Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts. All rights belong to Sega, Square Enix and Disney. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 7: Dangerous Merge.
Back in Sora's reality...
The Keyblade Graveyard, the desolate world void of life, a giant grave for fallen Keyblade Wielders centuries before the time of the Guardians of Light, and the battle ground Sora and his friends fought on against Master Xehanort and Organization XIII. A place where the darkness had fallen and peace as been restored. Unlike the previous Keyblade War eons ago, only the life of Master Xehanort was lost, and while Kairi had met an untimely demise, Sora had brought her back, but at the cost of his powers and fading away.
Other than that, all of the members of the Organization that were here had mostly faded away and regenerated as humans, only one being known to be found and renew his life which was Isa. Two had joined the side of Light; Terra who had been finally restored after eleven long years, and Xion, a former replica who's heart was finally recompleted and was now a human alongside Roxas and Namine.
Among these Keys was the one the evil master once wielded; the Keyblade with No Name. One with the gazing cat-slit blue eye at the tip blade of the gothic-like weapon. Perched into the dusty ground of the wasteland, it was soon to be lifeless along with the thousands of it's kind...until an orb of darkness formed into a familiar being that walked up to it and grabbed it by the handle, pulling it out.
"Hmph...Well, seeing that the old Master isn't around and no longer needs this, I suppose it could use a new wielder." The figure spoke of a young male voice but had a dark, evil tone to it.
He was a figure wearing a silver and black outfit much like Riku's Dark form and Vanitas, having the helmet shaped just like the latter: This was the Vanitas Remnant, and he held up the Keyblade above his head.
"With this key, I will find my brothers and claim what is mine. And take out those stupid Guardians of Light. One, by, one." Vanitas Remnant declared, smirking behind his mask with the golden eyes gleaming behind the black glass.
With that goal set in mind, Vanitas Remnant, sensing something and noticed beams of light in the distance, grinned behind the helmet before summoning a corridor of darkness to await for the arrival of the guardians and destroy them once and for all.
Kairi couldn't help but find herself shudder at the sight of the familiar barren world void of life, the place where she had met her untimely end before Sora had sacrificed himself to use the Power of Waking to revive her, at the cost of him being in this world and end up in where she and everyone else had guessed and hoped would be the other reality, the reality and world of the supposed hero Sonic the Hedgehog, the place that could be where the so called Chaos Emeralds resided.
Now here she was with Riku, Namine, Roxas, Xion, Axel, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ven, Aqua, and Terra, back in the Keyblade Graveyard as it was the only decent empty place that was safe enough for the King to use the spell and teleport them all to Sonic's world.
"I know we've been here before, but this place still gives me the creeps." Axel couldn't help but comment.
"I've never liked it either. It's too spooky." Goofy shuddered in agreement.
"It's where everything began. From the Keyblade War years ago, to Xehanort beginning his plot to reshape reality." Terra said firmly, as he and his best friends stared up ahead to everywhere around them. The very world where he failed to save his friends: Here Ven had lost his heart that went inside Sora, where Aqua and Mickey failed to save the boy, and Terra himself, having his body possessed and taken over by Master Xehanort.
All because of his gullibility, eagerness to become a Keyblade Master, and weakness against the Darkness inside his heart. Terra hadn't blamed Master Eraqus for misunderstanding the darkness despite that it was still dangerous, being a strong follower of the Light, though he did wish he could've at least told them about Ven's past then maybe things would've worked out a bit more. The young man had been too focused on fufilling his dream alongside Aqua and Ven that they all took their friendship for granted, not listening to each other's problems, or even Ven's warning about Vanitas.
Even worse, Xehanort used Terra's strong desire and full focus as a Keyblade Wielder to protect the Realm of Light against him, as it was his weakness.
'In the end, it's all my fault. I'm the one who got everyone into this mess. I never should've picked Riku as my successor, yet he and Sora went through so much. Now Sora had paid the price for my mistakes. Aqua should've just left me to drown in the darkness and focused on taking care of Ven, and finding his heart. At least then, the only worry would have been Maleficent.' The Keyblade Wielder thought to himself.
"You sure the teleportation spell will work, Mickey?" Riku asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Well, to be honest, not really. It's been years since I accidentally transported myself to Robotnik's world. But we have to at least try. Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds are our only hope at the moment." Mickey admitted, and while he was worried, the mouse king knew they couldn't back away from this now. "Let's go."
Nodding at the King's orders, the group followed him as they made their way to a decent spot to use the spell. As they did, Kairi stayed behind a little, clasping her hands together in prayer.
'Sora, we're coming to save you. Please be alright. And Light Gaia, I don't know if you can hear me, but please, send my message to Sonic. Tell him that we are in the need of his help.' The sixteen year old girl thought in her mind, before narrowing her eyes with determination.
Though as they did, Terra suddenly thought he sensed a familiar presence of darkness at the corner of his eye. Narrowing his brows, he paused and turned sharply to his right, when a familiar voice spoke to him. "Again you are still so blind, even all these years. Nothing as changed with you, Terra."
To Terra's shock, there stood the familiar old man of Master Xehanort, smirking evilly at the younger man.
"Xehanort!?" Terra exclaimed in shock.
"Do you really think that by joining your friends and successor would help to rescue Sora, and make you atone for what you have done? Your friends are your weakness, they weigh you down. You are one with the darkness. You are the enemy of the Guardians of Light. You are the one responsible for the boy's ultimate sacrifice, and for putting the girl Kairi into mortal danger." Xehanort continued, seemingly ignoring Terra's shocked greeting.
Terra gritted his teeth, attempting to deny it even though deep inside his heart, he felt that the evil master was right. He was about to summon his Keyblade when he blinked for a moment and gasped softly to see that the elder man was gone. He spun around trying to sense and locate the dark Keyblade Master, but he couldn't find Xehanort anywhere.
"Terra?"
Hearing Ven's voice call out to him, he looked up ahead to see his youngest best friend along with Aqua and everybody else, who had noticed that the taller man hadn't joined them, gazing at him worriedly.
"You okay?" Aqua asked, concerned.
Realizing what just happened, Terra nodded and joined up with them.
"What's wrong?" Donald asked, worriedly.
"Nothing. I was just hearing things." Terra replied, not in the mood. He felt that everyone else were gazing at him in concern but he attempted to ignore it in favor of getting things over with. Yet he thought to himself on what just happened. 'It was just another hallucination. Master Yen Sid warned us about what would happen if we don't try to forgive ourselves, especially since light and darkness are different in Professor Robotnik's world. If the darkness were to affect us, it will be more dangerous.'
What he didn't even realize is that the hallucinations were only going to get a whole lot worse...and more dangerous.
