Chapter 44: The Crystalized Palace
Crysolice's expression had remained emotionless as she continued her ice magic in the balcony. Though she created mostly small snowflakes, she did whip up some snowmen. However, none of them seemed to please her, and with a wave of her hand, an icy wind had blown them away.
"Queen Crysolice!"
From hearing the sound of that voice, Crysolice lowered her arms and turned around, spotting Beldam and her two sisters facing her. Even though she could assume what they were going to say from the looks on their faces, she asked the obvious anyway.
"What is it?" Crysolice asked.
"The ones whom seek your Snow Tablet... They're here." Beldam noted.
"I see... Well, you know what to do."
"Of course," the eldest Shadow Siren turned to her sisters. "Are the traps all set up?"
"Guh-huh," Marilyn nodded.
"Mmmm-hmmm," Vivian nodded as well.
"Mwee hee hee! Excellent!" Beldam cackled, rubbing her hands in a scheming matter. "Then we are set to stop these so-called 'Chosen Ones'!"
"Good. Then it looks like everything is going normally." Crysolice stated.
"What do you plan to do now, Queen Crysolice?"
"I have my own ideas... For now, you should probably get into position."
Beldam nodded, and with that, the Shadow Sirens sank into the shadows, leaving Crysolice all alone in her throne room. She scanned the room, making sure that no one was around.
After looking long enough, Crysolice approached her throne and created a strong, icy wind that was able to blow it to the side. Revealed behind the throne was a secret doorway.
"I've hardly entered into my chamber..." Crysolice muttered. "But I feel it will be a good opportunity to go there one last time..."
Not wasting any time, she stepped foot into the doorway, creating an ice trail behind her. Meanwhile another cold wind blew the throne back into place.
Stepping into the palace, they were in for a treat when they had barely slipped on the icy floor. In fact, everything around them was made of ice. The walls, the ceiling, and even the chandeliers. All of these were pure ice.
"Well... I never thought we'd be exploring a place made of nothing but ice..." Nebule shivered. "But still, it's even cold in here!"
"I liked that Sand Castle more," Chalk pouted.
"If this place is made of ice, then maybe we can melt our way through?" Mars suggested.
Chalk grinned as he started to shoot globs of red paint all over the room. But much to their surprise, nothing seemed affected.
"Oh... Never mind." Chalk frowned, putting his paintbrush away.
After that little fiasco, they took the opportunity to inspect the room. Statues of Crysolice were on pedestals on both sides of the door they entered. A small staircase was leading up to the main area of this room, where there were stairs to the right and left. But past that was a locked door ahead, and by that was a blue button.
They decided to approach the button first. Nebule stepped on it, causing the wall to suddenly flip around. In its place was a red door, but that too was locked up tight.
"Crud... Well, looks like we're not going this way..." Nebule sighed.
"At least we have two other ways to take," Lubert mentioned, pointing at the two stairways. "Which one do we take?"
"Well, we took the left ones first in Levith's Temple..." Malion pondered, his finger pointing at the right path. "So let's start with the right stairway first."
Nodding in agreement, they took the right staircase through the doorway and into the middle of a hallway. Much like the main room, it was decorated with many objects made of ice. The short pillars held ice vases, and sitting by the windowsills were flowers.
"This might be the first time I've seen ice flowers..." the shorter Malion brother gawked.
It looked like there was one way to go into this hallway, so they went to the left. At first, things were relatively calm, but then some Crystats hanging from the ceiling swooped down to attack. Mars had her Arm Cannon ready, and at a rapid pace, she shot down the Crystats, leaving the others to finish them off.
They entered the door ahead, bringing them into a round room with ice pillars sticking out from the ground. On those were some Darces looking down at them.
"Looksss like you've finally made it," one of the Darces hissed. "Allow usss to welcome you into the Frozen Palaccce!"
They sprung off the pillars with blades of ice materializing in their arms. But Nebule had his Star Boomerang ready and threw it, stunning them and also allowing them to crash onto the floor. Malion helped finish them off with his Hammer Spin.
With the room clear, they searched around for any sign of a key or anything else important. Nebule found a cracked wall, which he blew up to reveal some Magic Powder in a chest. But Lighten had spotted a plaque on one of the pillars. Everyone gathered around it after he had mentioned it and took a look at it.
Avert thine eyes, and feel thy way through illusions. Not every wall is solid, especially ahead.
"Huh... I don't even understand what's going on with this..." Mars trailed. "I'm not really good with this stuff."
"So apparently not everything around here is solid," Lighten explained. "But it says especially ahead. Yet, Nebule blew up a solid wall ahead... Unless..."
"Unless what?" Nebule wondered.
Lighten's eyes shifted over to the door they just went in. He blinked out of realization as he opened the door.
"This way, guys. I think I understand what that plaque was talking about."
The six followed the masked warrior until they were at the end of the hallway. When Lighten had placed his hand on the wall, it phased through it.
"Just like in the Crystal Shrine..." Nebule gaped. "So there are fake walls here?"
"I guess so," Mars answered, using her visor to see the door. "It's a good thing I'm here, right?"
"But Lighten was the one to figure it out first," Malion pointed out.
"Well... You guys still need me anyway."
"Yeah yeah..." Nebule grumbled. "Let's just check this room out..."
The room they entered actually had a pretty simple puzzle. There was an ice barrier surrounding a blue chest, while one ice button lied on the ground. Stepping on it didn't do any good, but there were three small ice boxes on the floor. Lighten had picked one up and put in on the button. Though it wasn't a surprise, this had worked, yet the barrier did not go down.
