Alright, this is getting old...

Hello guys, I'm still alive and still writing. At this point I should stop making promisses that I cannot accomplish, but my hope will never die! it isn't for a lack of effort, really. In fact, at some point I just lost myself and could not find a good point to end the chapter, and the more the time went, the closer I was getting to a creativity blackout. But I got a little extra time and managed to end this loooong chapter. I hope it compensates for the equally long wait. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Act 2 Start

The Camelot Castle was as much impressive inside as outside. The sumptuous architecture, typical of royal palaces, surely made justice to a place of great importance. The ceiling of most rooms were considerably high, the hallways and doorways made arches, the halls were pretty big and open and even the stairs were very wide. Not only the building itself, but the decoration also had this royal look to it. Placed along the hallways and some common rooms were old armours, complete or just pieces of one, shields, hammers, swords, lances and many more things like that. Every single one had a story related to it, about an honored, brave or exemplar knight from the past, or about one that died heroically fulfilling his duty; about memorable battles that seemed to be lost, but turned out in victory because of a clever plan, a demonstration of endurance or even because of a single daring act.

But these were not the only memories registered in there. Mixed with the combat arts, many royal and expensive items were standing, ranging from real masterpieces of art portraying kings, queens, nobles and valorous knights, to representations of tales and great feats achieved by the bravest, smartest and most honored. There were also jewels, vases, old crowns and symbolic items, telling the stories of the royalty along the ages.

Miles, used to waking up very early, was having a tour around the castle. Since they arrived at the castle yesterday, both him and the girls had been sleeping, the fox mostly due to the accumulated lack of proper sleep. Now, as a way to occupy his mind and also know the royal building, be asked one of the maids if he could look around.

A brown dog young woman quickly assigned herself to the task, looking very eager to it. The woman was probably around mid twenties, had short and slightly wavy hair, colored in a darker shade of her fur color. Her eyes were light purple and her ears were triangular, like a german Shepherd. The maid uniform consisted of a long sleeved black dress with white frills at the ends of the skirt and sleeves, and around the neck. The shoes were black with small square heels and there were also mid thigh long white stockings. On the right side of her head was a big blue ribbon tied to a headband, also blue.

After getting the permission of the chief maid, she grabbed the young fox by the wrist and dragged him around the many hallways and rooms of the castle, stopping to explaining a little about the expositions she liked most, which were pretty much every one of them.

"Oh, my name is Alicia, by the way"

"Miles Richard Prower, but just Miles is good for me"

"It is really nice to meet you, mister Prower. Now, let us continue our wonderful trip, shall we?"

Miles got a sort of uneasy smile on his face and scratched the back of his head. After asking for a tour, he felt unable to say no, but the woman was just too enthusiastic about the history of the castle, the kingdom and everything else.

"You… really seem to enjoy talking about all those things…"

"Well, surely! I spend most of my free time studying every single piece of the royal collection and reading the history books at the library. Oh, I MUST show you my favorite tome about the third royal generation. Everyone seems to put the fifth gen on such a pedestal because of the agreement with the East Sea kingdom but there's SO much more the third king has done… oh, and the queen, how I wanted to meet her in person… did you know that…"

And there she went again on her non stop rambling, connecting one topic after another while she dragged the poor fox to the library, where he was sure they would spend a lot of time. A LOT. Meanwhile, on a soft, big and round bed, a little rabbit stirred, finally waking up from her sleep.

Cream slowly opened her eyes, letting the sunlight warm her up. Looking at the high ceiling that she didn't recognize made her wonder where she was, how she got there and many more questions someone disoriented normally do. She sat on the bad and looked around, first sighting Marine on a bed on the other side of the room, which tranquilised her a little, now knowing that her friend was safe. The next thing she noticed was the room itself, a very large and expensive looking one. The windows were tall and rounded at the top, the main glass was crystalline and there was a stained glass border around it that filled the room with colors as the morning sun shone through the three windows. Getting up and walking towards it, she looked out and saw a big courtyard and great walls around the entire location. On the ground, many workers doing their job, and what caught her attention, many knights training with each other and teaching younger one how to use swords or ride horses. That's when she remembered how she got here. They were at the Shrouded Forest, Miles and a medieval version of Shadow appeared and brought them back, and at some point she fell asleep. Now that things were clarified, she walked over to the other bed where Marine was sleeping and snoring a little.

"Marine, wake up". The rabbit gently pushed the raccoon, calmly waking her up. Marine stirred a little and mumbled something in a low tone.

"...just a few hours…"

"Marine, wake up. We have things to do". Her stomach grumbled a little. "Breakfast would be one of them"

Ears perked up and Marine half opened one eye, turning right to see her rabbit friend. She sat up and let a yawn as she stretched her arms.

"~yawn~ yeah, breakfast would be nice"

She got up and they walked to the door. Just when Cream held the knob, something came back to her mind. The sudden stop also made Marine remember something, as they looked at each other and rushed back to their beds, looking around desperately. They flipped the bedsheets, looked under the beds, on the chests and wardrobe that were at the room, not finding what they were looking for. They looked at each other again with terrified faces.

"The sword/shield is gone!". They said in unison. Rushing back to the door, they were about to run around in a frenzy when it opened to reveal a black and white cat maid, using a big white ribbon on the right side of her head. Her fur was white on her muzzle and apparently down to her chest and belly, while the fur above her eyes, on the ears, arms, legs and tail were black. Her calm emerald green eyes made the girls freeze in place, looking at the almost void of emotion face ot the maid. After a minute of silence the maid decided to speak.

"Well, I see you are already up and full of energy. That's expected since you had been sleeping since Sir Lancelot brought you here yesterday at the dawn. Good morning my ladies"

The maid bowed in a polite and quick way and then calmly walked through the hallway as she spoke.

"I suppose you would like to have something to eat. Please follow me. I beg your pardon but the court cook is still sleeping, so we are going to the maid's kitchen, if you don't mind, that is"

"Oh, no, it's perfectly fine"

"Yeah, I just wanna get something on my belly"

The maid cat just walked on her steady pace, her hands in front of her and her eyes always facing straight, almost like a robot. They got downstairs and went through another long hallway until they reached a slightly larger wooden door, about ten feet tall and with a big ring knob. The cat opened the door, which let out a little creek sound. She looked at it and spoke in a low tone, as if thinking loud.

"Hmm, needs to be regulated…"

"Excuse me miss"

The maid got knocked off her thoughts as Cream tried to catch her attention. She looked down at the little rabbit with a king of embarrassed face, hold the same expressionless face she had.

"What is it?"

"I never got to know your name. I am Cream and this is Marine"

The always serious maid let a very small slime form into her lips and her expression seemed slightly happier.

"My name is Elizabeth, but most of the people call me Eliza. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Cream, miss Marine"

The chief maid, a brown bear, came in and placed a heavy hand on Eliza's shoulder, almost making her fall.

"Ah, I see you got them here, Eliza. I beg your pardon, but the breakfast don't starts so soon. The sun just got up and you are already up, that's something to notice. If it doesn't bother you, we from the household start to work very soon so you can eat with us"

"We gladly accept, right Marine?"

"Sure. No need to give us special treatment"

"Oh, but we must. The guests of Sir Lancelot should be treated as himself"

"We appreciate the dedication but you don't need to go so far, really"

"If you say so, miss. Well then, please take a seat and we shall serve the food"

The girls entered the big room. To the left were many long tables with equally long benches, where many maids were already sitting. There was a balcony where the maids formed a line holding plates so they could get the food. To the right was another space with some smaller tables where some of them sat to read, knit or any other thing that they did as a hobby. There was also a big board full of lists of tasks and messages. On the end of the room where a few doors that gave access to the maid's dorms.

Cream and Marine followed Eliza to the end of the line, where the cat handed them their plates. When it was their time, the lady on the balcony gave them some options: rice porridge, wheat porridge, oats porridge and the day's special.

