Chapter Text
"...Man, it's really coming down out there... I did clean out the gutters, didn't I, Tails?”
"I dunno Sonic..."
The double-tailed fox briefly looked up from his book, giving his older brother a raised brow. "...
Did you?
"
Sonic the Hedgehog put his chin in his hand, stroking it as though he had a beard to stroke. His eyes squinted as he peered out into the dreary night, occasionally lit up from a distance by flickers of lightning, and he hummed softly. "...Could have sworn I did ..."
"You know, I'll bet you could run out there, check the gutters, and be back in before a single drop hit you."
The hedgehog turned from the window, "Okay. I'm fast , but not that fast , Tails- "
A rumble of thunder quivered the walls of the house, and both Sonic and Tails' ears pricked in alert before settling once more. "Yeesh... Hate to be out in that right now."
The fox placed his book down on the side table, standing up from the armchair and stretching his arms and legs. "It is getting rather late and we knew it was coming, I'd like to think just about everybody's at home and out of it at this point."
"Hmm... Perhaps, but we shouldn't assume as such."
Sonic turned back to his brother as he snorted, "What?"
"You..."
Tails mimicked the hedgehog's pose, even stroking his own imaginary beard. "
'We shouldn't assume as such...
'" He repeated in a stuffy voice, "Your vocabulary and mannerisms have gotten so...
Unlike you
lately."
Sonic pulled his hands down, tucking them behind his back and looking off to the side. "Oh... you think so?"
"Yeah. It's like you went and spent time in another country and picked up on their behavior and sentence structures… but that was never the case in all those places we went during the Gaia Crisis… Don’t know what would make one place different from the others.”
Sonic shrugged, "Couldn't tell you, Tails..."
The reason being that he had a feeling Tails wouldn't believe it. Tails was right, Sonic hadn't picked up on the speech and mannerisms of all the places they went during that particular adventure, but Sonic hadn't spent a whole lot of time in each of those places either. Perhaps if they'd spent a few weeks in each place- Spagonia, Apotos, Chun-Lun- then maybe he'd have picked up on it, but not after only a few short days and nights.
Other than the lands surrounding his own home of Green Hills, there wasn't really any one place he'd spent a lot of time in... Except for
one
.
It was a place of magic, of knights and dragons, of swords and shields, of enchantments and curses... and of
myth
. It was all legend, tales of valor and noble deeds passed from person to person and the details lost, and then bound in a storybook he'd been dragged into. It had happened once before, and then once he had saved that realm from its approaching crisis, he was returned to the land of the living, the real and normal- well, normal for
him
.
There were days he missed that world, a world that for all of its problems and lack of technology, was also devoid of Eggman . Oh, how that scientist seemed eager to get under Sonic’s quills. Every few months it was something else, and Sonic had managed to succeed thus far in preventing world domination, or even destruction from some of the man’s plots gone awry. He’d made friends in those events, a network that now covered and watched the entire planet for anything of note.
Actually, come to think of it, Dr. Eggman had been rather quiet the past few weeks... What plot could he be up to now? It had to be something , retirement was not on his agenda anytime soon-
Knock! Knock!
The hedgehog's ears pricked once more as the sound came from the front door, firm and solid on the wood, and his eyes followed Tails as the fox approached the door to answer. "See? Someone's still out! Probably some door-to-door salesperson trying to meet their quota-"
Tails opened the door, and then paused. "Erm... Sonic?"
"What's up, bud?"
"You uh... You might want to come and see this."
Sonic got from the couch and started towards the door, but the closer he got, the more he saw, and the faster his feet moved. He had soon overtaken the fox to stand at the door, eyes wide as he overlooked the trio on the front porch. "Oh... My... Chaos."
An echidna- rare in this world to begin with, and even rarer to be seen dressed fully in armor- stood slightly hunched, an armored hedgehog limp and draped over one shoulder and an armored cat leaning against his opposite side with her right leg tucked up and away from dragging on the ground. Mud clung to their armor, and rainwater soaked their garments underneath.
"My liege..." The echidna begged, an effort at a smile appearing but weariness overtaking him as he slouched a bit more. "...We are in dire need of aid."
Sonic opened the door wider and then offered his hand to the cat. "Come inside, all of you . Good gracious-”
The cat took his hand, allowing him to guide her into the house and out of the rain. She winced as she hobbled on one foot into the warmth of the building, looking as Sonic peered out into the storm quickly to make sure there wasn’t anyone else out of sight needing shelter. “Our deepest gratitudes, my king.” She gasped, blinking raindrops out of her face.
“Here, let me get you to the hearth and dried off.”
Sonic aided her in limping on one foot over to the fireplace, pulling her helmet from her head and unstrapping her armor.
“Sire, you need not-”
“The last thing I want is for you to catch your death from wet garments, Percival. Allow me just this once.”
“...Of course.”
Sonic nodded, and then turned back to the echidna as he searched for a place to rest his other downed companion. "Rest him there, Gawain." Sonic pointed to the couch, and the echidna proceeded to lay the hedgehog down on it. "Remove his armor carefully... Tails."
He looked to his little brother, "Get the medical kit from the kitchen."
"Right!" Tails hurried out of the room with a nod. Sonic was grateful his brother recognized the urgency and wasn't trying to pry for answers- at least, not yet. That could wait until things settled.
Sonic sighed, carefully setting Percival’s armor by the warmth of the fire that roared behind them. "What happened to you three...? I thought I'd never see you all again, and now you show up wounded at my home."
