A/N: GYAHAHAHAHA! At last...the time has come! This is another chapter I've been looking forward to writing...because it introduces yet another of my favorite aspects of Terraria! And like I said last time, things are gonna get real (again) in this chapter...I hope you're ready for some action! YEEEEAAAH, IT'S TIME FOR A BOSS FIGHT! IT'S PROBABLY GONNA END BADLY BUT YA NEVER KNOW, WHOO!
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NexusXV: OH GEEZ NOT THE PUN NYMPH.
Imagination is king: Too late, her heart is already set on beating down demonic body parts. And give Zia a break, she's not that incompetent! ...Hopefully.
Chapter 9: Eye On You
Zia walked into her house, the sky's blue slowly morphing into purples as the sun set. She had just come back from Abdosir's place, having given him the Strange Plant she had found.
"You bring me a beautiful, rare flower...yes, yes?" Abdosir had began after examining the plant. "Take this bottle of special dye for your troubles, friend!"
After receiving the three Dye bottles, which really only made her armor super reflective, Zia had spent the rest of the evening making Glass and then Glass Walls for windows. Using her Wood Hammer, she took out square portions of the wall and replaced them with glass. By the time she was done, the sky was significantly darker. She'd have to get going soon. Zia sat at the table, examining the Suspicious-Looking Eye as she waited for the night to start.
Brett walked in a few moments later. "Hey, Zia! Nice job with the windows, by the way."
The girl nodded in response, not really looking up to acknowledge the man. Brett took notice, evidently, and asked, "Hey, what's got you so entranced? Find something cool while you were out?"
"Hm? Oh, no," Zia responded. "Just looking at this."
Brett looked over Zia's shoulder, seeing the Suspicious-Looking Eye. "Whoa...is that the-"
"Yup- it summons the Eye of Cthulhu," Zia replied. "At least, that's what Frederick told me."
"You asked Frederick about it...?" Brett asked, looking a little hurt by this new information, before shaking his head. "When did you even get that?"
"A day or two ago, when I went into the ice caves," Zia explained. "I'm...going to use tonight."
"U-Use it?" Brett asked, his eyes practically popping out of his skull. "Hehe, uh- Zia? What do you mean by 'use it'?"
"I'm going to summon the Eye of Cthulhu," Zia replied simply. "I mean, I'll have to do it eventually, right? And I've got some good stuff, so..."
"Maybe, but..." the man began, shaking his head. "Zia, listen- I love a good fight with body parts as much as the next guy, but you shouldn't be so light on preparations!"
"I was gonna guy some new weapons from Frederick and improve my Arrows," Zia said. "And I've got these Flurry Boots, which help me move faster."
"B-But, ah..." Brett stuttered, rubbing the back of his head with a grimace. "Zia. You shouldn't fight the Eye right now. You're not ready, you need to-"
"Brett! I appreciate the concern, I really do..." the girl began, standing with a frown. "But...you're still not my Guide. And besides, I don't even think you've been in Terraria in a while, right?"
"Uh...well, you're right, but-" Brett replied, his voice becoming increasingly fearful.
"So do you even remember how these more powerful monsters work?" Zia asked, narrowing her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't think whatever advice you have for me will really be helpful."
As the girl turned to leave, Brett insisted, "But still, you're trying to go up against something stronger, this could be life or death! Don't just rush out there mindlessly, you could be put in danger! You're getting in over your head, you could be killed! Eaten, maybe!"
Zia stopped just before exiting the house as the man spoke those last words. She hadn't noticed before, but Brett sounded so much like Andrew when he was worried...his words were even similar to what Andrew had said to her the night he died.
...No. This is different. Zia mentally told herself. I'm not getting anyone else involved in this- it's just me and the Eye of Cthulhu. Whatever happens to me, good or bad, it's my fate alone.
Without another word to the distraught Brett, Zia exited the house into the young night.
Zia made her way east, towards the flat area full of trees on the other side of the lake. She had bought some Shurikens, Wooden Arrows, Torches, and Lesser Healing Potions from Frederick, combining the Arrows and Torches to make Flaming Arrows. Now, after making sure there were no monsters around, she pulled out the Suspicious-Looking Eye...
Wait...how do I actually use this? Zia asked herself, frowning. She examined the item again- it had the appearance of a regular eye, no matter how she looked at it. No buttons, switches, or any odd mechanics on it.
