The next morning, they moved out once more, traveling across the mountain and reaching a vast, rather foggy desert. Thanks to both Snowdrake and Tsunderplane being able to fly, they were able to locate the base camp and make it there all before noon.
"THERE YOU FOUR ARE!" Papyrus yelled as the group finally arrived. "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER! YOU'RE THE LAST TO ARRIVE!" Tsunderplane huffed.
"I would've gotten here in no time if you didn't put me on the same team as three rookies!" She snapped back. Before any of the three could object or even point out it was often her getting stuck in the hallways of Mystery Dungeons, she flew off towards the rest of camp.
"hey, don't let it get to you." Sans said, walking over. "she's super prickly towards anyone. but honestly, i think it just means she cares." He shrugged, before pointing to a few empty spots. "just plop your stuff down and get ready, then we're gonna have a quick debriefing before we set out and stuff. so make yourself at home for a couple of minutes."
"Of course, c'mon let's go already!" Monster Kid said, practically bouncing. Both him and Snowdrake began walking off, while Frisk stood there, frowning. Something about the desert, the heavy fog in the air, the intense heat. It felt...strange. What was this feeling? Why were they even feeling this way…?
Wait….no….That was it. They knew this place!
"Frisk! C'mon, you're the one with the Wonder Bag!" Monster Kid yelled, startling the former human out of their thoughts. They shook their head and ran over, figuring it better to think about things like that later.
They still had the entire expedition ahead of them, after all.
"ok, we got everyone here? cool." Sans said once the rest of the Guild had assembled. "so, welcome to hotlands, i guess. as you all can plainly see, there's a super heavy fog on the surrounding area. it's kinda hard to mist, if you ask me."
"SANS!"
"what, i'm trying to lighten the mood a bit!"
"IF WE MAY CONTINUE WITHOUT ANY MORE INTERRUPTIONS…." Papyrus said, with a noticeable glare in Sans' direction. "WE'RE HERE TO SEARCH FOR THE MAGMA LAKE. THERE'S ALSO SAID TO BE A LABORATORY NEAR SAID LAKE, SO WE SHOULD LOOK FOR THAT AS WELL!"
"Ribbit, ribbit ribbit!" Froggit piped up, jumping in place.
"Froggit has a point, is there actually a lake here?" Vegetoid agreed, bouncing in his spot as well. "Or is this Magma Lake just some sort of myth?"
"Don't say that, you'll ruin the myth that way!" Parsnik scolded. The two vegetable monsters looked as if they were about to begin arguing, until Shyren suddenly gave a hoarse chirp, directing attention to her. However, she immediately seemed to regret and chirped for someone else to help her.
"Of course, that's right!" Madjick exclaimed. "Shyren and Froggit told us about a legend surrounding the lake, Guildmaster!" The magician certainly had everyone's attention now. "It's said that an incredibly powerful monster guards the lake. Some even say it was the giver of Knowledge to all monster-kind! But this powerful monster….they say that they're able to lock eyes with anyone and wipe their memories clean."
Frisk couldn't help but give a small start. Wipe their memories clean? Was it possible that they had come here as a human and met this monster, only to have amnesia as a result? It at least explained why the area seemed so familiar to them.
"well, legends like that are honestly supposed to be expected." Sans pointed out. "honestly, if there is a big, spooky powerful monster at magma lake, we'll be able to overcome it. the guild has overcome a lot of challenging obstacles."
"WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH IT!" Papyrus said, eye sockets somehow lighting up….despite the fact he didn't even have pupils. "WE JUST NEED TO BELIEVE IN OURSELVES!"
"anyways, back on track. here's the plan everyone." Sans said, snapping one finger and directing attention back to him. "pap and i are gonna stay here at camp so we can gather intelligence. meanwhile, you all are gonna have to go out and try to do one of two things. 1, go find magma lake. and 2, find some kind of way to lift this fog, otherwise nobody's gonna be able to see a thing. just come to me or papyrus if you find anything. that's literally it. good luck."
The apprentices all dispersed. Monster Kid began leading the way out into the desert, Frisk following behind with their mind more occupied than usual. If they could just meet whoever this powerful monster was, then they might just be able to unlock the secret of their past. They might even be able to find out why they were turned into a monster and-
"Yo! Frisk, check this out!" Monster Kid suddenly yelled, pushing aside a sand dune with their tail. Frisk rushed over, just as he uncovered what looked like a pale-ish blue stone with small streaks and frozen droplets still stuck to the stone.
