Chapter 3: Mysteries of the Past

After they all said goodbye to Sonic, Tails shut off the communicator and they all went to eat breakfast. While they were all at the table eating, Tails said, "Hey, Rouge, I have a question for you."

Rouge seemed a little startled, but responded in a calm voice. "Yeah, what?"

"Do you know if I can go to Denver and be allowed to help Sonic with his mission? I figured you would know if an agent is allowed to receive any help from his or her friends or not."

"Well, I'm not really sure," she replied. "I've never asked the President about it because I've never needed to. I usually work alone."

"Well if you're going, Tails, then I'm going, too," Amy insisted. "Sonic needs me now more than ever," she added dramatically.

"Oh please," said Knuckles. "He's probably glad he's away from you for once."

Amy glared at him before getting up and going to the shower. Cream, Rouge, and Shadow followed her upstairs. Tikal got up and was about to walk over to the stairs when Knuckles grabbed her arm and asked her to stay. She sat down again and asked him what he wanted.

"Listen, I've been thinking," he began. "Do you remember how Sonic said there have been mysterious jewel disappearances all around the world?"

"Yeah," said Tikal.

"Well, that means that the Master Emerald is in danger again. So I'm going to need to get home soon. But I was wondering," he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I was wondering if you knew any ancient protective spells or incantations or anything like that that could help me."

Tikal sat there for a moment and thought about it. Finally, she said, "I suppose so. But there are so many, and the spells are so terribly complicated that I couldn't tell you right now. Maybe when we get home we can discuss this more."

"Well, see, there's a problem with that," said Knuckles. "Rouge and I have been talking, and we've decided that we were going to go on a vacation around the world, kind of like an extended date." He blushed slightly. "I won't be able to meet with you if we're on the other side of the world, and I don't want Rouge to know about this."

"She shouldn't know about it," said Tikal. "These are only allowed to be heard by echidnas from our tribe: the tribe destined to always guard the Master Emerald." She paused. "You'll have to cancel your plans."

"What am I going to tell her!" Knuckles said almost loud enough for them to hear him upstairs. He dropped his voice down to a whisper again and said, "I can't just cancel our plans for some unknown reason."

"Tell her the truth: you have to stay behind and guard the Master Emerald. If she still doesn't understand, tell her that during a time like this, when the Emerald is in extreme danger of being stolen, you have to stay on Angel Island and guard it." Before she spoke again, they both heard the sound of someone on the stairs, so Tikal lowered her voice as she continued. "Tell her she is welcome to stay there with you, but if she accepts the invitation, make sure she doesn't know about our meetings."

Knuckles sighed. "I guess I'll have to do that," he said with a disappointed look on his face. "But what do I do if she asks me where I'm going?"

"First of all, we'd have to do those meetings at night, that way it can be kept as secret as possible. So she shouldn't even know what you're doing. And if she does spot you leaving, tell her you're patrolling the island to make sure that the thief isn't there." She paused again when she heard more movement on the stairs. It was someone going up stairs. "Unless the thief is sleeping with you—"

"Shut up!" Knuckles hissed at her instinctively. "We haven't…gotten that far. We'll be sleeping in separate beds, thank you very much. And another thing: why do you insist that Rouge is the one that's been stealing all the jewels?"

"Hmm, gee, let me think," Tikal whispered sarcastically. "Maybe because she's done it so many times before! How many times has she tried to take the Master Emerald from you?"

"Look, if you can't trust Rouge, that's not my problem. But I trust her enough to let her on Angel Island. She's changed, Tikal. She's not that heartless thief that we once knew. She's turned over a new leaf."

"What makes you think that? Is it because you've fallen madly in love with her and you're now too blind to see the truth about her? She's a thief and always will be!"

Knuckles closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was obvious he was resisting the urge to yell as loud as he could. "I don't need this," he said calmly. "When you're ready to learn how to trust newcomers, let me know."

"You know Knuckles, you should be careful of what you say. I appointed you to be the Master Emerald's guardian, and I can just as easily take that opportunity away."

"Oh, so now you're changing the subject, huh? Allow me to do the same. At least I can love someone."

Tikal looked stunned but quickly masked her emotions. "If only you knew," she said. "If only you knew…."

