Chapter 22
We managed to get to the castle town, where we did see that it looked a lot like the castle area of Soleanna, but it was much more ancient, considering that this was over 9 thousand years in the past. But it was also way more expansive to boot, which I kind of expected. And after asking around (needing to resort to talking in Ye Olde English speak, because I guess that was the next lingo after a massive radioactive blast), we eventually found the Blacksmith's shop at the far north of town. And when we got there, I really did expect Tails to be the one to be the Blacksmith... but no, it wasn't. It was... someone else!
"Is that... Big?" asked Maria, me smiling at her as I told them something important.
"Keep in mind, we're thousands of years in the past. This is likely his ancestor," I said, them nodding at that. Besides, this version of Big had red fur as opposed to deep purple. "Excuse me, mister Blacksmith?" I asked, the big guy then looking at us with a smile.
"Oh? Visitors to my shop? And all of them fair madames, it seems," Big's ancestor said... in a voice that sounded like he were an intellectual scholar! It was so bizarre, but I didn't show it.
"Yes, we wanted to know if you could sharpen up my new sword I got," I said, Big's ancestor smiling at my speak.
"I see you are also like me. More intellectual in your methods of speaking than the others who speak in Ye Olde Speak... must be because you're part Mobian, I guess," Big smirked as I handed him the sword and Caliburn then spoke.
"Don't be afraid to be a bit rough," Caliburn said... and the big red cat looked surprise.
"Oh my! A talking sword? I believe that you might be Caliburn, the sword of legend, correct?" he asked, that making me smirk.
"I'm amazed you knew who he was right off the bat... no offense," I smiled.
"None taken. Most dismiss me as being a big dumb bruiser. But I am quite smart in the ways of the legends, like how hundreds of years ago, the world nearly ended," he said. He then proceeded to fix up Caliburn, but he did talk to us while doing so. A multitasker, much like I was. "So, where do you endearing madames come from? I don't mean to offend, but I don't think I've seen clothes such as the ones you currently wear," he asked as he sharpened up the blade of Caliburn.
"Well, it's not really where we come from, but when... don't tell anyone this, but we kinda come from far in the future..." I said, the big cat not even skipping a beat with the forging. If anything, he got even better at it.
"I thought that'd be the case. I have seen my fair share of bizarre happenings and goings-on in this kingdom in my 40 years. I expected your group would have some kind of surprise in store," he smiled.
"By the way... we actually happen to know a distant descendent of yours that loves fishing and relaxing. He's one of our most chill friends, actually... could you tell us what your name might be?" I asked.
"My name is Lysander. And it's refreshing to hear that my ancestry lives on even to the future. During my down time, I am also an expert fisherman," he smiled widely as he finally finished work on Caliburn... before he then handed me something that made me surprised. He actually had the blue Secret Ring! And he was giving it to me! "I recognize that ring on your wrist as belonging to that bastardized king. I can tell you that these rings are very powerful. This ring here can control the waves and oceans, as well as call forth a deluge of rain. It also contains the emotion of sadness, while that ring contains the emotion of suffering. I'd recommend utilizing them in your endeavors, so you can rescue our kingdom from his horrid reign."
How could I say no? I simply accepted the ring and felt... the deep repressing sadness appear from the consciousness of my brain. All the sadness and tears I shed during my time in high school, all at once... but once again, it only lasted for about 10 seconds before I was back to my old self...
"Oof... these rings have a kick to them... it's almost like it conjoins to your darkest repressed memories you've had and inflicts them onto you or something..." I said with a wooziness.
"That's to be expected. From what I've heard, the rings test whoever holds them to see if they are worthy to use them. The ring of suffering tests your pain endurance, both mental and physical. And the ring of sadness forces you to relive the saddest moments of your life. If you can withstand the effects, then you can effectively use them," he said, me smiling and nodding at that.
"Now I say we find out from Caliburn what and where we should go next?" Sticks asked the sentient sword.
