CHAPTER 34: TRUST

Sonic managed to get back to sleep, not managing another dream. Maybe it was for the better. Whatever. He was very hungry now. He removed himself from the bed, grabbed Caliburn and the Scabbard, and made his way down to the mess hall. There, he saw Lamorak and Galehaut there, talking. They greeted Sonic as he came toward them.

"Good morning, liege." Lamorak greeted, doing a little polite bow.

"I'm not one for fancy shmancy titles." Sonic criticized. "Anyway, I'm hungry. Any leftovers?"

Lamorak looked across the table. "It seems there's only cake. Want some?"

Sonic opened his mouth to accept it.

He looked to his left and saw a cake, with lit candles, sitting on a tray on the floor.

...

He could feel the presence of someone else fade into the room as his breath knocked out each candle.

The room went black due to the lack of light.

Sonic closed his eyes, for a moment, and opened them. He could see the cake in front of him now, and he could feel the presence of the person behind him even more. He repeatedly chanted the words "Oh god oh man oh god oh man" in his head as he realized that the person behind him wasn't a few feet behind him, more rather inches from his back quills.

...

There was silence as the mysterious man took in what Sonic had just done.

He lowered his hand.

And then exploded into a monster, emitting dozens of extra features Sonic couldn't place whilst his body turned much more demonic. One of them tore straight through Blaze's chest, sending blood all over Sonic's left side, from his hip to his head. Sonic shot his hands up to his face in reaction, but by the time they got there, there was nothing to block. He could feel blood trickling into his eye. It wasn't his blood.

Sonic looked at the piece of cake in his hands. He was sick of it.

No words came from his mouth.

"No thanks..." He eventually answered, nervously. "I think I've had enough of it for now." -No seriously, if I ever find that bitch, I'm going to SLAP HER SHIT.-

"Oh, really?" Lamorak asked, curious to the almost sudden change of mood Sonic displayed. "Guess you've got to go into town, then."

Rubbing his eyes, Sonic yawned and said "Alright. Be back in, I don't know how long, but we're probably going to be leaving soon. So get the others to take what they need, armor included. And I'm going to need a good long rope."

"AFFIRMATIVE." Galehaut blurted. "I WILL GO WAKE THE KNIGHTS. LAMORAK CAN FIND A ROPE FROM THE DUNGEON or some such location."

Galehaut almost immediately began moving toward the stairwell when Sonic turned toward Lamorak. The hawk had an awkward look on his face before he went to find the stairway downstairs. Sonic exited the front door, to find Murdoc sitting on the bridge with his back against the wall. Shaking his head, Sonic walked over.

"Didn't make it home, I take it?" Sonic asked jokingly.

"Shat it. Stumbled and hit my head, thought I'd stay here on the bridge fer the night. Not like I'm keepin' anyone waitin'..." The sinister-looking lean man replied.

"What's your name, anyway?"

"Maximilian."

"Ok Max, need any-"

"It's Maximilian."

"Need any help home?"

"Nah, I'm fine here, on this bridge, for the time being. Just go an' do whatever it is you were doing. I'll be fine, so long as people like you don't wake me up this early in the morning."

Shrugging, Sonic began to walk away. A couple yards away, he turned his head and shouted "It's like, ten, or something."

"... Eh!"

As Sonic walked through the city, he had a slightly less good mood. He didn't know why. -Must have been the crowds cheering, or something, and the lack of rails to fly by them. I've got a couple of kids to make happy, people.- Eventually, he waded his way over to the Blacksmith's house.

Smithy answered the door.

"Hello, Sonic." The fox greeted. "I believe your stuff is in the basement."

"Thanks, but there's something else I came for as well." Sonic answered, going down the stairs to retrieve the sack of his items.

Curious, he looked through the doorway as Sonic hoisted the sack over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I want to show you something. Come outside."

As Sonic left through the doorway, Leon followed, a bit apprehensive of what Sonic wanted. Sonic leaned on the wall, and put the bag down.

"Get out into the open."

Leon did so, a bit nervous.

"Now, spin your tails around as fast as you possibly can."

With a raised, unconvinced eyebrow, Leon spun his tails. It was not his best attempt, nor fast enough.

"Like your life depended on it."

He went faster. Still not fast enough.

"Like if your girlfriend was going to get beat up by that one guy you hate."

Unmotivated, the fox's tails did not move faster. Sonic decided to point out what it was for.

