(A/N) Okay, so here's my new story. I've been wanting to do this one for a while now and I hope you guys enjoy it. Now let's just get that disclaimer out of the way and get right into it shall we.

I obviously don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, that belongs to SEGA

OC's belong to their rightful owners (They'll be turning up in later chapters)

Now then, I give you...

Kingdom Come

Mobotropolis, quite possibly the most well known kingdom throughout the entire realm. The Acorn family had ruled over the kingdom for decades, bringing peace to the land for just as many years as they had been in power. Mobotropolis stood as a symbol of peace, setting an example to the other kingdoms on Mobius. The Acorn family had always fought for peace rather than power. To some, it made them seem weak. These beliefs had always been quickly buried, along with the dead of those foolish enough to try and take the kingdom for themselves. This peace had kept the relationship between the many kingdoms a happy one. However, in the coming days, they would come realize that not everyone has been quite so content with the way things are.

This tale begins in the very castle of Mobotropolis. King Maximilian Acorns daughter, Sally Acorn, had now finally awoken, a couple of hours after the sun had risen. She slipped into her red morning robe before leaving her bedroom, walking down the hall towards the family dining room. In the said room, she found her father sitting at the head of the table; he appeared to be discussing something with one of the many castle servants. Max let out a snort and began to laugh heartily, he gave the servant a friendly slap on the shoulder as he calmed down.

"Very funny Jacob, very funny," he said, still chuckling slightly. "Ah good morning Sally, how did you sleep?" He asked when he noticed his daughter enter the room.

"Quite well thank you father," she replied with a smile, sitting down at the table. The servant, Jacob, placed a bowl of fruit salad in front of her. She thanked him before picking up a fork to begin eating. "So what do you have planned today?" She asked her father.

"I was wondering if you had forgotten, seems as though you have," Max chuckled, causing his daughter to raise an eyebrow. "Queen Aleena is visiting with her sons and daughter today, we will be meeting her at the gates and escorting her to the castle," he explained.

"Ah, I forgot that was today," Sally chuckled, somewhat embarrassed.

"I can see that."

"When will they be arriving again?"

"Later on this morning, we still have a couple of hours to prepare before they arrive."

"It will be good to see them all again. It's been quite some time since I last spoke with Sonic, we've got a lot of catching up to do," Sally said happily.

"It's nice to see you two share such a strong friendship. Mind you, you have known one another since you were two years old. Perhaps I should find that painting we had done of the two of you together," Max chuckled.

"Father please," Sally groaned.

"Very well, I'll stop teasing you," he laughed, standing up from his seat. "I need to go speak with your mother and then find your brother," he explained. "If he's been down at that brothel again, I swear..." Sally heard him growl under his breath as he left the room.

Sally finished her breakfast and made her way back to her bedroom to prepare for the arrival of the hedgehog family. She gave her hair a quick brush before going through her wardrobe to find a dress to wear. Sally never really cared much for the beautiful dresses she owned, but to keep her father happy she still wore them to certain events. A visit from the rulers of another kingdom being one of such events. She found herself a simple blue dress, as simple as it was it would still manage to catch a few eyes. Letting out a sigh, she left her room and began walking to the main entrance to the castle. She was going to have to find something to do to kill a few hours, a walk through the castle gardens was one of the ways she had in mind. Upon reaching the main entrance, she found two of the kingdoms knights who were loyal to her father. Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain, or Shadow and Knuckles as she had come to know the two.

"Hello," she greeted, approaching the two.

"Princess," the two knights replied. "How has your day been thus far?" Knuckles added.

"Slow to say the least, I am reuniting with one of my oldest friends today though," she replied with a smile.

"Ah yes, Queen Aleena and her children are visiting today," Shadow said. "Prince Sonic is the one you speak of as a friend, is he not?"

"Yes, like I said, he is my oldest and closest friend."

"Well princess, I hope everything goes well for you today," Knuckles said to her. "Shadow and I had best be getting along now, we are scheduled to help the Captain of the guard set the guards patrols for the visit."

"Yes, we will speak to you again another time Princess," Shadow agreed.

"Ok, I'll let you two go then," Sally replied. "And would you please stop calling me Princess," she added as they were about to leave. "You know me well enough to address me by name."

"Of course, goodbye for now Sally," Shadow replied.

Sally walked out the main entrance after them and branched off to head towards the garden. She walked along the grass and let her arm stretch out, brushing her hand along the heads of the flowers. She stopped to pick a few of them, the ones in the vase in her bedroom had wilted and died and needed replacing. Out of nowhere, she heard what sounded like a hushed whisper.

