CHAPTER 36: JOHNNY I HARDLY KNEW YA
Sonic woke up slowly. No dreams, it seemed. He felt heavy in the bed, feeling like rolling around in the bed for about an hour, not getting up. But, he defied this drowsy state and got up. He had guests waiting to be fed. He guesses he could put some bowls of cereal on the counter and head off, ordering pizza on the way back.
"Well, you're up." Lamorak said, head against the wall. -Early bird, I guess.-
"Oh, good mornin'." Sonic replied from the bed, still dragging himself out of it. He walked over to the corner of the apartment dedicated to the kitchen. On the way there, he decided he should ease them into their new world; he couldn't imagine people not knowing how a button on a remote control effects the item it controls adapting quickly. So he wouldn't give them cereal, in favor some sandwiches.
"What are you getting?" Lamorak asked, bored.
"Food for you guys." Sonic said. He felt like a mother hurrying out to work saying that. -And I do not like that feeling.- "It doesn't matter which one you take, just pick one. Oh, wake them up."
With a small grin, he kicked the arm chair in front of him, causing it a tilt. "OI, PERCIVAL, GET UP!"
The tilted armchair caused the sleeping cat on it to roll off and land on the floor, now awake and decently agitated.
"Decency, Lamorak." Gawain groaned, waking up from his voice.
Sonic glared at the rambunctious bird. "Lamorak, shut up before I box you up like I did that demon, because people live across the hall you know."
There was a small moment's silence, other than the sound of hurried construction of sandwiches, Lamorak covered his mouth, breathing "oh shit."
"Whatever," Sonic said, finishing slapping together the last ham sandwich. "I don't know how long this lady will take to explain everything to me, but whatever you do, don't leave the apartment, don't poke your head out the window, and don't scream and shout."
"Do you have anything to do here?" Lamorak asked. "I was up for two hours this morning and I couldn't do anything in this place, afraid I'd break something." -At least he has common sense about things he should and shouldn't do.-
Sonic bounced around ideas in his head. -Video games? I'm sure they'd find Oblivion pretty nice. But they would probably need to be taught how to hold a controller for Christ's sake. Super-casual, hasn't been living under a rock, but COMES FROM THE FUCKING MIDDLE AGES. Movie? Lord of the Rings, maybe? Maybe I should give them a taste of modern society, though... What's the last channel I watched? Discovery? It's probably good for them, hopefully Man VS Wild or something is on, so they get to know the people first instead of the technology, because a society where people are named "Sonic," "Knuckles," and "Bear Grylls" (I imagine a bear driving a car with major focus on the grills) will take some getting used to. That'll do.- "Yeah, I'll let you watch some television." Sonic said, walking over to the TV. Sonic picked up the remote from the dressers (in which only socks, gloves, and miscellaneous items were kept) turned to the knights, who were paying close attention.
"This is the remote control for the TV. You people have about the same comprehension of this stuff as a squirrel from the wild, so I'm going to tell you about ONE button on this." Sonic said, pointing toward the big red button toward the top right. "This is the power button." Sonic turned to demonstrate its effects.
"It turns the TV on..." He pressed the button, and in moments, the TV spurred into life, its colors illuminating the mesmerized faces of the former medieval time dwellers. "And when it's on, the button turns the TV off." Sonic pressed the button again, turning off the lights of the television and leaving the group blinking. "Can you comprehend what I just said?"
"Yeah, easy." Galahad said.
"You people are to only press THIS button. If you press any other buttons, you will be confused beyond belief, because honestly, I don't know how to work some of the buttons on that thing."
The Knights of the Round Table had sat themselves around the big wall-mounted television as Sonic turned it on once more and left it on the dresser.
"I am going now. No leaving, no pressing random buttons, no screaming or fighting."
Sonic left the apartment, and all eyes turned to the television.
All of the following paragraph happened in seventeen seconds.
On the television was a snowy mountain, and a man in the center, wearing jackets, holding long metal poles and had what the knights could describe only as thin planks on his feet. "I am a man." He said as he went flying off a ramp, crashing through a tree, not losing any momentum. Now, he was sitting in an armchair, flying through a forest, in a white shirt, black pants, and some cloth around his neck. He was reading a book. "And I smell like a man." Crashing through another tree, he was now over a range of some sort, laying on a bench. He was lifting a pole with large black things on both ends with one arm, while wearing a green sleeveless shirt and short pants. "But sometimes I like to smell like a different smelling man." He crashed into a roof of a shed, and out he walked, now in a completely different outfit, with a mustache, and holding a club in one hand and a box of items in the other. "Luckily, Old Spice makes a variety of manly scents." He proceeded to swing at something on the ground, and moved the club so he was holding the steel mass at the end by the bar a few inches from it. And he proceeded to chew a chunk of it off.