"What d'ya think this is? Some kind of gemstone?" Monster Kid asked as he scooped it up using his tail. "It looks super pretty! And it kind of feels warm too, like something cute and furry's all curled up next to you! I dunno, but that's just the feeling I get holding it." Frisk quickly opened a pouch in the Treasure bag, so their friend could drop the stone in. "Let's keep it, it might even be treasure! But we should probably get moving too!"
However, the entire desert seemed to be completely covered in fog, not to mention it didn't help that they might've wandered into a canyon as well if the rocky walls slowly coming into view was any indication. Eventually, they made it to what looked like a clearing, surrounded by steam geysers and even a few lava pits here or there.
"T-T-Team Determination!" A timid voice called. Whimsun suddenly emerged from the fog, fiddling with their hands nervously. "T-Thank goodness I found y-y-you….o-or at least someone e-e-e-else for that matter…."
"What's up, something wrong, Whimsun?" Monster Kid asked. "Like, you just look more nervous than normal, what's wrong?" Whimsun hesitated, before waving for them to follow. It was only thanks to Monster Kid giving off a small electric jolt (so they could at least see a bit) that they were able to make it to what looked like a statue.
It was of some sort of...giant creature. It looked like some kind of dog-like creature, with literally six melted limbs and smaller silhouettes of dogs in between its legs. The silhouettes only seemed to have small dots peering through. The main creature itself seemed to lack a face, unlike the smaller dogs around its paws. Instead, it had a gaping hole where its entire face should be.
Needless to say, it was extremely eerie.
"I-I-I found this s-statue while looking a-around." Whimsun explained. "D-Do you think it's a monster? I-I-I've never seen a m-monster like t-t-t-this before…."
"Me neither. I wonder…" Monster Kid slowly moved around the base of the statue, taking care not to step any closer than needed. He gave a yell, waving for the other two to come over. Carved into the stone was a tablet, either written in a language Frisk (personally) couldn't understand or it was just whoever had written it had terrible handwriting.
"O-Old Monster…." Whimsun breathed out, covering their mouth. "I-I can barely m-m-make it out, though. C-Can you?" Frisk only shrugged, while Monster Kid squinted and moved a bit closer.
"'Dedicated to the Monsters who lost their lives, but were given a second chance. Reignite the life within the Amalgamate and the path to the future will be revealed.'" He read. There was a long silence, one where the words hung heavy in the air just like the fog.
"Reignite the life within the Amalgamate...The heck does that mean?" Monster Kid eventually asked, looking up to the statue. "How are we even supposed to do that?"
"There has to be s-s-someway…." Whimsun pointed out. "M-Maybe we're just n-n-not seeing the solution?" Frisk crossed their arms, looking the entire statue over while frowning. Until they got an idea. Excitedly, they turned to Monster Kid and quickly explained it. In an instant, Monster Kid looked almost just as excited as Frisk felt.
"Good idea, Frisk! You might see or hear something!" He exclaimed, causing Whimsun to give both of them a questioning look. He stepped back, just as Frisk stepped forwards and lightly touched one paw to the rock.
It took a few moments, until the entire world began to spin. They heard the telltale shatter as the world flashed to black. They didn't see anything this time, only hearing a soft voice to their left, strangely enough.
"Oh….I get it now. Put the Determination into the Amalgamate's heart, and that should lift the fog! Haha, I never would've guessed. Nice work, partner!"
Frisk blinked as they returned to reality. Something about that voice felt slightly off, but they couldn't focus on that now. The voice had said something about Determination and how they needed to put it into the Amalgamate's heart.
Without warning, they rushed around the statue to its front, looking carefully. They quickly found a small indent, just over where the heart would be if the statue was alive. And to their surprise, it looked strikingly familiar.
"Yo, what's up, Frisk?" Monster Kid asked, as he and Whimsun came out from the side of the statue. "Yo! You must've seen something then, right? What was it, do you have the puzzle all figured out?" Frisk only nodded, before they opened up the treasure bag and searched through it. It took only a minute before they found what they were looking for.
The same stone Monster Kid had found earlier.
Frisk began climbing up the statue, despite both Monster Kid and Whimsun telling them to stop. They ignored the two and instead tried to slot the stone into place in the statue's chest. To their relief, it fit perfectly. The former human jumped back down, backing away as an eerie howl suddenly began floating up through the statue's hole. It slowly and steadily began to grow louder, causing the three to back away until it became so loud, you could barely hear your own thoughts.
