A/N: Thanks again for the sweet humble review, Orkidee, I'm happy you're enjoying this fic
Also, thank you, Charlett, for reviewing my fic, even though you're not liking it much, I appreciate the criticism on the writing itself, it really does need a lot of work, and I knew that before I posted any of my stories. (I hope you received my reply ) I just wasn't aware what fields needed the improvement in. Though you told me what was wrong generally, I wished you were more specific (like picking an area of my writing for an example) Though I thought that some of your thoughts on the story itself were a bit far fetched to my understanding, (I understand your points, it's just some of the things you stated in your review didn't even happen in the story) I still thank you sincerely for reviewing nonetheless, I acknowledge your opinion, and I'll look into that beta you mentioned. However, I'm not rewriting my story, at least not yet. I'm personally really proud of it, I've gotten really far with it, and it's only my third fan fiction on this site. :3
Just a heads up to all of you who are wondering: Yes, Paula is eight years old in this fiction. Is that canon? Of course not, I also picture her around Ness's age, but in this fic, she's eight. Don't worry; she'll have her dominating moments, and I'll be sure to develop her character as much as possible ;) Please, I'll state it again like in my summary; don't expect this fiction to religiously follow the game for not all things are canon. In fact, expect it to almost be drastically different from the game; at least character wise, for Paula isn't the only character that is different. Just think of it a very very odd, and different re telling of the game. Nonetheless, the pairing NessxJeff almost ceases to exist, but I thought it would be fun to write this anyways! (my own run of the game convinced me sadly) XD I know this is embarrassing for me to reveal, but this is the first love story I've ever written that has gotten this far! :P
But other than that, to all of you that have been reading this strange little fiction of mine, and have been enjoying it, I thank you sincerely! You guys are awesome! :D Also another quick note: don't expect Ness and Jeff's relationship to sky rocket in the next few chapters, I like love relationships to crescendo slowly. But they'll have their moments. :)
So yes, thanks again everyone, I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! (sorry for such a long author's note) X3
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"Jeff! There you are!" She laughed picking me up away from my little castle of sand, my creation. She handed me into his arms as he lifted me up in the air, glasses gleaming in the Californian sunset, laughing light heartedly.
My mother held my hands as we made slow progression into the ocean waves. I flinched the first time the deep blue was able to nip at my toes. My father, already standing in the shallows of the water was awaiting my arrival. The first time I felt the water rush in between my toes, I laughed, wanting to reach down with my hand, and pick up the wet sand, in which I threw to my father in attempt to toss it to him. Frankly, the mud broke into tiny bits before it could even reach him, only to be washed away once again.
I eventually let go of my mother's hold, timid at first from the splashing waters, and the gentle winds. Father was only a couple of steps away when I toppled over, losing my glasses in the process. I dared not to open my eyes, the salt stung my mouth as it was. My entire world was crashing around me, until I felt two strong hands, lifting me away from the depths of hell, his voice cheering for me, "You did it, son, you did it!" Mother slipped on my missing wet glasses she found past my ears. He lifted me higher and higher in the air, as I would glance to the sun colliding with the horizon, then back down to my ever so proud father, smiling up at me in approval. I could only laugh as he cradled me in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. My mother sneaked in to peck my cheek before doing so on father's lips. It was the single happiest moment in my life.
It was the very first, and very last day that I was able to impress him.
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The Universe Will Die Without You
Chapter five: The disturbance in Master Belch's Lair
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I splashed clean, cool water on my face that cleansed my pores. I shook my head somewhat dry, my hair sprinkling water everywhere. We were at the pond in the middle of Saturn Valley, which apparently was a secret to most of, or all humanity. Ness dunked his head under the water.
"My clothes reek!" He complained, dunking his head back out. I could only chuckle in response.
"Isn't that ironic? We just washed these clothes last night, and now they smell like vomit" I replied. Ness snorted.
"It's disgusting! That pile of puke was a disgrace to the entire earth!" Ness ranted.
"Apparently Master Belch is worse, remember? And don't forget, he's apparently the cause of all the zombies." I reminded him. Ness frowned.
