Inside the Void: King Acorn's Plight (c) 98 by me, A. Fleury

All "Sonic the Hedgehog" characters and related indicia (c) and TM Sega.

Used without permission.

Henrietta is (c) me!

Oh yeah, my email is: You be sendin' those comments, ya hear?

This document may be freely distributed, as long as it's not altered in any way.

This story's pretty tame. No swearing...no violence. :)

"Inside the Void: King Acorn's Plight"

By A. Fleury

      After the chaotic overthrow of all I knew and loved, the Void seemed peaceful. At first I floated around in the pale violet air. Then I grabbed onto one of the chunks of floating crystal. I just laid on it, and closed my eyes and didn't think.

      After a while, I tried to find my way out, but couldn't. The Void stretched on for miles and miles...

      Then a voice rang out. "Who's there? Me sense a newcomer!"

      I jumped, and then cursed. I'd launched myself off the crystal!

      Something struck me and I whirled around in midair.  My clothing was torn and my skin scratched. It was another crystal floating around.

      That was not good. I realized that if I couldn't get out...then what would I eat? Or drink? And sleeping, would I have to sleep in the air, just floating around? I felt like an astronaut, stranded out in space. And that thought sent waves of fear over me.

      "Who's there?" the voice demanded. I clenched my fists, waiting for them to appear.

      Then I saw somebody, hopping from crystal to crystal. It was a female cat, one fang jutting over her lip. I vaguely recognized her. She was one of the maids.

      "Yer Majesty?" she gaped. "What ye doin' 'ere, eh?"

      I didn't reply.

      "'Ey, ye gonna gab er what?" She poised expertly on the crystal chunk that had struck me.

      "War Minister Julian," I said slowly. "He threw me in here. He's overtaken the kingdom.

Her eyes, snugly nestled in a pile of wrinkles, grew round. I could see the red veins that laced the white. "Yehr, 'e didn't?"

      "He did," I said grimly.

She smoothed down her blue dress, which looked surprisingly new and clean. Hadn't she disappeared a long time ago?  "Ye jest get in 'ere?"

"Yes."

"Then ye haven't gotten it yet. Yehr, the silence it'll drive ye mad!"

"What silence?" It WAS quiet. Not a sound in the air. Only that rushing noise your ears make in complete silence. I realized how muted her voice was.

"How did you get in here, ma'am?"

"Er, me been in 'ere a long long time. Back when Juli an' Nagus..." She looked around suddenly, looking frightened, "Lord Nagus were testin' the Void. Er, they ne'er let me out. An' then 'bouts a year later, yehr, Lord Nagus 'imself came into the Void. 'E said Juli double O crossed 'im. 'E said 'e an' me was trapped 'ere."

"Trapped?" My voice grew weak.

"Er, don't be worryin', yer Majesty. It ain't that bad in 'ere. Not with Lord Nagus 'round. 'Is magic can do anythan!" She looked wondrous. "'E could even build ye yer own castle 'ere, jest like yer one back 'ome."

"But my kingdom!" I burst out.

Her old hand rested on my shoulder. "Ye'll forget it. Me have. It's better than mopin', mopin' ain't doin' nothing fer ye."

I just moaned and put my head in my hands.

      Henrietta bade me goodbye after about ten minutes. She told me to look around for "the void, it be a spiffy li'l place, an' the floating plains were jest part o' it."

      Though I wanted company, her dialect was starting to hurt my head, and I was glad she'd left. I sat on my crystal chunk for a long time. So long I fell asleep.

      When I awoke, I found myself floating in the air. I was quite comfortable. Then I looked around and saw I was in a different area of the Void. The air was darker purple and I was right near a cliff wall. I looked down. The cliff bottom was nowhere in sight.

      I discovered I could swim through the air and I did so, until I reached the cliff top. Then I stood on the crystalline ground. There was a thick river of mist near me. I ran my hand through it and my fur came back condensed with moisture.

      I was so thirsty that I sucked the moisture off. It was sweeter than water and quite refreshing.

      There were some crystal structures around me. They looked like trees. I walked through the 'forest', half expecting crystalline birds to fly out at me.

      It was a breathtaking place. But very quiet. I touched the trees, feeling the smoothness of the trunk, and the sharp, almost razor-edges of the leaves.

      I traveled along the cliff top, my boots scuffing up sparkling dust. I walked for a long time and got tired again.

      The air is so thick...makes me drowsy. I yawned heavily and leaned against one of the trees. It was so silent that I had no problems sleeping.

