Back to Medereck Isle
The Chaotix were now moving their stuff in thus to be closer to Team Sonic on the princess's request. On a break, Tails was sitting at the table having breakfast with Cosmo.
"Tails, don't mind me asking can you get the salt?" She asked. "There isn't any here."
"Sure thing." He replied and he got out of the seat and headed into the kitchen in the other room. But as he entered into the room, he saw an orange echidna girl with cobalt eyes. She was in a tank top midriff shirt, tribal skirt, and white-strapped sandals. "Huh?" The echidna turned to face him.
"Oh, hello." She said.
"Hey, Tails." He replied. "Who are you?"
"My name is Tikal." The echidna answered. "It's nice to meet you."
"Same here." He stated. "So, are you by yourself?"
"I'm not alone." She replied. "I'm here with a friend."
"Who is she?" Tails asked.
"There you are, Tikal." A voice came from behind Tails. He turned around and spotted Marine. "I was wondering where you have gone off to."
"I was just looking around." She responded.
"All right, I was wondering what happened to ya." Marine answered. "Hi, Tails." She stated heading out." Tails just waved to her as she left.
"Excuse me, Tikal." Tails said to the echidna. "Can I have the salt?"
"Okay." She said, reaching into the cupboard and pulling it out. "Here you go."
"Thanks." The fox said. He left and returned to the table with Cosmo. "Here's the salt."
"Thanks." Cosmo said as she put the salt on hashbrowns.
"So, like I said earlier." Tails explained. "Sonic is now looking for his father; he fought in the last battle of the Great War. He was leading the coalition's navy."
"Are you talking about the Great Battle?" Cosmo asked. Tails had gotten curious about what he heard.
"The great battle?" He asked.
"I remember my mother told me and my sister about a battle that had happened off the coast of the isle." Cosmo explained. "She found there were a few hedgehogs on the island. A few of them guarding a leader for a navy."
"Wait a second!" Tails said. "That's the Battle of Medereck Pass!" He turned to her. "Cosmo, you've just helped out big time! We'll have to head to the island as soon as we are done eating."
"I can't go back home." Cosmo said. "Because my father is on the island." The fox's ears drooped as well as his tails.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." He said with a sigh.
"But maybe, she could go with you." Cosmo stated. Tails turned around and he saw Tikal.
"Uh, Cosmo?" He said. "I just met her."
"At least, you two can get to know each other." Cosmo explained. "I heard Marine is a close friend of hers. So, she has to be friendly."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Tails answered.
"Just don't do anything stupid while you're gone." Cosmo warned him.
"Don't worry, Cosmo." Tails answered. "I won't."
After the plane had landed on Medereck Isle, Tails and Tikal started heading toward the Seedrian town. A medereck looked and spotted the two and Tails noticed him; he ran off.
"What's his problem?" Tails asked.
"I don't know." Tikal replied. As they entered into the destination, they got a surprise. A high ranking official came up to the young fox.
"Ah." The medereck stated. "Tails, the champion of the Seedrian and the vanquisher of Lyric. Welcome to our town."
"Uh, thanks." Tails answered, feeling uneasy.
"If we had known about your arrival, we would have prepared somethin' for ya." The guy stated. "What brings you here?"
"I was wanting to talk with Galaxina." Tails stated.
"Oh yes, of course." He stated. "I will summon her."
"You must have done something great here." Tikal stated to the fox.
"I did." Tails answered. "This is the only place where my fame exceeds that of Sonic." Then, Galaxina came before the two mobians.
"Tails, I'm glad that you are here." She said to the fox. "Are things faring well?"
"They are."
"And how is my sister?"
"She is doing well too."
"I'm glad that she can be trusted with someone like you." She stated.
"Yeah." Tails replied.
"You two make such a cute couple." The fox just blushed after hearing the comment. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the Great Battle." Tails answered.
"Oh…" Galaxina stated in surprise. "I've heard about that from my mother. She had told me that the coalition's leader of the navy was on the isle. He was also the king of South Island from what she had told me. He was commanding his troops from the safety of Medereck Isle and he had a few bodyguards."