"...What if I just...?" Zia said to herself, before holding up the Eye to the night sky. At first, nothing happened...and then the eye started to wriggle in her hands. Shouting, the girl drew her hands back and dropped the Eye on the ground in disgust. The Eye blinked a few times, before flying up like a regular Demon Eye. It looked around, before flying off into the night.
"..." Zia stood where she was, wondering what exactly that had accomplished. Moments later, an unearthly roar filled the air. Zia immediately drew her Iron Bow, preparing a Flaming Arrow. Something flew over her- it appeared to be very large and round, a giant eyeball. It had a blue iris, with some green around a black pupil. Several red veins spread up its round body, and it had a few short red tendrils trailing behind it. There was no doubt in the girl's mind...
The Eye of Cthulhu had awoken!
"Alright you one-eyed freak..." Zia growled, drawing her Iron Bow as the Eye of Cthulhu flew over her. "Time to die!"
The Eye of Cthulhu didn't do much at first- it just hovered directly above the girl, keeping its unblinking gaze on her. This allowed Zia to rapidly fire her Flaming Arrows directly at the flying monster. After a few moments, however, a squishing sound was heard and something flew towards her. It was a tiny eye, greatly resembling the Suspicious-Looking Eye, and it was quickly making its may towards Zia.
She took out her Silver Broadsword and was able to take out the eye with one swing. However, as the Eye of Cthulhu continued to float over her, two more of its Servants were released and flew at Zia. Growling, she slashed at the eyes and killed them quickly as well. She then grabbed her Bow and kept firing at the Eye itself. For a few moments, it just took fiery onslaught...before, with a sudden burst if speed, charging right at Zia.
She yelped and was knocked back from the hit. The Eye of Cthulhu flew at her again, but this time Zia saw it coming and managed to duck under the round body. The monster spun itself around in midair and flew at her one more time. Zia jumped back, barely dodging this third ramming. As the Eye of Cthulhu made its way back into air, the girl swung at it with her Broadsword to get some more damage in.
The Eye launched another Servant towards Zia. She prepared her blade to strike...before something else knocked her back. She swiftly turned around, only to see a pair of Zombies lumbering towards her. Zia shouted at them, despite knowing they wouldn't understand, "Oh come on! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something!?"
She utilized her Shurikens to take out the Zombies, but by that time three more tiny eyeballs had been summoned and were swarming around Zia. She swiped with her sword once, taking out one of them, but was thrown back when the Eye of Cthulhu rammed into her again. Grimacing, she cut down two more Servants before barely dodging the next charge. She took out the last one as the Eye flew at her again, very close to the ground. Zia, realizing she couldn't duck under the attack, used her Flurry Boots to run at the flying eyeball and tried to jump over it. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite jump that high, and ended up getting caught on the Eye of Cthulhu's body and face planting on the ground behind it.
Zia grimaced as she stood, quickly downing a Lesser Healing Potion. At the same time, two of the Eye's Servants were flying at her...as was a random Demon Eye. She manged to take out the little eyes quickly, but the Demon Eye was tougher. Zia didn't have the time to take on the other eye, as the Eye of Cthulhu launched another Servant. Choosing to ignore the Demon Eye, she used her Iron Bow to dispatch the Servant, then attacked the Eye of Cthulhu with the Flaming Arrows. The monster charged at her again, but Zia managed to get past it.
The Eye flew at her once more, yet the girl was trying to outrun it with her Flurry Boots. She would have made it, too...if she hadn't forgotten about the Demon Eye. It swooped down on her, hitting her in the back of her head and knocking her down. This allowed her to be struck by the Eye of Cthulhu, even dragged across the ground a bit. She quickly stood up, then shot down the Demon Eye with her Bow. Turning on her heel, she hurled several Shurikens at the Eye of Cthulhu as it returned to hovering above her.
It spawned several more Servants, but they were taken out by the Flaming Arrows. Zia didn't let up the Arrow assault, the flames curling around the Eye's body illuminating the night. When it tried to ram into her again, she jumped to side and slashed at it with her sword. The Eye of Cthulhu tried to strike her one more time, only to get hit with many more Arrows. Finally...it stopped. The Eye let out a roar as it started to spasm about, practically spinning in place.
"YES!" Zia shouted triumphantly. "EAT IT YOU NOCTURNAL MENACE!"
She drank a Lesser Healing Potion again before turning to walk away, a joyful smile on her face. She thought to herself, I can't believe it...I actually took down a really powerful monster! The Eye of Cthulhu! I'm practically a full adventurer now! This is so great!