      Days later.  I had wandered far away from the cliff edge. There were crystal boulders all around, crystal trees, and mist streams. I wasn't hungry or thirsty. The mist was nutritional, I supposed. But I was slumped up against a boulder, curled up as if sick.

      I was talking aloud, and I knew my voice was desperate. I knew, but couldn't hear it. It was only a mummering sound.

      Silence is so much louder than it should be. It is maddening. Silence...it is a sound itself...a sound that made my ears numb with its rushing and ringing.

      I was curled up in my cloak and straining to hear my own voice. But it was to no avail.

      This is what the deaf hear. This is what they go through. I wondered if I'd gone deaf. Then I remembered Henrietta. She'd said something about this place being silent.

      I stood up. How did she deal with it? Maybe she could tell me.

      How beautiful!  There was a crystalline castle far in the distance.  I'd been walking for hours and hours. My fur was glittering with the dust and my eyes were starting to hurt. When I closed them, I could see white and purple spots dancing against my eyelids.

      My poor head was aching. Never thought the absence of sound could be so painful. I wished I could hear the screaming of my five-year old at play with her friends. I wouldn't tell her to shush. I would bask in the glorious sounds.

      As I neared the castle, my head felt compressed and I groaned in pain. The silence was thick. I could feel it...pressing against my body, tingling in my marrow, pulsing in my skull.

      Argh...can't stand it! I dropped down to my knees, my hands over my ears. My tail and cloak blew in a faint wind. I was vaguely aware that I was whimpering...I couldn't hear, but I could feel the sound in my throat. I rested my head on the ground, tears of despair in my eyes.

      I'm dying... my mind is going... I closed my eyes and blackness came over me.

      Gray boots...my eyes took in gray boots. Henrietta? No. The feet were much bigger than the cat's. I wearily raised my head and saw the face of my royal wizard, Ixis Nagus. I frowned. Julian had said something about me 'meeting my new neighbor', before I was sucked into the Void. Referring to Nagus, I suppose.

      I'd always thought that Nagus had just left my service. He was always a sore thumb in my castle. He wasn't well liked. So, I wasn't surprised when he disappeared.

      I rasped, "Wizard Nagus?"

      Is the silence killing you?

      The voice was in my mind. It startled me. Then I thought back. Yes, it is a bit unsettling.

      I heard his crude raspy laugh in my head. Would you like to be free of the silence?

      Maybe. It depended on what Nagus would want in exchange.

      Then you shall be. If you will call me Lord.

      I didn't like the idea. It was my ego protesting. But ego meant nothing here. My mind would splinter into pieces if I had to endure anymore of this silence!

      Nagus eyed me closely. He was expecting me to refuse. I smiled nobly. I wasn't contemptuous enough to suffer! 

      Then so be it, Lord Nagus.

      He looked surprised, which I expected.

      "You gave in easily, Maximillion Acorn. I'm surprised we won the Great War."

      I was barely listening. Barely noticing that I could hear. Instead, my mouth was gaping in astonishment. My eyebrows arched in surprise.

      Because when I looked down at my body, I saw it was crystal! Purple crystal. The crystalline growth took over my hands and then my face.  It was a strange tickley feeling. I felt no less heavy with the crystallized parts and I flexed my fingers. They worked just as well...but still I was startled.

      "What is the meaning of this, Nagus?"

      The wizard looked smug. "To hear the Void, you must become part of the Void!"

      And I could hear. It was wonderful. There was a beautiful humming in the air, as if the crystal was singing. The crystalline trees near me hummed with a deeper note, and their leaves clanked in the persistent breeze.

      "You can return to your natural state whenever you wish. But only the crystal will save you from the silence."

      I thanked him out of curtsey. I was grateful. But Nagus had always been a cunning one. I hoped he wouldn't expect too much of me. Saying lord was one thing...but anything beyond that...

      Nagus grinned strangely at me and then disappeared. I sat down and examined my crystallized body. The crystal was purple but I could see faint color through it...the blue of my uniform, and the tan of my fur.

      As I sat and contemplated all this, I heard a chuckle behind me. "Me sees ye've 'scaped the silence." Henrietta sat down next to me.

      "Yes. I suppose I did."

      But unto bigger problems. Like getting my kingdom back. I explained to her what had happened in full detail. She brightened at the mention of the children, safe in KnotHole.

      "Yehr, the chil'en, they'll be our rescuers!" She chortled.

      I felt suddenly weak. She was right. Because there was no way out.

      I would have to wait for the children to grow old enough. I had to hope they wouldn't die. And I had to hope they'd discover the Void.

      I was going to be in here a long long time...

The end!