Hello there readers, I'm back with the second part to this arc, where we'll see two guppies trying to find each other. I'm trying to get this out as fast as I can, so if they seem a bit short, then you'll know why. Also, as I am typing this, I am dealing with school and some health problems I'd like to not speak about right now, so I don't really have the motivation to do these, but I'd like to finish this arc as quickly as possible. So let's get this started.

Chapter 23: The Truth (Part 2)

A lot has happened in a single day, from crazy reveals to friendships shattered, and even three guppies running away. We will focus on a guppy girl traveling through the snow to find her friend. Zooli was running through the thick snow and wind on the mountain, struggling to keep moving, but her spirit was fiery and bright.

"Cryo? Cryo, please answer me!" Zooli called out, attempting to reach her friend, but nothing could be heard except for the strong wind.

"Dang it. I know he's around here, I just know it," she told herself. Zooli kept on moving through the snowy tundra. She wanted to find Cryo so she could understand everything, but thoughts in her head were bouncing around too.

"Stupid Molly, I knew I should've never trusted her in the temple. She's clearly not learned anything except how to use her powers, and because of her, I'm out here…all alone…in the mountains…," Zooli said, slowing down. She looked around herself, seeing nothing but ice and snow for miles.

"Huh…I really…am alone," she told herself in realization. "No, don't get distracted, Zooli, you have a mission to do," Zooli told herself. She kept on moving through the freezing winds.

Zooli kept thinking about what happened between her and Molly, not being able to get it out of her head.

Flashback

"Am I okay? AM I OKAY?!" Zooli screamed. "No, I am not okay, Molly!"

"Zooli-"

"No! Don't Zooli me! I was wrong about you Molly. You haven't changed one bit," Zooli said.

"Zooli calm down!" Molly said as she started to get angry.

"No, I won't! I'm gonna be the bigger person here, and actually tell the truth! You've changed since we got here, and not for the better. You're way too overprotective of us, you always tell us to stay back and let you handle it, and when we don't listen, you yell at us! It's like you don't even consider what we would want!" Zooli told her.

"I'm just trying to keep everyone safe here!" Molly said.

"And you doing a great job at that!" Zooli said sarcastically. "The Molly I knew would let us help her, and even ask us for help, but I don't see that Molly anymore."

"Shut up…,"

"You're a monster Molly, and you can try to stop me from getting Cryo back. Goodbye," Zooli said before leaving.

Flashback ends

Zooli couldn't get that conversation out of her head, even if she tried to. She knew what she said was the truth.

"I know I'm right, she is a monster and will probably never change. Cryo would never betray us," Zooli assured herself. But she was also thinking about if that was the case. "But…what if she is right? What if he did betray us?" Zooli said, but she quickly shook her head. "What am I saying? Of course Cryo wouldn't do that….right?" Zooli said. The wind started to pick up immensely after she finished speaking.

"Looks like a storm's on its way. I better get moving," Zooli told herself. She kept swimming through the mountain, looking in every place Cryo could be hiding or would be in. She kept searching for about two hours, but she found no trace of him, and she was starting to get frustrated.

"Ugh! Where could he be? I can barely see anything now, it's f-f-freezing, and I've searched almost every spot on this m-m-mountain!" Zooli yelled. She was shivering from the freezing temperatures. Suddenly, she heard an animal cry out.

"What was that?" Zooli wondered. She swam over to the source of the noise, where she found a baby animal. It was a baby hyena with patterns of a tiger.

"Wait, I think I remember Cryo talking about one of these, I believe it's called a Snow Hyger," Zooli said. "Oh poor thing, you're trapped," Zooli said quietly. The Hyger whimpered and backed away.

"Hey, it's okay, I promise I won't hurt you," Zooli told it, smiling. She decided to take out some food she had and hold her hand out in an attempt to get its trust. The baby Hyger sniffed her hand before eating the food. It jumped on her and started licking her, making the girl giggle.

"Okay, okay I get it," Zooli said happily, picking the cub up. "Where's your momma little one?" she asked it. The baby Hyger jumped down and started moving north, so Zooli followed it. As they went deeper, the snow and wind was getting stronger, making it more cold and harder to see.