"Now that I'm freshly sharpened again, I can remember the one we need to visit... We must visit Nemue, the Lady of the Lake. She was the one that gave the scabbard to Merlin 30 years ago," Caliburn said with seriousness.
"And where is this lake?" Blaze asked.
"It's due west of here, in the Deep Woods. It's one of my favorite fishing spots," Lysandre said, me nodding at that.
"Thanks for the directions, mister Lysandre. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a lady of the lake to meet in order to save the kingdom," I smirked. We then left the blacksmith and proceeded to the location he told of. And for those wondering, we did have to deal with even more demonic creatures on the way there and through the forest, but thanks to our weapons, they didn't last long at all. But then, just as we had arrived at a small clearing in the woods, we were approached by, get this, a large crocodile Mobian with green scales, only a helmet for armor, and holding the sword of Arondight in his hand!
"Oh boy," I groaned.
"Halt, criminals!" he said, me seeing his voice sounded just like Vector, but I could see he looked to be pretty nasty as well.
"Criminals? Us? No, no, we're just on a leisurely stroll through the forest, I dunno what crimes we've done," I said with a facade of innocence.
"I can smell a crook from miles away. And I saw you attack King Arthur's troops," he said, me frowning at that.
"Sure, sure, if you consider demons of darkness as troops, I guess. Who even are you, anyway?" Sticks asked in annoyance.
"I am Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table. And I challenge you to a duel!" he said as he held his sword up with fury.
"Hmph. Just as thick in the head as ever... very well then, let us dance the duel of blades. Just you and me, gator boy," I smirked at him.
"State your name, knightess!" he shouted at me.
"Name's Cheryl, Knight of the Rings!" I shouted, Caliburn about to retort but I shut him up. "Don't even say a word, Caliburn! I want to savor this moment," I smirked. He simply shut up as the others simply watched from a distance as the duel started.
"Three, two, one, DUEL!" Lancelot shouted as he then started to plod towards me like a freight train with his sword in hand! I simply waited into the very last second and then forced him back with a deluge of water from the blue ring! He then proceeded to swim through the water torrent I sent towards him, but then I switched it up and stopped the flow of constant water, using the confusion to rush in and slam my fist into his snout! That single strike made him dazed long enough for me to swipe his sword right off of his hand, him then gasping as I held it in my grasp.
"You... you have disgraced me even further!... Only death my remove this stain upon my honor," Vector said with a frown as he then reached under his helmet and was about to eat poison! But I snatched it before he could even get it an inch near his long mouth.
"Would you stop being so melodramatic?!" I asked him in annoyance, him then looking at me in annoyance. "I'm not one to see my foes resort to suicide because I defeat them in battle. You have no idea how much pity I have on you now, to consider taking your own life because you lose to a woman," I frowned.
"T-Then what do I do? Without my sword, I can't be a knight of the Round Table!" he said, obviously still upset.
"There's more to being a knight than just serving a king. Being kind to the commonfolk, showing bravery in the face of danger, being willing to defend the innocent and downtrodden. It's obvious you haven't learned that, which is surprising, considering your status," I frowned. He then looked at me in defeat, before simply getting up and sighing. We then proceeded to walk forward closer to the lake. And it was then that I kept hearing an extra set of footsteps as we walked... I then looked behind me and saw that Lancelot the gator was following us.
"What's up, croc?" I asked, him frowning at me.
"You are very annoying, but you've taught me more than I've ever been taught during my time as a Knight of the Round Table. I wish to follow under your tutilege, to learn how to be a true knight," he said... and it was then that I recognized one more thing. Around his neck was another one of the seven rings! Specifically, the yellow one.
