-Cosmo's P.O.V

"What happened? Why did Tails turn so...evil...?"

I had asked myself this question three times now, but still didn't have an answer.

I had just witnessed a different side of Tails; his darker side, the one that was usually hidden.

"Oh Tails...did I bring this upon you? Did I cause this to happen? All that pain?" I asked, already knowing that I did have an influence over how he had acted. Luckily, Shadow, Rouge, and Knuckles stopped him.

I walked through the immense flower field, the trees swaying softly in a calm breeze. This place was interesting, it never remained in the same state for long. One minute, I could see an immense mountain range, the next minute those mountains were rolling hills and valleys, then an evergreen forest.

I had no true idea what this place was. I felt alive, yet I also didn't; I felt all-knowing, yet so confused. Whatever the case, if this place was the afterlife, I had no disdain for it.

However, my thoughts drifted back to Tails, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was to blame.

"Tails, I'm sorry...I truly am..."

I cried into my hands, but stopped when I heard a kind voice, "Excuse me, are you okay?"

I looked up to see two very bright, glistening eyes that were the color of a light blue. A young female animal was standing in front of me, concern clearly shown on her face. She reminded me of Knuckles...what did he say he was...a hedgehog? No, that was Sonic, Amy, and Shadow's species...

"...an echidna..." I said subconciously.

"Um, yes, I am an echidna. My name's Tikal." she said with a serene smile.

Tikal gave me a feeling of comfort. She seemed kind, wise, and peaceful above all other things. She wore what appeared to be ancient tribal clothing. She adorned a white colored top, and a green skirt. On her head was a tiara, and she had also wore beautiful golden bracelets on her wrists. Her dreadlocks each had a band holding them together.

"I-I'm Cosmo..." I stuttered.

"Hello Cosmo, pleased to meet you. I noticed you sitting here, and I thought you were crying." Tikal spoke.

"I was..." I admitted. I decided I could trust her.

"Why?" Tikal asked, taking a seat on the grass next to me.

"I died protecting someone I loved...his friends too...he was a dear friend of mine." I sighed. I doubted that she knew much on what I went through.

Tikal, however, smiled, as though she knew something. She giggled.

"What?" I asked her, a little angered.

"So, you the girl that helped stop the Metarex." she replied.

"How did you-"

"I'm a former guardian of the Master emerald, and I'm also connected spiritually with it." she explained, "The whole time it was in space, I sensed what was going on."

"Do you know Sonic, Knuckles, and the others?" I asked.

"I do, I'm an ancestor of Knuckles'...though I'm not entirely sure how we're connected...probably some great great and so-on aunt of his...but I know you were connected with someone too..." she said, her eyes revealing understanding of sadness I was experiencing.

"Tails..." I answered.

"Oh, yes, I remember him. He was a bright young fox, and had a very loving heart," Tikal said, her expression softening a little after noticing my tears, "Were you two...in love?"

"We still are I think." I said with a hollow laugh.

Tikal put a hand on my shoulder, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I smiled, this was a rare chance to let out my emotions to someone that at least encountered Tails, "Yes, I would like that alot actually."

We talked about our lives, and I learned alot about Tikal. She lived on Angel Island, just like Knuckles does, and she too lost her family to the power of corruption, this loss was however related to the Chaos emeralds. A vicious creature called Chaos attacked her people after they attempted to use the emeralds' power for selfish purposes. She managed to have it stopped through the Master emerald by sealing her spirit as well as Chaos' inside the Master emerald. This ended the terror, but didn't bring back her family that she lost. Eons later, the creature and herself broke free by means involving Eggman, and the monster had aquired the power of all the Chaos emeralds again, transforming to the same creature as age before. Super Sonic put the monster to rest, and Tikal's restless spirit as well.

"You see, with Chaos running free, my spirit was at unease. Once Chaos was stopped, I was finally able to find peace like the creature did." Tikal explained.

"Wow, so you were able to talk to Knuckles and the others?" I asked.

"Only when the Master emerald had been shattered...I don't think it would work now Cosmo." she said, answering the other question I was going to ask.

"Oh, I see..." I sighed again.