"Psst," Sally heard again, she stopped to look around herself but found nothing.

She began walking again only to hear the whisper once more, this time when she stopped she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her behind a corner. Sally let out a yelp from the sudden action, her state of panic was quickly put to rest when she heard some chuckling from a very familiar voice. She pulled her hand from the others grip and turned to face them.

"Sonic!" She said, scolding the azure hedgehog. "Why do you always have to do something like that?"

"It was just a bit of fun Sally, no need to get worked up," Sonic laughed.

Sally let out a groan as she shook her head. "What are you even doing here? I didn't think you and your family were arriving until later this morning."

"I rode ahead so I could see my best friend before everyone else," Sonic explained with a grin. "And now that that's done, I should probably return to them. I'll see you again later, we'll have plenty of time talk then."

"Why do you always have to make things difficult?"

"Because that's just the way I am," Sonic laughed. He turned around and began to scale the wall, keeping out of sight of the castle guards.

"That hedgehog," Sally sighed with a laugh.

It was a couple of hours later that Sally found herself waiting at the city gates with her father, mother and brother. Shadow and Knuckles were also there as the a royal families escort and guard. It seems she had been the only one to see Sonic earlier, it was probably a good thing though. Even though Sonics mother may not have had a problem with it, Max probably wouldn't have felt the same way. He could be rather over protective of his only daughter at times, this was something that would constantly get on Sally's nerves. She wasn't even able to go for a simple stroll through the city without being escorted by at least two of the castle guards. Sally pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind when two of Aleena's guards, riding on horseback, rode through the gates. The royal chariot followed shortly after, accompanied by several more guards either on foot or horseback. Sonic and his brother Manic were also riding horses behind the chariot. It came to a stop and a guard opened the door, Queen Aleena and her daughter Sonia stepped out. Aleena and her children immediately approached the Acorn Family.

"It is a pleasure to see you all once again," Aleena spoke, a smile on her face.

"As it is you," Max replied. "Your trip here went well I hope."

"Yes, everything went better than we could have hoped. Although I believe Sonic and Manic were hoping things would be a little more, as they would put it, exciting."

"They're young, I remember being exactly like them," Max chuckled.

"As do I," Max's wife Alicia commented. "My father hated you because of it," she added with a light chuckle.

"Alicia, it has been too long," Aleena said, pulling the Queen into a friendly hug.

"It has, we have plenty of time to speak together now though. I look forward to hearing how your kingdom has been," Alicia replied.

"Shall we continue on to the castle your highness?" Shadow asked Max.

"Yes, please lead the way," Max replied.

With the Shadow at the front of the group and Knuckles at the rear, the two royal families began to make their way towards the Acorn Castle.

"Hello again Princess," Sonic greeted as he walked up beside Sally.

"Ugh, please Sonic," Sally sighed. "You of all people should know I don't like being addressed by my title."

"I know, but it's fun to see you react," Sonic chuckled.

Sally let out a groan and began mumbling something indistinctive. Out of nowhere, an arrow shot through the air. Sonic grabbed Sally and pulled her back just in time. The arrow flew past her and embedded itself into a nearby wooden barrel.

"ASSASSINS!" Knuckles roared, running into place in front of the royals; facing the direction where the arrow had come from.

Another arrow was let loose in their direction. Shadow drew his sword and used it to swipe the arrow clean out of the air. Three figures dropped to the ground from some nearby rooftops. They all wore black hooded cloaks, shielding their faces from view. Each carried a sword as they slowly approached the royals and the knights.

"You need to leave," Knuckles said to the royals as he drew his battle axe from his back. "We'll take care of these three."

Max, Elias; Sonic and Manic each drew a sword from their sheaves before they made a quick exit away from the scene. One of three assassins went to chase after them only for Shadow to block his path, sword drawn and ready for a fight. He took a swing at the black hedgehog, the attack found itself deflected with ease. Shadow took a swipe himself and the assassin jumped back to avoid any injury. The hedgehog knight took the initiative and ran ahead, swinging his blade at his opponents head. It appeared the would be assassin wasn't one of great skill. As Shadows sword came towards him he leant back out of the way, keeping his sword held in front of himself. Shadows blade connected with his own, he found his sword being knocked clean out of his hands. Before he had time to react, a Shadow ran straight through. The sword went through his chest and straight through out to his back. With one heavy yank, Shadow removed his sword and the assassins body fell to the ground.

