as she started to drag out a circle that glowed with magic, in the gravel and loose dirt on the ground with her staff. She looked up to Wachowski after she was done, “So I will explain what will happen for you. When you and Sir Lancelot step into this circle I will say an incantation, and when that happens there's going to be a bright light coming out of the circle and you will be lifted into the air. Then there will be another bright light and you both should be in Sir Sonic's home where he stored the book.”

Wachowski nodded, “Sounds pretty simple.”

“It is, but I’m going to be brought back in three days like we all agreed.” Sir Lancelot looked down at the kid. “If -and hopefully only if- were not fast enough to have you learn chaos control while I’m still there, I will make sure that you will be, at the very least, in Sir Sonic's hands.” He felt bad at the reminder of the admittingly small time frame that they were working with. If Sir Sonic’s comparisons to chaos control and his teleportation have any weight to it, Wachowski might get stuck in that universe for a long time. Good thing they were getting help.

“And that won't happen. Both of you are more than capable of handling this in the time frame that you have,” Lady Nimue interrupted his thoughts with a happier take on things. She walked over to the kid, kneeled, and whispered something.

“If you can, when you come and visit me, bring a copy of that book from Japan you were talking about. It sounded very interesting,” Lady Nimue normally loved romance titles more, but just the one line that the exclaimed made her interested within an instant. She laughed softly at the surprise on Wachowski’s face before he smiled back and nodded.

“Oh, I can do that no problem,” He gave her a thumbs up. She patted his head and before he could bat her hand away she stood back up. 

Lady Nimue looked between the two of them with proud eyes, “Be careful you two. Neither of you might be prepared for what's to come.” She collapsed her hands together.

Sir Lancelot did his best to keep his scoff from being audible, but with the way his mother's face fell and turned her disappointed face to him told him everything. He didn’t meet her gaze again until she looked away.

“Good luck. You’re going to need it, Sir Lancelot.” Sir Gawain took his chance to tease the other knight. Lamoark was about to join in on teasing the more experienced knight too if Nimue didn't give them both a glare for being rude. They both went silent, only saying a short goodbye to Wachowski.

Sir Percival stepped forward, “Truly, I wish you both the best of travels. Sir Lancelot, the kingdom’s council is going to want you to fill out mountains of paperwork once you get back. Enjoy your time there while you can.” 

Lancelot nodded; he knew how ferocious those papers could be. Plus, they were only going to get worse as the kingdom used trial and error to get back on its own two feet once everyone realized the threat from the Underworld was truly gone this time. And would now have to refocus their efforts on keeping the kingdom safe from intruders and other kingdoms.

Galahad sheepishly walked up to his father. They both stared at each other, one confused and the other debating in their mind about what they should do. One moment later Lancelot was nearly tackled to the ground by a hug from the teen hedgehog, the strength behind it was all he needed to know about the worry that Galahad couldn't properly show or say at the moment. 

Lancelot only got to hug him back for a few seconds before his son pulled away; wiping away something in his eye. “Be safe,” Galahad said, letting out a few sniffles he couldn't keep down.

“I will, don’t worry.” He reassured his son the best he could, knowing that this wasn't the longest but probably the farthest he was ever going to be from him. 

Galahad nodded and pulled himself together so that he didn't look like a wreck before turning to Wachowski with a much wider and happier smile. The blue hedgehog was waiting patiently, having already waved and said goodbye to Percival while the father and son sorted out their totally non-existent separation anxiety.

“Ready to get closer to getting home?” Galahad tried to sass, but it only came off as a genuine question, Wachowski snickered. Wachowski had tried to teach him how to sass talk so that he could win more arguments with his dad. Turns out it still needed work.

“Yes.“ Wachowski groaned out, letting his upper body lax and ragdoll emphasize his point. He straightened himself out and snapped his fingers before pointing at Galahad, “Going to miss hanging out. I’ll try and see about visiting you too, and not just your grandma,” Wachowski laughed.

Galahad rolled his eyes before walking up to the smaller hedgehog and giving him a short hug, “I’ll take you up on that.” He pulled away from the fluffer hedgehog awkwardly. “See you soon, hopefully,” Galahad said as he waved goodbye and started to walk back to Sir Percival. 

Wachowski waved goodbye back, “See you soon, potentially.” His ears drooped at the fact that he might not see the other for a while; because there was no way he wasn't getting out of this AND be ungrounded from his borderline house arrest.

Lancelot watched with sad eyes, thankfully covered by his visor from the others. It felt odd, he was coming back home to Galahad and not Wachowski. Why did it feel so sad? It probably had to do with the fact that Galahad couldn't make a lot of friends easily, being the son of a tyrant’s right-hand knight didn't bode well with most townspeople's kids. Most eventually forgetting why they outcasted him in the first place as the Knights of the Round Table started to do their job of protecting them. Still excluding him out of habit and not understanding or remembering why. Didn't help that due to the constant peer separation, and his now constant studies to become a knight like him, he never learned how to make friends. That usually made his blood boil knowing about how they treated his son, but now it just made him sad. It took one thought to put the pieces together.

Galahad and Wachowski might never see each other again. His son was going to possibly be losing a friend, hell, the first friend he had made in years. 

Gone; just like that. 

It broke his heart, and he knew it was going to hit his son even harder than him. Wachowski’s sad ears didn't help lift his spirits about it.

Merlina cleared her throat to get Sir Lancelot’s and Wachowski’s attention back to the circle behind them, “You two ready now?”

Sir Lancelot forced out a shaky breath he was holding before he could answer, “Yes, I believe we are.” He looked over to the kid to make sure, “You ready?”

“YES!” Wachowski couldn't help but yell, pent-up energy and excitement of traveling universes made him ecstatic and vibrate in place, quite literally. Lancelot wanted to scold him for yelling but the excitement was better to see than the overall sadness that was coming off of the kid just a few seconds ago. It was concerning how fast the blue hog could switch emotions like that, he noted it to bring up with Wachowski later, and not in the middle of something important.

“Alright. Anything else we have to do before we go in, Merlina?” Sir Lancelot asked as he folded his arms.

“No, but I do suggest holding onto each other. It might be a bumpy ride and I wouldn't want one of you to get a black eye,” Merlina advised, she didn’t hide her wince as she remembered how much Sir Sonic had spun within the air before being transported back to his home world. Lancelot did, he had no guarantees that he wouldn't throw up. He regretted eating this morning, no matter how good it tasted.

Lancelot looked down at him and held out his hand, Wachowski sighed and took it, he had hoped he would get more time to have his hands to himself. Lancelot smiled at the silly reaction before turning back to the circle. He pulled Wachowski along behind him and into the circle, both taking opposite sides.

Wachowski looked over to the group that was watching them leave and said one last thing, “It was nice meeting you all!” He waved goodbye with his open hand. The others said their last goodbyes too.

“Later alligator,” Lady Nimue said cheerfully.

He laughed, “In a while crocodile.”

Merlina started her incantation once everyone was done talking. The glow grew brighter before dissipating in a flash and being replaced with circular spell runes, and Wachowski suddenly felt weightless. 

He and Lancelot were lifted into the air, the younger hog was freaking out accidentally pushing himself sideways, which freaked him out even more. Lancelot had to bring him back by pulling on his satchel and doing what the blue hedgehog had feared he would do. Lancelot held Wachowski’s smaller body onto him as if the kid was smaller than he actually was on instinct, carrying and holding him like a newborn hoglet. Wachowski resisted rolling up and hiding away as much as he could, not wanting to miss his last moments in the world of Camelot but eventually failed as they started spinning more and more and he couldn't resist anymore. 

Lancelot held onto him with a grip that could rival the gods, not wanting to risk losing him but also because he needed something to ground himself as the spinning was starting to get too much even for him. Luckily a bright light swallowed his vision and suddenly he couldn't think anymore, and neither could Wachowski.

Merlina stopped her incantation, letting herself get a breath of fresh air as the spell dissipated into the air.

Lady Nimue walked to Galahad and patted him on the head, “Come visit me at the lake when you can, alright? Love you.” 

“Sure I will. Love you too, grandma.” Galahad stumbled over his words at the affection, she dissipated into thin air with a smile.

Sir Percival turned to Galahad, “Go and grab whatever food you want to bring with us, remember we have to leave soon.” Galahad happily nodded and ran back into the inner walls as fast as he could.

Sir Gawain and Lamorak sat in silence, both looking at where the two hedgehogs once were. Lamorak suddenly yelled in despair, “I forgot to give him a better thanks!” 

Sir Gawain glared at him, “What do you mean you forgot?!”

“I don’t know I just did, ok!” Lamorak angrily scrambled to explain himself, even if it wasn't even close to one.

Sir Percival rolled her eyes at the two arguing fools. Merlina wished she was back in her room so that she could go back to sleep and rest for when she would have to bring Sir Lancelot back.

Inside a closet, an old book rattled in place before landing on the carpeted floor with a thump and opening itself up with a bright light flashing out of its pages. Falling out of the beam of light was Wachowski and Lancelot, the light faded from the pages and they were left in the dark.

Wachowski, still curled up, grunted as he shuffled and tried to pull out of the older hedgehog's tight hold, “Lance, let go.”

Sir Lancelot could barely gather his thoughts before going ahead and setting the kid down. He held his head in his hands as he slowly readjusted himself to where they were. The floor was dirty but organized in its mess. Old items went into a corner, and clothes were hung up properly but there weren't many in the first place, doxes did take up most space on both the floor and the upper shelf, and there were a lot of random items too but he couldn't recognize what any of them were. The closet doors had slits in them, allowing morning light from what he assumed to be windows to pour through them. He couldn't see what was in the room but what he could see was a bunch of different colors.

“I was hoping for a library,” Lancelot didn't like how cramped he was and stood up, losing some balance slightly as blood rushed from his head. He grabbed the book off the floor and read the title.

‘‘Sonic and the Black Knight’... Fitting.’ He silently put the book back where he presumed it had fallen from. One of the books underneath the pile of books also had Sonic's name on it. He hummed; it wasn't important.

Lancelot looked down at the still curled-up ball of blue fur, “You alright Wachowski?” Wachowski said something but he couldn't hear him. “Kid, I can’t hear you.”

Wachowski mumbled something before finally unrolling himself, “I’m fine, just a little dizzy, gimme a second.” He pushed away from Lancelot and rubbed at his head.

They both heard food prints rush up the stairs and into the hall that connected to the room the closet was attached to. They stayed silent and Lancelot moved in front of Wachowski in case the person wasn't Sir Sonic and was hostile. The footprints slowed as they entered the room, but whoever it was didn't stop until they reached the door, blocking out the light in a familiar silhouette with something raised in their hand. 

The door swung open, it was Sir Sonic and he was holding a still-warm cooking pan in an attack position, his face immediately turned from panic to confusion.

Lancelot immediately held his hands up, “It’s just me Sir Sonic. Didn't mean to arrive here in your closet.”

Sir Sonic lowered the pan, “Lancelot? What are you doing here?” He caught his tone and tried to play it cooler with a fake smirk, “Not that don’t mind a surprise visit, but I know if Camelot needed help Merlina would just bring me back.” Sir Sonic crossed his arms to the best of his abilities without burning his arms.

“That's the thing,” Sir Lancelot lowered his arms, “Camelot doesn't need help, Wachowski does.” 

“Wachowski?” Sir Sonic looked at him with confusion, so Lancelot stepped out of the way of the kid.

“Hi,” Wachowski waved as he looked at the pan the other was holding, “we interrupt you making brunch or something?” 

Sir Sonic looked down at him with shock, “What!?”

Chapter Text

The house was vibrant with the signs that people lived there, making it look like a proper home. Wachowski noted it when he and Sir Lancelot were guided down the upstairs hall before going downstairs and into the kitchen earlier. The walls were decorated with drawings and many pictures of people he didn't recognize. It felt weird to know another version of himself knew more people but Wachowski should have guessed there would be changes. 

From what he saw of Sir Sonic’s house, it felt more lively and lived in than his own home. Unsurprising since his home, besides his room, was cleaned and styled from top to bottom so that it would look like the pictures in the magazines Maddie always looked at whenever she was bored.

“So,” Sir Sonic started the conversation, stirring around a cup of orange juice in his hand, “You’re me from another universe? Not Camelot, but another one completely different from it?” One of his brows lifted with interest and curiosity, but his smile showed he understood. 

Wachowski nodded, “Yep.” He took a drink of the minty chocolate milk Sir Sonic had kindly given him. “I thought you’d be less surprised. You’ve been to alternate universes before haven't you?” The younger blue hedgehog asked, curiosity blooming.

Sir Sonic laughed, “Yes, I have. I just never met another me before. Other than this one time that was nearly considered time travel, but that's whatever,” Sir Sonic pointed to the smaller hedgehog sitting across the table from him, “What's important is that you’re in a completely different category from that, kid.”

Sir Sonic laughed to himself just a little before taking another drink and getting back on topic, “But, you need my help? For what? Lance here looks to be doing a great job so far.” The Knight of the Wind tilted his cup to the mostly silent armored hedgehog.

Sir Lancelot stopped drinking the all-black coffee he was given, an amazing drink he wished was more common in Camelot, and cleared his throat, “While I know how to transport myself across distant ranges of land, I do not possess the proper knowledge to use or train another to use a Chaos Emerald for that same purpose. But one of the friends you mentioned when you were in Camelot does.”

Sir Sonic looked at him confused, “But why would you need a Chaos Emerald? Couldn't Merlina just send him back?”

“No, she’s not the one who summoned him to Camelot, and she does not know which world he came from. It would take too long for us to find his proper home world without risking his health.” Lancelot glanced at the kid, remembering his confession of losing his supper that night and the painful night before that one too. 

Sir Lancelot’s face twisted with resolve, “We are already losing precious time. Wachowski didn't take the journey into Camelot well, and he's certainly not going to do any better here as time moves on now that he’s here.” Lancelot took a breath in and took another drink to calm his tone. “The reason we need him to learn Chaos Control is because his Master Emerald brought him to Camelot in the first place.”

“Wait, really? How did your Master Emerald Chaos Control you to Camelot of all places, on its own?” Sir Sonic asked, now leaning his elbows onto the table, captivated by the need for an answer.

The Master Emerald held onto the coil in Wachowski’s chest slightly tighter. Unhappy at something the older Sonic had said, Wachowski didn't know what set the emerald off. He silently patted the top of the bag to tell the large gem to stop, and it did after giving him a sensation of ripples around the coil. Telling him, in a way, that it was upsetting that he couldn't understand.

“Uh, it sort of just did? I was in the living room watching a movie when the Master Emerald started lighting up and floating, and BAM! We were in the forest.” Wachowski recalled the surprising event for Sir Sonic to hear. 

Sir Sonic rested his chin in his hand as he thought, and took another drink before speaking, “Do you have it with you?” Sir Sonic wanted to also ask why the Master Emerald was in Wachowski’s house and where Knuckles was, but he didn't want to come off as rude. Nevertheless, he did need to know where that large gem of power was, they didn’t look to have it on them. He’d be able to see the large emerald if it was.

“Course I do, it’s in my bag,” Wachowski pulled the emerald out and set it on the primed wooden table. “Here it is.”

Sir Sonic analyzed the gem, it was bigger than the Chaos Emeralds by at least half a foot, “While that’s bigger than a Chaos Emerald by a little, Wachowski. Are you sure you got the Master Emerald on your hands?” He looked down at the younger Sonic with raised eyebrows.

Wachowski looked at him confused, “What do you mean? I can fit all of my world's Chaos Emeralds into just one of the palm of my hand.” Sir Sonic looked at him surprised but the fluffier hog continued, “Dude, are you’re emeralds, like, Mega-Chaos Emeralds or something?”

Sir Sonic snorted, he knew he shouldn't have because of the hurt he saw on Wachowski’s face, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just used to how things are in my universe. I swear I’m not trying to make fun of your emeralds.” Sir Sonic replaced his grin with a small smile, “So what if you’re Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds are smaller? I bet they're just as cool and mysterious as mine are.” That seemed to cheer up the mini him a bit, but the younger was still in thought.

Wachowski contemplated for a moment before figuring out how to phrase the question without making Lancelot too concerned about what they were talking about to stop enjoying his cup of coffee, “Gold?” 

Sir Sonic looked down at Wachowski with a fiery ambition, already knowing exactly what the kid was talking about, “Red eyes?” 

That question seemed to confuse the fluffy hog for just a moment, making Sir Sonic second guess himself about what they were talking about, before the hoglet’s face lifted to surprise and amazement. Wachowski nodded rapidly with excitement, he knew that the Excalibur armor and extra power didn't change the older Sonic’s body. So that meant one thing; the other also could-

-Lancelot looked between them both confused, “What are you two talking about?”

“Just a little something-something.” Wachowski tried to blow off the question but Sir Sonic had other plans.

“You know that gold armor I got when I unlocked the power of Excalibur?” Sir Sonic ignored the betrayed look from the other blue hedgehog.

“Yes. It was quite the sight, but I don’t fully understand how it relates to this.” Lancelot was still confused but he knew that Sir Sonic would be kind enough to explain himself to him.

“Wachowski has something like that too.” That peeked Lancelot's attention a lot.

Lancelot turned to the young hog, “Wachowski, why didn't you tell me about this?”

Wachowski choked on his words for a moment before looking down at his hands, “Because I thought it would have been too much to learn at once. Your head looked like it was about to explode when I told you about the basics of last night alone.” Wachowski met his eyes, “Sorry, didn't want you to implode with an info overload right after you woke up.” 

Most of it was true, but he had to save his own butt somehow after Sir Sonic unintentionally tried to drag him into a big mess that he wasn't emotionally equipped to deal with yet. Knowing you’ve turned into a god twice isn't something he wanted to think about at all; no matter how cool it is on the surface, hiding underneath is something that is always more important than he ever wanted it to be.

Sir Lancelot grumbled something before looking down at what was left of his black coffee, “It’s understandable, but I would have preferred if you told me. Rather than getting me worried,” He looked down at the kid with judging eyes. “ Again. ” He dropped the borderline glare when the young hog shrunk in on himself.

Lancelot sighed and rubbed his eyes, “You have to stop doing that.”

“Hmm?” Sir Sonic hummed out in question as he took his lips from his citrus drink, and looked between the two, “Doing what?”

“Not you.” Wachowski waved off Sir Sonic, “I keep saying stuff that’s going to get him sent to an emergency room eventually,” he snickered at the silliness of it.

Sir Sonic laughed, “Makes sense. He is pretty old, you might just end up giving him a heart attack.”

“I am not old, I’m only thirty,” Sir Lancelot said, not letting himself be subjected to being treated like this by two kids.

Sir Sonic only laughed louder at his statement, “That’s called being old! Nearly all of my friends are my age. You and the other knights are one of the only full-on group of people I’ve made acquaintances with that are older than me.”

“That doesn't make me old.” Lancelot tried to defend himself again.

“But you are, Lance. You're thirty, that's nearly as old as my parents,” Wachowski jokily rested his hand on the knight's shoulder and shook him lightly. 

Lancelot slid the kid’s hand off, “Again, that doesn't make me old.”

“Yes, it does! But anyways,” Sir Sonic said before finishing the rest of his orange juice and then getting them all back on track. “You’ll need help from Shadow, and the good thing is that I already have a text room with him. So I can bother him to tell me where he’s at, and if he has any of the Chaos Emeralds.” 

Sir Sonic got up from his chair, taking his and Lancelot's empty cups to the sink before bringing himself to the living room. Pulling out his phone from his quills as he walked in.

Wachowski downed the rest of the mint chocolate milk, shoved the Master Emerald back into the bag, and then followed Sir Sonic to the cozy living room. Lancelot followed behind them both silently, not wanting to be left alone in the kitchen.

“Go ahead and sit anywhere. It might take a few minutes for him to respond.” Sir Sonic sat down on a green loveseat and made himself comfortable.

