Chapter 8 - Darkness Is Found In Anyone

"Sonic…" called out a ghostly figure.

"Huh? What's going on?" answered Sonic. He found himself in a pitch-black area with nothing but Caliburn at his side, radiating a golden aura around him, and the ghostly figure, radiating a dark purple aura, a few feet away from him.

"What transpired with the Egg Cavaliers? You were attaining the full potential of my power, but you used it recklessly and eventually abandoned it…"

"Is… It you who been causing this darkness in me? I was letting my temper get the better of me… If I didn't snap out of that Dark state it could've cost the lives of my friends."

"Nonsense! If you had let my Dark Power take over completely you could've defeated the wretched Cavaliers of Metal and saved your friends without an issue…"

"Who are you?"

"Hmph! Do you not recognize me? I thought your so called 'Sacred Sword' said that you were a Knight last time we fought…" At this moment the ghostly figure revealed itself. By sporting thick and dark armor that flared at the shoulders and into a golden three-pronged horn at his head, dark threads forming a cape with a bright violet pattern, and with the sinister sword Deathcalibur in his hand, it was none other than…

"Whoa, the Black Knight? I thought…"

"That you finished me off? As unfortunate as it is you did…"

"Then how are you here? I thought you were just an illusion…"

"An illusion of whom?"

"King Arthur… Which is supposed to be me huh?"

"I guess you're not as much a Knave as I thought… Anyways when Merlina attacked you with that dark energy ball, along with the influence of the energy wave, I became the manifestation of your Darkness. When you started to lose your temper and felt the Darkness taking over that was my power that was being released. However, since your rage and frustration made you unstable, you used my power recklessly, just like a Knave would…"

"So let me get this straight, you're my Dark side whenever I start to get angered, but are YOU still under Merlina's control?"

"I was never under Merlina's control imbecile! It was the influence of Excalibur's scabbard that turned me into a Dark-Powered Entity. If you're truly the King I was supposed to emulate under Merlin's power, then you should be able to control the Darkness when you're angered and tap into its power…"

"Whoa… That was some dream…" said Sonic as he found himself waking up in an exquisite golden canopy bed. As he looked around he found a portrait of himself as the Knight of the Wind as well as one with the five Knights of the Round Table: Sir Lancelot, Gawain, Percival, Galahad, and Lamorak. "Oh yeah, before I left and was defeating what was left of the Knights of the Underworld I saw two knights that looked like Silver and Jet… Was what the Black Knight said true? Is it possible to harness that Dark power? Maybe I should ask Caliburn if he's felt this too…"

As if on cue, the door opened and Bedwyr walked in with Caliburn held out for Sonic. "Thank goodness you're awake! Aquarion has been nonstop about how it's almost time to give a speech to the citizens and how the Knight of the Wind must be present. Everyone is already at the top of the steps leading into the royal castle where the speech will be given. Anyways here's Caliburn… Something wrong?"

"Uh nothing, let's get going before Aquarion rants anymore."

"Indeed," said Caliburn, "I've had enough of his criticizing when we were sleeping in the weapons vault of the castle. Apparently I snore when I sleep and he wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Heh, that's true, but now you know what I felt every time you called me Knave, now let's go!"

As soon as the speech was given (and Aquarion had given his criticism to Bedwyr) everyone reunited at the throne room to be presented a few gifts by the Kingdom of Camelot. The current Royal Blacksmith recognized Tails as the descendent of the 'Legendary Two-Tailed Blacksmith: Who sharpened the blade of Caliburn himself' and presented him with a long sword composed of two single-bladed pieces of steel, set back-to-back with the insignia of Tails' namesake where the blades met the yellow-hued handle. The current Knight-General of the Royal army gave Knuckles Dual-Gauntlets that were said to be originally Sir Gawain's and gave the others his thanks for freeing the Great Megalith. When it came time to present a gift to Sonic, everyone gasped as Nimue herself appeared, since she's never been known to appear away from the Misty Lake.

"I see you've found the first Sacred Sword Knight of the Wind. However, there's still the Shrouded Forest and Cauldron that you must visit within two days, so I've come personally to present this to aid you." As she finished speaking, a ball of mist appeared in her hand and disappeared within a few seconds, revealing the Scabbard of Excalibur. Everyone gasped at seeing the Scabbard since the last time it was held by the Black Knight, but she continued by saying, "It appears that everyone knows about what happened last time I gave this to someone, but you're the true King Arthur and should be able to wield the Dark power it possesses in time. The power of immortality has been removed however, due to the issues last time, so still be on alert." As she leaned down to give Sonic a kiss on the cheek she lingered by whispering, "I saw what happened at the Great Megalith through my Misty Table, so the scabbard might help you control the power of Darkness, I hope…"

At first Sonic blushed deeply, but after hearing what Nimue said, a look of understanding came to his face. "I see… Ok, we should get going if we want to finish this task in two days! Tails, Knuckles, Bedwyr, off to the Shrouded Forest!"

As the group gathered their items and ran through the streets of Camelot to the exit the citizens cheered. "Sonic, what was that about?" asked Tails.

"Yeah," added Knuckles, "Do you have something going on between you and Nimue?"

"An affair?" exclaimed Caliburn, "Your queen Amy will be most angered…"

"It's not like that at all!" replied Sonic, "She was just telling me to be careful with the Scabbard, that's all!" He then turned to Caliburn and said jokingly, "And if I hear one more reference to Amy being my queen Caliburn, so help me Chaos I'll drop you in the lava of the Cauldron!" Then he added as a whisper, "I'll tell you exactly what it was later."

Author's Note: Happy 1st of August everyone! This chapter should hopefully bring some light to the Dark concept, if that makes sense! I hope you enjoyed and be sure to offer your appreciated feedback!