In a country that was once far from what it became to be known as, there lived a prince who hardly ever felt like a prince. But, like most people in his time, the Prince had very little say in the matter of his own life.

The Prince was the sole son of the Queen, and therefore his days consisted of hours of holding court and meeting with officials and practicing the kinds of princely things that bored him to death. If the Queen had it her way, he would accept these responsibilities with grace, but the Prince had other ideas.

Prince Sonic would rather spend his time outdoors, preferably as far from the castle as possible.

To call it a castle was a generous description. It was certainly a magnificent palace by most standards, but "chateau" was a more apt description. The royal family's country, unlike the one it would come to be known as, was small, consisting of a sole city surrounding the royal palace and a smattering of villages around its perimeter. But it was a city fit for Sonic only in the way that the clay tiled roofs and cobblestone streets provided an exhilarating playground for him to leap around, run across, and slide along.

However, the real fun started when he ran beyond the last building, the last road, and eventually the last farm into the forest of trees that hugged the sky with their massive canopies. Eventually the tree line would break and he would find himself rolling down cliffs as if that was as natural as breathing. He would let the momentum carry him back up, uncurling as he flew through the sky.

No pleasures of a king could match that.

His tendency for adventure had sent his mother into a panic from the day he first curled into a ball and shredded the rose garden to bits. Sonic's fondness for such activities would, as she often told him, keep her young forever, as she refused to leave her country to a king who would gladly bargain it over a foot race (her concern was, as he insisted, nonsense because Sonic would never lose a foot race).

But his mother's concerns only deepened as Sonic's open distaste for the monarchy and his role in it grew. Whispers traveled between nobles and those close to the crown. Opinion on the crown prince ranged from those who saw his attitude as merely teenage rebellion, to those who perceived him as a budding radical threat to the future of the country, all the way to the few who secretly agreed with his views.

The Queen was well aware of these whispers at court. Regardless of their content, it was clear Sonic was still a boy in their eyes. They had all the reason to believe that their Queen would not only shield the country from his radical ideals, but under her guidance, he would eventually become a ruler in the same vein as those in the generations before him.

As sovereign, she was all the happier to take up that mantle and be the shield, regardless of the strain it placed on her relationship with her son. And so, her shield continued until the day she fell ill.

She began planning almost as soon as she first received the news that her disease was fatal. Her son was still young, but not the youngest ruler the kingdom had seen. He would be King, but until he was ready for that full responsibility, he would be aided by the court and council of advisors handpicked by her and her predecessors. She had also planned the entire coronation ceremony—in the end, all Sonic had to do was show up.

Sonic had learned a lot in the weeks until her passing, information about the kingdom and the rulers before him that left him more disillusioned and frustrated than ever before.

One of the first lessons Sonic ever learned was about the responsibilities of the ruler, and that included protection of the Seven Gems of Miracles.

"Chaos emeralds turn our thoughts into power, Sonic." His mother had once told him so long ago, back during a time when he was still small enough to sit on her lap. "As their guardians, it is our responsibility to use them for good. Our desires, our thoughts are very powerful things."

Now, he was at her side once again when his mother revealed to him the truth of his ancestors: safeguarding the emeralds was an excuse. In fact, it was nearly the reverse in many ways; his bloodline had control of the emeralds, and with them, they could control the land in whatever way they pleased, no matter what horrors of the Earth they disturbed in the meantime.

Sonic was naturally disillusioned, betrayed by all that his mother revealed to him. It soon became clear that there was not sufficient time for his mother to pass on everything he had a right to know, which only added to his frustrations. Then, she was gone, and Sonic was left without true closure to the legacy of kings and queens before him.

Sonic never had much of a presence around the castle, but the day the Queen passed he seemed to have truly vanished into the wind. And, if not for the effort of the few who had managed to get close to him, that may have been where Sonic's titleage ended.

Miles Prower had begun his apprenticeship as a royal scribe at a terribly young age, reading and writing before most children his age could even walk. Brilliant but terribly shy, it was the only other youth in the castle at the time that had inspired in him the confidence to rise through the ranks. He had been drawn to Sonic as soon as he laid eyes on him, encouraged by his free spirit and Sonic accepted his friendship with open arms, even gifting him the nickname "Tails." Now, the two were practically brothers. Then, there was the guardian. Entrusted with guarding the crown at all costs, Knuckles took his job very seriously, even if the prince did not. But after nearly a decade of Sonic's needling and high-octane antics, his ideals to be an unswaying force and devotee to the crown were quickly molded into a friendly rivalry with the prince, much to Sonic's elation.

With his mother gone, they were his only true allies in the face of a system he opposed and a kingdom with little faith in him. They were the only two who could convince him to return, and somehow, they managed to do just that.

Preparations for Sonic's ascension were in full swing, but he would come to find there was more in order than just a coronation. He had met Amy Rose officially only three days before his coronation, at which he was to publicly announce their engagement. One more thing his mother never bothered to mention.

Amy was a sweet girl, daughter of a noble and by anyone's opinion, a more-than-sufficient spouse for the future king. Sonic, while trying to be as cordial as possible to her, couldn't help but be put off by how obvious her infatuation for him was.

However, only the night before his coronation, he witnessed as her facade of excitement slipped.

It turns out this had not been the first time Amy had met Sonic. When they were much younger, Sonic had saved Amy after she became lost in the forest. Ever since that day, she had been fascinated by the prince, and longed to be close to him. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes as she spoke of the encounter, Sonic felt ashamed that he could not remember the experience.

Now, her wish to be close to him had finally come true, but this wasn't what she really wanted. No, an arranged marriage to someone who really didn't even know her wasn't what she wanted. It was then she was forced to confront the question of whether she had ever truly been in love with Sonic, or just the idea of him. Regardless of her true feelings, one thing was clear to both of them: neither of them wanted to go through with this marriage.