"I'll be willing to teach you, but only if you can give me that ring around your neck. I need them to defeat that scabbard that King Arthur holds," I said. Lancelot then reluctantly gave it to me and, once I grabbed onto it, I gasped as I felt... overwhelming joy? Like, joy that was so overwhelming, it was almost nauseating! It was the moment in life that gave me the most happiness in my life, which was when I was completely surrounded by puppies and getting licks and attention all over from them! But once again, I survived the onslaught of emotions after 10 seconds passed by.
"You looked like you were having an orgasm, hon," Elise smiled at me, me then proceeding to flick her on the nose for her comment. "Ohhhggg! Fine, I deserved that one," she groaned.
"I felt... overwhelming joy and happiness... to the point it was almost nauseating. I was reliving a memory I had in second grade, where I was surrounded by adorable puppies and getting licked all over from a bunch of adorable furballs," I smiled.
"That sounds super cute," Blaze admitted to me.
"To me it sounds weird," Sticks said with a frown. Regardless, we kept walking forward until we finally came to the lake in question. And when we did, I then gawked at how beautiful the place looked.
"Ooh... this place is pretty... um... excuse me? Miss Nemue? Lady of the Lake? We wish to speak with you," I asked with a small singsong voice. And shortly after, the lady of the lake appeared in front of us. And when she appeared, it made me surprised when I saw her... she didn't look anything like anyone I'd seen before. She looked like a human, but that's all I knew.
"Greetings, beings from a distant world... I have been expecting you," Nimue said. And only then did we hear a voice from nearby.
"T-That voice... could it be?!" asked none other than Maria. I then saw that she, Shahra, Meryl and Elsa arrived from the brush. And Maria walked towards Nimue with tears in her eyes. "M-Momma?... Is it you?" she asked, me looking at her in confusion.
"Yes, my lovely Maria... it's been far too long," Nimue said, that making Lancelot look even more confused.
"What's going on right now?" he asked.
"Honestly, no clue," I frowned.
"It is as simple as this. I used the Chaos Emeralds to go back in time, but it was accidental. And this timeline does not have any knowledge as to where they are located, so I have remained trapped here... but I was given eternal youth from a special spring near this area, at the expense that I remain as a spirit," Nemue said, me looking at Maria and seeing she looked to be very saddened with tears forming in her eyes.
"Um... I hate to break up the family reunion, but we kind of need to learn how to defeat the powers of Excalibur?" I asked, Nemue smiling at me.
"I expected as much. But before you can learn how to do so, you'll need to prove your worth as true knights... and that includes you as well, Lancelot," Nemue said, making the crocodile hang his head low. "You must show courage in the face of danger. You must show generosity to the poor. And you must show compassion to the innocent. You have 24 hours to complete these tasks. I shall wait here until you return," Nemue said. And then Caliburn spoke.
"You seem to be very capable when it comes to your sword swings, milady. Please tell me, have you used a sword before you held me in hand?" Caliburn asked, me smiling at that.
"Well, yes, actually... back where I come from, I used to do this thing called LARPing, where I pretended to be a past figure in ancient battles. And even though the swords I used were props, I still practiced real swordplay for the occasions," I smiled.
"So sword play used to be a thing back in the original AD? All I know is that very few things in our timeline are from that time period, since it's so long ago..." Elise said, me smiling at her.
"The sword stuff happened back at the start and prior to the original AD... but they kinda lost practicality during the 1800s, with the overabundance of guns. From then on, guns became the standard with few swords being used for battles. But people did still learn how to use swords for recreational use, like for funsies. Very rarely did they use them for crime, though, since guns are much more common," I smirked.
"That would explain your proficiency when using me to slay those demons... but we should get going to finish the ladie's tests!" Caliburn said, me nodding at that.
"Okay, once again, we'll go in two teams. I'll go with Maria, Shahra, and Sticks. So that means that Elise and Blaze will stick with Elsa and Meryl," I smiled.
"Finally, I get to show off my magical skills!" Shahra smirked as we then went out towards the woods nearby. We needed to do a lot of work to prove our worth, after all.