At first, I was hopeful. I was ready to use the power the scabbard gave me to continue the great kingdom my grandfather helped create. I was ready to follow in his mighty footsteps. I could re-create the King and lead the people to grow and further build the greatest civilization the known world had ever seen. The ends justify the means; compared to the many accomplishments that my people would achieve under my lead, the fact that I was using underworld-ly power to keep my kingdom stable in this period of crisis was trivial. It did not matter.

Next, I was sad. I was sad that the foolish blue creature I summoned to help me remove the scabbard from the fake King's power could not grasp how beautiful an everlasting kingdom would be. This so-called "knight" truly believed that I was doing the wrong thing by keeping the civilization that brought about some of the greatest technological, political, and social developments the world has every seen from falling apart. Without this kingdom, who would build the roads that helped those who needed to travel? Who would construct the aqueducts that bring water to the people throughout the land? Who would bring those who committed criminal offences to justice!?

After that, I was enraged. How DARE he!? How DARE he claim that my magnificent kingdom would be boring!? How DARE he rally my people against me!? How DARE he try to stop me from saving this kingdom!? I am certainly not going to let this commoner cause the end of this civilization when I am so close to rescuing it. The end may be nigh, but that sure will not stop me. If you were in my position, when your life, everything you've ever known, is crumbling away before you, would you not fight back?

And then, after much fighting, I finally understood. I finally took a glimpse at the full picture rather than stubbornly focusing on only my own viewpoint. I finally understood the connection between the many parts of this kingdom's history and how it all fell into one large, failed scheme. For generations there has been a prophecy which claimed that the one who would pull the sacred sword Excalibur from the stone would be crowned King of this land. My grandfather Merlin, in a thirst for power, must have created an illusionary Excalibur and stone in Castle Camelot Town and claimed that it was the one from legend. All believed him because he was the great wizard Merlin and, assumingly, because they had no knowledge that the true Excalibur was located in Misty Lake. He then created King Arthur and had him pull "Excalibur" from the stone, making the people believe he was the true king and crowning him so. Behind the scenes, of course, my grandfather was controlling Arthur's every move; basically making my grandfather the true king. Alas, when my grandfather died, King Arthur became the ruler of his own fate and thirsted for unlimited power and immortality. Whatever good intentions my grandfather had for this kingdom, if there were any to begin with, they had died along with him.

And so now, finally, all was clear. Whatever intentions my grandfather had, the system was flawed from the start. The leaders were manipulators, the knights were backstabbers, and the people had to pay the consequences. All you had to see to prove this were the legions of starving villagers with rags for clothes and straw for houses who lived out their sorry lives no more than half a kilometre from Castle Camelot. All the wealth went to the rich, and none went to those who were not. What good is a civilization that prides itself on being one of the largest and most influential in existence when it is built on the broken backs of its own people? My eyes have been opened, this is the type of kingdom I've been defending, with the false idea that my grandfather, who I have always looked up to, respected, and loved, would never create something that would lead to this.

But now... the blue hedgehog is here. The true King Arthur, not the one my grandfather created. "Every world has its end,"... that is true. Every civilization, every world, must eventually have its end, but so that a better world can take its place. It's the circle of life. With the blue hedgehog now here, we can end this kingdom, the kingdom that has been falling apart for decades, and make a new one for the people, not for the greedy bastards that have ruled for so long. For this, I thank you, hedgehog. I thank you for exposing the hidden evils of this world. I thank you for stopping me from doing exactly what I swore I would not do. I thank you for helping us all create a better world, where we can all live life the way it was supposed to be lived. Please, lead us to this, hedgehog. We will need you to help us create this world you dream of, I can't do it alone.

And so, finally, I was infuriated. No, that's not even a strong enough word for how outraged I was at that moment in time. I do not know if there is even a word that can describe it. That hedgehog left us! Left us! Y-You torn down our civilization, killed our King, and you won't even help us rebuild our lives!? This is how you repay us, for all we have sacrificed for your ideals!? Do you think this is a game!? Did you even care, or was this just your way of entertaining yourself!? How can you tell yourself that you're ridding the world of evil when your solution is to tear down everything, good and bad, and not even try to give any of the goodness you destroyed back to the people!? You bastard!! You're no better than any of the rest of them! How can you dare to call yourself a "hero" when you don't care for anybody but yourself!? You gave me hope only to snatch it away for your own amusement, you broke my heart for your own amusement!

Sonic the Hedgehog, you go around, claiming that you're a hero, claiming that you are the selfless gentleman who will save the day. I now know the truth. You are nothing but a selfish bastard who cares for nothing and no one but yourself. As long as you have room for your precious running, you will have no problem being the villain who lets the world fall apart around you.

When you don't care whether what you do saves or kills an entire civilization, it is no wonder you don't think it matters who is wrong and who is right.

A/N: If you can't tell, this is kind of an "explanation" fic for my poem "Savour Night". Depending on the point-of-view, Sonic could be selfless or selfish, free or confined, hero or villain. (I didn't really explain how Sonic could either be either free or confined very well here, though. I guess that's for another fic.) So yeah, hoped you liked this Merlina Monologue.

By the way, today, May 27, is my birthday. Hooray! Wish me a Happy Birthday in your review please (if you're reading this after the 27th, wish me a belated birthday). While this doesn't really seem to have anything to do with birthdays, I'm posting it now because it's related to my, in terms of number of favourites, most popular fic I've posted so far, namely Savour Night. Uh, yeah.

Vote on my new poll! I'm quite curious about peoples' answers. Also, tell me in your review whether you'd like to see me write monologues like this for other characters in the future too.