By the time the thirteen of them arrived in the middle of the Graveyard which remained unchanged since the ending of the war, and just like before the battle against Xehanort and Organization XIII, most of them felt quite nervous to go through what they thought would be a transporation to one reality to another.
"This is it. Mobius is a world that's unlike all of the worlds. So we'd better be careful. Ready, fellas?" Mickey declared after taking a deep breath, preparing himself to make the spell known.
All of his friends nodded and gathered around, before the King summoned his Kingdom Key W Keyblade, and held it up above his head as it began to glow in bright light. Kairi felt the most nervous and held onto Riku's arm since she didn't want to end up separated from him or anybody else again. Xion and Namine did the same with Roxas, Axel and Isa, Ven, Aqua, and Terra stood close, and both Donald and Goofy held onto each other as they gulped nervously.
"Darkness and Light, never in bind, Day and Night, together Intertwined, Through the Barriers of Time and Space, Allow the Safe Passage to a different Place, to a Reality of the Light Heaven, combined and divided by the Severs of the Chaos Seven!" Mickey had these words memorized, and had looked it up to have it memorized once more.
Hearing his calls and obeying his wishes, the spell formed more brightly as the Keyblade shot up a beam and opened up a new portal similar to the ones Riku and Sora used during their travels, and before they knew it, the Guardians of Light found themselves drifting off the ground, much to most of the group's amazement even though Roxas, Ven, Axel, Donald and Goofy had trouble staying upright due to the lack of gravity as they tried out in alarm.
Unfortunately, the ride was not about to become smooth as suddenly Maleficent, who along with Pete had just teleported to the area just in time to see the heroes take their leave, and the Vanitas Remnant, who also arrived unknowingly to the two other villains, both shot out an attack at the exact same time to capture or kill the heroes.
"The world beyond the Realm of Light shall not be seeing the likes of you fools. Once I gain the Emeralds of Chaos, all the worlds will be mine! Your fate is sealed, and you shall meet your DOOM!" The evil Fairy declared, casting a fire spell straight towards Kairi's group.
"If you losers think you're going somewhere with one of my brothers, you're mistaken. Ventus and Sora along...will be mine!" Vanitas Remnant declared, casting a spell of Darkness and fired it at the group as well.
This was noticed by Goofy who, hearing a noise and looked at both sides, gasped in horror before screaming out. "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
His friends and King saw this and gasped in shock to see two attacks coming from both sides, and the worst part is that they couldn't do a thing to stop it...Except that Mickey didn't think to warn everyone earlier not to cast any other spell during his own even when after he finished casting it.
"Gather around! I'll put up a shield!" Aqua instructed firmly, summoning her Keyblade to cast a Barrier to keep everyone safe.
"Aqua, no!" Mickey screamed out.
But it was too late. The moment the blue-haired woman cast her Barrier Spell and surrounded everyone including herself within it to block the two attacks, disaster struck. The combination of Mickey's spell, Aqua's Barrier, and the attacks from Maleficent and Vanitas Remnant caused a huge burst of light and colours, creating a powerful cyclone with dust flying everywhere, the abandoned Keyblades sent flying from the ground and everyone including those outside of the barrier to gasp in shock as they all soon found themselves being spun around and around, screaming in alarm and fear, swallowed up into the portal that turned into a mixture of light and dark.
"What!?" Vanitas Remnant exclaimed, before being forced to raise his arms to try and shield himself, crying out alarm as the vortex soon engulfed him.
Same with Maleficent and Pete who the latter muttered worriedly. "Um...I think ya' made a bit of a mess here, Maleficent. This here ain't look so good...!"
"This is impossible! It was meant to destroy those fools and allow us access to the new world, to keep Sora from ever returning!" The evil witch hissed in fury and shock.
Before the two villains could make an escape attempt, they were also engulfed as they were forced to shield their eyes, with Pete bracing himself for the worst.
The light and explosion didn't stop there as the sheer force of it spread out from the Keyblade Graveyard through out parts of the Realm of Light. This was witnessed by Master Yen Sid who, sensing that something went wrong and sensed too late that the world his former apprentice and the others were in had the presence of more evil waiting to ambush them. His eyes widened in shock just as the light spread and engulfed the Myserious Tower with the powerful Sorcerer inside.
Not just that world, but five others as well, all of the inhabits of the worlds, most that Sora, Donald and Goofy had been to in their previous adventures, which all became swallowed up by the out of control spell cast by Mickey. Then...as soon as the light faded, the Keyblade Graveyard remained empty once more, and the worlds that were engulfed had also disappeared.
All gone to Sonic's reality and about to cause a very dangerous merge and imbalance of Mobius and both dimensions.
Back in Sonic's reality...
A few moments after Sonic realized where the scroll had come from, who had sent it, and what was written, the teenage blue hedgehog couldn't believe what he was seeing. Neither did his best friends and family who had heard of his adventures.
"...King Arthur?" Sora finally spoke up, confused over what Sonic had said.
"He was the King of the olden times of Camelot many years ago, and the one who established the Knights of the Round Table. We just found out a few weeks ago that there's another dimension based on the stories which all have different versions of the legend." Tails explained.
"Wait, you mean the guy you mention when you told me that you went to a place with an evil Genie?" The Keyblade Wielder asked, suddenly remembering.
The hero of Mobius nodded. "Yep. Merlina the Wizard used a spell to summon me to her world to help save it, as well as rescue the King's body that had been stolen by the Black Knight. Arthur's soul was also trapped inside his sword, which Merlina shrunk and placed inside a crystal necklace for me to look after until I defeated the Knight himself and saved the King."
He then shrugged and said. "Actually, it's also an alternate version of our world with us taking on the role of the King himself and the Knights of the Round Table. For example, Knuckles' counterpart is Gawain, Tails' counterpart is a Blacksmith, Amy's is Nimue the Lady of the Lake, and me...well, long story."
"But why would King Arthur ask for help now?" Amy asked, worriedly.
"And how did he have a dream about Sora? If I'm right about that part." Sun added, rising an eye-ridge.
Sonic also raised an eye-ridge and re-read the scroll again, then for the third time to see if he read it correctly. The very part that his orange brother had mentioned remained the same: a boy wielding a giant key that unlocks any lock, a human who resides of another world, far beyond both Mobius and Camelot. How did King Arthur dream a future event of Sora and the Keyblade?
"Something weird's going on, guys. I'm worried about Arthur." Sonic finally spoke up.
"I don't like this." Knuckles grunted, finding this too suspicious. "Sonic, are you sure this isn't some sort of trick?"
"I trust Merlina, Knuckles. If what this says is true, then I have to go back into the book to find out for sure and figure out how to solve it." The fifteen year old pointed out, though he couldn't blame his older friend for his concerns. First Sora shows up, then Terrance comes and steals something out of his new friend who is from a whole new reality, and now King Arthur has had dreams of the sixteen year old hero of the Realm of Light.