"If it comes down to that...Jeff, we can't bring Paula along." Ness looked at me. I looked at him in disbelief.
"But will she even be safe here? Wouldn't we need her when we even face him?" I asked in concern. Ness gazed at the reflection in the pond. Ness decided to shake off the subject.
"They keep talking about that jar of honey...if we take the jar of honey to him, maybe that'll be enough to convince him at least?" He said. We were both silent for a moment. My nose twitched from the aroma that wafted from our clothing. Ness growled standing up.
"That's it! I can't stand this stench anymore!" He complained as he pulled his shirt off over his head. When I saw Ness shirtless for the first time, I wasn't sure what I was thinking then, or what my face would have looked like. He body structure was a little too lean, olive under toned skin seemingly glowing in the sunlight, but was dull compared to the multiple scars along his stomach, and back. Ness didn't seem to be phased at all as he reached down to unbutton his jeans.
I wasn't aware at the time that I was just staring as Ness seemed to carelessly strip in front of me. Once he was only in his blue boxers, he wiggled his toes and just let himself fall into the pond. The water splashed everywhere, as nearby Mr. Saturn's became alert of the sound.
"What are you doing?!" I asked feeling flustered.
"Jeff, hop in! It feels nice," he said before he dunked his head under. However, I was stock still. Stripping to my boxers in public was just not my style, even though this community wasn't even human...and seemed very encouraging as multiple Mr. Saturn's carried soap with them, and danced around me. Maybe the 'un' human populated community made Ness more comfortable, but it sure as hell didn't help me. I spun my head around me, as the little head- like creatures danced around me, like I was the middle of their tribal ritual.
"Wh-wha-,"
"They want to wash your clothes Jeff, take 'em off!" Ness hollered at me before splashing water at my face, as some of it washed up my nose. My cheeks tinged pink from slight annoyance.
"Hey! I'll get you for that!" I yelled as I took off my uniform jacket. Oh jeez... I was undressing in front of everyone. The Mr. Saturn's seemed to help tug my pants off in a hurry. I felt so violated once my white button down shirt was off as well, and I was standing only in my own pair of plaid green and blue boxers. I was surprised, let alone embarrassed at how much fun Ness seemed to have, laughing half heartedly as he pointed at me. More Mr. Saturn's seemed to join him, and floated in the pond like rubber ducks. One Mr. Saturn jumped all the way to my eye level, and claimed my glasses with his nose, while the others behind me shoved me in the pond. I could have nearly drowned if it wasn't for the fact that the pond was so shallow, yet deep enough for us to swim in. When I got my head above the water, something was sitting on my head as I gasped for air.
"DING, DING!" A Mr. Saturn exclaimed on top of my head before jumping out of the pond. I heard Ness laughing.
"I can't see!" I gasped. All the sudden, I felt the water move all around me, and I felt something brush past my two ears. In an automatic annoyed gesture, I snatched my glasses away, putting them on, seeing a snickering Ness in front of me. I flushed angrily until we both spotted a Mr. Saturn float passed us wearing one of my socks on its head. Ness started laughing hysterically, as I claimed my runaway sock. It was then that Ness splashed me with water.
"Hey!" I said splashing him back, only to be greeted by more crashing splashes, Ness cracking up the more we slapped each other with water. I wasn't long until I surrendered, stepping out of the pond.
Bewildered, Ness said "What are you doing?"
"Getting out of the pond, that's what!" I replied. Ness frowned.
"Why?"
"Because… because I can!" I said taking off my glasses, and shaking my wet hair somewhat dry. Ness gave a disappointed grunt.
"You're no fun; even Paula's more fun than you!" Ness said. I shook my head. Ness sighed in defeat.
"Let's get ready to find some lead way to Master Belch then…" He spoke in a disappointed tone.
Once both of us were completely dry, we both helped put all of our clothes on the clothes line to dry them off. The Mr. Saturn community was so generous that they even offered both of us plain white T-shirts. However, we had to wear our pajama pants for our other pairs were still in the process of drying.