Throughout Shadows little session, Knuckles had been busy taking on the other two attackers. He ducked underneath a wild swing and spun himself around, using his leg to sweep one of the assassins off of their. He stood back up and raised his axe high above his head, bringing it down on his opponents chest with unbelievable force. The assassin was dead the moment axes blade touched his chest. With the second assassin dispatched, it was now two against one.

"If you give up now, we might let you live," Shadow said to him.

"If you let me live, you'll want me to tell you who hired us," the assassin replied, his voice sounded somewhat panicked.

"Would you rather die right here," Knuckles said to him.

"If they were to find out I told you about them, I'd be better off being dead."

He raised his sword to throat, alarming both Shadow and Knuckles.

"NO!" Shadow shouted, running towards him.

It was to late though. In one quick motion, the assassin slit his own throat from ear to ear. He fell to the ground as the blood pumped out of the wound, creating a rapidly growing deep red pool on the ground below.

"Dammit," Shadow growled, staring down at the body laid out before him.

"Well that's not something you see every day," Knuckles noted. "Not often an assassin takes their own life. The group who hired them must be some very nasty people."

"I'll agree to that," Shadow replied.

Up the road, Knuckles spotted one of the castle messengers running towards them. Going by the pace that he ran at, it appeared he had some very important news to deliver. He finally made it to the two knights and hunched over with his hands in his knees, panting and gasping for air as he tried to speak at the same time.

"Get yourself together," Knuckles said to him. "Speak when you've regained your breath."

"Ok...I'm good," the messenger puffed. "You need to get to the castle immediately. The Queen's been injured, the king wants you there in case there's another attack."

Knuckles and Shadows eyes both widened as they looked across at one another. Without saying another word, the two knights raced off towards the Castle.

Upon reaching the castle, a Knuckles and Shadow quickly found everyone in state of panic. Guards ran to their posts to set up a strong defense around the palace, servants ran from room to room as they hurriedly went about whatever task they had been assigned. One particular servant quickly approached the two knights now standing at the front entrance of the castle.

"Ah yes, come with me," she said to them. "Quickly now, the king asked to see you the moment you arrive."

They had to jog to keep up with her as she very nearly ran to their destination. They stopped in front of a door that led into the King and Queens bed chambers. The servant knocked on the door before opening it up, motioning with her hand for the knights to enter. Shadow and Knuckles walked into the room and the servant closed the door behind them. In the room they found Queen Alicia tucked into the bed, completely unconscious; those of her own family and the hedgehog family surrounding her bedside. The castle healer was also there, kneeling beside the bed as he tended to the Queen. The healer wasn't one of magic, rather one of apothecary methods. It seemed he was summing up the Queens current situation before he decided upon the best form of treatment. The Queen had a white bandage wrapped around her left upper arm, a fresh red splotch stained the fabric.

"What happened?" Shadow asked as he and Knuckles approached the bed.

"We were jumped by two more assassins as we made our way back to castle," Max growled. "I managed to deal with both of the bastards, but not before one of them managed to sink his knife into my wife's arm. We think the blade was poisoned."

"Shit," Shadow heard Knuckles mutter under his breath.

"I'm afraid this appears to be much graver than a simple poisoning," the healer explained grimly.

"What do you mean it's graver than poisoning?" Elias asked, worry evident in his voice. "What could possibly be worse?"

The healer let out a sigh before he began speaking again. "This blade..." he began, holding the said knife in his hands. It's hilt was silver, it's blade however; was a color of pure darkness. "This blade has been cursed, it's corruption runs through your Queens veins as we speak."

"But you can fix this? Can't you?" Sally asked, her body shaking slightly with fear.

"I'm afraid this is far beyond my expertise. Unless you can find someone who knows a great deal about curses and spells, you may very well lose your Queen."

There was silence throughout the room for several minutes. No one knew what to say, it was all just to frightening. Alicia was loved, not just within Mobotropolis, but throughout the land. Her death would be huge blow to the realm.

"Thank you for your help," Max finally spoke to healer, sadness dripping in his tone.

"Anything for you my King," the healer replied before leaving the room.

Max walked over to one side of the room and leant over, resting his hands atop a set of drawers in front of. In a moment of anger, he slammed his fists down on one end of the drawer and swept them across; knocking all the items on top of the drawer down onto the ground. Aleena approached him from behind and rested one of her hands on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him.

"We will find a way," she said softly.

"What is there for us to find?" Max replied, his voice starting to crack. "There's not a Mage powerful enough to break a curse, we both know that."

"What about the Sorcerer?" Sonic asked.

"The Sorcerer is a myth, he doesn't exist," Max replied bitterly.