"But, how can you do that?" Sora pointed out, confused.
"Well, Merlina and Shahra used their magic to get me inside, and I had to race through the pages to get back home." The blue hedgehog shrugged. "I could always find a Chaos Emerald to teleport in and out, no problem."
"That might take too long, Sonic. Considering if King Arthur and Merlina want to speak to you urgently, it'll take days if not weeks to find an Emerald just to do that." Tails pointed out.
"And you had to have had the book open at all times, right? If you didn't, then you'd be trapped in there by now." The Keyblade Wielder added. Though when his new friends looked up at him quizzily, he explained. "I've been inside a book at least several times. In my friend Pooh's book, where there's a world inside it with people in it. I had to restore it by finding it's missing pages twice and the second time was to help Pooh get his memories back. My reality's version of Merlin told me that we had to make sure that the book remained open, or else I'd be trapped in there until it's open again."
"That's never happened to me. The books were closed while I was inside them and I still managed to get home. Though I was more concerned about saving all three worlds than being stuck in there and Merlina and Shahra are magic users, so it's not much of a problem. The only minor issue was that I had to wait until Merlina used her magic to get me out." Sonic shrugged.
Despite that Sonic seemed confident enough that he wouldn't end up trapped inside the book of King Arthur's realm, everyone else shared uneasy glances.
"Then maybe I can help with that. My Keyblade can unlock any lock and even used to open up portals. Though I can't leave this world, but maybe I can at least help you get in and out of King Arthur's world. Just as long as the book remains open." Sora offered.
"You sure you can do that?" Knuckles asked, skeptically.
"Well, I'm used to going inside Pooh's storybook, so this should be easy." The spiky-haired teen grinned, his hands placed behind his head.
A moment of silence, before Sonic nodded, deciding that it might work better and save more time than finding a single Chaos Emerald. "In that case, let's give it a shot. Maybe you can come with me since it would make things easier to understand why the King saw you in his dreams."
"Yeah!"
Even though Tails, Amy, Sun and Knuckles were concerned and/or skeptical about this whole thing, they eventually reluctantly agreed with hesitant nods, before Sonic rushed through the house and came back a few micro seconds later, holding out the book that was once titled as "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table", now this copy was titled "Sonic and the Black Knight". He had bought himself another copy with the original words on it and kept the now magic book in his room until now.
""Sonic and the Black Knight"?" Sora read aloud.
Sonic sweat dropped sheepishly. "Yeah, for some reason when I left the books, the titles of the covers change by adding stories with me in it. Kinda crazy, huh?"
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. A few times, after I've gone into the other book, the cover kept on changing with me on it." The sixteen year old shrugged, chuckling a little while surprising the Mobians.
"Great. Another thing these two have in common." Knuckles facepalmed himself. One Sonic was bad enough, but two with a guy that's human, not fast but wielding a giant key for a weapon?
"You'll be okay, won't you?" Amy asked worriedly, fearing that if what Sora said is true, then he and Sonic could end up trapped inside the book forever without a way out.
"Don't worry. It's just a brief visit. We'll be back soon." The hero of Mobius reassured with a wink. He then flinched in fright when his self-proclaimed girlfriend latched herself tightly onto him.
"Please come back safely, Sonic!" The pink hedgehog softly pleaded, and kissed him on the left cheek.
"Amy, hold up...! This isn't a kissing booth." Sonic cringed, trying to gently push his friend away. He did care about Amy, but sometimes her obsessive love for him was way too overwhelming and he wasn't a romantic kind of guy.
And why did she sometimes always remind him of his mother?
"Here we go again..." Sun shook his head with a sweat drop.
Once he managed to get the thirteen year old girl off of him, Sonic placed the book a stand that Tails set up and opened it up at the first page, guessing that it would be good place to start in returning to Camelot, even just for a little bit.
"Be careful, Sonic, and come back safely." The nine year old cub murmured, not sure if he liked his older brother going inside a book given Sora's warning.
"We'll be fine, Tails. I promise." Sonic reassured, playfuly ruffling his younger brother's head which prompted the two-tailed fox to giggle, before sharing another hug and, making sure the others didn't see him do it, he gently kissed his adoptive sibling on the head to calm him down even more.
"Good luck, guys." The former Werehog spoke up once his two brothers ended their hug.
"Thanks, Sun." The cobalt teenager thanked.
"Just don't do anything too crazy." Knuckles cautioned.
"We're only going for a chat, Knux. No big deal." Sonic responded casually.
"We'll be fine. I've done this lots of times." Sora reassured, before asking the hero of Mobius. "Ready?"
"You bet."
Nodding, the spiky-haired teen then summoned his Keyblade once again and with Sonic holding onto him, Sora aimed his weapon at the book, calling forth it's power while the blue hedgehog thought of the book's magic to help him and his new friend to get inside to the Arthurian Realm even for a brief visit. A beam of light then shot from the blade onto the book which it glowed much to the amazement of the Mobians, just as the two teenage boys found themselves floating before they were pulled right into the book via a newly made portal, shrinking as they went and vanished. The book of King Arthur then stopped glowing after a few more moments.
Right there and then Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Sun knew that Sonic and Sora were now both inside the book, and shared uneasy glances, knowing that they would have to wait for their safe return.
Inside the World of King Arthur...
As Sonic and Sora entered the portal through the book thanks to it actually being a portal that the former kept, the two stumbled a bit as they emerged out of the gateway and onto the ground that only the hero of Mobius recognized.
The two teenagers glanced around in awe and in Sonic's case, happiness.
"Whoa! Where are we?" Sora asked, amazed.
"This is Camelot, King Arthur's world. We're in the alternate dimension linked to the book." Sonic answered, "Or at least, the book is a gateway."
"Really? I thought it was just a world within the book." The Keyblade Wielder said in surprise.
"Maybe it is, and maybe it's not. In the Arabian Nights' case, it totally was." The blue hedgehog shrugged, before realizing what he said and scratched the top of his head. "At least, I thought it was. Not sure anymore, since you know the real Aladdin, only you never met the Genie of the Ring, and your Genie friend sounds like a great guy."
"Yeah. Genie wanted to be free since he was only allowed to if he had a master and if said master wished him free. He was more of a fun guy for cool magic and entertainment. He called Aladdin "Al" for short, and even wanted to build a swimming pool to fix up Agrabah after we beaten Jafar the second time." Sora nodded, smiling at the fond memories.
"I wish I could've meet him. He sounds like a total opposite to Erazor Djinn. Hmm, come to think of it, that Jafar reminds me more of that creep than the good Genie does." Sonic said thoughtfully, folding his arms.
