Chapter 13: Swamped with Problems
The vast expanse of Termina Field stretched across their visions. The familiar feeling of when Link first came out of ClockTown flooded his memory. The first time coming out here signified the true start of his adventure. Now, it signified the start of a new adventure. And he was ready.
But, time was limited. Now was not the time to hesitate to go anywhere. He looked to his other three companions, motioning to the pathway up ahead. The others seemed to get the message, continuing on in silence. Everyone was mainly just enjoying the quiet while they could. Because soon, everyone knew chaos would ensue.
They continued walking, being sure to avoid any enemies in their path. The grass began to feel on the muddy side now, signifying they were close. If he remembered correctly, there was a heart piece on the tree nearby. But, he had to kill to get up there. Sans would just have to calm down with this whole killing thing. These monsters weren't friendly.
Bad Bats were circling the tree, ensuring he wouldn't be able to climb up there. Sans and Asriel had noticed he stopped, both gazing to where he was looking. "Let me guess…" Sans started. "There is something up there you need…"
Link nodded, earning an eyeroll from Sans. He wouldn't be able to grab whatever was up there with blue magic because he couldn't see it. And by the looks of it, those bat things were dangerous. Link was about to charge forward and handle them before he was stopped by Asriel. "Wait! Let me try!"
He arched a brow before realizing what was happening. Vines wrapped around Asriel, warping him back into Flowey. Link and Sans stood back as Asriel shot vines towards the top of the tree. In a result, he unintentionally scared the bats into the air, all of them circling around the party.
With a roll of his eyes, Link drew his sword. Asriel gave off an 'uh-oh' as they all swarmed down to him. The boy blocked with his shield, the bats recoiling back for a moment. The shield withdrew, Link performing a vertical slice. In one hit, all the bats fell to the ground before turning to ashes.
He breathed a sigh of relief before looking to Sans's disapproving glare. The empty void of those eye sockets didn't scare Tatl, only ignored her. "Look skeleton, if you want to hang with us, you need to understand that not everything here is merciful."
Asriel seemed just as worried. It just felt so alien to both of them that killing was right. He took of the Flowey mask, turning back to his regular form. "C-Can you at least try t-to warn us before d-doing that?"
Letting out a low growl, Tatl's sass levels went up. "Oh, yeah… because we will definitely have time to yell to you while our lives are at stake."
"I hate to interrupt but…" Sans broke through their conversation. He seemed to be looking down the path. "What in the living heck is that abomination?" He asked, a horrified expression on his face. Link couldn't help but let out a muffled snicker, realizing he was pointing at Tingle, who was suspended in the air by balloon. "If you should kill anything, it's that."
"Just don't make any sudden movements and we'll be fine!" Tatl exclaimed. She had always been extremely unnerved by that man.
Continuing on, the group inched slowly by Tingle, making sure he didn't see them. Luckily, no one had to face the scarring experience of talking to him. Up ahead seemed like a murky swamp. Lily pads went to the left while a small hut stood in the center of their vision.
Deciding on going into the small hut, they all stepped through the door. So far, Sans was disgusted with humanity up here. First there was a middle aged man acting like whatever that was. Now, there was some dude who looked like a mix between a pilot and a clown. It was odd.
Sans completely avoided him, instead deciding to look at the map on a wall. It showed the whole route around the river. On the other side of things, Asriel and Link were both talking to the man behind the counter. "Oh! Are you here for the boat cruise you two?" He seemed to not care that Asriel didn't look anything like a human.
"Oh um…" Asriel spoke, remembering Link would not be doing any talking. "We're actually just looking for…" He eyed Link in slight wonder. He never actually told Asriel or Sans where they were headed to.
Tatl took over. "We were just looking for the Deku Palace, but I think we know where it is on second thought."
"Aight', if you ever wanna have a cruise, come visit us." He gave a wave. Everyone exited, not gaining anything from that experience.
Tatl sighed, "Great, so even though things were altered we still have to skip across this river…" Asriel and Sans seemed to freeze at that. "Why don't we just soar there?"
Link gave her a look that said, "Don't question me." He put on his Deku Scrub Mask, about to hop across the lily pads. That was when he noticed they would sink if the other two came along. Sans could just teleport across and Asriel would be able to simply duck underground. With a flick of his arm, he pointed to them, then to the shore not far down the bank.
Sans squinted, trying to make out what he meant. "Uh, you want us to get over there kid?" Link nodded in response before realizing both of the monsters had disappeared. He looked to the other bank, seeing both of them standing there. Asriel seemed a bit dazed while Sans had a smug grin on his face.
It seemed that Sans could take passengers with him. That gave Link an idea. He hopped across the lily pads, finally making it to where the two were standing. Before he could try to make any signals to teleport them over to the Deku Palace, Tatl was one step ahead of him. "Hey, bonehead, can you take us to the Deku Palace?"
Sans shook his head. He was not too keen on being just means of transport. But, it wasn't like he could teleport there. "Nope, I can't teleport to places I haven't seen. Wherever you are planning to go, you gotta walk."
Slightly annoyed, Tatl motioned towards the little passageway through the stone walls. "Then we have to go this way first."
They continued on, Link taking the lead. He knew this place by heart, except for those stupid woods. That maze would always get him because the monkey would turn last second. Reluctantly, he led the group into the woods.
As usual, a small monkey was waiting for them. Link walked up to it, listening to its normal dialogue. "Mmm… Follow me!" It exclaimed, running off in a direction. Sans and Asriel seemed surprised by a monkey talking, but there was no time to wait. The monkey, Link, and Tatl were already heading off.
