Chapter 25: Temmie Village
"Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful Soul can leave. There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven Human Souls, attacks the barrier... It will be destroyed. But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever."
These old texts never got easier to read.
Seven magicians? Frisk asked.
"Yeah, magicians, like me," I told her. "Though these guys, whoever they were, lived a long time ago. No one would know who exactly they were today." I didn't voice this, but it made me mad. These are the people who trapped the innocent monsters down here. And they were no longer around to take responsibility for what they have done.
And no humans came down here...? Frisk continued.
"...Well, the monsters were obviously wrong. After all, we're here," I replied. "But this is why they need our Souls."
Do... do they have to kill us...?
I gave a solemn nod. "I wish there was another way... But there isn't. But don't worry, you have a strong Soul, so you can leave."
We were descending into the dark marshes of the region. The thin paths were alit with glowing blue grass, along with glowing mushrooms of the same color. Trees with glowing blue leaves dotted the landscape outside the path, poking out from the darkness. But I knew better than to step off the path.
"Frisk, stay on the grassy path here," I warned. "Step into the darkness, and you'll find yourself sinking into the dark swamp."
Frisk nodded in the warning, though it was difficult to see in the dim light.
I lit some flames in my hand to light our way, and we went onwards, carefully walking along the grassy path. It didn't take long before we hit the end seeming end of the path.
Frisk looked confused, and started frantically signing, but I raised my hand to motion for her to stop for a moment. "It's okay," I told her. "Watch."
I tapped a mushroom with my free hand. It was glowing dimly until it met my touch... Then it lit up brighter, and along with it, more grass began to glow, appearing in the darkness.
"See, the mushrooms will guide the way," I relayed.
Frisk nodded in understanding, and one we went, using the mushrooms to show the path forward.
As Frisk touched another mushroom, I encouraged her with, "you're doing great. The next part of the path is coming up."
Frisk smiled in the combined glow of the underground flora and my flame magic. But as we continued on, we saw a familiar... "face". A couple, actually.
A trio of Moldsmals was hopping our way. And boy did Frisk look excited. I guess she remembered our last encounter with a Moldsmal, and wanted to play again.
And so, the battle began.
I noted that each of these Moldsmals was a different color from the one we met in the Ruins, and figured that could mean they were stronger, but for the most part, it was no different than before. The Moldsmal attacked us with simple projectiles either zigzagging, or breaking into a circle of small shots, and then Frisk wiggled her hips again, with her friends joining in.
...Well, all except one.
The third Molsmal, sitting in the back of the battle, not reacting to Frisk. Just attacking, and not moving much beyond that.
I decided to check it out myself, and approached the monster. "Hey there."
No response.
"Um, how about this?" I decided to join in with Frisk's gameplan, and wiggled my hips. I felt... embarrassed, to say the least.
Then suddenly...!
The gelatin monster started to reform into an almost flower-like face with a single small eye in the center, while it rose up on a pillar made up of different levels of slimy gelatin, wiggling back and forth.
The remaining normal Moldsmal hopped off, while this new monster towered above us.
"A Moldbygg," I exclaimed. "They're cousins of Moldsmals, often disguising themselves as them. They're... one size greater than 'Moldaverage'," I finished cheekily.
Frisk looked at the tower of slime in wonder, and signed to me, can we hug it? It looks very squishy!
Wait! I signed back, but then the Moldsmal went on the offensive.
Smaller versions of the monster popped, shooting small projectiles at us. Following that, Moldbygg used a reverse of the Moldsmal's circle shot, with several projectiles appearing around us and closing in. As we evaded, they became single shots, floating away from us.
After that, Frisk began to approach the monsters, but stopped her. "Frisk!" She turned back, and I told her, "don't hug it. Respect its boundaries."
Frisk slowly stepped back, keeping her hands behind her back.
The Moldbygg seemed to appreciate the respect of boundaries, and dropped into the ground before hopping away with its buddies.
"Phew," I sounded. "Frisk, you should be careful, some monsters like to be left to their devices."
Frisk nodded in understanding. She seemed to be a little apologetic.
"It's okay, everyone is different. Now, we're getting close to the end of Waterfall, we should get moving."
Soon, the mushrooms stopped showing up, in their place, somebody left lanterns lighting the way across the grassy paths. But when we arrived, their light was already fading.
I used my flames to relight one, which lit up more ancient text. "Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate."
Without magic? Frisk replied as I read it.
"Perhaps they were exhausted," I offered, "or they didn't have members in their groups that could produce light with their magic, like me and my flames." Then I thought of something. "Hang on, let me try something."
I used my magic to put the lantern back out. And while our path became obscured, purple crystals dotting the landscape started to glow, proving new light.
