That night…

Sonic was being thought how to rule by Caliburn, who also kept him organized as two of his knights stood guard. Ogilvie was already asleep in his room because of his bedtime while Lancelot watched over Merlina, who was their recent prisoner for treason against Camelot but was in her chambers to await a just punishment to be inflicted on her.

Maurice, on the other hand, was on his bed, staring at the ceiling, thoughts haunting his mind and disturbing the connection from the call of slumber. After a while of staying awake, he sighed and sat up.

"Everybody's busy," he said to himself in a mutter. "I have time,"

He got up and used the power his crystal mist to teleport to Merlina's chambers. He noticed that Lancelot wasn't guarding the door so he took a step forward and twisted the doorknob.

The room was dark, with only the moonlight shining through the curtains. Merlina was sleeping in her bed with a chain on her ankle that was connected to the end of her bedpost. Lancelot was by her bedside, his eyes closed as he stood nearby to guard.

"Lancelot." Maurice spoke, stifling a growl that he didn't want to hide but needed to.

Immediately, the ebony knight's ruby red eyes fluttered open in his visor to see the prince, the soon-to-be-King's older brother, staring at him with fierce jade green eyes.

"Prince Maurice," he bowed his head.

"I would like to speak with Merlina."

"But, your highness, she's asleep."

"Does it seem like I care, Sir Lancelot?" the hedgehog prince finally let out the growl he hid as he clenched his fists.

Lancelot sighed and shook his head in reply. "No, it does not."

He turned and gently shook the girl awake. Merlina groaned before sitting up, rubbing her eyes to clearly focus on the being in front of her.

"Sir Maurice? What are you doing here?" she was utterly confused.

"I would like to speak with you personally, Merlina." Maurice gave a stern reply. "Lancelot, light the lamp and leave this room. Go and guard my little brother Ogilvie."

"A-As you wish." The ebony knight bowed and lit the lamp before taking his leave, shutting the door behind him.

The jade-eyed azure hedgehog prince turned back to the wizard folded his arms. "Now, Merlina, can you take a guess WHY I wanted to talk to you in such a late hour?"

"No, sire, I cannot," Merlina shook her head. "Why?"

"What you said about the future…it irked me…" the hedgehog sighed and shuddered. "Tell me, how were you able to see the future? How were you so sure that those things were bound to happen?"

"Magic, Sir Maurice. About a year back, I was still an apprentice when I was experimenting with a fortune stone, a stone glowing in all colors. I wanted it to not just predict the future but see past mistakes that others need to see for reminder. Unfortunately, as I prepared my spell, I wanted to test the fortune stone and it's abilities so I asked the question that had been looming my mind; what is the future of Camelot? In a flash, I was shown images of the tragic future where Arthur's son Mordred destroys him and where Lancelot and Gawain's feuding will put an end to the Round Table. I immediately told the original King Arthur, who looks a lot like Sir Sonic, about the future stone and even showed him what I saw. His face paled that day and that was the last we saw of him…"

"Why?" Maurice raised an eyebrow.

"My grandfather told me that the king was too shocked to accept what might happen to him. He ran off early in the morning, unnoticed by any of the Knights, into an unknown direction. My grandfather had no choice but to use the last of his strength and power to make the King Arthur that was corrupted with the scabbard. I wanted to get the scabbard to protect this world from corruption and the tragic future but the created Arthur was made to be perfect, which was a mistake my grandfather made before he died. The scabbard corrupted him and turned him against us all…"

As her voice trailed off to finish her story, the girl fell silent as she looked down with tears. The azure assassin with her shook his head and held out his hand.

"Give my the fortune stone." he demanded. "I'd like to see what you saw for myself."

"As you wish…" Merlina took the stone from her pockets and handed it to the prince. "But I must warn you, Maurice, that the scenes you will see are horrid and filled with gore,"

"I've seen worse," Maurice rubbed his gloved fingers across the cold, rough stone. "I've seen death before…first-hand death, even…"

The fortune stone glowed in radiant colors the moment he whispered the question then he got a glimpse of everything Merlina told him.

In the scene, Sonic's counterpart, King Arthur, was polishing Caliburn on his throne. The Knights weren't around so he was defenseless as his son Mordred, a lime hedgehog with hazelnut brown eyes, came in and attacked him. Arthur looked shocked and tried to defend himself but failed. He was stabbed endlessly and Caliburn was torn into two before Mordred ran off to Avalon.

The next scene showed Lancelot and Gawain, bickering as a round table blocked their path from destroying each other. Percival was trying to stop them but her efforts were in vain. Finally, Gawain left with a roar and so did Lancelot, disbanding the Knights of the Round Table for good.

At the final scene, the kingdom was destroyed. Dark Knights from the Underworld were attacking the king-less kingdom and every villager, knight, farmer and slave was being killed. The ground was filled with bloodshed as Camelot fell to it's ruin…

For any innocent creature like Merlina and King Arthur, the scene would be frightening, scarring the being to the very core. But as for a creature like Maurice, this was not the case. He has done worse than he had seen. He had seen someone kill another, he had already killed many too and he had ordered for his assassins for many innocent creatures to be killed.

"I…see." the jade-eyed prince cleared his throat and nodded as he gave back the stone.

"Does it not frighten you, Sir Maurice?" the girl was bewildered by the hedgehog's calm reaction.

"I told you, Merlina, I've seen worse than this. Unlike Sonic and possibly Ogilvie, I'm no hero. I'm an assassin; a killer; a dishonorable being who kills with a purpose of self-satisfaction. I've seen people die, I've killed people and I've ordered my fellow assassins for their death for I am a Head Assassin. I'm used to blood at the end of my blade and blood on the floor…"

Merlina's eyes widened in horror as her whole body paled. She was frozen in shock, no doubt, but it didn't faze the hedgehog.

Instead, Maurice smirked and took out his crystal sword. He yanked on the girl's arm and placed the blade near her throat.

"Tell any of the Knights or anybody else and I'll slit that throat of yours. Understood?" he grinned evilly.

The wizard gulped. "Y-Yes, sire…"

"Good." he let her go and turned away, twirling his blade to think as he opened the door.

"By the way," he turned back to the frightened girl. "Merlina."

"Y-Yes?"

"I'll try to get you out of prison."

"W-What?" Merlina was perplexed by the reply. "Why?"

"Your actions were reckless, yes, but at least you had good intentions." he explained with a shrug and stepped a foot outside the room. "Fare thee well, wizard. And have good night."

With that, he left, shutting the door closed. He went back to his room and laid on himself on his bed, his mind racing with thoughts of a million.

'Why would King Arthur's son do that?' he thought. 'How does the stone still predict he same future, even with the interference of me and my brothers? Why does King Arthur's son look like Manic for some reason? Is that why he'll betray his father? For riches? And why would Gawain and Lancelot have an argument that would lead to the disbanding of the Knights of the Round Table? Something doesn't feel right. At all…'