The statue suddenly let off a bright, white light. When it finally faded, the entire clearing was completely free of all fog, the sun beating down upon them rather mercilessly.
"T-T-The fog….i-it's gone!" Whimsun exclaimed, almost out of breath. "B-But….H-How? W-What just-"
"Yo, so the stone was actually the key to finding Magma Lake! And to lifting the fog too!" Monster Kid cut across them. "I wonder where it really is then? Is it just ahead of us or…." He trailed off, looking up to the sky and giving a small gasp. "Yo, you two! Look up, right now!" Frisk gave him a questioning glance, but looked up anyways.
High above them sat a huge plateau, too square and smooth looking to be natural. Various pipes and bits of dark blue machinery jutted out at odd angles, most of the very inner workings of….whatever that place was hidden by red rock. An immense amount of steam radiated off of the top, which was likely where the lake actually lay.
"M-M-Magma Lake….I-It was up there the w-w-whole time?" Whimsun asked, almost breathless. Monster Kid simply nodded, while Frisk even voiced that this was the reason it had never been found. While they were wandering about in circles, lost in the fog, Magma Lake had been above them the whole time.
"S-S-Someone needs to go tell the rest of the guild then!" Whimsun said, most likely bouncing if they weren't floating. "I-I-I can go, y-you two keep going! G-Go discover the s-s-secrets of Magma Lake!"
And with that, they were gone.
"C'mon, Frisk! We gotta get going, we're almost there!" Monster Kid exclaimed. Frisk nodded and the two were about to head out before a huge gust of wind nearly blew them off of their feet.
"Leaving so soon?" A familiar voice sneered. "But the party's only just begun!" Glyde flew out from hiding, while both Loox and Migosp ran out from behind two geysers. The three blocked Team Determination's path, looking rather pleased with themselves for doing so.
"What do you bullies want now? We need to go!" Monster Kid growled, lashing his tail. Glyde just laughed, flapping his wings only to cause another huge gust of wind.
"Ain't it obvious what we want?" Migosp hissed. "We want that treasure! And now, we're gonna get it too thanks to you two dopes solving the mystery for us!"
"I don't think we could've even gotten any luckier too!" Loox added. "So just skedaddle on out and nobody's gonna get hurt!"
"No way, you jerks!" Monster Kid yelled. "We aren't gonna let you get to Magma Lake. Or hurt anyone either! We'll just knock you three out before we go!" Glyde just gave another laugh, as Migosp backed away and Loox walked a bit closer.
"Really now? The wimps are gonna try to take me on?" He said. "Looks like you forgot our last fight, which ended with you two getting it handed to you hard! So let's see how you handle this again...A Double-Dark combo coming right-"
"WAIT! NO NO NO! COME BACK!" A small white dog suddenly streaked past, a tomato grasped firmly in jaw. It stopped right in front of Glyde and Loox, just as Papyrus suddenly ran into the clearing, readying a bone. "GIVE ME BACK MY PERFECT TOMATO ALREADY, YOU ANNOYING LITTLE DOG YOU!"
"P-Papyrus?" Monster Kid said, just as Papyrus threw the bone. It hit the dog square in the side, causing it to yelp and drop the tomato, scurrying off. The bone continued spinning, looping back around to Papyrus.
"AH, THANK GOODNESS!" He said, kneeling and carefully picking up the Perfect Tomato. "IF I HADN'T CAUGHT IT, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE MY SPAGHETTI! AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS…."
"Uh….Guildmaster?" Glyde said, eyebrow raised (if he had one, that is). "What on earth are you doing out here?"
"OH! IF IT ISN'T TEAM DETERMINATION AND MY GOOD FRIENDS!" Papyrus said, giving a big smile. "I WAS JUST OUT FOR A WALK WHEN THAT DOG STOLE MY TOMATO I WAS SAVING FOR LATER! BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" He turned back to Monster Kid and Frisk, making small "shoo!" motions. "YOU TWO BETTER GET BACK TO EXPLORING! THAT'S YOUR JOB, ISN'T IT?"
"Well, yeah, but those three-"
"BOO! NOT LISTENING TO YOUR GUILDMASTER? SHAME ON YOU! HURRY UP, GET GOING ALREADY!" Frisk and Monster Kid exchanged a glance, before they hesitantly began following a path that looked as if it would lead to the plateau. While Team Skull's Double-Dark combo was powerful, Papyrus could probably withstand it. After all, he didn't become known as one of the strongest and best explorers for nothing after all.
He would be perfectly fine, right?