"Listen, I don't have a problem with Rouge. I don't know why you do, but you need to get over it. She's not after my Master Emerald anymore. I can prove it when we go to Angel Island."

"Good luck with that. And how do you know Rouge isn't getting close to you just to get her hands on the Emerald?"

Knuckles was out of his seat before she finished. He looked like he was ready to kill her, but he stopped himself. "How dare you say something like that? Rouge and I have a special, unconditional love for each other, and you have no right to say otherwise. And the way you're pressing on about Rouge pretending to love me, one would think you were a little jealous…"

Now Tikal was out of her seat. "And you have a lot of nerve. Are you so full of yourself that you think I'm in love with you, too? Don't count on it. Maybe I'm just concerned for you. Maybe I don't want my best friend believing he's in an unconditional relationship if he really isn't!"

Knuckles looked taken aback and embarrassed. "Sorry," he apologized. "I guess I got so angry when you said Rouge might not really love me. I guess I kind of worried about that possibility and took out my anger on you. I didn't mean to insinuate…"

"It's okay," said Tikal. "I'm sorry for saying that. I guess I still don't really trust Rouge that much yet. But I know she's capable of betrayal, so I didn't want you to get hurt in the end. I care about you, but I'm not in love with you."

"Then who's the lucky bachelor you were talking about before?" Knuckles said slyly.

Tikal blushed. "I never said anything," she said, but Knuckles was not swayed. But he did not continue to talk about it.

"So when we get back to Angel Island, we can start meeting each other?" confirmed Knuckles as the others were coming back downstairs.

Tikal nodded as the others walked into the room. "So, are you two done talking yet?" asked Rouge.

"Yeah," said Knuckles. "Listen, Rouge, I need to see you in private."

Rouge didn't look like she understood, but she went with Knuckles back upstairs. When they closed the door behind them, Knuckles said, "I've got some bad news."

"Okay," said Rouge.

"Due to the international jewel thief, we will not be able to go on our vacation."

Rouge seemed very upset. "Why? What does that thief have anything to do with our vacation?"

"Everything," explained Knuckles. "Because of the thief, I have to stay on Angel Island and guard the Master Emerald. I can't let it leave the island, so I can't take it with me. But we can have a vacation there. You're more than welcome to live with me in my house until the thief has been caught."

Rouge looked a little bit cheered up, but she was still disappointed about the cancellation of their trip. "All right," she sighed. "When do we leave?"

"Now," he said. "Go ahead and pack everything. I'll meet you downstairs."

As Rouge walked out the door and down the hall to her room, Knuckles felt terrible. He hated making her unhappy in any way, and he was really looking forward to their trip around the world. Hopefully Sonic would be able to find that jewel thief soon so Knuckles and Rouge could take their vacation. And as he was thinking about this, he was thinking about something he had been dreaming for nearly a year: marriage. Just the thought of standing their at the altar, looking back down the aisle to see Rouge in a long, beautiful, heavenly white wedding gown slowly walking towards him made his heart leap out of his chest. He had been thinking about this for so long that he had already planned everything out: they would build a church on Angel Island and marry in the presence of their friends. Sonic would be the Best Man and Amy the Maid of Honor (since it was obvious Rouge wouldn't pick Tikal to be her Maid of Honor; they didn't exactly get along). Tails could be the ring-bearer and Cream would be the flower girl. Shadow would be the only usher and Tikal would be a bridesmaid. They would probably hire a priest from somewhere else to bond the two destined to be together. He started thinking about the reception when he heard Rouge calling him from downstairs.

He had already packed his suitcase the night before, so he went into his room and got it. He walked down the stairs and saw her standing in the doorway with her suitcase in her hand. It almost gave him an eerie feeling, as if something was crawling up his spine. He almost had a feeling he would see this sight again, but she would be walking out his door. He couldn't bear to think about it, so he cleared his mind of the thought.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Oh, and by the way, Tikal's coming with us, so I don't want to hear any fighting on the way over, okay?"

"Well as long as…" Rouge began, but then she changed her sentence when she saw the look on his face. "Okay," she sighed.

"Well, we'll see you guys around," said Tails. "Good luck Knuckles."

"Thanks," replied Knuckles.

They all said goodbye as Knuckles, Tikal, and Rouge all walked out the door and down the street. Once they were out of sight, Tails turned around to Amy and said, "I'm going to Denver in a couple of hours. Do you want to come?"