Wachowski jumped over the armrest of the same loveseat and joined the other blue hedgehog. Sir Sonic snorted at his antics before going back to texting. Lancelot leaned on the back of the loveseat, knowing that his armor could potentially rip the fabric on any of the furniture in the living room if he sat in them.

------

Chat Room: 

2_Ultimate_Lifeforms

Blue : hey you workin today???

red&black_lamborghini : What do you want?

Blue : good ur not busy

Blue : i got a lil situation on my hands and ima need ur help BAD

red&black_lamborghini : What did you do?

Blue : i dident do anything >:(

red&black_lamborghini : That’s what you always say. 

red&black_lamborghini : Let me guess. Did Eggman attack another city and you can’t handle his robots for the first time in your life?

Blue : no, its somthing alot more interesting than that

Blue : do u got any of the chaos emeralds on hand?

red&black_lamborghini : Maybe. Depends on the severity of the situation. 

Blue : id say its a pretty high severity

red&black_lamborghini : How high?

Blue: the kid im helping is going to get really sick if i dont get ur help ASAP

Blue : THAT severe

red&black_lamborghini : …

red&black_lamborghini : 893 Bigheren Street, Velvettown, Jamberwen 77384

Blue : wait is that were u live??? :0

red&black_lamborghini : Yes, now hurry up and get over here before whoever’s kid you’re helping drops dead. 

Blue : DUDE i just checked, you live so far from me WTH :,(

Blue : and hes not going to drop dead, dont be a sour lemon >:(

red&black_lamborghini : You’re the one who said he needed help from the Chaos Emeralds, not me. And don’t call me a sour lemon, it doesn't even make any sense.

red&black_lamborghini : Also change my name back to Red_Stripes already. I actually liked that name at least, this one is so immature.

Blue : why should i? HMM?? <:}

red&black_lamborghini : Whatever, just get over here already.

red&black_stripes : You’re lucky I’m off from work.

red&black_stripes : Oh, close enough. Thanks.

Blue : no prob

Blue : were going 2 be a few hours tho 

Blue : gotta take the train <:(

red&black_stripes : Why the train? Can’t you just carry the kid over here while you run?

Blue : no can do

Blue : got sick a couple weeks ago and havent walked it off yet :(

Blue : cant really run with or without the kid like this

red&black_stripes : Excuse me? When do you ever get sick?

red&black_stripes : …

red&black_stripes : Sonic?

Blue : idk man, i dont want to talk about it ok

Blue : were going to get there in about 2 or 4h- it depends, and be prepared for 3 people 

Blue : thats including me of course ^v^

red&black_stripes : Who’s third partying?

Blue : ur not going 2 believe me untill you meet him urself lol, but hes kinda the kids escort?

Blue : got an odd bunch waiting for me 2 be done texting u

red&black_stripes : THEN START GETTING OVER HERE ALREADY.

Blue : FINE BUT U DONT HAVE 2 SHOUT AT ME >:(

Blue : …

Blue : see u soon faker ;)

red&black_stripes : See you soon too, faker.

------

Sir Sonic finally turned off his phone and shoved it into his quills. Wachowski and Lancelot were talking to each other over a random book the kid had pulled out of who knows where. Both were too interested in whatever the book had in its pages to see that he was finally done.

“Shadow lives quite the distance from here. We’re going to have to leave right now and travel by train if we want to get there before one o’clock,” Sir Sonic said as he stood up. The kid looked at him confused.

“What?” Sir Sonic asked, glancing toward Sir Lancelot as if he knew what the younger Sonic was thinking.

“Is it really that far?” Wachowski asked.

“I have assumed too that we would be able to run to Shadow’s home. And while I don’t know what a train is, I can tell it is some sort of transportation, correct?” Sir Lancelot asked him too. 

Sir Sonic nodded, “Yes it is.” He then cleared his throat out of nerves, “We could make it there sooner than the train would if we ran. Except for only a couple of weeks ago, I got extremely sick. And while I’ve been getting better, I haven't been able to shake it fully off yet.” They both looked at him with confusion and concern. He waved them off, “I am fine now, so you don’t have to worry, I’m just too fatigued all the time to run a distance as far as this one yet.” 

Wachowski didn't change much other than giving the other blue hedgehog a troubled gaze. 

Although, Lancelot did relax, understanding the situation more than the kid did. “That is good. If we need to go on this ‘train’ to get to your friend, Shadow, then so be it.” Sir Lancelot straightened and waited for Sir Sonic to lead them out of his shared home.

Wachowski shook his head, trying to get rid of the worrying thoughts, and put the book into the side compartment of his bag before standing up with a solemn expression. He shouldn't have been as worked up as he was about what Sir Sonic had said, but he just was , and it bothered him.

The hoglet walked around the loveseat, joining Lancelot, and looked up at him, “Lance?”

“Yes, Wachowski?” 

“Is this how you feel whenever I open my mouth?” Sir Lancelot was surprised for only a moment before he had to keep himself from laughing.

“Yes, I believe so.” Lancelot couldn't help the small chuckles seep through, his facade of calm was broken further by the disappointed look the kid had given him. 

Wachowski groaned loudly, going slightly limp with his head and shoulders before face planting onto the back of the loveseat, “I no no wana.”

“I don’t even know what that means kid, but you have to feel the negative emotions eventually.” Sir Lancelot then took his chance to annoy the kid further -as an act of revenge-, “Now you know how it is to be old.”

“No,” Wachowski dragged out the word, “I don’t wanna be old.”

Sir Sonic laughed at the kid, “Well too bad, you’re old now. How does it feel?” He walked out of the room and went back and grabbed a few water bottles from the fridge before approaching the front door, ready to leave.

“It feels horrible,” Wachowski grumbled again, then stood back up and joined Sir Sonic before looking back to Lancelot.

“Well, now you at least know how I feel,” Lancelot said as he followed behind. The hoglet stuck his tongue out at the older knight in retaliation, and Lancelot quickly messed up Wachowski’s quills by ruffling them up as his retaliation back. The kid hit his hands to try and make him stop, only to make the mess worse. Lancelot ignored Wachowski’s pouting face as Sir Sonic got their attention again.

“Alright you too, stop messing around.” Sir Sonic said, sadly disrupting their prodding at one another, “We gotta get moving before Shadow ends up calling me and asking what's taking so long.” He opened the door and led them outside.

Wachowski fixed his quills as he followed the two older hogs out, but when he got a good look outside it was nearly nothing but trees and a single road that led down and out of the forest to a right bend. Light from the sun filtered through the tree’s leaves making a slow flashing show of bright and beautiful rays and dots on the ground. The forest air was cleaner than Earth's but not as clean as Camelot’s. It was somewhat refreshing to smell that good ol’ smell of car emissions. 

…

OK , maybe it's not that much of a welcomed smell, it just reminded him of home.

Gray clouds were slowly combing over the calm blue sky, taking away the scattered beautiful array of sun rays. Wachowski looked down at where the Master Emerald should be sitting in his satchel with a knowing look. The Master Emerald hummed, not able to do anything about the situation it had put them back into. If only it hadn't needed to break Lady Nimue’s spell to call the Chaos Emeralds, then they wouldn't have to start rushing to the train.

“I suggest we start running,” Wachowski started speed walking down the road, past the other hogs' slower pace.

“Wachowski, what are you talking about?” Sir Lancelot ran up to him and grabbed onto his hand, the young hog did not stop, he just grabbed onto Lancelot’s hand harder than he did and pulled the knight along.

“Yo, mini-me, what are you talking about?” Sir Sonic sped right up to the two of them.

“You see those clouds?” Wachowski used his free hand to the slowly darkening sky. They both looked up, Sir Sonic ogled at the rapid formation of clouds while Sir Lancelot gasped before looking down at Wachowski’s bag.

“When did Lady Nimue’s spell break?” Sir Lancelot quickly asked the young hog.

“Late last night. I don’t know why it didn't start back up until now, but we're going to have to hurry,” Wachowski said nervously.

“Spell? What spell?” Sir Sonic asked.

Lancelot looked to Sir Sonic, “Lady Nimue put a calming spell onto the Master Emerald about two days ago. Before then, the gem had caused a ginormous storm that had the potential to cause damage if it had gone unchecked.” Sir Lancelot looked back down at Wachowski, their eyes met in understanding. 

“How much time do you think we have until it starts raining?” Wachowski asked.

“With how fast the clouds are forming this time, I’d say about half an hour. Sir Sonic, should we be able to make it within that time with how fast we are going?” Sir Lancelot asked the ex-king. 

Sir Sonic looked into space as he thought and calculated before turning back to him, “We’ll make it, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. So, come on!” He picked up his speed but made sure not to leave the other two in his dust so that they didn't get lost trying to follow him. But Lancelot and Wachowski easily kept up with Sir Sonic as they ran down the turns on the road, which was soon turned to asphalt. 

Wachowski smiled at the familiar feeling of a solid road under his shoes. Lancelot’s boots kicked in and propelled him forward, burning the road, he noted how much smoother it was compared to other types of pathing he had run across before. Sir Sonic snickered at the excited noise the Knight of the Round Table had made at the realization.

It didn't take much time to get to the town; Sir Sonic and his Tails practically lived right outside of it, within their standards of course. They slowed down to a jog as they entered the busy streets, making sure to avoid going onto the road and keeping their speed at a quick jog so that they didn't run anybody over by accident.

Its tallest buildings only reached three to four stories, while the smaller ones comfortably stayed at one and two stories.

People were still out and about, oblivious to the coming storm, only knowing of the bright sunny day they were told they would be having through the radio or their morning news. A lot of them waved, and others stayed within their business after getting used to their heroic and worldwide famous neighbor. Still, the ones that were paying attention were confused by the smaller Sonic and the armored Shadow. Both following right behind their familiar blue hero.

Wachowski started to get anxious and uncomfortable with the amount of Mobians around and Sir Lancelot had noticed. The knight tried to calm Wachowski’s shaking hand with a tight squeeze, reminding the hoglet that he was there if anything went wrong. As they got more used to their new surroundings, both Wachowski and Lancelot looked around as they passed by block to block. To the kid, it was a pretty normal town that existed in the middle of the woods, but when they ended up getting further into town he noticed the presence of- “Fairies?”

Sir Sonic and Sir Lancelot looked down at him, confused, before looking at where he was looking. It was a small group of people who were practically surrounded by Chao in a small park. A routine daycare field trip to the playground so that they could expel energy before taking a nap later in the day.

“Oh, those aren't fairies, kid. They're known as Chao here. Is it different in your world?” Sir Sonic innocently asked.

“Ah- they're called fairies in Camelot. But I think fairies are more of a tall-tale type thing in my universe. I haven't heard about Chao before,” Wachowski looked at and analyzed them, each being different sizes and colors, etc.

“That is quite interesting,” Sir Lancelot butted in.

“They’re all so big, the only one in Camelot I’ve seen get that close to their size was the Dark fairy,” Wachowski talked aloud to himself. Neither of the older hedgehogs heard him clearly enough to hear what he said properly.

“Aww, that sucks. You’d love them here! Maybe if we had the time, or if you could visit me, you could hang out in one of the Chao Gardens. Get to play with them and hang out,” Sir Sonic proposed. He knew that it would probably be dangerous to bring the kid back or have him stay for too long, but it would probably be fine if he was only visiting for a couple of hours.

The Master Emerald did something, a slow drawing of vibrations that only Wachowski could feel through the satchel, and all of a sudden the group of Chao stopped what they were doing and started looking around. Searching for the familiar Choas energy that was close to that of their Master Emerald’s. Ultimately finding nothing until their cute beady eyes landed on Wachowski. 

Wachowski waved and they immediately waved back with happy faces full of a recognition that the fluffy hog couldn't understand. Their babysitters looked at them confused before looking for who they were waving to, the possibility of their caretakers being around was high. 

Luckily the three of them finally turned a corner before they could be spotted.

Since the sky had darkened to a noticeable degree, the locals either went inside buildings or stood underneath the fabric overhangs in preparation. Less lucky ones were the others who had no experience with flash rainstorms and looked at the sky with concern, automatically moving from where they stood to a spot with shelter.

When they finally arrived at the train station it had gotten a lot darker. To the point that some people who were driving in cars needed to turn on their lights to see the road. 

They entered the station without a problem. No one else was inside other than the person at the front desk and the occasional business worker waiting for the train to arrive so that they could get to the city and their job.

“Don’t worry I can pay for all of us,” That was all Sir Sonic said when Sir Lancelot asked about paying for getting on. Wachowski felt guilty again for people paying for things for him, but he didn't say anything; unfortunately and unconsciously, making his ears droop slightly.

Sir Sonic noticed and tapped Wachowski's shoulder to get his attention to give him a heartfelt smile, “It's alright, bud. Don’t feel bad about it, I have a lot of rings in my account.” He said that last part with a more joking smirk before walking up to the water-blue ferret Mobian, who was running the desk. 

Pulling out a random card from his quills, Sir Sonic pushed it across the front desk to give it to her, “Three tickets to Velvettown, Jamberwen please.”

She looked at him with a gaping mouth, surprised to see the well-known hero, before snapping herself out of it, “My apologies, Mister Sonic. I’ll get it started for you.”

She typed something on her computer in front of her before turning back to him, “The next train should be here in about-'' When she looked at the group she finally noticed the armored Shadow, and the miniature Sonic that waved to her when he noticed her staring. 

The ferret had to remind herself that she was supposed to be doing her job, “Sorry, again.” 

Sir Sonic brushed off the apology with an amused smile, “It’s no big deal.”

She nodded, embarrassed, “The train should be here in about ten to fifteen minutes. Go ahead and get something from the vending machines if you’d like while you wait. Have a nice day, Mister Sonic.” She passed back his card and three tickets to Velvettown.

“Thank you, and you too!” Sir Sonic took them and shoved his card back into his quills before handing the other two tickets to Lancelot and Wachowski. He then walked over to a bench that was in front of where the train came through and sat down. Lancelot slightly bowed to the lady before joining the ex-king on the bench and started a conversation.

Wachowski stood next to the bench, too full of energy to consider sitting down. Lancelot and Sir Sonic’s conversation didn't interest him, but he was happy to see them both catch up with one another properly after not seeing each other for a while. Wind from the open walls of the rail tracks blew in the rapidly chilling air. Causing the two knights to shiver slightly, Wachowski looked down at them with an amused smile as the older two wished that they had a cover of some sort. 

Compared to the gust of wind on his thick fur to their thinner ones, it must have been freezing. 

The windows within the indoor-outdoor room they were in had already been blocked out of so much sunlight that the sky looked gray. ‘No, wait-’ Wachowski had to take a double check at the sky through the windows he could see out of. The clouds outside covered the whole sky already, twirling and twisting in place, slowly getting darker and darker as more and more water combined and made the clouds denser.

All of it went mostly unnoticed by the other two hedgehogs, besides the cold air, but they already knew that the rain storm was coming.

A couple of boring minutes passed and Wachowski wished that he had at least taken his phone with him as he watched the movies so that he wouldn't be so de-occupied. The boredom slowly got to his head as Sir Sonic and Sir Lancelot talked about different types of towns and their buildings since the armored hedgehog was curious about the different styles of structure in the buildings in town compared to that of common housing and villages in Camelot. He wanted to throw himself onto the back of the bench with an extreme level of dramatics when they got to the different types of bricks that existed for houses; the goal being he could distract them from the exhaustingly boring conversation and start a new more interesting one so that he wouldn't be sitting in silence. 

Thankfully before he could give up on finding something to distract himself the Master Emerald found something for him to do.

Tugging on the coil on his chest, the Master Emerald pulled his attention to the vending machines the desk lady was talking about. One side of them was boxy vending machines that were full of clear plastic balls that had toys or other fun things inside of them that you could find inside a local dollar store, the rest of them were the classic pop drink vending machines.

Wachowski clocked his head to the side with curiosity, then looked over to a clock that hung above the front desk, and then down to the ticket where it said when the train should be arriving; comparing the times. It was going to be there in about seven minutes, and with a glance back over to Sir Sonic and Lancelot he made the full-conscience choice to walk off on his own once again.

‘I’m only going to be about ten feet away and they can see me. It should be fine.’ Wachowski convinced himself that the moment he took a single step away he wouldn't be dragged back and forced to sit side by side with the older hedgehogs and listen to their boring conversation. 

He observed the other two as he slowly made his way over, luckily they were too invested in their conversation to notice the hoglet walk off. Wachowski looked over the advertisements on the toy vending machines, noticing the multitude of what looked to be tie-ins for movies he hadn't heard about before. 

He mentally listed them off, small fidget toys, mini squishy toys, cheap plastic toys and keychains, and stick-on tattoos. Each sat in its own vending box, all of them at the affordable price of one ring.

Wachowski mentally checked off the squishy toys; they always got hair, dust, and fuzzy pieces of fabric stuck to them 24/7. Not a good thing if you have a bag full of random things and gloves on your hands. He learned that the hard way when his Dad got him a kids' meal from some random fast food drive-through in town one day, and the toy that came with it, an orange cat,  didn't last more than half an hour before he accidentally dropped it onto the floor of Tom's police car. Nearly every part of it was covered in dirt and other specks of stuff he didn't want to touch. When he tried to wash it off when he got home none of it would come off, and Maddie eventually told him it was best just to throw it away.

‘Rest in peace,’ went through his head as he remembered the sour-full moment when he had to put the poor kitty into the trash.

Wachowski then crossed off the tattoos. He didn't have exposed skin like humans did so it would be useless to try out. However, the fidget toys were probably a good idea to have on the train so that he wouldn't be bored. And while he knew he already had souvenirs from Camelot, he wanted at least one of the plastic toys or keychains to keep as one too.

He reached into his pouch, pulled out the ring he had decided to keep, and pushed it into the large coin slot on the side of the vending machine. A thought in his mind remembered the idea of letting Tails analyze the ring, he had completely forgotten about it, but with it being just another form of currency like at home, there was no need to keep it. A couple of soft clicks sounded as he pressed the mechanism that pushed the ring more in, and then a louder click went off as he turned the dial to release the toy or keychain that was in a non-see-through ball.

When Wachowski pulled it out he turned back to the bench, he expected Sir Sonic and Lancelot to still be too busy talking to one another about bricks of all things but was greeted by a slightly upset Lancelot and a very curious Sir Sonic.

“What did you get?” Sir Sonic asked, pointing to the plastic ball in his hand.

“Something cool, I hope,” Wachowski answered, walking back over to the bench that they had taken over for themselves and leaned on the back of it.

“What is that?” Sir Lancelot asked, finally noticing the ball in the kid’s hand, “Also you have to stop walking off.” Wachowski could feel the disappointed glower through the visier.

“It’s a plastic capsule, and it will either have a cool toy or a keychain inside of it. But who knows,” Wachowski held it out for Sir Lancelot to get a good look at before taking it back into his personal space. “And, I’m sorry but the conversation you two were having was boring . I had to distract myself otherwise I was going to end up completely leaving the building just to do something. All because you two,” Wachowski made sure to point out the both of them with a mocking upset face and pointing finger, Sir Sonic couldn't help but laugh and Sir Lancelot wanted to scold him for walking off even more, “were having a full-on conversation about bricks .” 

Wachowski made sure they could tell through his strained voice how much conversations about construction work were getting to him. He had to sit through nearly a whole week about what G.U.N. was going to be replacing all of the damaged buildings and roads with. He didn't need to hear any more about how certain types of rocks were better than others based on what they were being used for. 

He was sick of it.

Wachowski then cleared his throat before flipping the switch on his attitude, “Now, do you want to see what’s inside of this thing with me or not?” Sir Sonic laughed even more at the sudden change in mood. Lancelot didn't understand the hateful rage against fired mud that Wachowski was going through and shook his head, disappointed for being berated on talking about bricks.

“Sure, let's see how lucky you are mini-me.” Sir Sonic said as he shrugged before turning more to the side so that he could watch Wachowski open it without staining his neck. Lancelot didn’t say anything but did join in on watching Wachowski crack open the plastic capsule.