"Please help us, ZING! Mr. Saturn put to labor by stinky Master Belch, DOING! You three out to save world, BOOM!" They kept asking us everywhere we went. For some reason, I wasn't shocked to find that they knew we were out to seemingly save the world. They may have known about this so called prophecy for hundreds of years.
"How do we get to him?" Ness asked as one of the Mr. Saturn's told us the whereabouts of Master Belch's lair.
"Go out cave, ZOOM! Behind waterfall, door asks password, stand completely still and silent for three minutes, BOING! Mr. Saturn captive inside, ZOING! Master Belch inside too! Give him jar of fly's honey, PONG!" Ness and I nodded at each other and headed to the house with Paula.
--
"Paula..." Ness shook her shoulder lightly. Lying comfortably next to Paula was a small Mr. Saturn with no bowtie. I assumed the one that I had seen in the cave a little while ago. When Paula was able to stir again, she looked up at us, bags still hanging under her sapphire eyes, her skin looking slightly better, but was still pale.
"Ness...Jeff?" She groaned. Ness nodded sincerely.
"Paula, me and Jeff are going after Master Belch by ourselves, you just stay here, and rest, and we promise, we'll be back in a while, alright?" Ness explained. It seemed to take a while before anything seemed to click in Paula's expression, her head slowly swaying back and forth.
"But...don't you need me? We need to do this together!" She started to whine. Ness's expression was apologetic.
"No, Paula. I can't let you face him, at least not yet. You're still recovering from your sickness from that other little heap back there. There's no telling how bad it could get from letting you face something that supposedly worse. You stay here, and just relax. The civilians here will care for you, I promise." Paula couldn't stop whining.
"But I wanna go..."
"No, Paula! You're still sick! And the faster we can get this over with, the better! I promise that you'll help us with the next sanctuary guardian, who I have a feeling will be coming up soon, alright?" Ness said putting his hand on her forehead, and wiping her frazzled hair out of her eyes. Paula plopped right back down on her pillow, which made the bowless Mr. Saturn jump in the air.
"...Promise?" She muttered.
"Yeah...we promise," Ness said honestly. Paula sighed aggravatingly.
"You better get back soon… don't make me mad." I could tell by Paula's tone that she hated Ness's decision to leave her behind. Even though I agreed on Ness's part that she was sick, I couldn't help but feel her disappointment, like she was being kept at arm's length from taking part in the spar. Though I didn't know her much, she had to have been a bright girl. Had Ness been treating her like this since before I joined along? Ness chuckled softly.
"I promise; we'll be back soon." He stated. I asked myself, not how well he was taking care of her physically, but was she even happy?
"I'll be praying for both of you...come back safely" She yawned. Ness smiled, and leaned down to peck Paula on the forehead.
"Please rest up, you truly need it." Ness murmured in her ear, as Paula seemingly frowned angrily, closing her eyes.
"Let's go" Ness said leaving the tent without a second thought. I didn't move however, looking down at Paula's fragile frame, giving her a deeply sympathetic look.
"I'm so sorry… you don't deserve this," I told her before leaving myself. On the corner of my eye, though blurry from my blind spot in my glasses, I could have sworn that she had sat up in response.
--
Silence floated in the atmosphere between us, as we departed from the hidden Valley known as Saturn. Through the tunnel, we were annoyingly stopped by a couple of cock roaches, one of them attempting to crawl up my leg. In reflex, I stomped hard on it, squishing and killing the poor little meaningless creature, as the other one attempted to get to Ness. Ness yelped, as he shook his ankle wildly. The cock roach flew to the ground as Ness quickly stepped on it.
"It bit me," He said sticking his tongue out at the now squished cock roach.
"How annoying, I hope they don't invade while we try to sleep tonight," I thought out loud. Ness agreed with a grunt.
"Like a bed bug? Hopefully not," He said before we were off again.
Making it outside, we spotted the waterfall in the distance. Along the way, fending off a couple of enemies, we both halted as we got there when I heard that cringing music from the sky. It was that god damn photographer.
