Return of the Knight of the Wind
Chapter 5 – Nimue's Advice
"Uh… What happened?" Sonic slowly sat up as he thought, "Owww, why am I so hurt? For Mobius' sake why do I always have to fall on my head? Huh, did Eggman actually have a girl that would go along with him? Ugh… Another thing, why does Eggman always try to make an empire called Eggmanland? Why not something that sounds more threatening? His empire name sounded better when it was just the 'Robotnik Empire"... Oh now I remember, I was trying to protect against Merlina's dark energy ball, thinking Excalibur's power would absorb it… But why didn't that work? It felt as if I was completely powerless…"
"Sonic? Sonic! You ok there?" asked Tails.
"Yeah, although how many falls on my head does that make now?"
"At least four… Maybe, anyways, what is this place?"
As Sonic looked around, he was on a stone platform that jutted from the shore of the Misty Lake into its center. Tails had been resting on a stone bench taking care of Caliburn while Bedwyr & Aquarion were on the shore trying to teach Knuckles to use his dual short swords. "We're in Nimue's home aren't we Caliburn?"
"Indeed. After we collapsed the others brought us here to be healed with Nimue's reviving water. Nimue herself tended to us and instructed me to bring you to her after you've rested."
"Well let's not keep the Lady waiting!"
"Um Sonic? Why does the Lady of the Lake look like Amy?" asked Knuckles as everyone sat down at Nimue's Misty table.
"Yeah, I want to know too," added Tails. "Sonic, are you hiding some feelings for a certain pink hedgehog back home?"
"Huh? No way!" exclaimed Sonic as he sat down uncomfortably next to Nimue.
"Um, what do you mean Tails?" asked Bedwyr.
"Does Sir Sonic have a maiden back where he comes from?" added Caliburn. "A princess to be his matching queen?"
"Back home there's a pink hedgehog called Amy that always wants to be Sonic's-"
"Uh aren't we disrespecting Nimue guys?" interrupted Sonic. "Right Aquarion?"
"I've never seen such disrespect for a lady, especially for Nimue, who is also the source of my strength! Please Lady Nimue; explain to these ruffians what the situation of the Kingdom is."
"That's exactly what has me curious," said Nimue as images was displayed on the Misty table. The images showed different areas of Camelot Castle and of its happy citizens. "It appears that Merlina and this Eggman person don't want to take over Camelot. Sure there are Egg Knights scattered throughout the land, but it appears that they only mean to stall you Knight of the Wind."
"Well Merlina did mention helping Eggman with making his 'Kingdom'," added Sonic.
"Furthermore, I cannot sense Merlina's or Eggman's presence; they appear to have left the Kingdom through the Deep Woods. What does lie beyond those woods by the way?"
"The near-by forests and Spagonia…" said Tails.
"Red Mountain and Angel Island…" added Knuckles.
"Green Hill and the rest of Mobius…" added Sonic. "Eggman wants to create an eternal Eggmanland all over the world doesn't he?"
"Is that even possible?" asked Tails.
"Yes, very much so," replied Nimue. "Merlina supposedly gave up her dark magic, but with some time she could reawaken them and do just that."
"How much time?"
"It depends, but when I sent Sir Sonic to do the three deeds before defeating the Black Knight three days had gone by… So I suppose that would be a safe bet."
"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Sonic as he got up. "We should get going!"
"Wait Sir Sonic," calmly said Nimue.
"…"
As Sonic sat slowly back down Nimue continued by saying, "Your heart and chivalry are pure, but your low tolerance can be your fatal flaw… Anyways, you'll need the full power of Excalibur if your wish to defeat the Dark Queen once again, especially now that Eggman is assisting her… I assume you found out the hard way that Caliburn lacks his full power?"
"Yeah what gives?"
"After you left and the Knights of the Round slowly started to disperse and expire, Sir Lancelot, Gawain, and Percival left their sacred swords in their respected barrier stones scattered throughout Camelot. To gain Excalibur's full power you'll need to prove yourself worthy once again by overcoming obstacles and obtaining these sacred swords."
"It's just like collecting the Chaos Emeralds but with swords," added Knuckles, "Right Sonic?"
"Yeah, so we just need to head to the barrier stones in the Shrouded Forest, the Great Megalith, and the Cauldron right?" asked Sonic.
"Correct, but may I suggest going to the Great Megalith first? Eggman's Knights has that region, which is now Camelot's armory, under control. This was what allowed him to reawaken Merlina in the first place," added Nimue. Then she turned to Knuckles and asked, "Did Sonic ever tell you that you resemble Sir Gawain?"
"Uh yeah, back when he first told us of his crazy adventure, why?"
"I believe you could very well be the descendent of Sir Gawain and be able to wield his Sacred Sword Galatine to assist Sir Sonic & Bedwyr."
"He has progressed rapidly in Dual Sword Paladin-Combat... For a knave…" remarked Aquarion.
"Ok that settles it!" exclaimed Sonic. "Now may we please go Nimue?"
"Very well. But be careful of the Egg Knights and other obstacles that will try to stop you... And beware that patience…" said Nimue before she disappeared with the mist of the lake.
Author's Note: I hope this makes sense to everyone, I needed to make another 'explanation chapter' so the story could progress, but now Sonic and his group have a purpose to smash Eggman's robots! Lol, please enjoy and offer your thoughts!