Nimbus' Destined

Family Problems...?

The doors opened, and a hedgehog couple dressed in fine clothes stepped inside.
Their grandmother was still very beautiful despite her age, but there was a sadness in her eyes.
Their grandfather, who Shard had seemed less than excited about seeing, seemed to radiate a grouchy aura that demanded respect.

Minerva and Jewella curtsied, while Shard and his father bowed low.
"Good evening, Dmitri..." Minerva greeted. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Shadow raised an eyebrow as his father snorted and rolled his eyes. Titan and his father must not be on good terms.

"Well I should hope so, Minerva." Dmitri looked at Titan. "I cannot believe it took you fourteen years to find four measly teenagers!"

And there was why nobody liked seeing their grandfather.

Shadow cleared his throat, then stepped forward. "We didn't exactly make it easy, grandfather." He replied.

"Shadow!" His grandmother came over and took Shadow's hands. "Oh...so grown up now. It's a little disappointing that I missed watching you grow up, but at least you're safe now."

"Thank you, grandmother."

Sonic, Silver and Venice joined him, accepting hugs from their grandmother while their grandfather seemed to look them over like a drill sergeant.

His eyes fell on Shard, who ducked behind his father a little. "I see you brought the stray, Charles."

Charles took Shard's hand. "He's my son, Sir."

The former king scoffed, then looked away.

"Anyway... It's been so long since we all sat down for a family dinner." Minerva explained. "Let's all head to the dining hall, I'm sure the boys have quite the stories to tell..."
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After finishing dinner, the boys began explaining their adventures.
Venice mostly remained quiet, but he seemed to be getting along with Shard pretty well, whispering comments back and forth to each other.

Sonic spoke of his heroic deeds against Eggman and other threats, Shadow spoke about his time while serving at GUN, and Silver told of his time-traveling exploits.

As Silver was finishing, their grandmother turned to Venice. "And what about you, Venice?"

"I uh...I don't have anywhere near as much as my brothers do... I was adopted by a mechanic and his wife, and not even in the same area of the world as they did, if you couldn't tell from my accent-"

"You felt the need to split them up so distantly, huh Minerva?" Dmitri accused.

Queen Minerva shook her head. "I didn't choose where they went, but I split them up so that Lazla wouldn't find them."

"You wouldn't have needed to if you'd simply never caused Lazla to come after Titan in the first place!"

"Father, it's been twenty-two years." Pierre replied. "Titan's married to Minerva, so just let it go."

"At least you married someone decent, not some Bog Fae girl!"

"Is this why they don't have these dinners often?" Shadow whispered to Mephiles. "The adults argue over my parents' marriage?"

"Yeeeeeeeeah." Mephiles mumbled.

"After twenty-two years of being happily married and there being no wars with any other surrounding kingdoms, I think it's safe to say that it was a good decision." Titan said.

"Except you were without heirs for fourteen of them."

"Two sets of twins was enough for me, thanks." Minerva replied.

You know what guys? Venice asked the teens telepathically. That's a nice wall, there.

They looked where he was, and saw nothing but a plain, blue-painted wall, but they understood what he was doing. Trying to think about anything but the adults' argument.

Yeah, it is nice. Sonic replied. It's so...wall-like.

Do you suppose it has wood or metal framing? Silver asked. Or perhaps stone?

"Kids?"

The teens turned back to the adults. "I'm sorry, did you say something to us?" Shadow asked. "We were blocking you out."

"I suppose we deserve that..." Minerva sighed. "Why don't you kids go up to the west tower?"

"Excellent plan." Shard announced, getting up from his chair rather quickly as if wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. "Race you guys up there."

"Like that's a challenge for me!" Sonic called, chasing after his cousin.