"Who the fuck; is this guy who keeps falling from the sky?" I muttered over to Ness. Ness sighed in annoyance.
"You've come across him as well? Just keep your cool, he takes pictures of travelers," Ness replied.
"Picturestakeninstantaneously! I'm a photographic genius if I dare say so myself! Get ready to make some instant memories, ready? Say… FUZZY PICKLES!" Ness sarcastically grinned; throwing up a peace sign as we were momentarily blind.
"Wow! What a great photograph! It will always bring back the fondest of memories!!" He cheered before spinning into the sky again. We both sighed in annoyance.
"Let's just get this over with," I mumbled as we walked behind the waterfall where; according to the Mr. Saturn's was Belch's lair.
Water splashed my cheeks and lenses as me and Ness snuck behind the falling waters. The door was sturdy as steel when we looked up at the speaker above the door.
"Say the password!" Ness and I said nothing, and stood completely still, waiting patiently for three minutes to pass by.
"Ok... I guess you can come in," It finally said as something in the giant iron door clicked. Both of us pushed the door open. Inside, it was like an underground abandoned factory. Neon green slime oozed out of the cracks of the walls. It was faint, but the same musky smell lingered in the back of our senses. Neither of us spoke to each other much; brushing off some of the questions he asked. After venturing through multiple rooms, picking up items along the way, we ended up in the room with the biggest expected surprise so far. Mr. Saturn's were stretched across the room, enslaved to work on the many things that went along the moving belt.
"Hey, do any of you know where we can find Master Belch?" Ness asked. None of them replied. So we continued on going who knew where, when up a latter there was another enraged blob, but this time was made of a green goopy substance instead of a meaningless pile of puke.
"So you were the one who trapped all of the zombies!" It yelled as it flung green ooze at us. Dodging out of the way, I fired my gun while Ness used one of his super human abilities. Since it was two against one, the fight was over fairly quickly, and both of us got out in decent shape. In the next room, there were three trash cans that Ness started immediately digging through. Remembering when he dug for the fly's honey back in Threed, I asked, "Why the hell do you dig through trash cans?" Ness was unresponsive at first.
"Easy; free stuff. When I started on my journey, I was pretty reliant on the trash. Sometimes I had to eat the hamburgers I found inside." My insides twisted.
"You ate a hamburger after it was thrown in the trash?!" I asked appalled. Ness stuck out his
head and nodded. I stuck out my tongue in disgust, though Ness didn't seem to pay attention.
"Hey, what's this?" Ness asked pulling out an odd gun looking machine. Ness handed it to me, as I inspected it.
"It... looks like a gun of some sort," I answered. "But it looks pretty new, why would someone want to throw something like this away?" I said inspecting the gun, reading the label that said 'HP sucker.
"HP Sucker?" I thought out loud. By studying the structure of the machine, I thought maybe it had to do with draining ones energy? Though I wasn't sure, Ness shrugged.
"Why do you think it's so different from an ordinary gun?" Ness asked apathetically. Thinking through his question, I hypothesized.
"Well, it could have to do with transferring energy from one being to another. Since you can't create energy in the first place, maybe it's beneficial for both healing purposes and as a weapon. Whatever the case; maybe I could modify this later and make it possibly stronger. I wish I knew who built this," I explained as best as possible. Ness raised an eyebrow at me, a cocky smile lingering on his lips.
"You nerd" Ness chuckled. I was gawked at his suggestion, though technically it was probably true.
"You... you trash eater!" I shot back, feeling myself blush slightly. Ness started to laugh.
"One man's trash is another man's treasure. Exactly what your new... ' HP Sucker' is to you. I eat treasure." Ness remarked. I wasn't very good at the comeback thing that much. We kept quarreling with each other until we stepped inside to find a sparkling golden butterfly fluttering aimlessly.
