Nemo and Frisk walked alongside the glowing lake. "What do you think makes it glow like that? Magic?" Asked Nemo.
"I'm not sure." Said Frisk.
Nemo stopped as he looked at the water while letting out a hum as he thought. "Perhaps a bioluminescent moss?" He suggested.
"Bio… what?" Asked Frisk in confusion.
"Bioluminescent moss. Basically it's moss that glows, maybe there's stuff like that coating the bank of the lake, causing the glow." Explained Nemo.
"I suppose…" Said Frisk.
Suddenly a voice spoke up behind them. "So? Don't you have any wishes to make?" The arrival of the new voice caused Nemo to whirl around to see who it belonged to, only for him to sigh as he realized that it was another Echo Flower.
"I'm never gonna get used to that." Sighed Nemo. "Let's keep moving."
"Alright." Said Frisk. The pair didn't get far though before reaching another crossroad.
"Which way?" Asked Nemo.
Before Frisk could speak up, another Echo Flower interjected. "...hmmm, just one, but… it's kind of stupid."
The humans looked at the flower before back at each other. "Let's go right." Said Frisk.
"Glad I left it to you to make the right decision." Said Nemo with a smirk, earning a sigh from Frisk. The two continued down Frisk's chosen path, though they didn't get far before their souls manifested as they walked into a pair of Moldsmals. The human's stared at the monsters for a second before simply taking a step over the slime monsters and continuing onward. They walked for about twenty seconds before coming to a tall bunch of weeds. "Doesn't look like anything's here." Said Nemo as he looked around before turning to make an exit. He then heard a rustling behind him. He turned to see Frisk with their upper half inside of the weeds as they rustled around for something. "What are you…?" He asked, but trailed off as they emerged holding a pair of ballet shoes. "What are those?" The face that Frisk gave him for that one actually made him feel a little guilty. "You gonna wear those?"
"No, just figured that I shouldn't leave them, they probably belonged to someone else that fell down here." Said Frisk as they looked at the shoes and the tutu they were wearing.
"That's fair I suppose." Said Nemo as he scratched the back of his head. "C'mon, looks like this is a dead end, let's try the other path."
"Alright." Replied Frisk. One short backtrack later and the pair were heading down the second path. They had just gone around the first corner when suddenly their phone began to ring.
Nemo pulled it out and answered with a short, "Hello?"
"HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!" Shouted the tall skeleton over the phone. "REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED ABOUT YOUR CLOTHES? WELL, THE FRIEND WHO WANTED TO KNOW… HER OPINION OF YOU IS VERY… MURDERY."
"I don't believe that's a real word." Thought Nemo.
"BUT I BET YOU KNEW THAT ALREADY! AND BECAUSE YOU KNEW THAT… I TOLD HER WHAT YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE WEARING! A DUSTY TUTU! BECAUSE I KNEW, OF COURSE… AFTER SUCH A SUSPICIOUS QUESTION… YOU WOULD OBVIOUSLY CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES!" Said Papyrus.
"Oh yeah, I guess that would make sense." Said Nemo.
"YOU'RE SUCH A SMART COOKIE! THIS WAY YOU'RE SAFE AND I DIDN'T LIE! NO BETRAYAL ANYWHERE!" Said Papyrus.
"No comment." Thought Nemo drily.
"BEING FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE IS EASY!" Were Papyrus's final words before he hung up.
Nemo sighed as he pocketed the phone. "Moving on." He said. They continued for a short way before their souls manifested and another "seahorse" attacked. Nemo groaned as he made the first move, attacking the monster with a punch.
It flinched from the attack before winking and saying, "Come on in, the water's fine." It then started to swing its arms at Nemo, who managed to evade every strike. When the final strike missed, Nemo planted his left foot on the ground before bringing his right up to kick the monster in the jaw. "Whew, I'm sweating." Said the monster as it winked again.
"Gross." Muttered Nemo as large droplets slowly flew at him. Fortunately they were, as stated before, slow, so he was able to dodge them with ease. Once the storm passed, he noticed the Seahorse's muscles comically droop. Nemo couldn't help but sigh. "Alright, you can leave now." He said. The monster nodded before departing, causing their souls to vanish. "Easy enough." Said Nemo as he watched it go. "Let's get moving."