Inside of it was a pretty medium-sized keychain, it held three plastic Chao. Each one had its own pose and attitude, colors, and unique items in their hands that looked like little mini radios that matched each other but still had their own themes. 

One stood out to him, its colors and head shape heavily reminding him of the Dark fairy back in the Underworld. However, this one had a sharp toothy grin, two eyes that were plain blue and white, little red bat-like wings with an arrowed tail, and red accents instead of purple. The other two were blue and white respectively. Both had their own cute looks; the blue one had yellow accents, and little pink fairy wings, while the white one had dark blue accents, white feathery wings, and a halo.

The good, neutral, and bad theming was very obvious.

“Looks cool, don’t have any keys to put it onto though-” Wachowski said aloud, but an excited gasp of recognition from Sir Sonic made him cut himself off, “What? Are they a collector's item or something?”

Sir Sonic shook his head, “No, no, no! It’s just that you got all three of the main characters in ‘Chao in Space (HD)™’ in one go. Which is insane.” He suddenly chuckled to himself as he repositioned himself to sit forward, “Rouge would be so jelly right now if she knew. She loves those movies.”

Wachowski looked at the older Sonic confused, “Who’s Rouge?” He could tell that Sir Sonic nearly choked on his own spit as he asked the question before turning right back to face him.

“You don’t know Rouge?”

“No, is she important?”

Sir Sonic gripped his chin in thought, “Yes, she is. Hmm.” He thought about all of the other friends he had. “Alright kid,” Sir Sonic snapped his fingers, “Im’a go down the list of friends I’ve made, and you’re going to tell me if you have met them or not.”

Wachowski shrugged his shoulders, “Alright.”

“Miles ‘Tails’ Prower?”

“Of course I know him, he lives with me.”

Sir Sonic laughed a little at that, “Same, he’s the room right across from mine. Knuckles the Echidna?”

“Yeah, I know him. Even though our first meeting wasn't the best he lives with me too!” Wachowski chuckled.

“Wait really?” The older Sonic asked, the younger nodded with a smirk, “So, that's why you have the Master Emerald!” Sir Sonic’s face brightened and he smacked his closed fist into the palm of his open hand, a firm smack coming out of it as his fear of the kid’s Knuckles was put to rest. But now that got him wondering about Angel Island.

“Amy Rose?” Sir Sonic felt his heart drop slightly as Wachowski didn't show a single non-verbal sign that he recognized the name.

“Sorry, I don’t know who that is,” Wachowski said, feeling bad when Sir Sonic’s face dropped.

“Well, maybe if I’m more specific? Amy the Hedgehog? She and Lady Nimue look that same, just like how you and I look the same.” Sir Sonic explained, hoping that maybe she just went by a different name in Wachowski’s world.

“Oh, that's- neat? I guess. But still, no. I don’t know any other hedgehogs from my world. Sorry,” Wachowski said, hoping that would help with the confusion. It didn't, and Sir Sonic began wondering if the kid was just taller for the age he was- did he even know Wachowski’s age?

“Ok, I’m just going to stop myself there, but I’m going to ask you one more thing.” Sir Sonic said after straightening out his emotions and steeling himself for an answer he was dreading to hear.

“How long have you known Tails and Knuckles?” Sir Sonic asked, practically holding his breath. Lancelot looked at him funny for it, wondering why he was as tense as he was.

“Oh, I first met Knuckles when he and Eggman broke into my home, looking for the Master Emerald. He beat me up which eventually got us outside where I first met Tails. He hit Knuckles with Wade’s police car.” Wachowski wanted to laugh at the expression Sir Sonic was giving him. To Sir Sonic the nonchalance of how he had said it concerned him, a lot.

Lancelot analyzed Sir Sonic’s expression, “What’s a car?”

Sir Sonic shook the surprise out of himself to answer, “It’s like a metal carriage.”

Sir Lancelot now wanted nothing more than to go home and go to bed. He’d seen his fair share of accidents connected to wooden carriages, he didn't want to think about how badly getting run over by a metal one would hurt a person.

Sir Sonic turned back to Wachowski, “Anyways, Wachowski, you didn't answer. How long ago was this?”

“About, like- two to three weeks ago.” Wachowski gave them a fake confident smile, knowing exactly how concerned Sir Sonic must have been feeling. It probably wasn't going to go down the best for him because it never did.

“Wachowski, what in the Underworld did I say about this? You can’t always say things like that out of nowhere!” Sir Lancelot exclaimed, not bothered by the unhappy stares he got from the other people patiently waiting for the train. “And I know that you said that they’re your brothers and you view them as such. But kid, it isn't healthy to call people your family when you've only met a couple of weeks ago.”

Sir Sonic looked at Sir Lancelot with surprise before turning to Wachowski, who had dropped his smug smile to glare in betrayal at Lancelot for being mean and having a good point, “You call them both your brothers?”

“Yeah…” Wachowski shifted in place a little bit as he gripped the keychain with stern passion and huffed out of his nose, “I know it’s a little cheesy to be calling them that so early, but hey; What can you do when they sleep under the same roof as you and in the same room? Not call them your siblings? Never, not in a million years.” Wachowski shook his head, upset at the mere thought of it, “Also why is it a problem? Knuckles is fine with it and Tails loves it! So,” The fuzzy hedgehog pushed himself off of the bench and crossed his arms, still glaring at Lancelot for bringing it up. 

If anybody had touched him at the time, they would have been given a static shock. The Master Emerald hummed in annoyance at all of the commotion, but made sure to give Wachowski a squeeze around the coil in his chest as a way to tell the hoglet to calm down.

Lancelot decided to stand his ground but needed Wachowski to know his point of view. “Because I was concerned that they didn't feel the same. Thank you for explaining yourself.” That managed to make the kid relax his upset gaze and look off to the side, understanding that Sir Lancelot was just trying to guide him in the right direction, just like Tom.

Sir Sonic looked at the younger Sonic with a proud face, “I expected no less from Tails, but when it comes to Knuckles; I don’t think he’ll take me seriously if I ever called him brother. We have a very strong friendship, but I don’t think either one of us is planning on it going any further than that.” 

He turned further on the bench, reached out and messed up the kid’s quills; trying to get across that the conversation wasn't as serious as Lancelot was making it out to be. “But, don’t worry about it, kid. I was just curious, unlike Lance here,” Sir Sonic's voice carried a soothing tone as he spoke, Wachowski stuck his tongue out at him with a more upbeat attitude, so he did the same just with more sass. 

Sir Sonic then turned to Lancelot, “So, this was what you two were talking about.”

“Yes.” Sir Lancelot hoped the train had resting areas, even though it was still only nearly ten o’clock, although he normally didn't do such a thing he needed a nap.

“Yep! I don’t know how it always happens, but it does!” Wachowski went back to leaning on the back of the bench, back to feeling more relaxed and not fired up like he had been seconds ago.

Lancelot stared at the kid with a soft glare and folded arms, “Because you don't know how to keep things to yourself.”

“Don’t blame me! He’s the one who asked.”

Thunder rumbled through the dark sky, interrupting Sir Sonic before he could speak to defend himself. Bright lights flashed in the distance among and across the clouds, and thunder followed. The sound of sprinkles and droplets of water hitting the windows caught their attention. Right when Wachowski was about to point out the obvious, it had started to rain which was swiftly replaced with pouring rain that beat down on the ground and buildings. At that point through the open walls, where the train would come through, they could see everything outside get soaking wet. The sound of the rain simulates what it sounds like to be next to a waterfall. The lightning and thunder didn't stop and continued as everyone in the train station sat in silence.

“That's a lot of rain,” Sir Sonic said with a worryful smile.

“Yes, it is,” Lancelot said, watching the rain pelt down onto the ground and other surfaces outside, “Thank the gods were in here and not out there.”

Sir Sonic laughed, “I get that. As much as I like rain when I’m reading, I don’t love it when I’m the one getting rained on.”

Wachowski hummed, “I hate it when it rains. Sokes right through my fur.” He mindlessly shook off water that didn't exist, remembering the many days that he was reduced to a shaking wet mess back when he still lived in the cave. The hoglet then stood back up and clipped the three new keychains onto where the straps of the satchel attached to the bag part of the bag, and was about to go back to leaning on the bench until his ears flicked, hearing something large approaching through the sound of the pouring rain, distracting him from his thoughts. 

“I think the train’s coming,” Wachowski walked around the bench then turned back to them, “You two have any preferences of where we'll be sitting?”

“No not really, but I think it would be best to be in the train car with the least people in it. That way we won't have to deal with a lot of eyes on us the whole time.” Sir Sonic said, then turned over to Lancelot. “I also think it wouldn’t be best for people to be practically cornering all three of us in one car.”

Sir Lancelot hummed before looking off in front of him as he grabbed onto his chin, thinking. “It would be the best option, we’d have the room to converse in private rather than out in the open as we are now.”

Wachowski suppressed a groan, “True, I don’t think I want more of my private life being told to random people that are close enough to hear it.” 

Sir Sonic held a hand over his mouth to laugh at the irony; he hadn't honestly ever cared about his life's privacy other than where he and Tail’s lived, he’s always told people straight when it was random facts about him or his friends or stories about his travels. It was just easier to make new friends that way. Of course, a nearly completely different version of himself wouldn't want that type of open life or probably wouldn’t feel as comfortable with random strangers getting to know him.

‘Odd kid, but you gotta love him for it.’ Sir Sonic thought as he stood up and joined the hoglet. 

Lancelot followed behind his ex-king and joined the smaller blue hog’s side, taking the child’s hand, “That’s a reasonable thought, Wachowski. Although you have already done the opposite back in Camelot’s city.”

Wachowski gave the eldest hedgehog a dramatically sad face, “But they weren't going to be able to do anything with the information. We weren't talking about my brother’s and stuff, we were talking about me eating trash.”

Sir Sonic actually choked on his spit this time, and coughed up a storm before speaking, “Excuse me, what did you say you ate again?”

“Trash,” Wachowski said as flatly as he could with as much of a straight face as he could muster, “I promise it’s not as big of a deal as you think it is.”

He nearly broke when Sir Sonic looked to be contemplating what It must have been like to eat trash before letting out a disgusted shake over his whole body.

“False. Eating horrible things like that no matter the amount, isn't good for you.” Lancelot hoped that the fluffball would understand, but he knew that it was going to take some trial and error since Wachowski still had trouble staying close to him and not giving in to the urge to run off on his own.

Sir Sonic couldn't help but join in on the scolding, “Yeah, Wachowski. What Lance said.” Wachowski stuck his tongue out as his reply to the bigger Sonic, but he gave the kid one right back.

The sound of the train approached rapidly, its slowing speed nearly indistinct from its full speed. The ground shook slightly and the other people who were also waiting got up and walked over to where the train would be stopping. 

Sir Sonic motioned his head in the direction where everyone else was gathering, “Let’s get moving. If we want to be on a mostly empty cart we gotta make sure to see where everyone gets on and how many get off.”

Sir Lancelot hummed and nodded, “Agreed.”

“Aye-aye, captain!” Wachowski mocked, and Sir Sonic snorted at the simple joke.

All three of them walked closer to the train rails and waited, still keeping their distance from the admittedly small gathering of other Mobains. The sound of the train was more clear, the rain unable to silence its loud entrance into the town. 

Lancelot, being taller than most of the people in the small gathering, watched with halted breath as the thundering of the train’s engine got closer. Wachowski felt Lancelot’s hand tighten, when he looked up he could see underneath the dark metal visor. Sir Lancelot's face was filled with fear and doubt. 

Wachowski gently tugged on Lancelot's arm, and when the knight looked down he gave him a reassuring smile, “Just think of it as a giant carriage and you’ll be fine.”

Sir Lancelot spared a few uncertain glances between the young hog and the train's entryway before stealing his expression with a simple nod to the kid. When the train horn blasted Lancelot couldn't help but flinch, its loud blast of sound rivaling that of a dragon's roar.

“Ops, sorry Lance. Forgot to tell you but- yeah , they're very loud.” Sir Sonic gave the Knight of the Round Table a sympathetic look as he shyly scratched the back of his neck. Lancelot took a breath in to keep himself calm, not answering. Sir Sonic looked at him with a sad face before putting his attention back to the train that slowly rounded a corner of buildings, its bright front light dimmed to not disturb the locals.

Wachowski had to watch with a heavy heart as Lancelot only got more and more anxious, he couldn't think of anything that would be able to help calm the armored knight other than to somehow find out how to reverse time and explain to him thoroughly what a train was and that it wasn't capable of hurting him unless he was standing on the tracks. Wachowski settled with leaning himself onto Lancelot, reenacting the time they were in the boat, letting the elder hedgehog know that everything was going to be alright. 

His efforts didn't go unnoticed by Sir Lancelot and he let go of the kid’s hand and instead wrapped his arm around the fluffy hog’s shoulders, hugging the younger to his side. Lancelot took some deep breaths but the knight couldn't help his fear grow as the fast metal coffin dawned closer, the light at its top was blinding to his inexperienced eyes. The only thing that came to its intensity for him was the sun and flash explosions made by inexperienced mages and wizards.

Lancelot resisted the urge to cover his ears when the screeching of wheels braking on the metal railing began, he couldn't bring himself to let go of Wachowski, who had relaxed onto his side and depended on him to keep some of his balance in check. He wondered how the child was able to handle such a sudden noise. Wachowski didn't flinch a bit, only his ears swerving off to the side of where the sound was coming from for a moment before returning to where they always sat before it had even stopped.

The train finally stopped in place, and its doors opened with a click and the sound that reminded Lancelot of rolling wheels. Its passengers walked out, leaving barely anyone on the inside. The group that had been waiting with them dispersed across the different available cars, most filling into the front, which made Sir Sonic frown but he didn't look at the gift horse in the mouth that was the last train car sitting completely empty.

Sir Sonic pointed to it, “That one has no one in it. It’s perfect.” He turned back to Lancelot but wasn't surprised to see that the armored knight was still staring at the train, his whole body language was closed, showing fear of the unknown. 

“Hey,” Lancelot jumped at the feeling of a hand coming into contact with the bear part of his arm, swerved to his trusted ex-king, and forced himself to relax as the ex-king gave him a bright smile. “It’s going to be fine, man. It’s just a big machine used for pre-prepared travel.” Sir Sonic continued, patting Lancelot’s shoulder to comfort him. 

Wachowski hummed, agreeing, then started pulling on Lancelot’s hand to the last train car, “It’s going to leave if we don’t hurry up.”

“Ah!” Lancelot finally started to move, but when it came to going through the train car doors he couldn't move to go in; but oh , how tempting the seats were inside. 

Without the help of some more encouraging words from both the ex-king and his small copy, he wouldn't have been able to bring himself to enter. With the automatic doors nearly closing on Arondight’s flat sides as they were about to close without them inside.

Sir Sonic calmly took a seat that was in between two other seats, and he motioned for the armored knight to take the one on his left that was next to a pole, “Come on, it’s better to take a seat now than to fall on your butt.”

Sir Lancelot looked at the older blue hog with confusion as he was walked over and sat down in that spot by Wachowski, “Alright. What now?”

Wachowski took the seat on Sir Sonic’s other side and slid his satchel underneath his seat so that he wouldn't be uncomfortable the whole ride, “Now, the train starts to move.”

Right on time, an announcement on the train's speakers rang through the air, “Everyone please take your seats as the conductor comes and punches your tickets. Stay seated while we begin to move. Our speed will, unfortunately, have to be reduced because of the weather. We hope you enjoy your ride on The Winged Express!”

“Or well, that first,” The kid said, slightly amused.

Lancelot swung his head side to side, looking for where the disembodied voice had disappeared too. Sir Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the older hedgehog, but Wachowski caught the armored knight’s attention and gestured to the boxy speakers on the sides and corners of the train car.

“That’s where the voice is coming from,” Wachowski swiftly explained to the unnerved hedgehog.

Lancelot hummed a worried hum, “Alright, ok. That’s-” He couldn't finish what he wanted to say as confusion froze his thoughts completely.

“It’s alright Lance. You don’t have to understand it if you don’t want to.” Sir Sonic gave him a wry smile, sad to know that without having to eventually explain what electricity is to the medieval hedge-

“You remember what I said about TVs? And how audio works on them?” Wachowski cut off his thought process.

“Yes. Is it really like that?” Lancelot looked over Sir Sonic to see Wachowski.

“Yep, but this time it’s said live, unlike how I explained it to you last time. So the conductor is going to be coming down each train car, and they’re going to be checking our tickets. You have yours?” Wachowski asked with a grin, having already taken out his ticket and flaunting it.

Sir Lancelot huffed and pulled out his ticket with a slightly smug look, “Of course I have it.”

“Wait, you explained what a TV is to Lancelot?” Sir Sonic asked, extremely confused. He couldn't begin thinking how to explain such a specific thing to the armored hedgehog. Thrust him, he’s tried before but it was about phones. Witch ended up with them being boiled down to magic communication devices like the water mirrors that Lady Nimue could make.

“Yeah,” Wachowski snorted, “I got bored and wanted to talk about one of my favorite shows and since I’ve already explained what a TV is to Knuckles, it was pretty easy.”

“Huh, and you understood it?” Sir Sonic turned to the red-striped hedgehog with raised eyebrows.

Lancelot’s attention was quickly diverted from the feeling of anxiety that was given to him by the train, “It was quite easier to understand the more he explained it. A box filled with special engraved metals, and wires that conduct a smaller, less harmful, form of lightning. All to show and present premade plays. It’s quite fascinating, Sir Sonic!” 

“Ooooo~. That's one way to explain it, mini-me,” Sir Sonic turned to the kid with curiosity, “Had to explain it to Knuckles?”

Wachowski hummed and nodded, “It took a couple of tries but it was worth it in the end.” He laughed at the memory of them all watching a movie together for the first time without worrying that Knuckles would attack the TV, thinking that people in the ‘Magic Box’ were in trouble or were about to try and hurt his new tribe. “He loves movies… I think.”

Sir Sonic snorted, “You think? Or you know?”

“Oh, we know he doesn't like certain genres,” Wachowski shrugged, remembering the multitude of movies that Knuckles ended up hating, “Just haven't figured out his exact comfort zone yet.” Sir Sonic nodded, his Knuckles was the same, he even still didn't understand what a screen was sometimes.

“Nice,” Sir Sonic dragged out the word, and he stopped as the door that was connected to the train car in front of them opened up. 

The train conductor walked into their train car. He was a pearl pink lion Mobian, with bright yellow spotting, his physique was a bit chubby, but it was understandable since he looked to be in his late forties or early fifties with his graying muzzle and maine. On his muzzle sat a small pair of glasses. The man held himself with a bright smile that only seemed to get even brighter when he realized who his last few guests on the train were at this stop.

“Ah! Hello and good evening, Mister Sonic. I’m Gani, The Winged Express’s train conductor. I wasn't expecting a surprise this early in the morning, but it is such a pleasure to have you and your friends here today. I apologize for the slower speeds we will need to be going at. This storm came out of nowhere,” The old lion gave a hearty laugh when he finished speaking. It reminded Wachowski of the old grandpas who lived in and right outside of town back in Green Hills whenever they found something funny. 

The older gentleman made his way over to the three hedgehogs, “Now, may I see your tickets, young lads?”

“No problemo’! It’s a pleasure to be here, and don’t apologize for the weather. It’s not your fault.” Sir Sonic gladly gave the lion his ticket. Gani checked the place and code for authentication before punching a hole into it with a smile and handing it back.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Sir Lancelot stood and gave Gani a short dow in respect before handing the older gentleman his ticket.

“Aw, quite good manners you have. No need for them here, I am simply your conductor,” Gani said, taking the ticket and doing the same as he did with the knight's ticket.

“Here you go,” Wachowski said, quickly giving the aged lion his ticket.

“Thank you, cub,” The conductor said, vocabulary from what he called his kids and grandchildren, he chuckled at Wachowski’s tenacity and did the same to his ticket before handing it back to the hoglet with his bright smile. He straightened his back and pointed to a call button on the wall next to the doors that went to the other train cars, “If any of you need assistance, no matter what kind, just press that button and I’ll be right over. Have a nice ride you three.” 