"Like the tails pushing down the air would make you fly."

Leons' eyes widened as his speed increased twofold.

At this point, Sonic grabbed his bag. "Now keep doing that until something amazing happens, I'll be back in I-don't-know." Sonic tossed the bag over his shoulder and began to walk away. "Oh, and tell your girlfriend to flap her ears up and down like that too."

In that moment, Sonic did not hear a thing. The tails were silent, his footsteps were quiet, Caliburn was peeking out from inside the Scabbard to watch the fox curiously, and the crowds had their eyes on him.

Or so he thought they had their eyes on him, because the next moment, Leon whooped as he flew through the air like a helicopter as the crowds in head of him cheered with the force and pride of the warriors Sonic had gathered two days ago. Some of the crowd had cheered blessings at Sonic, saying that he was a miracle worker, and some even bowed. He did not pay much notice to it. He just wanted to leave the kid happy, not gain followers. He still felt something subdued him; like his day was getting worse as it went on. Like something was clogging him. Like it was forced. Seeing Leon finally fly, after all the trouble he knew he went through, brightened his day, a little bit. He decided to go to out to the markets to get something to eat, and then go back.

Sonic came back to the castle with a full stomach, but his attitude was even worse than before. Caliburn was chastising him about his actions.

"... And when you dropped your bag, you were very rude to the people that tried to help pick up the stuff for you. They're your people, you know!"

"Well I'm leaving today, so they aren't really!" Sonic spat back. "And I'm faster than them, I didn't need their help."

"Well telling them to 'bug off' isn't a proper way to say 'no thank you'."

"Who are you, my mother? But fine, maybe I did treat them a little shabby. Sorry, okay?"

Lamorak had been standing by the doorway with the rope. He heard their little argument, and tried to quietly talk to Caliburn.

"What's gotten into him?" Lamorak asked. Normally it was him with the issues.

"Oh, nothing, things are just getting to him the wrong way, and he's having trouble taking it the right way."

"I can still hear you." Sonic said over his shoulder.

"Whatever, anyway, Sonic, what do I do with the rope?"

"Hold it for a moment," Sonic ordered, taking Caliburn out of the Scabbard. "Hold him too." Sonic made haste walking toward the stairway. "I need to see if I left anything in my room. Be back in a moment."

Sonic walked up the foyer stairs, knowing that something was wrong. He's not really feeling too good, and it wasn't because of one simple thing. Even as he climbed the stairs, he could feel his patience sap away, each step. So, instead of simply walking to his room, he decided he'd pick up the pace and run. He thought it would feel better than walking all the way there.

And it did. Although he was still getting the slightest bit annoyed every door that wasn't his room, it certainly felt better to know that he'd find his room several times faster than if he had walked. As he drew closer to where he remembered his room to be, he almost felt relieved. When he gets his stuff, he could tie the rope around all his knights, go home, and just spend the day in his apartment, relaxing. Because he felt like he needed it right now.

After he got to his door, he opened it with a smile on his face. -Yay, I can get my stuff an--

It was a bathroom. -FUCK.-

But not to worry, it could have been the room across from it. Within a second, Sonic was at the other door, opening it.

Closet. -DAG NABBIT.-

He was sure this was where it was. Granted. He was here one night, but still, he should know where it was, right? Maybe he used a different staircase to get up here? He checked how many doors it took for him to get here, and found the door he would have used if he used a different staircase. Guest room, library. It wasn't on this floor. -FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...-

The knights sit in the dining room, awaiting the return of Sonic. However, it's been about thirty minutes since Sonic said "be right back."

"Anyone want to help that reckless dolt find his room?" Caliburn complained.

"I will, I guess." Galahad said, standing up. "Anyone else? Percival?"

"Fine." The cat stood up. "If he's already started his ascent..."

"Inside?" Caliburn questioned as Percival and Galahad were walking around the table towards the doorway to the foyer.

"It could happen." She joked.

"And that would suck." Galahad added whilst laughing to himself before the two left the room.

As the two climbed the stairs, they could only wonder what he was doing to take so long. They checked the first floor of doors, with no avail. As they climbed the second flight, they heard slamming doors. Now knowing where he is, they begin to wonder why he was doing that. He should have found it by now.

"Makes me wonder if he's even checking them..." Galahad commented.