"Brrr…it's f-f-f-freezing, and I can't s-see a thing," Zooli said, shivering. The Hyger saw this and jumped on her, snuggling its way down her chest. Zooli blushed slightly, but smiled. "O-Okay, you can st-stay there," she said. Zooli kept moving through the blizzard, while the Hyger provided her with warmth. Eventually, she came across a pond with ice floes.

"Okay, this might be a little bit difficult," Zooli thought, but she felt confident. "You'd better hang on little guy," she told the cub, who roared in response. Zooli took a deep breath and jumped to the first ice floe, trying to keep her balance.

"Phew, that was close," she said in relief. She kept jumping from floe to floe, until some snow got in her eye. "Agh! I can't see!" Zooli shouted. She slipped off the ice and fell into the frozen water. The baby Hyger was fine, but saw her sinking down, so it dove underwater and dragged her to the other side of the pond. The cub licked her repeatedly on her face, waking her up. She gasped and coughed.

"You…you saved me," Zooli said in shock. Before anything else could happen, a loud roar was heard as a large Hyger walked near the two. Zooli gasped and walked backwards, scared, but the baby Hyger roared excitedly and ran towards the adult.

"Wait, is this…your mom?" Zooli said. The adult growled at her, making Zooli flinch. The baby noticed it, and roared at its mom repeatedly. Zooli wondered what it was saying, when the adult looked at her again, and nodded its head before walking away with its baby.

"Huh, guess it told me I was good," Zooli said, surprised. "Well, I better get moving then-," she said before she felt a fireball hit the back of her head, knocking her to the ground. The last thing she saw was a figure staring at her, before she fell unconscious.

Zooli woke up, gasping and breathing heavily. She looked at her surroundings. She was somewhere new, as she saw medical and health equipment. Confused, Zooli rubbed her head.

"Where…am I?" Zooli wondered. She then noticed she was wearing a hospital gown, and that her clothes were hanging on a rack. In a hurry, Zooli changed into her normal clothes and left the room.

"Is this some sort of hospital?" Zooli asked herself.

"Ah, so you're awake," a voice said. Zooli turned around.

"Who's there?!" she shouted.

"No need to get scared, dear," a lobster woman told her. "You were brought here by a good friend of ours."

"Was this friend of yours the one who hit me with a fireball earlier?" Zooli asked the doctor.

"Yes, but you'll get over it. I was told to tell you to head to the hot springs spa of this place. You make a left here, then another right before seeing a large sign," the lobster woman told Zooli while pushing her out.

"Hey! What do you mean I'll-," Zooli couldn't finish her sentence in time. She groaned. "This place is weird, maybe I do need to go to these hot springs, I do still feel a bit cold," she told herself.

Zooli swam through the unknown village, admiring the architecture and style of the buildings, which looked as if they were ancient yet modern buildings. "This village doesn't look so bad so far," Zooli said. She eventually reached the spa, where she was greeted by a young adult female guppy with cyan hair and a grey tail with white snowflakes.

"Hello? I was told to come here," Zooli said.

"Ah, you must be Zooli," the woman said.

"H-How do you know who I am?" Zooli asked her, confused.

"A visitor of ours told us a lot about you. My name is Greta by the way," Greta introduced herself. "Would you like to go in the hot springs?"

"Uh…s-sure…I guessed," Zooli said.

"Awesome! Here's a towel for you, and the changing room back there. Make sure to undress completely and wrap the towel around you," Greta told her before swimming off. Zooli was confused, but shrugged her shoulders and went into the changing room. When she came out, she had the towel wrapped around her, but still had her one-piece suit on. She headed outside. There, she saw the hot springs, which had cherry trees, rocks, and even a fountain and waterfall.

"Woah, this place is beautiful," Zooli said, admiring the scenery. When she got in the water, the warmth of it made her skin tingle, but she eventually started to embrace it.

"Oh wow, that does feel good," Zooli said. She laid herself against a rock as she relaxed herself. She'd never even seen, heard, or been to this place, but she felt the need to not leave. Zooli was enjoying herself until someone else entered the water.