"But shouldn't we at least-" Sonic started.

"ENOUGH!" Max shouted as he turned to face the hedgehog. "I will not waste time I could spend trying save my wife chasing after a fairy tale!"

"Max! Calm yourself!" Aleena shot at him. "You're upset, I understand that. But do not take your frustration out on my son."

"Of course, I apologize," he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I'm going to visit the mages in the city, see if they know anything that may help. You should all get some rest."

"I'll come with," Aleena stated. "You need all the support you can get."

"Very well," Max agreed as he turned to his two knights. "Shadow, I'd like you to come along with us," he explained, receiving a simple nod from the black hedgehog. "Knuckles, I want you to guard this room. No one gets in without first having my permission."

"Alright then," the echidna sighed. "Why do I always get guard duty?" He muttered to himself as the others left the room.

Sally made her way down the hall to her room, fighting back tears as she went. Sonic jogged up to her just as she made it to the door to her room.

"Hey Sal," Sonic said sadly. "Do you want to talk?"

"I'd rather not right at this moment, thank you for asking though. I think I just need some time to myself," she replied.

"Alright then, I'm here if you need me."

Sally gave him a nod and a sad smile before opening the door and walking into her room. She closed the door and leant her back up against it, sliding down until she came into a sitting position. She brought her knees up and pressed her face into them, sobbing heavily as she sat in place. Throughout the rest of the day, Sally began to put a plan together. She remembered a Sonic mentioning someone called the Sorcerer. Her father may have labeled him as a fairy tale, but she was willing to take the risk to find him if it meant saving her mothers life; even if it meant she was risking her own.

It was now approximately eleven o clock at night, just about everyone in the castle had retired for the night. Sally was pretty sure her father would still be awake, searching aggressively for a cure to the curse laid upon his wife. Sally opened up her wardrobe and pulled out a few articles of clothing. A black shirt of sorts that covered her torso and left her arms exposed. Some blue pants that came down to her knees and a pair of simple blue boots, perfect for walking on rough terrain. The last two articles of clothing she grabbed were a blue vest made of some sort of new material called denim, she didn't know what this denim was but she had liked the look of the vest, and lastly a red hooded cloak that would help hide her identity. Sally couldn't help but chuckle as she gazed over the red cloak, remembering the stories her father used to tell about brave heroines that would wear a red cloak. She put on all of her clothing and went to exit the room, only for one of the castle servants to enter before she had chance.

"Princess Sally? What are you doing?" The girl asked, somewhat alarmed.

"I have to go, we all know there isn't a Mage strong enough to break the curse that's infecting my mother," Sally replied.

"Didn't your father say the Sorcerer was a myth?" She obviously knew what Sally had in mind

"This is the only chance we have and I'm taking it, please don't try to stop me."

The servant simply stared a her for short while before replying. "Wait here."

"What are you doing?"

"Just trust me, I won't be long."

The servant girl left the room and re-entered a short while later, in her hands she carried something wrapped up in a thick brown cloth. She held out towards Sally who took the item and carefully unwrapped it. In the cloth was the cursed blade that had injured her mother.

"If you find the Sorcerer and show him the blade that inflicted the curse, he might be able to find a cure," the girl explained.

"Thank you," Sally replied as she wrapped the blade back up again, stuffing it into the pocket within her cloak.

"One more thing," the girl added as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a silver necklace, it had a clear diamond attached to it. "Take this with you," she said, holding the necklace out to Sally.

"What is it?" Sally asked, taking the offered jewelry.

"It belonged to my great grandmother. It's said that as you get closer to the Sorcerer, the diamond will glow a brighter blue. It only works if you have the intentions of a pure heart as your reason to find him."

"Does it really work?" Sally asked as she slipped the necklace around her neck.

"I honestly don't know. But if it does, I'd say trying to save the life of your mother is the intention of a pure heart."

"Thank you," Sally said, pulling the girl into a light hug.

"Just try to save her."

Sally left her room and shortly found herself on the streets of Mobotropolis. No sooner after that did she find herself on the outskirts of the kingdom itself, heading straight towards the forest. For whatever reason, Sally felt like she knew exactly where she needed to go.

"Maybe this thing does work," she muttered, looking down at the diamond attached to the chain around her neck. She took in one deep breath before slowly exhaling. "Here we go," she stated, pulling the hood to her cloak up over her head.

(A/N) So there's the first chapter, what did everyone think?

Please leave a review if you did enjoy this, a little feedback is always nice. Up to you really though.

Anywho, I might see you next chapter.

Catchya :)