Just for info purposes…I neglected Freedan…Sorry
Enjoy!
Mu was unlike any place I had ever seen. Half of it was covered by water, the rest was old and ruinous. As I begun exploring I started to wonder how it had sunk.
An earthquake maybe? Or perhaps something worse…
I continued along the only path there was and soon came upon a small shrine. There was nothing inside except for a small alter.
"It says… 'Room of Hope'" I said aloud.
"Maybe something goes here?" guessed Lilly from my pocket.
I shrugged and continued exploring. It wasn't long before I encountered demons. There was a golem guarding a chest which was surrounded on two sides by statues. I gripped my flute tight and attacked.
"Yah!" I struck it right across the abdomen only succeeding in pissing it off.
It fired a flying rock in my direction which I quickly deflected. I steadied myself and continued. "Psycho Dash!"
That seemed to do some damage as it staggered back. Now to finish it! I ran forward and finished it off with a jump attack.
The golem crumpled and was defeated.
"Wow, Will… That was amazing!" said Lilly.
I paused, not used to having people around when killing demons. "Uh, yeah. Amazing…" This is awkward… I wonder if this is how Freedan feels when he's in control? I opened the chest only to find it was empty.
"Well that sucks…" Sighing I continued.
Everything was going fine until-
"Will! Look out!"
I hit the deck as an energy ball flew at me. It missed and quickly dissipated.
"Where did… Whoa!" I took a step back as a Phantom appeared in front of me. He cupped his hands, creating another energy sphere. "Oh no you don't!" I swung with my flute just as he teleported. "Dammit!" I paused, waiting for him to appear again. There! "Psycho Dash!"
My attack connected and he quickly teleported away again.
"Will, behind you!" shouted Lilly.
I swung quickly and felt my attack connect. The phantom dissipated and appeared no more.
I took a moment to catch my breath. Damn… These guys are a lot tougher than any monster I've faced before…
"Are you okay?" asked Lilly.
"Sure, this is nothing!" I said. "Alright, lets go!"
Eventually I came across another chest but it was empty too.
What's the deal? Why are they empty? I grit my teeth as another energy ball came out of nowhere. "Knock it off!" I deflected it and eliminated the phantom quickly.
After destroying some blue drop-like enemies I came across a dead end.
"Well, now what?" I stood there, thinking of what to do. Bad move.
A stone golem crept up behind me and attacked.
"Ah, dammit!" I grasped my left arm from where the demon had hit me. "That hurt, you bastard! Psycho Dash!"
Apparently that hurt too as he turned red and started to fire multiple rocks in every direction. I blocked as best I could and finished it off with a jump attack.
Once he died, there was a flash of light which unveiled another statue like the one before.
I massaged my hurt arm with my good. I don't think its broken but it'll definitely hurt in the morning… Best try not to use it too much…
"Will, I've been thinking…" started Lilly. "You know all these empty chests?"
"What about them?" I asked not really paying attention.
"They're always in-between the gaze of two statues…"
"So what…?" I paused and looked around. There were two statues yet nothing where their gazes met. No…it cant be…can it?
I walked over to where their gazes met and held out my hand. "What?-!"
"Is something there?" asked Lilly curiously.
"Yeah… Hold on…" I felt around and opened it. I reached in and took out a small object. It looked like a mini fountain. "Well what do I do with this?" I wondered.
"Hey, maybe that goes in the alter back in the Room of Hope?"
"Maybe…" I pocketed it. "Lets find out."
So I backtracked and entered the shrine. When I placed it on the alter everything turned black. Small torches lit up leading to the alter.
As I turned around I saw four phantoms facing me. They stared back menacingly.
An ambush?-!
Before I could get out my weapon one of the phantoms spoke.
"The sun god… Rama… The ocean holds a power…" As he said that they started disappearing.
"Hey! What 'power'? What are you talking about?" My words echoed off the walls as everything turned back to normal. "What was all that about?" The ocean holds a power? Could they be meaning a Mystic Statue?
I left the shrine and discovered something very important.
"Will! The water level's gone down!" informed Lilly. "Now we can explore more of the dungeon!"
