Once I showed the others the hidden stairway underneath the memorial of Sternivus Swinedimple, they then started to ask questions about what was going on during my talk with Noelle.
"So what was up with you and Noelle talking with your hands?" Veronica asked.
"We were engaging in Sign Language, which is used mainly for translating sentences to deaf people, but is also useful for talking without words, since I saw she was worried to speak," I explained.
"And why did you seem surprised at Noelle and her friend Rudolfa?" Keira asked.
"Well... that's the part that might seem stupid. They look EXACTLY like characters from two entirely different things. Noelle comes from another game called Deltarune and Rudolfa from a terrible Christmas movie," I explained, Stella looking at me in confusion.
"What's a movie?" she asked.
"Imagine it like a theatrical production, but it's translated into technology to make an experience you can view on a mirror, using moving pictures. Kind of like a flipbook, but in Rudolfa's case, the flipbook is one of the worst Christmas stories you've ever seen," I explained.
"Christmas? As in, the holiday for giving gifts to people?" Dillon asked.
"I invented that holiday when daddy told me about it! And he also said something about Santa and reindeer that can fly his sled through the air, giving gifts to all the children in the world... but that all of it was fake. So, I got ol' Fatguts to be the Santa for our current crop of mortals, and he was in agreement," she smiled.
"Well, that's interesting!" Firkle smiled.
"And the movie in question had him having two children, with the one being very nasty and called Rudolfa. And she wanted to take over Christmas by sending the kids gag gifts instead of real ones. Like broken toys and whoopee cushions," I explained.
"To be honest, that's not the stupidest story I've ever heard. That honor goes to the Easter Bunny," Pavo smirked.
"Something else that existed in our time," Carly smirked.
"And Noelle is from another game, huh? Does she look the same as she did in the game?" Marionette asked.
"Almost exactly, the only difference is that she's in the real world instead of a world filled with... well, a world that looks like a kid's drawing book is the best I can describe it," I explained.
"Maybe we could ask for her assistance as well?" Crux asked, me shooting that notion down immediately.
"I don't think that'd be a good idea. Though she is a notable character in the second chapter of the game, she's a very timid girl who hates violence. And she seemed just that when we spoke to her. She looked traumatized," I frowned.
"Really a shame. She's wantin' to be a good girl an' live wiv mortals in a different part o' the world, an' she gets picked on by teachers an' beaten by ghosts," Sara said with a sigh.
"And I want it to stop," I heard a voice say from behind us as we got to the area of the dungeon that had the Sculptrices. It was Noelle! And she was following us while wearing some Ethereal Robes, a rosary on her neck, and wearing a hat that looked to be that of a priest, just edited for her horns.
"Noelle?... Um... how much did you hear?" I asked her.
"Um... all of it..." she said, me sighing at that. "I can assure you that I'm not the same as whatever you described. I'm not fictional... and I'm not shy. I came here to give monsters a better name in a land where monsters aren't nice... and you seem to be strong. I want to help. To prove that monsters aren't enemies and we can be nice," she said, me smiling at her.
"Um... welcome to the team, then," I smiled, her smirking at me.
"Ugh, when we get back to the Abbey to get back to the Almighty, we're going to get all of the others in our group that stuff from the Abbot, cos I'm gettin' tired of givin' 'em the powers that 'e gave our original group," Stella pouted.
"And what about your studies? Wouldn't you get expelled for shirking the school?" Crux asked, her shaking her head no.
"No, I wouldn't. They don't even consider me as a student. They just ignore me completely, just considering me to be brainless because of me being a monster. But I'm not. I know what they're saying, and it's not kind. If I stick with you guys, I can show the world the goodness of monsters," she smiled... and it was then that we reached the room at the bottom, where we saw that a duo of other students, including the trouble-making Fred and his chubby friend were held down in chairs and couldn't move.
"Now tell me, young ones! Are you ready to pay for your naughty ways? Or do you need more softening up?" the ghost of Sternivus asked in anger, Noelle getting spooked, but me looking at her in seriousness. Her then gulping and nodding.
"How about my method?" I asked aloud as I busted through the doors, the ghostly teacher gasping when he saw me. "Putting a stop to your mindless abuse to innocent students!" I shouted, him growling at me.
"You DARE stick your nose up at your superior?! I command you to sit down right this minute!" he shouted, our group then smirking and staying put. "I said SIT DOWN! Do you need to learn your manners?!" he shouted in fury.
