Twenty-four hours before, Tails is out for a walk. He's been working for hours, trying to finish his project, and he needs to clear his head. Besides, it's a beautiful day, and it seems a shame to waste it cooped up indoors.
"Excuse me!"
He turns around, and sees a man standing by the side of the trail. The man is a tall hedgehog, with burnt orange quills, streaked with dark brown. There's something odd about his eyes – they seem to catch the light more than they should, and Tails can't quite make out what colour they should be.
He could have sworn the man wasn't there a moment ago.
"Yes?"
"May I have your -" He cuts himself off, and narrows his eyes slightly for a moment, in either bemusement or suspicion. Tails can't tell – his face is strangely unreadable.
"Oh, you're Tails the Kitsune, aren't you?"
"Um, yes. Can I help you?"
"Actually, now that you mention it, you can." The man recomposes himself, and smiles pleasantly at him. Pleasantly, but unnervingly. "Would you mind telling me what your real name is?"
He looks askance at him, confused by the strange question. "What do you mean? Tails is my real name."
"Oh, perhaps it is now. But what name did your parents give you?"
"My parents abandoned me. They didn't give me a name." Some primal instinct twitches faintly in the back of his subconscious. His conscious mind doesn't notice. "Sonic named me."
"Did he, now." The man is smiling like a shark. "That's rather unusual, isn't it?"
"I guess? Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't. Not to you." He looks over Tails' shoulder, as if there were someone standing behind him. Tails glances back, and sees no one there. When he turns around, the man is gone.
He stands there for a moment, unsure of what to think, rattled in a way he doesn't fully understand. Then, he vanishes, and a small, golden-brown swallow flies up from where he had been standing.
He's not scared, he rationalises. He's just a little confused. Maybe slightly disturbed.
There's no reason to be scared.
Twenty-three hours and fifty-three minutes before, Sonic is sitting on the roof, as usual.
He likes to bask outside on sunny days. It's a rather catlike tendency, really. He has quite a few of those.
Today, though, he seems extra content. He's admiring the view with a big smile, that clearly expresses a sense of things turning for the better.
He recognises the swallow immediately. There's a distinctive, slightly unsure gait to its flight. It swoops down towards the roof, and he doesn't react when the air ripples momentarily and Tails alights next to him.
"Afternoon, buddy." He glances up, pausing when he sees the slightly worried expression. "Did something happen?"
"Not really," replies Tails, sitting down next to him. "But I met a weird guy on the trail."
"Weird how?"
"He kept asking me what my 'real name' was." Tails isn't looking at him. He doesn't see the way his eyes widen.
"That is weird."
"Yeah. I told him my parents didn't give me one, and then – I don't know, he just vanished." Tails looks over. Sonic regains control of his face just in time.
No. There's no way.
Tails looks thoughtful. "Do you think he might have been one of the Fair Folk?"
Yes. Absolutely. The promise tightens around his voice like a noose. "Why do you say that?"
"Well, I never really thought about it before, but we're kind of... connected to them, aren't we? I mean, Knuckles is one of them, Amy was raised by them..." He pauses. "And I'm one too, aren't I? I was just wondering if they want to talk to us." He suddenly brightens up. "Hey, maybe my parents are trying to find me!"
"It's possible." Sonic is genuinely surprised that it isn't a lie. He's also surprised that he hasn't given away his growing fear yet – the promise, he supposes, is still wrapped around him, pulling subtly at his expressions.
Tails gives him a big, innocent smile, and changes the subject. Sonic nods along, not really listening.
It had been such a good day. The paranoia had actually lifted for once.
But then again, it's just like them to mess it up now.
Twelve hours and ten minutes before, Tails yawns.
"I'm going to bed. Night, Sonic."
Sonic hums vaguely. That's not like him. He's been lost in thought all day, and Tails is more than a little worried.
"You okay, Sonic?"
He looks up. For a split second, there's a haunted look in his eyes.
"I'm -" He cuts off. "Tails, you know I won't ever abandon you, right?"
Tails blinks. He's never heard that tone from Sonic before.
"Of course I know that!" He bounds over to hug him. "You promised, didn't you?"
Sonic freezes for a moment, before returning the hug. "Yeah. I did, didn't I?" His tone rises as he speaks, the confidence coming back. "Sorry. I guess I'm feeling off today."
"It's fine, Sonic. Love you."
"Night, lil' bro. Love you too."
Eleven hours before, two Fair Folk meet for the first time in years.
"I certainly hope you haven't forgotten the laws of hospitality in your exile, Sonic."
"Get out of my house."
"Oh dear. My confidence in you may have been slightly misplaced."
"What the hell could you possibly want from me now?"
"You hadn't noticed, Sonic? There's no need for hostility. It's been seven years."
"No need for hostility? First you cut off my wings, then you toss me out, and now you show up and expect me to be nice?"
"You don't understand, Sonic. Seven years was the duration of your exile."
Pause.
"Since when?"
"I was under no obligation to tell you exactly how long it would last."