Mars, however, had spotted two invisible walls where two buttons were. After explaining what was going on, the others understood and brought the remaining boxes over to the buttons through the walls. With that, the barrier was gone, and Mars had pulled out a Blue Key.
Item: Blue Key
A big, blue key. Only works on blue doors.
"Hey, this key matches the same color as that blue door," Lubert pointed out. "You think it'll unlock the door?"
"Probably," Mars smirked, putting the key away. "See? You guys need me!"
"OK, OK, we do," Nebule sighed. "We all need each other here, I guess."
"Especially me," Chalk declared.
"Sure..." the blonde replied, not even bothering to comment even further. "Let's check the other stairway, I suppose."
Agreeing, the seven headed back to the main room and then went to the left. Once again, they were met with another hallway. Unfortunately, there were no sign of any doors. Even when Mars checked her visor, nothing came out.
The only thing that was around, however, was a black portal by the right wall. Nebule opened his mouth to speak, but Zanex had already absorbed it into his gloves. This had revealed a secret passage into a small room with an Ultra Shroom. Since there was nothing else, they went back into the hallway. Chalk had found a painting of a Star Piece, which he made real through his Spectrum Paintbrush before collecting it.
With nothing else here, the group returned to the door and changed it to a blue one. Mars put the key into the keyhole, and upon unlocking it, they entered into a hallway with pillars attached to the walls. In fact, the walls were pretty reflective, like glass.
Chalk had looked at the left wall and moved his arm around. Then he started to make faces.
"Heh heh! I like this room already!" Chalk chuckled.
"Yeah, this is one weird room..." Lubert remarked.
The end of the hallway led them to a door, which brought the seven into a round room with a door to the left and right. A Red Key was up on the chandelier, which was surrounded by an ice barrier. Along with that, a red button was on the wall. Lubert fired a shot at it, but there was no reaction.
"I guess we're doing this the hard way," Malion said, looking over by the doors. "Let's start with the left."
They nodded and took the left door, which had led them into a narrow hallway filled with stalagmites. Lighten swung his sword, shattering them in an instant. Eventually they were brought into a room with a tall, icy platform in front of them. Climbing onto it, they carefully treaded to the center. There, they found another ice button and a blue torch.
"Blue fire? What in the world?" Mars gawked.
"Maybe we can put it to use..." Lighten pondered. "With this button here, I'm sure it's involved with this fire..."
Malion noticed some more stalagmites on the floor ahead, so he jumped off the platform and decided to check it out. After smashing through them, he found a block of ice, which he threw onto the platform. Lubert took it and placed it on the button, suddenly causing the fire on the torch to fly their way.
However, it only phased through them, much to their surprise. They turned to where the fire was going and noticed it go through the narrow pathway.
Upon returning to the previous room, they saw the fire fly into the ice around the chandelier. It seemed to be effective, causing it to thaw halfway.
"Ah... Now I see it." Nebule realized. "Both doors have blue fire that'll thaw out this ice!"
"This Crysolice is really stupid for putting that fire there," Chalk remarked.
"I won't lie, I agree with you," Lighten nodded.
As they pondered over that topic, the seven entered the next door ahead. They gawked at first when Crysolice was before them, but it turned out to be only a statue. Actually, there were four of them in this room, and each of them were raising an arm. Past them was a plaque, which they immediately looked at first.
One, two, three, four. Mayest thou check their numbers?
"One, two, three, four? No five?" Chalk questioned.
Nebule turned around and looked at the statues closely. He wasn't so sure, but there was something different about each of them... Like the amount of fingers each one held out.
Oh, right. That.
Realizing what the puzzle was, Nebule hit the statues in order, triggering another blue flame to appear in the center. Like the previous, it flew out of the room, so they followed it back into the previous room. As they expected, the fire thawed out all the ice on the chandelier. Lubert aimed his staff and fired a shot at the button once more, causing the chandelier to drop, and the key to fall off and land in his hands.
Item: Red Key
A big, red key. Only works on red doors.
With the Red Key in their hands, they backtracked to the main room and changed the door to red. Lubert unlocked the door with the key, and soon they were in a small hallway.
And facing them was another Malion and Lubert.
"What the..." Malion gawked.
"It's...us?" Lubert added.
"Yikes! They're here!" the fake Malion cried.
"So... Should we get them?" the fake Lubert asked.
"Yeah!"
A puff of smoke surrounded the two, revealing themselves as Duplighosts. They wasted no time in attacking by headbutting the Malion Bros.. Malion brought up his Defensive Suit to block the attack, while Lubert created a barrier. Meanwhile, Chalk had created a bat made from yellow paint and whacked the two Duplighosts, paralyzing them in the process. To finish them off, Malion and Lubert swung their weapons and sent them flying across the room. As they crashed onto the wall, they disintegrated into dust.
"Well... So much for that." Nebule remarked.
There wasn't much else to this hallway, so they carried on ahead. When they reached the door, they were led into a bigger room with three doors before them. The middle door, unfortunately, was blocked by a large Crysolice statue.
"I guess they knew we'd be coming... Let's start off by taking the first door."
Before Nebule could take another step, Lighten placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait."
"Huh?" Nebule looked back at his mentor, only to notice him pointing at the walls showing their reflection. In some portions of the floor were ice bombs. "Oh... I didn't see that."