"Long time no see guppy," the familiar voice said to Zooli. She opened her eyes to see Alana across from her.

"You! What are you doing here?!" Zooli shouted, enraged.

"Calm down, I'm not here to cause trouble, and you'd better not be either," Alana told her.

"Why should I trust you? Your plan drove Cryo to run away, and now I'm trying to find him. Besides, you probably just came back from destroying another building," Zooli said, enraged.

"Actually, that's what I'm here to talk to you about," Alana responded, grabbing Zooli's attention.

"H-Huh?"

"There's a lot you don't know Zooli, but there is another reason why we did what we did, and not for the reason you think. Cryo told me he never wanted to do this plan because he was scared he'd hurt you," Alana explained to Zooli.

"Then why did you do it?" Zooli asked her.

"That's not for me to say. But all I will say is…please find my brother and bring him back, he needs to make up with that princess of yours," Alana told her as she got out.

"Wha-What do you mean make up with Molly?"

"You'll find out," Alana said. "Oh, and if you feel the ground rumbling, head to where you first arrived over the mountain," Alana said before disappearing in a pillar of fire. Zooli just sat in the water, thinking about what she said.

Meanwhile, we come to Cryo, who was leaving a store of some kind. He was carrying a bag of fruit and snacks. The boy swims down the street, but still thinks of what happened.

"No, stop. The plan was stupid anyway, and I should've never gone along with it," Cryo told himself. While he was walking down the road, he saw Zooli enter the hot springs spa, shocking him.

"What's she doing here?!" Cryo wondered, surprised to see Zooli. "Did she actually come to find me?"

Zooli got out of the hot springs, drying herself off with the towel before heading inside.

"Hey there! Did you enjoy the hot springs?" Greta asked her.

"Y-Yeah, I did, it felt great and refreshing," Zooli said, but Greta noticed something was up.

"Hey, you alright kiddo? You look like you got something on your mind," Greta asked the guppy girl.

"Well…I just want to know…what is this place?" Zooli asked Greta. "I've never heard of it before on the maps, and it seems like a ghost town out there." Greta thought about that question, and sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but follow me," Greta told her, leading Zooli outside to the hot springs again, where they sat down on two chairs.

"This place is called Zemeria, and we're all descendents of the Zemerans, an ancient tribe that has survived since the Cenozic era," Greta explained. Zooli was surprised to hear about that.

"The Cenozic era? That's like, over 10,000 years ago!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, and the Zemerans were a very intelligent group of people, and it's because of their intelligence that they've been able to advance faster than any other group of people here. But it's not been the same for a while," Greta continued.

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since Pyros took over our home a month ago, no one has come to the hot springs, and he's taken almost everyone prisoner back to his castle on the other side of the mountain," Greta explained.

"That's horrible!" Zooli said, feeling bad for her.

"It is, but now I've gotten used to it. You should look around more, I'm sure you'll find somewhere to stay," Greta told Zooli before leaving. Zooli didn't expect that outcome, which made her more determined to find Cryo.

As she left the building, she looked around for Cryo, but didn't see anyone. So she looked around the village for clues or hints of where he could be. As she was searching, Cryo was watching her from a distance.

"(She really is here for me…,)" Cryo said in his head, smiling, but he hid behind a building when Zooli turned around.

"Why do I have a feeling somebody's watching me?" Zooli asked herself. She decided to keep looking around while Cryo kept an eye on her. About an hour passed, and Zooli was starting to lose hope.

"(sigh) Maybe he isn't here, and he really did leave for good," Zooli said. She sat on a bench and put her hands on her head. Cryo watched as she started tearing up. Cryo wanted to go get her, but he didn't want to go back home after what had happened. As he walked away, he tripped on a small rock, alerting Zooli, who quickly ran around the corner, but saw nothing.

Cryo was behind one of the village homes, trying to keep quiet as Zooli searched around her before turning the corner. Cryo sighed in relief.

"That was a close one," he said. But before he could move, someone pounced on him to the ground.

"Gotcha now creep!" it was Zooli.

"W-Wait Zooli, it's me!" Cryo told her, shocking the girl.

