Chapter O1. "I don't want to be here."
"You cannot be serious!" Gawain's voice rang out immediately, now serving a glare to Sonic, the battle-worn and tired Sonic. "Him? The real King Arthur? Surely you jest!" The echidna, as hot-headed as ever, even in this alternate world, continued the assault on Sonic's character before Percival stepped in to defend him.
"Enough. Caliburn's decision is final, you know this, do you not?" Percival's abrupt words silenced Gawain for only a moment as he glared her down through his visor. Sonic, however, was still stuck in his own world, glancing around as he searched for someone who was no longer there.
"Where's...Merlina?" Sonic managed after a minute, catching the attention of everyone.
"Perhaps she escaped while all of our backs were turned." Lancelot spoke up for the first time, and he got Sonic's attention. The black and red hedgehog, more reserved than his own Shadow, had stayed stoic, although his visor obscured his face, as opposed to both Percival and Gawain who had both of their visors up.
"Damn! We should have executed her while we had the chance!" Gawain cursed, and Sonic visibly flinched.
"Hey! Don't act like that! She didn't mean to-!" Sonic was cut off immediately by Gawain, and the blue blur could feel the glare boring into him.
"Are you suggesting mercy against someone like this?" Gawain immediately threw back to Sonic. Sonic couldn't help but pause in his thinking, but he refuted this.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, Lance, you can't seriously be suggesting she doesn't deserve one!" Sonic could feel his anger now fueling his will to stay awake. Lancelot walked up to Sonic, stopping to where he was uncomfortably close to Sonic, and the former hero took a step back. "Some acts are not forgivable, but if you wish this to be so, then you must be sure that this is the path that you wish to take this kingdom."
An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group and Nimue broke it instead. "Come, this is not the place to perform a coronation, so let us move to the castle instead to celebrate." Nimue smiled as she stated this, and Sonic took this subject change in stride.
"Yeah! C'mon guys, we're wasting daylight! We'll worry about this in the morning!" As happy as Sonic was, his heart was torn in two. He thought that if the big bad thing of the day had been beaten, he could go home, but here he was.
Why did this happen to him?
The trip to the castle was quicker than he thought, and when he stepped onto the pathway leading into the courtyard in front of the castle. It was kept up just like a fairy-tale's version of a castle, with flowers of varying shades and types decorating the sides of the path. At first, Sonic was taken aback by this entire display, only seeing a lone gardener tending the flowers. That same gardener looked up, and ran from the courtyard into the castle. Sonic ignored this for a moment, focusing on a single plant that featured red morning glories upon it.
Sonic gently took one of the flowers, marveling at it and turning it in his hand. The other knights hadn't noticed that Sonic had stopped, or they did and chose to continue into the castle. Only Lancelot stayed behind, observing Sonic's actions in silence. "My liege, the others are in the castle. Do you wish to remain here?" Sonic flinched at the first two words that Lancelot had said, and he turned around with the morning glory in both of his hands.
"Please, Lancelot...just call me Sonic. I don't want to be called that." His voice had been more quiet than he had wanted it to be, and Sonic inwardly cursed himself for that. Lancelot fell silent for a moment before he nodded. "As you wish."
Sonic didn't really accept the answer, but he didn't say anything in response. He genuinely hoped that Lancelot would at least try to remember it. "Come." Lancelot turned his head to look at Sonic instead of the plant that the flower came from. The noises of the main hall was starting to pick up, and the young hedgehog perked his head up to the knight. "The rest of the staff is waiting, I assume." Lancelot walked to the entrance of the castle and Sonic quickly picked up the pace behind him. The main hall was something to behold, the few maids still rushing around the area stopped only a moment to gawk at Sonic and Lancelot.
With a red carpet extending from the entrance to the room that led to yet another room. The archways were simply enormous, the wooden floors dark and contrasting against the red rug that had been lined with gold thread. There were two staircases at the end of the entrance, leading up and then to a balcony which led to the left and right that disappeared behind walls. The ruckus was coming from the left, and Sonic assumed it to be the dining hall as he sniffed the air, smelling something that was...meaty, maybe? Sonic hesitated before he followed behind Lancelot, reasoning to himself that it was okay to eat in here, he hasn't eaten since yesterday.