"Absolutely!" Amy shouted. "Can we go now?" she asked eagerly.

"I want to go, too!" Cream squeaked. "I want to help Mr. Sonic, too!"

"How about you, Shadow?" asked Amy. "Do you want to come with us?"

Shadow didn't speak at first. After a moment of silence, he said, "No, I think I'm just going to take a run around the globe. I feel like being alone for a while. But good luck with the mission."

"Well, I guess we could leave now," said Tails. "We'll see you around Shadow."

"Same to you," he replied. He took off down the road the same way Knuckles, Tikal, and Rouge left.

"Come on, let's go!" said Amy. "What if Sonic needs us now and we're too late?"

"Amy," Tails said flatly. "Get help."

"What's wrong with me loving someone?" Amy asked in an offended voice as all three of them walked to the backyard and hopped into the Storm.

"Nothing's wrong with loving someone," said Tails. "But you're just obsessed. Sonic clearly has no love interest in you. I know it's hard for you to see the truth, but…"

He stopped when he saw her face, with a combined expression of anger and hurt.

"Don't feel bad, Amy," said Cream. "Sonic will eventually look at you differently, the way you want him to. You just have to keep hoping."

"Thanks, Cream," said Amy as she stuck her tongue out at Tails.

Tails rolled his eyes as he lifted the plane off the ground and into the atmosphere. He set the course for Denver, and they were on their way.

Hours later, on Angel Island, Knuckles arrived at Tikal's house in the middle of the night. As he closed the door behind him, he said, "I waited till I knew she was fast asleep. I never noticed, but Rouge is so beautiful when she's—"

"Okay, can we get on with this?" said Tikal. She was tired and didn't feel like listening to yet another one of Knuckles' extremely long and boring descriptions of Rouge.

"Okay, but I have a question. These meetings cannot be every night, otherwise neither one of us will ever get any sleep. They're not going to be, are they?"

"No, and they're not going to be long, either. I'm just going to teach you one or two charms or spells per meeting. You should be able to catch on pretty quickly."

"Okay, let's do it."

They sat down across from each other, cross-legged, and Tikal with a book in her lap. She opened up to a page and scanned it over quickly to make sure it was correct. "Okay, this first spell uses little materials, mostly just the power of your soul. When you say the incantation, your will power will be channeled into the air and will form a temporary shield around the Emerald. Now as I said before, only those from our tribe can…"

"Can…what?" asked Knuckles.

Tikal seemed to be in a trance. After a moment she stirred again. "Sorry, I was just thinking about—"

"—our tribe," finished Knuckles.

They both sat in silence for a minute or so. Finally, Knuckles spoke again. "Tikal," he said slowly. "Do you think you could tell me a little bit about our tribe? About how they…died out?"

Tikal was melancholy and lost in thought. Knuckles could see a tear being shed from her eyes, and it flowed gently down her face. She snuffled a little, which indicated she was crying. She looked up at him like she never had before, a look of inner pain and a lack of understanding all over her face. She seemed to be using every ounce of strength to restrain the oncoming flood of tears and the inevitable breakdown of control. He could merely look on as his princess, who had been known to have a strong ability to not let emotions steer her from the right path, fell into a dark void with no light.

"It's too tragic for you to hear," she whispered to him. "And it's too much for me to bear."

She began to cry silently, but Knuckles could still see shreds of resistance. "Then let me help you bear it," he said gently. "It's my tribe, too. I have a right to know, and I should know. It will help you to tell me. Please, can you find it in yourself to bring out the mystery of our tribe's disappearance?"

She continued to cry, but she couldn't answer him. He sat there and waited for her; he wasn't going to push her anymore. She calmed down after nearly five minutes and spoke in as controlled of a voice she could manage. "What you are about to hear can never be repeated to anyone else. You must swear to me that you will never, ever tell anyone anything about what you hear tonight. Do you promise?"

"Of course I do. I don't want to hear this so I can tell everyone else my history. I want to hear it because I must know for myself. I feel like I'm incomplete without that knowledge. I swear I will never tell anyone about this."

"Okay," said Tikal as she wiped her eyes. She opened the book again and turned to a different page and began to read. Knuckles prepared himself for the worst as she began reading to him the tale of how their tribe came to not exist anymore.