"That's because you can't see them normally," Lighten explained. "It looks like those reflective walls do more than just reflect the entire room..."
"So they're magic walls? That's pretty neat." Mars remarked.
With that, they made their way to the first door while avoiding the bombs placed all over the floor. When they reached the door, they entered a small room with another large statue of Crysolice, only this one was on a large block. A Duplighost was roaming around, and upon spotting them, it prepared to transform. Well, it would've, had Zanex not stopped it with a Materialized Sword. Chalk finished it off with a Paint Missile afterward.
When all of that was done, the seven looked at the statue carefully. Nebule tried moving it, but due to its size, it didn't even budge. Attacking it didn't do any good either.
"There's no way this statue is just here," Malion said. "There has to be something under here."
"Well, we're not getting anywhere by pushing it," Mars said. "Maybe we should check the other door?"
"Might as well," Nebule replied, leaving the room. The others followed, being cautious about the bombs. When they got to the far right door, they found a Frigid in the room, along with another Crysolice statue. Only this time, it was smaller.
Taking out the Frigid was simple. Nebule stunned it with his Star Boomerang, and then Mars fired a few missiles to finish it off. After that, they approached the small statue. When Nebule placed his hand on it, he noticed it wasn't as heavy. In fact, it was light enough for him to push.
Unfortunately, he wasn't aware of the pit he now stood over. Before the others could comment about it, Nebule plummeted. They expected a thud, but they got nothing. Curious, they looked down and noticed him gripping on a ladder.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Nebule assured. "But there's a hidden path down here!"
Lighten leaped down first, with the rest jumping after him. There, they found a small hallway leading to a door. A Darce was roaming around, but Nebule struck it with a fire arrow. The door ahead led them into a small room with an Ultra Shroom in a chest.
With nothing else to do, they left the room and took the spring back up to the ground floor. When they returned to the main room, Nebule was curious and went back into the room with the large Crysolice statue. Much to their surprise, it had moved, revealing another hole.
"Wait... So that block we moved in the previous room affected this too!" Lubert gaped. "Weird..."
"But at least we solved that puzzle," Malion smiled, jumping into the hole first. They were brought into another similar hallway. However, unlike the previous one, this one had a reflective wall and a gap ahead. But from looking at the wall, there was a lever that was unseen normally.
"Leave this to me," Mars smirked, shooting her Grapple Beam at where the lever supposedly was. Pulling back on the lever caused the empty gap to be filled, thus allowing them to go to the door. There was a small statue of Crysolice there, and remembering what happened before, they moved it to the side before returning to the Crysolice statue.
Just as they expected, the statue had moved.
Everyone, save for one, had grinned as they made their way through the door ahead, unaware of four figures making their way into the room. Their shadows appeared to resemble a Toad, Goomba, Boo, and a Koopa.
The group found themselves disappointed when they were before another locked door ahead. Even if there was a button by the corner, they were still less than thrilled to go search for another key.
But then Nebule noticed something glowing in his inventory. Pulling out the item, he noticed the Magical Map was reacting vibrantly.
"The map... So there's a Crystal Star somewhere around here!" Nebule gaped.
"Crystal Star?" Lubert gawked.
"Yeah. But there's a door dead ahead and nothing else around. Maybe we need to search this room care-"
"Uhhhh... Didn't you forget the button by the corner?" Mars reminded, pointing at a small block of ice next. "And that too?"
"Oh... Right." Nebule sweat dropped, grabbing the block and placing it on the button. "I have to admit, this puzzle wasn't that clever."
With the button activated, stairs were revealed to the right. Along with that, a door was at the top. The group wasted no time in treading up them and reaching the door. There was some food to the side that they ate to heal themselves, and once they were ready, they carried on ahead.
Pillars had surrounded the large, circular room they stepped into. But most noticeably, there was a pedestal in the center with a Crystal Star in the opening. Past the pedestal was an ice key enclosed in an ice barrier.
"Yeah! We found it before those four whatchamacallits!" Chalk smiled.
"Yeah, what a relief," Nebule sighed, approaching the pedestal. "They already have three. Once we get this, we'll be even."
"Heh! Like I'd let you be even with us!"
The door burst open, knocking back a few who were close to it. Toadburt, Goombi, Bonnie, and Koopo stepped into the room, with the former confidently putting his hands on his hips.
"You spoke too soon," Mars whispered aside to Chalk.
"Huh... So I guess we finally found you guys." Goombi sighed, her eyes shifting to Lighten. "And as I thought, you were able to get to them first."
"What do you guys want?" Lubert asked.
"We're here to get the Crystal Star," Bonnie explained.
"I'm sorry, but we found it first," Nebule stated.
"That's true, but you should understand that those Crystal Stars are very important."
"I do know that. And I plan to use them to save my home..."
"But you don't know how important they are," Koopo said. "The Crystal Stars are our responsibility. If they are in the wrong hands, I fear that the Shadow Queen will remain supreme."
"But we're too cool for that," Chalk scoffed.
"Yet when you fought us before, you lost."
"That was before," Nebule said, reaching for his sword. "Now I have more weapons and allies on my side. And admittedly, we have improved on our teamwork and are not as sloppy."
"Hey, it looks like he's asking for a fight," Toadburt said, noticing Nebule's determined look. "Why don't we teach them a lesson?"