Even then, it wasn't much, just berries that he found. Sonic stepped inside the banquet hall and was greeted to the coolest scene in his mind. Several people were gathered at the table, several in armor, and all he recognized. The head of the table was left empty, as well the right side. The laughter and general conversation died down as the two arrived. Sonic felt the air solidify to the point that he felt that he could literally use Caliburn to cut it if he could. All eyes were on him, and with a sheepish grin, Sonic waved to the group as he quickly made his way alongside Lancelot. Lancelot sat in the seat to the right, and it left Sonic in the very uncomfortable front seat. Instead of taking his time, he just took the seat as quickly as he could.
"To the return of our king!" Gawain raised a glass of brownish-clear liquid, not taking Sonic long to put the pieces together to realise that it was alcohol. "To the king!" The rest of the knights cheered with Gawain with their own glasses, and the room erupted into conversation and laughter once again. The only one without alcohol was Sonic, and he didn't dare ask for any, not really keen on the idea of getting drunk with the rest of the knights. He looked to Lancelot for a moment, seeing the other being the only one not drinking, with Percival only taking one sip from the glass she had before slowly pushing it over to the green hawk sitting next to her, quickly murmuring a couple of lines to him. He shrugged and just kept it next to his own mug.
Sonic ate what he had in front of him quietly as one of the knights walked over to him, with their visor down, much like how Lancelot had. They were a biscotti coloured wolf, in full armor despite the celebration. "Sire? May I have a moment of your time?" Sonic had barely been able to hear the wolf over the noise.
"Uh...it's just Sonic, but go ahead." The wolf gestured to the outside of the dining hall. Sonic nodded slowly as he pushed himself back in the seat. He took a glance to Lancelot, who only nodded and waved him off. Sonic didn't exactly know why he kept referring to Lancelot, but he was the one who declared himself to be the closest to the former king. Percival definitely came in close second because the only other one he knew looked like he was drunk. He had no idea how Knuckles acted while drunk at home, but if it was anything like how Gawain was acting, he didn't want a part of it.
Sonic took the wolf's invitation to leave immediately and followed the quiet knight out. As soon as the two were out, Sonic glanced to the outside, seeing the sun already starting to set. It took him by surprise, but he guessed the ever so slight chill to the air suggested that it was starting to turn to winter. "I would like to thank you for your time, milord." It was a more feminine voice than he expected as she now removed her visor. Her eyes were shut, and Sonic immediately became concerned over this. "I hate to ask, but are your eyes alright?" He held out his hand out Tristan, only slightly.
Tristan nodded her head with a small smile. "Aye, sire, I am fine, but I thank you for your concern." She bowed ever so slightly to Sonic, now putting him in an awkward position.
"No need to be so formal! It's just people in the castle here, nothin' to worry about!" He reassured the knight with a light smile. The wolf hesitated before continuing.
"I apologise for consuming so much of your time, but if you wish to learn of the bow, then you only need to call upon me. Asides from that, I am at your service."
Tristan stopped herself and bowed again. Sonic smiled sheepishly as he grabbed onto Tristan's hand and shook it lightly for a moment. "Thanks, Tristan. I'll keep you in mind!" The moment he let go, Tristan pushed the visor on her helmet down and nodded quickly. She quickly excused herself, and left to the right side of the castle, leaving Sonic alone.
He sighed to himself, the party to the left only growing more and more rowdy. As much as Sonic loved to be at parties, for now, all he wanted was to be alone. He started to walking back out to the courtyard again, taking a turn down the path and then taking a seat in front of a small group of light pink and white hollyhocks, still holding onto the red marigold in his hand that he had picked earlier. As he stared at the red marigold in both of his hands, he felt tears building up on the sides of his eyes.
He just wanted to go home, damn it. He thought if he defeated the big bad of the day, he'd be granted that reprieve, but it just didn't come. His thoughts only immediately went to his brother, and he felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Oh, Chaos...Tails, buddy…" Sonic stared at his hands as the tears started to sting and fall onto the flower. They fell onto his torn and dirtied gloves, only furthering his grief.
Oh, what he wouldn't give right now to be able to go home right now.
A/N: Okay, fixed Whisper / Tristan's text to at least be legible. Sorry, posting this at 1am isn't wielding the greatest of results for me but hey, that's just how it works. Edited on 19 January 2019.