"Oh!" Ness ran to the butterfly, and held it in his hands. The butterfly for some strange reason, made Ness looked entranced. I watched in both confusion and astonishment as the butterfly started to glow and circled around Ness's head. The way it made his cheeks glow, the way he closed his eyes as he seemed to embrace the butterfly as it vanished into his chest; it was all more of the strange. Though for some reason, even if I never touched it, maybe the butterfly entranced me as well? Just what was it used for? I must have brought my eyes to the ground during the time, because I was caught out of my reverie when Ness said something to me.
"Jeff? Are you alright? You seem zoned out," Ness stoically asked with a hint of humor underneath. I was speechless for the slightest moment, but then I shook my head.
"It's nothing." I mumbled, packing the HP Sucker in my bag before heading out the room, as Ness trailed behind. Along the way to the main chamber however, Ness kept throwing me skeptical looks.
"Don't bull with me, Jeff, I know something's up" I gave Ness a sideways glance. I might as well ask what I had been meaning to ask for a while then.
"It's not much. It's just...why do you and Paula own super human abilities?" I asked. It looked like something had dawned on Ness's face.
"Oh of course; umm... honestly, I really couldn't tell you. I guess it's just the way we are...and that's why we're the ones to defeat Giygas. At least that's what Buzz Buzz told me..." My eyebrow perked up.
"Buzz Buzz?" Ness flushed slightly.
"Ok ok, I know it doesn't sound legitimate, but it's true! He came from the future to warn me that Giygas turned the future into a doomed time when the meteor crashed into my hometown!" Ness explained to me flustered. I nodded.
"I remember that. It was on the news; we talked about it in science for a couple of days. Those things can happen sometimes, they just haven't usually landed in developments, at least until recently." I replied. Ness frowned at me.
"I mean, don't you have PSI powers as well?" Ness asked glancing the other way studying a hallway we passed. Wasn't it obvious by now?
"No... I don't use this 'PSI' you speak of. I'm just an ordinary guy" I stated. Ness gawked at me.
"Then...how did you know that we needed your help? If you were ordinary, than why did you answer Paula's plea?" I scratched my head. He was right, how did an ordinary guy like me receive a telepathic message in my sleep?
"Lucky guess?" I spoke, inwardly laughing as Ness's jaw dropped to the ground.
"So...we could have been stuck in there forever?!" I shrugged.
"Possibly; just be thankful that I came," Ness looked like he got a good slap of reality across the face.
"Could Paula have possibly called for anyone's help?"
"No, not according to her, she had to find the one to help us, and apparently that's you." I
'hmmed' in response to his question.
"So maybe I was under her trance to go fly out in a sky runner to go rescue you guys."
"You think Paula controlled your mind, and that's h-" We were stopped in our tracks by another green blob.
"Hey! Say the password!" It hollered at us. Ness and I stood completely still.
"Oho? So you two aren't going to say anything? That's fine, but you're not getting away without a-" Ness bashed it into the ground with his bat as we swiftly slipped passed him snickering to ourselves. It started hollering at us again, but its lack of legs didn't get him far. When we stepped into the next room, we immediately covered our noses and mouths from the foul stench that resided in its walls.
"Oh god..." I commented underneath my hands. Both of us coughed at least once. But as I scanned the room, I couldn't find anything besides the slime on the ground that could have been the source of the smell. I was all the sudden interrupted by Ness's frightened squeak.
"Uhh... Jeff?" Ness nervously said tapping my shoulder. I looked at Ness, whose face was horrific and green. I turned around to only find my entire being shutter.
There in front of us, was a giant green pile of slime, goop, and who knew what, that towered over our heads. One of its bright neon eyes poked out, and scanned the room. When it fixed its site on us, the other eyeball popped out as well as its fanged mouth.
"BBBUUURRRP!!" It was like an atomic bomb, the effect was devastating as the entire room seemed to vibrate as we were blown by the huge gust. It was as if someone threw zombies, blue cheese, molded feet, and puke in a blender, then shoved the contents up my nose. Good thing Paula wasn't with us after all.
"So YOU'RE Ness... GYORK! There's a prophecy that a boy will destroy the master Giygas...HEEG! HEEG! HEEG!" It spoke to Ness, choking on its own words. I gave Ness a squinted glance as Ness seemed to bravely stand up to the Master Belch.
