A/N Okay, I don't want to give a spoiler but I didn't kill as much people as the story originally is for LiyuConberma. Some certain hedgehogs are still alive, that's for sure. Also, Rakar isn't evil here. I… am not really comfortable with that part of the OG. But then, Kaze still lost his wings in Möbius. TT
Also, Benonic's sign language is in brackets while his voice is in normal. Well, if he tries but not in here. :P
Enjoy!
X
"Ah, you're back," Darren smiled as he spotted the three return to his Workshop of Books And Spells. "I assume things worked out well?"
"Yep!" Sonic exclaimed. "Things went great!"
"And I'm sorry for being snappy earlier," Silver apologized. "I guess my temper rose a bit,"
"It is alright," Darren's response to the apology was calm. "Well, now that things are settled, Kaze would be expecting us in the throne room. Grandfather Negolas, Father and Uncle Rakar would be returning from visiting one of the allied kingdoms for trading any time soon. Also, you need to meet Mother and Benonic, even if Ben would be…"
He sighed. "…suspicious of you three once he sees you,"
"Uh, okay?" Shadow scratched his head.
"Come, let us go," Darren made his way out of the workshop.
"Coming, Lord Darren!" Trails came behind him.
"Uh-huh," Silver flicked his ears. "That was weird,"
"Yeah," Sonic tilted his head. "Why would his eldest brother be suspicious of us? Is it because we look like King Kaze's children?"
"Maybe," Shadow felt an uneasy feeling come to his chest and gut. "Stay close to me and be alert. I don't want you two out of my sight with that 'Benonic' guy around. Got it?"
"Got it!" Sonic raised a thumbs up.
"Well, well, well," Silver cheekily chuckled. "someone's beginning to warm up to us,"
"Well," Shadow shrugged. "a change is a change and we need to keep alert. We don't know who's our ally and who's our enemy. All that we know is that we have each other for an ally so we have to stick by each other all we can,"
Sonic and Silver nodded in agreement before the three of them ran off to follow Darren and Trails.
X
"Darren!" Grand-Queen Athena Hedgehog, Kaze, Benonic, and Darren's mother, ran up to her third son and embraced him into a warm hug. "Oh, how I've missed you, my youngest! How are things?"
"I am alright, thank you, Mother," Darren smiled before they pulled away. "I would like to introduce to you and Benonic my new hired assistants,"
Benonic Hedgehog, the Protector-Assassin of Cosium, went beside his mother and brother as Sonic, Silver and Shadow came forward and bowed. Athena smiled at their manners and did a curtesy.
"Greetings and welcome to Cosium Castle!" she greeted. "I am Grand-Queen Athena. I am the mother of Kaze and Darren,"
She turned and motioned towards the deformed, purple hedgehog beside her. "And this, on the other hand, is my eldest son, the Protector-Assassin of Cosium; Benonic Hedgehog. Wave hi, Benonic,"
Benonic gave a bow before obliging with the wave.
"He can't speak," Athena added, sympathy in her voice. "His teeth are too sharp for him to move his mouth so he does sign language instead,"
Shadow nodded, internally being thankful that he and the others could understand sign language, and bowed back.
"Greetings, Grand-Queen and Protector-Assassin," he spoke in most polite tone as he could possibly speak. "I am Terios, Terios Hedgehog. These two are my dear comrades; Venice Hedgehog and Maurice Hedgehog. It's an honor to be here, your majesties. To work for the royals of Cosium is such an honor,"
"Oh, such kind words for our family and our kingdom!" Athena's smile widened. "I'm sure you're doing an excellent job assisting my son in assorting all the books and scrolls in the castle,"
"Of course!" Shadow, much to his own surprise, smiled back at her naturally. "It is an honor to help the great wizard in his work,"
Sonic and Silver exchanged confused glances before shrugging and smiling along. Benonic noticed their hesitation and narrowed his eyes at them before turning to Athena.
"[Mother, are you sure they are trustworthy?]" he signed.
"Oh don't be silly, Ben!" Athena laughed off her eldest's suspicion. "Of course they're trustworthy! Your little brother Darren hired them, did he not? If Darren trusts them, we should too. You trust Darren, don't you?"
"[I… do…]" Benonic was hesitant on his signing. "[But… it's just them I can't seem to trust…]"
Shadow growled under his breath at what the assassin spoke through sign. 'Well, that idiot is DEFINITELY in my "TO KILL" list…'
'Man, this hedgehog looks scary…' Sonic gulped.
'Great, the royal family has an ASSASSIN for a member…' Silver sighed. 'Why can't Zone-Hopping be safer for us…'
"Ben, calm down," Kaze came forward with Sapphire and placed a hand on his eldest brother's shoulder with a smile. "I've met these three already so I know they're trustworthy,"
"[I suppose so…]" Benonic still felt doubtful as he kept his blade near him. "[But I will still need to keep my guard up.]"
"As you please, Ben," Kaze knew there was no other way so he let his brother be. "Anyway, now that the introductions have been set, we can head to the castle gates and wait for Grandfather Negolas, Father, and Uncle Rakar to arrive from their trading journey,"
"Yes, of course!" Athena was excited as she wrapped her arm around Benonic's. "Come, everyone! We can't keep them waiting!"
With that, she and Benonic went ahead. Kaze and Sapphire followed, leaving Darren and his 'assistants' behind.
"Nice acting, Shadz!" Sonic complimented the ebony hedgehog.
"I agree!" Silver grinned. "How'd you learn how to talk like that?"
