The King's Shadow- Chapter 2

As Sonic lead Shadow down the way to his room, the hedgehog actually had the time to process everything, and noticed a lot of changes compared to his own world.

For starters, he had noticed the scenery. Currently the two hedgehog were walking down a hallway, that eventually lead to a sandstone staircase. Once they had climbed it, red velvet lined down yet another long hallway. The layout seemed repetitive, if you thought about it. Hallway, staircase. Hallway, staircase. Etc, etc. Medium sized clear glass windows gave light, most torches being unlight for the time being.

Then there was, uhm, the people. More powerful Mobians wore either a lace-trim dress with all kind of jewelery for the females, the males having a fancy- well, fancy in this setting- suit or cloak or sash, with a personalized symbol clasp. The lesser, uh, peasants, although, managed with simple brown leather. The ladies he caught a glimpse outside, wore handmade dresses out of rough fabric, the males settling for a simple cloak or crafted shorts. But the royals- oh, Chaos..

Last time he remembered, the king- or Sonic's father, whichever- wore velvet red robes along with a white satin cloak, a color pattern familiar to his rival's shoes back in his own dimension. The queen- or Sonic's mother- had a beautiful green dress trimmed with gold.

Shadow brought his attention back to his new 'owner' and looked over him from behind, as the other was in the lead, only lightly grabbing his leash but firmly. This Sonic had only a white sash and brown sandles, and now that Shadow had taken a closer look, Sonic could fit a more Greek or Roman setting than a midevil one.

The ebony hedgehog was pulled out of thought at a sudden stop and looked to see why. A wooden door with metal bolts and designs on it was in front of him, and a peach furred hand pulled the knob and it opened.
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"Oh come now dear, this is mere foolishness."
"I know, I know, love. I'm just a bit- ahh,"
"Afraid?"

Queen Aleena sighed, and laid a hand on her husband's chest. "You know darling, our Sonic is still young of age, and-"

"Yes, yes, I know." The discomforted king said, resting his head on a hand. "But alas, Aleena, I am getting old, and I do not like it. But before I pass, I want to make sure-"

"-that Sonic has a suitor to carry on the throne with," They both said in union, but the queen carried on. "Sonic is only 17 years of age, Jules. Give him time. Sooner or later I'm sure he'll come up with a female suitor."

"But what if he doesn't? I want to make sure the throne will have another amazing queen as well, and that, my dear, is why I planned out this test."
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Once Sonic lead Shadow inside and shut the door(and unnoticeably locked it), he turned around and looked at his new slave. "So, you go by Shadow, right?"

The said hedgehog didn't know whether to speak or not, so he gave a nod, and looked around the room. There was a queen sized bed, along with a desk and chair. Above the desk, was a large window, showing the plains and fields outside the castle, as well as some of the castle property. By the wall was believe it or not- a bookshelf- and a soft looking rug, and another door- Shadow presumed it was a adjacent bathroom- and a closet. What the wardrobe was for, Shadow had no idea. Sonic wouldn't be one for fashion, could he?

"Uh, you can talk, you know. I'm fine with it..." Sonic said.

Shadow snapped out of it, and the world came back to him. "Huh?"

"Your name is Shadow, correct?" Sonic repeated, walking closer and getting behind the other.

"What are you-" Shadow started.

Ungloved fingers reached for a clasp. "It's okay, I'm just gonna get rid of this-" A small click echoed around the room and Sonic came back around with a long piece of red leather, tossing it on the bed. After doing so, he nodded at the dark one to answer his question.

"...yes, my name is Shadow, now-"

"Prince Sonic! Hello?" A knocking on the door interrupted the two.

'Prince' Sonic rolled his eyes and sighed, walking over and opening the door. "Gawain, I thought I told you, you don't need to call me 'Prince' and all that. Just 'Sonic' will do."

Shadow just stood in place, not sure to be shocked, surprised, or dumbfounded as the certain someone who his coworker just loved to tease, was at the door in armor, two huge swords dangling at the echidna's hips.

"My apology, My pri- Sonic," The guardian of the Master Emerald said, making a fist with his right hand and laying it over his chest while bowing his head in respect, but then quickly got up again. "But thy training session shall begin in the courtyard soon. Percival sent me to tutor you this time, for she had some...affair issues to take care of with Galahad."

Sonic chuckled. "I'll be there."

"I shall be waiting for your arrival, then." And with that, the guardian turned around and left.

The door closed once more, and Sonic took a glance at Shadow. "I can tell you're a bit confused. That was Gawain. Don't worry about him as long as you don't get in his way." Striding over to the closet, he continued, "I'm gonna need you to stay here for awhile, okay? Sorry we couldn't talk more, but y'know, I've got princely stuff to do. I'll get back to you later and explain..."

Shadow was lost in what just happened, and was pretty sure Sonic had just dug a sword out of the contents of the closet.

"Be back in awhile...stay put." And with that, Shadow was alone.

What the heck just happened?

Walking over to the window and looking out of it, he saw Sonic run out into the space at quick speed, but not the usual for the cocky rival he knew back in his own dimension. Across those hills, over those plains....he turned his attention to the desk, where books were sprawled out, but one title caught his eye.

The Legend Of Sir Lancelot, it read. Opening it up, it was a story book, but what surprised Shadow the most was the contents.

Apparently, Sir Lancelot was a Knight of The Round Table, the bravest of them all. His family was killed by bandits when he was young, and was raised by The Lady of The Lake, training for Knighthood as he grew older. Time passed, and eventually he achieved his goal, earning respect among the people. But then came a time when the village was attacked by a vicious monster. Biolizard, the people called it. A giant dragon with no mercy. It would only by satisfied by sacrificed young virgin maidens.

Lancelot bravely fought the monster and won, but his victory was short lived. After its death, it reincarnated into something more horrible, something words could not describe. Then, the devil himself came out from hell, mocking Lancelot with a crystal, demonized reflection of himself, and proposed a deal to him.

It turned out the devil, Mephistopheles, offered to take this monster away into hell where it could burn eternally in fire forever on the peoples' say. They immediately agreed, and the king and queen gave their seals before they caught word of the rest. -Lancelot would have to come with him, too. For when the monster fell into the pits of damnation, Mephistopheles had carried off Lancelot with him. The Knight of The Round Table swore upon his soul to have vengeance, for he had saved the peoples' worthless souls and they had lost no sleep upon trading his.

And Lancelot had kept his word, too. Years after Mephistopheles had taken him to hell, a mass murderer who went by the name Black Doom came and attempted to take over the throne for his own. It did not go as planned, but many souls died that day and joined Mephistopheles and Shadow in hell. Ever since then, the town had been safe from attack. People forgot the tall tale and went on with their lives. But some people who survived the attack- the few, innocent souls never forgot that day.

At the very end of the book, was a sketch of Lancelot, being held bridal style by Mephistopheles, going into hell for the very first time.

And Shadow could've sworn his artificial heart stopped beating for a few seconds.

Lancelot was the spitting image of him.