"Yes... I am" Ness timidly said. Master Belch started hiccupping again on its own acid, as if he attempted to laugh.
"You make me laugh SOOOooo hard... If the Master Giygas is scared of someone...he would have to be worse than the Great Evil... GARG! GARG! GARG!" He said. I winced once two slimy extended tentacles seeped away from its vile form.
"I'll take you down BIG time, so get ready for the worst fight of your LIFE! GAH! GAH! GAH! Get ready to feel the pain of TRUE nausea! Come on, let's go!"
Was he done yet?
Master belch had a very long range as one of its slimy tentacles swept out, and knocked Ness hard and swiftly on the ground. Master Belch seemed to stand up taller in preparation as it let out another nauseating burp.
"Ness!" I grabbed my new HP Sucker out, and aimed it at the blob. I was surprised to see that Master Belch flinched if not ever so slightly, as I felt something energizing rush though my veins. Ness got to his feet once more, and used one of his PSI powers that Master Belch trembled from. Then Master Belch only came back again, just the same as before without showing any sign of weakness.
"What are we going to do?! He'll just keep coming back to life as we get weaker and weaker!" I told Ness. Ness was quick to respond.
"Hold my bat, Jeff!" He said tossing his bat to me. He took out his back pack, and dug out the jar of honey. Master Belch lunged forward.
"Is that FLY'S HONEY I smell?!" Almost immediately, I was shocked as Master Belch grabbed Ness along with the jar of honey with one of his tentacles, and dragged him closer.
"GAHH!!" Ness screamed before Belch constricted him. Ness looked as if his chest was being crushed.
"LET HIM GO!" I ordered.
"GARG! GARG! GARG! So this is the fate of the world...HEEG! How pathetic!" It laughed as it brought Ness and the jar of honey to its mouth. My entire being was in shock as I ran up to him, I wasn't going to stand by, and watch an over grown blob eat a human being. Another tentacle rushed out to grab me, but I wacked it away with Ness's bat, though probably not as strongly as Ness would have. I pulled my gun out of my pajama pants pocket, aimed and fired at the Belches eye. Master Belch wailed in pain,
loosening its grip on Ness. When Ness seemed free, he only climbed up the slimy being to his mouth. I went after him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?!" I yelled grabbing his waist when Ness was in reach. Both of us started to slip. Ness threw the jar inside his mouth. Master Belch reached one of its tentacles into its mouth and took out the jar of honey. It then snapped the jar and let the honey run into its mouth. Both of us slid down to the ground. Ness immediately limped back up onto his feet, and fired one of his PSI powers once more. I did the same offense, but fired one of my bottle rockets instead. It seemed as if Master Belch had totally forgotten about our existence, until I finally pulled out a weapon I had been hiding in my bag for quite a while. The bigger bottle rocket had to be set up on a stand in order for it to aim properly.
"Stay clear, Ness," I ordered, lighting one of my matches, and setting the big bottle rocket a spark. It wailed in pain, its tentacles waved in the air everywhere. Ness and I ducked onto the ground as we saw the Master Belch slowly retreating into the cracks of the walls. Its last gargled words seemed informative.
"You two fended me off decently. However, Master Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani statue to Fourside! The city will soon be living in worse conditions than residing in your own puke! Suffer, spanky!! GHA GHA GHA!!" It spoke to us one last time before disappearing. I let off a hefty sigh.
"What did you do to distract him from us?!" I asked Ness. Ness gasped for air.
"Master Belch was addicted to the honey, so it distracted him while we were fighting it. It was a good thing I did," Ness replied. Why the hell didn't I think of that? We obviously needed the fly's honey here. And I thought I was supposed to be the straight 'A' student...
Though I guess Ness had more experience outside of school...
Ness collapsed on the ground and breathed harshly. I rushed over to him.
"Ness! Oh god, you're not hurt that badly are you?" Ness gasped for air; panting as he pressed his glowing palms on his chest, until he was able to magically stand up. His breathing pattern became normal, and all his scratches seemed to fade away. Ness opened his eyes and smiled at me.