"I have no manners for a teacher who attacked an adorable and innocent girl just because she was discriminated by a teacher for being a monster," I said, Noelle gasping and blushing at that. But this time, instead of it diffusing the situation, the opposite happened.
"YOU INSOLENT WORMS!" he shouted as he then turned into his battle form. The Dreadmaster! "If you will not back down, then I shall give you the punishment of all punishments! I AM SIR STERNIVUS SWINEDIMPLE! AND YOU ARE GOING TO BE-" he was about to finish... before I simply slapped him across the face with a martial artist backhand. And it managed to send his face right into the blackboard and to make his face stuck in it, him then losing his transformation and me only then realizing how tough I'd become.
"Wow... so strong..." Noelle gawked, me smirking as the final Fygg produced shortly after the teacher reverted to his regular form. I then got the Fygg in hand and placed it in our bag.
"Oogh... my aching head... what happened?" he asked in confusion.
"Are ya daft, ya crazy ghost?! Ya went an' kept kidnappin' students before beatin' us senseless!" Fred said, me seeing that he had no marks on him, but I did see a book print on the chubby one.
"I... did that?... I ah... think I remember... I found that fruit... at my memorial... and wanted you students to, ah... be better students... but ah... I guess it made me lose my lid..." he said, me looking at him with a small frown.
"And I do believe that Noelle deserves an honest apology. She only got snippy with her teacher because he was being insensitive to her, saying that monsters were evil while she herself is not," I explained, Sternivus sighing.
"I ah... guess that my maddened ways... made my thinking unclear... I deeply apologize, young Noelle... I should've seen your side, but ah... the fruit didn't make me see it right," he said with a frown.
"You're forgiven, Sir Swinedimple," she said with a polite bow, me smiling at that.
"And as for you three... I recognize you as former students. Keiragan, Veronica, and Dillon... I'm proud to know that some students under this academy could have led great lives, even without my presence... now I have no regrets..." he said as his body started to glow. "Farewell," he said before giving the Swinedimples salute and moving onto the afterlife, a hunk of Benevolescence being left behind in the process, which I gathered up shortly after.
"Thanks, mate... and thank you too, Noelle. You must've lead 'em here, right?" Fred asked, her nodding.
"I did... I wanted to prove my worth," she said.
"Well you did that an' way more! I've been needin' the Lou for hours! Let's get outta here!" he shouted, Noelle then surprising us by casting Evac and us then going to our different areas. Noelle went to her dorm, probably to get some supplies as we went to the headmaster in his office, and JUST as it was sunset in the distance!
"Mister headmaster! We bring great news!" I said, him then opening the door and smirking.
"What's this good news, detectives?" he asked.
"We solved the mystery! We need to share our findings," I said, him gawking and then letting us in. "See, what was going on is that the founder of the school, Sir Swinedimples, had been driven mad by one of the golden fruits we've been after. He had been targeting kids who misbehaved in class to beat them in the privacy of an abandoned school underneath his memorial. And with help from Noelle, we managed to find his area and knock the sense into him. Once the fruit was separated from him, he realized what was going on and apologized... and we have two students around who can vouch for us, those being Fred and Noelle. The former was held there and about to get beaten while the latter followed us into the ruins," I explained.
"Well I'll be damned! You're really the best sleuths in the world to have solved the case within only a matter of hours! You've more than earned your payment," he smiled widely as he gave us access to the Hypernova Sword, me feeling its power in hand and feeling utterly indestructible.
"This? This is going to be fun," I smiled widely.
"We'll take turns weilding this blade, right, Crux?" Pavo asked.
"Of course," he smiled.
"What he said!"
"Well, if that's everything, I guess I'll-" he was about to say before Firkle spoke.
"One more thing, before we leave. Noelle wanted to travel with us," she said, the headmaster being surprised.
"Why ever would she do that?" he asked.
"Well... she felt like this school never really considered her a true student, as the teachers discriminated against her for being a monster and they spoke ill of her right in front of her, expecting her to not understand," Carly frowned.
"Then it seems that I'm going to need to make the staff better people if I am to make this school have a better reputation. Though it pains me to see Noelle leave, I will certainly be more open to including any student that applies, be they human or monster," he said, Noelle only then opening the door, me looking at her with a smile.
"Really?... That means a lot to me... thanks Headmaster," she said with a small smile.
"If we're done being sappy, we've got a place to get to and we need to do it fast," Stella said, me nodding at her.