Zia was interrupted, however...when she heard another loud, furious roar behind her. She turned around...and froze. "W-Wha...!?"
The Eye of Cthulhu wasn't dead. In fact, it looked different. Gone was the blue iris with a black pupil- instead, it was replaced by a huge, bloody mouth, filled with long, yellow, razor-sharp teeth. It roared, and flew straight at Zia. Screaming in terror, she launched a barrage of Arrows at the monster. The Eye didn't slow down, however, and tried to swallow the girl. She dove out of the way, swinging her Broadsword at the monster. She missed, and the Eye of Cthulhu charged at her again, biting into Zia's armor and then hurling her several feet away.
She hit the ground hard with a grunt, but hopped back up. She fired more Flaming Arrows, but the Eye of Cthulhu was flying around too fast for her to be able to focus on a target. The creature roared again and charged at her once more. Zia ran back, towards the lake, continuing to fire Arrows. Most of them missed the flying monster as it slowly closed the distance between them. The girl tried to keep running...only to run into more trouble.
Two more Zombies blocked her path. Zia threw more Shurikens at them, hoping to quickly dispatch them, but then heard another roar. The Eye of Cthulhu struck her from behind, sending her flying into the Zombie pair. They clawed at the parts of her body that weren't protected by armor, but Zia was able to take down the monsters with her Broadsword. However, the Eye of Cthulhu was still giving chase. Zia, realizing how close the creature was, lashed out with the Silver blade.
This turned out to be a mistake. Her armor plating got caught on one of the Eye's fangs, causing her to be lifted into the air. The Eye thrashed about, eventually throwing Zia off and causing her to fall into the lake below. She initially landed on her back with a shout, immediately sinking beneath the surface. Zia frantically looked around...this wasn't good. She was a lot slower while underwater, and something told her the Eye of Cthulhu didn't care how much water it swallowed, so long as it could swallow her. She quickly drank another Lesser Healing Potion and tried to quickly make her way to the other shore.
The Eye of Cthulhu had other plans, however. Zia immediately heard the monster breaking through the water towards her, before grabbing her in its jaws and hurling her into the air again. With a loud splash, Zia burst out of the water and hit the dirt shore with a thump. The Eye followed close behind, hovering over her for a few moments. The girl fired more Flaming Arrows at it, but she was running low on those. The Eye of Cthulhu dive bombed her, which Zia was able to dodge. However, the flying creature wasted no time charging again, managing to sink its large fangs into the girl's unarmored leg.
Zia shrieked in pain, trying to stab the Eye with her Broadsword. It proved to be futile, however, and the monster began to viciously thrash her about. Finally, it threw her to the side, causing her to slam into a tree and fall to the ground. She groaned, sitting up, but unable to stand. She still felt sick, so she couldn't drink another Potion to heal herself. The Eye of Cthulhu roared again, charging at Zia one more time with intent to kill.
Oh no...no! Zia thought, her eyes wide with terror. No no no NO NO-!
Then, the area began to get brighter. Zia looked towards the horizon- the sun was coming up. The Eye of Cthulhu stopped instantly, roaring in the direction of the sun. As the light of dawn grew, the monster shrank back to stay in the dark. Finally, with one last angry roar, the Eye of Cthulhu flew away to wherever it had come from, leaving Zia behind.
"..." Zia, eyes still wide, remained on the ground where she sat completely shell-shocked. Her mind had gone blank, as if all of her ability to think had been scared off. She stayed by that tree for a while, her heart still pounding so hard her chest ached, trying to register what had just happened. Finally, she regained her senses, dragged herself to her feet, and proceeded to limp back home.
A/N: YEAH, BOSS BATTLES! WASN'T THAT EPIC!? YEAH IT ENDED IN TOTAL FAILURE BUT ACTION WHOO-HOO! And now, we can add yet another number to the Counter!
Zia Near-Death Counter: 5 (Eye of Cthulhu, specifically its second form)
So, the Boss enemies...they're pretty cool. They can be hard as HECK to beat, but they're pretty cool. And the EoC is just the tip of the iceberg! But, ah, one thing at a time. Just know that I really like the Boss enemies in Terraria, and next to the NPCs, they're another favorite part of game for me.
AND NEXT TIME...MORE STUFF! Aftermath stuff! How much flack will Kayla give Zia for getting hurt like she did? What will Brett the Not-Guide do? How many chapters until the rematch? All this and more will be answered...next time!