"Well, if they wish to battle for the star, then so be it," Bonnie declared, her staff ready. "But don't underestimate us. We, too, have improved our abilities drastically. Even if it's seven against four, we have been prepared to take on multiple strong threats."
"Very well, I'll accept your battle," Lighten decided, swiftly drawing Galaxia. "While I respect you as warriors, I cannot let you interfere with our quest."
"Yeah," Malion nodded, his hammer ready. "Let's decide who earns the star with a little battle!"
"What my bro said," Lubert added, getting in a fighting stance.
"This should be fun," Mars smirked, aiming her Arm Cannon.
Zanex slowly reached for his blade's hilt as he gave them a blank look.
"I guess this is round two!" Chalk smiled. "Nothing personal, OK?"
"Ditto," Bonnie replied. "C'mon, show us what you've got! And don't hold back!"
With everyone ready for battle, both sides charged at their opponents.
Mid-boss: The Four Heroes
The Four Heroes make a return, but it seems they have gotten much stronger from before. With Koopo's incredible power, Bonnie's magic, Goombi's intelligence, and Toadburt's strength of arm and narcissism, they make foes fall before them with their incredible teamwork! ...Most of the time.
With the seven going against four, they decided that two people would at least stay occupied with one of them. Since Goombi wasn't much of a fighter, she stayed occupied on her Tattle Book, while the other three focused on fighting. Toadburt obviously pitted himself against Nebule, but Malion was there to back him up. Bonnie found herself against Chalk and Lubert, while Koopo was facing Zanex, Mars, and Lighten.
"I can't believe you're actually trying to fight me," Nebule said, hesitant to strike first. "I'm actually unsure whether to make the first move."
"Don't be, Blondie," Toadburt grinned, drawing his blade and swinging in his direction. Nebule quickly held his blade in front of him to block the attack, surprised by this sudden attack. "When I got this sword, I actually took some time in trying to use it! I'm much better than before!"
"Well, you're better at boasting, I'll give you that..."
Toadburt continued to swing, but this time it started to glow red after he held the trigger on his hilt. His strikes became quicker and sharper, leaving Nebule surprised as he blocked each of them. Eventually Nebule tried attacking, but Toadburt had also blocked his swings. Irritated, he kicked Toadburt back.
But that didn't do enough to stop him. The Toad got back up, and concentrating power into his sword, he fired a crescent-shaped projectile. Nebule's eyes widened as he dove out of the way, the attack barely slicing the pedestal.
"Where did he get THAT?!" Nebule gaped.
"You can thank that wizard guy! He gave us all cool things! But mine tops them all!" Toadburt smiled, raising his sword. "It'll banish all evil, and it'll kick your butt for sure!"
As he prepared to swing again, Malion had jumped in and tried stomping on him. Toadburt raised the tip of his sword, causing the blacksmith to maneuver so he didn't step on his blade. Instead, he took his hammer out and swung, yet he kept dodging them.
"Honestly, I feel a little bad fighting a Toad, considering that there are many in my hometown that are nice," Malion remarked.
"Then this'll be easy for me, Mustachio!" Toadburt smirked, firing another projectile from his sword. Malion was prepared for it, but even when he put up his Defensive Suit, the attack forced him backwards.
"This might be harder than I thought..." Nebule thought.
Meanwhile, Bonnie was doing a much better job at fighting Chalk and Lubert. Well, a better job than Toadburt. Each time Chalk fired paintballs at her, she would use the shaman's spell to block the attacks. He kept going at it, while Lubert was waiting for an opportunity to attack.
"Chalk... Maybe you should stop firing." Lubert suggested. "That barrier's stopping your attacks."
Chalk eventually caught on to what Lubert said and merged his two brushes into one. Unfortunately, this left him open, allowing Bonnie to cast a powerful fire spell their way. Lubert had seen this and stepped in front of Chalk, using his Enchanted Staff to create a barrier to block it.
"So you have defensive spells too? Impressive." Bonnie remarked.
"Yeah, and I can also do THIS!" Lubert cried, firing a blue energy projectile from his staff. Bonnie put up another barrier, but the force not only threw her back, but it also shattered her shield. This let Chalk charge at her, but the Boo wasn't stupid. Using her species' ability to turn invisible, the puffball's paintbrush only phased through Bonnie.
As she became visible, Bonnie prepared to fire an ice spell at Chalk, only for a projectile to fire her way. She was able to get out of the way, but her staff had been knocked off of her stubby hand. At first, she looked back, but then another shot came her way. Had she not turned invisible by then, she would've taken some serious damage.
Lubert lowered his staff, giving a serious look as Bonnie grabbed her staff. He took this opportunity to run up to her and swing, but Bonnie was quick to react and blocked the attack. When Chalk joined in, she immediately tapped the bottom of her staff to the floor, creating a small fire pulse that knocked the two back.
Despite being pitted against three, Koopo was relatively calm. But, it didn't help that two were quick, while the other had an advantage at a far range. He decided that he'd target Mars first, so he placed his large sword on the ground and charged in her direction, with sparks emitting from it while dragging it.
And boy, he was moving pretty quick with that sword in his hands, and it sure caught Mars off guard. She leaped in the air before Koopo could swing at her and kicked his head. Now, normally, a Koopa would fall on its back or hide in its shell. Indeed he did the latter, but as she landed, Koopo started to spin rapidly until he threw himself at her. Mars was suddenly thrown onto the floor upon impact. It didn't stop her from shooting at him, but he was too quick in his shell form.
