Chapter 11: The Song of Healing
Everyone was staring wide eyed in the direction of Ikana Valley. The dead silence that followed what occurred was uncomfortable and unnatural. No one knew how to react to what had happened.
The first thing that sent Frisk into fear was Sans. How had that happened? Those six wings on his back could only mean one thing, he had absorbed six human souls. But… why? What had changed his mind? Sans had never even cared about the souls to an extent. Chara and Asgore had both fallen completely silent.
The fairy that was left behind by Link was trembling in fear. Frisk could tell she was worried about her partner. Although, that didn't stop her from being livid. "YOU!" She turned to Frisk, enraged. "Who is he? He was one of those monsters who came along with you!"
This got Chara thinking. The monsters hadn't gotten to the surface in this timeline… Would that mean...? "Frisk, if she knows about the timeline… wouldn't that mean…?"
"Hey! Are you even listening to me!?" The light that resonated around Tatl began turning to a darker blue than normal. "My friend just got taken away by some deranged skeleton! Listen to me!"
"Sorry little fairy, erm… I mean Tatl…" The fairy recoiled in shock. Frisk's voice had completely changed to a very deep one, and what was with the little fairy thing? "We- I mean, I am listening…"
"Wow, you're a real screw up…" Chara said internally to Asgore. "Give me back control, I was handling everything juuuust fine."
Asgore ignored them, continuing to look at a confused Tatl. Of course she'd be confused. His voice was much different from the other two. "Sorry? What were you saying?"
Tatl shook her head. "You know what, I don't care anymore. I'm going to go find Link."
That sent red flags in Frisk's mind. In the state Sans was in, he, for one, had control over the timeline. They had learned that the hard way against Flowey… Speaking of the flower… he had been awfully quiet. The second problem with going after Sans would be that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
Seizing back control from Asgore, Frisk tried to stop Tatl. "W-Wait, you can't do that alone!" The fairy stopped, willing to listen to Frisk for a moment longer. "That monster, you can't just fight him. He's-"
"Frisk is right." Flowey finally spoke up. "If you even think you can help him, you're an idiot." His face distorted, making Tatl flinch. "He'll die… you'll die… we'll all die!"
"Yeah?" Tatl mustered up courage to oppose this plant. She was pissed. "You expect me to just sit around while he's getting beat up? And you call him sick!"
"Oh, I'm not sadistic!" Flowey began bobbing back and forth. "I'm just not being an idiot!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Tatl flew right up to Flowey's face, completely pissed. "I, for one, actually care about people unlike YOU! Everything was going perfectly fine until you brats showed up. So I'm going to go help Link and clean up the mess YOU made!" Tatl zoomed off towards Ikana Valley, leaving everyone else in silence.
Flowey's face was priceless. His eyes became two dots and his mouth a straight line. "Welp… I was waiting for that to happen…" He spoke, still dazed at what had just occurred. Frisk, Chara, and Asgore were all very surprised as well.
Even through the silence, they didn't notice someone walking up from behind them. The steps were slow, yet had a sense of urgency to them. "Are you sure this is wise?" A familiar voice asked from behind. Frisk and Flowey both froze in that position. "Letting that fairy run off to certain death… then your world will fall no matter what you do…"
"Aha!" Flowey turned his head around confidently. Whoever this was didn't seem like a threat to him. "And who are you to tell US what to d-" As soon as he faced the man speaking to him, he cowered back in fear. The red glinting eyes of the Happy Mask Salesman couldn't burnt a hole straight through him.
Frisk turned around right after, both them and Chara trying to muffle a gasp. They had both seen this man on the mountain before. But… now there was no Sans to protect them. Reaching for the worn dagger in their pocket, they hesitantly began backing away. This man was obviously powerful… Being that LOADing was off the table, they had to be cautious.
"Do you not understand?" He asked, casually stepping forward. Chara began easing into control in case he tried to pull anything. The Salesman looked down at the child. "Corrupted Child who once saw the light… please allow me to speak to all three of you…"
That was not a request, that was an order. He knew that Chara and Asgore were there… "Alright… they can talk now…" Frisk mumbled, keeping a close eye on his movements.
A giggle escaped the Happy Mask Salesman's mouth. "Good… Now… I'm sure you must be terribly confused about the events of this place… I am here to explain…"
"Explain everything. Don't leave anything out."
