Chapter 27: The Castle in the distance

'This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot absorb a monster's soul. When a monster dies, it's soul disappears immediately. It would take a tremendous power to take the soul of a living monster.'

'There is one exception. The soul of a special species of monster called a 'Boss Monster. A Boss Monster's soul is strong enough to persist after death….if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened. And now it never will.'

These words haunted Ruby as she placed an umbrella at the foot of the horned statue. She turned and walked away, missing out the moment when the music box in the statue started playing.

Taking another umbrella, she wondered….

Raindrops started falling from the ceiling.

Of course, she sighed mentally, because it'll be raining underground….. The Underground had answered her question before she could even ask it. And she stumbled upon Monster Kid not 10 seconds later.

"Yo!" Monster Kid yelped, "You got an umbrella? Sweet!" He quickly rushed under the protection of the umbrella, sticking close to Ruby's legs. She looked down at the little monster, not dissimilarly to how you would look down at a cat seeking shelter under your umbrella from the rain.

"Sorry," Monster Kid said, looking up at Ruby, "I would've gotten myself an umbrella….but uh…..I don't have any arms…."

"It's okay, little buddy!" Ruby said, smiling sweetly, "You saved us twice, so come along!"
Ruby and the foot and a half tall monster walked along the path, with Monster Kid stepping on the puddles made by the rain on purpose while Ruby avoided them. Monster Kid struck up a friendly conversation on a not-exactly-very-friendly-topic….

"Oh man, Undyne is sooooooooooo cool! She beats up bad guys and never loses!"
"Uh…kid….as much I can understand why you think she's cool, she nearly shot you and me….twice."
"I…know…but she must've thought we were bad guys! Because she NEVER hurts innocent people."
"Well aren't you the little Undyne fan…."
"All the kids are….man, if I was a human, I'd be soooo scared of Undyne right now!"
Ruby could almost relate to that. She had seen Undyne in action, and understood that she was definitely a genuine threat.

"So….one time, we had a project at school where we had to take care of a flower," Monster Kid talked about a different subject.

"Oh really? What kind of flowers?"

"Golden flowers. They were really pretty. The king-we had to call him 'Mr. Dreemurr'- ended up donating his own flowers. He grows so many of those golden flowers, man he is obsessed with them!"
The King, Asgore, got mentioned again. Ruby stopped as she took all this in. So apparently….Toriel had told her to beware of him….the shopkeeper at Snowdin had told her that the king was depressed since his wife had left him and his son had died…. Papyrus had told her that he was a big fuzzy pushover and if she asked him to let her go home, he would easily allow it….and now…..she heard he was obsessed with golden flowers. She never forgot the warning which Toriel had given her, but….the people spoke so nicely of him…..she couldn't help but wonder; was Asgore misleading his people with all these nice acts to hide who he really was? Toriel had sounded so dead serious….

"…Yo! You listening?"
"Huh?" Ruby said, shaking her head. She had gotten so lost in thought, she didn't hear what Monster Kid had said.

"I said, how cool would it be if Undyne came to school? She'd beat up ALL the teachers! ….no….wait….she wouldn't do that. She's too cool to hurt innocent people."
As Ruby went along the path, the cliffs on her left side finally ended….and Ruby saw, beyond a vast, crystal clear, light-blue lake, under the beautiful, crystal embedded ceiling, with it's thousands of shining crystals and gemstones, Castle Dreemurr, in all it's splendor. Searchlights were illuminating the yellow-brick base of the castle, and more lights were on the various battlements and towers of the castle, lighting up every single part of the enormous stone building. Ruby's steps stopped, as she took the sight in.

Suddenly, a stick figure flew through the air, singing, "I'm going to Disneyland!"
TAKE TWO

Ruby's eyes never left the castle, knowing that that castle…was where the exit was.

When the castle went out of view, blocked by yet more cliffs (Man, Waterfall has a lot of cliffs…), Ruby found an umbrella stand. The rain had slowed down considerably, so she put it back. She came to raised elevation, and hoisted herself up it. But when she turned to look at Monster Kid….

"Don't worry! You can go on ahead and see Undyne! I'll find another way to see her myself! See ya later!"

He turned, tripped, fell on his face, somehow got himself back up, and ran forward.
"Little buddy! NOOOOOOOO!" Ruby wailed, her arms stretching out as she saw her little friend run off.

TO BE CONTINUED!