The Everlasting Monarch of Northamer

@underxking

Max was struggling to untie the thick crumple of grass that had left his wheelchair stuck in the middle of the patch of flowers in what seems to be the garden... Or maybe a throne room of a cavernous castle. The former monarch didn’t know how he got here, one minute he was about to get some tea from the table and the next thing he knew he was transported somewhere unfamiliar, immobilized.

He could try and forcefully tear away the obstacle, and he would have if it weren’t for the fact that the garden or throne room looked tended and well-cared for.

With a sigh, the old squirrel could only shake his head and swallow his pride, even if just for a little.

Max had gone out for a walk. At first it was just so that he can get some air, cool his head from all the terrible thoughts that pooled into his head whenever he wasn’t pre-occupied. Of course it wasn’t a walk, not in his current state, but it was technically still one. Usually he had Alicia helping him but he could not stomach the thought of disturbing her sleep just because he wanted some fresh air.

So with a bit of difficulty, the squirrel got himself on his wheelchair and moved about the castle, careful not to gain the attention of any of the guards... Or worse, Elias and the others.

Thankfully, the former monarch managed to head out to the garden without being seen by anyone. 

Catching his breath for a moment, Max began to move along the bricked road of the castle garden without any direction in mind. So long as no one was there, he didn’t mind wandering aimlessly, at least it distracted him from his worries more than anything.

That was until of course, a sharp cold wind blew against him, causing the old squirrel to shiver and hug himself after quickly pulling the lever at the side to immobilize his wheelchair’s wheels. Max didn’t know it but he had accidentally gone through a rogue ring portal that sent him somewhere else.

Panting a little after the gale finally passed, the former monarch looked around, wondering just... Why were christmas decorations already in place... And... He didn’t know where he was actually.

To his side however, was a fairly large building with the sign “GRILLBY’S” on it. 

Now Max may have spent his youth in pleasantries and royal matters, but he knew that this was a pub or a bar when he saw one.

Undoing the brakes to allow himself movement once again, the squirrel grunted as he pushed his wheelchair through the snow-covered ground so that he can enter the establishment in hopes of knowing where he was.

Once a royal who nearly had nothing but a name and the duty to lead, today, Max was... Just that... Someone with a name. 

Bound to his wheelchair, the Acorn watched as his son changed everything that his family stood for. What took numerous generations of hard work and suffering to establish a kingdom for mobians far and wide to be protected from the humans only took a single night of small quarrel for successor to transition to a democracy.

If Max was only in his right mind, then he would have been proud of Elias to finally decide something for himself. But with the way things are, with how he spent the remainder of the war against Eggman off the frontlines, bedridden, and a mere pointing finger, Max just thought that everything went too fast and he couldn’t find his worth in his bloodline.

He swore he did all he could, he swore he fought when he could and lead when he could. But now he was just a broken man with broken dreams, being taken care of by his wife as if he was some helpless old man.

Max may not have been doing well physically and emotionally, but he wouldn’t show that to Elias and Sally. 

Everything... His royalty, his crown, his title as commander of the entire Mobian Forces, may have been taken away from him...