"C-Cryo?!" Zooli said as she got up. Cryo got up and chuckled nervously. Zooli ran and hugged him, tears in her eyes.

"It really is you! I thought you left for good!" Zooli said.

"Zooli…" Cryo said.

"Why did you leave? You had me worried sick!"

"Zooli,"

"I'd thought you'd died or went back to Pyros, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, and-"

"Zooli!" Cryo yelled, stopping Zooli.

"I didn't leave to return to my father. I left because I didn't want to cause anymore trouble," Cryo told her.

"Cryo, you didn't do anything. It was your sister's fault for dragging you in that plan," Zooli said.

"No Zooli…I…I…I did some of those things too," Cryo said, looking away from her.

"Wh-What?"

"I'm the one who set the explosives on the ship. I'm the one who set fire to the hotel, and I'm the one who destroyed the building earlier. I did all those things," Cryo explained, shocking Zooli. She didn't know what to say after hearing that.

"You probably hate me now, so I'll just leave and go somewhere else," Cryo said, but Zooli grabbed his hand.

"Cryo, I'm not mad at you, and I never was. I just didn't expect you to admit you did some of those things," Zooli told him as they stared at each other.

"Look, I was looking for you because I want to help you, and to bring you back to BlizzardTucky. Please, we all miss you," Zooli told him.

"I can't Zooli, not with her still there," Cryo replied.

"Don't worry about Molly, just worry about yourself. I'm here for you, and always will be there to help you. Besides, I know how you feel," Zooli said.

"What do you mean?"

"When I first joined their class in preschool, I was scared and afraid I would do something that would make them hate me. Sure, there were times I screwed up, like when I accidentally kicked a soccer ball in Oona's face, or when I got sand in Gil's eye. In the end, however, we've all gotten along despite the things we've done to each other, accident or not," Zooli explained.

"But, how do I know you're really here to help me, or you're really telling the truth?" Cryo asked her.

"Do you want me to prove it?" Zooli asked him.

"Yeah, prove it," Cryo said, crossing his arms. "Prove that you're-mmph!" Cryo said before Zooli pulled him closer and their lips locked. That's right folks, they shared a kiss on the lips, go crazy now! They did it! Cryo wanted to let go, but he felt a sense of peace and warmth in that kiss, which went on for over a minute. Once they let go, both blushing red, were at a lost of words.

"Does that prove it for you?" Zooli said with a smirk. Cryo was blushing redder than a tomato.

"Y-Yeah, it does," Cryo answered, shocked. Both looked away from each other, chuckling and blushing.

"Can we do that again? It kinda felt good," Cryo asked her.

"If you say so, Prince," Zooli smugly said as she pulled him in for another kiss on the lips. As they were doing it, however, the ground began to shake, stopping their kiss.

"What's happening?" Cryo wondered.

"I'll explain on the way, we have to go to where I first came from, now!" Zooli said.

"But why?"

"I just said I'll explain on the way, trust me!" Zooli said. Cryo stared at her eyes, but he knew he could trust her.

"Alright, let's go," Cryo said. The two swam out of Zemeria and into the snowy mountain again to head to the front of the mountain where the guppies first entered. Little do they know that two guppies were already there and just went through their own emotional trouble.

And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this interesting and romantic part of the arc, cause the next one will be about two special guppies. Oh yeah, I want to say that after this arc is over, this story will be going on a little hiatus so that I can focus on things like school and my body health. In the meantime, I'll respond to reviews.

ReaderandWriter9000: Hello again, friend! I'm happy you found those things interesting. Zooli being the one to step up to Molly is something that is a reference to the fact that since she was added to the group, she's seen and learned from Molly herself, so she knows how she acts normally. Molly will have to face her demons eventually, but will she succeed? That you'll have to wait for. Oh, and thank you for the feedback on the drawing, It's something I've wanted to do for a long time.

PrimeroseRaspberry: Hi there again! Cryo's confession has been hinted at for a long time, and now it's come into play. I hope you enjoy what the future has to hold for this arc.

No post ch-zzz-pter this time, so I'll se yooooooou la-zzz-

[Alternate Dimension found. Bringing up reality details…]