Gani waved goodbye to them all before leaving the car, the doors closing behind the lion as he exited.

After a while, Sir Lancelot sat back down, his nerves coming back as if they had never left. Both of the blue hedgehogs noticed and gave him some sympathetic looks, but before they could give the medieval hedgehog some more reassuring words the train started to move. It lurched forward as the engine kicked back up again, making Lancelot grab hold of the railing he was sitting next to as if it would save his life. The speed picked up and the train was already out of the station before Lancelot could register it. Rain hit the roof of the train, beating down on it as they moved along the rails. 

Wacowski turned in his seat for then he could see all of the houses and buildings pass by as they left the town. He wished he was allowed to run and follow behind the train but he dismissed it as a horrible idea when he reminded himself that it was pouring and not just raining outside.

While he was doing that, Sir Sonic brought out his phone.

------

Blue : leaving the station :D

red&black_stripes : Finally, what took the train so long?

Blue : prob the big storm that showed up?

Blue : dude this kid is killing me

red&black_stripes : Really? 

red&black_stripes : Does he have a knife or something?

Blue : no lol, but that would be a funny sight to see

Blue : hes just a handful of silly

red&black_stripes : What does that even mean?

Blue : it means whatever you want it to mean faker :P

Blue : hes been great so far but he says the weirdest things

red&black_stripes : That's it? He just says weird things?

Blue : youd understand if you were here

Blue : he admitted to eating trash

Blue : trash shadow! TRASH D:>

red&black_stripes : No wonder you said he needs help from the Chaos Emeralds.

Blue : yeah, no

Blue : if the reason hes sick was that he ate trash, i would have brought him to the emergency room to get his stomach pumped

Blue : but its not <:(

red&black_stripes : What are his symptoms?

Blue : average symptoms of when your not in the uinverce your sapost to be in

Blue : its not a great feeling, id know from experiance

red&black_stripes : ??? 

red&black_stripes : Explain? Please?

Blue : :/c hmmm

Blue : cant we just explain it when we get to ur place? <:D

red&black_stripes : No, I would prefer to have an explanation right now.

Blue : hmmm idk...

red&black_stripes : I mean it Sonic.

Blue : :C

------

“Got games on your phone?” Wachowski asked, who has gotten tired of not being addicted to having a screen in front of his face after nearly two days. Sir Sonic paused in between his text and let out a choked laugh.

“Yes, I do. Just let me finish texting Shadow,” Sir Sonic said before realizing a better way to explain the situation to the Black Arms mixed hedgehog. “Actually, do you mind if we take a picture together? I don’t want to send a lengthy text explaining what’s happening.”

Wachowski thought about it for only a second, not giving it any real thought, “Sure! As long as I get to see his reaction.” 

The fluffy hoglet held out his hand to shake to seal the deal and Sir Sonic eagerly took it, “No problem and no promises he doesn't cuss me out.”

------

-Blue sent a photo-

red&black_stripes : SONCI WUAT THE HELL

red&black_stripes : YOU MADE ME SPIT OIUT MY DRINK

red&black_stripes : ITS ALL OVER MY FLLOR

red&black_stripes : YOU ASSHOLE

Blue : woah, watch ur language shadow!

Blue : the kid’s reading this >:(

red&black_stripes : shut up >:(

red&black_stripes : Why?!

Blue : oh whatever shal you mean?

red&black_stripes : Why didn't you just say that another you was here???

Blue : wanted it to be a surprise :D

red&black_stripes : That doesn't matter! You should have just told me!

Blue : nah

Blue : the kid agrees with me that it was funny

Blue : so ur opinion? Invalid

red&black_stripes : When you get here I am going to beat the crap out of you.

Blue : we both know your not going to win that fight

red&black_stripes : And I know that you are only saying that to look cooler in front of him.

Blue : >:c

Blue : ok thats true :/

red&black_stripes : That’s what I thought.

red&black_stripes : Now who the hell is the third party.

Blue : i aingt show or tell you, itd ruin the fun

red&black_stripes : I'm not going to let them in if you don’t tell me.

Blue : >:/

Blue : a medieval knight

Blue : but im not sending u a pic of him, i still want to see ur reaction >:]

red&black_stripes : …

red&black_stripes : I hate you.

red&black_stripes : I hate you so much.

Blue : I know you love to tolerate me~.

red&black_stripes : Never text me in perfect spelling again.

red&black_stripes : It’s weird.

Blue : well get bent

Blue : ima let mini me play on my phone now cuz he bord

Blue : ttyl faker <3

red&black_stripes : Hey! 

red&black_stripes : Don’t you dare ghost me!

red&black_stripes : Sonic! 

Blue : y’know he reallly should have closed this convo before giving the phone to me😬

red&black_stripes : What?

Blue : HIIIII!!! Nice to meet u!😀

red&black_stripes : You the other Sonic?

Blue : ye🙂

red&black_stripes : Sonic never uses the actual emojis so I believe you.

Blue : ok?🤨 Does he hate them that much?

red&black_stripes : No, it’s more for my sake than his. I don’t understand them most of the time.

Blue : oh ok1

Blue : !*

Blue : sorry for being awcword

Blue : awkward*

Blue : sorry, again

red&black_stripes : Don’t worry about it.

red&black_stripes : So what happened?

Blue : ?please be more specific?

red&black_stripes : How’d you get here, and what happened to your head?

red&black_stripes : If you’re willing to say that is.

Blue : no, its ok!

Blue : my Master Emerald brought me to the world Lance (the knight) is from to do some fixing?

red&black_stripes : You sound pretty unsure of yourself there.

Blue : ya i know, but would you know how to explain mending the fabric of two connected universes back to normal?

red&black_stripes : No, I don’t, and that's one troubling situation to be put into.

Blue : yeah i know, but i think i handled it pretty well

red&black_stripes : What else happened? Last time I checked we aren’t in the Medieval era anymore.

Blue : im getting there!

Blue : Lance helped me get help from an elf-wizard named Merlina and she sent me and him here to this world, to get help from you since you know how to chaos control

Blue : so far thats about it 

Blue : as for my head i got attacked by some demon thing back in Lance’s world and he saved me from it, cool to watch but not to experience

Blue : also for the simtioms you mentioned to Sonic, im doing fine for now

Blue : symptoms*

Blue : cant promise anything when night comes around, seems to act up around then

Blue : simple explanation of it is that i feel like im being ripped apart

red&black_stripes : …

red&black_stripes : You’re one fast typer.

Blue : lol thanks, its the super speed😎 (sorry i couldent help it)

red&black_stripes : Good to know, and I don’t mind, kid.

red&black_stripes : Do you have a different name you go by? I don’t want to call you kid or small Sonic the entire time.

Blue : sure, just call me Wachowski

Blue : its my last name

red&black_stripes : Nice to meet you, Wachowski.

Blue : nice meeting you too Shadow!

Blue : but um...

Blue : your not actually going to fight ur Sonic when we get to your place right?

red&black_stripes : I just might. He deserves it.

Blue : please dont 😰

red&black_stripes : Don’t like fighting?

Blue : i like fighting in movies, and the ocational training with knuckles

Blue : occasional*

Blue : not when friends do it😡

red&black_stripes : Understandable, but I am going to have to at least talk to him about it if he’s going to be allowed to sleep in the guest room. If you all have to spend the night that is. 

Blue : let me guess, the couch treatment if he doesnt?

red&black_stripes : Yes.

Blue : Owch 😬

Blue : anyways! It was nice talking with you Shadow, and i cant wait to meet you

Blue : but im going to actually do what Sonic said i was going to do lol

red&black_stripes : Alright. Nice talking to you too, Wachowski.

red&black_stripes : Sonic has a lot of games on that old brick he calls a phone, you’ll be surprised by what you will find.

Blue : 😮!

Blue : ok later alligator!! 👋

red&black_stripes : In a while, crocodile. 

------

Wachowski closed the chat room with a smile and then looked over to Sir Sonic and Lancelot, they were absorbed back into another conversation. He refused to give in to the urge to butt into it and instead scoured the older blue hog’s phone for where he had hidden the mobile games. Eventually, he found them, but among them reminded him of a curtain old blocky game he had begged his Mom and Dad to buy for him on his phone; it was even the pocket edition!

He quickly clicked on the app and let it load, its home screen confirming his captions, then clicked on the selection of available or already created worlds. The blue hog looked over the different worlds and grew curious, but it looked like there was a world limit of five, and all of them were already taken. Maybe Sir Sonic will let him override one of the worlds so that he can make his own from scratch.

Wachowski adjusted himself so that he wasn't lying back into the seat, looked at Sir Sonic, and waited for an opening in the conversation to interrupt them. It didn't take long, the conversation eventually drying out before they started a new one about something else, “Hey, Sir Sonic?”

Sir Sonic turned to the kid, “Yeah Wachowski? Also, you don’t have to call me Sir Sonic all the time, just Sonic works fine.” 

“Can I override one of your saves to start my own?” Wachowski asked as he showed the older Sonic the phone screen.

Sonic looked down at the screen with surprise, “Oh my Chaos- I forgot I had that game.” He chuckled slightly, “Go ahead, kid. I don’t care.” The bigger blue hog intended to go back to the conversation with Lancelot but a quick thought shot through his head, “Show me how far you get once you're done.”

Wachowski nodded and said “You got it,” then sat back in his seat comfortably. Erasing one of the saves wasn't hard to figure out and he was quick to name the new save file ‘Son_Wac’s_World’ and began playing.

The storm continued on outside of the train, undeterred by the quick movement of the Master Emerald’s position.

At the stops in towns and a couple of cities, small groups of people would filter in and out of the train car they had nearly made entirely as their own. Thankfully the people who got on were usually getting off at the next stop. Easing and depleting the amount of eyes and voices talking about and looking at them. 

At one point or another a small family of beavers, a father and his two kids, had gathered onto the train. Their raincoats and umbrellas soaking wet, sitting on the opposite side of the three hedgehogs. 

For the most part, they kept to themselves before the younger of the two kids let their curiosity get the better of them and struck up a conversation. They were wondering what was going on, with the sight of two blue hedgehog’s and their friend armored head to toe confusing them. The small conversation was picked up by Wachowski and quickly turned into him showing off to the ten-year-old what he had already accomplished in the knockoff Minecraft world he had created. With the empty seat next to him was now occupied by the younger kid, Wachowski even let the young beaver play on his world for a bit. With Sonic's permission of course.

It felt like no time had passed and the family had to leave; their stay on the train was short and sweet. He gave them a goodbye and farewell as they grabbed their umbrellas and headed out into the station.

No one had gotten on the back train car at that stop. Making the place feel emptier than it should have been.

Wachowski went back to play on the phone, trying to take his mind off of the empty feeling.

After leaving a stop at one of the bigger cities, Wachowski felt his head start to ache and his stomach twist. At first, he chalked it up to the high speeds that they had been going at for a while and being in the way back car of the train for his stomach. But for his headache, he thought about how he hadn't used a phone for a few days, and that his eyes and brain maybe weren't taking the bright light very well. So he gave back Sonic his phone after deciding he probably shouldn't have a bright screen in front of his face as his headache only worsened. He made sure to save the progress he had made before handing it over.

He then pulled out the encyclopedia from his bag to distract himself but the familiar warmth that normally formed within his eyes didn't come. Leaving the pages of the book in the home language of Camelot. Wachowski flipped through the pages and not one changed to the English language. The Master Emerald held onto the coil in his chest, letting the young hog know it was still awake; it knew something was up but it just wouldn't be able to communicate it directly. But it knew it had to delay what was to come in the ways it knew how.

Wachowski shut the book with a frustrated thump and put it away, catching Sir Lancelot’s attention.

“Is something wrong?” Lancelot asked, looking at the younger with concern that Wachowski couldn't see through the visor.

“I’m fine.” Was all Wacowski said before turning to look out of the train window behind him. 

The town’s lights they were passing by just made his head hurt more. The motion of the train turning around a bend in the tracks did no better for his stomach. The fluffy hedgehog decided it was best to just curl up on the seat and wait it out. Thunder sounded near the train, the storm still following them like a loyal dog, but most on the train couldn’t hear it over the sound of the train moving on the tracks.

“You sure you're fine, kid?” Sonic now asked, taking note of Wachowski's curled-up position.

“Yeah, just tired,” Wachowski wasn't lying, he really was tired. Last night, when he dealt with everything going on, he didn't even know how long he had stayed up for; being sick to his stomach for about the first half only to take even longer to solve both Camelot’s and the Underworld’s problems. Maybe it was a good idea to at least take a nap.

“Then come here, I doubt that seat is warm. Plus I’ve been told by my Tails that I’m a great pillow.” Sonic peered at Lancelot, ”And I doubt Lance’s armor is anything but cold.” Sir Lancelot rolled his eyes at the jab.

Sonic turned back to the smaller hog and gave him a confident and smug smile, “As long as you don’t count my quills that is.” His confidence was somewhat infectious on the hilarity side of it, making Wachowski debate what he should do before giving in and plopping himself down onto the bigger hedgehog’s side with a small thanks.

Wachowski resisted the urge to scratch at the cut on his forehead when an odd feeling pushed against it. His conciseness quickly faded out like a blinking light, falling asleep as if he hadn't slept at all the night before. He pushed himself into the warm body for a warmth he didn't know he needed and was out faster than he could run.

The Master Emerald hummed quietly, worried for what was to come.

“Hey, Lance?” Sonic turned to the knight with a concerned face, “Would you say that Wachowski is usually this warm?” The hoglet had laid down about half an hour ago, the rise in body temp going unnoticed until now.

Lancelot looked down at the young hog and analyzed the sleeping body, he then took off his gauntlet, reached over, and felt the kid’s head. Warmth radiated off of Wachowski’s body, shaking to continue to warm itself up, while his breath was also shallow for every other intake of air. 

“No, he shouldn't be this warm at all,” Lancelot answered, “I told you he wouldn't take being in this world any better than when he was in Camelot.” He spat out the words, not at Sir Sonic or any other person, just at the world and its cruelty. He got up and out of his seat for the first time since he had gotten onto the train and kneeled next to Wachowski. He rested his hand on the child's head to account the situation before removing it, “While I don’t know if it’s a good idea to wake him up or not, I do think it would be best if we could get something cold onto his head.” 

Sonic nodded, silently wishing that he had grabbed the frozen water bottles from his freezer. Unfortunately, the water within his quills had already settled into a more room temp. 

Sir Lancelot wished he knew the magical incantation he had heard many magic healers chant when creating a thin cloth-like layer of ice for children when they had the flu. He remembered the chant from when Galahad had gotten sick over the years, but he wasn't an expert in ice magic. Sonic watched as Lancelot put back on his gauntlet and rested his hand on Wachowski’s head with the intent that the cold metal would suffice for now.

Sonic watched silently for the most part until he decided to interrupt it, “How long does he usually go through these sick patches?”

Lancelot wanted to laugh at the wording Sonic had used but knew it wasn't the right time for jokes, “He’s normally sick for about twenty minutes. Could be more.” He thought about how Wachowski was normally sick at night, it was odd for him to be getting sick now. They both watched as the cold from the metal soothed out the kid’s expression of discomfort, but his breaths didn't change a bit; if anything they got worse.

Wachowski suddenly shot up from the seat, Lancelot retracted his hand at the harsh and fast movement so that the kid wouldn't hurt himself, spooking both Sonic and Lancelot unintentionally.

“Wachowski,” Sir Lancelot nearly stuttered out the kid's name in surprise but kept a straight face, “Sorry if I woke you up.” The young blue hedgehog sat still as if he hadn't heard the elder hedgehog's question, hanging his head, his breathing had gotten harsher and rougher the longer he sat still.

Sonic began to speak, “You were sort of- Whoa kid!” but cut himself off when Wachowski jumped out of his seat. 

Wachowski ran over to the only trash can in the train car, ripped its top off, and hung his head over it, hands holding the sides as if his life depended on it. Saliva drooled out of his open mouth as if were a leaky pipe. His quills flickered out a glow but no sparks of lightning came out before they went back to normal.

“Wachowski, what are you doing?” Lancelot asked, now more concerned. He couldn't stop the unhelpful thought going through his head that the hoglet was about to start eating the disgusting trash. The armored hog made sure to scold himself for thinking about such a horrible suggestion.

Sonic got up and started to walk over, mentally preparing himself, “I think we already know.” 

His suspicions were proven correct when Wachowski started to dry-heave. He and Lancelot ran over and began giving him support. Whether it be holding the purple crystal necklace out of the way or rubbing Wachowski’s back and counseling him that it was going to be ok as tears started to form in the kid’s eyes. Lancelot didn’t take in Wachowski’s non-glowing state properly, he couldn't choose if the fact there wasn't any lightning was a good sign or a bad one.

The Master Emerald soothed over Wachowski’s back like it had before. Its efforts in keeping the young blue hedgehog's Chaos energy from attacking both of the older hogs and the train went unnoticed. The extra energy was transported among the Master Emeralds in the sky, creating colorful blue lightning that went unnoticed by those who weren't looking for it.

After Wachowski threw up his breakfast, and some of his stomach acid when nothing else would come out, Lancelot helped him sit down on the nearby seats as Sonic took out the water bottles. 

“I'm so happy I had the sense to grab these.” Sonic was also glad that no one else stayed in the same train car as them. The smell alone would have driven off many people from entering the train car. He undid the cap and held it out for Wachowski to take, “Here, first wash out what's still in your mouth, then take a few sips.”

Wachowski did as he was told but needed just a little bit of help to hold up the water bottle and keep his necklace out of his way as he spits the water back out into the trash. He sat back down with shaking legs once he was done. With the concerned and sad eyes watching, it was barely bothering him. Although he chalked it up to not being in full focus at the moment, the fuzz from earlier nights came back to haunt and consume his mind. At least he was lucid enough to talk.

“Thanks,” Wachowski coughed out after taking a good few more drinks out of the refreshing water bottle.

“No problem bud. Are you feeling any better now?” Sonic asked, still holding onto his back, waiting for when the kid was ready to move back to his seat.

“No. Everything hurts,” Wachowski said reluctantly, not able to tell them how much everything hurt to move.

Lancelot rubbed at Wachowski’s back, “That's alright. Take as long as you need to.” Sonic stood up and began walking to the front of the train car. Lancelot watched him with confusion, “Sir Sonic, what are you doing?”

Sonic turned back around when he reached the wall next to the door, “Getting some help from Gani. He should know about this so that it can be cleaned properly.” He tapped one of his fingers to his chin in thought, “He probably has some puke bags too.” 

Lancelot nodded in understanding, and Wachowski wanted to curl up into a ball at the embarrassment of being in such a vulnerable state, but even though he knew that he could it would just hurt more. Sonic pressed the button on the wall, and the speaker that sat directly above it squeaked to life.

“Hello, conductor Gani of The Winged Express speaking. How may I help?” The blurry fuzz of a typical speaker faintly reverberated the lion's words.

“Hey Gani. It’s me, Sonic, in the back car. We sort of- Wachowski, the kid, had to puke in the garbage can, so we need some help. Oh, and if you could, please bring some paper towels and puke bags -if you have them.” Sonic spoke into the speaker’s mic. 

No sound came from the other end of the small distance call before a click was heard. “Alright, I’ll be right down with a few extra emesis bags. Does the lad have any water or medicine to help? I could get him some. On the house of course.” The lion's old voice was filled with sympathy, having probably already gone through this type of situation with not only his own kids but also his grandkids.

“No need for the medicine and we have water. We just need the towels and bags, please.” Sonic shook his head even though he knew the conductor couldn't see him.

“Ok, I will be down soon. Keep the tot comfortable while I get everything ready.” The call clicked off, the sound of faded radio no longer heard with a squeak and click.

Sonic turned back around to the two hedgehogs that were still next to the garbage can, he noticed Wachowski had started to curl in on himself so walked back and joined them, “Gani will be over soon and take care of this. Let's just focus on something else for now, ok?” 