"So, what, that's it? Everything's fine now?"
"You're a talented young man, Sonic. This exile was meant as punishment, yes, but also a learning experience. You always did have too much sympathy."
"You wanted to disillusion me."
"You could put it that way, yes. I felt it would be valuable."
"Is that why you took my wings?"
"The wings of our kind are easy to preserve. They are comparatively harder to reattach, but my healers are talented."
Pause.
"We've been preparing for you for a while now. Everyone is excited to see you return to the family. Your little cousins -"
"You're not my family."
The man cuts off mid-sentence. He looks like he's just been slapped. There is a long pause.
"... How? How could you say -"
"Easily. Now leave me and my family alone."
"They can't be your family. You understand that, don't you? You promised never to tell them who you are."
"Yeah, you made me do that. And you have no idea how much trouble it was. But, y'see, I made another promise."
"What did you do, Sonic?"
"I promised a little kid I'd never abandon him. I like that promise a lot more."
"Oh. I see."
"Yeah. You can't make me come back."
The man looks over at the clock on the wall. "Eleven hours."
"What?"
"That's how much more time is left on your exile. We'll see how you react then."
The man vanishes. A gentle breeze blows through the open window. Sonic closes it with a final slam.
The next day, Sonic throws a party.
It's not a very big party, by his standards. Just him, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. It's more of a casual, friendly meeting. But he sets out a folding table with some snacks, and puts on some music.
While they set up, Tails notices a persistent look of guilt on his brother's face. He's gotten good at reading Sonic's emotions, and right now he's in turmoil. He guesses it has something to do with last night's strange reassurance, but he can't figure out what's caused this change in attitude.
It hurts to watch him like this.
When Knuckles and Amy arrive, and they get to talking, Sonic perks up a little. He's strangely emotional, but not all that different. But as the time goes by, he seems to become increasingly nervous. For some reason, he keeps checking his watch.
Five seconds before, he yells at them to get ready.
Something changes in the air. Tails blinks, and a heavy fog has settled over the area. Something about it makes him feel dizzy, like the world is blurred.
He blinks again, and the hedgehog from yesterday is standing in the middle of the clearing. Only he's not a hedgehog anymore.
The wings are a rich, deep orange colour, with streaks of a nearly black brown, just like his sharp, wire-like hair. They look insectoid, and paper-thin, although Tails knows better than to trust their weak appearance. They unfold into a massive sheet on the man's back, easily twice the size of his body.
Monarch butterfly, supplies the scientific part of Tails' mind.
"I did warn you, Sonic." The man looks at the tense, battle-ready people surrounding him, as if they were petulant children. "I'll admit, it was a good idea to manipulate them into defending you. It's can't have been easy with your promise in place. But I can't help but wonder exactly what they think of you now."
"Stop," Sonic shouts abruptly. It sounds forced, strangely robotic.
"Ah. I suppose it's only an inconvenience now, isn't it? I release you from your promise."
Sonic audibly gasps, nearly dropping.
"Sonic? What is this?" says Tails, quietly.
"Yes, what is this, Sonic? Would you like to explain yourself?"
"Yeah. I would." Sonic rises, glaring at him with a ferocity none of them have ever seen before.
He leaps at the man with a spindash. His form flickers, and suddenly he's pinning Sonic to the ground, unfazed.
"Hypocritical. I taught you well." He looks up, briefly making eye contact with Tails, and the kitsune shivers at the coldly joyful look in his eyes.
"You see, children, my son hasn't been entirely honest with you."
"W-Wait -"
"He isn't a hedgehog, you see. He's one of us." He looks back at Sonic, struggling against his grasp. "You used the two-sentence trick for your name, didn't you? Yes, I certainly taught you well."
"I'm – Sonic – the Hedgehog!" he gasps.
The man recoils. "What?"
He's thrown back by something, impacting against the wall of the house. Amy's glamour drops in a burst of pink, as she raises her hammer for another swing.
"Ah, you must be the runaway witch. Tell me, how does it feel to have outlived your -"
"Shut UP!" He dodges the blow in another flicker, jumping to his feet a few metres away. "I know people like you. Always preying on everyone's trauma. Well, I'm DONE being manipulated!"
"Very well. No more talk!" He draws a knife, parrying her swing.
Tails snaps out of his shock, running over to help Sonic up. At least, he tries to. Something impacts against his head, knocking him to the ground.
The fae soldiers surrounding them drop their glamours and draw their swords.
"I wouldn't move," says the man, drawing himself up to his full height. "Not if you value the life of that kitsune."
"You -"
"I must say, for a Mobian witch, your glamour was fairly impressive. Certainly better than his." He spins around, slashing with his knife. Behind him, Knuckles appears and drops to one knee, hissing as he clutches the gash in his side. "And he's one of us, though untrained."
"I-I'm not – c-coming with you."
"Oh, not of your own free will. But, you see, if you're incapable of keeping your promise, well, that's hardly your fault, is it?"
Sonic's world goes dark. The Fair Folk vanish.