"What is the day's special?". Marine asked curious and not really wanting to eat any of the other options.

"meatloaf". The cow lady on the balcony answered bluntly. Eliza bent a little and whispered something to the girls.

"The special of today is the leftover of yesterday's dinner"

"I'll go with oats…"

"Me too…"

Though their faces weren't the best when the big lady served them a way too generous spoon of the thing, they thanked and moved to take a seat, but Eliza whistled and made a sign to follow her. She went to a door on one of the corners of the big room and opened it, following through a corridor. At some point some windows appeared on the left right side and she just let her food slip from the plate and looked at the girls, indicating that they should do the same.

"Do not worry, the pigs love to eat it"

With relieved smiles on their faces, the girls get rid of the tacky food and kept following the maid cat. At the end of the tunnel was another door, in which Eliza leaned an ear and after a minute knocked out two times and then a third. She waited and after a minute the door opened to reveal a panda wearing a maid uniform but with an apron over it, and with a big yellow ribbon on the right side of her head. She smiled once she saw Eliza and quickly ushered them into the door and closed it right after her. They were now inside a big pantry, full of all kinds of pans, utensils and, of course, food.

"Oh, I see Helga is cooking as usual"

"The same slimy meal, Catherine, just like before you arrived"

Eliza embraced the panda now named Catherine in a quick hug. Catherine then proceeded to look at the newcomers, mostly because of their unique clothes.

"And who would be those two young ladies?"

"Cathy, those are miss Cream and miss Marine. They are guests of Sir Lancelot"

Cathy gasped in surprise.

"Oh my, so they are the mysterious guests Sir Lancelot brought from his last mission?"

"Surely"

"Pardon my bad manners, it's a honor to meet you, my ladies". She bowed to the girls, which once again found themselves kind of embarrassed with this type of treatment. Cream started again to explain that there was no need to it.

"Really, you don't need to be formal. Please lift up"

"Geez, you girls really take this royal thing seriously"

Eliza spoke with a slightly serious tone.

"It is our duty as the household of the royal family. We must have the deserved respect for those above us"

Cathy let out a small chuckle.

"I see that you still stick to the rules, Eliza"

"Well, I am here instead of eating at the maid's kitchen, right?"

"Surely you are a bad maid". She turned to the girls and said in a playful tone. "When I arrived at the castle, she dragged me around explaining all the rules. Every. Single. One of them"

The girls also let out a small laugh.

"It should be common sense to know the rules at your own work". Eliza defended herself.

"Yes, but you know all of them. Not even the chief maid knows them all, but Elizabeth the model maid knows it by heart"

"Let's not talk beyond the necessary. Now Cathy, if you may help us, I believe our guests deserve a better breakfast than slimy porridge and meatloaf leftovers"

Cathy shivered at the menu and quickly made a sign to the other so they would follow her.

"Let me see what is on the menu today. How do you like eggs and toasted bread with cheese? I also recommend orange juice, it is fresh from the tree"

The girls looked at each other and then at the panda and said in unison.

"Awesome!"

"Shhhh. My ladies, we must keep quiet"

As Cathy selected the ingredients she explained that she got transferred to the royal kitchen after getting some recommendations from the chief maid. Apparently she was too talented to be at the household's kitchen, much to the demise of all the other maids, especially Eliza. Once the panda arrived, Eliza received the task to teach her how things worked and from that formed a great friendship, which was why Cathy always cooked something for Eliza when the common options were less than 'friendly' to the taste. Being used to wake up early, the chief cook trusted to Cathy the task of preparing the kitchen and gather all the needed ingredients so they would be as fresh as possible. So it was quite easy to her use the kitchen in the early mornings, and Eliza would wait after the lunch and dinner time to meet Cathy on her free time.

Soon their meals were ready and Cathy served her friend and the girls. As soon as the girls took a bite of the food, their faces lit up in joy. It was pretty simple but at same time incredibly delicious. They made sure to express their feelings as they didn't stop complimenting the panda maid, which made her quite embarrassed.

Once they finished, Cathy took the dishes and washed them quickly. She technically should not use the kitchen alone but there was no problem if the chief cook didn't know. She quickly hugged Eliza and said goodbye to the girls as they went back through the corridor. Back at the main room, Eliza faked that they ate the porridge and returned the dishes at the balcony. With the 'crime' covered, they left the maid's room and walked through the hallways. As they talked, one topic came up, Sir Lancelot. The girls were curious about this version of the Ultimate Lifeform.

"So, Eliza, Lancelot seems to be pretty famous around here"

"To say he is famous is an understatement, miss Cream. Sir Lancelot is the best knight of the kingdom. Many are the tales of his great feats"

"How though is the guy? Does he have a perfect streak of wins or something?"

Well, he does detain the record of consecutive wins within all the knights of the Round Table, but there is more to it than duels. For example, it is told that Sir Lancelot fought and defeated a great dragon by himself"

The girls were pretty impressed. Not only he looked like a knight, he also acted as a legit knight, like he had come out of a book of stories. Then again, the whole world they were in was like a fairy tale. Just before they could shower Eliza with questions, the knight himself showed up, walking down the hallway.

"I assure you that there will be plenty of time to hear stories after we discuss some pressing matters. Now, if you may follow me, there are more people that want to listen to your story"

Eliza dismissed herself and walked away while the girls followed Lancelot to the opposite direction, waving a goodbye at the cat maid. They followed Lancelot through some hallways and came over a tall wooden door that lead to a great room with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling with dozens of candles. In the middle of the room stood a big round table with an golden sword drawn on it. Cream figured out that this was the famous table where the knights of the tales she heard reunited to tell their adventures.

Already sitting on it where a red echidna with an helmet covering his head, the eyeshield that covered his eyes up, revealing a familiar pair of purple eyes. Once hearing the noise of the door opening, the echidna turned to face the black hedgehog with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Ah, greetings my friend. I see you are finally ready to share your tale with us"

"About time you showed up Lancelot. What took your time while you arrived here?"

"Shouldn't you pay some more respect to one of the mightiest knight of the kingdom?"

The other knight sitting at the table was a green hawk, the helmet that only covers his face was also lifted, so his azure eyes were at view. Booth of the knights used gauntlets reaching half of the arms, boots with shin guards, and a chestplate, just like Lancelot. Though the colors of Lancelot's armour were black with some red streaks, while the first knight's armour was in a burnt red and the second had a tinge of beige or light yellow. Lancelot walked inside the room and took a sit besides the echidna, then faced both of them as he spoke, mostly to the one questioning him.

"While I appreciate the praise, I feel the need to remember that some of us actually take on missions instead of slaking of a the castle"

"What did you say, hedgehog?! Do you wish that much to be taught a lesson?!"

"Lamorak, Lancelot, let's keep the peace here". The echidna said holding his hands up as in to separate them, though the table kind of already limited the contact. Fights over the table were out of question. Lancelot motioned to the girls to come over and take a seat, which they did by standing to his side. They felt uneasy under the constant stares of the other knights, something that didn't go unnoticed by the red echidna.

"I suppose some presentations could be a good start. Greetings, I am Sir Gawain, knight of the Round Table"

"My name is Cream"

"Mine is Marine"

The girls gave out a nervous but honest smile to the doppelganger of Knuckles, which he returned with a smile of himself. After hearing a scoff, he elbowed the green hawk, who then faced the girls with an annoyed look.

"I am Sir Lamorak. Now, why don't you just go on and tell us whatever stories you made up- oof!"

"Manners Lamorak. You must show at least some when in the presence of a lady"

"Lady? I don't see any around here beside you"

"How dare you insult the name of Sir Gawain in such a nonchalant way?!"

"I insult those who speak of themselves on the third person!"

"What your tongue, Lamorak! Sir Gawain will not be mocked off!"

"What, want a fight?!"

"Silence, you two!"