"~...In my place, where I escape, up into my HIIDEOUT.~" Sonic grumbled to himself as he went from door to door, opening the door, looking into the room but his mind too clouded with frustration and anger to even process whether or not it's his room. "~Hiding from, everyone, my friends all say "Dave you're mental anyway" HEY!~"

Five doors later, he heard footsteps. He turned to Galahad and Percival.

"What?" He growled. "I swear I've almost checked every god damn room in this museum of architectural failure by now."

"You've been taking a while. We want to help." Galahad explained.

"I don't need your help, I'll find it sooner or later."

"You passed it."

He twitched as his glare sharpened at Galahad.

"WHAT!" Sonic shouted, stomping over.

As Sonic went over to him, Galahad turned his head, and moved his hands. They slowly glowed softly, and a doorknob turned blue. It twisted, and the door was pushed open. Sonic looked into the doorway, and, as it turned out, it was his real room. This only piled onto Sonics' frustration, as he realized he missed it.

"GAAGGH." He groaned, pulling at his quills, letting to to slam a fist against his head three times. "STUPID, STUPID, STUPID."

"You're not in the best mood, are you?" Percival asked. "What's wrong?"

"To be honest, I DON'T KNOW." Sonic answered. He stomped into the room, and kicked one of the bed posts. It shattered upon contact with his foot. "BUT THIS FUCKING ROOM SURE ADDED TO IT!"

"Calm down!" Both of them pleaded in unison.

"Just give me a minute with this room." Sonic said, grabbing a chair.

"Sit down, Sonic." Percival suggested. "You'll cool down quicker."

Sonic, letting down the chair, walked up to Percival. "Don't TELL ME WHAT T-"

He froze. He felt a surge coming from the Scabbard. Within a moment, Sonics' eyes were going through what felt like a malfunctioning process. Percival and Galahad noticed this as well. They saw the images Sonic was seeing in his head, as very curiously, they were being projected onto the whites of his rather massive eyes. Mildly confused, they paid attention to these images.

Sonic began right where his dream left off.

Sonic saw the Kings' face once more. Staring him in the eye. His face was not directly in Sonics' so he could see the rest of the completely bland and featureless room, save for the hole Sonic created falling in.

However, out of the blue during his dissection, Blaze fell from the ceiling, the hole still in her body, and slammed her skull on the floor with a loud CRACK. He cringed as he saw her head slouch on itself, signifying the skull broke. Again, he closed his eyes, not wanting to see someone elses' insides as well as his own.

His eyes were forced open, and immediately he noticed something different.

The body on the ground was the king's body now. It had a sword pinning it to the ground from his back. He did not feel like he was in his own body, he felt lighter. Possibly due to the amount of organs lost. But worst of all, when he looked at the man killing him once more.

He saw his own eyes glaring back.

Sonic's mouth was agape when he regained his true vision. There was a moment of silence for all of them. There were little need for words; the looks in each others' eyes told most of what they needed to know about their feelings. To Galahad and Percival, this was literally the case for Sonic.

Sonic reached behind his back. Very robot-like, he removed the Scabbard, and held it out toward Percival.

"Hold this for me."

Percival took it from him, and the moment she did, she thought it hissed at her. The moment Sonic let go of the Scabbard, he grabbed his upper arms and shivered.

"I..." Sonic began, rubbing his arms shyly, trying to warm up from his rather cold attitude he's been displaying lately. "I'm sorry, I think that... the Scabbard-"

"Gives you negative energy."

They turned to see Nimue, in the same circle they saw her before, when she had told them how to stop the spread of darkness, smiling at the choice Sonic had made just then.

"That's how Arthur became the corrupt king he was. Sure, he was created from magic, but with the Scabbard, it turned dark, and evil. You seem more adapted to positive energy. If you do not want to keep the Scabbard, I am fine with that. We can forget of the deal we struck." Nimue assured sincerely, doing the lightest curtsey. "Many a man have succumb to its power. It would pain us all to see a man of your stature to become a no more than a statistic of men driven insane from its power."

Sonic was shocked. He had let himself go, and he almost had to pay for that. If he didn't stop when he did, he could have ruined everything; his story book friends, the story book world, his real life friends, his real life world... and himself.

"I love how you told me this." Sonic admitted, smiling. "It shows me you care, and that I need to be more careful. I will bring this into my world, as we agreed. I will use it sparingly, and under supervision of others which are informed of its powers and side effects." Sonic did a bow. He felt awkward doing it, but he felt it was needed, and it was the first gesture that came to mind. "Thank you."