"Still, you can talk to Tails through the white Chaos emerald." Tikal added, trying to cheer me up.

"Yes, but even that is a rare occasion, and it puts such a strain on us both mentally...I feel so drained afterwards." I said truthfully. I usually took a good two day rest after speaking to Tails, at least I think it was two days.

Tikal nodde, then got up, "Cosmo, I want you to know that if you need to talk to someone, I'm always available for you. You're a good person, and I'm glad I met you."

"How would I find you?" I asked, tilting my head.

"You are a spirit, right?" she questioned.

"Yes..."

"Well, concentrate on my spiritual energies that you feel from me...the rest is left to finding which direction they're heading or coming from. Same goes for me finding you." she answered.

I got up, and embraced her in a friendly hug. She responed with a laugh, then I spoke, "Thank you Tikal, you've helped me alot. I only hope this can help me get closer to Tails."

-Tails P.O.V

I awoke after about maybe five hours of sleep, maybe less. Shadow said I should sleep in, but I never was one to oversleep past nine, if that ever did happen. I got out of bed and stretched a little, the sun was casting early morning light into the room.

When I stepped out of the room, I saw a familiar shine of the white Chaos emerald. Next to it was a note written in some choppy handwriting, almost as bad as Sonic's, but still legible.

-Tails

We want you to take the emerald. Even after what happened, I still trust you can take care of yourself with the emerald. We went down to the surface to tell Sonic and the others; it's only fair that they know. Get yourself something to eat, we should be home around noon or so.

Knuckles

P.S- sorry, all we have is fruit. If you want anything different, you have to find it.

I groaned, I really was hoping for bacon and eggs, or at least some waffles.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a pear. It was surprisingly good, and soon I found myself full from two oranges and a mango as well. I decided to make the most of my time and get some early morning exercise. I jogged by the stream for a while, then went for a little flying around the island. I got a really good view of the place, it was amazing watching sunrise from this height. As I flew higher though, a feeling came over me...a bad feeling...but why?

I looked up to the sky. Nothing there, but still I had a wierd feeling. I shook it off, and decided to head back to Knuckles' place after some resting.

I arrived to see the red echidna hauling an entire tree to his home.

"Hey Knuckles, what are you doing?" as though it wasn't obvious.

"What do you think? I'm hauling in firewood!" Knuckles snapped at me, clearly not happy about his job. I stifled a laugh as I saw Rouge sitting on a rock nearby, admiring her nails. She probably made him go do the work.

"R-right...can I help?" I offered.

"I'd say yes, but Shadow's been waiting for you inside. So go see what he wants." Knuckles replied, then continued dragging the lumber.

I headed inside, and saw Shadow leaning against the wall by the door with his usual expressionless face. He nodded a greeting to me, then spoke, "Come on Tails, let's go outside. I want to talk to you quick."

"Okay." I followed him out to the stream. We walked over to the sandy side, and he took a seat on a small boulder covered in moss. I climbed up a small tree and sat on a sturdy branch. He was quiet for a while, as though he was thinking about something.

"Tails, you trust me, right?" he asked.

"Uh huh, of course I do." I answered honestly.

Shadow looked to me and gave a small grin, "Really? That's good...you trust me enough to help train to become stronger?" he inquired.

"Y-yeah, if you think it would be worth your time." I spoke, a little taken back by his question of training me.

"Great, let's see...in two hours, Sonic should be here, and Knuckles said he would join us as well. That sound good?" he asked me.

"That would be great!" I had to keep myself from jumping around like an excited Cream upon hearing this. I was going to train with Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles!

"Good, now let's head back; Knuckles looked annoyed with the lack of help." Shadow finished.

"He he, right, let's go." and with that, my day began to unfold before me, and training would soon begin. However, I couldn't help but get that bad feeling again...and once again I shook it off with the excitement I had. I really looked forward to this.

end of chap.14- Okay, first off, sorry for the extremely long delay on this. I'd make up some excuse, but I'll just be blunt: I was lazy. The fact that I have loyal viewers makes me happy, and brought a tear to my eyes...ahem. Well, there we go, the LONG awaited chapter 14 completed. What happens next? Wait and see (yeah, like you haven't been doing that as it is, lol.)