It was a day off for Sonic. Nothing new had come up, no new planet threatening dangers from old Dr. E., no media coverage of him, not even any cars zooming down the old country road. So, as the sun was shining brightly on his sanctuary, he lay half reclined against a pile of hay, casually having a piece in his mouth while the only sounds were the calm breeze rustling the tall, shaggy grass and the birds singing sweetly in the trees across the lake. "Perfect" as Sonic described it, and rightly so.
This was one of those rare times when he could sit back and say the world was truly safe, as it should be, and he takes his time on days like these, as they didn't come so often. The rest of the gang was probably back home, wondering where he was. There was one occasion where Tails snagged him with a tracker and that was the end of his day off, but after that event he was careful to check; they never came after him again. Possibly because they had nothing to go on, or maybe they realized that sometimes even he needed a break and let him be. Either way, Sonic was thankful. In conclusion: It was peaceful, tranquil, and all was as it should be, and even though it was afternoon, perhaps it was still to early to say it was "perfect".
A small, roughly folded paper blew in the breeze, twirling and spiraling as it went. Eventually making it's way into Sonic's view. This irked him. He wondered why anyone would have the audacity to pollute such a beautiful environment. So, true to his heroic duty, however small it may be, he ran over and snatched it off the ground when it was caught in a large tuff of grass before it could be whisked away again by the wind. He was going to keep it with him until he returned later on, where he could properly dispose of the pathetic looking sheet of paper, but something caught his eye as he was about to crumple it up: The paper was (more specifically) a letter and (even more specifically) addressed to him...
Shocked at first, he looked around, believing that someone might have thrown it there on purpose knowing he would read it, but he saw no one. He turned is gaze back upon the little note. It looked as if it had been through a lot. It was surprisingly cold for such a warm day, it had tattered edges as well as a wrinkled surface, not to mention the yellowing... An old piece of parchment. That's what it was, but why was it here, and why did it contain a note (handwritten by the looks of it) meant for him? No matter, it was addressed to him, he was going to read it. It had an odd poem-like format, and although he wasn't a huge fan of poetry, that wasn't going to stop him. He silently read:
Where did you go?
Why did you leave?
Do you know what you've done?
No place to go...
No place to hide...
No place to run...
You left so soon, too soon, I'm afraid.
I saw you running, you had it made.
But in our past you left something, a robot.
We all thought you'd go back, but instead you forgot.
Without thinking you sped out of our zone.
Without thinking you destroyed our home.
After you left, that's when the robots came.
So many, there were too many to name.
They ravaged the temples and polluted our water.
I lost my parents, now an orphaned daughter.
The temples came down as their metal towers went up.
We were no match, we had run out of luck.
The air thickened with chemicals and then became stale.
They revealed to us their king and forced us to hail.
We refused which brought us our fate.
I became a slave but most were late...
They said it's because we had not enough adept.
But I think our bad future it's time to accept...
-Erias of the Tempest Ruins
Sonic sat back, feeling bewildered and guilty, and pondered his actions again. Could he have caused this? He certainly didn't mean to. This happened so long ago, so far back in fact, he had to take a few moments to recall what supposedly happened that fateful day. How could this note have ended up here?
An entire world crushed under Eggman's influence. All because of his carelessness, all because of him... Perhaps this day wasn't perfect after all.