They ran, in multiple directions. Half way through, a turtle-like thing spotted them. The monkey seemed unfazed, continuing to move along. Link's eyes narrowed at the turtle dangerously. It tried spinning at him, only for bones to block its path. Link turned around, seeing Sans with his eye glowing a bright shade of blue.
The turtle seemed stunned, buying enough time for everyone to run. Finally, after many enemies tried to attack them, Link could see Koume lying on the ground. She seemed extremely hurt by some magic, obviously from Majora. "Ohh! Owow-ow! Help meeee!" She screamed when seeing Link and the others. "I was just busy minding my own business, picking mushrooms, when… BAM! I got hit from behind!" She exclaimed in pain. "That pesky Skull Kid! Did he think an old hag wouldn't recognize him if he hid his face?"
Sans's eye sockets blackened, realizing who she was referring to. "Don't worry lady, we're already picking up behind him…"
"Oh, ow!" She winced again. "To think he's that powerful… and now I can't even move!" You! Don't you have anything that gives you energy?" She asked with hope.
That was when Link realized something stupid. He had forgotten a red potion. Tatl's wings lowered, realizing why he wasn't giving her a potion. "You forgot the healing potion… didn't you?"
"Healing?" Asriel asked in question. "Wait, I might be able to…" Before anyone could question what he was doing, Asriel began approaching Koume with his hands humming with some green magic. She seemed to back up, realizing he was going to touch her with that. Asriel noticed, reassuring her, "Don't worry… I-It shouldn't hurt…." But I've never done this before. He thought to himself.
He pressed his hand to Koume's head, her wounds being slowly closed. Link and Tatl watched in awe as the healing magic took effect. This would definitely be useful. It seemed to wear out Asriel on the other hand. He was forced to stop to avoid exhaustion, but it seemed to work.
Koume sprang to her feet, raising her hands in astonishment. "Ooh! Feel the energy flow! Koume is revived!" The crystal on her head began glowing with vibrance. Link, expecting this, was unfazed while Sans's eye flared with caution. But, when it stopped she was simply floating on a broomstick. "You saved me!" She exclaimed to Asriel. "I'm the swamp tour guide. I run the boat cruise, so come by if you want a free ride!" A shrill laugh escaped the witch as she flew off into the sky.
Sans let out an audible groan. "Is anyone in this world… I don't know… normal?"
In response, Link shook his head with a small laugh.
"Oh! Thanks for what you did back there!" Koume exclaimed through her little station. They had made it back to the hut, with much resistance from Sans. "In a special deal just for you, I'll let you on the cruise for free." She said to Asriel. "But, your friends will have to pay a small fee of five rupees." Link was more than happy to pay for both him and Sans. Koume mentioned the picture contest, but Link didn't care. That was besides the point right now. "All right! The ship is leaving!"
After mowing over an octorock, much to Sans's disapproval, the Deku Palace was in sight. While it amounted to nothing compared to Asgore's castle, it was quite impressive. The boat came to a slow stop at the dock, everyone hopping off. That was when the same monkey from the woods caught their attention.
It addressed the four with a small bow. "You have strange powers, no? Me been watching you from the forest!" If Sans had hair, he would have been pulling it out. "Lately, this swamp, filled with poison water. Woodfall Temple across swamp, strange… But me no able to find temple entrance. Temple for Deku only. Brother want to see Deku Princess to find Temple. It no go well. Now brother is captured by Deku."
"Then, where is he?" Asriel asked, being the only one who really cared other than Link.
"Help!" He yelled, running into the castle.
Sans and Asriel looked to Link who apparently had now taken leadership role. After all, he knew what was going on the most. "So…" Sans started, lazily looking in the opposite direction of the palace. "Should we help him or…"
Tatl sighed, "Yes, we have to."
"How did I ever get into this mess?" Sans asked himself, preparing for whatever ridiculousness would come next.
They didn't understand. How could this have happened? Their soul shattered at the barrier when Asriel died. Sure, Asriel's soul had reformed a small bit, but how? What power was behind that song?
Chara stood up from the flowerbed, brushing themself off. They internally cursed at the dreadful flowers. The flowers that they poisoned themself with always held a horrible place in their mind.
But now, they were curious if their soul was whole or not. Calling upon their existence, a small, pulsating red heart came from their chest. But, it was nowhere close to full. Now that they looked at it more closely, it was mostly black. Small red cracks was all the soul was. Surprisingly, it was enough to keep them alive.
They quickly placed the soul into their chest, just to make sure it wouldn't somehow shatter. But, they were not sure whether to be happy or angry about this. The feeling of it being all ripped away was too strong. "This could end any moment." They told themself.
It was ironic when they thought about it. They were feeling what Sans felt all those resets ago. The feeling of dread crept to them. They had to get to the barrier. It HAD to be broken quickly. "Curse having emotions…" They muttered through breaths.
Before they could begin, a clatter of metal was heard on the floor. How had they forgotten. Toriel visited here everyday. "M-My… ch-child?"
Chara turned their head, seeing the woman who called herself their mother for a short time. "Hi mom… it's me."
Alright, Sorry it took me forever to update. My sister took the computer and I couldn't update.
The problem with writing this is one small thing... I have to play through the game to write the scenes. With Undertale, it's simple enough to know the basic things for scenes. With this... you gotta play it. So that's why updates take slightly longer.
Next chapter will be the Deku Palace and maybe the Odolwa boss fight.
BadDRUMMERboy15 Out