The duo looked at the flower for a moment before Nemo sighed. "Let's go, kiddo." He said with a smile.
"Right." Said Frisk, the pair walked only a few steps before stopping in front of another sign that was unreadable to Nemo. "Wishing Room." Read Frisk.
"Yeah, that checks out." Said Nemo as they turned and continued, passing another Echo Flower.
"Thousands of people wishing together can't be wrong! The king will prove that." It said. They passed another flower.
"C'mon sis! Make a wish!" It said.
The pair were about to go to the one right next to it when their souls manifested and a Woshua shuffled up before them. "Your souls are unclean." Said Woshua as the little bird on top of it let out a tweet. Suddenly a spiral of large water drops went flying at the pair. Nemo dodged the first two spiral sets but grunted as a drop from the third struck his face. He then adjusted his footing and did a spin kick that struck the Woshua. "Out! Darned spot!" It declared. Suddenly a large bar of soap with the word "HELP" written on it started racing around leaving a sparkling clean trail wherever it went. Nemo managed to avoid the bar but when he stepped on one of the cleaned spots he slipped and landed on his side.
Nemo groaned as he sat up looked over at the monster to see it stare at its own wounds in disgust and show that it had no intention of fighting anymore. This made Nemo sigh. "You can leave now." He said, the Woshua nodded and shuffled away, causing the souls of Frisk and Nemo to fade once more.
They continued walking and as they did, they heard the voice of the Echo Flower that sat right next to the last one they'd heard, "I wish my sister and I will see real stars someday…" Nemo looked at the flower for a moment, then his gaze wandered over to Frisk, who was looking through a telescope.
"See something you like?" Asked Nemo with a smile. Frisk then backed away from the telescope and walked down the path to the North, which had a dead end that Nemo could see.
"Ah… seems my horoscope is the same as last week's…" Said the Echo Flower next to him. Nemo raised an eyebrow at the flower before rolling his eyes. Suddenly there was a loud thudding sound. Nemo's head jerked to see Frisk standing in front of the wall, which now had a massive hole in it, and looking at him. Nemo blinked in surprise before jogging over to them.
"Good job kiddo." He said. This earned him a smile from Frisk, and the pair walked through the new doorway and found themselves on a dock. "Hm… what's up with this dock?" Nemo joked, earning an unimpressed look from Frisk. All Nemo could do was smile and shrug. They then looked over and saw a bunch of signs. "Well these look interesting."
"On it." Said Frisk as they walked over and read the first sign aloud. "The War of Humans and Monsters."
"Oh." Said Nemo softly.
Frisk went to the next sign and continued. "Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster… just to equal the power of a single human SOUL."
"Seriously? There's that much of a difference?" Said Nemo as Frisk moved to the next sign and he followed them.
"But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their SOUL. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death." Read Frisk.
"So… like a ghost?" Wondered Nemo as Frisk moved to the fourth sign.
"If a monster defeats a human, they can take its SOUL. A monster with a human SOUL… A horrible beast with unfathomable power." Read Frisk.
This made Nemo's eyes widen. "And the king is trying to collect multiple souls? Yikes." He thought. Frisk went to the last sign, but didn't say anything. "Well, what does it say?" Asked Nemo.
"It doesn't have any words, just a drawing." Said Frisk.
Nemo raised an eyebrow and walked over to look. He stared at the drawing for a moment before stepping away. "Let's… just go." He said.
"Yeah." Said Frisk as the pair continued. Nemo walked in front of them when his arms suddenly flailed for a moment like he had lost his balance. He and Frisk looked down to see that the part of dock he'd stepped on had separated and now he was drifting away from Frisk.
"Nemo!" They shouted as Nemo looked at them concerned.
He then looked down again at the part he was on, and some fast thinking made him choose his next words. "Frisk, jump! Quickly!" He shouted. Frisk blinked in surprise before nodding their head. They took a few steps back before doing a running jump to Nemo. They almost didn't make it, fortunately Nemo caught their outstretched hand mid air and the worst that happened was Frisk's right leg getting wet as only their left foot got a solid grip on the piece of dock, causing their right leg to go into the water, but Nemo managed to pull them up onto the dock with him and the pair drifted for a short time across the pitch black water before the found themselves on another dock, which they quickly stepped onto just in time for the piece of dock to then go the opposite direction to where it originally came from. "No going back now." Said Nemo with a sigh.
"Yeah…" Said Frisk softly. The pair then continued forward. This dock went alongside a long patch of land that had a bunch of trees, though the trees in the front were all they could see as everything behind them was trapped within a veil of pitch darkness.
"It's quiet." Said Nemo, making Frisk look at them. "Too quiet."
"Don't be dram-." Said Frisk, but was cut off as something cyan flew past Nemo and embedded itself in the ground in front of them. They both slowly turned their heads to see a magic spear sticking out of the wood. Their heads then turned to the left to see Undyne standing between two of the trees, staring at them, with three more spears floating above her head.
"Frisk." Said Nemo calmly as he reached down to take their hand.
"Yeah?" Asked Frisk softly.
"RUN!" Shouted Nemo as he took off running while still holding their hand as spears started flying at them. Frisk didn't resist and did their best to keep up as Nemo dragged them along, all while spears continued to fly at them. Nemo let out a groan as a spear flew a little too close to him and put his free hand on his side, which came away damp with blood. His blood. He heard Frisk let out a cry, and he didn't have to look to know they'd been hit. They went around a bendy part of the dock, and Nemo stuck his arm out to stop Frisk as spears flew in front of them before continuing to run. Their path only got twistier from there. "Who builds docks like this!?" Demanded Nemo as a spear flew at his face. His quick reaction speed to bring his arm up and block was the only thing that stopped the dock from being painted with his brains. But he did find himself with a hole in his arm that was bleeding profusely.