"Yes, we do. We need to get to the Abbey and then we need to get going to the far western continent," I said, Noelle smirking at that. We then proceeded out of the building and I then cast Zoom for us to go to Alltrades Abbey and going inside of it to have a meeting with Abbot Jack. And when we did, we saw he was free.
"Oh? It's the group that rescued me from the Tower of Trades, right? And I see you've added a few more members to your team!" he smirked.
"Yes. And we were wondering if we could give them the same treatment as you did to us?" I asked, him smirking at me.
"But of course. I've learned from others who have come that those Fyggs, as you've called them, have harmed many more people. Have you found them all yet?" he asked.
"Why yes, we got the last one just a half hour ago," Carly smirked widely.
"Then I'll give your new allies the same powers I gave to you," he said, him then chanting and waving his hands before Marionette, Sara, and Noelle gained all of the different vocations, which made me very happy. "By the way, I don't believe I've ever seen a monster who wears clothes before. Does she happen to come from the other half of the globe?" he asked, Noelle smirking with a blush on her nose.
"Y-Yes... I'm Noelle Holiday..." she said bashfully. "Did you happen to travel to my home continent in the past?"
"Not really, but I've been the Abbot for nearly 70 years and I have seen my fair share of travelers hoping to change vocations. And some of them have told tales of the other side of the globe, where humans and monsters live in harmony," he smiled.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Abbot Jack," Noelle said with glee as we then bid farewell and proceeded towards the Starflight Express, still parked in the tree and not having been touched.
"Smart choice for the resting place of this golden train. Most monsters don't know how to climb," Noelle smiled.
"Do you know how to?" Stella asked with a smirk, her nodding. "Well then you should consider yourself lucky. You'll be the very first monster aboard the Starflight Express!" she smirked widely, us then going into the tree and climbing into the side door of the train engine, us then getting the train up and running.
"Okay! Now to decide on our next destination! Where to, Drake?" Veronica asked.
"As I stated before, we need to get going to the west. From what Bayarmaa said to us, the Gittish Empire will be resurrected come tomorrow. So we need to get Greygnarl's help before anything else," I said, them nodding. As for Noelle?
"T-T-The... G-G-Gittish... Empire? They're coming back?!" she asked, us nodding. "Who in their right mind would ever consider reviving that horrible sect of murderous fiends?!" she asked in fear.
"We don't know for certain, but we know they're being revived come tomorrow. So we need to get to where Greygnarl is on the Western Continent. And we need to do it fast," I said, Stella then going to the taped items and pushing the buttons before then having us get going to the west.
"Full steam ahead!" she smirked before then loosing the whistle. But then, mere moments after she did so, I gasped along with Pavo as we felt it... an ominous magic was coming from northeast. Very powerful ominous magic.
"Oh crud! It can't be! They're being resurrected as we speak!" Pavo gawked.
"Cor Blimey! You don't fink they overheard us, do you, guv?!" Sara asked with fear as she gripped her staff with concern.
"Stella, get this train moving faster! We really need Greygnarl's help, and we need it now!" I said, her gawking and going to the controls.
"She's going as fast as she can! We can't go any faster than this without damaging the engine!" she said. And then... we heard the door open from outside. And shortly after, a certain Celestrian flew into the train with a blade in hand.
"Master Aquila! Praise the Almighty that you're alright!" Crux said with glee when he saw him, but he looked at us sternly and armed himself with his blade.
"Sorry, Crux. But I need the Fyggs. Right now," he said, Crux looking at him in concern.
"How did you know we have the Fyggs? Last we heard, you were sent to search for us," I said, him frowning at me saying that.
"You need to give me the Fyggs. If you won't give them willingly, I'll take them by force!" he said before then dashing towards me and Crux! Crux didn't go into battle mode for obvious reasons. But me? I smirked as I deflected his attack with my shield and then smacking him in the face with a punch, but I held back most of my strength. And even then, he looked very much in pain from the attack.
"What the?!" he gawked as Crux spoke.
"You... you just broke through the Celestrian code..." Crux gawked.
"Probably because Drake isn't a Celestrian," Pavo said as Aquila then looked at my allies and then grabbed hold of Keira, holding a blade to her neck and me then feeling scared.
"Don't do anything you'll regret, Aquila! If you kill the mortal, you'll be a stain on the Celestrians forever!" Crux said with concern, him frowning.
"Give me the Fyggs and she will be unharmed," he said, me then getting... both the smartest and stupidest idea of all time.