It seemed like this man had a plan, not even asking for a condition. "Alright then… first I must ask you to look above you…" Frisk followed orders, seeing the moon with its terrifying face, staring down at them. They could tell it was slowly inching closer. "We only have two more days before that will crash down on us and end everything… Not even your loads will help you stop it…"
Frisk's face paled. How much did he know? Asgore was sitting back, completely confused. Although, he didn't butt in on the conversation. Chara let out a childish giggle. "And who are you to say that? We eradicated humanity with that much power. What do you think a rock can do to me?"
"It will end this timeline forever…" His voice was harsh. "Corrupted Child… allow me to explain before being overconfident. Your friend Sans… has told me much about where you have come from. You must be the ones who reset our world…" Frisk slowly nodded, allowing him to continue. "Well, you cannot, under any circumstances, help this world. That boy you met is the only one who can fulfil this quest…"
"Oh come on!" Flowey screeched. "That thing that has killed so much?"
A smile crept across the Salesman's face. "I'd say the same to you Asriel Dreemurr. Yet you were the one to break the barrier in multiple timelines…" The flower recoiled in shock as The Happy Mask Salesman continued. "As I was saying… he holds the key to preventing this apocalypse. However, when he dies, he is dead. He does not "load" as you call it…"
"Then… what does he do?"
"The Song of Time…" The haunting tune that played many times during the last few resets began ringing in their ears as a memory. "The Song of Time does not follow your rules of "Determination". It is a sacred power given to him by the Goddess of Time…" He shut his eyes. "I can explain more later, but now is not the time… If that boy dies… we all do."
"And how can we trust you?" Chara asked, hesitating to hold the knife up longer.
"Whether you choose to trust me or not, that is your choice." He began walking away. For a moment, he stopped to face the human yet again. "But before I go, this may help you…" Grabbing something from his backpack, Frisk looked on curiously. What he pulled out slightly disappointed them.
"You got the stone mask…" Chara cheered nonchalantly in their head. Frisk studied this new form of powerful magic. They could sense the sheer power coming from it. When they finally looked up to thank the man, he was completely gone from sight.
The human sighed, placing the mask into their inventory. "So Chara, what will it be?" They asked.
"I'd say no, we can handle it."
"T-That guy actually creeps me out…" Flowey said, visibly trembling. "I'd vote no. He's too shady."
Frisk waited for a response from Asgore, but got none. "Uh, hello? Asgore?"
"I'm sorry…" He mumbled. Before anyone could react, he seized control of Frisk's body, scooping up Flowey and running of towards the direction Sans went. "Too many children have died on my watch… I will not stand for another falling because of my failures…"
"ASGORE NO!"
Cosmic Sans blocks the way…
Without Tatl, Link had no clue how to face this enemy the most effective way. Although, he was a fairly good strategist himself. Eyes narrowing, he looked for possible weak points. The obvious options were the six glowing hearts on his wings…
His eyes widened as yellow bullets swarmed from the sky. Immediately, he raised his shield above his head in defense. The sound of explosions sounded around him, making smoke rise from the area. When he lowered his shield, the skeleton was looking at him with a comical grin. "What's wrong kid? Am I a bit stronger than all the monsters you slaughtered?"
Link grunted in annoyance, trying to find the best opening to attack. His eyes darted around, trying to find what would be the best way to strike. He dashed to the left side of Sans who simply grinned at his efforts. Link performed a jump attack, his sword connecting with the Green wing. To his surprise, it was like hitting steel. That was when he realized the wing could form a shield.
Bones began flying towards him in unfathomable speeds while others were extremely slow. Link began spinning, his sword glowing with magic from the Great Fairy in ClockTown. A spin attack began cutting through multiple bones at once, rendering them as useless.
"Hmm… for someone with that high LV, you sure aren't that strong…" Sans muttered, noticing Link's annoyance. "C'mon buddy, I almost feel bad for beating you so badly… I mean, you're using your strongest attacks to survive my weakest…"
Using his monologue as time to strike, Link placed a well timed vertical slice to his ribcage. To his surprise, a split second before it connected, the skeleton snapped his fingers, drawing out Link's golden soul. The gold was quickly overcome by blue, putting additional weight on him.