Eventually Koopo came back at Mars, but before he could strike her, he got out of his shell form while in midair and raised his broadsword overhead. Mars would've fired, but Lighten had gotten in the way and blocked Koopo's attack. Needless to say, he was surprised.
"I never thought I'd see a small blade like that block my broadsword," Koopo remarked. "That must be a very powerful weapon to not even get a scratch."
"That's because Galaxia is considered legendary," Lighten explained. "It will take a lot to even leave a dent on it."
"I see... Well, if you're the one who trained that boy, then I'm looking forward to fighting you."
"As am I," the masked warrior nodded, swinging to his left to force Koopo's blade upward. He began to perform a cartwheel spin toward him, but Koopo held his broadsword in front to block the barrage of swings.
Unfortunately, he also had to deal with the Materialized Swords firing his way. He jumped away from Lighten and spun in his shell form to avoid them. Zanex responded by using his Spin Dash to charge into him. Both struck as they passed each other, but neither were successful in hurting one another. That was, until Mars caught Koopo in her Grapple Beam and threw him into the wall.
"Gotcha," Mars smirked.
At this point, both sides were fighting evenly. Nebule and Malion were avoiding Toadburt's attacks, then they would go for the offense, yet neither had managed to hit him. Bonnie, Chalk and Lubert were constantly attacking and defending, and Koopo, Zanex, Mars, and Lighten were all over the place. However, Koopo's pulse attack from his sword appeared to throw them back.
And as for Goombi, she was still occupied with her Tattle Book. That was, until she found that page.
"Ah, I found it!" Goombi announced. "As Merlo said, my Tattle Log on the Chosen Ones allows me to identify any weaknesses they have. Let's see here... Apparently they have to do with something personal... Such as-"
"If it has to do with anything personal, then we won't fight like that," Koopo declared. "We'll save that for something that's actually dangerous. I'd prefer a fair fight."
"Besides, that's something the Shadow Queen would probably do," Bonnie added. "Right now, we're fine with the way we're battling."
"I see... Very well." Goombi stated, closing her Tattle Log. "I'll respect your decisions."
"Well, I already know Blondie's weakness," Toadburt smirked. "He's worried that I will be the one to rescue Lilia and marry her!"
"Are you really still on that?" Nebule frowned.
"Well it's obvious she's interested in me!"
"Yet you haven't even done anything to talk to her. I tried to, but that didn't work out well..." the blonde's eyes shifted over to a certain gray puffball. "But honestly, after going through Snow Land, I feel that there's more to this quest than just saving Lilia. Hopefully you will understand that too."
"Wait, you're saying you don't care about her?"
"I do! She's...honestly one of the few friends I've had..." Nebule trailed. "Even though we didn't get to talk much... She was nice enough for me to be...ermmm..."
"Let's save that talk for later," Lighten suggested. "Right now, we need to focus."
"Awww, man! So much for that" Toadburt frowned. "I wanted to get him mad! Whatever..."
With that little fiasco out of the way, they continued their battle. Goombi decided to assist the others by using the Diamond Star to fly around the arena and strike the ground with an Earth Tremor. Remembering the attack from before, Nebule took out the Emerald Star and tossed the bomb it created at the Diamond Star. Goombi was caught off guard by this, and the explosion was able to stop the attack.
"Clever..." Bonnie remarked. "I guess you guys know how to use those like us."
"Perhaps we should put ours to use," Koopo decided, pulling out the Gold Star. Toadburt had knocked Nebule back before pulling out the Sapphire Star. At first, nothing happened with the Gold Star, but suddenly the Four Heroes were given a major boost in both attack and defense due to their orange and blue glow. The Sapphire Star, on the other hand, was able to heal off any damage dealt to them during the fight.
When Mars had fired at them, she noticed that while her shots hit them, they didn't seem to be fazed, nor did they look like they were taking damage.
"Oh... That's a real bummer." Mars gaped. "So much for all of that..."
Toadburt, Bonnie, and Koopo easily went in for the offensive, throwing all sorts of attacks. Toadburt had managed to strike Nebule and Malion with multiple jabs and power slashes, Bonnie used her shaman's spell to send Chalk and Lubert flying back, and Koopo spun his sword quickly, not even giving Zanex, Mars, and Lighten a chance.
They were all thrown back by the pedestal where the star was, now feeling exhausted.
"These guys pack a punch..." Lubert sighed. "Those stars really did make them tougher."
"We're not giving up," Nebule declared, slowly getting up and pulling out the Ruby Star. "We still have ours to help us!"
"Ha! Like that'll help you!" Toadburt scoffed.
Nebule gave him a glare as he held up the Ruby Star and started making circles with his sword. Each time he made one, the Four Heroes suffered damage. Not even their defense boost was helping them with it either!
"Ow! How's he doing this?!"
"It's the Ruby Star's move, Art Attack," Goombi explained. "By making circles, the user deals damage to their opponent. Not even raising your defense or creating a barrier can save you from this."
When Nebule was finished, the Four Heroes were left stunned and exhausted like the Chosen Ones. It didn't help that their stat boost had worn off too.
"Looks like this is our chance," Lighten stated, charging ahead. "Let's go!"
The others followed behind, going after their previous targets. It didn't stop the Four Heroes from charging too. Despite their conditions, both sides were fighting evenly. Nebule even managed to hit Toadburt with a cyclone punch that sent him flying into the wall.
"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that," Nebule smirked.