"Okay then, fine, you win," I said as I then used some illusion magic on some of our vials of Mystifying Mixtures from our alchemy and made them look exactly like the Fyggs. "Here. Now let her go," I said as I placed the fake Fyggs on the ground, him then letting Keira go and gathering the "Fyggs" from the ground.
"Thank you. King Godwyn will be very pleased," he said, Noelle gasping at that.
"NO! Don't let him get away!" Noelle shouted as she tried to attack with her spear, but he slapped his wings against her body so she was sent into the wall. "Ow..." she groaned.
"You dare hit a girl as sweet as her?" I asked in anger.
"She's a monster. That's all that I kno-" he was about to finish before I slapped him one more time so he was sent flying out the door. And when I did, it was then that we heard a loud roar.
"Oh, flapping fuck!" Stella shouted in fear. It was Barbaros in the flesh, flying right by the side of the Starflight Express with Hootingham Gore atop his head.
"I've gotten the Fyggs, Hootingham Gore," Aquila said from his side, the short owl man chortling at that.
"Hoohoohoo! Hoo very good! Barbaros! Send them falling too the ground!" he shouted, me then casting Kabuff on everyone. And not a moment too soon, as the dragon of darkness let loose a powerful blast that sent hurt the train, so we were sideways, all of us gasping as we were sent out the other side of train through the side door, even Stella! The only one that managed to stay on the Starflight was Pavo!
"I'll handle the train from here! Don't get killed!" she shouted from above us as we ended up falling for roughly 100 feet until we fell to the ground... thankfully, since I cast Kabuff on the way down from the sky, our group fell down and the worst we felt was sore.
"Owie... that hurts worse..." Noelle groaned with her face in the dirt, making her muffled.
"That... was bad..." Dillon groaned as Crux and I got up first.
"Smart move you did, Drake, giving him fake Fyggs. How long will that illusion last for?" he asked me.
"No idea," I admitted... and when we looked up, we saw that we were surrounded by a lot of people. And we were in Wormwood Creek.
"Who the hell are you lot?" asked one of the denizens, sounding very hostile when she asked that. I then got everyone off the ground by casting Multiheal and they then picked themselves up off the dirt.
"We're uh... we can explain," Keira said as she rubbed her butt with her hand, since she fell right onto it.
"We don't take explanations from foreigners. Get outta here right now!" said none other than Mayor Standoffish, probably the second worst name in the game next to Mayor Laria.
"Listen. We fell 100 feet from the sky, I have a halo, and we have a monster girl that is incredibly sweet and nice on our side. And you're suggesting that we're not trustworthy just because we're outsiders. What's really going on around here?" Crux asked for me, the denizens looking even more peeved at me... and then we heard the roar of Barbaros as we looked in the sky and we saw him flying overhead and towards the west.
"What. Was THAT?!" Standoffish asked in fear.
"The thing that attacked us and sent us falling from high in the sky, that's what," said another voice in the form of Pavo as she arrived via flying down with her wings. And when they saw her wings, they looked even more angry. "Don't worry, the Starflight is currently parked on a high tree near a cave north of us," she said to us.
"Thanks for the save, Pavo," Veronica sighed in relief. The residents, on the other hand?
"Bah! Accursed Celestrian! Begone! Your kind is and NEVER will be welcome in this town! GET OUT!" the residents shouted as they tried to single her out and she looked surprised and concerned for the first time ever.
"W-What's with them?!" she asked in fear as I then got in between them and her.
"I'm not letting any one of you hurt her until you give it to us straight. Why are you all so... so... such assholes?!" I shouted, not thinking of any other word that could fit. And when I did shout this, I only then noticed that the young Wallace was watching from the sidelines with concern. And the others looked at me and finally stopped.
"Town meeting. Now. At the church," the mayor said, me frowning at him as he and some of the other residents went there... and I then looked at the others with seriousness.
"Obviously this place hates two things. Any outsiders and Celestrians. But WHY? What horse kicked them in the nose for them to hate those things?" Stella asked.
"I have an idea, but I'll need to ask about it during the town meeting," I said, them looking at me in confusion.
"Why'd you give that traitorous Celestrian the Fyggs, though, guv?" Sara asked in concern.
"He didn't. He used illusionary magic to turn some Mystifying Mixtures into fake Fyggs. The real ones are still in our bag, see?" Crux smirked as he showed off the Fyggs in the bag.
"Ah, smart thinking, Drake! Smarter than any of us could come up with!" Noelle smiled.
"Tsk, hate to admit it, but you're right," Dillon smirked in jealousy.