"Okay." Tails said. "Is there anything else?"
"Well…" She stated but she paused to think. "After the battle, the hedgehogs stayed the night and then they were gone by the next evening. But later on, I heard that there was a hermit that appeared shortly afterwards."
"A hermit?" Tails asked.
"He lives farther inland in the mire near the Forest of Willows." Galaxina stated. "It would be west of here. That's the extent of what I know."
"Thanks." Tails answered politely.
"You're welcome." Galaxina stated. "You may come here anytime."
The two mobians left the Seedrian town and headed westward. They had entered the Forest of Willows by the early afternoon. The forest had various types of willow trees growing within it.
"Man, I'm getting thirsty." Tails stated. He noticed a river nearby and went down and took a drink from the river. Then, he spat it out. "Ugh, yuck."
"The water is brackish." Tikal said. "Didn't you notice the mangroves?"
"I didn't see that." The fox stated. Then, he noticed something in the water. "What's that over there in the depths?" Tikal looked and her eyes went wide.
"Is that a chaos emerald?" Tikal asked.
"So, it seems that you have an interest in that gemstone." A voice cried out. The two turned around and saw the purple robed figure. "I will not let you have that chaos emerald."
"YOU!" Tails shouted. "You were the one who froze Sonic and myself to steal that emerald."
"And so what if I did." The figure stated boastfully. "It'll only make Chaos stronger. It doesn't matter how I get the emeralds like I'm distracting you so he can take the emerald."
"WHAT!?" the both of them stated. They turned around and noticed the emerald is gone.
"Now, the test of strength comes." The figure said. "Chaos, come forth. Show them your power." Tikal showed something moving in the brackish water moving towards them.
"TAILS! WATCH OUT!" Tikal stated, pulling the young fox from the water. A blast of water sprayed where Tails was. Then, Chaos appeared before them. He was more muscular as both of his arms had metallic wiring inside them; he was bulker than the last time the fox saw him.
"Chaos, you must stop." Tikal stated. "This isn't right for you to do this." The figure just laughed.
"Hahahaha. Foolish girl, it only takes orders from me." The figure said. Then, Chaos punched Tikal sending her back into the brush.
"Now, you done it." Tails growled at the watery creature. Chaos morphed into a giant ball of watery mass and leapt into the air. The fox flew out of the way of the attacks. He turned back and saw that Chaos had returned to its normal self. Tails saw the opportunity and landed a blaster on him.
Chaos lifted his arm and fired a blast of water at him. Tails ducked behind a rock and noticed that the blast was able to slice through trees. He did more blasts towards him and saw the creature used his arms to produce a shield to block the shots against him. Tails progressively moved forward, dodging Chaos' water blasts. He was able to flank him and hit him with a tail smack.
"Alright, take that!" Tails said. The fox went in to do another tail smack, but the shield came up. When the fox's tails hit the shield, he got zapped with electricity. Tails was stunned and Chaos punched him back into a tree. "Oww!" Tails pulled out his scimitar and rushed towards Chaos once again. Chaos raised his arms and raised the shield. For a second time, Tails got zapped and punched away. "Ugh!"
"Your attacks are futile against him." The purple figure stated. "And this is only with two of the emeralds. Just imagine the power he will have with all seven in his possession." Chaos raised his arm and fired out the water blasts again. Tails dodged the attacks that were coming.
He noticed the willow tree behind Chaos was unstable. The young fox fired a blast towards the creature. It sidestepped out of the way and the shot hit the tree.
"Perfect." Tails stated. Loud cracking sounds were heard. Chaos turned as the unstable willow collapsed on top of him. The creature was squished.
"So, Chaos isn't strong enough yet." The figure growled. He casted a magic spell on the beast and put him in a glass jar to recuperate. "You might have won now. But Chaos will become more powerful." Then, the figure teleported away.
"You better run." The fox stated. At that moment, Tikal came out of the foliage.
"Are you okay, Tails?" She asked.
"I should be fine." Tails replied. "But I don't think trying to talk to him was a good idea." Tikal said nothing. "Do you know anything about Chaos?"