Wachowski nodded slightly, careful to not shake his head too hard or look up without burning his eyes and increasing his headache from indirectly looking at fluorescent lights on the train’s ceiling behind Sir Sonic. Lancelot wished he had something to wipe off the puke that had stuck to the fur around Wachowski’s mouth. 

It took a couple of minutes but eventually, the conductor joined the hedgehogs in the back train car. 

Gani handed Wachowski two of the emesis bags and gave the rest to Sir Lancelot along with a handful of paper towels, “Why don’t you two get the young lad into his seat while I clean this up.”

Lancelot nodded and picked up Wachowski to get them both out of the old lion’s way while he removed the bag from the garbage can. He sat the kid down gently before making sure to clean off the fur that the kid didn't even know was covered in the smelly liquid. Lancelot threw the dirty towels away into the trash bag before Gani closed it up and put it into another garbage bag in case the original would break. 

Sonic hung back to help the conductor if he needed any help but was told to go and join the other two, taking the seat that was on the other side of Wachowski.

After the trash bag was taken care of and replaced, Gani took out a semi-strong air freshener to take care of the unpleasant smell. Once everything else was fixed up and tidy Gani approached the hedgehogs.

“Thank you for informing me about the situation, Mister Sonic. Usually, people don’t think to inform us that someone had an accident, and tend to leave it for us to find out after they have already left their stop.” Gani couldn't help but be thankful, the number of times The Winged Express was health or OSHA checked and inspected, just because they weren't informed of such a situation, was one too many. 

He took out a small bottle of Tums and Tylenol and kneeled next to Wachowski, “Here, I know Mister Sonic said that you wouldn't need medicine, but these should help with settling down the tummy ache.” 

Wachowski held out his hand and was given three of the antacid tablets and two of the pain reliever, “Thank you, Gani.”

“You're welcome. Make sure to chew the Tum’s before swallowing and drink some more of that water you have afterward, alright?” The elder gave Wachowski a sad smile before standing back up, “If anything else happens don’t be afraid let me know. Hope you feel better soon tot.” Gani waved goodbye to them all as he left the back train car.

“Thank you for the help,” Sonic called out before the lion left the car completely, Gani nodded with a small knowing smile before leaving the hedgehogs by themselves again.

Lancelot watched as the kid popped all of the Tums into his mouth at once, chewing them up and downing what water he could handle, then popped the white pills into his mouth and swallowed them two with the help of more water. He waited until the kid was done and was lying back in his seat before speaking up.

“Feeling any better?”

“Not really,” Wachowski said as he groaned at the brightness of the lights, he took a calming breath in, “The water is helping with the headache, at least until the meds kick in.”

“That's good to hear,” Sonic said, before getting an idea. “But, the lights hurt right?”

“Yeah.”

Sonic turned to Lancelot, “Lance, could you give Wachowski your helmet? Or at least just your visor?”

Lancelot looked back in between the kid and the outside train car quickly, the thought that his helmet was the only thing protecting him if they crashed occurred but was quickly replaced by more reasonable thoughts. “That's fine by me. It’s going to be a little big, but it will block out most of the light.” He shifted to face Wachowski more while he took off the visor.

Wachowski sat up as much as he could and faced Lancelot with a concerned face, “You don’t have to give me your helmet, I just have to,” He flinched at the lights as they burned his eyes again, making his headache flair up past the cotton wrapped around his brain. The young hog grabbed his head as he finished his sentence, “Wait it out.”

“No, you're not going to get better when each time you open your eyes you flinch like that. Put the helmet on Wachowski.” Lancelot said with a frown. The armored hedgehog wasn't going to take no for an answer and kept the armor held in front of him, waiting. Wachowski squinted to be able to see without having problems and hesitated before finally taking the head armor piece. 

“Thanks,” Wachowski mumbled, upset that he still felt like he was being babied. Although he couldn't deny the ease the visor gave him when it finally covered his eyes. The helmet was indeed big and barely fit him, making it slide around quite a bit, but Lancelot tightened some of the leather straps so that it wouldn't fall off as long as he kept his head up. The cool feeling of metal covering his head helped tone down his headache further.

Sonic whistled, not loudly of course, “Looks great on you mini-me. Although I don’t think dark gray is our color. Don’t you think so?” He changed the subject of everything to lighten up the mood a little bit.

“Heh, I do like lighter colors.” Wachowski was happy to talk about anything else other than his health. “But basic darker colors do work. You just have to find the right ones, like dark red or blue.”

“Contrasts or matches the fur quite well, I know. But just think about all of the colors that match even better,” Sonic said with more pep.

Sir Lancelot scoffed, cutting off the ex-king unintentionally from anything else he was planning to say, “The color of the armor doesn't matter. It’s the properties of the enchantment that indicate those colors that matters.” Both Sonic’s looked at Lancelot with intrigue.

“Well then, what do the colors on armor mean?” Sonic asked, crossing his arms with a more confident smirk. Wachowski kept quiet but put himself in a more comfortable position to listen to Lancelot so that he wouldn't struggle against any pain that hadn't passed yet.

Sir Lancelot sighed, “Black-to-gray armor, like mine, is enchanted to withstand heat and high amounts of pressure. But red armor with leather, like Sir Gawain’s, is enchanted to withstand hard and heavy blows. It is also very heavy because of it. Green-to-blue armor has a natural resistance to poison effects due to the emeralds and gems that they use to infuse into the metal to get the color. It doesn't have any enchantments added if I remember correctly. Which as you saw, Wachowski, Sir Lamorak owns.” Lancelot had to think about the other colors of armor, not remembering each armor's enchantments.

“Who’s Lamorak? I don’t think I remember a person named that in Camelot when I was there.” The ex-king asked, not recognizing or remembering anything or anyone by the name.

Wachowski turned to Sonic, “A green hawk that is Sir Gawain’s student.” Sonic made sure to hide his wide smile as he realized who the medieval Mobian was, nodding along to the younger hog’s words.

Lancelot nodded with a proud smile, “Correct, Wachowski. Although he was only just put under Sir Gawain's training and guidance a few months after you left Sir Sonic. We still needed more protective defenses after you were gone.”

Sonic gave the older hedgehog a sad and disappointed look, “Aww man, I was hoping that everything would be solved after I helped Merlina move on.”

Lancelot's regretful look before thinking of what just happened last night, “No worries Sir Sonic, Wachowski fixed up everything else for you. No need to fret about it.” That caught Sonic by surprise. 

Sonic held a finger up, “Ok, first of all, you don’t need to call me Sir Sonic Lance, I don’t even have a sword right now. Second,” He turned to Wachowski, “What did you fix?”

Wachowski let out a sweetened laugh, “There were a few holes in between the Underworld and Camelot so I mended them closed.” When the older Sonic’s face twisted to shock he laughed harder, making his head pound a few times but it was worth it. “Did you know that the Underworld has a core and its universe is the core of Camelot? Cause I thought it was cool to see, albeit a little confusing. At least I made a few friends who were fairies. They were pretty cool.”

“What! Why didn't you bring this up? We could have had a fun conversation rather than arguing back at the station.” Sonic proclaimed, wishing that they could have dodged the slightly uncomfortable conversation back in the station.

“Because that wasn't what we were talking about,” Wachowski said back with some attitude, surprising himself with the intensity he had said it; the volume hurting his head even more.

Sonic was about to say something back but Lancelot interrupted the stray convo with a simple question, “Do you two want to know more about the armor enchantments, or not?”

Sonic and Wachowski both shut up, faced Sir Lancelot with full concentration, and nodded in unison. Lancelot huffed again, covering up a laugh, but still managed to look upset. Since his disappointed look was no longer covered up by the visor it hit the two blue hogs full on. Making Wachowski droop and curl in slightly, and Sonic to cross his arms and put up a mask of disregard.

“Good, now back to what I was trying to explain. Light-purple-to-light-gray armor, like Sir Percival and Galahad’s armor, is enchanted to deflect magical effects and spells due to the amount of silver in it. They are very lightweight too, and also are why most blades have silver on them as the cutting edge and armors have it as lining in the armor plates; to kill off and ward off any attackers of magical or Dark origin.” Lancelot explained before going off in a different direction, “And while I do not know about the origins with other knights, but gold is normally only used for those of higher standing, for example when you were in that gold armor while you were king, Si- Sonic.” He made sure to correct himself. 

“Or if you are from a godly lineage like me and Galahad, your gold is given to you as an heirloom.” He looked down at his gauntlets and right below his greave and above his sabaton, where the rings of solid gold sat.

“Cool,” Wachowski whispered, looking at the gold.

Lancelot cleared his throat and straightened his back, “That's about all I can remember from back when the blacksmiths that made my armor were explaining everything. Other than the gold, that's just from memory and family tradition.”

“Well, I think you got nearly everything down!” Sonic said, giving the knight a bright smile with hints of a smirk.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, I would still go for any reds and blues. Both work, but I do have more affinity to light blue,” Wachowski said with a bit of snark but pulled back on the tone. “It just matches the fur more, and I would rather have less weighty armor to be able to run faster.” His eyes felt so heavy… How was he so sleepy already? He just took a nap?!

“I’m still so-so on that. I like whatever I can get my hands on.” Sonic shrugged then leaned back into his seat, relaxing, “I don’t really care.”

Sir Lancelot rolled his eyes, “Whatever you two say, dark gray is the only armor that works for me.” He shuffled a little bit and looked across the train car, then quietly sighed as he looked out of the window. The constant rain pouring down outside and the dark clouds covering up anything he could use to gauge what time it was. 

He looked back to the two relaxing hedgehogs, “Do either of you know what time it is, we’ve been on this train for a while.”

“Hmm? Oh sure, I can check,” Sonic pulled his phone back out from his quills, “So, we got on around late nine-ish and now it is about twelve. We should be close to our stop in about forty minutes to an hour.” He chuckled, “We’ve been on this train for three hours, going on four.”

Lancelot hummed, “When we get to Shadow's home, I’m going to have to redo Wachowski’s wrappings.” Sonic looked at him funny while also taking short glances at the kid, who had already fallen back asleep again. Soft snores came out of the limp body.

“What wrappings?” Sonic asked.

“The bandages on his head. You didn't notice them at all?” This time Lancelot gave Sonic a weirded-out look.

“OH!” Surprise took over Sonic's face.

“Quiet down,” Lancelot shushed the ex-king, “The kid just fell asleep again, are you trying to wake him back up?” He glared at Sonic full force.

“You already did,” Wachowski answered for Sonic and shuffled to sit back up. “You’re both loud,” He grumbled out, still sleepy since he was only napping for about two minutes tops. Thankfully the painful buzz was gone, but that didn't mean it hadn't left him fatigued.

“Sorry buddy,” Sonic gave Wachowski a regretful smile.

“While I am sorry too,” Lancelot pushed the young hog back down to lay back on the seat, and when the kid tried to sit up again he protested verbally, his voice stern, “You should go back to sleep. You are sick and need to rest while you still can.”

Wachowski looked at him with a frown, the visor covering his glare from being taken care of as if he couldn't handle it himself. But he gave up, laid back into his seat, and waited for sleep to consume him once more. The same feeling happened as before, the push against the cut on his forehead was stronger this time. In less than a few moments, he was asleep again.

Sonic and Lancelot made sure to conversate more quietly this time.

“What happened, by the way?” Sonic whispered, pointing to his own forehead.

“He got attacked by a Dark knight, it wasn't pretty. It got a clean cut on his head and the blade had poison on it.” Lancelot’s face was solemn, “He was lucky I was nearby. If I wasn't… I’m not confident he would have survived without me and my mother's help.”

“Oh.” Sonic’s whole mood was shattered and dropped down. “He’s fine now, right? I assume you got him the antidote.”

“Yes we got him to drink an antidote, but the fur and skin is now cindered around the cut. I don’t know if there will be any lasting effects yet.” Sir Lancelot took a breath in, the stress of thinking about it again in the sense that the wound had technically just scabbed over this morning -from the last time he checked- was still ringing in his head. There was also a possibility that it could still get infected. “I’m sure the wound will turn out fine with time, and I doubt it will scar.”

One of Sonic’s ears flicked at what the armored knight said at the end before he looked into Lancelot’s eyes with worry, “But that's not the only thing you're thinking about, is it?”

Lancelot hung his head and nodded.

“Then what is it?” The ex-king asked, “What else are you worried about?”

Lancelot had to think about how he was going to phrase his own question that would indirectly answer Sir Sonic’s before he looked back up to his fellow knight, “While Wachowski was throwing up, you noticed that his quills glowed for just a moment, correct?”

“Yeah, I did?”

At Sonic's confused face Sir Lancelot realized he had to elaborate, “When Wachowski gets sick like this, his body usually lights up with sparks of lightning.” He shuffled his feet and wrung his hands in anxiety. “But now it looks like he can’t even form a single bolt to defend himself from this world.” He looked down at Wachowski in preparation as if the small hog was about to light up again in horrible pain.

“He has that much chaos energy inside of him? I can only begin a spark of electricity like that off of my quills when I gather enough rings. And, it's a new thing! I’ve never been able to do something like that until recently,” Sonic whisper-yelled the loud parts, “Was the world of Camelot already attacking the kid that hard? And here too, this early?”

Lancelot just nodded, refusing to say anything while watching the kid resting, ensuring Wachowski hadn't woken from their conversation. The child’s breaths weren’t labored like before, but there was an edge to it that made Lancelot know that the kid wasn't probably going to have a great time here in Sonic's home world for a while if his health was going to go into a death spiral like he feared it was.

“Dang… Poor kid. Shadow might be right after all.”

Lancelot shot up straight with bewilderment and shot a slight glare at Sonic, “Excuse me? Elaborate. Now.”

“Op-” Sonic sat up straight too and clasped his hands together with a soft clap, “I told Shadow that Wachowski needed help from the Chaos Emeralds, and he said to get over there or else he might drop dead. But I told him that the kid wouldn't. And I must admit, I might; emphasis on might,” he pointed at the knight to emphasize the emphasis -as if he hadn't already said that he was emphasizing the emphasis-, “be wrong. I assumed that Wachowski could last as long as I could in other worlds, and I thought what I said was true.”

“But you still could be wrong.” Sir Lancelot finished for the ex-king.

“Yeah…” Sonic took a breath in and looked down at the sleeping hog, “So, Shadow might be right.” He waited for Sir Lancelot to answer with a semblance that he understood what he said, but the red-striped knight gave him a haunted face instead before holding his head in his hands.

“This is worse news than I could have ever imagined.” Lanclots voice sounded defeated. At every turn that he learned more and more about what could happen -or would happen at this point- only seemed to get worse and worse.

Sonic couldn't help but try and smile to show the older hedgehog that it was going to be fine, but the knight didn't even look up. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. Shadows is an amazing teacher, especially when it comes to kids.” He patted Lancelot on his back, “Wachowski’s going to learn Chaos Control and finally go home.” Lancelot spared to look up at his ex-king, “He’s going to make it Lancelot, as long as we're all around to help him through it.” Sonic finished his little speech with a hopeful smile.

Lancelot looked back down to his hands in thought for a moment, long enough for Sonic to give him back his personal space by retracting his hand, before sitting back up, “You’re right, Your Highness. I shouldn't have let severe information like this get in my head and cloud my judgment of the situation,” He turned to the older blue hog with a new convention, “Thank you for setting my head straight.”

Sonic nodded with a wide smile, “No problem Lance.” He then replaced the happy smile with a snarky one and a glare, “And what did I say about calling me Your Highness?” The words were forced through The Knight of the Wind’s teeth with ire.

Sir Lancelot couldn't help but shrink into the corner of his seat a little, “To never call you that again.” He answered, not wanting to be forced into another duel. Two years ago, the Knight of the Wind beat the words out of Sir Lancelot's vocabulary when he had called the former by it one too many times for his liking and patience.

Sonic’s mood quickly changed back into happy-go-lucky, “That's right.” 

He sighed when Lancelot didn't go back to being relaxed, “It’s fine Lance, I’m not going to physically fight you over it, again. I don’t brood over small things like that anymore. I’m seventeen now, not fifteen.” Lancelot shook out a shutter and sat back in his seat with a nod. 

Sonic snickered and elbowed the knight, even though in between them lay a sleeping hoglet, “Just relax, you can let out your stress when we have to book it through the rain to Shadow’s house.”

Lancelot hummed, “Alright, Sonic. I’ll try to save it till then.” Sonic couldn't help but laugh at the armored knight's wording, which gave said knight a small smile. But Lancelot remembered something and looked to Sonic, “You might want to explain it to Shadow too, but you did say that he has already come to that conclusion. So you might not have to.”

“Eh, Shadow always takes things like sickness seriously. Whether we tell him or not, he’s always going to be thinking five steps ahead of all of us,” Sonic snuck a glance to Lancelot from his more relaxed position in his seat when the armored hog huffed, happily in agreement to someone taking responsibility.

Wachowski felt someone shake his shoulder and woke up to the familiar sound of stormy rain and thunder.

“Wake up, mini-me. We're here.” The familiar voice rang out; it was Sonic.

He sat up and shook off what sleep he could and looked out of the window. They were slowing down and entering another town. 

“How long was I out for?” Wachowski asked, perplexed.

Sonic shrugged, “Only about like half an hour. We're going to be approaching the train station soon. Do you want me to grab your bag or do you think you can carry it?”

The question, while innocent, disturbed Wachowski. He shook his head, “No I’m doing better. I can grab it myself.” 

Wachowski leaned over the seat and dragged out the bag, the visor fell off when he did and he scrambled to grab it before it hit the floor. He sighed when he succeeded, and set the visor next to him before pulling the bag up onto the seat. It felt heavier than usual but he knew it was because he just woke up and was still tired.

Lancelot grabbed the visor and loosened the leather straps before putting it back on, the metal warmed by the kid’s natural warmth unnerved him but he opted to ignore it. He then looked down at the kid, “You're confident that you're doing better.”

Wachowski grumbled, “Yes, I don’t think I’m going to throw up until the world decides I shouldn't exist here; again .” A proud smile spread across the black-furred hedgehog’s face, surprising Wachowski because he would usually be told off to tone down his attitude by Tom for talking like that. 

“What?” Wachowski couldn't help but ask.

“Just glad to see that you're doing better enough to talk to me with some sass.” Lancelot patted the kid’s head lightly, making sure that if Wachowski still had a headache it wouldn't hurt. “Make sure the satchel is on tight, we're going to be running out of the station. We don’t need to be in the rain more than we have to.”

Wachowskis face lit up and smiled, “Oh! Love running, yeah-yeah-yeah. Can’t wait!” 

Sonic laughed at the kid’s ramblings of excitement, “I feel the same buddy! Can’t wait to get these babies pumping.” 

The taller Sonic jogged in place, letting his legs pouch up and down with furious speed. Wachowski laughed at the older before hopping off of the seat and joining the older in warming up his own still sleepy legs for the mad dash in the rain they were going to be making. Sir Lancelot shook his head but the small smile on his face betrayed him as he stood up from his seat too.

The overhead intercom squeaked to life again, “Everyone please make sure you’re seated while the train slows down and stops.” All three of them had grown accustomed to the broadcast over the three to four hours they had been stuck on the train so they did as they were told.

Two of the three wanted to stay standing and have fun goofing off but knew to sit back down in their respective seats as the train slowed. Lancelot’s stomach dropped like it always did when the train did it, he grabbed onto the metal railing next to his seat like he always did, eyes shut as much as possible while he waited for the metal hearse to stop. Wachowski gave the knight a sorry smile that he couldn't see but eventually held onto his open hand when the train car shook slightly and made Lancelot hold his breath.

“You’ve done great. We just have to wait a couple more seconds” Wachowski made sure Sir Lancelot could hear him over the shrieks of the metal on metal. Lancelot nodded, planning up what he was going to do the moment the train stopped.

The train came to a full stop seconds later, with the outside of it finally being relieved from the pouring rain underneath the station's walls. The moment there was no more movement Lancelot stood up and made his way to the exit doors. Through the window, he could see that this station had a lot more people in it than most of the other stops that the train had.