Before Sora could respond to that, the two then heard someone approach them which made him and Sonic to look up and saw, to their shock, a familiar red echidna dressed in armor wielding two swords charge straight towards them...aiming to attack the Keyblade Wielder.
"Hey, look out!" Sonic shouted, just as Sora cried out in alarm and automatically summoned his Keyblade as the echidna leaped up and made to attack the teenage boy who blocked it with his weapon, forcing the knight to grunt in disbelief before leaping back and landed with a flip. It wasn't until the night's helmet was lifted that the Keyblade Wielder thought he recognized him.
"Huh!? Knuckles!? How'd you get here and why are you wearing that armor?" Sora asked in disbelief.
"That's not Knuckles, Sora. That's Gawain, the Knight of the Sun and one of the Knights of the Round Table. He's Knuckles' counterpart I told you about." Sonic corrected, immediately seeing through the confusion.
"No way! For real?" Sora exclaimed. So Sonic was right...that was just crazy.
"Foul enemy of the worlds! You dare to hold Sir Sonic hostage and invade our land? You will forever regret this path of darkness." Gawain grunted, believing that Sora was holding Sonic captured and having forced the Knight of the Wind to come here.
"Wait, I'm not an enemy! I'm a friend. I helped Sonic to come here to meet with King Arthur himself to figure out what's going on." Sora protested.
"I will not fall for your lies! Clearly you have tricked my ally!" The Knuckles-look-alike growled.
"I'm not lying!" The Keyblade Wielder protested.
Sonic though, knowing how this was going to play out, shrugged in exasperation as he sweat dropped. "Here we go again..."
"You shall not walk any further. This place will be your grave!" Gawain declared, ready to fight and eliminate Sora who was shocked before he stood ready as he realized that there may not be any other choice.
The hero of Mobius on the other hand, sighed before zooming towards his knuckle-headed friend's counterpart and snatched the blades out of the echidna's hands. "Gawain, will you knock it off!? Sora's not an enemy! He's one of my new friends!"
"Silence! You have been possessed by this man's evil magic no doubt! The King has foreseen him in a dream!" The Knight of the Sun snapped.
"I know! I just got the letter Merlina sent to Knuckles to give to me and this was after I almost accidentally crashed into Sora. Look, I get that you don't trust him since he's new, believe me, Knux has the same feeling, but I know that this guy's not evil. In fact, he's a lot like me when it comes to caring for others and having a strong compassion." Sonic argued and explained.
"How can you be so certain, Sir Sonic?" Gawain demanded.
The blue hedgehog frowned in a hint of sadness. "Because he's in danger of the dark enemies that haunted me five months ago, and, it's to due with a prophecy that's putting his life as well as ours into danger. I know where he came from. He needs help. Like me, Sora risked his life to save others in the past."
The red echidna remained silent over the cobalt teenager's words, before gazing suspiciously at Sora who nodded in agreement, even by dismissing his Keyblade to show that he doesn't want to fight after realizing that Sonic had things under control. Then, by gazing into the teenage boy's blue eyes, Gawain was suddenly surprised that he could see the same strong justice and compassion he would normally see in both King Arthur as well as Sonic despite the latter being the king's counterpart and not having been here for long the last time.
Still, the Knight of the Round Table wasn't certain, yet he backed down and sighed. "If you are telling the truth, I suppose I should respect that, Sir Sonic." He then gazed firmly at Sora, commanding. "But you are to stay close and not cause any trouble. Is that clear?"
"Yeah. No problem. I don't want to cause any trouble anyway." Sora replied with a nod.
"Think you can take us to see the king now?" Sonic respectfully asked, as he handed back his friend's sacred sword which the Knight took and nodded.
"The King is waiting for your arrival, Sir Sonic. This way." Gawain gestured, to which Sonic and Sora, who was unable to believe what was going on, followed.
The moment Sonic and Sora followed Gawain towards the castle where King Arthur was, and the blue hedgehog had to admit he was amazed since he had never been inside it before even during his first time being here. The fifteen-soon-to-be-sixteen year old whistled.
"So this is Camelot Castle, huh? Gotta admit, I've never seen it up close before." Sonic remarked.
"What? Not even the last time you were here?" Sora asked, surprised.
Sonic just laughed. "Nope. I was busy going all over the kingdom to save folks from the Black Knight's Army and trying to figure out how to turn King Arthur back to normal. The closest to a castle I've ever been to here was the abandoned one on Avalon Island."
"The King is inside. Remember the code of chivalry, Sonic." Gawain spoke up sternly.
"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten. It was only three weeks ago since I was here." The blue hedgehog said. "You don't have to worry, Gawain. I don't forget that easily."
"Code of the...what?" The Keyblade Wielder asked, blankly.
"The code of the Knights. It's basically about bravery, honor, compassion, strength, and respect. A knight never flees from his foe." Sonic explained.
"So then, is that why you're the...Knight of the Wind?" Sora tilted his head.
Sonic grinned. "Yeah, it was Percival gave me that nickname. Unlike the other Knights around here, my master is the wind that blows free. Even back at home, I go wherever the wind takes me. The King himself and even Caliburn officially knighted me before I left."
"Man...That's so cool." The Keyblade Wielder muttered, while thinking to himself. 'Sonic can do a lot of stuff without even trying, or even fall into darkness. I guess his heart really is that strong. Even when he fell into darkness before in the other Agrabah, and even after what happened five months ago with a bit of darkness, he was still able to be himself and return to normal, hold onto who he really is. He even became a knight and passed the tests. I couldn't even pass the Mark of Mastery. I wasn't strong enough to overcome the darkness...'
Given his memories of his failures in the past, Sora then knew that he had no right to pass anything. The only reason why he could wield the Keyblade was Ven's heart being within him but he wasn't officially picked, and that the Kingdom Key of Light chose him because Riku had been tricked to go into darkness instead. But Sonic, he was chosen for whatever reason and never went down the dark path. He stayed true to his heart's light.
If anything, Sonic is a better choice for the Keyblade.
Once the trio were allowed inside by two knights, one that was a green Hawk who gave Sonic a pierching glare of distrust that made the hero of Mobius raised an eye-ridge at him as he wondered what the guy's problem was, and a tallish big round Albatross who was glaring at Gawain who gritted his teeth in return, before the two birds stepped aside, the red echidna lead the blue hedgehog and Sora down the corridor.
"What's with them?" Sora whispered, a bit put off by the two knights.
"I dunno. Never seen them before." Sonic shrugged, just as clueless as his new friend.
"Those were Sir Kay and Sir Lamorak. Kay is the Knight of the Air, but he's not too happy about it because he claims to be faster than the King and you, Sir Sonic." Gawain explained to the duo.
"Let me guess; He's jealous because I already got the title as the Knight of the Wind." The fifteen year old muttered flatly.