"Are you sure?" The Lady of the Lake asked once more.

"I cannot be controlled by power. I am controlled by the wind that blows free." Sonic answered.

"As you wish..." Nimue nodded, understanding. She closed her eyes, and began to fade away. "... Knight of the Wind."

The Lady of the Lake disappeared in a flash, leaving the three standing in the fancy and partly destroyed bedroom, staring at where she stood. A moment had passed, and they turned to look at each other. The king began to make his exit.

"~De du de daw, de du de daw, de de de de de.~" The Knight of the Wind sang Knight of the Wind to himself in the the style of Scatman John. "~De du de daw, de du de daw, da DE DE DE DE.~"

Sonic, Galahad, and Percival returned to the dining room. There, Lamorak was playing with the rope, lassoing objects across the table and pulling them toward him.

"Alright, Lamorak, enough fooling around." Bors said. "Untie that, and give it to Sonic. He wanted it for a reason."

Shrugging, Lamorak quickly and easily did so, before tossing it to Sonic.

Recalling back to the first time he left this book, he had floated up with his upper torso and head. In his mind, he tried figuring out how he would create a harness with a single piece of rope. He got it, rushed into the kitchen, found some ink and a writing quill, and began to crudely illustrate his harness on a napkin.

After successfully tieing and replicating the harness on everyone in a way that worked, Sonic led the chain of knights upstairs. They managed to find their way to the roof, beside the flag. The flag was orange, with a hollow red circle with three swirling lines toward the center. Sonic noticed that the weather was very similar to the day he arrived. He figured it meant he was going through the same process, but in reverse. And with his friends tied on a rope following his trail.

"Anyone want to back out? Now's the time."

There was a silence.

"You may come back, but not for a while. Anyone you're leaving behind, you're leaving behind. No goodbyes?"

"Not really." Bors spoke. "I'm sure when word hits about what happened, the rest of the former Knights of the Round Table will band together again and begin recruiting."

"... Maybe." Percival said under everyone else.

Lamorak caught her words, and scoffed. "Oh great, momma's girl gonna start whi-"

"Quiet, will you? I did just leave them, not a word said... at least you said goodbye."

"Well that ain't my fault is it? Sis, grow up."

-Oh shit, I forgot that Lamorak and Percival are brothers in the real story. Or, in this case, brother and sister. Forget being brothers with Jet, imagine being the FATHER. ~Mama had a chicken, Mama had a cow, Dad was proud, BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW.~-

"Weren't you the one to tell her to get back in the kitchen?" Gawain asked.

Lamorak groaned. "You will NEVER let me go from that, will you?"

Sonic tried to end the conversation. "Lamorak, shut up. Bors, let him go from that. Drunk people do stuff like that. Percival, I did the same thing. Sure, it was the most stupid thing I've ever done in my life, but after saving the world a couple times, I'm sure they're happy." -There was truth in that. The extent of that truth is debatable.- "And I'm sure yours will be when news hits."

Still not satisfied, Percival looked at the ground.

Still complaining, Lamorak -said "CHEERS TO MY BIG MOUTH"- went on.

"And how come SHE gets all the attention? What, did you two start doing SOMETHING behind our backs or-"

"You sound like your jealous."

Appalled, the bird looked over to the person who had said that, simply awestruck. Gawain laughed heartily.

"What?"

"You heard me." Galahad said. Just as Lamorak was about to speak up, Galahad spoke over him. "And a good amount of money says you would fuck your sister."

"ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED? NO!"

Bors was a bit worried about how the two had forgot she was right there. "Um, guys-"

"Don't get all mad because you're on a hangover."

"Guys." Bors spoke, realizing his attempt to get their attention is futile.

"Incest is disgusting, I don't even know where you pulled that bullshit out from, your face or your ass." Lamorak insulted.

"Hey guys." Bors tried once more.

Percival herself was about to speak up, but a giggling Sonic put one finger in front of her mouth to silence her. She felt like an object. Sonic continued to giggle like a school girl and watch the scene through the gaps between his fingers.

"It is but why do you go 'oh they're probably fucking right now' every time she leaves with someone else, eh?" Galahad noted.

"Look, that is the most poorly backed argument I have ever heard in my life, you vermin."

"I'm a hedgehog! We're not vermin!"

"Vermin, rodent, same difference."

"What if I called you a bat?"

"I would slap you."

"Then I should be able to slap you by your logic."

