The Wind Chronicles of Gaea

Event Fourteen

I Think I'm Getting Used to this…Swordplay Stuff

The next night began with Sonic following Lord Percival into the hedge-maze, to ensure he didn't get lost in it. Those winding curves proved to be confusing; he wondered how she knew her way around. "Probably through lots of trials…and errors," Sonic thought with dread.

"We are to rendezvous with Bastet tonight after supper, Heir," he remembered her telling him. "Please be prompt, for your final trial approaches." She had continued on to tell him, "Show me the progress you've made. I am a master of speed and swiftness. I'm sure Lancelot's quick jabs and slices proved fearsome, at the least. When the time arrives, I'll need you to discern your weaknesses against them…then, assume your disadvantage against me."

"It almost sounded like she was threatening me." Sonic clenched a fist. "But, then again…she's a tough cookie, so this is gonna be an interesting challenge!"

Once again, Sonic arrived in the Gladiolus Arena. The decrepit coliseum looked creepier at night than during the day. Edifices cracked somewhat deeper, maybe even housing tiny pairs of eyes. Nighttime Fauna were making their moves about. But it didn't seem to spook Percival at all.

Upon stepping onto the arena floor, Percival halted. So did Sonic, right behind. A question mark popped over his head, his eyes peering from the lady-knight's left to right shoulder. His quills stood on end when he saw her unsheathing her sword.

Intense focus moved her. Her steps were strong, and her wardrobe began to transform before his very eyes: "Pyracantha, Ignire." Her voice commanded flames to spin around her. Their heat made Sonic pull back. But amazement sparked in his eyes. Her current wardrobe was engulfed by petal-shaped embers, and she was being embraced by a fiery dirt devil. In its midst, Percival pirouetted expertly. As she did this, silver armor coursed over her shoulders, torso, hips, from head to toe. Her Sacred Rapier gleamed fiercely. "Laevatein, Ignite!" The sparks from her gauntlet sliding against the blade seemed to awaken it. The cyclone flourished outward, like a blooming rose.

Then, a bright carmine sigil flashed on her right thigh. Raising her blade from her nose to the sky, she bellowed, "Come—Bastet!"

A banshee's soul-piercing shriek covered the coliseum. The Fauna punting about fled. Bats took flight, as if to give the Draconian the floor. It sounded somewhat terrifying to Sonic, since he jumped a little. Unsure of its source, Sonic threw his sights around.

"You shouldn't do that…."

Sonic caught sight of Percival disappearing within a black fog. "H-Hey?!"

"My challenge may be the worst of them, Promising Heir," she told him in an ominous yet scholarly voice. "You may want Escaflowne's help. Call on him, and he shall come." Abruptly, the blackness dispersed. And with it did the 3rd Viceroy.

Before Sonic could rebut her, a gust proved Bastet's presence. She must've been hidden in Bastet's cloak, Sonic reasoned, since he couldn't spot her. A tenseness drew his muscles, Caliburn's blade flashing in the moonlight. Before he could remember which moon, he caught sight of an oily shimmer.

"Gotcha! Let's do this—Escaflowne!"

The Tempest Dragon came bowling from overhead, let out a zealous cry, and swooped down to pick up Sonic. "Oh yeah! I'm so stoked for this!"

Percival removed some of Bastet's stealth cloak and smiled back at them tailing her and her dragon-partner closely. "Very good. But it seems Caliburn isn't fully awake, yet. A costly mistake…!" She aimed her sword to a mountain in the distance. It was the one that appeared to be floating. "To the Floresta Mountains and back: I shall test your speed, swiftness, and endurance within that distance! Defeat me in all three bouts, and I will regard your potential as formidable…Now, come after me!"

"You've got it! Let's go, Escaflowne!"

Sonic and his Draconian partner took off like the wind. In deep competition, Percival eluded them. She admitted that Escaflowne was fast, but it didn't look like Sonic had a good grasp on his reigns. Certainly not accustomed to flying—let alone a dragon—Percival let it slide. And before they knew it, the Floresta Mountains had made themselves into an obstruction. Quick reflexes guided Bastet upward along the mountain face.

