Chapter XV: DELTARUNE

"A... A what? Deltarune?"

Trace nodded his head, gazing through the disturbed and frightened faces of his companions and nemeses. It was a crucial moment, here: to convince his unwilling group that seeing this through to the end was the right- no, only goal they could aim for. He had already seen the other outcomes, in gruesome detail...

"Yes... Yes!" He said, lapsing from frantic to composed calmness. With every second wasted, those beings and their beast-demon forces marched on through other worlds, laying claim to billions of untold lives. "We have to find the DELTARUNE. And quick!"

"Er... where is it, then?" Evals muttered, which only served to promulgate Trace's worries. He clenched his teeth in maddened frustration, realizing he was trapped with no solution, only left with a vague legend to point to their next objective.

"DELTARUNE... For some reason, that word rings familiar in these echoes of memories." Gaster rasped, his mask unchanging as he seemingly pondered the origin of the uttered term. "Give me some time to search through the past, and perhaps I can find a link to this item and the world it resides in."

Trace's anxiety built up rapidly as Gaster recused himself. With every second that passed, there was a growing chance that this realm of memories would be invaded by Chariska's interdimensional forces, and they had no way to prepare whatsoever. The feeling of powerlessness, misery, and desire to see his kin returned to their world safely, were overwhelming in his mind.

"I sense impending doom and growing madness emanating from you, Templar Trace." Brahn uttered, pulling his daughter closer to his side, a disturbed look sat on his face. "What the hell are we to do next? Now that you've clearly outlined our fate for us."

Despite Brahn's general outrage at the danger he and his daughter have been put into, he couldn't hold an intimidating demeanor after viewing the stony face of Trace, who was beginning to unsheath his sword- much to Brahn's shock and horror.

"WHAT ARE YOU-"

As Trace unsheathed the sword, he immediately walked over a nearby clearing and began practicing swings, thrusts and parries in the air.

"If we must wait for Gaster to give us the answer, then we may as well practice our skills while we have time." Trace declared, his sword motions a flurry of blue and stygian-black. It wasn't long before some of the others joined him in his training; Keith, Evals (who was given Keith's secondary arming sword), and Mike began training alongside him, even engaging in bouts of practice combat. Flora, Natani and Kathrin practiced hand-to-hand combat as their specialization, and even Euchre was flipping through his spellbook to consider the best magical abilities for the upcoming battle.

Sirus and Brahn were the only ones not engaging in a quick training. Brahn looked over at Sirus questioningly.

"You're... not going to join in on this buffoonery?"

Sirus returned the gaze, but more coldly.

"I am confident in my abilities."

After a few hours of tense waiting, Gaster finally returned to the group, and immediately began weaving his hands around in the air, crafting some incorporeal thing that nobody in the group could even fathom.

"I have found the DELTARUNE. It is located in a parallel timeline somewhat close to mine. Be warned, though; going through this dimensional pass will mean you distance yourself from your own world, and may make the return trip back home that much more difficult. If you wish to return to your original home world, now is the time to ask."

Trace could sense the rising agreement with Gaster's last statement from the group, but he knew more than anyone else there that heading home now was not a viable option. Not if they wanted to return to a world untouched by Chariska's conquest.

"We cannot." Trace stated firmly, much to the anger of those around him. "I wish to return home as well, but Chariska will meet us there, or perhaps before, if we do not stop her at this point in time. We will meet her, and our world will face inevitable destruction the likes of which we have never seen."

The apocalyptic statement issued by Trace only reaffirmed everyone's fears, but after hearing the stories he spoke of the things he witnessed, and the implications of devastation he referenced... Everyone came to the same conclusion.

This journey would have to continue.

In a short few minutes, the interdimensional portal was crafted to completion by Gaster, who gestured the group towards the anomalous, swirling passageway between worlds; The group was shocked to see a sleepy town on the other side of the portal, gilded buildings laden with metal and ore.

"What future civilization does this item reside in?!" Euchre muttered with utter awe. "Great, metal structures that dwarf the landscape! Astounding!"

"Let's go!" Trace ordered, and in short form the group charged through the portal, emerging onto grass and dirt on the other side. The scene was more than serene, and the sun shining over the cozy spring town almost dashed Trace's fears for what was to come. Nonetheless, he knew his objective, and nothing was to stop him from saving his world, and more importantly, Flora.

"I'll do some forward reconnaissance." Sirus suddenly spoke up, and in a moment he had vanished from the place he stood only seconds ago. The others looked around in confusion and perplexity, and a few minutes passed by before he eventually appeared once again. "I would not advise we bring our weapons into that town. From what I've observed, this is a community that relies almost wholly upon their local militia force. I managed to impart with one of their weapons in their armory-"

He said this, holding up an L-shaped metal item that was intricately designed and all-black. The group stared at it in curiosity.

"What... is that?" Mike pondered out loud. His sentiment was mirrored by everyone in the group. Sirus, too, was curious about the item, as no one from his world (including those present) had ever seen such a thing. Curiously, he pointed it at the ground and pulled the trigger to figure out what it did.

BANG!

The resulting ear-blasting sound had sent the group into a momentary hysteria; Practically everyone gripped their ears in pain, with more than a few of them cursing loudly in the aftermath.

"What an effective item!" Euchre commented, trying to talk over the ringing sound in his ears. "It must be used as an area of effect weapon!"

"Uh, good theory, but I think it's probably more of a propellant," Sirus commented, pointing at the shaped hole in the ground, where a sliver of metal glinted from underneath the disturbed terrain. It was suddenly that the group felt their training only hours before had been futile in the face of this horrifying weapon they'd uncovered.

"Let's... hold onto that, then." Trace said. "And if possible, try to get more of these weapons. It could greatly raise our chances of victory in the upcoming battles."

"I don't like how you keep talking as if we're going to war." Euchre commented. "There's only around ten of us, versus... what? The forces of chaos? How are we expected to survive something akin to that?"

Trace knew that this side chatter was only hindering their time and chances, so he gave a throwaway answer to Euchre's question and began heading towards the town, only to realize Sirus had just warned them about bringing weapons into town.

"We need to hide our equipment somewhere while we go into town to investigate. We should find a small hideout and stash our stuff there."

Heads nodded in affirmation, and the group began to skirt around the left side of the town, scheming for what was to come next.