CHAPTER 10: COMMYLOOSE
Inside Palutena's grand palace, the goddess of light still remained captive amongst the snake hair of her sister. The snakes had encroached around the entire palace, and had surrounded Palutena herself, shrouding her in darkness.
Only thin strips of light could get through the mass of giant snakes that surrounded her and held the goddess contained. As she was contained, the mortal world below grew dim as if covered by clouds.
The people on the mortal world couldn't look up to the grey skies that formed above. Instead those grey skies loomed over an entire society of stone statues.
Men, women, children, dogs, cattle and every other animal had been turned to stone. The world was grey and the green grass in the fields began to turn brown, while flowers wilted and died.
As for Palutena, she could feel her sister's heart beat through the snake scales that surrounded her. Her beautiful radiating light was contained in a den of scales
The only thought in Palutena's mind was of her mortal savior Pit. Palutena's heart beat solely for him, while her body grew cold contained by the snakes.
Palutena told Medusa in a tired daze, "Your tests are killing humanity."
While the face of Medusa couldn't be seen, her words echoed through the palace, "When humanity is dead, it will return to us." With a sly tone in her voice, she explained, "It was only a matter of time my sister. They are mortal after all. Not like us. Not eternal."
With a bold proclamation, Medusa uttered, "They are the ants on the carpet of my palace and my palace is everywhere." With a hint of cold joy in Medusa's voice, she told her sister, "And I am the spider that has you trapped."
Palutena spoke in a weary state, "You are only a blurry reflection from a pain of glass." Even tired, she then emphasized, "Have you seen a mirror lately?"
Medusa told her sister, "I am going to fix that."
"A cream won't cover your ugliness," uttered Palutena.
With a cackle that gently vibrated the den of snakes, Medusa was amused. However, she was amused at something else in her mind. She explained, "My poisonous glow will spread to empires that are unheard of and I seek to destroy them."
After a pause in her laughter, "And then," she said with a long hiss in her voice, "Father will come to stop me." She continued, "When you have no mortals left to care about; he will be the last thing that I crush and hide away like sweeping broken glass under a rug."
In a whisper, Palutena told her, "Pit will stop you."
"You hold this mortal in high regard," hissed Medusa.
Palutena retorted from the darkness of the snakes, "And you know why."
"Ah, but I do," said Medusa with a sly tone, "Which is why I'm taking precautions to ensure that no one can defeat me."
"In fact," said the snake haired goddess, "My guardian is seeing to it right now."
Within Medusa's palace in the underworld known as the fortress of demons, was a grand shield on a black pedestal high above the tiled marble floor. The only light in the room was a single beam of light that came from the tall roof. The single beam shined down to the shield and reflected off the gorgeous smooth surface and illuminated the floor.
In the light, a chain could be seen draped across the marble floor. The chain was tight and unmoving.
From out of the darkness a mushroom with feet and a blue head scurried across the tiled floor into the light. It was confused and stumbled. When the mushroom slowly postured itself to stand, it pattered its feed and rotated left then right. Finally it rotated left again to reveal a pair of eyes underneath the mushroom head.
Wham. A giant red paw came down and completely smashed the blue mushroom in the light. The chain made a rattle and in the reflection of the mirrored shield, an immense beast covered with red hair could be seen. It licked the floor with its large dog like head.
The fur on the beast was tall and then a second head appeared in the mirror's reflection to lick the other part of the mushroom from off its paw. Then something caught the beast's interest and it took off into the darkness.
The chain dragged out of the light and after a moment of the chain being in darkness, a massive set of jaws appeared and slammed around the mirrored shield and the pedestal. The black stone pedestal was cracked in half and was eaten with the shield by the beast.
Elsewhere in the Underworld, Pit continued his ascension with Toodles lighting the way. They had found themselves out of a lava cavern and into a different one.
Pit had his arms crossed trying to warm his shoulders as he uttered, "Why is it so cold?"
The entire cavern was covered with ice. Not just ice, but permafrost from millennia of being frozen. There were icicles dripping off of each ledge and Pit didn't want to touch them with his bare hands.
His angelic friend tried to rationalize, "Either Medusa breathed everything to ice or we're too high up from the lava that it gets cold."
Pit asked, "Doesn't heat rise?"
Toodles said, "Ad da da da. Who's the angel here? Palutena makes the light and it makes us all warm. Her light warms our skin, which warms our hearts and you mortals generate your own heat with your gasses that come out of you; your breath and otherwise."
Beneath Pit's feet were creatures frozen in the ice. Blue creatures usually found in oceans. The walls were made of rock covered with permafrost.
Pit wondered, "So what makes you light up?"
"I'm like a battery," explained Toodles, but Pit asked, "What's a battery?"
Toodles asked, "Do all mortals wonder questions like yours?"
"No," said Pit, "There are older mortals that just answer them better than you do."
"Their time isn't valuable," uttered Toodles in its high pitched voice.
Pit continued to climb the icy ledges as he gave his flying friend a strange look, "Why is your time valuable?"
In one of the walls was a creature that looked like it had died a terrible death. Tentacles from the creature were sprawled out along the wall, with a bluish purple hue. The creature's mouth was contorted and its fangs were everywhere with its body twisted in half.
Toodles fluttered down near Pit's face. The light was so bright that it hurt Pit's eyes when the angel answered, "See this light?"
"Yeah," said Pit.
"When I'm out of energy," Toodles explained, "No more light and only darkness." With a pause it uttered, "Got that mortal?"
Pit continued to climb, "Got it."
Toodles then fluttered away and said, "No more questions. We're just going to climb in awkward silence the rest of the time."