They were in a strange, strange world.
Sonic walked out into the street, his MP3 player playing through his headphones, hurriedly making his way down the sidewalk. He began scanning the shops along the sides of the streets, looking for the word "Aerea". -Aerea. Air-ee-ya. Weird name, but good, I guess. Never figured out how all the naming process works, but by god Leon and Emily and Riley and oh god those were terrible.-
Three blocks down, he spotted it, across the street. The sign was dark blue, with a crystal ball in the background, with the words "Aerea's Shoppe" written in purple font on it. In the display window, he could see items such as Ouija boards, old-looking books, and tarot cards. Behind the display case, he saw an elderly woman with long white hair re-arranging books inside the store. Having found his shop, he worked his way across the street and into the more-than-just-novelty shop.
He opened the door. The door rung a bell as he opened it, signaling his entry. Sonic looked around at the strange shop. It was mostly brown from polished wood, despite all the old novelty items of various colors, none of which too bright. He noted that the shop had some very detailed woodwork, as if even the bookcases were for sale. Perhaps her husband was a carpenter, if she had a husband. Although he liked the song he was listening to, he lowered the volume on the music player and moved the headphones to rest on his shoulders.
The elderly woman looked over at her next potential customer, and smiled. "Hello, and welcome to my shop!" She said enthusiastically. It feels so good to have someone of your stature to even trot in my store."
"Yeah, yeah." Sonic replied lacking such enthusiasm. "You're Aerea, I believe?"
"Yes." She did a small curtsey with her long dress.
"I believe you met Tails?" Sonic questioned.
"Tails? Oh, Miles Prower!" She exclaimed, remembering the child. "He's a good kid. And why are you asking?"
"He bought some books to your shop."
She nodded. "Uhuh?"
"He said he got some... special editions?"
The smile of hers quickly faded.
"Oh," Aerea said as he realized what had happened to him, shelving the book she had in her hand. "...shoot. I knew I should have put that premium members ONLY sign on it sooner! Follow me, please, I don't want anyone coming in on our discussion."
Aerea made her way over to the door behind the mahogany counter. She tried opening it, but it wouldn't move. Locked. Not knowing exactly where the key is, she turned to the very fancy desk, and began scrounging for the key.
Sonic took this time to examine a large piece of artwork on the wall.
It was an old-looking caricature from the sixties. It was focused on a purple haired woman, with happy blue eyes. She was wearing a little string of flowers around the top of her head, and a tie-die shirt, primarily purple. She was smiling a gentle smile, holding in her hand, a dying dandelion. It was full of detail; each strand of hair, each knit of clothing, each pore on her skin, the glimmer in her eyes, it was all there, well-worked in with delicate care. Despite the cartoony proportions of the face, he recognized the face. His suspicions became true when he read the plaque at the bottom. It read:
"Dear Aerea"
By Fredrick Allen
"Come on, now." Aerea called.
Sonic was ripped from his immerse thought by Aerea's voice, again seeming familiar. He knew just who it was, but before making any assumptions out loud, he needed other things. Other things than just a single painting. Shrugging it off, he turned, walked around the desk and through the doorway.
It led into a stairwell. It had only one point where it stopped and went the other direction. There was another painting there. As Aerea walked up the stairs, Sonic took his time, examining the painting.
This one was a painting of a standoff. It was on a road just at the exit of a city. One one side, was a wizard, donning typical blue robes with a white, untamed beard that rolled all the way down to his waist. He was holding a staff toward his enemy, with a serious yet concerning frown. Next to him, was a blonde haired woman, probably in her early twenties, and holding her hand, a young, purple haired girl with pig tails. On the other side of the standoff, stood one lone man; a knight. A black knight. He held his large, detailed claymore with two hands, its tip on the gravel ground. Upon the Black Knight's back, laid a familiar item, that Sonic had recognized within seconds upon glancing toward the user. The Scabbard. Its sick, purple magic was stretching across his arms, as if it was a puppeteer to him. One volt of energy went through his head, to create a makeshift crown out of the dark magic. There was a plaque at the bottom of this one, as well. It read:
"The Black Knight"
By Fredrick Allen
"You seem to like those paintings, no?" Aerea pointed from the top of the stairway, at the door.
Sonic nodded, walking away from the painting, his eyes glued on the artist's name. "Who is this Fred guy? I've never heard of him."
"We have more important matters to discuss than people I've met, if you don't mind." Aerea said, opening the door and entering. It was her room. Along the walls were more images for Sonic to examine.