Sans's orange wing began glowing with incredible power. Link could sense it. Something was trapped in there. Something wanted to do the right thing, but was being forced against its will. The wing swept down at Link. He tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough. To his utmost surprise, even when the wing hit him while he was moving, there was no hit. When he fell to the ground, it tried swiping again, this time connecting and sending him tumbling off into a wall.
1000/1500 HP
He knew how the orange one worked now. You had to be moving to avoid it. Magic like this wasn't new to him after all. He had seen much worse. His eyes widened when a dragon like skull began materializing from thin air. It opened its maw, revealing a blinding white light charging up. He had seen this once. He quickly sidestepped to the left, the beam of light harmlessly flying by. If only he had the mirror shield. Wait… that was it!
Link tried to pull out his ocarina to play the Song of Soaring. He was surprised when he realized he no longer had it with him. Had it fallen on the way? He shook the idea out of his head. It was too long of a process to obtain the shield. He wouldn't be able to do it in the heat of the battle. The thing that worried him was the absence of the Ocarina. He no longer had the Song of Time to help him out here…
Sans grabbed Link's soul, whipping him to the red Crystal hanging above the entrance to Stone Tower temple. As soon as he came into contact, it seemed Sans had an idea. "Have a nice flight buddy!" A yellow bullet fired at the crystal. A loud rumbling made Link realize the gravity (pun totally intended) of the situation.
The world began turning completely upside down. In panic, he jammed his sword into the wall of the temple. It was the only thing separating him from a deathly drop into the sky. Sans took flight, hovering right before Link. Was this really it? "Well, I see you're hanging out here, but it's time we ended this…" Gaster Blasters appeared in the air, aiming towards all possible routes of escape. "Die." They all fired, releasing the searing hot light.
Tatl flew over Ikana Valley, desperately heading for the sounds of magical attacks. If she didn't make it fast enough, then this whole mission would fail. That was when she noticed a familiar figure running her way. It was Frisk… or more like Asgore. I don't have time for this… She thought in anger.
"Wait! Little Fairy! We are here to help you!" It was the same gruff voice again. The fairy didn't have time to chat with them. She ignored him, flying higher. "Hey! We found his little instrument thingy on the ground!"
The… ocarina? Tatl turned around, spotting the Ocarina of Time in their hands. "W-Where did you-"
Asgore threw it to the fairy. She skillfully caught it with ease. "Hurry, you must get that to the boy."
Without questioning, Tatl flew towards Stone Tower, determined to save her friend.
As the light of the Gaster Blasters weakened, Sans finally ceased fire. The boy had to be dead now. Just to make sure, he observed through the smoke. An audible gasp escaped him. The boy's hand was shining gold. The courage in his eyes never faltered.
With a yell to the Red Crystal, Link brought his sword into it, causing the world to flip again. Sans was quite impressed. Although, this didn't make his job easier. Grunting, his blue wing began shining. With a sweep, it locked Link into the ground, unable to move due to the pressure on his now blue soul.
Sans summoned ten bones in the air, throwing them downward. To his surprise, his hand shone brighter. With it, Link's soul began cracking with gold, breaking the effect on it. The boy leapt forward, trying to land a strike. Sans managed to dodge. It didn't make it any easier that the souls were trying to resist…
Link turned to his Deku Scrub form, catching Sans off guard. So it was the same person he saw on the mountain… Link fired a series of bubbles, only for them to be deflected by his green shield. Deciding to switch strategies, Link took off his mask again, playing defensive. Sans began charging his light blue wing. Link, seeing what it was trying to do, remained perfectly still. It phased right through him. He was lucky he guessed right…
Down below, Tatl was flying up Stone Tower with incredible speeds. She noticed purple strings beginning to form along the walls. This was definitely concerning. That was when she spotted Link, that same weird triangle pulsing on his hand.
Sans caught sight of her, making sure to keep her off of his tail. Charging a rainbow Gaster Blaster, he fired a multi directional beam of light. It bounced off the walls, trying to hit the interfering being. Tatl knew she wouldn't be able to get close neither would throwing the Ocarina work. That was when she noticed Frisk down at the bottom of Stone Tower.