I nodded and continued. Now that the water level was lowered I could explore more areas but that also meant more demons. Suddenly I wished Freedan were here…
"Will…"
"Yeah? What is it?" I asked distractedly as I tried to kill a golem.
"You're pretty good at this, aren't you?"
I dodged a rock projectile and countered. "I supposes… Yah!" My attack connected and my opponent staggered back. Time to end this!
"Did that guy at the prison teach you?"
I paused which wasn't a good thing to do. The golem attacked making me go on defensive. I rolled away and used a Psycho Dash to finish him off.
"Why do you ask?" I said finally.
"Just curious… I figured since you haven't changed shapes yet, you mustn't be able to do it at will. Meaning, that form is a separate state from your own." she concluded.
Wow… Lilly's…smart… "You're right. I cant change at will." Though Freedan can… "But to answer your question: No. I've just been learning from experience." Although I suppose Freedan has been a good influence.
Lilly didn't say anything else so I guessed the conversation was over. After avoiding some nasty looking energy things I saw a portal to Dark Space. I paused.
How am I going to explain this to Lilly? I skipped the parts about Freedan and Gaia when I explained everything to her… Guess I'll do what I do best: Wing it. So I entered Dark Space.
"Hello, Young Will." greeted Gaia as usual. "You seem to be hurt. Let me heal you."
Once again there was a bright flash and my wounds healed themselves.
"Thanks…" I looked at my pocket awkwardly, expecting Lilly to pop out at any minute going, "What the Shiz?-!"
Gaia laughed. "If you are worried about your friend, don't be. I assure you she is safe."
"But-"
"Her soul is protected by the Flower Spirit. And though she cannot enter this realm, she is still with us. She will have no recollection of this place when you leave." she explained.
"Oh, okay…" I looked around and noticed a statue of me in the room. I turned to Gaia, "New power time?"
She nodded in response.
"Kay then." I touched it, awaiting the slight shock that accompanies a new skill. Once it had passed I looked to Gaia for an explanation.
"The power you have received is known as the Psycho Slider."
"Psycho Slider?"
"It allows you to pass through small gaps in walls and other areas granting you access to many places. The Psycho Slider is also a useful tool in defeating enemies rather quickly…" she added.
A way to kill enemies faster? I grinned. "Sounds good to me! Thanks, Gaia!" I waited for her to respond but she said nothing. "Gaia?"
"What is it, Young Will?"
"Um… You are the one giving me this power…aren't you?" I asked slowly.
"Am I?" she said slyly.
"Hey! No fair! You cant answer a question with another! Answer me, are you or are you not?"
"You will have to answer that for yourself."
"Gaia!" I yelled angrily. "Just answer the stupid question!"
"I sense a Mystic Statue nearby. You should hurry." She remained silent saying no more.
I glared at her before turning around and leaving. Great! Just when I think I've got this whole 'Dark Power, Comet, Gaia thing' down, She has to go and say something like that! If I don't get my power from Gaia, then…where does it come from?
"Will? What happened?" asked Lilly suddenly from my pocket. "You look upset…"
I stared at my pocket surprised to hear her. "Lilly, what have I been doing this whole time?"
"I'm not sure…" she admitted. "I thought I heard somebody talking but it must have been my imagination… We should get going. This place is starting to give me the creeps…"
"I hear you there…" I guess Lilly really doesn't know what just happened… At least she's alright.
Since my position was a dead end I turned around and started backtracking again. As I turned a corner I noticed a small crack in the wall.
Time to use that new power…whoever gave it to me…
I ran towards the wall as fast as I could. Right before I hit the wall I slid, sliding right through the crack and under the wall. I arrived in another part of the dungeon filled with monsters.
My heart sank. This just isn't my day…
Thankfully the only things that gave me problems were a phantom or two and a couple of golems. Once they were out of the picture I found a hidden chest between two statues unveiling another Statue of Hope.
Knowing what to do, I back tracked to the second Room of Hope and placed it on the alter.
The room got dark and the phantoms appeared once more.
"The sun god… Rama…" they repeated more urgently this time. "The ocean holds a power…"
The disappeared and all was normal.