As Sonic entered the room, he thought he might as well press on the subject. "Well, he's a good artist, and I saw that painting of you downstairs."
"Yes, but let's get on with- Oh... perhaps he is related to the subject at hand..." Aerea realized, watching as Sonic lost his mind in the pictures on the wall.
The first picture seemed oddly familiar by the simple structure of it; a boy, and a bunch of monsters doing what seemed to be a train on an island. Sonic had recognized this as a re-vision of the cover of "Where the Wild Things Are", but with different creatures. These "Wild Things" were two-colored, usually varying shades of green or blue, big eyed folk, though not that big at all. They were also clothed, with jackets, cowls, gloves and boots.
"Where the Wild Things Are"
Revised by Fredrick Allen
Another illustration caught Sonic's eye. This was a painting of a medieval city. The main road was a bridge, with waterfalls along both sides. Above, archways soared over the main walkway, and a torn orange circle split into three triangle shaped banner dangled from underneath.
"Castle Town"
By Fredrick Allen
Sonic looked over to another one. This one was a massive fortress constructed from wood and spikes. It looked like it could be packed up and sent on the move, rolling onto its side and using the spikes to crush obstructions, while massive carts carried the tons of supplies for all its personnel. -Like, Medieval Arms Fort Motherwill.-
"The Great Megalith"
By Fredrick Allen
All along the wall, he could recognize all the places he ventured to inside the stories. Even though there were plenty of images of the Tales of the Arabian Nights along the walls, as well as other mythologies and fictional stories such as Sherlock Holmes, it seemed the Arthur's Tales story was the most fleshed out. Their favorite.
"Fredrick Allen was a co-worker of mine..." The old woman said, looking down. "I was an author back then, but I couldn't grasp my own worlds too well... so, he illustrated what he perceived them as."
Listening but not looking, Sonic heard her take out a large book of some sort. He turned his gaze over to her to see her with a dusty old photo album, sit in a rather comfy looking armchair, and open it. He went over to behind the chair, and looked over her shoulder at the old, barely colored photographs.
"I can tell what his inspiration was," Sonic noted, his eyes looking at a photograph where a purple haired woman dressed as a magician and a man dressed as an old-school vampire, standing side-by-side at a Halloween costume party, smiling. The vampire costume was implemented well, as he dyed the middle of his semi-pompadour white, as well as his thin chin-beard. Aerea didn't seem to be there. Standing where she should be standing, was Merlina, or so it seemed to Sonic. "There's not a detail different between you and Merlina."
"Oh, yes..." She drifted off. "And although we tried to keep it mostly business... some things you can't stop..."
There were much more images of them together on the page. At concerts, protests, romantic nose-to-nose messing around. Sonic wasn't really one to get to into these love stories, however. Just wasn't the type for it. As Aerea began to turn the page, she stopped, looking at the edges of the pictures on the next page.
"...like..."
Sonic rose an eyebrow.
Aerea turned the page. Sonic recognized the scene instantly.
A funeral parlor.
"... like death."
He felt like someone sunk a battleship in his heart.
"So, in memory of him, I decided to..." She stopped to chuckle behind the quiet sadness. "Work my magic on my books. So his legacy could live on. Our legacy. And I meant live on. A world in which people talk, people walk, people breath, people have feelings, and people are actually there, even if they're just fiction. And he's in there, somewhere... Maybe waiting for me. Maybe waiting for little poor Merlina to run into his open arms. Maybe looking for her..."
The blue hedgehog blinked, unsure of how to react. -... Yeah I really don't know. I definitely care, but not enough to do anything.-
"... Maybe." Sonic assured. He hadn't noticed anyone the like in the images neither the first or second times. He might be able to, though. "I came to learn about the properties of the book." Sonic stated, changing the subject.
"Of course." Aerea acknowledged, wiping a tear from her eye, closing the photo album. "We've already worked out the books' origins. What will it be?"
"Where did you learn that magic?" Sonic inquired.
"First hand training with a mentor." She answered. "It's sort of a private thing, I don't really teach it, or do it, much any more. I could lead you to people who are more willing-"
"No thanks, I was just curious. I'm not looking to become a wizard or something. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, not Harry Potter."
"Indeed, indeed. Next question?"
"People inside the book are living and sentient, or...?"
"No. They are figments of your imagination, brought to you and fueled by the book itself. They are like robots, have a main goal, try to avoid obstacles, and if disabled, will be reset when you're done with them."
"Like a videogame?" Sonic asked. "Like, virtual reality?"
"I guess you could consider it a virtual reality. Except instead of technology, it's magic. And your thoughts."