"Watch out for orbiting mines!" Percival cried back to him.

Sonic panicked, "There are mines up here?!"

Banking rightward, she added, "Careful, Heir…! Catch me, if you can!"

"Heh! It's so on!"

A battle cry escaped Escaflowne's throat. And, as if placing himself on auto-pilot, Escaflowne locked Sonic out of his steering functions.

In response, Sonic tried to jimmy them loose. "What the—It won't move! Escaflowne, what're you doing?!"

A sharp caw; a silencing caw. He left Sonic flabbergasted and hanging on for dear life. His four eyes locked on to Bastet's barrel-rolls and sharp turns. He also took the enormous boulders floating back and forth into account.

"Whoa, hey, don't you trust me? I thought we were cool, buddies-for-life! What's up with you?!"

But a sharp dodge silenced the hedgehog again. Wild blinks denoted his irritation, but out the corner of his eye, he saw Bastet. As well as Percival; her sneaky grin alluded to another sudden disappearance. "Huh?!" Throwing his sights around again, he snapped, "Crap, where'd she go?"

The Sacred Broadsword, Caliburn was brought up, then a breath hold. Then, a breath. More breaths. Sonic focused on his breathing for a moment.

Suddenly—"Behind you!"

A sneak attack: Well, Percival was a master of speed and stealth. Sonic didn't put it past her to do something like that. And solely by miraculous means did he parry her.

She caught his smirk. "I gotcha, now!"

"Is that a fact?"

In the matter of a fractional second—Bing, bang, shing, cring, clang!

Caliburn and Laevatein collided swiftly, repetitively, and furiously. The 3rd Viceroy was fighting with a fraction of all her might, surely. It was only a practice session. But one thing Sonic noticed a trait all three Viceroy-Knights shared was gravity: Lords Lancelot, Gawain, and Percival took his training seriously. It was to critique his potential. It was to ensure their Kingdom's safety and prosperity. They wanted someone who could hold out and hold strong to his words and beliefs. Inadequacy was unacceptable, and cowardice was totally out of the question. Sonic had never been a coward; maybe that notion alone is what kept him going?

The dragons danced into ascension. Shing, cring, crash, clang!

He didn't like giving up. He didn't want to succumb to failure unless there was nothing left he could do. And, even then, he wasn't going to give up. In retrospect, his options would've been completely exhausted back when those witches attacked, if not for them.

Cring—clong—bang!

Gaea was a completely new world to him. So much like Earth and so unlike it, at the same time. The new world held countless mysteries. New faces, new places—to meet and explore. Hand-in-hand came new dangers, too.

One more strike: Percival aimed for a sword-tipped jab, while Sonic swung downward to knock it off-target.

Sonic had faith in the knowledge he was steadily gaining, and in the wisdom he would further ascertain. He had faith in the Viceroy-Knights, in the Dragons—entities he'd just met, but somehow felt he'd known forever.

"If they knew my parents and grandmother, and revered them so highly…" Caliburn's block was successful. "Then these have to be some pretty good people."

The Dragons' dance had concluded. Soon into the break, Percival's head lightened. Clutching it, she growled, "Oh no, we've ascended too…!"

However, before her thought could finish her hold on the reigns slackened. Dramatically: she was falling.

"Percival!"

Bastet's fearful screech came as her claw missed her master's wrist by a hair.

"Escaflowne, dive!" Sonic spat. His command was heeded within a heartbeat. Escaflowne's wings tucked inward, Sonic threw himself forward to streamline their descent. Percival made no movements; Sonic's heart raced to catch her in time. Bastet wailed as she dove after them.

"I got her…I got her!"

Disengaging his footholds, Sonic leapt out and snatched Percival into his arms. Escaflowne let out a startle squawk. "I got her! Quick!"