"I know what my grandmother told me about him." She replied. "A long time ago, a chao wandered outside of the chao gardens. He came to the Alter of the Emeralds one night. As he approached the Master Emerald and the seven chaos emeralds, it was starting to storm. The chao became soaked from the rain. Before he could find shelter, lightning struck onto the emeralds and then struck the chao. The energy from the emeralds and the power from the storm forever changed the chao into Chaos."
"That thing used a chao!?" Tails asked in total shock.
"Yes." She replied.
"Talk about an unexpected turn of events." The fox said. "But we also need to get to the hermit's house. The two continued down the path.
When they had left the Forest of Willows, they arrived in a mire. They had noticed a hut on a small hill made from wood and reeds.
"I think that is the hermit's hut." Tikal stated.
"C'mon, let's go." Tails added as the two hurried to the house. As they approached, they noticed an older brown hedgehog with blue striped tattoos sleeping on a chair through the open doorway. "Hello? Excuse me."
"Huh? What?" The hedgehog stated. Then, he noticed the fox and echidna. "Mobians? HERE!?"
"Please, calm down." Tikal said. "We just want to ask you something."
"Well… if you wanted to talk, I'm all ears." The hedgehog stated. "You may ask."
"Do you know anything about the Battle of Medereck Pass?" Tails asked. The hedgehog said nothing. "I guess not." He had a short pause. "Sorry to have bothered you, we were just wanting to find Sonic's father." The two turned around to leave.
"Wait…" the hedgehog said. The fox and echidna stopped. "I know very well what you are talking about." They turned around again to face him.
"What do you know?" Tikal asked.
"I was there." The hedgehog replied. "I was at the Battle of Medereck Pass. I was one of the king's bodyguards."
"One of his bodyguards!?" Tails stated. "Then, you must know where Sonic's dad has gone to."
"I wish I can tell you that. But alas, even I do not know." He stated. "And it was because of those events, that I reside here."
"What events?" Tikal asked.
"Originally, I was a member of the Royal Guard of South Island. My name at the time was Nazo. When the king went to war, I was taken along to protect him." He explained. "When the Battle of Medereck Pass came, he came up with a plan to have the flagship be a part of the main battle; while he would command the navy from the shores. We still don't understand why he did that, but regardless the battle was won for the coalition."
"That's good." Tails replied.
"I asked the native Mederex about the sky and the clouds for they looked very bizarre." Nazo stated. "They stated that it was normal for the atmosphere around the island to be like that; living here for an extended time proved that the claim was correct."
"But why are you here and not in South Island?" Tikal asked.
"When the battle was won, he decided to spend some time on the island." Nazo continued. "He stated he would be gone for an hour or two. Those hours turned to three hours and then four hours. We decided to see why he was taking so long. We asked the Metereck town we were near, but they said they didn't see him."
"He vanished?" Tails asked one last time.
"We concluded that he had disappeared. We had searched high and searched low looking in every possible place to hide such a figure. But our search was fruitless, it was like he never stepped foot on the island." Nazo stated. "We knew if we went back we would be forced to explain what happened to the king, we would be up to our ears in disgrace and shame. Thus none of us ever returned to South Island and have abandoned our names and started over; as far as I know I am the last one alive. How could we ever say that we let the king die?"
"From what we heard, the king is still alive." Tails told him. "He's still out there." Nazo perked up.
"Are you serious?" He asked.
"Sonic got confirmation from the Oracle." The fox continued.
"Oh, thank goodness." Nazo stated. "There is hope yet." Then, he sighed. "If there is nothing more to talk about you may leave."
"Thank you." Tails said to him. Then, the two mobians left.
"That's what I learned, Sonic." Tails said to his friend during the night.
"Wow. You've helped me out, buddy." Sonic replied. "And this Tikal girl seems very nice."
"She's happy-go-lucky from what I have seen." Tails added. "It's like nothing is able to make her sad." Unbeknownst to the two of them, Tikal was by herself alone. She is crying and moaning, trapped in an abyss of complete and total despair.