And with the ultra-violet light, the ceiling lit up too, with purple crystals appearing as stars.
True, you could see this anywhere, glowing stones acting as a starscape, but with the different colors, it was something else.
"I rarely came down this way before," I exclaimed. "Still, I can't believe I've never seen this."
Frisk nodded in agreement, equally awestruck.
We could've stayed there forever...
"hOI!"
I hate to admit it, but I jumped in surprise. A white-furred monster resembling a dog, but with cat-like ears on top of its head, and second pair of floppy dog ears on the sides, and with shoulder-length black hair. It also wore a blue shirt. And it vibrated so intensely, I swore it must've been hopped up on a literal ton of sugar.
"Um... greetings...?" I said. Though internally, a was thinking, another fight? This soon?
"hOI," it replied. "i'm TEMMIE!"
"Hello... Temmie, I'm Chara."
"hOI, i'm TEMMIE!"
"Yeah... that's what you just said..."
Frisk looked at me expectantly, and knew what she wanted... but I had to be honest, so I signed to her, I've never actually seen this monster before. I don't know anything about it!
"OMG! humans TOO CUTE (dies)," the Temmie said, as she flipped over, playing dead. I wasn't sure what was so cute about sign language... but okay.
...And then she attacked. She flipped back over, and her legs grew. A lot. Her extended limbs made her tower over us. She began to step around us. The limbs were still thin, so we could slip between them, but we had to basically stay under her, due to her erratic movements.
Eventually, she shrunk back down, but not before brushing against Frisk's face.
"Frisk, are you okay?" I called out.
She made a strained face, then let out a soft sneeze. ...And then another. I looked at her, and she seemed mostly fine, but her face was red and irritated.
Seriously, I thought, is she allergic? And after all those dogs, this... Temmie is what gets her.
I looked back at our... foe, and she looked ready to glomp us.
"Woah," I called out, but then she did another strange attack. She extended her limb again, but this time, only one. But it began to make sharp turns as it kept extending, to wrap around us, enclosing us in its grip.
"Hey, hey, calm down," I tried again. "Look, we like you and all, but you're causing us a bit of trouble."
The Temmie stopped, then retracted her arm. "sORRy?"
"You're fine, but I think my friend is... allergic. Not your fault, it just kind of happens," I told her.
"awawawawah! but humans... such a... CUTE!"
"I know. But we could still hang out, as long as you don't brush along Frisk."
Temmie seemed to think about it, and said, "shud come to... TEM VILLAGE!"
"Tem Village?" I asked. She sounded very enthusiastic about it, and it did sound like her home. "Sure. Why not."
"yaYA!" And she hopped past us, guiding us to where ever this village was.
"Well... she was a special enemy," I said, as I used my healing magic to try to quickly fix up Frisk's potential allergies. When I was done, I finished with "Let's follow her."
This was easily the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. And after living with monsters my whole life, that was a statement.
It was a secret cavern, snuggled away off the side of the path. An image of a Temmie and a dragon was carved into one of the walls. And a large statue of TEM sat in the back.
And of course, the whole place was filled with more Temmies.
The entrance sign said, "hOI! welcom to... TEM VILLAGE". Even the sign had that weird speech.
A bunch of Temmies ran up to greet us. "hOI! im temmie! and dis is my friend... temmie!"
And that was basically what they all repeated.
Until one said, "don forget my friend!"
Which was followed by the most normal, moderately masculine, "hi. I'm Bob."
Somehow the most normal of the bunch was also the most bizarre.
While Frisk and Toby began running around, checking out the village, I decided to ask one of the Temmies about the dragon image carved on the wall.
"us tems have a DEEP HISTORY!" they responded. And that pretty much summed it up.
Walking among the villagers, we found a Temmie with an egg. "tem... WATCH EGG! eg... wil HATCH! tem... PROUD PARENT!"
And looking at the egg itself... it was hard-boiled.
The next Temmie we met, said, "p... tem heard human allergic to tem..."
"I... think my friend here is," I replied. "Just be careful around her, until I can know for sure."
"dat OK... tem understan... tem... ALSO allergic to tem!"
And at that moment, the Temmie's face began to get covered in red spots.
My immediate vocal thought, "how are you alive?"
"hOIVES!" was its only response. I stood corrected about which Temmie was the most bizarre.
And... oh, finally, we ran into someone not a Temmie. A blue mushroom with a face under its cap.
"Hello," I greeted, and Frisk waved as well, as Toby sniffed the mushroom,.
It grew arms and began to dance. "Mushroom dance. Mushroom. Whatever could it mean?"
Then its cap lifted up, revealing a set of eyes that weren't part of its regular face. "It symbolizes my inner torment, trapped here by my hyphae. My struggle to pull away. My struggle to escape. But alas, to no avail."