"Yes, that's true. It's the similar story to Lamorak, who is the Knight of the Earth, second strongest to me. He and I do not get along so well, he always picks fights. But they are both loyal to the people, and do have hearts. Which is why King Arthur agreed to knight them as such. They've only been here for a week." The Knight of the Sun confirmed.
Both teenagers weren't too convinced on that, as the Keyblade Wielder stated. "That doesn't explain why their attitudes stink."
"I've met worse. I wouldn't worry so much. So that Kay guy wants to be faster than me. Big deal. It's not like I'm here to stay or anything." Sonic waved dismissively.
"Yet your name is written already, so you are forever to be remembered, Sonic. You are the one who saved the King's soul and saved the land from the Black Knight and Merlin." Gawain reminded.
"I know." Sonic smiled a little. Though just because he was in this world's history books, that didn't mean he could just spend the rest of his life here. He had a home that was Mobius and he was going to stay there. No where else.
At that moment, the three companions entered through another set of doors with more knights allowing them once they recognized Gawain who ordered them to let them pass, and Sonic who, still shocked that he was a mirror image of their king, was a well known hero of Camelot, the legendary Knight of the Wind, and at the other side of the large royal chamber that had majestic windows created with colourful glass to make pictures, red carpet with flags hanging from the ceiling, beautiful chandeliers lined up perfectly, and two doors leading to other rooms on both sides of the throne itself.
Sonic whistled at the sight. He has never stepped foot side this castle before, and it looked just as amazing on the inside as it was on the outside. For Sora, it reminded him of the throne in of Disney Castle, only the walls were stone-grey instead of white.
Once the trio stopped before the throne, the sixteen year old boy was shocked to see who was there; King Arthur himself, who was Sonic's counterpart, dressed in golden armor with a red cape and a beautiful jeweled crown. Beside him were an Amy look-alike wearing a light green dress and long gloves, reminding him of how Queen Minnie would wear her pink dress, another hedgehog who's face was covered by the helmet, black and red but with a serious frown, and a tall human young woman with elf-like ears, red hair tied up in a plat and over her shoulder, similar to how Namine had her hair, wearing a purple robe with a hood and wielding a wizard's staff. Just in front of the King's throne by the right is an amazing looking sword with a white shiny blade.
Which reminded Sora of the sword from the strange dream he had two years ago.
"Your Majesty, King Arthur. Lady Nimue and Lady Merlina. I have brought Sir Sonic, the Knight of the Wind, and his guest before you." Gawain announced, as he and Sonic both knelt with their heads bowed before the King, to which Sora, seeing this, quickly and a bit stumbling did the same.
The King smiled in approval, gazing at his counterpart who was same age as him, yet he spoke beyond his years. "Sir Sonic the hedgehog. It is good to see you again, my friend. We welcome your return to Camelot."
"Thank you, your majesty. I came as quickly as my friend Knuckles brought me your message. Maybe about an hour ago, in fact." Sonic replied, gazing up at Arthur who smiled warmly at him. "It's great to see you all again too."
"I knew you would come back, Sir Sonic. You have such a pure heart." The Amy-look-alike, Nimue, spoke up.
"Just as I have hoped, as well." Merlina added with a nod.
"What can I say? When people are calling out to me for help, I come running." The hero of Mobius shrugged a little. "It wasn't easy, though. But I had a bit of help from my new friend here."
"I trust you mean this young man by your side?" The black hedgehog knight, Sir Lancelot, the counterpart of Shadow the Hedgehog, questioned as he turned his sharp gaze at Sora who flinched a little at his tone.
When the King and the girls gazed at the aforementioned teenage boy, Arthur's eyes widened in shock.
"Is he?" Arthur breathed.
"His name is Sora, the uh...Knight of the Sky." Sonic quickly introduced, before admitting sheepishly. "Well, technically not a full-time knight yet, but he's a hero from another world. Pretty even further than from where I come from."
"Uh, y-yeah. What he said, your Majesty." Sora blurted out, though he still felt a bit more comfortable in referring King Mickey as his majesty as he was the only king he was close friends with, not counting King Triton in Atlantica. Though he was a bit surprised that Sonic gave him a knight's title.
Not to mention that he didn't think that the blue hedgehog would give him away like that. On the other hand, since everybody knew that Sonic came from another world himself and the secret remained here within this castle, it was a relief to already sense that King Arthur, his knights and two friends could be trusted in keeping this as a secret as well.
Despite being shocked by the sight of the boy who was within his dreams the night before, Arthur visibly relaxed as he could sense that Sora is someone to be trusted. In fact, the human reminded him so much of himself as well as Sonic, so he kindly gestured the trio to stand, which they did. The King then stood from the throne and approached them.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Sora, and a relief that you are a friend of Sir Sonic." The King smiled warmly.
"Nice to meet you too, your highness, but you can just call me Sora. I'm just really surprised that you and Sonic are pretty much identical. Same with Gawain and Knuckles, and um, Lady Nimue and Amy." Sora responded, now relaxing a little as he liked King Arthur already.
Arthur and Sonic both laughed while Nimue and even Merlina giggled, though both Gawain and Lancelot resisted in rolling their eyes, as Sonic said. "You think that's crazy, imagination MY reaction when I finally got to see what the King actually looked like. It was like looking into a mirror."
Even though the spiky-haired teen knew that Sonic had been shocked at the time, he suddenly remembered that he wasn't the only one as he thought back to Vanitas during the Keyblade War. "Yeah...I get what you mean."
He remembered just how shocked it was when he saw that, despite the different hair and eye colour, Vanitas was identical to him. Sora had no idea, before the embodiment of darkness told him and Ven.
Flash-Back: During the events of Kingdom Hearts 3...
"I'm the piece of Ventus that was taken away. And you're the piece
Ventus needed to be whole again. So...why shouldn't you and I look exactly
the same?" Vanitas explained, answering Sora's unasked question. "You define me, Sora, the same way that Ventus does. We are brothers who, together, make a greater whole."
End of Flash-Back:
'Each world has a different reality...Could that have been the same in the sleeping worlds? And with Sonic...Sun was created from the Chaos Emeralds and Dark Gaia and...with Sonic's negative emotions; his own darkness he didn't know he already had. Or maybe it's really different in his world and Light and Dark aren't the same as it is back in the Realm of Light.' Sora thought to himself, finding himself more uneasy about this sort of thing.
Being in another reality was more complicated than being in different worlds in general.
"Anyway, you said in your letter that you had a dream of a guy with some giant key, right? And that you or me were wielding Caliburn." Sonic turned to his Camelot-Counterpart who nodded.
"Yes, and seeing Sora now, I believe he is the one who was inside the dream. Lady Nimue and Merlina both believe it is what they called a prophetic dream." Arthur nodded in confirmation.