Koopo found himself in serious danger once Zanex had Materialized Swords circling around him. But shattering them was easy, just a simply swing was all that was needed. Unfortunately, none of that had managed to save him from getting kicked in the belly by Lighten, followed by a missile from Mars.
Chalk was actually fighting smarter this time, combating Bonnie's spells with a Paint Beam. While he did that, Lubert would surprise her by using his Bringer Gauntlet to fire a spectrum punch that first knocked her in the air. When she fell, Lubert fired another punch that knocked her by Koopo.
Yet, they were not done there. They got up and charged once more, resisting the urge to go completely offensive.
"There's no way we're going to lose to you!" Toadburt growled, swinging at Nebule at a fast pace. Nebule kept calm, blocking all of his attacks. Malion assisted him by throwing several hammers that bonked Toadburt in the head. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Chalk had a clash between a Shaman Beam and a Paint Beam, and Lighten was busy trying to push Koopo's broadsword away. "We're tougher than you guys! Even if there's seven of ya, you'll still lose!"
"Sure, you guys are tough..." Nebule trailed. "But you're not going to win..."
Toadburt was ready to laugh at his words, but Nebule smirked confidently. Before he could question what he was planning, the blonde boy jumped back, and using his Titanium Boots, he charged at Toadburt. With one swing, he sent the Toad's sword flying out of his hands. To finish off, Nebule pulled out his Star Boomerang and threw it at his intended targets.
Bonnie and Koopo found themselves suddenly stunned, allowing Chalk and Lighten to successfully fight off their attacks and knock their weapons away as well. They were unaware of this, until they tried to attack.
"What the..." Koopo gawked, realizing that he was weaponless.
"It's over," Lighten stated, aiming the tip of his sword at the scar-faced Koopa.
"Yeah! We gotcha!" Chalk cheered, aiming his paintbrush at Bonnie.
"Wha... But this is not right!" Toadburt gaped, now at the mercy of Nebule, who caught his returning Star Boomerang. "You guys... Beat us?"
"Well, I don't know about that..." Nebule trailed. "We just knocked your weapons away."
While Toadburt was left disgusted, the sound of chuckling caught their attention. Well, everyone except for the Chosen Ones and Toadburt. They looked over at Goombi, Bonnie, and Koopo and noticed that they were the ones chuckling.
"Hey, what's so funny?" Toadburt questioned.
"Nothing much..." Koopo replied. "But I have to admit... That was a good fight. You guys were not wrong when you said you were tougher."
"Anyway, we should probably get going," Bonnie suggested. "We kept our word, so you can have the Garnet Star."
"Perhaps you'll understand why it is us that needs to use those Crystal Stars," Goombi added. "But for now, take good care of it, and make sure no one evil gets their hands on it."
"Wha... You gotta be kidding me!" Toadburt pouted as the other three grabbed their weapons and started to make their exit. He followed them, but not without taking out a pebble and throwing it at Nebule.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Nebule exclaimed.
Toadburt stuck his tongue out as he grabbed his sword and left the room.
"What a sore loser," Mars commented.
"I guess so," Nebule said, going up to the pedestal. Grabbing the orange Garnet Star, he pulled it out of the opening and held it up. "All right! We've got three, and they've got three. Only one more remains."
Item: Garnet Star
This orange star gives off a destructive glow. Perhaps it is due to its sheer power known as Showstopper? With it, all enemies can be wiped out in the room, though the stronger ones will not be affected.
"One more remains? I see..." Lighten trailed, slowly turning to Nebule. "Nebule, they said they needed those Crystal Stars to fight the Shadow Queen, correct?"
"Yeah," Nebule nodded. "But we plan to get them so we can stop her."
"I can understand that... But perhaps they may know more about these stars than any of us. They said that if used in the wrong hands, the Shadow Queen will remain supreme. And it doesn't help that we both now carry three."
"But..."
"Look, I'm saying that maybe you should've thought of this over a little more. If they really know more about the stars than us... Well, I would've given them the stars before the fight started. I understand your reasons for getting them... But after seeing them a few times, I'm certain they would be considered trustworthy."
Nebule felt uncertain as he looked down at the Garnet Star.
"Let's not worry about that right now, Nebule," Lighten suggested. "We have the Crystal Star, we better make sure that it's taken care of. Right now, we need to take care of the greater threat: Queen Crysolice."
"And let's grab that key too," Chalk added, running over to the destroyed barrier to grab the key.
Item: Palace Key
A key made up of ice. Only locks in the Frozen Palace can be unlocked with this key.
Finished in this room, they headed out through the door and took the staircase over to the other locked door. Chalk inserted the key, and they proceeded into another hallway with vases and pillars to the side.
However, at the midpoint, there was another hallway to take. They decided to look over there first, but they didn't find anything. Mars's scanner, however, detected something through there, so Nebule blew the wall up and revealed a small, empty room. Luckily, the chandelier above happened to have a Star Piece, so getting rid of the chandelier with clear paint helped let it fall into Chalk's hands.
They went back to the main hallway and headed over to the door, getting rid of the Crystats that were hanging from the ceiling. Afterward, they burst through the door ahead to find a room with a door to the left, along with a staircase to the right. In front of them was a door with a frigid wind coming from the seams. In its way was another lock.
"So... Crysolice is beyond that door, I presume?" Malion wondered.
"Most likely..." Lighten nodded. "But I guess she thought a little further ahead. Let's try the door over here."