"Hey! You! Use that mask!" She screamed, noticing they had the Stone Mask. This could help! The human, or boss monster... didn't hesitate to equip the Mask. Tatl completely didn't focus about them due to the masks effects of it rendering the user unimportant.
On the other side of things, Asgore as using his incredible strength to his advantage. While in a human form, he still had access to some of his abilities… He was able to begin jumping from ledge to ledge, barely hanging on. It didn't help with the screams of protest coming from Frisk and Chara. He wouldn't listen.
Although, he did have a plan. "Flowey." He caught the attention of the flower resting on his arm. "I will plant you when we are close enough, I need you to use your vines to restrain him." As much as he didn't trust the plant, he hoped his son would listen to him. He and the flower had had a long talk on the way here about that…
"Got it…" He mumbled. As soon as Asgore was close enough, he put Flowey into the ground. The purple strings were dancing everywhere. Now that Flowey wasn't under the protection of the mask, they began moving for him. Quickly, he shot vines in Sans's direction, wrapping them around his whole body.
The skeleton was caught by surprise. This was all they needed. "NOW TATL!" Flowey yelled across the chasm. Nodding, the fairy zoomed towards Link with the Ocarina in hand. The boy caught it, beginning to play a tune.
Day to night dark to light fall the sands of time…
"What is he doing?" Flowey asked in annoyance. He wouldn't be able to hold Sans forever. But, this wasn't the song that turned back time.
Let the years like the gears of the clock unwind…
"Flowey, he knows what he is doing…"
In your mind walk through time back to better days…
Sans's head lurched upwards, the souls dispersing from him.
Memories like a dream. Wash tears away…
Memories of happy moments on the surface with his family played through his head. Tears gathered in his eye sockets as he reverted back to his normal form.
Like a star in the sky, darkness can't reach you…
He began crying, his tears drenching the vines holding him in place. Said vines began loosening as the song's true effects were now affecting Flowey. The flower howled in searing hot pain, but bliss filled the soulless feeling in him.
Light the night joy is light till the new dawn…
Sans fell to the ground, Link standing over him with no intent of killing. The song still was playing through the instrument.
Cast away your old face. Let go your spite…
Flowey began transforming. Frisk gasped as his flower head completely fell off.
With this mask I'll ask to borrow your light!
A flower mask fell to the ground. Sans finally stopped crying tears of sadness, but began crying tears of joy. He hadn't felt this way in a long time… The song finally stopped, blinding light sweeping across Stone Tower. That's when everyone noticed the smoke where Asriel once was.
From the distance, Link watched as a child stepped from the smoke, tears in his eyes. "W-What? H-How am I…?"
"Asriel!" All three of the entities screamed in delight. They embraced the goat boy with tears in their eyes, blabbering apologies and rants of happiness. As touching as the scene was, Link had his own problems to deal with.
Sans crouched before him, not fearful of the boy striking. "I-I really was wrong about ya kid… You… heh… you are a hero on my terms."
Link and Tatl both smiled. Although, the latter was still annoyed at the skeleton nearly murdering her friend. "So uh, Link… let's get down to business." Tatl interjected. Frisk and Asriel had made their way to the other three, listening in. "In the state we are in right now, we can't stop the moon within this cycle… we have to play the Song of Time…"
Frisk lowered their head. They shouldn't have gotten their hopes up about Asriel. "I-I understand…" They said. "But… Sans and Asriel are finally happy and-"
"Which is exactly why we are taking them with us!" Tatl exclaimed. "When we play the Song of Time, those two will come with us. And you'll probably start on the other side of that barrier…" This ensured Frisk and Asgore could both have separate bodies.
"Hey bucko…" Sans stood up. "As much as I like that offer, we have a ton of good monsters stuck under that mountain… They need Flowey and I down there to break the barrier…"
"We'll find a way…" Tatl responded with confidence. "I'm sure we already know one as well… So what do you guys say?"
Everyone nodded in agreement. All of them looked towards Link, Asriel and Frisk grabbing on. Frisk waved when Link began playing that once haunting melody. Now? Now it was one of hope. As Link, Tatl, Asriel, and Sans fell through the countless clocks, they were filled with courage to save the monsters and Termina. Although… Sans would have a TON of explaining to do before Link trusted them…
Thanks for reading! We have officially reached the Majora's Mask sided part
Reviews are encouraged!
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