"That's how I talk in front of the Queen back in Möbius," Shadow replied with a shrug. "It's no big deal. It's pretty easy acting,"
"Did you mean what you said, though?" Sonic asked.
"Tsk," Shadow chuckled and shook his head. "As if. Lying to her face was the easiest thing I've ever done,"
"Enjoy it while it last," Darren groaned, folding his arms. "When father arrives, you can never lie to his face. All words you say will have to be truthful,"
"Why is that?" Silver tilted his head, confused.
"It's because he has a gift of knowing the truth from others, segregating lies and feelings outside from the facts and feelings within a person's heart,"
"So… we can't lie?" Sonic wondered.
"Not exactly," Shadow smirked. "We can still find a loophole through that 'special gift' of his,"
"And… how can that be?" Darren raised an eyebrow.
"We can still lie but make sure we mean everything we say, as if we're telling the truth. That way we can still fib while him doubt it it's a lie or not,"
"So, you want to confuse my father?"
"Either that or would you rather let him find out and tell King Kaze what really happened to his children?" Silver folded his arms and turned to the wizard.
Darren's eyes widened in realization before he sighed in defeat. "I… I guess… it's better to try to trick and confuse Father then let the secret be exposed through his own mouth…"
"Exactly!" Shadow pointed out. "Now, come on! Before Protector-Assassin Benonic gets anymore ideas on not to trust us…"
X
"They're here!" Kaze excitedly exclaimed the moment he heard galloping horse followed by carriage wheels coming from a distance. "They're finally here!"
"Settle down, dear," Sapphire laughed at her husband's enthusiasm. "I know you're excited but please settle down,"
"Sapphire's right, Kaze," Athena agreed with a nod. "Though I am excited as well. I haven't seen your father for two months! I can't wait to see what he got us from his trip!"
Benonic smiled through his mask while Darren and Trails said nothing as the three hedgehogs behind them exchanged worried glances.
"What if we get caught by the Grand-King?" Sonic gulped. "We'll get exposed for sure!"
"Just be quiet and let me, Shadow and Lord Darren do all the talking," Silver told him.
"What? How is that gonna help?"
"It's because we all know that you're a TERRIBLE liar," Shadow chuckled.
Sonic turned red in embarrassment before pouting. "Hmph! Not true…"
"Shh!" Silver shushed them before pointing forward. "The carriage is getting closer!"
Silver wasn't kidding. The moment the two were shushed, a white carriage pulled up in front of the group. Once the horses were steady, the driver hopped off and opened the door then bowed.
Suddenly, a brown boot stepped out of the carriage before an ebony hedgehog with brown eyes, chest fur and quills that resembled Darren's came out. Behind him followed a brown hedgehog with red eyes and tied-up quills with red stripes as he three scars on his right eye while he had a small amount of her hair on the left side of his head. Finally, the last one to come out was an ebony hedgehog with red stripes and eyes as he held a cane on his right hand, despite looking as if he was a young adult himself.
"Father!" Kaze rushed himself to the first hedgehog, immediately pulling him into an embrace.
Benonic and Darren followed behind their brother's action before Mortesen, the Grand-King of Cosium, smiled and hugged his sons back.
"Oh how I've missed you boys so much!" he said as he released them from his grip. "I see you're still the gentlemen you were grown into?"
"Yes, father!" Kaze proudly held his head high.
"[Of course.]" Benonic nodded.
"As usual," Darren shrugged.
"Very good, boys," Negolas, the Great Grand-King of Cosium, joined the group. "Your father and I are proud that nothing has misled any of you into evil deeds,"
"For that, my dear nephews, we have presents from the trip to give to all of you," Rakar, the Grand-Royal Adviser of Cosium, smiled as he got a sack from the back of the carriage. "Including our grandchildren,"
Darren gulped. 'Oh dear…'
"Actually, Uncle Rakar," Kaze explained. "the boys are in Atlantis to stay with King Posiden and Queen Marissa for a few days so you'll just have to give their presents when they arrive,"
"Hmm, that's strange," Athena seemed confused. "Marissa would always tell me whenever the boys were with her and Posiden,"
Sonic, Silver and Shadow held their breaths before turning to Trails, whose eyes tried not to give away his fear as he trembled. Darren, on the other hand, was internally trying to tell himself to stay calm.
"Well, I'm sure Mother and Father just forgot," Sapphire replied with a smile. "They're always busy running Atlantis and I'm sure the boys are having fun with the dolphins and the fishes there,"
"Well, that settles that," Mortesen grinned. "Now, let's head inside and maybe introduce these three?"
He motioned at Sonic, Shadow and Silver, who all froze in surprise when the attention was suddenly on them. Darren wanted to gulp but shook off his fright as he tried to calmly enter the conversation.
"They're my hired assistants, Father," he explained, trying to mean what he said, as Shadow suggested. "This ebony one is Terios Hedgehog, this albino one is Venice Hedgehog and this azure one is Maurice Hedgehog,"
"Greetings, your majesties," Silver spoke with all his heart, and nervousness, as they all bowed.
Mortesen narrowed his eyes at them. 'My gift… isn't helping me to check if they're a danger or not. His words are true but his emotions are mixed! What's going on here…'
"Welcome to Cosium Castle," Negolas interrupted his eldest son's thoughts with a big greeting. "I'm sure you'll do a great job assisting my youngest grandson on his work here,"
"We'll do our best," Shadow forced in a smile and tried to mean what he said after noticing Mortesen's eyes on them. 'This guy's gonna be the end of us, as much as Benonic. We need to find a way out of here and fast…'