But then, Bastet swooped in and caught both of them. Escaflowne's wing happened to intersect hers. A strange "submersion" rushed all over Sonic's body as he held onto Percival for dear life. He was chanting, "I gotcha, I gotcha," bravely to himself before feeling it all around him. Soon enough, he found himself on Bastet's saddle. The Nocturne Dragon's breathy tweets made it into his ears. Shakily, he answered, "Yeah, we're okay. Must've gone up too high, I guess…?" He chuckled. It came out just like his answer. "The altitude can be quite a bother to us 'Earthborn,' since the air thins out the higher you go. It must not bother you guys so much, huh?" Out came another shaky chuckle.

Bastet still made a worried face, half circles gleaming in a worried tint of amber. Escaflowne nudged her face; it was his turn to give a nervous twitter.

"Thanks, you two. The thin oxygen must've gotten to her. No worries, she just passed out. She'll be okay." Despite its trembles, Sonic's hand managed to pet Bastet's head in a soothing manner. A relieved warble left her throat. He smiled at her.

"C'mon, let's head back. I'm sure to get a passing grade for this one."

Escaflowne snorted, derisive towards Sonic's passivity. "Hey, I saved her, didn't I?" Another snort. This one was sharper than the last. "Okay, okay…we saved her. I didn't think you cared about grades like that, Escaflowne. Heh-heh, overachiever…!" He snapped his jaws in Sonic's direction, before moving into a climb.

The Dragons' wing-beats sounded soothing to the blue hedgehog, strangely. A wave of heroism and accomplishment washed over him. It led to his relieved sigh. The source of Caliburn's gleam came into full view. His eyes widened in amazement.

"Is that…Earth?" Shock left him at that.

It was big, beautiful, and up really close. Close enough to see atmospheric movements. Enough to see the ocean's glittering surface. If Sonic focused hard enough, he could probably find the city he'd lived in prior to Fanelia. Peridot eyes beamed in wonderment. "Oh…wow…!"

The lady-Knight's ear swiveled in the direction of Sonic's voice. Her eyes peeped at Sonic. His entranced eyes didn't noticed her. They were so broad, so bedazzled, they reminded her of hers as a kitten. Brave citrines beheld the Knights of Caeli's emblem. "I pray for your aspirations to be realized, Promising Heir." She closed her eyes softly. "May you not despair in your melancholy, but…?"

"…Look forward to a better opportunity at a better quality of life. For that, I solemnly pray."

Sonic's worry chittered terribly at the back of his mind. His eyes darted left, right, left, right, and left again. The fountain behind him was like "base" in a game of Tag. The gushes pooled elegantly. More likenesses defined its being: Another mysterious male hedgehog, with braids and a downcast gaze, holding up two double-headed serpents. He sat like a tribe chieftain. He looked regal in every sense of the word. Overall, he was stunningly beautiful; easily mistaken for a maiden, if Sonic said so himself. Something about the likeness made his spines quiver. Was it each snake's two heads? Or the fact that he was holding them?

Whatever it was, it wasn't helping him at all.

"You are growing tardier the longer you sit there, Knave."

Sonic jumped from his perch, flailing about like a panicked fish. Throwing himself into a semi-defensive stance, he noticed Lancelot's face in the gush's band. Sonic blinked a little. He seemed to be looking downward. Curious, Sonic couldn't help asking himself why. He threw the question aside, so he could blurt out, "Well, how the heck was I gonna make it on time, anyway? I don't know where 'Snapdragon Lake' is from here! This giant maze is by far the worst part of this garden retreat, ya know! You know the way there. You have to guide me!"

"I can only leave you with step-by-step instructions. I cannot follow you here."

"But you're already there! Can't you just come and get me—please?"

The 1st Viceroy's eyes narrowed. "You are meeting me, Knave. I summoned you here. Don't try to compromise your lack of navigation with rudeness."

"My sense of navigation is lacking because of this stupid maze! Who's the idiot who decided to put this deathtrap here, anyway?!"