"But wait," said Pit, "One more question."
Toodles wondered, "Can't you find an oracle to ask?"
Pit asked, "Why do you answer with questions?"
Toodles retorted, "Was that your question?"
Pit gestured with his thumb to a wall at another frozen dead creature trapped in the wall as he questioned, "What are these things?"
Toodles fluttered above Pit and then swirled down and said, "Let's see."
Pit stood in front of the creature that had eight tentacles. Some frozen to the wall, others stretched out as if it was trying to get away.
Toodles looked to it and speculated, "Tentacles, but no eyes. So it is not a monoeye."
With his back turned to the creature, Toodles continued to examine it, "Looks like an octopus but it is not in one of Palutena's oceans. Hmmm. What could it be?"
Under the permafrost, a bluish purple membrane slid to the left of the creature's head to reveal a single black eye. Then a yellow pupil came from the left and looked directly at Pit.
Toodles screamed, "Commyloose!" The creature then erupted from the permafrost and broke away from the wall straight into Pit. They were both knocked to a lower platform of ice and Pit was covered in permafrost.
The creature used its tentacles to cling and not slide off the ledge. It postured its head and with the curve of its body, the creature had its arrow pointed head directed to Pit.
The boy stood up freezing and covered in the frost while the creature kept its pointed head directed to Pit. When Pit moved, the Commyloose posture its point at Pit.
Finally the creature lunged forward and pushed off to extend its tentacles as if a man using a spear. The first jab missed Pit, and the creature recoil its tentacles back to the icy platform.
It continued to lunge and recoil with Pit dodging as he scurried away. That was until Pit ran out of platform and was facing a dark abyss below.
There was a wall next to Pit that another black eye was seen after a membrane was pulled away. That Commyloose tore from the wall as well.
Toodles flew in and screamed, "Silly Icarus! Use your bow!"
Facing off against two Commyloose, Pit drew his bow and readied an arrow from his quiver. One of the Commyloose grabbed Pit's right leg with its tentacles coiled around him.
Pit staggered and fell to his butt before his body flopped over the edge of the platform. His bow and arrow had fallen into the darkness and Toodles yelled, "I'm on it!"
The angel plunged into the darkness, which left Pit alone in the dark with two octopus like creatures and their fangs around him. The light disappeared and Toodles was gone.
Pit was left hanging by his leg in the darkness, until Toodles eappeared from the other side of the platform and said, "Oh sorry! I forgot there's no light here!"
When he appeared again, Pit was coiled in bluish purple tentacles and yellow eyes looked upon him. Each Commyloose had wrapped two tentacles around each of Pit's arms. They were forcing Pit to slap himself in the face over and over again as he hung by a leg.
Toodles flew over as Pit screamed for help. The only help that the angel could give was, "Shoo! Shoo you things!"
Pit was still slapping himself as he yelled, "You're not helping!"
The twin Commyloose used their spear like heads to poke at Toodles to keep him away. The angle merely fluttered far away only to discover the other trick that the Commyloose had.
Ink, one of them shot a large spray of blue ink that doused Toodle's face and covered his eyes. The angel yelled, "I can't see!" Then the angel spiraled around and bumped in a wall that caused it to fall to the frost covered ground.
The Commyloose continued to point their heads at Toodles, but not jab at him. Their tentacles still controlled Pit, but while the were distracted, Pit used both fingers when he crossed his arms and poked into the large yellow eyes of the Commyloose.
They winced in pain and used their tentacles to bash Pit into the ice at the side of the platform twice. Then they flipped him off into the dark abyss below.
Pit was gone, disappeared as his screams echoed until they couldn't be heard anymore.
Toodles yelled out, "Where are you Icarus?" The angel held its hand forward still blind from the ink to the face. The two Commyloose pointed their heads at the angel who wondered, "Marco?"
After a moment, Toodles said, "You're supposed to say Polo!"
Behind Toodles another membrane opened up from beneath of the permafrost that covered the wall. Then a yellow eye came into focus and permafrost cracked from the mouth of another Commyloose.
Terrible fangs were behind Toodles as two Commyloose stood before the blind Toodles.
The angel muttered, "When nothing is certain…" Toodles then took to flight as the third Commyloose broke from the wall.
"Always fly fly away," said Toodles as the angel flew off the ground. The third Commyloose speared its pointed head inadvertently toward the other two that watched Toodles. The tentacles became all intertwined amongst the three of them.
Toodles bumped into icicles above that caused a rainstorm of jagged glass down to the Commyloose below. One lanced straight through a yellow eye, while the other two Commyloose survived, even if they had icicles causing them to bleed out blue blood.
The angel tried to wipe the ink below its bangs in order to see, even if it could not see past its yellow bangs in the first place.
Unknown to Toodles, was that another Commyloose was above on the platform with the falling icicles. The tentacles lowered down to the fluttering angel closer and closer.
With one quick motion, the tentacles grabbed Toodles by the arms. Screams were heard that echoed through the icy cavern and shook the icicles.
One by one, the Commyloose attached more and more tentacles in order to pull the angel up to the platform above.
The blind angel was in fang's reach of the Commyloose and its tongue licked up the side of Toodle's baby face. There were more screams out of grossness than terror.
Toodles was spared though by the hand of fate; the bony hand of fate. In the luminescence of Toodle's glow, a boney hand could be seen to touch the pointed head of the creepy octo-creature.
The creature's body slowly turned a deep shade of purple and black like ink being sprayed into water as the bony hand's touch killed the creature.
Towering above Toodles was the Reaper. The angel was not being saved, but in even worse danger and totally blind to it as the Reaper's cloak rippled and covered the platform with its torn material.