Lancelot had to interfere, otherwise the others would start a duel, and this was not the time. In fact, time was of essence right now, as a menacing shadow threatened the entire kingdom. Nonetheless the three knights started to argue and shout at each other, each one trying to have the last word. This, of course, left a big impression on the girls, since they expected more talk about honor and less screaming.

"They are… quite energetic, right Marine?"

"Yeah… that's for sure"

"Don't worry, they soon will stop. Besides, when the time comes, we always stand together"

Another knight entered the room and joined the group. Since they were distracted with the commotion, no one noticed the white colored hedgehog knight in a silvery armour joining them, which startled the girls upon hearing his voice. The rabbit and the raccoon looked back to see who it was and found the knight smiling as he watched the scene. Apparently this was pretty common to happen around here because he had the most peaceful expression on his face. Once Lancelot noticed him, he just knocked on Gawain and Lamorak's heads, putting at least a stop to the argue.

"My name is Galahad, and as you can see, I am a knight of the Round Table. It is a pleasure to meet you, my young ladies". Galahad presented himself and made a small bow to the girls, which said their nes to him too.

Now that everyone had a seat, Lancelot started to tell why they were reunited in this place, though all the other knights knew the reasons.

"Very well, may I begin this meeting. As you know, something has been lurking in the shadows through these lands, something capable of put the entire kingdom in danger. But despite of our efforts in finding its nature or origins, little to no information was gathered. That was until last week, when a letter of Percival arrived at the castle. Only yesterday the wizard brought up the contents of said letter, for she had to confirm the given information"

Lancelot reached on his belt for the letter. As he unfolded it he started to read it. The letter told about the results of an reckoning mission, assigned to Sir Percival, who parted from the castle of Camelot a few weeks ago to find anything related to this upcoming treat. They all had been doing researches and following anything that seemed suspect since the day the royal wizard sensed the menacing force.

Percival reported that during the travel, some places seemed to be under some sort of negative influence. It wasn't noticeable as the presence of the Underworld Knights, but was still detectable. This subtle influence had been spotted on many places after crossing the northern lands of the kingdom, which made Percival conclude that it came from the north, beyond the Shrouded Forest.

"Excuse, mister- sir Lancelot, wasn't in this forest where you found us?"

"Indeed, miss Cream. As I suspected, something in the forest seemed out of place, more than it normally is"

He continued to read the letter. What Percival discovered was that this influence changed not only the land it spread, but all the forms of life within it, the inhabitants included. The effects were so subtle that one could completely change its personality without even noticing. The only way that Percival managed to notice and avoid it was because of her flames, which kind of got out of control, a sign that she was not on her perfect mind state. Only then it became clear to her the extension of the dark influence, giving the soil a cold feeling and warming up the air at the same time. The vegetation seemed completely full of life and at the same time devoid of it, as if it was something beyond real. Not only her perception, but the very flow of time had been altered, going on longer bright days and nearly endless nights. Everything gave out a strange sensation of perfection, which was mostly unsettling.

"Hey, this is what happened to us back a the forest. Do you guys think this dark influence reached out there?"

"That is a good question, miss Marine. Sir Lancelot, could you feel anything different when you were at the forest, since you have a better knowledge of it?"

"In fact, Galahad, I felt something different when I entered the Shrouded Forest along with the young blacksmith, but right before encountering the young ladies, this eerie feeling washed away. Even the natural mystic aura of the forest had been cleaned for some time"

"So I suppose there is a way to remove or prevent the action of this shadow"

"Let's see if Percival can give us an answer, Gawain"

On the last part of the letter, Percival stated that besides all her efforts she could not return those she called 'shaded' people back to normal, neither the land that was stained with the shadow's influence. But something she managed to figure out. Be it an shaded inhabitant, animal, or even the vegetation, they all seemed to react to her sacred sword, becoming more agitated, aggressive and slightly changing their appearance. Due to this, she concluded that whatever it was, this lurking shadow could not stand the mystic aura of the sacred swords, so anything covered with this should be at least resistant to its effects. She wasn't sure thought because many times she found herself struggling to not give in on this obscure force. On a final note, she stated that by the time the letter arrived the castle, she would be making her way back, having some more things to investigate. Biding her farewell, she signed the letter.

Now that all was said and done, the thought on everyone's mind was how to stop this occult and mysterious force from reaching the kingdom. It had been the main mission of the knights for some time to find out why, which was why Percival was travelling beyond the kingdom's lands. Lancelot had just returned from his own travel before Miles came to the castle asking for help. Gawain had been working on the little he found out for almost two weeks. Nothing seemed to fit into this unknown menace, no matter how much they searched at the books of the Royal Library. Out of sudden, something crossed Galahad's thoughts, something that actually made him eager to know the guests of Sir Lancelot.

"Excuse me, my young ladies, but why were you two at the Shrouded Forest all by yourselves? I believe it is common sense that one does not simply walks in there, due to the tricks the forest has"

This raised the curiosity of everyone in the room, besides the girls. Even Lancelot, who had already heard some of their story was eager to further understand the sequence of facts that lead them there.

The girls explained to the knights how this all started. During a confrontation with the infamous doctor Eggman, a evil scientist of their world, they ended as hostages but managed to break free. Unfortunately, an accident happened with a peculiar machine called 'Aleatory Probabilistic Generator', which created an portal to where they had been dragged in. This portal lead them to another world, an alternate version of their own, where they had to face some problems to. After managing to recharge the generator, another portal opened, this time bringing them to this world. Once again they had to find an energy source to charge the machine, and after spending a night at Miles' workshop, they used the tPhone's tracking function to find a power source. That is how they ended at the Shrouded Forest.

"It is hard to believe in your story, I must say. Was it not for Lancelot himself bringing you here, I would say that this was an attempt to fool me"

"I understand your doubt, Sir Gawain. A lot of things happened in a very short time. I don't want by any means to fool with echidnas…". "He does sounds a bit like Knuckles, hehe".

"I already heard that part before and I still cannot believe in it. If possible, I would like to see this highly doubtful machine by myself"

"Sure mate. You all can see it when we find a way to recharge the generator"

"Care to explain how did two kids survived in the Shrouded Forest alone? I am curious about what are you going to make up now?"

This comment lead to another elbow to the ribs from Gawain to Lamorak, which had his expressions as incredulous as possible. Even feeling a little bit intimidated the girls kept telling their adventure so far. They described how they felt near the Shrouded Forest, and Cream explained how they broke out of the spells casted at them. Then came the part where they found the cave, where they found the sword and shield, and fought the ghost of a dead knight. Upon reaching this topic, they asked Lancelot if he had seen the sword and shield, finding out that he took them to the royal wizard. Meanwhile, the other knights were in awe and questioning the veracity of their story. It was unbelievable that two girls alone managed to do this all, then again, why would they come up with such an complex tale? Just to make fun of then? No, Galahad could see the truth in every one of their words, he was sure if it.

"Then show us the sword and shield, Lancelot. I need to see what kind of magical weapon they got to fight a 'ghost'"

Lamorak was starting to get on their nerves and the girls now had a slightly annoyed expression on their faces. Cream noted that his cockiness was equal to Jet's. Luckily they weren't the only ones as Lancelot got up staring daggers at the hawk.

"If you want so much to see it we need to see the wizard. Let's go"

His tone was normal as usual but everyone felt the treat that was the best knight of the kingdom on a bad mood, mainly Lamorak, who shrunk a little on his seat. As they left the room and walked through the hallways of the castle, Galahad got to the side of Cream. Sensing the worry and little anger, he felt the need to say something as he put a hand on her head.

"Don't let Lamorak's attitude leave a huge impression. He is as trustworthy and honored as any of us. He just lacks some manners, mostly due to his temper and self confidence"

"Thank you sir Galahad, it is okay thought. I sort of already dealt with this kind of attitude"

"Someone from your world, I suppose. Also, you can call me just Galahad"

"Yes, he looks like sir Lamorak completely, in appearance and temper"

They laughed a bit and kept walking. With time Galahad also got closer to Marine and the three of them talked about the similarities between the two worlds, also telling the silver knight about the 'wonders' the future had in store. Soon they reached for a tall and large pair of doors that had a big sword and a crown above it carved in the wood. Gawain opened it and they entered a huge round room with four pillars holding the spheric ceiling. The room also had a second floor where they could see hundreds of bookshelves full of thick tomes and old looking scrolls. There was a big chandelier hanging on the ceiling, illuminating the place with a warm and bright yellow light.