Whelp, never mind about that.
By the statue of "tem" (which was apparently "very famus. VERY!"), there was the entrance to another cavern entrance. Signs by it said, "hOI! u shud check out... TEM SHOP!" and "yaYA! i AGREES! shud check... TEM SHOP!"
Looking over, Frisk seemed to find another Star, and looked up at me, looking about as weirded out as I was, but also enjoying herself.
"Uh... You feel... something," I said. "You're filled with... de-temmie-nation?" I wasn't sure about my joke, but it emphasized how weirded out I was. "Let's just check out this shop."
Inside was a Temmie with a lighter-gray hair color wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt. She sat behind a cardboard box with "TEM SHOP" painted on the front, with a small cup resting on top.
"hOI! welcom to... da TEM SHOP!" the Temmie greeted.
"Hi, what'cha selling?" I asked.
"yaYA! go to TEM SHOP!"
Very helpful.
I looked around at the monster's wares. She sold tem flakes, tem flakes on sale, tem flakes, but "expensiv", and finally, tem flakes PREMIEM. They... all seemed to be the exact same stuff, and didn't seem very effective as healing items. They just got slightly more expensive with each iteration, despite being the same.
But then I noticed a bucket labeled "tem pay 4 colleg - 1000 G".
"Hey, what's this about?" I asked.
"COLLEGE!" the Temmie exclaimed. "tem pursu higher education."
"I see... and how much have you saved up?"
"Uh..." the Tem looked nervous. "not much..."
I looked in the bucket. Unless she stored her saved funds elsewhere... well, there was nothing in there.
I felt bad. Sure, the Temmies were strange, stranger than most monsters. But they were still good people, and like all monsters, I knew they deserved happiness.
I pulled out my gold purse. I had lots of G that I'd never used while I was in hiding... More than I could count. But was it enough...?
I decided to just go through with this small kindness, and I began pouring coins into the bucket.
"WOA!" the Shop Tem exclaimed. "thas A LOT o muns... can tem realy accepts..."
"It's yours," I said.
"OKs! Tem go to colleg and make u prouds!" she replied excitedly.
And with that, she scooped up the bucket, and make her way out.
...Accept she left behind her face. No, I don't know how to explain that one.
Seconds later, she returned, wearing a graduation cap. "tem bak from cool leg."
"...That was quick," I replied. "Did... you have a good time? Learn lots of stuff?"
"tem learn MANY THINs, learn to sell new ITEM! yayA!"
"That's cool... I guess."
I looked over, and already (without me noticing), there was new armor up. It actually looked pretty high quality, all things considered. I could sense some strong magic embued into it.
...Although, I didn't really need armor.
"Well, I hope your future endeavors end well," I said. "I'll see you later."
Frisk gave her goodbyes, and Toby hopped up and licked the Temmie. Well, with Temmie being dog-like herself, I was wondering how much she liked it.
We made our way out of the village.
"So, that was interesting," I said, as we finished giving our last goodbyes.
Frisk signed to me, they were weird.
"Yep, that's true," I replied.
When can we see them again!? Frisk signed with a smile.
I gave a small smirk, but then it faded. "Sometime later, perhaps," I told her.
Fact was, with the end goal of our mission... I doubted she would ever see them again once I got her home...
Tracing back our steps, we made our way back through the marshes, across the glowing grasses, keeping the lanterns lit up, as it was the best way to light the way forward.
Eventually, the marshes narrowed into another cavern. The lanterns stopped showing up. The area got darker, yet darker.
We had to step off of the grass, and into shin-deep water. I had to light my flames again to provide us with light.
Slowly but surely, we made our way to another Echo Flower. A flower at a dead end.
"D***... Okay, I'm sure we missed something. It's dark, but I know there is a way forward from here," I said. "I think we should check the walls-"
Then the Echo Flower sounded. "Behind you..."
Suddenly, a cyan light lit up behind us. We turned around...
...And there she was, the armored knight, Undyne, spears hovering above her.
She stepped forward, wading through the waters. And, for the first time since her meeting with Papyrus, and for us, this whole timeline, ...she spoke.
"...Seven. Seven human Souls. With the power of seven human Souls, our king... King Asgore Dreemurr... will become a god."
I pulled Frisk and Toby behind me, and increased the intensity of my flames.
"With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the Barrier," she continued, "he will finally take the surface back from humanity... and give them back the suffering and pain that we have endured. ...Understand, human?"
"You're crazy!" I shouted. "I doubt that's what the King really wants!" I wasn't sure where this came from, why I was defending my traitorous father. But something just... came over me.
Undyne huffed. "This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your Soul... or I'll tear it from your body."
The spears readied themselves, pointing at us, while Undyne grabbed one in her hands, and began taking steps toward us.