Lubert approached the door first, but his attempts to push or pull it did not work, only opening slightly.
"No good," Lubert sighed. "I think it's barricaded on the other side."
"Well, there's always another solution," Mars mentioned, pointing to the staircase.
"Might as well," Nebule shrugged before heading up the stairs. They were much steeper than the others, leading up to the second floor. This had led them into a hallway with several doors. Some, however, appeared broken, and there really wasn't anything of interest. The only things that did catch their attention was an armory filled with weapons made up of ice. Some Darces were in there, and they immediately attacked when they spotted them. They went down quickly.
From looking through the armory, they didn't find anything of interest, with the exception of a Super Shroom and Thunder Rage. Afterward, the group left and reached the end of the corridor. What they didn't expect was another hallway to the left with more doors.
Unfortunately, they weren't exactly safe. Icicles suddenly materialized from the ceiling and started to drop down. Lubert was the first to spot this and put up a barrier to stop them.
"Everyone stay close to me!" Lubert demanded.
While some were reluctant, they stayed closed as they slowly made their way through the hallway. This one didn't have many doors, but the few they had did have something interesting. Most notably, the last door. It was a frozen bathroom, but the cabinet had Magic Powder inside, while the toilet had a Mushroom.
"Hey, a healing item was in here!" Chalk smiled, happily taking it.
"You realize that came from the toilet, right?" Mars reminded.
"But it was frozen! Like it'd be an issue..."
"...Oh, right. Good point."
Finished with this corridor, they took the next one to the left. As usual, they kept close to Lubert as his barrier stopped the icicles from hitting them.
"There aren't even icicles growing from the ceiling, yet there are some falling on us?" Nebule gawked. "What's up with that?"
"Probably some kind of trap," Lighten deduced.
This hallway compared to the others only had two doors that were important. Both were pretty fancy at that, especially the first one.
Stepping inside the first door, they found a blue queen-sized bed. The frame was also sparkly and made of ice, yet the blankets were not. A giant mirror was across from the bed, and on the desk was a picture. Nebule walked up to the picture and noticed Crysolice...and a younger girl with a face resembling hers.
And admittedly, he found himself blushing.
"Why does this girl remind me of Lilia so much?" Nebule wondered, looking at her palish blue face, light blue hair, and blue dress.
"Are you falling for another girl?" Chalk asked.
"Hey, I never said I fell for anyone!"
"Then why's your face red, Nebgo?"
"I... Shut up!"
"Check this out," Malion spoke up, pointing to a diary on the left side of the desk. He opened it and scanned through it. However, only one page was written in cold ink.
This curse... Why must I bear it? My home... Frozen. My kingdom... Destroyed. My daughter... Gone. How much I wish for the Shadow King and Queen to perish a cold death. The only thing I desire is my life and my daughter, Crystalia to return. I even had a secret door in her room leading into the library set up for her once she would come back. But now that is not possible...
The group remained silent, unsure of how to comment on Crysolice's diary. Nebule especially gazed down at the picture with some sympathy.
Eventually Mars had broken the silence.
"Do... Do you guys feel a little guilty right now that this is the person we have to defeat?" Mars questioned.
"Uh huh," Lubert nodded.
"Yes...but it is the only choice that we have," Lighten stated.
"Really? You mean... There's no other option?" the bounty hunter wondered. "I mean, there's monster like that Antasma guy and Palouse...and then there's this queen."
"I wish there was another option, but unfortunately, this is reality. Anyway, the diary mentioned something about a secret door in her daughter's room. Perhaps we should go there."
The others nodded in agreement, following the masked warrior out of the room. Zanex, however, stopped for a moment to look back at the picture of Crysolice and Crystalia. Eventually he followed the others to the next door.
While this room was fancy, it was not as nice-looking at the previous. The bed and mirror was smaller, but the latter had a different shape, being in a diamond. A couple of books were on the desk, as was a picture of the two from before.
Nebule found himself gazing at the room, while the rest were scanning for a secret door. Thanks to Mars's scanner, they found one not too far from the bed. Malion grabbed the handle and pulled it open, revealing a giant library and a ladder.
As they took turns climbing down the trapdoor, Nebule took one glance at the picture of Crystalia. Admittedly, he blushed nervously again.
"That girl looks really pretty..." Nebule thought, only to quickly regain his senses. "Geez... I don't think Lilia would be too happy if I said that. ...Right?"
He climbed down the trapdoor, only to be amazed at the sheer size of the library. Shelves were all over the place, with many different kinds of books. Like most libraries, everything was in alphabetical order, but what made this room stand out was that there were two floors. The seven were currently standing near a staircase leading down to the lower floor.
"Wow. This library is huge." Malion gaped. "That Crystalia must really like books if her mother got a trapdoor in her room."
Lighten, however, noticed several tables and chairs barricading the door on the lower floor. He flew down there and sliced them in half before opening the door to reveal a room they had previously been in.
"So this is the room we couldn't get in before," Lighten said as he returned to the others. "We won't have to go through that trapdoor now if we want to return to that locked door."
"Speaking of locked door..." Lubert spoke up. "You think the key's in here?"
"Most likely. We didn't find one on the upper floor, so it's likely here."
"Maybe we should split up to find the key?" Nebule suggested.
As Mars raised a finger to answer, she noticed a book fly off the shelf and come their way. She fired in retaliation, destroying the book and grabbing everyone's attention.
"That book flew!" Chalk gaped.