As they came in, a hooded figure descended the stairs that lead to the second floor and came to meet them. It removed its hood to reveal a young woman with peach skin, purple long hair fixed in a single braid leaning over her chest, bright blue eyes and elf like ears. She greeted them, her soothing voice contrasting with the worn out looks on her face.

"Greetings my dear knights, it is always good to see you"

"Greetings lady Merlina. It is also good to see you, though I wished to be in a better situation". Lancelot said, pointing out the obvious lack of rest the wizard had as she tried her best to prevent a yawn. She looked at the group and saw the young duo, mostly because they were staring at her with bright eyes. Sensing the building up energy, she decided to speak first.

"Oh, I guess these two are your famous guests, Lancelot. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Merlina, granddaughter of the great wizard Merlin and Royal Wizard of the kingdom"

The knights around them took a step back, letting the girls face the wizard. By the looks on their faces Merlina could tell they were kind of in shock. "Um, may I hear you names…? Or at least know your species? I believe I never saw someone like you". This shook them out of their frozen state. Marine was the first to speak.

"Oh, sorry, my name is Marine. I am a raccoon"

"I am Cream the rabbit. It is a honor to meet you, miss Merlina"

"The pleasure is mine". Merlina said with a gentle smile on her lips. She then faced the knights with a positive yet serious expression, already guessing what was the reason of this meeting. "My noble knights, what brings you here today?"

Lancelot stepped in and picked the letter he received.

"I just shared with everyone the contents of Percival's letter. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to go any further than the theory presented on it. But that is not the reason we came here right now. If you may, there is a desire to see the weapons I brought here yesterday"

Merlina lifted her eyebrows in little surprise with the request. She was sure they came to talk about the occult menace, given the current situation, but in fact, after examining the items Lancelot brought her, she did found something interesting.

"Very well, follow me then"

She came over to a door on the other side of the big room. It lead to a much smaller room, but filled with much more things. There were lots of shelves with multicolored potions and all sorts of items that Merlina probably used on her enchantments, and a crystal hung from the ceiling, giving the ambient a light blue illumination. On a wall, put on a stand was the staff that she inherited from her grandfather, which she modified to fit her better, adding the adorned globe on the tip of it. They walked around the large cauldron at the center and stopped by a long table, where the sword and the shield Cream and Marine got at the cave stood. Everyone looked at the items, eager to discover how two young girls defeated a being from the realm of the dead. They stared at it for a minute straight…

"Is that it?"

… until Lamorak started talking again.

"A short sword and a small round shield? Are you telling me that THIS defeated an spectral knight?!"

"Before you start your scoffing monologue, I must say that I asked myself that before I had a closer look"

Merlina took the sword and held it up, letting everyone look closer at it. She then reached for a wood block over the table and hit it with the sword using considerably strength, but the sword barely went an inch into the block. This surprised everyone, the girls because of the sudden move and loud noise, and the others because of how bad this blade was. Lancelot reached for it, taking the sword from Merlina's hand.

"What? Please allow me". He grabbed the block and tossed him up, dealing a powerful strike on it with the short sword, but again it didn't cut much through the wood.

"It is completely dull"

"It is not only the sword…"

Merlina then took the shield and hit it with a small rock, leaving a deep dent on its surface. Everyone was speechless, Cream and Marine more than the others. By now they were almost sure that the sword and shield had magical properties. As for the girls, it was almost a feat to brag about, defeating a dead knight on their own, but now it seemed impossible, even to themselves, looking at these items that worth less than common equipment. Had they dreamed about the whole fight? Maybe that was the last trick the forest played on them.

Seeing the little ashamed faces of the kids, Merlina took this as her cue to explain what she found so interesting in this apparently worthless weapons. She took the short sword back from Lancelot and the shield from the table, and carried them to the side of a small cauldron, from where she retrieved a small flask with some dark green fluid inside.

"Now, the reason why I got surprised is that somehow, those items have some sort of regenerative property. Observe". Merlina said some words in a strange language and opened the flask, dropping some of it on the shield. The fluid spilled over the surface and once it touched the the table it went through the wood, completely corroding it. Not only the shield remained intact, the dent that Merlina made before just vanished. Now things were starting to get interesting.

"I didn't discovered how it works yet, but depending on the type of damage I try to inflict, the shield repels it completely and recovers from any damage taken before. I didn't try with the sword yet, but I believe it share the same property. Where did you find those?"

Before the girls could speak, a loud and long horn sounded, warning everyone in the castle. "A danger warning. Let's move to the armory, Gawain"

The horn sounded again, two short times. "The retreat signal? What is happening out there?". Galahad asked.

"I don't know but we better be prepared. Merina, we are going to the royal armory. I hope that the Sacred Swords will not be needed, but just in case we are taking them"

"So do I, Lancelot. Good luck knights"

They dismissed and left the room in a rush, leaving the great round room and heading down the hallways to the royal armory, where the Sacred Swords were kept.

"Hey, what about us?"

"There is no need to worry, the knights will deal with the problem, whatever it is. At least I believe in it…"

"Hmpf, left aside again…"

Merlina put a hand on the raccoon's shoulder. "Don't get sad. Even if we are not on the frontline there's still much we can do to help". With that she motioned to the girls to follow them. She left the smaller room and the bigger one, heading on the opposite direction the knights went, with the girls after her. The wizard came up three flights of stairs and walked to a door that lead to an open balcony outside the castle. From there she could see the entire courtyard and front walls of the castle and good part of the town and lands surrounding it. Looking down, she spotted the knights moving to the big gate and outside it, a crowd growing by the minute. The knights stopped at the gate, apparently talking with someone, then they moved to a side gate in order to prevent the crowd from invading the castle.

Merlina then had a worried expression forming on her face, which the girls noticed. Maybe this problem was something beyond the power of the knights.

"Miss Merlina, what do you think is the reason for this crowd over there?"

"I fear that somehow… the occult force lurking around this kingdom lands has finally made its way to us"

"So this crowd down there actually are-"

"Royal Wizard! My lady!"

An brown dog maid wearing a big blue ribbon on her head bursted through the door breathing heavily. The dog maid rushed to Merlina and stopped a bit to catch her breath, leaning her hands on her knees. Both Merlina and the girls held surprised faces. Once she recovered, she got up and started to speak.

"My lady, I have something that the knights told me to tell you. (A/N: this part she talks really fast) ~deep breath~ I was at the town library readingSomeBooksButIWasNotSlackingOrGettingAwayFromWorkBecauseTheChiefMaidSaidThatIShouldFollowTheYoungFoxToHisHouseAndHeLetMeSeeSomeBooksAtTheLibraryButWhenIGotOutThereWereThoseMenTalkingAboutTheKingdomAndPoliticsAndIDidn'tWantToEavesdropButIOverheardThemTalkingPoorlyAboutTheThirdGenerationAndIGotMadBecauseThatIsMyFavoriteRoyalGenerationAndIWasAboutToTalkSomeSenseIntoTheirThickHeadsButThenTheyStartedToSayThatTheKingdomWasGoingToEndInRuinsAndThatItWasAllBecauseThereWasNoKingAndThatTHISWasBecauseOfTheRoyalWizardAndTheyKeptTalkingAboutConspiracyAndSomeOtherPeoplePassingByOverheardAndJoinedThemAndTheyStartedToMakeASpeechAtTheSquareAndThenACrowdFormedAndThenItGotBiggerAndEveryoneWasShoutingMeanThingsAgainstTheWizardAndAgainstTheKnightsAndAgainstTheHouseholdAndWorkersOfTheCastleWhichWasWhenSomeoneSpottedMeAndTheyTriedToGetMeButIRanAwayWithTheBooksIGotBecauseICouldNotLeaveThemAndThenIRanBackToTheCastleAndTheyFollowedMeHereAndIBarelyManagedToEnterBeforeTheGateClosedAndIEncounteredTheKnightsAndWasTellingThemButTheyStoppedMeAndToldMeToComeHereAndTellYouInsteadAnd now here I am. ~deep breath~.