In turn, I spread my flames throughout the air, forming them into a ring of fireballs, awaiting my command.
One step...
Two steps...
Undyne charged.
"Undyne! I'll help you fight!" And the Monster Kid lept out from some tall grass, right between us.
You... idiot... I thought.
The Monster Kid began looking back and forth between us and Undyne, before saying, "YO! You did it! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you! You've got front row seats to her fight!"
Then he looked back and forth between us again, and got a confused look on his face.
"...Wait," he realized, "who's she fighting?"
Undyne groaned in annoyance, dispelled the spear in her hand, and grabbed the Monster Kid by his cheek.
"H-hey" the kid complained as Undyne began to drag him away. "You aren't gonna tell my parents about this, are you?"
The cyan glow of Undyne's spears faded away, as they followed her, probably so they could light her way, leaving only the light of my flames.
I lowered the intensity of my fire to a more controlled dim blaze, giving us a more calming light. "We should go."
Frisk looked nervous. I figured that the encounter must've scared her, but it was almost as if something was on her mind.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," I told her. "Undyne clearly doesn't want to hurt her fellow monsters. ...Or is that not what you're about?"
No response, even with her mute self.
It wasn't hard to find more glowing grass, now showing us the way forward. But it didn't last long, and we were wading through the water again.
In the tunnel forward, we could see more Echo Flowers. Countless Echo Flowers. And their story continued...
"...hmm... if I say my wish... You promise you won't laugh at me?"
"Of course I won't laugh!"
"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around... That's my wish."
Laughter came from the next flower. "...Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"
"Sorry, it's just funny... That's my wish, too."
I had to keep myself from crying.
And of course... there was one more plaque of ancient writing.
"However... There is a prophecy. The Angel... The one who has seen the Surface... They will return. And the Underground will go empty."
The Deltarune, the prophecy Gerson mentioned... I thought. I... I don't know if it is true. It feels as if...
I looked back, trying to clear my thoughts. But as I did... I swore I saw something... a flower, but not an Echo Flower. I didn't belong.
"Let's keep going," I told Frisk. "We're almost there. Almost out of Waterfall..."
Mommy, Frisk signed. She's going to be there. Undyne...
So that was what's been on her mind.
Undyne... This was where I faced her before.
And it was going to happen again.
That was unavoidable.
"I know," I told Frisk. "I'm ready."
First, we had to cross that bridge... it was a short bridge, but I still hated the idea of crossing it.
But Undyne was waiting, I knew it.
So, I grabbed Frisk's hand, called Toby to my side, and began to cross swiftly.
...But just as we were about to get to the other side, when the hard part for me would be over...
"Yo!"
We stopped, and turned around... To find the Monster Kid, staring us down at the end of the bridge behind us.
Author's Note: We're approaching the end... Of Waterfall, at least.
I felt I went through the chapter's end pretty quick, but it's not too bad. Runs about the same as in the game. I felt the need to explain how the area lit up when Undyne arrived at least. It was done by her spears, and in this case, with Chara's flames, as well.
But anyways, let's get to the focus of this chapter, Temmie Village! And well, what can I really say? The Temmies speak for themselves. Really, the most interesting thing is how much Grammarly basically hated me for I was writing them, due to how they speak. I'm sure any spell and grammar checker would flag everything in the Temmie's text (which is how the real Temmie texts, apparently). She is indeed a special enemy.
There were a couple things I didn't bother putting in, like the Temmie hiding behind the wall... watching you... Also, I felt the need for Chara to be generous and send that Shop Temmie to cool leg (my old friends loved how that was phrased), but not get the Temmie Armor. I mean, it's great in Undertale, when you want some overpowered defensive equipment, but as a story element... It's kind of pointless, to be honest. And I don't put armor on these characters, just for the visual (though I don't think we know what the Temmie Armor officially looks like. Maybe it'll make a return in Deltarune, and we'll finally see it then?).
Finally, yes, I had two monster fights in this chapter. Honestly, I try to keep monster fights to once per chapter. But we're reaching the end, and I have yet to find a place for Moldbygg. You can encounter this monster in the march area this chapter covered, but also, and this should be obvious, this is the one place where you'd find Temmie as an enemy.
So, in order to make sure there is an encounter with every enemy, I needed to make two back-to-back fights, and there just isn't any more space for the Waterfall encounters, without artificially extending the story, which I'm not going to do if it can be avoided.
Anyways, once my next round of chapters for my other stories are done, the next chapter should be done quickly, as I've already written part of it as an excerpt. So I hope you look forward to it!
Also, we are now at 25 chapters for Book 2. Book 1 ended at 25 chapters, so Book 2 is officially going to be longer than its predecessor. And we still have a lot more to look forward to, so let's not this momentum stop now.