"It's just like with those icicles..." Lighten trailed. "Everyone! Split up and find the key now!"
Nobody bothered to argue and made a run for it. Nebule, Chalk, and Zanex had started to search on the library's upper floor, while Mars, Malion, Lubert, and Lighten ran down to the lower floor. Books were flying everywhere, and everyone had their weapons out, ready to block them.
"Dumb books," Mars grumbled, shooting at the books while she ran. "I never liked reading..."
Not only did books chase after them, but when some had run in between shelves, books flew out and tried to surprise them. They had barely managed to get a paper cut from those...
As Lubert continued running, he looked up and spotted something up on the chandelier. He came to a stop and tried to get a closer look at what was up there.
"Is that what I think it is?" Lubert wondered. "Well, only one way to find out!"
With his Jump Boots, Lubert launched high into the air and grabbed a hold of the chandelier. As he pulled himself up, his suspicions were right when he found an Ice Key. He snatched it and jumped down by the door out, waving his arms to get everyone's attention.
"Guys! I found the key! Let's get out of here!"
It took a while, but the others had seen Lubert holding the key up. They stopped their search and made their way to the door, with several books on their tail. As they got out, they slammed the door on the books, making several thuds from outside.
"Phew... That was close..." Malion sighed. "For a moment, I thought I was gonna become flattened."
"No kidding," Lubert agreed. "We'd have a bigger problem if we were all paper-flat. Anyway, we've got the key... Now we just need to get to Crysolice..."
The younger blacksmith approached the door and unlocked it with the key. With it open, the seven progressed into a long hallway filled with several Darces, Frigids, and Duplighosts. Nebule decided to put the Garnet Star to use and used its move, Showstopper. This had created a bright flash that instantly wiped out every enemy in the hallway.
"Whoa... That's useful." Chalk gaped.
"Well... I did want to test this thing out..." Nebule trailed.
At the middle of the hallway, they spotted a door that led them into a room with nothing but reflections. In fact, this ice was shinier than the previous they had seen in this palace! The only thing that was here, however, was some food that they ate to fully recover their health. Afterward, they left and progressed up to the door at the end of the hallway.
Admittedly, they anticipated Crysolice to be through the door, but when they opened it, she was nowhere to be seen. The throne room was empty, with only the sounds of the cold wind filling the room.
"Brrrrrr! It's cold in here!" Chalk shivered, making his way to the balcony door and closing it. "Whew! Now I'm better!"
"Who leaves balcony doors open anyway?" Lubert wondered.
"Someone like Crysolice..." Nebule trailed. "So, if she's not here... Then where would she be?"
"Hmmmmmm..." Lighten approached the icy throne and noticed a trail of ice. From what he could see, it was going past the throne. "Guys... Over here. Perhaps I figured out where she could be..."
Everyone else approached the throne Lighten stood as he moved it out of the way, revealing a hidden passageway. The ice trail had led to a cave-like room with a staircase leading to one last door. On both sides of the door were torches made of ice.
"Well... Looks like we know where she's hiding..." Mars trailed. "I guess now we just need to confront her."
"Yeah," Nebule nodded, uncertainty growing on his face. "Let's go..."
Taking deep breaths, the seven walked up the staircase and reached the door. Though some were reluctant, they entered the door Nebule opened.
"Argh! Curse those Chosen Ones!" Beldam growled, she and her sisters facing the doorway that the seven had entered. "Those bombs... Those icicles... And those books! None of them had stopped them!"
"I guess they weren't enough to stop them..." Vivian trailed.
"They should've done the trick! I swear, we are going to go in there and make them pay!"
"No, that won't be necessary."
The sound of that voice was more than enough to make the three freeze in place as black smoke materialized in front of them. A dark figure made his appearance, with the glowing eyes he sported more than enough to make the Shadow Sirens gape.
"My... My king!" Beldam cried. "What are you doing here?!"
"My appearance here does not matter. You have no reason to be here." the Shadow King stated.
"But... Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Your traps failed miserably. Those Chosen Ones were capable of handling things such as icicles or books. Were those really ideas of effective traps, Beldam?"
"W-Well, my king..." Beldam trailed nervously. "If they hadn't seen them coming, then maybe they would've stopped them."
"That's true, but there's also the matter of how they can respond to those traps. Someone could stop those icicles from hitting them, and those books couldn't even hurt them. And those bombs? Maybe you should've considered putting them somewhere that didn't have reflective walls."
"R-Right... But maybe-"
"No, there is no maybe," the Shadow King hissed, making the Shadow Sirens tremble. "You're lucky that you three are actually important to me, or else I would've sent you all to the Pit by now."
"We're sorry, my king," Beldam apologized. "We just wanted to make you proud!"
"Well, you failed. Go return to the Shadow Queen."
"Of course. Let us go, my lovelies!"
Immediately all three Shadow Sirens went into the shadows, avoiding the Shadow King's narrowed eyes. When they were out of his sight, he looked over at the doorway.
"If those three succeed, then only one more Land Tablet remains...and unfortunately, my wife will be in danger..." the Shadow King trailed. "I must ensure that she does not fall to them."
With that, he slowly disappeared from the throne room, the darkness slowly fading away, as if it never appeared.
There is actually stuff I ended up cutting out from here... But honestly, I don't feel that it would add much. I suppose what's here is more than enough, considering the length of this chapter...
But, only one more chapter of Snow Land remains... So I'll be seeing you guys for the boss fight next chapter!