Something clicked in Sonic's mind at that moment when the two of them sat alone in the courtyard. Once he was King, he could change his kingdom in whatever way he wanted, advisors be damned.

So, Sonic would change his kingdom; not just for his and Amy's sakes, but for the sake of everyone who lived under his family's control for far too long. But for now, he would just have to save face until his coronation was over and done with.

And then, the day arrived. After days of rehearsal sessions with aides breathing down his neck, the only thing that kept Sonic sane was the mental picture of him kicking all the haughty advisors, council members, and unelected bureaucrats to the curb.

Sonic stood atop the balcony, arm interlocked with Amy's, Tails on their left and Knuckles on their right. The aristocracy crowded the floor below while several hundred folk from the city crowded around the castle in merriment for the celebration of the coronation.

It was time.

Sonic's nerves reared, but his resolve was steely. He left Amy's side and addressed the menagerie, who ceased their chattering to gaze up at their soon-to-be-king.

His ascension would be marked by calling upon the power of the chaos emeralds. They had already been arranged in podiums around him, waiting for his call. It was not the first time Sonic had interacted with the gems, but it was the first time he had called upon all seven at once.

He breathed deeply, shutting his eyes and focusing on their auras, feeling them pulse and heat the air around him as they rose into the air. The crowd fell into a hush, watching their heir hover the seven gems around him.

In turn, Sonic had never felt more powerful. It was exhilarating, frightening even. With this power, he could do anything. But unlike those before him, he would change the kingdom, and the sins of his ancestors could be put to a rest.

A bright light flashed across the palace hall, revealing Prince Sonic's now golden quills shining brilliantly.

A spark of hope lit up in Sonic's chest, feeling in control for the first time in chaos knows how long. But just like that, the spark was snuffed out by a chilling presence that made his fur stand on end as it shot through his body

The tension emanating from his companions around him told him they had felt it too.

Knuckles whipped around, poised to attack. But, even if he had been fast enough, it would not have mattered. Their attacker was not a being of flesh and bone.

The balcony crumbled around them. Thick purple smoke poured up through the cracks in the floor. Sonic could see a mass forming through the miasma and just made out a being with a twisted grimace. Such a sight may have told Sonic this was simply an assassination attempt by someone gifted in black magic, but something was wrong. Anxiety rose into Sonic's throat and his body ached as if old wounds had been disturbed. The image of the grimace contorted and twisted, painful and violent, and then it began to grow, consuming the space around it.

Sonic's fight or flight response kicked in. Abandoning his friends was never an option, so the only alternative path the adrenaline in his bloodstream allowed for was to rush towards the mass, emeralds still in his control.

His mistake was evident immediately. A blast wave of energy assaulted his body, blowing him back against the remaining railing of the balcony. The smoke clung around him like a fog; it burned his lungs and bursts of energy crackled along his skin, causing his limbs to contort in the same manner as the source.

Sonic let out a gasp of pain. Knuckles was at his side in an instant, but could do nothing to help as his own body failed him, collapsing to the floor followed by Amy and Tails.

Then, the mass released a second shockwave. The blast propelled the miasma like an explosive, smoke saturating the palace and leaking out into the courtyard and streets surrounding the palace, rolling in waves over the crowds of citizens now running from the scene in a blind panic.

Sonic heard ringing in his ears when he came to. His body did not feel like his own—limbs lay heavy and it was all he could muster to just raise his head. He stared into the center of the spiraling smoke through squinted eyes.

Knuckles, Tails, and Amy lay around him, and grief gripped at Sonic's heart at the sight of their seemingly lifeless bodies. Then, he noticed the chaos emeralds, scattered around him dull and gray, seemingly as lifeless as his friends. Somehow, even in his state of utter confusion and despair and their own pitiful state, he could still feel their pull on him.

It was over for them, but the screams of the townsfolk echoed dimly in his mind. The city and all its people were still in danger. He channeled the little remaining energy he had, calling out to the emeralds once again.

Chaos emeralds turn thoughts into power.

The smoke spiraled faster and faster, shooting through the top of the palace high into the sky, turning it a deep purple and accumulating into storm systems that crackled with lightning.

Sonic had never wanted the responsibility of ruling this kingdom, but in the last moments of his life, he could at least try to save it.

Contain the curse to the castle. Let it die with me!

…

Outside the castle, thick vines shot up through the grounds surrounding the castles, the evacuating citizens watching in horror and awe as they appeared to absorb the dark smoke, growing and mangling to horrific sizes. By the time the last tint of purple faded from the sky, the remaining black storm system drenched the abandoned streets in a solemn rain and a huge wall of trees and vines remained, blocking off the castle from the rest of the world.

Days after the incident, hundreds remained missing, including the entire royal family, guard, and aristocracy.

No one could even catch a glimpse of the castle through the thick foliage that surrounded the castle, emanating from the center of the city like blood vessels.

—-

It wasn't long in the lens of history for the remaining citizens to abandon the city, which was overtaken at an unnatural pace by the forest, trees sprouting between the same buildings and cobblestones the Prince had once soared across.

Written accounts outside of the palace had been rare in the area, and over the course of a hundred years, the royal family was forgotten along with the original history of the land. The industrial revolution reached the country, now under a new name and government. The only remnant of Sonic's kingdom were the rumors and eventually, the myths and bedtime stories. The tales told of wondrous treasures left behind by a royal family executed during the Revolution. The forest attracted some thrill seekers and amateur treasure-hunting tourists, but nothing of value was ever found, and even these tales faded into obscurity.

All that remained was the forest. But in the day and age of global travel, a small neighboring city had been established by mostly artisans and common folk seeking the simple life.

It also happened to be a lovely place for someone seeking a new life altogether.