(A/N: I just want to say that I made an effort to white this out).

Merlina looked at the girls with a confused face, which the girls returned equally. She was going to have a chat with the knights.

"Umm, my I know you name, dear?"

"Oh, my name is Alicia, and I am part of the cleaning team. It is an honor to personally meet you, Royal Wizard". She bowed politely.

"Well then Alicia, can you tell us what happened again, starting from why were you at the town?" ~Alicia deep breath~ "No need to rush! Take your time dear…"

Since Merlina and the girls didn't understand much, let's go back in time a little, to early in this morning. While our two dimensional jumping heroes were having breakfast, on a quiet section of the royal library, a certain maid was entertained with too much history books about the kingdom of Camelot. At least too much for the young blacksmith, Miles. The fox had lost the track of time but he was sure they spent a considerable amount of time, time that he could be at his workshop and that could not be recovered. His debts would not get paid by themselves so he had to get back to the forge as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he found himself in a dilemma, since he actually asked for a tour around the castle, but he wasn't expecting a guide so devoted to the history and pretty much everything about the kingdom.

But lady luck finally smiled for him, because just when Alicia was about to open a tome twice as thick as the previous seven, an old sheep lady in the maid's uniform came in the section. She had the usual ribbon on the right side of the head, but this one was green.

"Wasn't you supposed to be cleaning the hallways expositions, Bokwoorm?"

Alicia knew that voice pretty well, after all the old lady always rebuked her whenever she got caught reading the books instead of putting them on their places. Alicia flinched a bit and her ears bent down a little as she heard her last name. This was a bad thing, specially coming from the librarian. She slowly looked up from her book with an uneasy smile and faced the calm yet serious face of the old lady. Her expression thought softened and opened up in a small smile, and then the old lady ran her hand over Alicia's head.

"Reading the books instead of keeping them as usual. I should know that you keep them at your heart rather than at the shelves"

"Greetings miss Cloushion, it is been a while". Alicia said in a happy tone.

Miles didn't understand much of what was happening. The moment he saw the lady he thought they were in trouble, considering the way she called Alicia, but they seemed to be long related friends. This left him with a question or two on his head.

"So, what brings you here today Alicia? Of course are the books but tell me, who is this young fox with you?". She inquired looking to Miles, having another smile on her face. "You DO remember that is not allowed to the maids to bring their boyfriends to the castle, right?"

Miles got his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape while Alicia frantically wave her hands and had in negation. The old lady laughed a bit and told her to keep a low tone since the younger maid started to spill explanations at high speeds and volume. Alicia always reacted that way when she was nervous, a state easy for her to get, and miss Cloushion found it simply adorable. Once the maid calmed herself, Miles took the opportunity to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Miles Richard Prower. I am a blacksmith invited here by Sir Lancelot"

"Oh, so you are one of the guests of Sir Lancelot?"

"Well, not exactly. He came to ask for help and Sir Lancelot took the task, but the guests are still sleeping on their room. Miles is a friend of them"

"We just met some days ago, thought"

"And how, may I ask, you ended at the library with Alicia Bokwoorm of all people?"

Alicia scratched the back of her head. Looking back a little bit, she pretty much dragged him around the castle talking non stop and now they were at here, because this was her favorite place. She didn't think much about what he really wanted to see or where he'd like to go.

"I kind of asked to see the castle and Alicia offered to show me around. She showed a lot of things. I MEAN it"

"Yes, I know that pretty well"

"Hehe… guess I got carried on…"

Miles then raised a question.

"Forgive me but how did you know each other?"

"Oh, that. Well, I was at the royal service team with Eliza, but since I loved books so much she helped me to change to the library team, which has miss Cloushion as the leader. Later on, I got transferred to the cleaning team because…"

"Because she kept reading the books instead of putting them on the shelves and took lots of them with her when she left for the maid's dorm"

She laughed nervously as she scratched the back of her head. After putting the books back on the shelves Alicia and Miles left the library, walking down the hallways. She got on her fan mode again and started to explain the pieces of the exposition, but was cut off by the chief maid, who came already complaining that she was too much caught in this "tour". The chief maid asked if Miles would stay for the breakfast, sensing that the young fox wanted to be elsewhere since his eyes darted left and right. The blacksmith thanked the offer but said that he had some things to attend. As a last task, the chief maid told Alicia to accompany him back to his house and then return immediately to do her already late chores.

The walk to the town was quiet, Alicia no longer having anything to explain the historical details. As they went through the slightly busy streets, the maid spotted the public library, getting her on fan mode again. She held Miles by the arm, stopping him on his tracks, talking at high speeds something about going inside. Miles said that he was fine and that she could go to the library if she wanted to. With a big smile on her lips she dashed and entered the library, leaving the fox free to go back to his workshop.

Though she was dying for spend the entire day looking for new titles, Alicia knew that she would be in big trouble if she didn't come back quickly, so she just borrowed some books and left the library. Just when she reached the street, she heard some old men say the word "kingdom", which was enough to make Alicia perk up her ears with interest. Now, she knew that it wasn't nice to overhear someone's talk but the curiosity got the best of her. Luckily her ears were pretty good so she didn't have to approach much. What she heard was going by these lines:

"The kingdom is on the verge of bankruptcy, I tell you that"

"Stop throwing plagues you old fool. We all can see it, but I am sure that the royalty can do something about it"

"If there WAS a royal family, you mean. Ever since king Arthur disappeared the whole land has been going down the hill"

"By 'disappeared' you mean killed. I bet it was the doing of the witch on the castle"

"Shhh, don't offend the Royal Wizard. Some say that she knows everything that happens on Camelot"

"Nonsense. Even if she could, she would not dare do a thing"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course. Even the witch isn't such a fool to go against the public opinion"

"But what about the rumors coming from the north. Maybe she is acting undercover"

"If that is the case then we need to do something"

"What can we do? I say we should bring this matter to the knights"

"No my friends, the knights no longer serve the kingdom, but only the traitorous witch"

"Don't you think that they could be under a spell?"

"I wish it was the case, old friend, but they are sacred knights, immune to any kind of magic"

"Really?"

"So tell the tales. This leaves to us citizens to bring justice upon this mad woman who resides at the castle"

"Then count me on it"

"Hey, what are you talking about…?"

As they spread the word to the people passing by, a growing commotion started and more people manifested their dissatisfaction, building up a dangerous tension on the air. Soon the square in front of the library was flooded with people and the old men talking on the beginning piled some crates to speak to the crowd.

"My fellow citizens! It is of everybody's knowledge that Camelot has never been the same after then disappearance of king Arthur, and I fear that it will never be, that is, if we don't do something about it"

Some on the crowd pointed out that when Arthur was still around, things were also bad, he being an almost authoritarian king.

"Yes, the last king had his flaws and weak moments, but still he pushed this lands forward, and kept the evil at bay with his power and the power of the Knights of the Round Table"

Another of the four elders spoke now.

"Hear us, my friends. We speak the truth, and the truth is that the former royal wizard has dethroned the king and usurped the kingdom for herself"

The third elder spoke then.

"The knights are no longer loyal to the kingdom neither us citizens. We must take this matter on our own hands"

"That is what we will do. We will march to the gates and demand justice upon the sorcerer who stole the king's crown"

"None that allies to the witch will be spared, not even the fallen knights"

"Yes, my friends. We must storm the castle and take the control of our land, bringing down whoever opposes our cause!"