"Ok." Said Frisk. As they walked, they passed a third Echo Flower in the area.
"Don't say that! Come on, I promise I won't laugh." It said.
Frisk and Nemo continued walking and were finally clear of the water area and were back to narrow pathways. At the start of the narrow pathway, there was a small opening with a sign on one of the walls. "Frisk?" Asked Nemo.
"On it." Said Frisk as they approached the sign. "The power to take their souls." They read. "This is the power that humans feared." They were silent for a moment before turning to Nemo, who looked down at the smaller human for a moment before the duo continued on their way.
They found themselves surrounded by more water, though this variety didn't glow. They took a right and walked for a short time until Nemo noticed the sound of splashing behind them. He turned around and his eyes widened to see a giant tentacle coming out of the water.
"Holy…" He said quietly. Frisk turned to look as well and they also wound up staring in shock. "Ok, time to go before the giant monster tries to kill us!" Said Nemo as he grabbed Frisk and booked it. They noticed a second tentacle come out of the water on their right side as well, and it was keeping up with them. Suddenly something emerged from the water, causing them both to stop.
What they saw was an octopus monster with an onion shaped head and a friendly face staring at them.2 Though Nemo wasn't ready to drop his guard yet because looks can be deceiving. "Hey… there… noticed you were… here…" It said. It's face then became derpy looking as it continued. "I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!"
Nemo's lips pressed together so that his mouth became a thin line before looking at Frisk. "Ok, let's go." He told them, to which they nodded their head. As they walked, Onionsan followed.
"You're visiting Waterfall, huh! It's great here, huh! You love it, huh!" Said Onionsan, then it's face became friendly again. "Yeah! Me too! It's my Big Favorite." It then sank under water so that only the top of it's head could be seen. "Even though, the water's getting so shallow here… I have to sit down all the time, but…" It then arose once more with it's derp face. "He-hey! That's ok! It beats moving to the city.! And living in a crowded aquarium! Like all my friends did!" Onionsan sadly sank once more. "And the aquarium's full, a-anyway, so, even if I wanted to, I…" It arose again with another derp face. "That's okay though, y'know! Undyne's gonna fix everything, y'hear!" These words caused a feeling of dread to encircle Nemo. "I'm gonna get out of here and live in the ocean! Y'hear!" It was forced to stop when they reached the end of the room. "Hey… there… that's the end of this room. I'll see you around! Have a good time! In Waterfallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!" As it said that, Onionsan sank into the waters as the humans departed.
"Sheesh, I was worried we were gonna be attacked." Said Nemo, they didn't get far into the next area before their souls manifested in front of them. "Oh come on." He groaned. They looked to see Shyren hiding in the corner but somehow encountering them anyway. "H-hey there?" Said Nemo uncertainly with a weak wave.
"...Toot…." Said Shyren softly. Suddenly a music note manifested and flew at them. Nemo side stepped it, and that was all their was to the attack. He couldn't help but feel bad for this monster. Nemo simply gave a weak smile at her rather than attack. Shyren says nothing as she simply shrinks further into the wall. "...Toot…." Is all she says before another note flies at them.
"Let's just go." Whispered Nemo, to which Frisk nodded and the pair set off. They didn't get far before their souls vanished. They continued down the path and to the right and stopped in front of more signs.
"This power has no counter, Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's soul." Read Frisk. "When a monster dies, its soul disappears. And an incredible power would be needed to take the soul of a living monster." Frisk then walked to the next sign. "There is only 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." Their words made Nemo think back to their first fight with Toriel and watching her soul shatter. "A human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened. And now it never will.
Frisk looked over at Nemo, who sighed and put a hand on their head. "Let's go." He said.
"Ok." Said Frisk. As they walked, they passed a statue that had rain falling on it through a hole in the top of the cave. The pair couldn't help but notice how… sad… the statue looked, even if they couldn't see its face. They continued to walk, passing a wooden sign. "Please take one." Read Frisk. Nemo raised an eyebrow at that before looking over and seeing some umbrellas in a trash can. Nemo walked over and grabbed one, inspecting it to make sure there were no holes. Frisk grabbed one as well, and after looking at it for a moment, booked it back to the previous room. Surprise was replaced with concern as Nemo chased after them. Frisk stopped in front of the statue before using the umbrella to shield it from the downpour.