"…Your great-great-grandmother, Mother Helene Kyrie II, you twit."

All of a sudden, Sonic's eyes became watery pools. Embarrassment and terror struck his heart; Lancelot seemed to be figuring out how to tear his face off with the fountain water. Stuttering gasps escaped in staccato. "Ahh…Umm…Err…I'm sorry. Whoops."

It appeared the Knight had defeated the Knave with a mere correction, as well as a heart-stopping glare.

"…Okay. If I'm going the right way, then there should be a left I'll have to take soon."

Finding himself a little less intimidated, Sonic moved through the maze with caution. He didn't want to get lost, now; Lancelot was already irked by his tardiness. The Viceroy's instructions were step-by-step, down to the number of strides it took to reach each bend, corner, and curve. As turned around as Sonic felt himself becoming, he trusted Lancelot's word. "I'm pretty sure he's been through this maze thousands of time, by now." The Blue Blur huffed a sigh. A comical drop of sweat made its way down his jawline.

Ivy hedges ran everywhere. Sonic could tell his internal compass had been thrown way off. "Just around this corner, right?" He found himself staggering soon into it: A staircase had suddenly appeared. It was short, and it led him to a winding bridge. He blinked at the craftsmanship. Stunningly intricate, like every hand-sculpted detail took hours. The bridge seemed to curve too, toward a large stone building. Sonic suddenly recalled the ruins at the lake Caliburn stood over. "The architecture's…the same?" he murmured over more blinking.

Except this building was completely intact. Of course aged by time and weather, the gazebo was gigantic. Big flowerpots stood in the bay windows while small planters cradled overhanging vines. Mostly partially shaded varieties, Sonic took the liberty to stroll inside the establishment.

Magnificent tile inlays came in whimsical designs. Sonic wasn't too sure of the colors, since it was so dark. But the Earth's light was like heavily magnified moonlight, so Sonic could distinguish the lighter colors. Pastels like coral, baby-blue, and jade could be seen swirling in the floor. Natural colors? Darker hues were assumed to be black, and they formed a massive circle. Sonic also noticed arrows; they pointed in perpendicular directions. "Oh, a compass! Huh, that's actually kinda cool." Glossy Gaean script was inlaid next to each one.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed two more after them.

"Wait a minute. This isn't a compass…?" A swirling metal blade rose from the ring's center. "This…is a sundial!" Careful foot-taps brought the hedgehog around the tool. It was probably one of the biggest sundials he'd ever seen. His grandmother had a grand old time telling him about how useful but painfully mute they were. "They couldn't wake you up in the morning even if they tried!" he remembered her laughing. It made him laugh to himself, too. He looked up through the roofless cupola. The stars were so bright. A different pair of moons had shown themselves: One white and the others green and red. It seemed that Earth and Gaea shared moons. How many more could there be, he wondered. A misty nebula roamed in a southernmost corner of the sky. Constellations were something that couldn't be counted; Sonic never bother learning the numbers, but the names intrigued him. Orion, Cassiopeia, the Pleiades and Zodiac Signs. Ursa Minor and Major. There were others on the other sides of the world, Sonic learned. Stars—everywhere, his boyhood mind couldn't fathom it.

But now, to teenage Sonic, infinity seemed very much visible. All it made him say was, "Wow…!"

Suddenly, a brain gear clacked. "Wait a minute—Lancelot wanted me to meet him at Snapdragon Lake? Well, if this is the place…then where the heck is the lake?"

Bafflement marked the blue hedgehog's features. He scratched his head, muttering, "I don't see any lake…." He looked to the left. Then right. Then behind him. He had no choice but to retrace his steps. "Maybe I missed something…?" For the sake of double-checking, he did so backwards. "Is it somewhere down—? Oh."

Remarkably, the massive gazebo stood on sets of pillars. Fanciful pillars rose from a somewhat large body of water. "There it is," Sonic presumed it to be. "Huh?"