"Prop-what dream?" Sora blinked, confused.
"You mean like a prophecy shown inside people's dreams? I didn't know there was such a thing." Sonic shrugged, just as surprised before realizing what the King meant. "Wait, that means it's a dream of the future, isn't it?"
"Yes, Sir Sonic." Merlina spoke up as she and Nimue approached. "Prophetic Dreams predict what is yet to come and could even come true."
"It can either be a vision revealing exactly what will happen as it will happen, yet cannot be changed, or say, it will happen but shown in a different form. Think of it as seeing something you wish to happen differently in the past when events already happened, yet cannot be changed, only showing the future in a different way." Nimue added.
At first the two boys were clueless about it, before Sonic softly gasped in realization and a bit of horror as he quickly knew what they meant; He remembered having the nightmare of the giant Werehog in the ruins of the world, before Sun actually grew into a giant as a Werehog before Eggman accidentally unleashed the beast which took form of said giant Werehog. Not to mention seeing dreams of the past of Clover the Chao and Camellia the Rabbit, and years ago before his very first adventure, he had nightmares of Eggman before even meeting him.
"Whoa...That's serious and scary stuff. I can't believe I've been having those once and a while and I didn't even realize it." The blue hedgehog murmured, rubbing his forehead. "Man, no wonder some of those things really came true."
Even Sora, while not understanding what Sonic was talking about, realized what was going on as well; he remembered the dream of the giant Darkside heartless days before Destiny Islands were swallowed up into darkness, and confronted the real one when he first got the Keyblade.
"It does not happen to anyone all the time, Sonic. In times it can be passed on as terrible nightmares, yet they can come true in any shape and form." Merlina cautioned.
"Hmm..." Sonic thought deeply as he realized that she has a point, before turning to the two ladies and asked. "Say, you two wouldn't have an idea on why these prophetic dreams happen, would ya'? Do they happen randomly to anybody, or to certain people like me, the King and Sora here?"
"It only happens to certain people who are chosen by certain relics and events, such as King Arthur, and yourself, Sonic, and of course, your friend Sora, the warrior of another world far beyond your own." Nimue confirmed. "It would normally happen to powerful wizards and sorcerers as they were born with magic, so it is uncommon for those who are not trained in certain parts of those abilities."
"That explains everything, I guess." Sonic shrugged as he got the idea. "The problem now is how did Sora end up in my world in the first place. I mean, me and my friends back at home do kinda have a clue, but that and two other clues that a guy we know who knows a lotta ancient stuff are the only leads we got so far."
"Perhaps the solution is to look and that you are one of the keys in solving this mystery." Merlina theorized, confusing Sonic and Sora.
"And if that's true...Then perhaps it is Sonic who is meant to wield the sword for the time being until the mystery is solved..." Arthur trailed off, before turning to the sword still sitting in front of the throne and, to Sora's further confusion, asked it. "Caliburn, what do you think of this?"
"If you believe that is an explanation, then perhaps you are right, your majesty." Caliburn spoke in agreement, hovering over towards the group, with the Keyblade Wielder recoiling in shock.
"Whoa! That sword talked!" The spiky-haired teen exclaimed, not expecting that to happen.
Sonic just laughed. "Don't worry, when I first met that guy, I was kinda pretty shocked too."
"As was I." Arthur apologetically agreed. "Sora, this is Caliburn, the sacred sword and the true Excalibur."
"Um...Hey there." Sora waved, awkwardly. 'I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, a talking doorknob, talking gargoyles and a talking snowman...I should be used to this by now.'
Caliburn gazed at Sora with a skeptical look, before scoffing. "Well, greetings new friend of Sir Sonic. However, I must ask, you are the one that the King has foreseen in his dream? You are no more than a squire, move of a knave than the Knight of the Wind once was, you have yet to prove yourself as a knight."
"What? Hmph, well says you." The sixteen year old grumbled as he folded his arms in annoyance, put-off by this comment.
The fifteen year old blue hedgehog of Mobius though sighed, and shook his head. "Easy, Caliburn. Sora's a real swordsman and he's fought plenty of monsters. He's pretty much like me and the King when it comes to helping others and his heart's in the right place."
Arthur in the meantime gazed at Caliburn firmly. "Caliburn, cease your quips with our guest, if you please."
"My apologies, your majesty. However, I do have doubt with this young man." The Sacred Sword bowed.
"As do I." Lancelot agreed. "Can he fully be trusted?"
"Of course he can! Sora's made lotsa friends who miss him. They've fought against a guy who's like a combination of Eggman and Merlin." Sonic remarked, before flinching as he apologetically turned to Merlina and Arthur, quickly saying. "Uh, no offense!"
"What is this offense you speak, Sir Sonic?" Merlina questioned, confused.
"Uh...Nevermind. What I meant to say is that, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up your grandfather into this." The hero of Mobius awkwardly replied, scratching the top of his head.
"Oh!" The young wizard realized, before smiling softly and shook her head with a sad expression. "It is alright, Sonic."
"Agreed." The King added, still saddened over the betrayal of the man who had tricked him, yet been like a father to him.
"Anyway, the guy that Sora and his friends had to fight wanted to erase the world and remake it into his vision. To be like before you became King, where the strong power over everybody else." Sonic continued, gazing at Arthur who's eyes widened in shock along with his friends/loyal companions.
"That is a mass murder to many lives." Arthur remarked in shock.
"Yeah, and he wanted to be the leader of it all, since he believed that the current world was a failure. That's why he went through all that trouble, even in trying to get rid of innocent people, including Princesses." Sora nodded grimly, which horrified everyone else even further. "He's gone now, but...he ruined so many people's lives for twelve years, he tricked a lot of them into serving him, and even took over the bodies of two of my friends, especially my best friend Riku before going back to normal."
The teenager then sighed and admitted. "I almost had my body and heart taken over too, if it hadn't been for another friend, Axel. I...I wasn't even experienced enough to protect myself from the darkness."
"It wasn't your fault, Sora. That Xehanort guy was a monster." Sonic pointed out comfortingly. "Master of the Keyblade or whatever or not, he had no right to force anyone to do what he wants. He chose to go down that path and didn't want to listen to reason. He was too curious over the ancient stuff that's best to be left alone."
"I guess..." Sora sighed, as despite the comforting words from Sonic and everybody else back in Mobius, it didn't change the fact of how much he really was weak and always put everyone he cared about so much into trouble.
The blue hedgehog could only gaze at him worriedly, feeling guilty for being unable to cheer him up right now. Not to mention angry with how Xehanort did so many horrible things. As far as he knew, the evil Keyblade Master's actions was a horrible mixture of Eggman's and Kaiser's actions; one half for dominion, another for mass murder for sick entertainment, only that Xehanort must have come to believe that the current world in Sora's reality wasn't deemed worthy of continuing on and decided to change it to his own image.