"Okay, still creepy…" commented Lilly. "Who do you think this Rama guy is, anyway?"
"Who knows?" I said, not really caring. I was still upset about the whole Gaia thing.
"Hey, Will… How's your arm?" asked Lilly.
"Its fine, don't worry about it." I said quickly. I didn't want to get into that topic. "Time to go…"
Just as before when I placed the statue in the alter, the water level had decreased. This time all of the water was gone allowing me total access to the dungeon.
I managed to make my way to the bottom most level of Mu and begun exploring. Several more enemies rushed to defeat me but I eliminated each one as they came.
As I turned a corner I spotted two golems guarding a chest.
Two for one sale, eh? Bring it on! I used a Psycho Slider attack on one and turned to attack the other.
Both golems turned to face me and fired several rocks in multiple directions.
"Shit!" I quickly deflected them with my flute but I couldn't get them all. I flinched as a rock grazed my cheek causing me to bleed slightly. "Dammit, take this! Psycho Dash!"
I timed the attack perfectly, hitting them both at the same time. They crumpled, defeated, allowing me access to the chest.
Pleas don't be empty… Inside was a small statue. "What's this?"
"Maybe its Rama? The guy those phantoms were talking about?" guessed Lilly.
"Perhaps…" I pocketed it and continued.
Not long after I found the Rama Statue, I found another just like it. Not knowing what to do I decided to just keep going.
After several phantoms and blue cap demons I found a door. Inside was a small room with two alters, one for each Rama Statue. I placed them on the alters and stepped back.
Suddenly the room began to shift. The small room disappeared to reveal a larger room with what looked like several gravestones…
"This looks like an ancient burial ground for the people of Mu…" said Lilly softly.
"Freaky…"
I walked past the many gravestones and eventually came across a strange looking statue. As with all strange statues, I touched it.
I stepped back quickly as it started to talk.
"I am Rama, King of Mu." it said. "My body passed long ago but my spirit lives on. If you look closely you can probably see wandering spirits…"
I looked around and sure enough, multiple spirits appeared hovering near the gravestone.
Curious, I approached one. "Hey… What happened here?" I asked. "What happened to you guys?"
"Once…a single ray of light came from the sky…"
A ray of light? Could it be from the comet?
"People thought it was the light of the spirits…"
A spirit to my right moved closer saying, "One year after that our bodies began to change. One got very thing…one turned to stone…one's body melted like water…"
"Family and friends turned into monsters before our eyes." continued another. "We fought back our tears…"
"That's awful…" said Lilly quietly.
"Some couldn't take it and thought we should flee from here. But Mu is an island. We didn't know if we'd find another place to live… There were no materials for a boat. It would sink if made of stone…"
"Then what did you do?" I asked. Somehow this conversation reminded me of the Moon Tribe. They too were changed by the Comet's light.
"Many saw no point in living if this continued…"
"But others started building an underwater tunnel," said another. "They dug on, not knowing how long it would take…"
Suddenly Rama spoke, "The underwater tunnel dug by man is inside. Please take this Mystic Statue. It has brought nothing but disaster for my tribe. Perhaps you can find a better use for it…"
"Alright!" I cheered as I received my third Mystic Statue. Three to go!
Before I could enter the door leading to the underground tunnel Lilly stopped me.
"Will…Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Like what?" I asked.
"Lance and the others?-! And what about those Vampires?" she asked. "What about them?"
I paused. It wasn't like I had forgotten them its just… Yeah, okay, I forgot. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll run into them soon…"
"I hope so…"
I walked forward. Strange… This is the first dungeon I've been through without Freedan's' help… I guess I've gotten a lot stronger since I started this journey… Heh, this whole dungeon and I made it through with only a scratch… Not bad…
Exeunt stage left, hee hee. I hate Mu but I hate the Vampires even more, and guess what's next?
I think is suicide to face the Vamps as Will and always change to Freedan but having Freedan and Lilly interact just didn't sit right with me. That's why he got booted. Sorry Freedan! See ya in the Great Wall! Crap… Lilly's there too…
Anywho…
Till next Chap!