Shiori was spending her time reading. She often has free time nowadays. With her newly hired help, her life was becoming easy. She flipped through the pages of a classic fairy tale with tea nearby.

As she sipped her cup, she noticed the words glowing a faint hue of orange on the page. The text began to morph. In front of her, the text shifted to tell an entirely new story. The story of Snow White awakening and marrying the prince changed to one of warring nations. How did such a thing happen?

She read the new story quite quickly. It said in the tale that the Queen failed to kill Snow White. That stood out to Shiori as the turning point, as the story became a raving epic afterward. Snow White ended up finding her husband, and he declared war on the Queen. She knew something was amiss.

As The Archiver, she had a duty to help contain these books. Who even could change such a thing?

She thought about it. She wasn't risk-averse. However, she could think of one part of her castle that could help her. She would call upon the covert branch to help her. It would help give them more purpose. Who should she bring? There were a lot of good choices to pick from. There were great assassins, spymasters, and undercover soldiers.

In the end, she made a choice.

"Sonic?"

He was busy training, throwing daggers at targets while in motion. He flipped in all directions, tossing knives at dummies. He hit them in the head each time. As soon as he noticed her, he stopped and kneeled.

"Madame."

"No need, you can stand." She said. He got up immediately, bowing to her.

"What do you need me for?"

She gave him the cliff notes of the situation. Unlike the other two, he wouldn't even think to ask questions. He will do what he is told and nothing more. He was a robot in that way. After she got him to agree, she began her preparations. She had to make sure she didn't ruin it any worse.

In the midst of the serene, snow-covered landscape, we emerged. The Archiver draped in a white cloak while holding a vibrant red apple. With a playful smirk, she extended the fruit towards me, directing my gaze towards a cottage nestled in the distance - the abode of a fairytale character.

"Ready for your first job?" She asked.

"This is what you hired me for, I'll do my part," I replied, grabbing the apple. I prided myself on my skills in killing people, and even if this wasn't exactly that, it was similar enough. I was supposed to make my target eat this apple, temporarily putting her to sleep. The Archiver was clear that things were amiss somehow, that the story was blasting off into a new foreign direction. They would rein it in no matter what. To do that, she decided to get more hands-on. All I needed to do was get this snow girl to eat this apple, and we would be on our way. The story will continue onto its happy ending. With my knife in my back pocket, I approach the cottage. I knock on the door, waiting for the answer.

The girl opened the door. The Archiver was right. The girl was a rather beautiful young maiden. Apparently, she is the fairest in the land. She looked a bit scared.

"Good day sir, what have you came to this little quaint cottage for?"

I handed her the apple. "I am here to give you a gift, from a secret admirer. Enjoy!"

I originally was sure she would be suspicious of it, as The Archiver told me she would be. She took it without hesitation, however.

"How beautiful a gift, why thank you." She said, taking a bite into it. She bit off the good part first, but eventually, as she continued to eat it, she dropped to the floor. My mission was complete.

I walked back to where The Archiver was. From a distance, I could see her talking with someone. She was an evil-looking woman with a knight with her. Whoever she was, she looked like trouble.

"My dear, are you sure you don't want this apple?" The Queen got out an identical apple to the one I just had. Was that...?

The Archiver shook her head. "If I may, I do plan to be leaving soon. Do not worry about me."

"You will be leaving...Knight, off with her head." The Queen ordered. Before the knight could move, I got behind him and twisted his neck. I didn't expect the knight to grab me and toss me away. It shifted its head back to its original shape.

I walked close to The Archiver. "Who is this?"

"The Evil Queen, and some interloper. This one is not from the original story, " She pointed to the knight, "Must be one of the reasons for the this split in canon."

"Take Shiori's head! And her little assassin too."

Shiori? The name caught me off guard. She was often protective of information like that. And she called me an assassin...was that just a lucky guess? It didn't matter.

As the knight rushed towards us, I tripped it, slamming it against the floor. I thrust my blade into the armor, only to feel nothing. No flesh and no skeleton. What was this thing made out of? It grabbed me and tossed me in the air. Afterward, it threw its sword directly at my head.

For being a mysterious creature, it sure wasn't strong. I only moved my head slightly and threw my knife at its chest. It pierced and went through, doing no damage.

I landed on the floor, backing up. A magical creature and I thought I would have time to get used to it.

I moved the wrapped bandages on my arm. My arm burned, warming the area around us. I pointed it at the knight. Even if it pained me, this was to protect The Archiver. The fire consumed the knight as my arm continued to burn. Eventually, the knight disappeared.

The Queen looked shocked. "How did you...?"

"Don't worry, " The Archiver smirked, "you're the fairest in the land right now. Just check." The Archiver grabbed me, teleporting us out of there.

As soon as we reached the library, I fell to the ground.

"Are you alright, Sonic?" She called out to me. I merely nodded. She grabbed my arms and wrapped it back in bandages. "I didn't expect it to be this bad...it looks like someone is interefering with the stories on purpose. "

I felt my bandaged arms. It was a reminder that I owed a lot to her.

"Are we meant to find them? Does it take mobilizing us all? If someone could mess with these stories under your nose..."

"Nah, don't worry." The Archiver smiled at me, grabbing my hand. "I want you to be in charge of this. I'm sorry if it's a lot to take, but can you join me on this mission?"

"If you wish it, I will carry it out."

The Archiver chuckled. "I know. I'll be calling on you soon."

With that, I left the library. If I'm going to be trusted to do anything, I need to get stronger. That meant even more training. I'm a simple blade, nothing more, nothing less.

Uploading this on here as well. The prompts are given by the YouTube community tab typically by Shiori Novella, and this one in particular was. Shiori is not listed as a character yet so lmao. Now, like I said on Ao3, I am a bit outlandish with how I do things so expect irregularity and me liking ideas too much. I have no idea who the little villain of this story is currently btw. It's for fun! Until someone says it's great then it was good on purpose! Have a good day, evening, or night for those reading this!