Chapter 25: The Past Part 1
"Tangle's log,
Been a bit since I wrote in here. Jewel's been reading through to catch up on everything that's been happening, so I really haven't had the chance until now, since she just finished reading what I've written so far.
Oh yeah! Jewel's here now! I'm really happy about that. We also celebrated my birthday and hero graduation a bit after, which was a lot of fun. It really felt like things were starting to get a bit better for me…
But then the dreams started.
I don't know what they are about… but it's pretty much the same thing every night. I'm stuck inside I think some kind of box, I hear someone running, and in the end, I just hear screaming before I wake up. I honestly don't know what it's about… but it freaks me out every time.
It's been like this for a couple of weeks now… honestly, I just want to sleep again without having to worry about it…
Ok, let's get off that topic. There was this whole thing where Eggman tried to mind control the planet by blocking out the sun… it was a mess, I almost had to fight Sonic over it… really weird way to start off the New Year… anyways, moving on…
Today, we are celebrating Jewel's birthday! No, it's not today, but I missed it last year, so I want to have some kind of celebration. Instead of having a party, I agreed to take her to the museum in Station Square. Chris and his friends from school are joining us too! So that'll be fun… oh who am I kidding, it's gonna be boring… but I'd do anything for Jewel, so I'm going!"
Tangle put the notebook away, and made her way outside.
"Hey! You ready to go?" Tangle asked Jewel.
"Yeah… you know you don't have to do this… right?" Jewel asked.
"Yeah, well, I want to!" Tangle said. "You put so much effort into my party, I have to repay the favor!"
"Alright… if you say so." Jewel said. "Come on, Chris and his friends are going to meet us there after school."
"Right! Let's go!"
"What's taking those four so looooooong…" Tangle groaned out.
"The school isn't really close to here Tangle, just be a little patient." Jewel said.
"Hey! Sorry we're late!" They heard Chris call out.
Looking over, they saw Chris and his three friends approaching.
"Bout time! I was about to fall asleep waiting for you guys!" Tangle called back.
"Sorry, took a lot of work to just get Danny here to come along…" Frances pointed out.
"Hey! I came didn't I?" Danny asked.
The group just laughed at the interaction.
"Anyways, let's head inside!" Jewel said. "I am really interested to see what museums in your world are like!"
"Well, this is a history museum." Chris pointed out. "There are also art museums and a few others I think."
"Say, you want to open a museum yourself, right?" Frances asked.
"Yes, that is my goal." Jewel said.
"What kind of museum do you want to open?" Frances asked.
"Oh uh… gosh, I never really thought about that…" Jewel said. "All I really know is that I want to have a beautiful exhibit… to show everyone just how beautiful our world is…"
"Well, I'm sure that whatever you go with, it'll come out great!" Helen said. "If what Tangle said about you is true that is."
"It absolutely is!" Tangle said. "This girl is amazing! Never gives up on her dreams, her friends, ANYTHING!"
Jewel smiled at this. "Thanks Tangle."
"You don't have to thank me you goober! That's what friends are for, right?" Tangle asked.
"Yeah, the best!"
The group then proceeded inside the museum, to take in the exhibits.
Things were going very well, they were enjoying the sights, and were fascinated by what was on display. Even Tangle had to admit that some of the stuff there was interesting.
When they were on their way out though…
"Say, I think we missed something." Tangle said, pointing towards a painting.
"Huh? Oh! I guess we did!" Chris said as they walked over.
"Let's see… an artist's rendition of the witch hunts?" Jewel read.
"Oh, I remember reading about that… apparently there were towns that were so afraid at the ideas of witches in their towns, that they would hunt them down and execute them!" Frances explained.
"Yesh, that sounds… kinda brutal…" Tangle said.
Then, she suddenly got a headache. 'Ugh… what in the world…?'
"Why in the world would anyone do that?!" Helen asked.
"They said it was to get rid of demons and monsters, but it is theorized that they just didn't like anyone who was different from them." Frances explained.
"Oh come on, is being different really that bad?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, just look at Tangle here!" Danny said. "Would they really hunt her down just cause she's different from other lemurs?"
"Whoa Danny…" Chris said. "Uh… touchy subject for her."
"Huh?"
"We were… bullied pretty bad for that in the past." Jewel explained.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Danny said.
"It's fine, this is Tangle we're talking about." Jewel said. "She can handle a little bit of teasing, right Tangle?"
They all looked towards the lemur, and they immediately knew something was off.
"Tangle?!"
She was sweating terribly, and clutching her head like her life depended on it.
"Hey! You alright?!"
Tangle didn't respond, and just fell to her knees.
'Why… why does my head hurt so much?!'
"Tangle!" Jewel shouted.
"I'm calling an ambulance!" Chris said as he pulled out his phone.
"Please hurry."
Tangle didn't hear any of this, as a bunch of voices began to play in her head.
"Kill the monster!"
"Get rid of it before it destroys us all!"
"Get that worthless thing out of here!"
Tangle could only hear Jewel shouting her name as everything faded to black.
End of Chapter 25
So begins a completely original arc for this story. This story is gonna be exploring this version of Tangle's past, while keeping a focus on Jewel. Yup, Jewel's gonna be taking the role of "main character" for a bit! Who knows though… there may be a couple of neat little surprises here and there too!
Again though, I mentioned it at the end of last chapter, but this arc is going to be VERY important for the future of this series, so please read it if you were just kinda skimming through to catch up in the future!
Any-who, see you next time!