"Good. Now how about if you brought them out into the real world?"
There was a silence as she tried to gather what exactly he was implicating.
"... How many did you...?"
"Six." Sonic answered, looking at the floor, shuffling his feet. "Five living creatures, one robot."
"... I believe they can be considered living, then..." She said. "Although birthed by your mind and magic, their bodies are now actual flesh, actual bone, and not just virtual flesh and bone. Before, it was essentially all in your head; the entire world, its people and its scenes, and such, although you were sucked in the book for it to access your mind. But now, you brought it into reality. They will still remember their times which you fought with or alongside them, as well as their lives before then, as we do ours, but now they aren't more than characters that play out a certain role. You've literally torn them from the book. Speaking of them, who were they?"
"Percival, as Blaze, Gawain, as Knuckles, Galahad, as Silver, Lamorak, as Jet, Bors, as a friend of mine, Mighty, and Galehaut, Omega."
"Bors and Galehaut weren't even in the book... And what happened to Lancelot?"
"... I had managed to get them to find their way back to help kill the king, and...Um... I was looking up bolt action rifles before I went in..."
"Why would you need to know how to make a bolt action rifle before you read a book?"
"It wasn't my first time in it."
"Well why did you want to go a second time?"
"FOR SCIENCE!" Sonic exclaimed proudly. "And I had nothing interesting to do for the whole week, after the whole interstellar amusement park thing. Though I mainly went in to see what would happen if I acted differently, perhaps get to know them more without actually knowing or talking to them. My first, original run was me acting normal, but this run I was kind of a jackass."
"That really isn't the most polite thing to do, you know. It's essentially invading their privacy."
"Well, it could help me out later by knowing a little something about someone earlier before getting to a point to find out something like, I dunno, Shadow will just not go to cold places, and stuff like that."
Aerea nodded. "Alright."
"And besides, every day in the book is an hour everywhere else. That's awesome."
"Yes, many do like that feature."
"If I go back, would they be there?"
"Well, the characters weren't in your head when you entered the first time, right? You met them just then. They will be recreated."
"Good."
"May I ask what that is for?"
"Yes."
"Well?"
"I said you can ask, but you won't get an answer."
"Oh come on," the elderly woman groaned, pinching her brows. "Why would you need duplicates of people you know?"
"I want my own Batcave, alright?" Sonic admitted. "A little army. I'm not going to take over the world or anything, it's in case if something ever happens to me. They will be disguised, of course. All of them will have their own looks, their own identities, their own little code names when I get things organized. They are my emergency world-saving kit. If I'm not there, they will be. If I have to win back the world, they'll know what to do. If I ever die, they'll know who killed me, and they'll spring up. Do you understand what I'm trying to do?"
"It makes sense, I believe..." Aerea dragged off, questioning her words.
"If they enter the book, will they go through the same thing I did, and be able to leave, or will it just suck them up and call it a day?"
"It would behave the same as if you did so. Casting will vary, however."
"Speaking of casting... which characters did you implement in the book? Merlina, The Black Knight, which ones did not come from my mind?"
"Ah yes, my original characters." -Original the Character DO NOT STEAL- "Those two, the average grunt enemies, and the civilians."
"No crystalline things?"
"No..."
"You haven't designed ONE demon or something that takes over people?"
"..."
"Oh... Well I got this guy in my closet..."
"I thought you said you only brought out six! May I visit your house for examination of this creature?"
"He's sorta in bits though. Like sliced bread."
Aerea sighed, resting her head in her hand.
"I'll bring him in a box some other day. I've got more important things to do with dead people that came from books. Like living people that came from books."
"Respectable."
"Can I bring multiple people in? I brought multiple people out at once."
"Yes, you can, and the world is cast using the mind of the first person in. This may cause doppleganger problems, however. Be warned if you want to have any "field trips" back."
"Alright, a couple more questions and I'm done." Sonic announced. "Will this work on other media, perhaps with a modification somewhere? Like, being sucked into a movie?"
"It function awkward and dangerously as the movie would still play on the screen, and can be paused, rewound, fast forwarded, and such. You could, but even if you could beat the Knights of the Round Table story blindfolded, I wouldn't recommend movies."
"How about video games?"
"Looking to relive some times?"
"More rather do them differently, yeah."
"Weh-ell, I'm not too familiar with them, and it'd probably have the same problems as the movies, but at least people couldn't rewind or fast forward it, that's for sure."
"Great, one more thing. Does the quality of the book effect what happens in the book's world?"
"I wouldn't think so."
"Okay. Fantastic. Thank you."
"Come again!"