"Sonic is right. You are not the blame for your enemy has forced you and your friends. Three weeks ago, I too had went through a similar situation. My soul was trapped inside my old sword by the Black Knight who absorbed my body to make it his own. It was only because of the false prophecy Merlin predicted that had Sonic to save my life and the lives of so many. I know what you are going through, so do not blame yourself for this Xehanort's evil ways." Arthur spoke up in agreement.
"Maybe...It's just...I still don't get why I'm even here. Xehanort, his past self I mean, warned me that I was using my power the wrong way and that I can't be saved. Besides what Sonic said, how do I get back home?" The teenage Keyblade Wielder sighed, gazing at his hands.
Sonic thought deeply about the situation, before a thought formed in his mind; if the book and the Keyblade were able to get them both here into the world of Camelot easily without Merlina's help and they can easily get back home from here, then perhaps...
"I think I have an idea, but we need to talk to Tails about it just to make sure." The blue hedgehog suggested.
"Sonic, if you are thinking of asking for my help, I'm afraid I can only teleport you between your world and ours." Merlina cautioned.
"Don't worry, I have another idea in mind." Sonic reassured. "I know one thing that controls Space and Time and if used right, they can easily teleport people to certain areas in Mobius and even a little bit outside of the orbit."
"Oh! The Chaos Emeralds!" Sora realized, at first not understanding but when the fifteen year old hedgehog explained it, he almost instantly knew what he meant.
"Right, and since Terrance is going after in probably recreating the Werehog back at home, then I have a feeling he'll be after the Emeralds because of what happened five months ago. And knowing Eggman, he'll try and find them again for his own evil schemes too." Sonic explained, frowning in concerned thought as he knew, thinking about now, that the Werehog also had a connection with the Emeralds themselves.
"So you say that these enemies you speak of will be after these so called Chaos Emeralds?" Lancelot questioned, and Sonic nodded to confirm it.
"If these Emeralds do hold the power of what you say, then you must find them before it is too late. I fear that the very fabric of our two worlds along with Sora's could be tearing apart." Nimue said in great concern, which caught Sonic and Sora off-guard as they gazed at her in alarm. "When King Arthur has foreseen this young man in his dream, Merlina and I searched for answers, and found something very disturbing."
"Tearing apart?" Sora asked, worriedly.
"I think she means that everything and everybody are in serious danger. Got a bad feeling it could be related to what Professor Pickle knows about so far." Sonic guessed.
"Because Sora traveled between worlds, unwillingly, it may be caused by a fabrication of what may have happened either in your world or in his, Sonic." Merlina shook her head with a look of worry. "The answers you seek may lie within what you know thus far, Knight of the Wind, and there you must continue to seek them out to prevent a catastrophic disaster."
"Right. We'll head back and tell the others right away." Sonic nodded, beginning to realize that it could be that Xehanort may have messed things up badly that it's causing three realities to be messed up despite that things seem to be fine now.
Sora on the other hand, lowered his gaze as he began to realize that not only he broken the rules of time itself which was forbidden to do so and it would cost him his very existence, but by surviving and arriving in Sonic's reality, it was only making things twice as bad. For all three realities. Would that mean...he and his friends were meant to be lost and the Realm of Light doomed to be left with no life or existence at all? In order to prevent this new disaster from happening, he had to give up everything to make it all set? Was it really destiny to let Xehanort destroy everything forever, that it was their time to die and life has reached it's end-point?
'AH, SO YOU KNOW YOUR OWN FAULTS, CHILD OF ANOTHER WORLD.' A hauntingly familiar voice echoed in his mind, startling Sora out of his thoughts which made him gasp in alarm. This got the attention from Sonic and the others.
"Sora? You okay?" Sonic asked, worriedly all of the sudden.
"D-Did any of you hear that?" The sixteen year old Keyblade Wielder asked, hesitantly.
"Did we hear what?" Arthur questioned in concern and confusion.
"We did not hear a thing." Gawain shook his head.
"Perhaps you were lost in your mind that you were not paying attention." Caliburn gently scolded.
"M-Maybe. I could've sworn..." Sora trailed off, as the voice then spoke again, but as the teenage blue hedgehog and those of Camelot continued to stare at him in confusion, not hearing what he was hearing, it only made the spiky-haired boy even more worried and confused.
'BY BREAKING THE RULES OF YOUR WORLD JUST SO SAVE MANY, YOU HAVE ONLY DELAYED THE IMPENDING DOOM AND NOW YOU HAVE DOOMED SONIC'S WORLD TO SUFFER THE SAME FATE. YOU HAVE DONE WORSE THAN WHAT THE EVIL MAN YOU CALL XEHANORT HAS DONE. EITHER WAY, IT SEEMS IT IS DESTINY FOR YOU AND YOUR GENERATION TO DIE, BECAUSE LIFE HAS REACHED IT'S EXPIRATION DATE.' The haunting dark voice continued, and it made Sora even more scared the more it spoke, like it was confirming on what he knew of and believed in.
'No...Th-that's not true! I didn't have a choice! I wanted to save my friends, and save the worlds!' The Keyblade Wielder thought desperately, beginning to have trouble breathing, clutching his head with his hands and fell to his knees which alarmed the hero of Mobius, the King, the Knights of the Round Table, the young Wizard, the Lady of the Lake and the Sacred Sword.
"Sora! What's wrong!?" Sonic exclaimed, beginning to panic as he placed his hands onto his new friend's shoulder.
"What's happening?" Arthur asked, worriedly.
"I sense a dark energy seeped deep into his heart, but it is very strange and unusual for me. It is putting the boy's mind and heart in a fragile state." Merlina remarked in great concern and worry.
While the blue hedgehog felt his heart drop into his stomach upon hearing that and feared that he knew the cause of it, Sora was vaguely aware of everyone else gazing at him with great concerns. But when he looked up and saw the fearful and huge concern look in Sonic's eyes and face, something suddenly appeared behind the fifteen year old hero, one that made the sixteen year old's eyes widen as his own heart was freezing up again in unexplained gapping fear. He softly gasped as a huge figure of the giant Werehog monster emerged, grinning evilly with a hungry look in it's eyes looming over them.
Or so it looked like it.
"Sora?" The hero of Mobius muttered worriedly, seeing the haunting look in his friend's eyes.
Sora was speechless, only staring at what he didn't realize was the hallucination of the Werehog he was now suffering with, which made Sonic and the others, not sensing anything or hearing any forms of danger, to look at where he was looking at but found that everything was normal at the moment.
"What's wrong with him?" Gawain asked, confused.
"What is it that he is seeing?" Lancelot questioned, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"Is there something that he sees that we cannot?" Caliburn questioned.