"I'm alright," He said shrugging. I stared at him bewildered. He was just gasping for air, what did he just do?
"What? I just used life up alpha, that's all" He replied frowning. I formed an 'O' on my lips, still keeping my confused expression.
"Hey...don't give me that look! Yes, I have the ability to heal myself!" My eyes could have shot open, but it took a while for something clicked in my brain. I furrowed my eyebrows when I asked my next question.
"Wait, if you could heal yourself, does that mean you can heal others as well?" I asked. Ness casually shrugged.
"Well, yeah, why?" I couldn't help myself but feel somewhat angered.
"Then if you knew you could heal others, then why didn't you heal Paula before?!" Ness's eyes seemed to grow wide.
"That was different, Jeff! Even if I wanted to heal Paula then, I couldn't. She was nauseous. I don't know how to use healing beta yet, though I think it will be soon when I'll be able to use it..." Ness explained. I felt somewhat relieved, but it didn't stop me from muttering my next words.
"That better be why," Ness furrowed his eyebrows madly at me.
"Hey, what are you suggesting? You don't think I'd help her out when she's in need?" Ness spoke harshly. I sighed as I rested my forehead in my palm remembering Paula's tired dull eyes while she lay in bed. She was obviously physically worn down back there, but her enthusiasm had instantly drained from her after the moment I met her for the first time down under the graveyard. There were some questions I needed to ask.
"How many times has she gone to the doctor since she's been traveling with you, Ness?" I asked keeping a monotone voice.
"Uhh... around I guess five times this past month...I was there about three..." I looked down at him in shock.
"Five times?! She's been to the doctor in the past month at least five times?! That means she's been to the hospital at least once a week, not alone one of them twice?! What kind of danger are you putting yourselves in?!" I yelled. Ness didn't seem to fray however.
"How can we help it; Giygas's minions are always attacking us in every corner! It was the least I could do to go take her to the doctor when she was hurt whenever I could! And if I didn't take her to the hospital, then she probably would have been in critical condition by this time!" Ness yelled back. I growled in frustration.
"For fucks sake Ness, she's only eight years old! You shouldn't keep letting these things happen to her! I mean, how well do you even protect her when you're going up against what's his face's; minions anyways?! I know you two hold hands a lot, and you checked on her a lot back in the hotel, but for crying out loud, Ness, I didn't think her condition was that bad!" Both of us could see each other shaking out of frustration. Ness hid his eyes behind his jet black hair, hands balling up into fists.
"You don't know the slightest idea of the kind of hell we go through on a daily basis" Ness's voice was filled with venom. I didn't want to admit it, but he was right there. I had no idea what kind of quarrels they lived through before I arrived. However, I carried out the tense argument.
"But the future is only going to get worse! She can't keep ending up in those conditions-"
"She's still alive, isn't she?! Look, I know I'm not the best, alright? But we only had each other back then, it was the least I could do! It's not like I could baby her all the time like her parents could, I had to look after myself as well!" Something clicked again. Her parents? I balled up my fists.
"Really? Ok, now tell me this, Ness! Compared to you how many times has she been able to contact her parents?!" I couldn't miss how Ness eyes shot wide open in horror. Timid blue gazelle eyes locked to mine while I glared back into his. Maybe Ness kept her out of harm's way, but she was far from happy. She must have been hiding it in for a long while. We stayed like this for a moment. Ness looked like he was about to burst into tears. His mouth trembled, trying to form words, but nothing escaped his lips. He was obviously speechless, and was trembling as well. Then right at the worst moment, a group of Mr. Saturn's had crowded through the entry way that was once blocked by Master belch.
"HURRAY FOR NESS AND JEFF, BOING!" A Mr. Saturn spoke from the distance. I kept glaring at Ness, who quickly turned to see the herd of Mr. Saturn's charging and sprawling around us. Slowly bringing my eyes down to the Mr. Saturn, I walked off silent, and furiously through the cave that the master Belch was guarding. I left without Ness. Though I'm positive I felt his timid eyes on my back.