"Hey! There is a maid of the castle right there!".

Someone in the crowd spotted Alicia while she was already leaving the square. She stiffened a bit but soon she made a run for it because the crowd was coming after her. And to think that this happened right when she was at the library, of all places. She rushed through the streets holding the books she borrowed tight to her chest, careful not to drop them, with the angry crowd hot on her heels. She reached the main road to the castle with the jostle still after her, which left the wall guards at the castle pretty confused. Alicia started to shout to them to close the gate, but she was quite far and short breathing. She wasn't the most athletic maid in the household. Luckily, and by luck I mean the angry shouts of the crowd in the distance, one of the guards understood what Alicia meant and quickly jumped to action, giving the order to close the gate, though maybe he was too quick because the gatekeeper released the chains and the gate went down, barely letting Alicia entering the walls of the castle.

Just a few seconds and the crowd stopped at the gate, trying to force the strong bars and reaching their arms through the squares. Some of the wall guards took position, but none of them knew what was happening. The sentry reached a big horn, breathed in and sounded a loud and long noise, alerting everyone on the castle. After the warning signal, he gave two short breaths on the horn, giving a signal to retreat and hold a defensive position. The guards could not attack the town's population.

Not long after the warning, the knights came over to the gate. Upon seeing them, Alicia rushed to them and tried to tell what happened, but on her frenzy she just spilled a lot of words in fast pace, earning the confused faces of the knights. Lancelot stopped her mid sentence and told her to find Merlina. The royal wizard would know what to do with this huge amount of information. Alicia then rushed to the castle, not noticing the relieved expression on the black hedgehog's face.

And that's how the crowd formed and Alicia got to the wizard. Now that everything was explained, the next step to Merlina was figure out how this whole commotion was related to the strange feeling she was sensing. The wizard turned back and leaned on the parapet, watching the crowd with attention. All of sudden a huge bubble of dissatisfaction appeared and popped, not that she never heard some critics, but something was off. And the worst part was that they could not react, because this could aggravate even further the situation. The only solution was to understand the forces acting behind the curtains.

Merlina wasn't the only one concerned. Both the girls and the maid looked at the crowd shouting at the gate, becoming more furious with each minute that passed. Soon there would be no alternative besides using force to settle them down. Suddenly, a gentle and familiar breeze blew by, getting the attention of the raccoon and rabbit. They sensed something talking to them in the wind, like a very subtle fluted voice, and somehow they thought about getting the sword and the shield. The reason was unknown, but they just felt that they should get them. And that was what they did.

Without thinking too much the girls left the balcony in a hurry, leaving Merlina and Alicia confused. They dashed through the hallways and entered the great room, crossing it and reaching the smaller room where Merlina left the weapons. They came over the wooden table where the weapons were laying and got them. Now, what should they do?

"So you have any ideas, Cream?"

"Well, not really. We can't just go there and fight the citizens"

"Not that those things would be useful anyways. You saw how cheap they are"

"Yes, but still…"

"You feel that you must do something, right?"

The voice of Merlina startled them. The wizard returned to the library, guessing that the girls would retrieve the peculiar weapons. The reason for it was as clear as the one for the angry crowd outside. And yet, she also could sense that this cheap shield and dull sword had something important. Important and powerful. If she learned something from her previous mistakes it was that one cannot change the flow of nature. Sooner or later this mystery would be revealed. The problem was with the other mystery, a threat yet to be uncovered and already knocking on their door.

"My young girls, I know the urge to do something and the feeling of having a duty to fulfill. Therefore, go and do what you feel you must do. Maybe you two ended here for a reason after all"

Nodding and with determination on their eyes, Cream and Marine left the small room and the wizard's library and rushed through the hallways, still without a clue of how to proceed next, but they were confident and were going to do whatever was on their reach to help the knights and the town's people.

They quickly got to the courtyard and crossed it in a light jog, catching up with the guards at the gate. They asked where the sacred knights were, but none of the guards gave them much attention, telling them to get somewhere safe. One of the guards though recognized them from walking around with Lancelot, and pointed the direction the knights went. Thanking him, they followed the lead, running along the wall until they found a gate with the size of a small door. It was unlocked so they entered and followed through a small tunnel that went down the large walls of the castle. As they went deeper, they found themselves in a huge net of underground passages, not only leading back to the castle but going towards the town too. And they were pretty much lost.

"Where to now?"

""Umm, eeny meeny miny moe?"

They decided to go down a tunner more to the right. The path was normal for a while but it transformed into an steep descent, leading them further underground, which proved to be a daring decision since the few daylight that came through some venting breaches on the ceiling was gone and the ambient got illuminated with a cold blue emanating from torches on the walls. The blocks on the floor and lower parts of the walls were humid and had some moss growing. At the end of the descent they found an crossed intersection leading to three ways: straightforward, right or left.

"Cream… maybe we should go back? You know… to a place less creepy than this, hehe…"

"I think I agree… with you… wait"

The big ears of Cream provided her a keen audition, and since there was an almost absolute silence where they were, she heard a low sound echoing through one of the narrow hallways, the one to the left. She felt the familiar sensation again, that one when that strange breeze blowed by. She could even feel the light wind of her nose, even though the air here was heavy and stagnated. She followed down the left tunnel with Marine right after her, holding the shield tightly. As they walked through the tunnel, another familiar sensation came in, but a unwelcome one. Once again the time seemed to stop it's flow and their minds were drifting away, but then the sword and the shield started to emanate a faint golden light, contrasting with the darkened walls and floor. It was like something tainted, rather stained them, and whatever it was, it was responsible for messing with their heads. Cream, once again with her thoughts clear, noticed that the sound was a little bit louder, yet still unhearable to Marine.

"I hear something coming from here"

"I don't hear nothing. What is it?"

"I don't know. It is a low gurgle, like something boiling"

As they approached the end of the tunnel, the few light that the torches provided seemed to die out. At the end of the tunnel, a small round room appeared, connecting the path they were with some more, but the thing that stood up was a huge puddle of a dark purple thick liquid similar to oil. Some big bubbles came from it often and it had portions of it spilled around, forming some kind of tendrils that crawled on the walls and ceiling, getting between the blocks. Whatever it was, it definitely the source of the eerie feelings they felt at the Shrouded Forest.

"What… is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't looks like anything I would expect to find in an underground tunnel"

"Do you think this is…?"

They shuddered at the possibility of them finding the place where the city channels the sewage. But then something happened. Marine slipped and let the shield fall on the ground near the puddle, and it recoiled slightly, as if getting away from it. They looked at it and the next thing they thought was that maybe this puddle wasn't just a puddle, but something alive, an strange animal of some sort. Marine reached for her shield and the dark mass turned back to its previous form, and then she saw it form tiny tendrils that wiggled and tried to reach her. She quickly avoided it and jumped back to where Cream was.

"Okay, this is definitely a bad thing!"

Cream held an curious and thoughtful look on her face as she stared at the boiling mass, and then she pointed the sword towards it, making the thing retreat again. In a daring move she swung her sword down at the puddle, and the reaction was pretty creepy.

The moment the edge of the blade made contact, the dark mass emitted a loud and high pitched scream and dozens of tendrils sprouted from the main body, thrashing around furiously. The blade of the sword had a faint golden glow that intensified the more it teared through the screeching blob.

Cream had to make an effort to keep holding her sword as the loud screech felt like thousands of forks scratching on a blackboard, while Marine tried to damp the sound covering her ears. After a few more seconds of agony the dark purple mass stopped thrashing its tendrils and screeching and liquified, evaporating in an purple steam right after. While they processed what just happened, Marine noticed something.

" Hey look Cream, the sword is getting black!"