"I don't not sense anything other than what the boy is going through." Nimue said worriedly, and Merlina nodded in agreement.
"Is he ill?" Arthur asked worriedly, not liking how the poor boy was suffering.
It wasn't until Sonic looked into his friend's eyes again and his own widened in horrified realization; that same haunting look he went through, given what his friends had told him, and what he has seen in Sun's eyes as well. That could only mean one thing!
"He's seeing things..." Sonic whispered, knowing all too well what his friend was actually thinking he was seeing, before the blue hedgehog shook Sora to get him back to reality. "Sora, pull yourself together!"
"S-Sonic...The-the Werehog...!" Sora pointed fearfully, still hallucinating as the giant Werehog in his mind was beginning to reach out. He wanted to push Sonic out of the way, he wants to use the Keyblade to fight it, but he found himself frozen in fear and unable to do anything.
"You're hallucinating! The Werehog's not here! It's all in your head! It's gonna be okay, I promise!" Sonic shouted, shaking the human teenager once more. "Snap out of it!"
"WHY LISTEN TO HIM? I AM HERE, I AM A GHOST. YOU WILL BE DESTROYED BY YOUR OWN MISTAKES, CHILD OF ANOTHER WORLD. MY NEW TASTY LITTLE TREAT." The Werehog in Sora's mind spoke, grinning as it continued to reach out for him and, as the spiky-haired teen believed, the blue hedgehog.
"Sonic, what is going on!?" Gawain demanded, not sure what to make of it.
Not really answering and realizing that Sora was far too lost into the hallucination, which made Sonic worry that the poor guy was in a worst state than he was, the blue hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut trying to think of a solution to help the Keyblade Wielder in an desperate attempt to get him to snap out of the hallucination. Then an idea formed in his mind as he gazed at Chip's necklace around his wrist, remembering the times when his friend, the hallucination form of him at least, always managed to save him even though Sonic had been aware he had been hallucinating at the time.
'Chip, I know that you're asleep, but please, buddy. Help me out to save Sora from the hallucination of the Werehog.' Sonic prayed in his mind, hoping to at least be able to convince Sora that the Werehog isn't real.
Knowing that what he is about to do is crazy, the blue hedgehog turned to gaze at where the Keyblade wielder believed he was seeing the Werehog and stood in front of him, arms spread out which stunned the spiky-haired boy, and in the latter's mind, the giant monster who grinned even further.
"Sonic, look out!" Sora cried out desperately, fearing in losing another friend.
"Don't worry, Sora. It's going to be okay." Sonic declared, then pretending to glare up at the giant monster and shouted. "You won't get to my friend, you overgrown hairball! Leave him alone! I know that you're not real, so go away!"
While Arthur, Caliburn and the Knights were dumbfounded with sweat drops as they thought that now Sonic has gone crazy, both Nimue and Merlina realized what the Knight of the Wind was doing, and Sora, seeing that the hero of Mobius was bravely facing his old worst feared enemy and his eyes widened when he saw Sonic's body and Chip's necklace glow in green light. This seemed to make the Werehog, who apparently saw this as well, stop and recoiled while growling.
"CURSE YOU, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND LIGHT GAIA! DON'T MEDDLE WITH ME!" The Werehog roared, and the moment Sora blinked for a second, he was startled that in that one micro second that the monster was gone, and Sonic and his bracelet stopped glowing, like it didn't happen at all.
"H-Huh? Where did-?" Sora asked, blinking and wondered what was going on.
This was the question that Sonic had hoped to hear as he turned around with a sigh, and leaned forward a bit, asking worriedly. "You alright?"
"Sonic...how did...it was right there." Sora blinked.
"What was there, Sir Sora?" King Arthur asked as he and the others approached.
"The giant Werehog...the monster that Sonic fought, and I saw in my nightmares." The Keyblade Wielder explained.
"Did you see this monster just now too, Sir Sonic?" The royal blue hedgehog questioned, turning to his counterpart who shook his head.
"Sora, the Werehog wasn't there. You were hallucinating. Trust me, I know from experience." Sonic told his friend, who blinked in confusion.
"You were glowing, and so was the bracelet." The sixteen year old pointed out.
"No, you thought I was, but that was all in your head. The reason why I stepped in was because it was the only way to get you back into reality." The hero of Mobius shook his head.
"What is a...hallucination?" Gawain asked, blinking in confusion.
Realizing that no one in this world knew about the meaning of the word yet, Sonic sheepishly scratched the top of his head as he explained. "It's uh...something that you see in your mind like an illusion, only that you are seeing it and nobody else. Like a dream except that you're awake. Kinda like imagining things, except that your fear or most wanted wishes are making you seeing things without realizing it. It may look very real like it's actually there, but it isn't. Sometimes it can get the best of us."
"So it is a normal occurence then." Caliburn surmised.
Sonic nodded. "Exactly. It isn't much of a danger except it could drive people crazy to the point where they would need some help. It can sometimes make them lose their minds and sanity."
"That's terrible!" Arthur softly exclaimed, as Gawain and Lancelot shared glances, and Nimue and Merlina looked on worriedly.
Sora, realizing now that he has been hallucinating, lowered his gaze in hurt and guilt as he murmured. "I'm sorry."
"Huh? Why are you sorry for?" The teenage blue hedgehog asked.
"I'm going crazy. I hallucinated a monster that doesn't even exist anymore." The teenage wielder shook his head.
"Hey, it isn't your fault, Sora." Sonic pointed out, sighing as he ran his ran through his quills. "If anything, the whole thing is all my fault. I wasn't careful enough five months ago, and whatever's going on made the Werehog hallucination or ghost or whatever target you instead of me."
He then narrowed his eyes and declared with determination. "But whatever the case is, I won't let that monster get to you or anybody else. Even through hallucinations. We'll figure this out, beat Terrance and Eggman and get you back home. I promise."
But before Sora could respond or even give his thanks as he felt reassured by Sonic's courage, kindness and determination, all of the sudden there was a massive shaking that caused both of them and everyone else to stumble and almost lose their balance with dust and tiny pieces of rock falling from the ceiling, making all of scream in alarm.
"What's going on!?" Sora exclaimed.
"An Earthquake!?" Sonic cried out, nervously.
Little did everyone know that it wasn't just felt here, but also many other places and it would cause much more serious problems in Sonic and Sora's realities.
A/N: I had to end the chapter here since I didn't want to make it too long. Sorry about that, but don't worry, Sonic and Sora will be fine as will everybody else, but now the situation is even worse! What will happen next? Only Space and Time will know.
Oh, and the two knights Sonic, Sora, and Gawain encountered are the Camelot counterparts of the Sonic Riders characters Jet the Hawk and Storm the Albatross.
See you later!