"You don't because you're retarded."

"Guys." Bors failed again at getting their attention.

"That's stupider than what I said!"

"Then you admit to having a flawed argument."

"No, I wasn't finished with-"

"GUYS!" Bors shouted abruptly.

This time, a silence marked his success at gaining their attention.

"SHE IS RIGHT THERE."

Percival sat alone toward the side, her jaw dropped and her head shaking in disappointment.

"Do you think we care?" Lamorak spat a retort at Bors.

"Well you should." Bors answered.

"Well you lose, then."

"Hey Sonic, I think Lamorak forgot to bring his morals-"

It was then Bors realized Sonic was not where he was.

"... Guys, where's Sonic?"

"HE STARTED HIS ASCENSION." Galehaut answered. "HE'S BEEN UP THERE FOR THE PAST THIRTY SECONDS."

"Yeah, nice hawk eye, Lamorak!" Sonic taunted from above. "Or should I say, Lamo-BRAWK BRAWK BRAWK."

"SHUT UP!" Lamorak shouted.

As Percival, the next person tied to the rope, was being lifted off her feet into the air, Sonic noticed his flight wasn't as quick as it normally should. He figured it was the knights weighing him down. -If they're weighing me down... oh shit, will Omega even get off the ground?-

"You two were awfully quiet about that..." Gawain noted as the rope began to tug on his harness.

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, I just hoped that the argument would turn into some random conversation about nothing that ends when the rope pulled Lamorak up. It would have been hilarious." -Love Seinfieldan Conversations.-

Gawain couldn't really manage a response as he was being slowly tugged into the air. The force pulling Sonic up was getting stronger by the second, however since Sonic was literally dragging six friends with him, it required more force to lift them.

Lamorak was not much of a problem to lift, as birds are lightweight. The lifting process had stopped for a minute as it was time for Galehaut to be lifted. It was this point where Sonic thought maybe chains should have been issued, as the rope could easily break. As Bors rose from the top of the castle's keep, Galahad couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. There was this cold sensation at his lower legs.

While the Galehaut was being lifted, Sonic looked off to the city. It looked like a breathtaking work of art. The town citizens going about their daily lives, and the rooftops of the city with chimneys coughing smoke.

Sonic turned to the port of the town. The livelyness was much less apparent, due to the weather hinting at a storm, but the port in general made him wish he had a camera. -I've got an idea for another play-through, now.-

"Sonic!" A familiar voice called out.

Sonic looked down, but didn't see any new faces on the scene. He looked around and saw Leon and Emily, flying toward him.

"You're leaving?" The fox said.

"Yeah. I've got my own world to deal with." Sonic answered. "Don't take me wrong, I love this place, but there's probably problems by the number by now back home."

"Oh. Well, thanks for everything!" The blacksmith tahnked.

"And thank you for getting Riley back for me!" The rabbit said. -This is why Tails will never GET, let alone KEEP a girlfriend. Because if he has every opportunity to look good, he won't take it, and he's BETA as FUCK and WON'T EVEN LIE ABOUT IT.-

"That was her, down there. But I told her to. Anyway, goodbye."

The flying couple watched as Sonic suddenly rose from Galehaut being lifted. After thanking Percival, the two flew off into the distance.

Sonic laughed to himself at the absurdity of it all as he slowly ascended into the skies, with a rope coiling under the plate armor and downward, wrapping around The Knights of the Round Table, which was their means of following Sonic. -Now THAT'S a Rapture I'd pay to see!-

-...ohfuck, did I tell the civilians I'm not the second coming of Jesus?-

"Hey Percival, look down!" Lamorak shouted, laughing as hard as he could while the harness limited his breathing space. Percival did not have to say a word to show she did not find that funny.

"Someone's grabbing on my leg!" Galahad shouted.

Sonic abruptly stopped laughing and looked down. "WHAT? You're at the bottom of the rope!"

"I know!"

Sonic, worried about someone trying to sneak on, leaned over to one side so he could get a good view and looked down. What he saw at the bottom of the line, holding on to the White Knight's leg, was the crystalline hedgehog from before.

Sonic realized it would be brought into his world in mere seconds. "IN THE NAME OF GOD, KILL THAT THING!"

But that that moment, Sonic soared into the clouds, and felt himself being sucked toward something he couldn't see.

.7%.

This story is among the .7% of Sonic fanfiction to break 100k Words. I'm now officially in the Cool Kids Club.