"Why would you-?" Asked Nemo, but was cut off when music started to play from the statue. The pair stared at the statue in silence for a moment before Frisk looked over at Nemo, who looked back in silence for a moment before giving them a soft smile. "You're something else, you know that Frisk?" He asked softly. This made Frisk smile back. "Let's get going."
"Ok." Said Frisk.
The pair walked back to the umbrella area and passed it before entering an area with a heavy downpour. "Guess this is what the umbrellas were for." Said Nemo as he opened the umbrella he'd grabbed and used it to cover their heads. Together they walked until they passed a spot where a soaking Monster Kid sat.
"Yo, you got an umbrella?" He asked. "Awesome!" He then ran over and tried to get under, but there was no room for him. Seeing the small monster look at the ground with a dejected look made Nemo sigh.
"Frisk?" Said Nemo.
"Yeah?" Asked Frisk.
Nemo crouched down. "Climb on." He said.
"Alright." Said Frisk as they climbed on to his back. Nemo held the umbrella over the trio while using his free hand to secure Frisk, and looked down at the young monster.
This made Monster Kid look at him in shock before a smile reached his face. "Let's go!" He said excitedly. Together the trio made their way down the soggy coorider. As they reached the first turn, Monster Kid decided to speak up. "Man, Undyne is sooooooo cool. She beats up bad guys and never loses. If I was a human I would wet the bed every night… knowing she was gonna beat me up! Ha ha." His words caused a comically large drop of sweat to appear on the side of Nemo's head. As they walked, Monster Kid continued to talk. "So, one time. We had a school project where we had to take care of a flower. The king - we had to call him "Mr. Dreemurr" - volunteered to donate his flowers. He ended up coming to school and teaching us about responsibility and stuff. That got me thinking… YO! How cool would it be if Undyne came to school!? She could beat up all the teachers!" Cue another sweatdrop. As they rounded the next corner, Monster Kid spoke up more uncertainly this time "Ummm, maybe she wouldn't beat up the teachers… she's too cool to ever hurt and innocent person!"
"Guess we don't qualify as 'innocent'." Thought Nemo drily as he recalled their last encounter with passed through an entranceway to a much more open area without any rain. In the far distance Nemo could see the castle, but no path to get there, so he simply stayed on the one they were on. They went through another pathway and found themselves at a cliff with another trash can meant for returning umbrellas. Nemo returned his as Frisk jumped down from his back. The trio then turned their attention to the small cliff. Nemo knew he could climb it, but Frisk and the didn't stand a chance.
As Nemo tried to think of a solution, the Monster Kid spoke up. "Yo, this ledge is way too steep… yo, you wanna see Undyne, right…? Climb on my shoulders." Nemo and Frisk looked at him, then each other.
"Go ahead." Said Nemo with a nod. Frisk nodded their head and climbed onto the Kid's shoulders before climbing onto the ledge. Nemo and Monster Kid then exchanged a glance. "I'm pretty sure I'm too heavy for you kiddo, but don't worry, I've got this." He said as he backed up from the ledge. He then ran at it and put one foot on the wall to propel himself upwards enough to grasp the top of the ledge and pull himself up with a grunt. Nemo then looked down at the Monster Kid. "Thanks for the help runt, I really appreciate it."
"Yo, you go on ahead. Don't worry about me. I always find a way to get through!" He said, then turned, started running, face planted, stood up, and then ran off.
Nemo couldn't help but chuckle. "Energetic one, isn't he?" He asked Frisk.
"Yeah." They replied. Together they continued onward, finding another glowing star, which Frisk laid their hand on, causing the now all too familiar feeling of warmth to pass through the pair. Their attention turned and they saw another series of signs.
"Frisk?" Asked Nemo.
"I'm on it." Said Frisk as they approached the first sign. "The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly, and without mercy." They then walked to the second sign. "I'm the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken and countless monsters were turned to dust…"
Nemo looked at the sign, then at Frisk. "I think there's more to this than we originally knew." He said.
Page 16 End