"Black? What are you…~gasp~"

The blade was becoming darker and darker, from the tip and coming to the handle. The stain was crawling along the sword and Cream was about to remove it with her hand, but stopped right before wiping it with her glove. Something told her this was a bad idea. But still, it was an unnerving situation and she was thinking about what to do. Once again that eerie breeze blew and she heard something. Almost by instinct she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, focusing on the blade. Suddenly her mind became calm and her thoughts cleared, and the sword emitted the golden glow again, this time much brighter. She just waved the sword gently, slashing the air, and the black stain evaporated in the air, just like the puddle did. Not only that, the stains on the ground and walls shrunk and vanished into the same purple steam. Marine had awe and confusion all over her face.

"Wow… how did you do that?"

"I don't know. I just… did"

They didn't have much time to discuss because they heard the sound of voices and approaching steps. They got into a fight stance and faced the direction the sound came from. The source of the noise revealed to be none other than the knights, who got surprised to find the young girls here.

"How? What are you two doing in here?"

"We came after you guys and a guard told us the direction, but we kind of ended here by luck"

"Sir Lancelot, we found something strange here"

"What would that be, Cream?"

"I am not sure, but I have a feeling that this is responsible for the troubles at the castle's gate"

"I have a 'feeling'? Very promising"

"Leave them be, Lamorak. Please tell us what you saw girls"

"It was a dark purple puddle that was kind of spreading all over the place, and it tried to catch me when I got near it"

"Not only that, when we came to here we felt the same strange feeling of the Shrouded Forest"

"And where is this suspicious form?"

"Well, Sir Gawain, I think I got rid of it?"

"Oh, I see, another miracle missed. This is just too convenient"

"Now, listen here you fancy green dust-"

"Not now Marine, hehe… It is true, the thing and the stains vanished into a purple steam. It even stained my sword but somehow all of it vanished"

"And exactly how did you-"

Lamorak was cut mid sentence by a low sound of something banging came from the floors above, most specifically, from the gates of the castle.

"This cannot be a good signal"

"I feel the same, Gawain. I suggest the explanation can wait until we solve the crisis above"

The knights agreed with Galahad and soon they were moving through the tunnels at fast pace with Cream and Marine following them. Even though the network was pretty much a multiple levels maze, they kept going like it was a only way route, showing that this was a very known territory. In no time they reached the surface, passing through a small wooden door in a narrow alley, pretty hidden so those who didn't knew about it would never guess. Exiting the alley, the were on the edge of the town, from where they could see the gate of the castle and the angry crowd still shouting and banging at it. What was more surprising, they were actually managing to damage the iron gates, slightly shaking it off it's place. The guards inside could not believe in what they were seeing. At this rate, they would need to use force and maybe this could prove to not enough. From their position, the knights and the girls saw something that seemed pretty wrong with the population, despite the endless rage state, that is. The citizens looked taller, bulkier and with a light tone of purple on their skin.

"We must calm down the citizens. Let's go talk to them". Lancelot proposed and like that they got out of the alley and walked towards the angry crowd. The girls stood behind because for them, something bad was going to happen.

"Sir Lancelot, I don't think this is a good idea"

"Yes, something tells me that they ain't even capable of listening anyone"

"Don't worry, there is more that one way to control a crowd. We've got this". Galahad assured them with a gentle smile but the moment they came into view and Lancelot got their attention, the crowd stopped banging at the gates and rushed towards them, in a very unfriended way.

"Take over the knights!"

"Traitors!"

The sudden outburst even made the knights flinch a little and in no time they were almost surrounded by the furious citizens, all glaring daggers at them and with murderous looks. Without thinking too much, they advanced against the knights letting out loud cries almost as if possessed by something. The knights, skilled fighters as they were, took defensive positions and fended off their attackers, caring to use the dull edges of their swords and containing their strength. Unfortunately this proved to be pretty hard because the crowd of enraged people had a huge increase in strength and attacked viciously.

Watching the fight from afar, the girls were in doubt if they should or not join in, first because they didn't want to harm the citizens and second because at the end the hurt ones could be themselves. At that point both of them were pretty sure that that state was an effect of the dark purple thing from before. It was at that moment that Cream saw her sword letting out the faint golden glow again, and this clicked something into her mind. If she somehow managed to remove the dark stains back at the underground, maybe she could do the same with these people. With that in mind she stepped out of the alley and went towards the local of the fight, which startled Marine.

"Cream, where are you going?!"

"I think I can get rid of the stains on them, like I did back on the tunnels"

"It was totally on accident, Cream. How are you gonna do it again?"

"I'm not sure, but I have to try at least". The determined look on the rabbit's eyes convinced Marine, who then stepped out of the alley too.

"~sigh~ Alright, so I guess you could use some protection then". The raccoon gave her friend a warm and encouraging smile and then they rushed to the angry crowd attacking the knights.

They approached the crowd and Cream ran a finger along the blade of her sword, confirming that it was so dull that it didn't even cut through her glove. Closing her eyes and breathing in deeply, she tried to remember and recreate what she felt and did on the tunnels. Her heartbeat was steady and the more she focused, less noise she could hear from her surroundings. It seemed to work because the glow on the blade was slowing intensifying.

This caught not only Marine's attention, but some of the attacker, which made them direct their rage towards the girls. Letting out a bestial roar, they rushed after them and jumped to attack but were blocked by Marine, who lifted her shield, creating an faint golden barrier that surrounded Cream and herself. The possessed citizens lashed their all new purple claws at the shield to no avail, not even scratching it of phasing the force field.

Suddenly, the blade let out a bright light and Cream opened her eyes to see if she had done it right. Turns out she managed to do better than before. She could feel it from the sensation of power at her hand. She then looked at the people attacking them, once normal citizens now turned into mutated creatures possessed by some strange force, but that didn't stop her. She prepared to launch an attack, drawing the sword back.

"Marine, when I say, low the shield okay?"

"Got it"

Cream gave the signal and Marine lowered the shield, dissipating the force field. The moment it went down the mutated citizens jumped for an attack but were repealed in the air by a golden energy blade launched by Cream swinging it forward. The energy blade went through them but it didn't harm the citizens, only leaving a golden gash in their midsection that actually cut through the dark purple thing covering their bodies. They fell to the ground wiggling around but soon ceased and stood still, and a purple mist left them, leaving the citizens on their normal state, but unconscious.

"Cream… You… you made it!". Marine cheered and hugged her friend. Now they could help the knights and the town's people.

"Yes, let's hurry up and help the knights!"

"Right!"

They rushed over the knights at the center of the fight. Cream had to fly them to the central spot because there were just too much people surrounding the knights. Once they landed Marine raised up the force shield, separating most of the crowd from them. None of the knights understood at start what was happening or where the force field came from but then they noticed the girls there in the middle of the fight.

"What?! Cream, Marine, what are you two doing here?". Lancelot asked while he fended off a stained man.

"Sir Lancelot, we came to help. I've done it again. I can vanish the dark stains!"

"You came here to tell this story again?". Lamorak almost got hit because he turned around to say one of his bitter remarks.

"Not only that big beak, I'm keeping most of them at bay right now"

Only now they acknowledged that the force field containing the crowd came from Marine's shield. It was large enough just to surround them in a radius of about three meters.

"Then please show us how you do it, my little friend". Gawain sheathed his swords and jumped over one stained woman and held her on an arm lock from behind, having to use a lot of strength to keep her still while she trashed around.

Cream once again closed her eyes and focused on the feeling she felt before, breathing in deeply. This time it was even easier and faster to harness this mysterious power and the blade emitted the golden glow. Cream came over to the stained woman and just slashed her with the sword, startling everyone for a few seconds before bewilderment took over the features of the knights. Despite the huge golden gash apparently going from the right shoulder to the belly, the woman was unharmed and soon the dark stain transformed into the purple mist and she was back to normal, resting unconscious on the knight's arms.

"... How did you do it?"

"We don't know either Sir Lancelot. I just discovered it, actually"

"I believe these explanations can wait, seeing the problem at our hands, though the sword seems to have an effect over the citizens". Galahad said as he noticed the stained people inside the force field retreated and even the crowd outside stepped back.