Lancelot looked back at Wachowski and motioned for him to come over, “Come on kid. We’re getting out of this thing.” Wachowski snorted and pulled Sonic up with him when he got up to join the armored knight and let go when he got up to Lancelot. Taking his hand on principle.

“We hope you enjoy your ride on The Winged Express!” The intercom squeaked the message out right as the doors to the train opened. 

Sir Lancelot practically pushed himself right out of the opened doors like he was making a mad dash to get out of a dragon's maw, dragging Wachowski with him, Sonic rushed to keep up. Even if it was for only a moment since Sir Lancelot didn't need to go any further than twenty feet to feel safer than he had been in over four hours. He turned back to the train with a glare that would have been unreasonable to multiple people's standards but he felt like it was necessary.

Sonic snickered at the older knight’s attitude before pulling his phone out again, talking at the same time, and couldn't help but snicker more when he spoke, “Calm down Lance, it’s not like it's going to come alive and eat you.” 

Wachowski rolled his eyes at the ex-king for Lancelot but didn’t stop himself from letting an amused smile form on his face. Lancelot resisted the urge to explain his point of view and instead focused on something else entirely; like the doors that led out of the train station.

“There's the exit, let's get moving.” Lancelot urged, not wanting to be inside of the building anymore so that he wouldn't have to listen to the shrieking of metal on metal when the train left.

Sonic let out a small laugh as he turned his phone off, put it away, and walked backward to keep the two other hedgehogs in his view, “Whatever you say, I already know where we’re going. Just follow me!”

“Yes! I need to run. I can't take this any longer,” Wachowski said as he rapidly pummeled his feet on the floor even if it gave him stares from the crowd that hadn't either gotten onto the train yet or had just gotten off with them. But he didn't care. They were leaving anyway. Why would he care?

Lancelot stopped himself from laughing but a snort got out before turning to the kid, “You're going to be getting soaking wet when we get out there. You know that.”

Wachowski gave the old hog a devious smile, “Not if we’re fast enough.” Then started pulling the armored knight toward the doors and Sonic, “Come on, let's go!” Both of them laughed but followed him outside. The rain, having not let up yet, halted them right outside of the doors.

Sonic rested his fists on his hips when he stopped right before the edge of the overhang that kept them out of the rain, “Alright,” He turned back to look at the other two, “Just keep up with me, but if anything goes wrong, like getting lost,” Sonic's voice changed to humor Wachowski, who glared at him for it, “Just look for 893 Bigheren Street. That’s where Shadow is, but he's a little out of town so he might be a little hard to find on your own.”

“Ready?” Sonic asked as he slowly backed out into the rain, not bothered by its cold nature; at least not until he’s under it for a while

“Yes,” Wachowski pulled on Lancelot's arm, pulling him into the cold rain.

“You didn't let me answer.” Lancelot jokingly makes his voice sad, but his cunning playful words aren't paid attention to other than Wachowski sticking his tongue out at him for protesting.

“You wanted to leave five minutes ago, you wouldn't change your mind that fast,” Wachowski stated while he picked up his speed following Sonic down the town street.

Lancelot jogged along to keep up before the bottoms of his sabatons could light up and started to yell over the sound of the harsh rain for the other two to hear him, “I could have changed my mind, who knows?”

“I know you wouldn't!” Sonic called from in front of them, water picked up from his feet sprayed behind him, “Your mentality is sturdy Lance, don’t deny it for laughs.”

“I’m not though.” Sir Lancelot did a double-take for himself before either of the blue hogs could say anything, “I’m not talking about the mental thing you just said, Sonic. I'm talking about the for laughs part.”

“That doesn't matter Lance!” Wachowski said right before nearly wiping out on a street corner by hydroplaning, but he caught himself before he fully toppled over.

“What mini-me said!” Sonic yelled over the sound of the rain and thunder, “Whether you're doing it on purpose or not, don’t deny things that make you who you are.”

Lancelot thought to himself before deciding to ponder about it some other time, “Whatever you say, children.” He put enforcement onto the last part knowing that they would get a kick out of it, and they did. The blue hogs either laughed loudly or looked like they were having a spasm in their shoulders while they suppressed the laugh.

Sonic quickly changed the subject, “Left turn!”

The ex-king was able to get the tight turn around the bend of the amazingly empty road and made sure to look behind him as Lancelot and Wachowski tried to do the same. The two linked hedgehogs’ speed dropped significantly as they had to drift along the floor to not run right into a parked car on the right side of the road. Sparks flooded from Lancelot's armor shoes; each fiery piece of metal that flew off was immediately put out by the rain. The flames coming out of his sabatons nearly let him fall at the very edge of the bend but he balanced himself properly to not fall to the floor and passed with efficiency. Wachowski had a better grip on the floor due to his rubber shoes and didn't have any problems other than nearly hydroplaning again, but he survived so he didn’t make any notes of it.

Sir Lancelot huffed out a sigh before raising his voice, “Warn us sooner next time!” 

Sonic turned his head so that they could see the sheepish smile on his face, “Yep, my fault. Sorry!” Lancelot just sighed again and Wachowski half-heartedly laughed at the old hedgehog for it.

A couple of turns later they were exiting Velvettown, which was smaller than Wachowski thought it would have been. Although Lancelot would mentally marvel about the size of the town in secret. They dashed down the solid black top before it eventually curved into a more gravel road that led into the woods. Sonic noted how much it was like where he and Tails lived, the only difference was that Shadow lived closer to his town than they did.

Soon they came across a dead end, but the house that sat at the end of the road told them they were in the right place. They all compared the house to a small cabin. Connected to it on the right was a garage that was almost double the size of the house itself, and a big greenhouse connected to its left. 

When they passed by the house’s black mailbox, which sat at the edge of where the road ended and the driveway began, Sonic took a peek at it.

“893 Bigheren St. Yep, we’re in the right place!” Sonic said before passing it, happy to know they were in the right place. “Let's hope he’ll be in the mood to show us some hospitality this afternoon!” He slowed when he got to the porch of the house but still rushed up the steps before stopping and waiting for a second for the other two to join him under the dry safety of the roof.

Wachowski pushed down the urge to shake off all of the water that clung and seeped down into his fur while he spoke, “Hospitality? I don’t think so.”

“Oh and why’s that? Hmm?” Sonic gave the kid a smirk and leaned forward with some cheek.

Wachowski scoffed with a smirk of his own, “I know you read those text messages between me and him. Don’t play dumb.”

Sonic gave him a gobsmacked look after receiving the verbal own, “Oh, so you're not going to defend me? Is that what I’m hearing?” He leaned down with his fists on his hips and gave Wachowski a playful glare.

Wachowski could only think of one thing to say that wouldn't get him in any real trouble, “Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy.” Then stuck his tongue out at the older Sonic, who gave him one back; again.

“Can you two stop it.” Lancelot knew it wasn't supposed to sound like a command but he couldn't help but for it to come out as one since the cold rain was starting to seriously irritate him and his fur. He looked at the curtain-covered windows, lights were on inside, “I would rather deal with an upset Shadow and be let inside sooner than wait for them to realize we’re here hours later.”

Wachowski turned to Lancelot and gave him a look, “We just got here.” His mood changed back to joking around, “Party pooper.”

Sonic huffed, deciding to defend himself, “Just trying to have a fun argument with the kid.”

Wachowski flicked one of his ears a little bit, flicking off some of the water that stuck to it before giving in and walking off to the more empty side of the porch, where wooden chairs and a bench sat. He rapidly shook off everything that he could, even if it meant his head hurt a lot afterward due to the shaking. He smoothed back down his quills before shuffling back to the other two. Lancelot was surprised the kid could do something like that, thinking back to when the child was poisoned, but he decided to not bring it up.

Sonic stared with amazement before chuckling, “You're going to have to show me how to do that sometime. I hate drying myself off.”

Wachowski posed as if he was genuinely thinking about it, “I don’t know…” He gave the older blue hog a mischievous pointed look, “What’s in it for me?”

Sonic put a hand up to his chin in thought while he walked up to the beautifully stained wooden door, “How about… I bring you out to some of the food places in town and you can try out the food they all have before you leave. That sound good?”

Wachowski dropped his joking attitude at the news when it was replaced with nervousness, “Just getting me some sodas that have the Chao in Space advertisements on them or more toys as souvenirs, in general, would be fine. You don't need to get me takeout!”

“Aww, why not?” Sonic asked innocently with a small curious smile. 

“Sir Sonic.” Lancelot’s voice cut through their conversation, “Please, just knock on the door already.” He messed with his visor and gauntlets with flicks of his wrist in draining patience.

“Fine, fine! I'm going.” Sonic turned to the door and held his hand above it for a moment but shuffled a little before turning back to Lancelot, “I’d suggest you back up a couple of feet. Shadow might attack you if you're the first thing he sees.” 

Lancelot gave him a look as if he was only saying it to get out of knocking. 

Sonic glared at the older hedgehog, “I’m not joking Lancelot. Either back up or wait at one of the ends of the porch. He doesn't exactly have the best record of first experiences when it comes to other people or things looking exactly like him.” 

That caught the Knight of the Round Table off guard, but he steeled himself and nodded before walking over to the side of the porch where Wachowski still stood. The young blue hog gave him a small apologetic smile, and he gave the kid one back. Mentally apologizing if anything goes awry, he also gave the young hedgehog a pat on the head to say that it was fine, only stopping when he finally heard the door open.

Shadow scrolled through his messages after getting the text from Sonic that they were finally in the town’s train station and leaving. He was sitting in his favorite chair in the greenhouse that he had installed onto his house, happily using his free time to peacefully enjoy the hard work he had put into the indoor garden. The only thing stopping him from needing to do any work that day was the rainwater that he had been letting through the many windows he had opened that morning, while it was still bright and sunny, was watering his plants for him.

Most of the texts concerned him. Sonic had admitted he had not only gotten sick but also couldn't walk it off weeks later. It hung over his head and made him feel like he had learned that his greatest foe and friend had died. 

And just to add to that worry was that another Sonic -Wachowski- needed help from the Chaos Emeralds. Something that Sonic hadn't bothered to explain to him yet. Hell, Wachowski was more helpful in that department than Sonic was even if he ended up not explaining anything in as much detail as he would have liked; which still made him upset don't get him wrong. But Wachowski was just a kid and probably didn't understand why it would be important to explain it further than he had.

It was frustrating him to no end to be left in the dark like this.

Shadow looked over the text between himself and Wachowski, as well as scrolling back up the picture that Sonic had sent of the two of them. Thinking about the small differences between the two blue hedgehogs he had already gathered from their small interaction. It felt nice to talk to someone who would mostly get to the point when questioned.

He sighed and set his company-provided phone on the small wicker table next to his chair while standing up. He picked up a long hand-made stick and unlatched the built-in props that kept the windows open, closing out the cold winds that entered with the rain. Then locked the windows shut with the same stick before putting it away and turning on the heater that he normally only had to use during the winter to keep the plants from frosting over. Shadow didn't want to risk the plants he worked really hard on to wither away just because a storm had appeared in the middle of summer.

The mixed hedgehog went back inside where the sound of wind couldn't bother him as much, shutting the sliding glass door behind him. The mahogany-stained floorboards bent to his weight as he walked to his kitchen. Shadow would need another drink before he forced Sonic to explain his recent behavior once he got there so that his voice didn't crack or give out; embarrassing himself in the process. 

Sonic should be able to arrive at his home in less than five minutes, but with the info he had given Shadow, he wasn't as sure of that idea at the moment. He had no clue how long it could take them to get to him, not only due to both Sonics’ conditions but for the current storm that had rolled into town and his home.

Shadow shook his head and refocused on getting himself a drink of water. He opened one of the cupboards, grabbed a random glass, and walked over to the fridge to grab a pitcher of water from within. As he was filling the glass he nearly poured the freezing water all over the tile floors when a ringing sounded from the garden. His phone's consistent rigging was barely audible threw the sound of the wind. Shadow quickly put everything in his hands onto the island countertop before he rushed back into the garden. 

Grabbing the phone and checking the screen he recognized the group number instantly and groaned.

Shadow walked himself back into his house, making sure to close the door behind him again so that his voice wouldn't be overshadowed by the sound of the wind before answering. 

“What do you want? I’m not supposed to be working this week and you both know that I don’t like working overtime.”

“Oh, how rude of you, Shadow! To think I only call if it's about business. You wound me!” The playful bat’s voice carried through the phone’s speaker with precise connection even though it was storming outside. 

He mentally thanked G.U.N. for the government-quality cell service before answering, “60% of the time you call me it's business.”

“HE IS NOT WRONG,” Omega’s radio voice fuzzed, “IT IS WORK RELATED.” Shadow scoffed at his suspicions being correct.

“Come on Omega! I’m sure we can make this fun when we meet up with Shadow,” Rouge said with hope but turned her tone back to her usual relaxed demeanor, “Although, I am sorry to say that this is indeed work-related, dear.” 

Shadow flicked his ear in annoyance, “Save it for when I’m back on work hours. I’m busy with something else at the moment. Call me later. Goodbye.”

“IF YOU HANG UP THIS CALL, I WILL PERSONALLY BURN DOWN YOUR VERY FLAMMABLE HOUSE AND YOUR PRECIOUS GARDEN YOU NEVER LET ME INTO.” Omega didn't hesitate to tell the mixed hog what was going to happen. The Eggman-built robot’s common threats of violence only made Shadow flick his ear in annoyance again but he knew that this was the robot's way of telling him how important the mission was.

“What does G.U.N. want?” Shadow asked with a groan while pinching the top of his dark tan mussel.

Rouge laughed on the other end of the call, “You’ve probably already noticed but there’s a storm that has been moving rapidly across the countryside, it's nothing like anyone has seen before, and it just so happened to come across where you live.” Shadow could practically see the bat begin to clean and comb through the longer parts of her hair as she talked.

“And G.U.N. wants me to check it out since I’m closer than anyone else that's available?” Shadow finished for her while he put away the large water pitcher.

“CORRECT,” Omega confirmed for him.

“Yeah, sorry about this,” Rouge said, genuinely apologetic. “We're on our way over ourselves since the nerds in the weather department found out that it had stopped right above where you are and thought it would be best for Team Dark to handle it.” Rouge slowly sounded more and more irritated the longer she talked. “This storm has not only been moving around faster than most of the G.U.N. travel cars can keep up but has been throwing off all of the Chaos detectors and setting them off of the wah-zoo, yet they think we can handle this thing. The last time I checked we’re not weather experts. What do they expect us to do? Blow up the clouds or something?” Rouge groaned loudly.

“THAT WOULD BE FUN.” Omega, the forever-lover of destruction, said.

Shadow grabbed his drink and walked back and forth across the kitchen, ignoring his partner’s complaint about Commander Towers' decision-making and his other partner’s statement, “Any points of origin?”

“IT STARTED SMALL AROUND A TOWN IN MOSSLEY BEFORE GROWING RAPIDLY AND ARRIVING TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW.” Omega’s connected radio informed, not leaving out much but still boiling it down from the multiple readings the weather scientists have given to him to hand off to the hedgehog.

Shadow hummed at the news before a strange pressure of Chaos energy approaching him and his home alerted him, forcing him to connect a few dots between his two expecting groups of guests, “You two wouldn't say it’s been existing and moving around for, let's say, four hours. Would you?” He walked over to the edge of the small kitchen and looked at his porch windows. Anticipating whatever thing that was getting closer.

Silence was all he heard on the other end of the call before Rouge interrupted the silent moment, “It has been around for about that long, that's what the nerds said at least. Shadow, mind sharing with the rest of your team what you know?”

Shadow thought for a moment and took a sip from his drink, thinking what to say, “Get over to my place as soon as you can. I have a good idea of what’s happening.”

“YOU WILL SHARE WHAT YOU KNOW WHEN WE GET THERE OR ELSE I WILL BLOW YOU UP,” Omega stated, once again threatening the mixed hedgehog with no real heat in the robotized words.

“I’ll make sure to share with you once you’re here Omega,” the sound of familiar shoes hitting the wooden steps of his porch along with two unfamiliar ones distracted him for a moment. It was followed by the sudden feeling that he was being smoked out of his own house by a familiar -but odd- Chaos energy, which didn't help with keeping his focus.

“I need to go now. See you two soon- actually how far are each of you out from me?” Shadow asked, needing to know exactly when to expect even more people to enter his small home.

“ARRIVAL EXPECTATIONS ARE WITHIN 30 MINUTES AND 43 SECONDS.” He mentally noted down the time as voices argued right outside the door.

“About the same here,” Rouge said before the sound of something clinking came over the speakers before she spoke again, “See you soon, Shadow.”

“GOODBYE.” Omega’s voice box frizzled out through the speaker, his end of the call was muted on his own accord unless the others needed something.

A knock sounded at the door, making Shadow look back at the porch's windows as if he could see through the curtains he bought just so that people couldn't peek into his small home.

“I’ll be seeing you both, goodbye,” Shadow said before finally hanging up and set his phone down on the countertop along with his glass of water.

Shadow approached the door and hesitated for a moment. He forcefully shook out his nerves, the feeling of uncontrolled Chaos energy pulsing right outside unnerved him. So forced himself to open the wood door. One of its hinges squeaked as it opened; he mentally noted down that he would have to either oil or replace the hinge once he got the chance. 

His whole being was assaulted by a large wave of the odd Chaos energy, it practically wrapped around him like water -or a wave of heat- and suffocated his core of Chaos energy even as he still stood breathing with his lungs. It took a few milliseconds for him to get used to the constant energy and adapt to its suffocating aura.

Being met face to face with Sonic, the blue hog having a well-known smirk, Shadow crossed his arms and gave him an infuriated glare, “Hello, Sonic.” He looked around and behind Sonic before looking back to him, “Where’s your little entourage?”

Sonic had the gall to snicker at his genuine question, “Hello to you too, Shads. Don’t worry, they're right there.” Sonic pointed to his right -Shadow's left- and laughed more when he watched the mixed hedgehog realize that he didn't open the door enough to see where the rest of the group was.

When Shadow pushed the door open wider, not caring that the warmth in his house leaked out even more and cold storm air replaced it. He was happy to see Wachowski, even if he didn't show it. 

The young hog waved hello with a widening smile, “Hi Shadow! Nice to meet you in person.”

‘Dam, the kid has better manners than Sonic.’ Shadow could not help but make the observation. Wachowski still looked the same as in the photo Sonic had sent him, except that he now carried a leather satchel with a golden broach on its strap along a little Chao in Space keychain, and… A sword? Right, not the weirdest thing he’s seen.

“Hello, Wachowski. Nice to see you too.” Shadow waved back, neutral to meeting the blue hoglet.

Shadow then looked just slightly more to the left and red met red. Both were just as surprised as each other that they were seeing themselves. They studied each other with disbelief, but it was obvious which of the two was more disturbed. 

Shadow's face paled in abject horror, the emotion crawled across his expression until unmistakable rage took over before he could calm himself down. He wasn't ready to deal with something like this.

Sir Lancelot was more full of shock at seeing a mirror of himself back when he was younger. Only for sour memories of how he was that young when he joined the fake King Arthur’s Round Table to ruin what was supposed to be an astonishing moment. He knew that they would look alike at least a little, but this was more haunting than anything. 

But one thing was certain, both of the gold-ring bracelet and anklet owners were not happy.

Shadow turned back to Sonic, who now had a more nervous grin at both of their reactions. So he gave him one of the most pissed glares he could to get his opinion across on this whole situation. 

He resisted the urge to punch Sonic square in the face when all he did in response was to say, “Sorry, just thought it would've been fun,” but he pushed the urge down so that he could bring it back out when he could spar the annoying hedgehog later.

Shadow took in a couple of breaths before turning back to Wachowski in a calmer state so that he wouldn't scare the kid. He was met with a clearly anxious and worried hoglet, who was looking back and forth between the two black-furred hedgehogs as if he was expecting them to go for each other's throats. Shadow couldn't help but give the young hog a worried look, but the hoglet didn't notice. 