"Nemo!" Shouted Frisk worriedly.
"Don't stop! Keep running!" Shouted Nemo as he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from screeching in pain. They continued to move and suddenly saw the dock connect to normal ground covered in tall weeds. "Go, go, go!" Shouted Nemo frantically as more spears flew by, nicking them and causing more of their blood to seep through a growing number of cuts on their bodies. The pair leapt forward and dove into the weeds, and once they were out of sight, the sound of spears ended. They didn't get time to rest as they heard the clanking of Undyne's armored footsteps. Nemo moved quickly to push Frisk against the nearby wall as he pressed himself against the wall as well. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Undyne, just over a foot in front of them, raise a hand and reach for something, only to pull up the monster kid. Undyne paused for a moment before setting him down and walking away. Nemo wheezed as he relaxed and sank to the ground, releasing his hold on Frisk at the same time.
"Are you ok?" Frisk worriedly asked.
Nemo raised his uninjured arm to wave off their concern. "I'll be fine, just gimme a sec to rest." He said, out of breath. Frisk nodded and sat down next to them, they then leaned their head against his uninjured arm. Nemo let out a few pained breaths before he gently moved his arm to tell Frisk to move, which they quietly complied with before he used his good arm to push himself to his feet. Nemo did his best to keep his injured arm still as he pushed his way through the weeds and into a clear area. He then stopped to take a closer look at his arm, which, to his disgust, he could see straight through. He and Frisk then heard a rustling behind them, which made them turn around to see the Monster Kid burst from the shrubbery as he moved around excitedly.
"Yo… did you see that!? Undyne just… TOUCHED ME!" He said excitedly. "I'm never washing my face ever again…!"
"Gross." Thought Nemo.
"Man, are you unlucky." Said Monster Kid.
"You don't say." Thought Nemo.
"If you were standing just a LITTLE bit to the right…!" Said Monster Kid.
"Wouldn't call that part unlucky." Thought Nemo.
"Yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again." Said Monster Kid.
"I could go the rest of my life without seeing her ever again." Mumbled Nemo. The Monster Kid then took off running, only to trip and face plant again, before getting up and running off again.
"DO you think he's hard headed or just used to doing that?" Asked Nemo drily.
"...Both?" Said Frisk uncertainly.
"Let's just go." Groaned Nemo, with that, the pair set off. The next spot they entered had a piece of cheese trapped in a magical crystal, an Echo Flower, and another star. "Oh thank goodness." Said Nemo. Frisk walked over to the star and put a hand on it. That warm feeling returned as their injuries vanished. Nemo got to watch his flesh magically (and painlessly, fortunately enough) pull itself back together. "I wonder how much this thing can heal someone?" He wondered. "Well, here's to never finding out." He then walked over to Frisk, hearing a squeak from the Echo Flower as he walked, before the pair continued forward. Nemo had to admit, he was a little relieved to see Sans.
"Hi Sans." Said the taller human.
"I'm thinking about getting into the telescope business." Said Sans. "It's normally 50000G to use this premium telescope… but… since I know you, you can use it for free. Howzabout it?"
Nemo looked at the telescope, then down at Frisk with a raised eyebrow. Frisk smiles at him and nodded their head. Nemo sighed and shrugged. "Alright, go ahead." He said. Frisk leaned forward and looked through the telescope. They looked for a moment before backing away and looking at Sans.
"I don't see anything." They said.
"Huh? You aren't satisfied? Don't worry. I'll give you a full refund." Said Sans, Nemo gave him a flat look. Then he had to put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing when Frisk turned and he saw their pink eye.
"What is it?" Asked Frisk in confusion.
"Nothing Frisk, not a thing." Said Nemo as he tried to keep a straight face. "Thanks for sharing your scope Sans, see ya." With that the pair set off. As they passed another box, Nemo paused long enough to drop the ribbon and bandana into the box before taking a left into another doorway. "Hey look, it's the Nice Cream guy." Said Nemo as they walked towards the blue monster.
"I relocated my store, but there are still no customers…" Mumbled the Nice Cream guy, then he noticed that and perked up immediately. "Fortunately, I've thought of a solution! Punch cards! Every time you buy a Nice Cream, you can take a punch card from the box. If you have 3 cards, you can trade them for a free Nice Cream! They're sure to get the customers to come back! Nice Cream! It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 25G!"
"Two please." Said Nemo.
"Super! Here you go! Your Cards are in the box!" Said the Nice Cream guy as he gave them the Nice Cream. The pair sat down next to the box and dug into their Nice Cream. Nemo chomped down on his Nice Cream and looked at the stick once he was done, only to be unsurprised by the fact that it was illegible to him. Nemo looked over Frisk's shoulder to see their Nice Cream. "What's your's say?" He asked.
"Have a wonderful day!" Said Frisk.
Nemo held up his. "Can you read mine?" He asked.
"Love yourself! I love you!" Said Frisk, only to turn red upon realizing what they said, earning a laugh from Nemo.
"Thanks for the kind words kiddo. Now c'mon, let's get going." Said Nemo as he stood up.
"Ok." Said Frisk as they stood up. Together the humans walked out the doorway. They went left and passed another monster.
"What's a star?" It asked, causing the humans to pause. "Can you touch it? Can you eat it? Can you kill it? ...Are you a star?" Frisk and Nemo stared at the monster for a moment before turning and continuing on their way.
"Well that wasn't creepy at all…" Thought Nemo.
Page 15 End