Sonic spotted ripples. Was something in the water?

Upon making his way to it, Sonic discovered a hidden route in the hedges. In one corner was a brightly colored flower. 'An actual snapdragon?' Sonic made a face, piecing his hunch together with what he saw next.

Snapdragons: They were everywhere. Sonic had reached the tall case's landing to see everything in full view: Other kinds were there to compliment them, as well. But, akin to a flower arranger's favoritism, the lakeside was encircled by snapdragons. Tiny nocturnal life clambered over leaves and stems. The lake smelled fresh, despite its stagnant position.

Or, it was mostly stagnant. Finally, a moving shadow appeared.

The Earth's shine brought the lakeside into light. And Sonic gawked in amazement: Arysariel lied on the lake's rightmost bank. He appeared to be sleeping. Just beyond his view, his master skated. Curving around columns, the 1st Viceroy skimmed the lake's top. In his wake were splashes, tiny waves that lulled to ripples. A most elegant and impossible feat to Sonic; only to be trumped by what his eyes perceived.

"No way…! He's skating on the water!" he couldn't help thinking.

Lancelot looked like a water nymph. An ethereal glow escaped from the lake's depths. Looking closer, Sonic noticed Lancelot twirling a ribbon of water around him. His movements were so graceful. Bowing about his body were long dark-blue robes; streaming in his wake was an icy-blue sash, and its silver ring anchoring the three ends together gleamed. His sleeves also rippled, much akin to the stylized angels he'd see in manga and anime. The Viceroy skated barefooted, for the most part. Strappy leggings bound his ankles and laced up his calves. Intense focus marked the Viceroy's features.

Sonic was dumbstruck by the black hedgehog's magic control. It seemed out of that world—and, somehow, out of his reach. How long did it take to master? How much energy did it take? Could he sleep at night, or did it take up his nights sometimes? Would Sonic ever reach that level? If he did, what would it be like? What level would he reach—what forms of wind would he control? The strongest, perhaps—the fastest, maybe? Or even, all of them? The possibilities rained on him. Excitement bubbled in Sonic's gut. He couldn't wait to master his Ensign.

Lancelot made it look so easy. So elegant. And beautiful.

Something else made the water quiver. Where had Arysariel gone off to so fast?

"You're late, Knave."

The Sacred Saber, Arondight had never left Lancelot's side. It looked out of place on his hip, amidst all the flowing gowns. Gloveless fingers ran through the underside of a head-quill. He was walking on water. Energy centered at the ball of each foot, Lancelot found balance and strode towards the shore. He came from under the cupola, into the Earthshine. At a silent beckon, Arysariel slithered out of the lake and greeted his master's palm with his snout.

Sonic gawked. The Mist Dragon brandished his four wings somewhat protectively. He let out a questioning hiss, to which Lancelot petted his snout. "It's fine. The Mystic Moon's shine is much brighter, now." Sonic saw something sparkle on the other hedgehog's head: A circlet—of shiny blue gems and silver? His slightly open chest revealed that notable bolo. In this case, though, it was proven to be a necklace. Decorated with a single disk, it only featured a full moon. "Perhaps our training will be better in this light…you think?"

A more complacent hiss escaped through the Draconian's teeth. To it, Lancelot smirked. Needing a moment with Sonic, he silently sent back Arysariel, who slithered back into Snapdragon Lake.

"Now then." Moonlit rubies made contact with peridot.

Sonic found himself wondering how Lancelot managed to braid his fur. Two cords framed his face but didn't quite touch his shoulders, and were stopped by weighted sapphire beads. Ruby secondary beads sat atop them. At each temple was a triquetra rosette. Coursing in between was another long braid that rested underneath the circlet.

Dumbfounded, Sonic blinked wildly.

"Shall we begin?"

And, to top it off, Sonic wasn't sure why, but he could feel his heart beating a tad-bit too fast.

What I'm not used to…is this Feeling?!