“Wachowski,” That got the child’s attention, “Head inside, I need to talk to Sonic, and?” Shadow gave the armored hedgehog an expectant look so that he could get the point. While he knew that the two Sonic’s called his taller and armored copy Lance he just had to make sure that they weren’t pulling his leg and calling the knight that as a joke.

Sir Lancelot lagged behind the silent question for a moment but understood all the same, “Sir Lancelot, first Knight of the Round Table.” He frowned when Shadow gave him a disrespectful look as if the mixed hog didn't believe his ears. Lancelot had to stop himself from escalating the situation for Wachowski’s sake by bringing up how dishonorable it was; no matter how much of his ego was hurt in the process. 

In reality, Shadow was surprised at the knight's accent, his resting mad face just made him look that way.

“Right…” Shadow dragged out the word and Lancelot ignored the rabid impulse to swipe at his younger copy with Arondight for doing so while Sonic wanted to smack the mixed hedgehog on the back of his head for being unnecessarily rude.

Shadow shook his head then looked back at Wachowski, “Just go and get yourself settled in. You can tell me everything I need to know once I’m done talking with Sonic.” He moved out of the way of the door so that the kid could walk through without any problems.

Wachowski hesitated, worry clouding their face as they looked up to Lancelot for some guidance. Sir Lancelot gave him a simple nod and motioned for him to go in, so Wachowski gave the knight a small goodbye before finally walking over and going into the house. 

Shadow suppressed the silver that went down his spine when Wachowski walked past him, the large quantity of Chaos energy was coming from the kid’s bag. Whatever was in that satchel was flowing out constant energy that felt like it was never-ending, filling the air with its energy, practically electrifying it.

Wachowski turned back around, trying to find something to say before he had the door closed on him, “Please, no fighting.” Shadow just nodded at the kid before closing the door with a calm that betrayed both how he was feeling & what he had learned in under two seconds.

Shadow turned back to Sonic with annoyance, “You have some nerve to be as irresponsible as you've been today.”

Again, Sonic had the nerve to give him a smirk, as if he had an appropriate answer for how he had been acting, “Listen, I just thought it would have been funny. I’m sorry if it’s bothering you this much.” He held up his hands lazily as if it would calm the mixed hedgehog down. 

It only did the opposite.

“Of course, it’s bothering me!” Shadow snapped back, “You’ve kept me in the dark about Wachowski’s condition and situation, and for what? A couple of laughs?” Sonic’s face dropped into shame at the question, “What’s gotten into you?!”

Sonic looked sheepish and yet went to answer but Shadow cut the blue hedgehog off with another complaint before he could make a sound.

“But you also didn’t even bother to tell me about this!” Shadow pointed across the porch to the adult version of himself before jutting his finger at Sonic. “You know damn well why you should have told me about him. A warning -a simple FUCKING warning- would have been perfect and avoided this .” He made a wide gesture with his hands as took a step forward. Sonic took a step back to keep his distance, “I wouldn't have to go through more mental hoops than I have to just because you wanted to humor yourself.” Shadow took another step forward making Sonic have to back up to the ledge of the steps to keep his personal bubble. 

“So, tell me, Sonic.” Shadow said his name like it was a curse word, “What the hell were you thinking?”

Sonic looked like a kicked puppy once he was done talking, and if Shadow didn't know any better he would have thought that Sonic had nothing to say for himself but he knew that the blue hog was trying to sort out his response. The world's hero always had something to say.

“I am genuinely sorry, Shadow, I swear.” Sonic rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at his actions, “I thought it would have been a neat surprise for you to experience. You don’t get to meet alternate versions of yourself every day you know.”

“And? You can’t just do things like this and expect to get out of it scot-free when it backfires.” Shadow’s voice flared up as he spoke.

Sonic sighed, distressed, “I-I know, I know.” He wrung his hands together, trying to figure out any other way to explain himself, “I understand that you're mad but I did think that you would have gotten a little bit of a kick out of meeting Lance.” He gestured to the silent knight.

“And yet I didn't,” Shadow grumbled out before sighing, backing up to lean on the door when some lightning struck nearby, and crossed his arms. They sat in silence, none of them wanting to continue the conversation but knowing that they had to finish it.

Sonic decided to speak up, “As for what mini-me is going through, I saw that he already-”

“That he already explained it to me. Yeah, I know, but I asked you , Sonic.” Shadow cut him off, “He shouldn't have to tell me when I asked you .” Sonic could only nod, knowing he should be disappointed in himself for not being a responsible role model for the thirteen-year-old.

Shadow shook his head with an annoyed frown, all the bite and bark now gone from his tone, “Just warn me next time, Sonic. Otherwise, I will make you sleep outside and not on the couch whenever you're over.”

Sonic nodded with a sad smile, “Thanks for the second chance.” He then gave the grumpy mixed hog a thumbs up and a happy smile. Shadow at least had the courtesy to give Sonic an amused scoff, having already adapted to the blue hedgehog bounce back from multiple other scoldings between the two of them.

Shadow then looked over to Lancelot, not knowing what to make of the older hedgehog but figured he could at least make some form of small talk instead of ignoring him the whole time he was there, “You think it's a proper punishment?”

Sir Lancelot hummed, “While I don’t think it’s an appropriate one. Maybe try and set one up that he wouldn't enjoy.” Lancelot knew that Sonic preferred sleeping outside while he was still at Camelot. Sonic had made a habit out of sleeping in the castle's garden for the short time he was there. Even when there was a perfectly good bed in the king's room, but he didn't blame the Knight of the Wind for not wanting to sleep in the bed of his dead foe.

Shadow nodded. He then noticed all of the water that was dripping off of the knight’s armor, he looked back to Sonic, the blue hedgehog was also soaking wet with droplets falling from his quills. Shadow shook his head for not noticing earlier, having seen Wachowski be dryer than clothes fresh out of a dryer compared to them confused his brain. He looked off to the side as an idea came to his mind.

“I’m not happy to say this, but you’re going to stay out here until the both of you are dry. Sit wherever you want while I grab a couple of towels. I’ll be right back,” Shadow said before opening the door and going inside.

“Alright Shads,” Sonic called out to him before he closed the door behind him.

Wachowksi stared at the door until he could hear Shadow begin to yell at Sonic. He turned around and looked around the part of the house he could see, trying to take his mind off of the loud and angry talk the older hedgehogs were having without him. 

The house was smaller than he thought it was on the inside, the kitchen and living room didn't have any walls or doors separating them from one another, and three doors were on the wall across from the entrance. To his immediate right, nearly in the corner was another door, its mini staircase lowering it down to the planet's dirt level told him that it was the entrance into the garage.

The kitchen was standard. A fridge, stove, lots of cabinets, a trash bin, dark oak green painted countertops, a sink that sat in front of a window, and an island countertop with four chairs surrounding it. 

See, totally standard.

The living room wasn't decorated per se, but Wachowski could tell that the wooden shelves with glass doors filled to the brim with books was close enough. There was a medium-sized gunmetal green couch, its fabric acrylic, it had a blanket and some pillows neatly laid and set up on it. Under its legs, reaching out into the rest of the living room's floor space, was a round green rug with patterns of branches with leaves on them. On top of the rug, in front of the couch, was a short coffee table with a container for some coasters. Next to the sofa was an end table, sitting on top of it was an old-style reading lamp sitting atop a woven cotton cloth. There was a fan on the ceiling, no doubt that its on-off switch was next to the light switches for the kitchen. 

It wasn't as basic as the kitchen was but it surprised Wachowski that there wasn't a, “No TV? That’s surprising.”

Wachowski moved over to where a plastic mat sat next to the door and kicked off his muddy and wet shoes onto it. He probably wasn't going to get to learn how to do the Chaos control thing anytime soon or be going back outside, so he didn't need them for now. He then took off his bag and hung it on a hanger, taking out the Master Emerald from within so that he wouldn't be exploring the house alone. 

When he walked up to the first door on his far right, on the opposite side of the room hidden behind a single wall that divided a side of the kitchen from the rest of that side of the room, was the sliding glass door that went into the connected greenhouse. It’s HID lights on. 

Sadly, he wanted to explore all of the indoor rooms before he went back to anywhere close to being outside. So, he went back to being interested in the door in front of him.

“What’s behind door number one?” Wachowski said in a singalong tone as he opened the wood door.

Behind it was a simple and basic laundry room. Consisting of a washer, dryer, drying rack, and some open shelves that held some fabric softeners and other things used to clean clothes. There was another door within that was thankfully open, showing a white bathroom; shower, toilet, and all. Thankfully he wasn't interested in bathrooms, or laundry and shut the door before continuing to the next undiscovered room.

“Door number two, what do you have in store?” Wachowski asked aloud, swinging the door open lightly.

The second room was instantly a lot more interesting. It was what Wachowski suspected to be the guest room the moment he walked in. There was a tall dresser and one desk that sat in the corner of the room furthest away from the door, while on the opposite side of them was a bed covered in quilts, its size was super single. Next to the door, lining the wall, was a dresser with nothing on top of it. There was simple lighting from one light in the middle of the room; but no fan. The rug on the floor, its only decoration, was a simple dark green.

“A little disappointing,” Wachowski said before looking at the bed again, “Let's see if you have any redeeming qualities.”

He pushed on the top of the bed to see what type it was, his hand seeped into it like he had put it into thick water or slime; at least in terms of what can be described as the limitations of a bed. It was memory foam, a surprise and well-needed change from all of the other beds he had been sleeping in the past two days. Wachowski then checked the pillow and it was filled with feathers. It disappointed him but he mentally scolded himself for caring about what a pillow was filled with and letting it sour his mood.

He left the room once he decided that the plain room had met his expectations, making sure to close the door behind him as he went.

“Last door don’t let me down,” Wachowski opened the door with shut eyes, hoping for the best.

The last room honestly surprised him, not because it was Shadow's, no, he knew that from the start. 

It was clean, but among the table, shelves, and dressers were covered in small to large trinkets and other things Wachowski thinks the red-striped hedgehog had gathered over time. It was surprising because there wasn't a speck of dust surrounding them at all, showing a type of cleanliness that even his parents couldn't keep track of sometimes. On his right was a walk-in closet, its door was slightly agar, showing many coats and other garments that Shadow owned for himself. In the opposite corner of the room was a basic desk that sat in front of the room's only window, covered in the more artsy trinkets.

Wachowski’s only gripe was that Shadow had placed his bed, which had all-black covers including the pillows, in the worst place possible. Shadow put it in the middle of the left side wall, taking up most of the middle of the room since it was a human-sized king. He snorted when he remembered that his parent's bed was the same, albeit they had a perfect window that they could have put the bed up to but didn't. Next to its left side was a nightstand, it had a lamp and a charging port that Wachowski assumed was for Shadow’s phone.

Wachowski backed out of the room, closed the door quickly, and refocused himself on going over and checking out the greenhouse instead. He didn't want to be caught poking his nose around Shadow's personal space even though he only took about two steps into his bedroom max.

The Master Emerald hummed, softly jittering side to side within his arms, excited for something. Wachowski somewhat understood why the gem was when he opened the sliding door. 

Warmth; unnatural concerning that it was pouring rain and storming outside, but it was like he snuggled within a freshly dried blanket. A rumble came out of the back of his throat, the pleasant feeling edging it on; but there was something else too, he just couldn't recognize the radiant energy for what it was.

The sound of the heater warming the room, the wind from outside, and the rain accompanied the sound of him entering the greenhouse. The whole room was filled with random assortments of plants, none of them a vegetable or fruit, but the greenhouse was probably made to be a place of relaxation for Shadow instead of a resource management stressor.

“This is great,” Wachowski let his fur absorb the heat before he walked back into the house, closing the sliding door behind him so that the plants wouldn't freeze; not that they couldn't handle the house's colder insides because they absolutely could. The rumble faded out as the warmth faded.

His ears flicked before swerving side to side when he heard a door open and close. He walked up to the edge of the wall that covered the view of both the doors for Shadow’s room and the greenhouse, and peeked behind it at the front door. He watched Shadow enter the house, his shoes clicking and making loud thumps on the wooden floor.

The Master Emerald’s glow exposed his sneaky spying on the mixed hedgehog, catching Shadow's attention immediately.

Shadow held back a snort at the sight as he walked over to the door to the laundry room, also sneaking quite a few looks at the large glowing gem, “Looking around?”

Wachowski walked out of his horrible hiding spot and nodded with a smirk, “Yeah, but I’ma be honest. Your house is pretty empty,” Shadow stopped and raised one of his eyebrows at him and Wachowski held his hands up as well as he could with a large gem in them, “I don’t mean it in a bad way, your place is pretty neat. I like the old forest aesthetic.” The red-striped hog rolled his eyes at the statement but hid his small smile from getting the praise, then continued to the laundry room. 

Wachowski followed Shadow to the door, the older hog was already inside the bathroom, looking for something, “I mean it. Even the kitchen has some green in it.”

Shadow hummed and nodded before finally finding some of his black towels, “It wasn't on purpose.” He walked back out while folding the towels over his arm, “I didn't want the place to be overstimulating. Got enough things to worry about at work anyways.”

Wachowski snorted, “Fair enough. By the way, what are you doing?”

Shadow stopped right before he left the main room of the house again, “Getting Sonic and Lancelot something to dry off with.” He opened the door a sliver, still facing the kid, “I’ll be right back to talk to you.”

Wachowski nodded, “Alright,” but made sure to speak up before Shadow left, “Thanks for not beating them up.”

Shadow couldn't stop an amused snort from coming out and tried to cover it up by clearing his throat, “No problem, Wachowski.” He went back outside, closing the door behind him.

Wachowski decided to get comfortable on the couch as he waited for Shadow to come back inside.

Shadow closed the door with a soft click and looked around the porch for the two other hedgehogs. Finding them sitting close to the door on his right, both in a small conversation, Sonic’s back to him and Sir Lancelot’s front to him. The knight noticed him first, oddly Sonic didn't seem to have heard him come back. 

So, Shadow had every right to do what he did next, even as his taller copy tried to warn the blue hog of his up-and-coming assault. He took one of the towels, gripped the end of it like it was a stick, and lifted it above his head before ‘lightly’ slamming it over the top of Sonic’s head. Sonic’s response was a loud squawk that hurt both his and Lancelot’s ears, before whipping around to face his attacker and calming when all he saw was Shadow; his hand still holding onto the end of the towel.

“What was that for?” Sonic asked, grabbing the towel off of his head and out of Shadow’s hands with an unserious glare.

Shadow huffed, “You didn't even hear me come back out.”

“OK? The wind and rain out here is loud. What did you expect?” Sonic talked back while he began to wipe himself off.

Shadow only smirked at him before turning to Lancelot and analyzing his sleek armor, “How do you plan on drying yourself off if you still have all of that on?”

Lancelot perked at the question, “I’ll have to take it off to do that.” He rubbed at his eyes, agitated but understanding. Shadow didn't want to admit it but he too wished that the knight could keep the armor on, just so that he wouldn't have to see another exact him walking around his house.

“It’s for the best anyway. I don’t want you to be cold wearing that, and for armor to scratch up my wood floors or any of my other furniture.” Shadow explained. 

Sure he didn't like that it would mean Lancelot would be walking around looking even more like him, but that didn’t mean he couldn't be concerned for the other’s comfort. As for his concerns with his home appliances and floors, he knew that his shoes were metal but he could still tell by how rugged and bulky the multiple different edges were on the bottom of the other's sabatons, that he was not about to allow the knight to walk into his home with them on.

Hell, he can see the scratch marks on his porch from where Lancelot had walked across for crying out loud; along with Omegas. But Omega can’t help but have metal feet, but Lancelot can.

Sir Lancelot let out a silent sigh and nodded, “That is understandable,” He held out his hand for his respective towel and Shadow tossed it to him. “Thank you, Shadow.”

Shadow hummed and silently watched as Lancelot took off a piece of his armor for a moment before snapping himself out of it, “Come in once you're both dry, and Lancelot, set your things next to all of the shoes. The mat should be big enough to hold it all.” He silently slipped back inside.

Wachowski smiled at him when he entered but Shadows' attention was right back to the sharp green glow that still unnerved him, its origin sitting in the kid’s lap. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed his phone and the half-full glass of water from where he placed them on the countertop to keep from staring at the kid. 

The glass of water was still cold, giving Shadow an idea, “You want any water?”

“Eh?” Wachowski wobbled his hand back in the so-so motion, “I wouldn't mind some, but it would be best if you give it to me in a plastic cup,” The fluffy hog got onto his knees and hung his arms over the back of the couch, leaving the Master Emerald on the cushion.

Shadow gave the hoglet a curious look, now moving across the kitchen to where he kept all of his cups and opened the cabinet, “Any specific reason for why?”

“Might drop it,” Wachowski stated as if he had this conversation before with someone else.

Shadow hummed as he took one of his rare plastic cups out, he didn't like plastic tupperware of any kind so he usually never gets any. His thanks go to Rouge for convincing him to at least get three plastic cups, which had different colored cats on them, in case he was to ever break his glass ones. 

He held them out for the kid to see each one properly, “Which one do you prefer?”

Wachowski pointed to the one with an orange cat on it, the memory of the squishy cat he had lost to the horrors of a dirty floor still fresh on his mind, “That one!”

Shadow nodded and put the other two away. Then walked over and grabbed the water jug out of the fridge, not only filling up the plastic cup but his own as well; happily reintroducing the water that was already in it to its freezing counterpart. He put the water pitcher back into the fridge once he was done, took both cups into the living room, and sat down with Wachowski.

“Can you set out the coasters, please? Both of my hands are full.” Shadow gestured to the said items on the table with a nod of his head.

Wachowski turned back around with a “Sure man,” and set them out on the coffee table, one closer to himself and another closer to Shadow. 

“Here you go,” Shadow held the kitty cup out for the younger to take.

“Thanks,” Wachowski gladly took it, the cool of the water felt nice in his hands, and took a few drinks before setting it down. “So, what did you want to talk about?” He asked, setting the Master Emerald back into his lap and folding his legs up to his chest as best he could with the gem being there.

“Nothing too serious.” Shadow said flat out, “You already gave me a short explanation of what’s happening to you but...”

Wachowski shifted his legs a bit, subconsciously unhappy to be sitting again after four hours of doing nothing but that, and asked, “You wanted a better explanation?”

“Correct,” Shadow took another drink before putting his cup down and continuing, “Although, my previous suggestion still stands. You don’t have to explain further if it makes you uncomfortable.” He turned to Wachowski fully, making sure that the blue hog knew that he had his full attention.

Wachowski hummed and shook his head, “It’s fine, not much else to say other than something new happened.” Shadow hummed, now even more interested, “I’m going to keep it short.” Wachowski chuckled.

“Why?” Shadow asked, his natural scowl deepening with a bit of confusion, “It’s better to explain everything rather than keep it to yourself.”

“Because I want to.” Wachowski talked back with a joking tone before looking forward with a bit more gloom, the mixed hedgehog only shook his head in disagreement at his lousy explanation.

“So, it's normally just the worst headache and stomachache imaginable before turning into pain all over my whole body like I already said. It gets so bad, man.” Wachowski rubbed at his temples, careful of the bandages as he spoke, “And the new thing is that what I said about it only happening at night isn't true anymore.”

Shadow gave him a concerned look, “In what way?”

“I ended up throwing up on the train while we were on our way here. The same pain and everything that I usually get at night but now-” Wachowski plopped his arms down in defeat, “-it's happening in the middle of the day too.”

Shadow hummed and looked down at his cup, “That’s not good.” 

Wachowski hummed in agreement, hugging the Master Emerald to his chest for some familiar comfort.

“Any clue why it’s happening?” Shadow asked.

“No,” Wachowski said, agitated. 

Shadow mumbled to himself, nothing could come to his mind that could have caused the new frequency of the kid’s multiversal-crossing sickness; that's not what it's actually named, probably, he just didn't know what to call it. Not until he remembered that Sonic probably could think of a thing or two about why it was happening; the older blue hog already admitted that it’d happened to himself before.

