Allies

There was nothing Shadow wanted to do more at the moment than murder Gawain.

"Do you need me to hurt you?" Shadow cracked his knuckles. "Because I'd gladly do so."

Gawain laughed nervously, backing slowly away. He suddenly tore down the halls, screaming bloody murder before crashing into something that Shadow decided was probably a piece of pottery.

Shadow wandered into the room that was just slightly too messy for him to stand. At least, half of it was. He dropped his things onto the double bed near the back of the room and smoothed out the sheets, tossing whatever was on them onto the ground.

He explored the area, finding a small kitchen, a locked door he supposed his 'roommate' was currently behind, and a dining area. By the locked door were a couple of weapons.

"Hello?" He knocked on the door.

The door cracked open. Shadow made out a sharp glowing eye. "I'm Lancelot, the other occupant of this room." He introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you."

The man coughed and pulled a mask over the bottom half of his face. "Call me Soul." Soul was apparently a slender but well built man who dressed himself in dark armoured clothing.

"You may take the bed for the evening." Soul said. "I will most likely be out."

"Right," Shadow made his way towards the door, his goal to stay away from Soul. "I'll be heading out to acquire some supplies." He almost would have made it out too, if it wasn't for the gloved hand now holding his arm.

"You're goal is to speak with the king, is it not?"

"How can you be sure? I could be here to assassinate a random criminal for all you know."

"Don't know, don't care." Soul pulled an envelope out. "I just happen to have an invitation to the King's masquerade ball. Seems like he's in search of a fiancee."

"Explain."

"Oh, well," He shrugged. "I dunno, but you could totally pass as a woman. Not that I was suggesting that you go in a dress and all."

"You're making a bad impression on me."

Soul laughed. "You could always sneak in."

Shadow stared at him, a disapproving look on his face. "I'll make sure to do that." He said. "Have fun walking in through the front door."

Shadow stood by the front entrance of the King's castle, wearing dark attire and carrying a blade on his back. He hid in the shadows of foliage, leaning against the trunk of a tree that Soul was also leaning on.

"Lancelot, are you sure you won't be getting yourself killed tonight?" Soul said. "We could always get you fitted for a gown."

Shadow seethed. "I don't plan on wearing women's clothes, thank you."

Soul laughed, pushing himself away from the tree. "I won't be helping you out in any way," He said with a smile. "Just so you know." He waved at a few girls as he walked away, making them giggle.

Shadow scowled as he pulled out his chaos emerald. "I won't need your help anyways." He mumbled.

The chaos emerald in his hand sparkled in the moonlight as he raised it up towards the sky. "Chaos control." The emerald flashed as Shadow disappeared.

Nearby, Soul's ear twitched. "That may not be the right choice Lancelot."

Shadow landed in a rather fancy bedroom, the amount of gold around surprising him. His slipped the chaos emerald back into his satchel. The room was quite a sight, much larger than any of the rooms in Mephiles's castle.

He quickly moved out of the room, ducking behind one of the many curtains whenever a servant would walk by.

"I'll kill Mephiles when I get back."

Shadow snuck into what appeared to be a large closet brimming with clothes royalty would wear. "I'll just borrow one of these I'm sure King Sonic wouldn't mind." He grinned.

Shadow had chosen a white suit to wear that was hidden towards the back of the closet. He snuck his own stuff behind a cracked mirror, placing the chaos emerald into his quills.

"Though this mask turned out to be useful." Shadow put on a black mask, framed with gold and a white feather given to him by his king. It covered the area around his eyes, making his scarlet irises stand out even more.

Shadow was caught walking around the castle later by a servant who directed him towards the reception hall. She had looked eerily like the King of Fire. Shadow assumed it was coincidence.

The reception hall was filled with many people, mainly women in search of the King and his riches. At least that's what Shadow was positive they were there for.

He slipped into the crowd, making his way to the tables covered with food from all over. (His favorite was this one type of pudding.) Shadow made sure to try a bit of everything, finding many foreign delicacies he had never had at home.

The Kingdom of Water had only recently reestablished itself and royalty ate food similar to any of the villagers, so Shadow didn't have many chances to eat fancy food from places across the world. This, however, was appreciated among the citizens and led to the King, Mephiles, better connecting with his people.

Shadow found himself reflecting on the incident from many years ago, when Sonic had paid a visit to their area and stayed in their house. He now knew that it was a mistake to let him even near him, however knowing the King's personality would provide well on his mission.

"Good evening Lancelot!" A shrill voice interrupted Shadow's thoughts. He turned to find the pink haired girl (Emelia?) he had met at the inn. She had her golden mask in her hand and was wearing a matching ball gown.

"Good evening..." Shadow paused, not quite remembering her name.

"I'm Amy, I met you at the inn earlier." She said. "I'm surprised to find you here though, were you invited from another kingdom?"

Shadow nodded his head to avoid anything that may leak out his affiliation.

Amy slipped her mask back on. "Why don't we move to the ball room? I heard the king will be there soon."

Shadow followed her as she pushed through the large groups of men and women. Amy had made a better impression on him this time and he was quite glad she didn't seem to be after him romantically or sexually.

They entered the ball room, which was decorated with gold and many paintings all the wall of the royal family, the one right above the throne being a painting of Sonic. The king sat on the throne watching over everyone rather than participating in any of the dancing, looking rather bored.

Amy grabbed both of Shadow's hands as a new song began playing and she followed the nearby couples around them in dance. Shadow followed her movements, though he was quite out of practice. The last time he had danced had been with Maria.

"I want you to know that I know Mephiles sent you." Amy whispered into his ear. "I received a letter from him with the details of your mission."

Shadow's eyes widened but he let her continue talking as they danced.

"You are to capture his heart and him," Amy continued, "bring him back to Mephiles to cause some commotion. We have chosen someone to take over the Kingdom of Fire and prevent what happened years ago from happening again."

The song ended and Amy stepped back from him. "I don't know who you are Lancelot, but I'll be by your side."

She disappeared into the crowd, leaving Shadow rather confused but also pissed. He was real pissed. Once again, Mephiles was meddling with his life, except this time he had to woo the king he despised and bring him back to the Kingdom of Water.

"Meeting the ladies are we?" Soul's voice came from behind him, his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Lancelot, I thought you were on important business."

Shadow pushed the hand away from him. "I am."

Many months later, I am back!

If anyone reads this note thing, I'm letting you know that Soul isn't actually an OC but someone undercover. But I refuse to tell anyone who it is so just view him however you want.