Cream worked on her focus and kept the blade glowing, while the knights immobilized the stained men inside the shield so she could purge the stains from them. Once they were done, they gave Marine a signal and the lowered the shield, letting the crowd enter the fight again.

The girls didn't have the experience neither the team work of the sacred knights but in time they got into the flow and were fighting together pretty well. While most of the knights fended off the greater part of the crowd, Galahad stood along the girls, helping Marine to create some breaches were Cream could slash the citizens and purge the stains. Marine herself stood back to back with Cream, covering her friend's blind spot. Most of the people had gained an increase in strength and sharp claws to attack but they could not pierce Marine's shield. She also discovered that if she raised it at the right time, the impact would generate a shockwave, knocking back the attacker and stunning him briefly. This way, she stopped the stained citizens for a few seconds and Cream gave the golden slash, freeing them from the stains. Galahad engaged on the tougher ones near the girls, some bulky guys that had too much size advantage against the young ladies.

As for the other knights, their team work and precision was impeccable, covering each other's blind spots and striking the possessed crowd with the exact amount of strength to keep them back but not hurt them, using the dull side of their swords and sometimes their bare hands. Lancelot engaged a greater part of the crowd, using his acrobatic skills to lure them away from the girls and knock the down for a while. Gawain and Lamorak double teamed a smaller group of stained people but those guys were transformed into taller and bulkier versions than before. They were slow though, so Lamorak didn't have any trouble evading them, and the size didn't increase their strength much further, still being brought down by Gawain. This way the held most of the crowd while Cream made the stains vanish one at a time.

The more she focused, the easier it was to keep the golden glow of the sword, almost reaching a point where it was natural. As for Marine, she was getting more and more into the flow of the battle, her senses and reflexes sharper. The girls showed so much development into combat that Galahad got completely surprised, to the point where he considered leave them on their own and help the others. In fact, when he dealt with his last stained man, he turned around and saw the girls surrounded by about a dozen of them, but before he went to help them, they jumped into action.

It was like they were reading each other's minds. Two stained man dashed towards Cream who bent down a little, letting Marine roll over her back, raising the shield at the exact time to knock them back, all while Cream slashed a stained woman coming from her right. Eleven to go.

Another stained jumped high in the air and dived into them with his claws wide open, but was knocked back by a precise shield defense and before he could touch the ground Cream launched an flying golden slash, hitting him at the chest and purging the stain. Ten more to go.

Cream clashed her sword with a dangerous pair of long claws. The stained woman had some advantage because of her height but Marine evened the things by hitting her gut with the side of the shield, creating an opening for an upwards slash. A scream announced a double attack from two bulkier stained men with large hands. They raised their fists and when they brought the down Cream pulled Marine with one hand, giving her some momentum to increase the knockback of the shield. Once they were down on the ground, Cream made two quick attacks and their stains were gone. Nine stains left.

Marine made a step with the shield and Cream jumped up, hitting a stained men in the air and another one when she landed. Before she could be surrounded Marine jumped to her side and raised the force shield, blocking the way of the stained ones that jumped at them. Cream charged the sword a little and let out a flying blade, this time not even needing to warn her friend. The attack hit three stained man. Four stains remaining.

The girls made a run around a bigger guy and right before he attacked they jumped up on him, Marine hitting his guts and Cream landing on his face with both feet, while she made a quick slash on his left shoulder. She took some impulse and jumped up, turning back and diving with the sword on another stained man that Marine knocked down with a low sweep. Two more to go.

Another bulky guy came at their direction in a run but was blocked by Marine raising the force field, his own strength sending him down to the ground. As they dashed past him Cream made a quick move to purge the stain on him. They made a run to the last of the small group they were facing, this woman much more affected by the stains, with a small tail forming and sawtooth like fangs emerging from a mouth full of more pointy teeth. The stained woman leaned on all fours like a tiger, waving her tail in anticipation and when the girls got into her range she jumped at them with her claws straightforward. Cream slided beneath her and quickly got up while Marine jumped over the attacker, using all her strength to hit her head with the shield. The hit made the stained woman dizzy and Cream just finished with a slash on her back. This time though, the woman let out a loud howl, as if she was in great pain. This startled the girls since it didn't happen before. The stains were coming out in the form of mist from the cut, but she wasn't coming back to normal, at least not at the same speed the others did. This made the girls worry sick, mostly Cream, the one holding the monster slayer sword. Maybe she used too much strength or something. What if she injured the lady for real?

In the middle of the confusion, they didn't notice a single stained man, small and swift, approaching them with hostile intention. He jumped at them baring his mid forming fangs and let out a scream similar to a roar, surprising the girls. Galahad was too far to help them. Only now Lancelot noticed this fugitive from the group he was containing. But right before it could bite Cream, a flying piece of tile struck him away from they girls.

insert music Escalón - Bleach OST

Right after, a figure landed near them, using a gray visor with a blue gem on the forehead, gray gauntlets with blue gems on them too, a gray coat like chestplate and wielding a rapier with a adorned guard. The stained man jumped up on the newcomer but was easily fended off with a swift single movement. The visor was lift up, revealing yet another familiar face, both for the knights and the girls. Amber eyes fitted the small figures in front of her as she absorbed everything that was happening around, since she just arrived and found this huge confusion. Concluding that the entire story could wait, she just turned to the nearest of her friends.

"Galahad! Course of action?"

"Protect the girls and contain the crowd, but don't use lethal force, Percival"

Nodding and lowering her visor, she took a defensive stance between that last stained man and the girls.

"Well then, if you are here then you must know something important about these cursed souls, I suppose"

Both Cream and Marine were in a kind of shock for seeing what they understood to be this universe's version of Blaze, but they shoved aside the desire to tackle the knight in a double death hug and focused on the matter at their hands. If they were going to keep jumping from a world to another then they would need to get used to it.

"I… I can get rid of the stains with this sword"

"And I can protect everyone with this shield"

"What are we waiting for then? Let us go, shall we?"

Engaging in battle if the stained man, Percival easily overpowered him and brought him down, making it pretty easy for Cream to purge the stains. Percival observed with curiosity as she saw how the young rabbit made the stains vanish.

After that the rest of the knights regrouped, giving Percival a quick idea of how things ended like this. Already having some experience with the effects of the dark stains, she was relieved that somehow they found a way to break the curse. The crowd of stained people surrounded them again, this time much more aggressive. The knights stood on defensive stances, depriving the girls from direct combat.

The crowd advanced all at once, letting out screams and roars, similar to wild beasts. The knights didn't let them pass through their line of defense, fending back the majority and letting a few get into the inner circle so Cream and Marine could take them and purge the stains. Whenever too many stained men got into the inner circle, Lancelot would fall back, teleporting and knocking them down. If a large group formed, Percival dispersed them using her royal flames. The tougher guys were taken down by Gawain, while the smaller and faster ones were stopped by Galahad and Lamorak.

In time, even Cream and Marine got into the synergy of the team, getting rid of the stains one after another and getting the unconscious citizens to a safer place. Now that they had Percival doing the crowd control, it got a lot easier to deal with the stained citizens, and within a couple of minutes more only a few people was still under the curse, those ones more mutated than the rest were. When Cream used the sword to cut out the stains, they showed same reaction from before, seeming to be in extreme pain while the purple mist vanished in the air, and right after that they fell unconscious. The crisis was over, but for how much longer?

Act 2 Checkpoint

And there you go. There is really no need to read this part but I'd like to ask you dear readers about a particular topic: Original Characters. I just realized after wrapping up the chap that I naturaly created some, and looking back at the previous story, there were a few too. I guess my try was to give the story a smoother flow, but I don't know if everyone likes it. Also, another thing concerning it is the personalities of 'canon' characters, like the sacred knights and the girls. I hope I'm not getting too far away from what they shoud act like. So you tell me. Leave your opinions and suggestions if you feel like. It will help a lot. Once again, see you all later!(hopefully not much)