“We're both going to have to talk with Sonic about this, he knows more about this multiverse stuff than I do.” Shadow hated admitting it.

Wachowski gave him a sad look before hiding it with a smile, “That's probably a good idea.” 

Shadow hummed in agreement then grabbed his cup just to feel something in his hands as he steered the conversation off in another direction, “Do you mind if I ask you a couple of other questions while we wait for the other two to come in?”

Wachowski hummed but decided it was better than sitting in awkward silence, “I would like that actually.” He let out a laugh, “Better than sitting around doing nothing.” Shadow scoffed and rolled his eyes at the child, but he knew it to be true; one’s worst enemy can simply be boredom.

Shadow gestured to the kid’s purple necklace and ribbon, “What's with the getup?” Since Rouge was coming over, he knew she still had the worst habit of going ‘Oh, shiny rock!~’ and not giving back whatever she stole, he had to make sure the out-in-the-open pretty necklace wasn't going to be a personal problem for Wachowski to lose; otherwise, he’d just tell the kid to hide it.

Wachowski looked down at his necklace with slight confusion before surprise overtook his face, “Oh! I forgot that I was wearing this.” Wachowski got out of his comfortable seat, leaving the Master Emerald behind, undoing the tie he had in the back of the necklace tread while he walked over to his bag and put it away.

“You didn't have to take it off, I wasn't going to make fun of you,” Shadow said before he watched the kid pull out a thick book from the bag, “What's that?”

Wachowski walked back over with a proud smile, “It’s not about you, I just got so used to wearing it that I forgot that I didn't need it anymore. Also,” He pointed to the front cover of the large book as he sat back down next to the big emerald, “It’s just a big encyclopedia, but I grabbed it because it has information about the necklace inside.”

Shadow hummed looking at the foreign language on the cover, “Well then, do tell.”

“Ok, so,” Wachowski opened the leather-bound book, his eyes warming up with a familiar heat, and flipped through the pages before stopping at the right one, “The Mermaid's Tear, a purple necklace that has an enchantment that coaxes others away from distrusting the one who wears it.”

Shadow sat up in alarm, “What?”

Wachowski snorted, “Calm down, it doesn't work in the way that you're thinking it does.”

“Then how does it work,” Shadow’s voice was stern.

Wachowski thought back to yesterday morning, “Lance explained it as: someone stealing something but people who know what they did won't run away when they try to talk with them.” He held up the open pages to Shadow so that he could read the old literature, “See, it doesn't say that it will force them to trust the person wearing it, just convincing.”

Shadow squinted his eyes at the words across the page but couldn't read a single letter, he leaned back into the coach with disappointment, “Sorry, Wachowski, but I can’t read that language.”

Wachowski let out a confused hmm, “What do you mean? I can read this just fine.” He even flipped the book back to himself to look over the page again. Then realized that Shadow probably didn't have what was going on with his eyes to read the encyclopedia. “Never mind, it’s not your fault. Sorry.”

Shadow rolled his eyes again before taking a sip of his water, then looked back to Wachowski’s hand, “What about the ribbon? That thing have enchantments on it too?”

“Ha! No. It was a gift from a friend,” Wachowski looked down at the ribbon with sadness before snapping himself out of it, “Well, most of the things that I brought with me are gifts. This ribbon is just more important.”

Shadow hummed, “Alright, what about this emerald you have here? Was that a gift?” He hid his teasing grin, but not his snort as he jokingly asked the kid about the gem.

Wachowski gave him a well-earned pout, “No. The Master Emerald was not a gift , you know this.” He picked up the powerful gem and held it to his chest again, “I practically inherited it to look after and guard it.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow at that, his tone becoming silly, “Really?”

“Yes,” Wachowski said seriously before he gave the mixed hedgehog a playful glare, “Stop joking about it. Please?”

Shadow hid his snort, “Ok, I’ll stop.”

Wachowski wanted to crack up laughing at the older hedgehog's surprised face, but he held himself back and opted to sigh instead, “Want to talk about something else?”

With the giggle of the front door handle, Shadow frowned looking past the kid’s head, “We won't have to.” Wachowski looked confused at the wording until he heard for himself that the door was opening and turned around in his seat.

Sonic walked in with a wide smile and both of the black towels were around his neck, “Hey guys! Sorry, we took so long, but squeezing out water from fur takes a bit, y’know.” 

Lancelot silently followed the blue hog in, shutting the door behind him the best he could with arms full of armor and a sword before looking around the door for the mat. It wasn't hard to find, especially since Wachowski’s bright red shoes were on top of it, so he carefully put all of his armor down.

Sonic looked around the house, hands on his hips, “Wow Shads! Your place looks so nice and cozy!” He walked into the kitchen, looking at all of the appliances that were stationed in their spots before turning back around to the living room, “You agree with me, mini-me?”

An amused smile took over Wachowski’s face, “It sure is.”

Sonic chuckled and scanned the area one last time before leaning on the island countertop facing the two alien hogs, “It’s just a little too much green.” Both Wachowski and Shadow glared at the older blue hog and he gave them an apologetic smile back, “I’m sorry Shadow, but I’m going to be honest, you at least need a little bit of a pop of different color to even all of this green out.”

“And since when did you become an interior design expert?” Shadow asked, both amused and irritated.

Sonic snickered, “Just now.”

“Yeah right! You got a degree to back that statement up?” Wachowski asked, messing around.

Sonic snorted, which bled out into bellowing laughs, “Oh my Chaos Wachowski!”

Lancelot, having dropped his things off on the mat, beside’s Arondight -which was now hanging on the hanger with Wachowski’s satchel-, butted into the conversation, “What are you three talking about?”

Wachowski snorted, turning to the de-armored knight, “Interior design apparently.”

Lancelot hummed before looking around at what he could see of the home, “It is a beautiful home. I might even say that I’m a little envious of you Shadow.” He turned to the mixed hog as he said it.

Shadow spared the knight a glance but was caught on the fact that Lancelot had a tunic on, the light green fabric was so well hidden underneath the chest plate that he never noticed it. He also noted the stark white gloves and socks with golden buttons keeping the cuffs together, it too also hidden by the armor.

The eldest hedgehog moved closer to the couch and looked down at them, but more specifically at Shadow, “May I join? I need to replace Wachowski’s bandages.” Said newer bandages were in his hands; having grabbed them before walking over.

“Sure, but I gotta refill my cup,” Shadow got up from his seat and grabbed his glass, making his way away from his look-alike. He joined Sonic in the kitchen, not looking at the blue hog, who was giving him a disappointed look as he opened the fridge. 

Lancelot hummed at the reaction but kept to himself as he sat down next to Wachowski, unfolding the new gaze. “What did you two talk about while we were outside?” He asked as he carefully pulled off the old wrappings.

“Not as much as I thought we would, to be honest,” Wachowski answered, flinching whenever the sticky wrapping would pull too hard on his fur or new scabbing.

Lancelot pulled the old wrap and gauze off without any other problems, putting it aside onto the coffee table to throw away later, “Oh. Well, I hope you two are getting along well.”

“We are for the most part,” Wachowski said, shuffling in place.

“That's good to hear,” Lancelot said as he pulled out the burn oil. “Try not to move as I do this, I don’t want to accidentally bump your cut too hard and open it back up. Alright?” Wachowski nodded before preparing himself for the usual sting and did his best to hold himself back from flinching multiple times as the oil was applied around the large cut.

Sonic and Shadow watched with curiosity from the island counter, wondering what they were doing with the smell of natural oil hung in the air. Lancelot lathered the oil onto the gaze before softly putting it onto the cut, making Wachowski shiver in minute pain, then the knight wrapped the sides up with the new sticky wrappings before he was finally done.

Sir Lancelot dropped his hands into his lap looking at his job well done, “I think this is the fastest I’ve been able to replace your bandages.”

Wachowski snickered, ignoring the burning sensation, “Maybe it was, we’ll never know unless we time it.” He rotated the Master Emerald in his hands as a fidget, making the large gem hum in exaggerated excitement at the sudden moment, but he was paying attention to his wrist where the ribbon was tied. The admittingly empty feeling around his neck was starting to bother him.

He undid the knot and pulled the ribbon off, holding it as if it was the most delicate thing in the world, then looked up at Lancelot with an embarrassed pleading face, “Could you tie this in a bow around my neck? I don’t remember how it looked when they did it.” He hoped the knight knew what he was talking about since the shape of the bow that Lancelot showed him was different from the one that his friend did.

“That’s alright, it’s a different type of bow anyways,” Lancelot said, holding his hand out for the fluffy hoglet to give the ribbon to him, and when it was in his hands he held onto one of the ends. 

“Come a little closer, I don’t want to yank your neck.” 

Wachowski did as he was told and Lancelot got to work. Putting the hand with the ribbon behind the hoglet's neck before putting his other hand behind the neck on the other side and grabbing it, then pulling out the other end of the ribbon to the front. Lancelot didn't struggle as much as he thought he would getting the bow perfect, it was a simple bow so he didn't know why he was stressed about how it would turn out until he was done.

“Is it tight at all?” Lancelot asked.

Wachowski looked down at what he could see of the bow before lightly touching it, “No, it’s perfect thank you.”

“No problem, Wachowski.”

Wachowski moved back to where he originally sat to reunite with the warmth he left behind before turning to the kitchen, “Since we are all in the same room now can we talk about a plan to get me home.”

Shadow nodded, taking a sip out of his glass of water, “Yes, we should.” He scanned the room across them all before coming to a simple conclusion, “Lancelot,” said knight perked up, not expecting the younger red-striped hog to speak to him, “You probably know the plan better than these two, don’t you?”

Lancelot sifted in place and looked off to the side, feeling shy at the indirect accolade from the hedgehog look-alike, “That would be true, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” He forced himself to meet Shadow’s gaze, “We’re here so that you can teach Wachowski Chaos Control.”

“Couldn't you do that?” Shadow asked, “I’m sure there's a universal constant between the two of us that lets us both know Chaos Control.”

Sir Lancelot shook his head, “That is untrue, and true all the same.” Shadow scoffed at his explanation and Lancelot held himself back from glaring at him for it so that he wouldn't be seen as a rude guest.

Sonic cleared his throat to get Shadow's attention, “Shadow, while you can Chaos Control, he can only teleport around with magic. He uses a spell, you use the Chaos energy within yourself, or a Chaos Emerald.” He leaned into his hand, “Do you get it?”

Shadow thought about it before reluctantly nodding, unhappy to be wrong, “Sure.”

“Good,” Sonic said before standing, “You can continue now, Lance.”

“Thank you, Sonic.” Sir Lancelot shifted in place again before continuing, “Since it might take time for him to learn it we're probably going to have to spend the night. But while Wachowski’s on a timer against the universe trying to get rid of him,” Lancelot put a hand on his chest, “I’m on a three-day timer. Whether I get Wachowski home or I’m still here in this world, I will be brought back to my home world, Camelot, by Merlina.”

Shadow hid his surprise at the information behind his furrowed brow, “And what will that mean for us.”

“Nothing much, other than that I promised him,” Lancelot pointed his thumb at the kid, “That I would be guiding him home the whole way, and so that Merlina can know which world Wachowski is from so that if this ever happens again she can send him back.” Shadow hummed with understanding, while Sonic hummed in interest.

“Ok then. But why three days?” Shadow asked, “Chaos Control was easy for Sonic to learn.” He gestured to the blue hog next to him.

“Because I’ve never done it on my own before,” Wachowski finally spoke up, “The Master Emerald brought me to Camelot, I didn't do it. Plus we spent half of one day just to get here and now it’s raining outside so we can't even test it out.”

“How could your Master Emerald do that on its own?” Shadow asked, now starting to understand what the kid’s text explaining his situation really meant.

Sonic interrupted with a loud laugh, ”That's what I said!” Shadow raised his eyebrow at that before turning back to the kid.

“It just could,” Wachowski answered, shrugging.

“There's no way,” Shadow proclaimed, “An emerald, let alone the Master Emerald, cannot do that of its own volition.”

Wachowski snickered, “I beg to differ, especially since we’re talking about my universe’s Master Emerald, not yours, and technically the Chaos Emeralds too.” The fluffy hoglet whispered the last part to himself. Only Sir Lancelot heard it, but he decided not to bring it up so that they could stay on topic.

Shadow grumbled, “Fine.” He set his glass of water down on the countertop when nobody said anything else, “I’m guessing that's it.”

“Should be,” Lancelot said.

Shadow hummed, “Well then, I guess we can go over some of the more simple things before we try anything.” The mixed hog left the kitchen, walked around the wall, and went into his garden, “I’ll be right back.”

Sonic stared at the bend where Shadow left before turning back to the couch, “I bet he’s grabbing the Chaos Emerald.” He walked around the island toward the mat, kicking his shoes off before going to the green couch and vaulting over the back of it, plopping himself right between Lancelot and Wachowski, “I hope you two don’t mind.”

“No, we don’t, but don’t do that again. You're going to break the seat if you do.” Lancelot said, frowning disapprovingly at the older Sonic. Wachowski hummed and nodded in agreement, not wanting to get in trouble for endorsing breaking Shadow’s things.

Sonic nodded, “Sure, but it should be fine. I’m pretty light.” He softly bounced on the middle cushion as if it would prove his point.

Lancelot scoffed before snorting at the ex-king's reasoning, then leaned back and got comfortable in his seat, “You didn't just sit down though, you jumped onto it.”

Sonic laughed, “Yeah, that's true,” he looked at the cup on the coffee table, “That your drink, kid?”

“Yep,” Wachowski grabbed it, “I hope you don’t think that it’s a good idea to have some out of my cup since I threw up.” The hoglet took a long drink out of the cup.

“What? Ew, no-” Sonic stuck his tongue out with disgust at the question, “I was just wondering where you got it from, I want water in a cute cat cup.” The older blue hog pouted.

“And you're not getting one of those cups, Sonic,” Shadow interrupted him, already back with a green Chaos Emerald, he ignored the betrayed look Sonic gave him as he walked back into the kitchen, “I’m only going to give you a glass.”

Wachowski’s eyes were practically glued onto the smaller green emerald, the familiar energy now being recognized for what it was. A rumble tried to form in the back of his throat but he quickly cut it off by jabbing his neck. The fast movement going unnoticed as everyone else was paying attention to Shadow.

 Lancelot analyzed the gem, looking at its diamond cut and size compared to Wachowski’s Master Emerald. Said Master Emerald was humming in excitement again.

Sonic now pouted at the mixed hog, “But why not, it’s just a kitty cup.”

Shadow set the green Chaos Emerald onto the island countertop before speaking, “Exactly, it’s just a plastic cup with a kitten on it, you don’t need one.”

“That's what you think,” Sonic hung over the back of the couch pointing his pointer finger at the mixed hedgehog, “I do need a kitty cup.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do!”

“No, you don’t!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“YES!”

Shadow glared at him before sighing in defeat and walked over to the cupboard, knowing that the blue hedgehog wouldn't stop bothering him about it until he gave him one of his stupid cat cups. Opening the cupboard he grabbed the one with the all-white cat on it and took it over to the island, shutting the cupboard as he did. He was a little happy that he left his water pitcher out so that he wouldn't have to walk back and forth whenever he finished a glass.

“Yes!” Sonic hissed the word through his teeth at his victory before turning to his small copy, “Fist bump.”

Wachowski took time out of looking at this world’s Chaos Emerald to stare at Sonic then shrugged and gave the older blue hog what he wanted, “Fist bump.” 

After the fists made contact the fluffy hog made an explosion noise as he ‘blasted’ his hand away, the older hog didn't do anything for a moment, absorbing what happened, before practically melting into the couch with giggles and snorts. Wachowski rolled his eyes but the smile that formed on his face told anybody looking at him that he thought it was a little funny too.

Shadow interrupted Sonic’s giggle-fest by flicking the blue hog’s top bunch of quills, “Here, your oh-so-needed cat cup.”

Sonic gave Shadow a large sly smile, “Thank you, Shadow~”

“Shut up,” Shadow walked back to the island and leaned on it, facing them.

Wachowski grabbed his cup before joining Sonic in what he was doing; hanging over the couch, happily sipping on the water; the Master Emerald this time was brought up with him, tethering on the edge of the couch. Sonic nodded in approval before turning to Lancelot and clocking his head to the side. Lancelot shook his head at the silent question and stayed seated where he was comfortable.

Shadow cleared his throat, grabbing their attention, “So, this is one of our world’s Chaos Emeralds. I will explain further about what we know of its origins so that we are on the same track.” The mixed hog grabbed and held up the jem for all of them to take a more proper look at it, “The Chaos Emeralds are ancient emeralds that have a unique connection to our Master Emerald. Each one contains a near-unlimited power inside of them, called Chaos energy. Said energy can be used for warping time and space to the user's will, effectively teleporting them to where they want to be. Also known as Chaos Control.”

“When you use it for Chaos Control, you have to say it out loud. Although, if you aren't trying to use it while saying it, you won’t be able to do it,” Shadow stopped leaning on the island and took a step forward, giving himself some space, “I’ll demonstrate again for you.”

“Chaos Control,” nothing happened, “Now, for real this time.”

Sir Lancelot and Wachowski watched with their full attention, making Shadow feel like a teacher; that also included Sonic as the kid who would never pay attention in class since he wasn't paying attention to what Shadow was saying.

“Chaos Control!” With a flash of green light from the larger gem Shadow was gone, nothing was left behind. 

Wachowski watched the spot where the mixed hog disappeared from, expecting him to flash right back to the same spot. Lancelot looked around the kitchen as if he’d find his young double hiding behind the counter. Sonic sat in place patiently, already knowing where Shadow went because he would do the same for the hilarity of it all.

“Behind you.”

Lancelot flinched and swerved his head around surprised, with his body already facing Shadow it was easter on his neck. Sonic just cranked his head back to look at the younger striped hog, not caring how much it would hurt later. Wachowski was a different story though.

The fluffy hoglet yelped, startled; he jumped out of his seat, careful not to spill his water on his way down to hide behind the couch's back, also bringing the Master Emerald along with him. Blue sparks of energy uncounselled filled his irises, he let himself take a moment to calm and control the energy within himself before he stood back up to his full height with a glare.

“Meanie,” Wachowski called the mischievous hedgehog, walked around the side of the couch, and then sat his cup onto the coster before plopping himself back into his seat.

Shadow couldn't help but mirth before continuing, “So, Chaos Control with the emerald is what I use to take not only myself but others along with me. As I can do Chaos Control on my own, like Sonic said.”

“Wait what,” Wachowski sat up from his slump, Sonic laughed at the kid and Lancelot hummed in interest.

“I’ve used Chaos Control enough through the years that I’ve learned how it works from the inside out. Nevertheless, I am unable to go long distances with it without expending too much of my Chaos energy.” Shadow explained. “In all modesty, I am the expert when it comes to Chaos Control and how it works. So I am glad you came to me to learn this rather than bother with getting it secondhand from Sonic,” Shadow said to Wachowski, his little pointed jab going right through Sonic’s heart.

“You offended me, Shadow!” Sonic dramatically fell to the side right into Lancelot's lap, who was giving him an unamused stare, one hand laying over his chest palm down and the other resting the back of its wrist onto his forehead.

“And you're a drama queen.” 

That was all Shadow said before he could hear footsteps on his porch, effectively silencing him from arguing with Sonic further. Everyone’s attention was brought to the entrance door as everyone heard an even louder pair of footsteps following behind the lighter pair.

Lancelot and Wachowski were frozen in their seats, not knowing if the newcomers were intruders or not. Sonic, being more relaxed, just watched from where he lay, hands now lying across his chest lazily.

“Shadow,” Wachowski’s voice brought him to look at the kid, his voice was trying to sound normal but Shadow could tell -and see- that the hoglet was scared, “You aren't expecting any other visitors, right?”

There was a rapid knock at the door, not letting Shadow answer.