"It is a long and strange tale, Sir Sonic." Percival whispered, seething as he unstrapped her greaves.
"Is it broken?"
"H-Hard to tell..." She winced, leaning back against the stone of the fireplace's hearth. "...We were traversing the lands outside of the castle town, when the ground seemed to vanish from beneath us. We awoke in the fortress of a figure, broad in stature and leading an army of enchanted armor, and it is our assumption that he was responsible for our arrival here..."
"Our blades sensed an evil in him and fled him." Gawain added, "We managed to escape ourselves, but Percival was wounded, and Lancelot severely weakened in transporting us to safety." His gaze moved down, "We do not know where our blades have gone to, nor where we are now."
“They just abandoned you?”
“N-No! We told them to flee and we would join them soon, they just… How did you put it before… ‘Got a head start?’ ”
Tails returned to the room, handing Sonic the white box and then taking some of the stray armored pieces and wiping them dry with a towel, offering others to the pair still conscious. Sonic opened the box and found the wrappings, examining the cat's foot and lower leg before carefully beginning to wrap it. "This will keep it still until we can find out for certain."
"Thank you, Sire..."
"How did you find me? Surely Lancelot didn't just happen to transport you right here."
"Indeed... We arrived in the town square, where the townsfolk were able to direct us here once we heard them mention your name."
"Heh. Good thing you're so famous ." Tails teased softly, scrubbing a little at some smudge on Percival's visor.
Percival looked to Tails, "You are Sir Sonic's squire, yes?"
"Erm... Sort of?"
Sonic smiled, "He's my little brother. I've been teaching him things, but he is set on his own path."
"Hmm..." Gawain tilted his head as he too removed his helm, "He resembles the castle town's blacksmith greatly ."
"Yes, I know. I know others here in my own realm that resemble the three of you as well, though I'm not quite sure why ."
"Are they also your allies?"
"Yes, although..." Sonic chuckled a bit, "...I also met them first in a duel against them."
Tails smirked, "You make
most
of your friends by fighting them-"
Those conscious then jumped as a loud clap of thunder shook the house, flickering the lights but fortunately, not losing power completely. "...Whew. Good thing you all got in here when you did. Not a good idea to be walking around in metal armor during a thunderstorm."
Once Percival's leg was wrapped, Sonic collected blankets and pillows for the two other knights, as well as dry clothes. Sonic had never been one to prefer clothes, but he kept some of them for others to borrow in situations like these. A few oversized t-shirts he'd gotten from concerts and festivals would have to do for tonight, as well as some gloves and socks.
When he returned from the bedroom, he found Tails was looking over Lancelot now. "How's he doing?"
"Hmm... Pulse is slow, but steady... I think he's just exhausted. He'll be fine with some rest."
Sonic nodded, "Good, good..." He handed out the items he'd collected, "There's a closet right over there if you want to change in private. We'll look into getting clothes more suitable for you three tomorrow when the rain lets up."
"We are in your debt, my liege..." Gawain hummed, looking then to Tails. "...Both of you."
"You're welcome." Tails replied, and then gave a yawn. "I'm gonna head to bed, you all can explain... All of this- in the morning."
Sonic smirked, "Right, explanations... Goodnight, Tails."
"Goodnight."
The fox left the room and wandered down the hall, leaving the king with his knights alone. They sat in the quiet, the sound of the rain, the occasional roll of thunder, and the soft crackling of the flames dancing in the fireplace. Gawain lifted Lancelot up from his lying position, just enough to get the unconscious knight's wet tunic off and the temporary replacement on before resting him back down.
Sonic scrubbed at his face with a soft groan, "Broad-statured figure with an evil spirit... I think I know exactly who did this..."
"Is he a threat, my king?"
"He can be..." Sonic pulled his hands down and rested them in his lap, "We'll have to see what he's up to... My biggest question right now is how he summoned you here. He's not usually the magic-casting type... You said your blades ran away, was Caliburn with you?"
"No." Percival assured, "Caliburn left the castle town shortly after your departure. He spoke of returning to his resting place until Camelot needed him once again... We do not know where that place is, but he was not with us when we were brought to this strange realm."
"Hmm... Then once you three are back on your feet, we need to start looking for them. I have a feeling it was your swords the Doc was after." Sonic sighed, "Though it does make me feel better knowing he doesn't have Caliburn hostage..."
"We are sorry if our presence has inconvenienced you."
"No, you're all fine. It's not like I had anything else to do this weekend."
He stood up slowly, "Get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning."
"Rest well, Sir Sonic..." Percival encouraged.
Sonic looked to the echidna crouching by the fire, "Gawain, if Lancelot wakes up in the night panicked, I am assigning you the task of making sure he does not destroy everything."
The echidna gave him a humored look, "You have my word, my liege."
“Yeah, about that… Let’s try to keep the honorifics to a minimum. No need to call me ‘your highness’ or anything like that.”
“You do not wish for us to speak of your prestige?”
“It’s not that… Exactly .” Sonic bit his lip, “...The people here in my realm don’t know that I am King Arthur, though they are familiar with the title. I’m not a king to them, just a simple knight trying to keep the peace.”
Percival nodded, “You seek not to draw too much attention to the situation.”
“Right.”
“Very well… Sir Sonic, we shall call you.”
“Thanks… Goodnight, I will see you all in the morning.”
Sonic nodded to each of them, and then wandered from the living room and down the hall towards his own bedroom. Another roll of thunder flickered the lights, and the hedgehog plopped backwards onto the quilt, staring up at the ceiling.
"...Oh boy... This is gonna be fun..."