Chapter Seven
Two days passed. The group, which was growing rapidly, had covered a surprising amount of distance. Thankfully, Ike and Marth had brought some more provisions with them, but they were running out of space to put the things. They were surviving, at least, and that was all that mattered. They had already passed the majority of the dry plains where they found the TowTow, and Narcissa noticed that the land was getting progressively greener. That meant they must be nearing some source of water…the lake
"This place looks familiar…." Seth mumbled, gazing around.
"I think this was where we met," Pop said. "Wait…what the…" There was a picture frame lying in the grass.
"Maybe it fell from the sky too," Marth said, walking over to the picture frame and taking a good look at it. "You say you met here?" The candy loving boy nodded. "Perhaps…whatever this strange force is, it is stronger here."
"That's something I never thought about," Narcissa pondered. "It could be stronger in some areas... I wonder why?"
Suddenly, the ground below them began to shake. Narcissa almost fell over, but thankfully Reno was right next to her, and she caught his arm. "Wh-what is this?" The trembling got progressively stronger, making the group huddle close together. Ike, Seth, Alvin, and Marth were standing on the outside of the group, weapons ready. Then, a creature of monstrous proportions burst out of the ground. It loomed over them, its body curved in an "S" shape. Running down its spine was a row of spikes like daggers, and from its mouth protruded two giant fangs. Its eyes gleamed with hunger, and it hissed in delight.
The serpent did not give anyone much time to react. It promptly lunged out at Narcissa with its wide, gaping mouth. She barely dodged the attack. The serpent writhed in annoyance when it realized its teeth were stuck in the ground. Narcissa took advantage and pounded the ground with her fist, making a tremor spread out from her and causing the snake to roar in pain. She smiled when she saw Reno give her a thumbs up from the corner of her eye.
The serpent dislodged its head from the earth, even more angry than before and with a headache from the attack. It was hungry, and it wanted lunch. It hissed once, and then sunk back into the hole it came from.
"Where is it?" Geyser whined, clinging to Pop's leg in terror. Alvin signaled for everyone to be quiet, glancing over at Narcissa. Narcissa blinked in confusion, but then it came to her. Alvin fought without his eyes, using sound to guide him. He could probably hear the vibrations in the ground better than anyone else. After he pinpointed the serpent's location, Narcissa could go ahead with punching the ground again.
Ike also seemed to understand the strategy and stepped up next to Narcissa, taking Ragnell and holding it in front of him. She remembered seeing the mercenary stab his sword into the ground to create a blast of flame. Ouch, she thought. That is going to hurt. Alvin quickly tied on his blindfold and stood as still as death. He was silent for a while, but then he swiftly dashed over to a dry patch of grass some feet away. Narcissa and Ike followed, along with the rest of the group.
Alvin's senses did not fail him, as the serpent indeed popped out of the soil in front of him. This time, it attempted to constrict Narcissa with its body. Narcissa gasped as she saw the dirt colored scales of the snake wrap around her. Alvin ran towards the serpent's head and leaped into the air, hurtling towards it and drawing his dagger. He brought his weapon forward and slashed at its face, then landed on his feet. However, the scales on the beast were as hard as stone, and the dagger did not do much to hurt it.
"Alvin…" Narcissa gasped. The coils were closing in around her neck, and she was having trouble getting the boy's name out. The serpent lowered its head next to hers and hissed menacingly. Ike dashed forward and plunged Ragnell into the earth, trying to scorch the snake, but the creature didn't even flinch.
"There has to be some weak point to this thing," Ike muttered. The others had joined in the fight, striking at various points on the snake's body in an attempt to save Narcissa. It was as if the serpent was laughing at their futile attempts. Narcissa felt dizzy. Please don't let me die, everyone…
That was when a flaming arrow flew through the air, zooming towards the serpent's eye. There was a shriek of pain, and the serpent let go of Narcissa. The girl gasped for air and keeled over on the ground. Alvin dashed over to her in concern.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, taking off his blindfold for a few seconds so she could see the worry in his eyes.
"Y-yeah," she panted, looking up at his handsome face. "Thanks for…trying…" Alvin took her hand firmly and helped her stand back up. "Who shot that arrow?" Ike looked around and caught sight of a certain blonde haired elf and a princess that he saw before.
"Link! Zelda!" he hollered. Link was holding his bow in his hand, preparing another arrow. Zelda had produced an orb of fire in her hands and was igniting the arrow.
"Do you know these guys?" Seth asked the two swordsmen.
"We met them on the journey to defeat Tabuu," Marth explained.
"I'm not the only one that jumps down from cliffs, right?" Ike said to Marth, chuckling. Marth sighed and shook his head. Link was now firing more fire arrows at the serpent's head. It had already been blinded by the previous arrow and was as angry as ever. Reno was nimbly dodging attacks, and Geyser and Geysette were cowering behind Pop, who was unsure of what to do and had decided to protect the two wolves. Chuan, however, had regained the shadowy aura, but he was more controlled in his actions. Perhaps the demon in him had learned a lesson. Reno suddenly got an idea.
"Hey!" he called out to the fighters. "Don't lots of reptiles have sensitive bellies?"
"How would we turn it on its side?" Seth muttered, parrying a blow from the snake's tail.
"Here," Zelda said, creating another large fireball. She fired it at the serpent's face, and it struck with uncanny accuracy. The monster screeched and wavered a bit before falling and exposing its neck. "Go, now!" Marth and Seth dashed up with their swords and both jumped, stabbing the serpent in the neck. Crimson blood spurted out as a strange, rasping sound came out of the snake's mouth. Marth and Seth hopped off of the serpent's body right before it crashed onto the ground.
"Is…is everyone ok?" Seth asked. The others gathered around in a large cluster. Seth's eyes met with Zelda's and Link's. "You are friends of Marth and Ike…? Have you heard of things falling out of the sky…?"
"There were rumors," Link answered, putting away his bow. "We have not seen that happen ourselves."
"We thought it might be tied with Subspace," Ike said. The two seemed to tighten up a bit at the mention of the horrible events of Subspace.
"Is there any information you could offer?" Narcissa asked, still relying on Alvin for balance.
"I remember I was cloned by Shadow Bugs," Zelda put in. "They looked like large masses of purple orbs, and they could take on the form of many things. That was what the Primids in the Subspace Army was made of, I believe. They extracted the Shadow Bugs from a person called Mr. Game and Watch."
"Now that I recall it, I remember seeing an army of Primids form from the Shadow Bugs when I was defending the castle," Marth muttered.
"Alright…thanks!" Narcissa said, smiling. She shook hands with Link and Zelda before collapsing in Alvin's arms.
"We should rest," Alvin murmured. "You need to take time to recover…" The last thing Narcissa saw before she dozed off from tiredness was Ike and Marth waving goodbye to their comrades.
