Chapter 5: Echoes and Mystery

"I swear that skeleton either can traverse this world like how we went from Melandra to this Underground, he has a lot of free time, or there is a twin of him who loves to perform jokes as well as tell bad puns." A rather annoyed Rick would say as they were walking through an area where it was nearly covered in Echo Flowers. Small rivers with natural bridges from one area to the next as they passed by, listening to some of the echo flowers that they passed by. Meanwhile Chloe couldn't help but giggle a little as she handed him a cloth to help clean the round black circle around his eye, "You have to admit, for a skeleton he does get around. Even if it is to cause a bit of mischief." Rick looked to Chloe as the comment did speak true, though he couldn't help a smirk as he took the cloth and knelt down near the water, "Something tells me you wouldn't be having the same feelings towards our small skeleton friend if you were the one who got pranked." He'd say as he wet the cloth with the water, and took a moment to clean up his eye.

The flowers that they were passing all spoke from different people of different perspectives, some making wishes, others just speaking aloud. Though one conversation they did catch seemed to be of two children, and as Rick was handing the washcloth back to Chloe, she shushed him for a moment as they listened to flower, and others that carried a similar conversation…

"So, don't you have any wishes to make?" "Hmm….. Well, just one… But it's kinda stupid…"

They looked at one another as they continued onward, it seemed that this set of flowers they were finding on the path all carried the conversation, as both young children spoke to one another. "Don't say that! Come on! I promise I won't laugh!" "You promise?" "Mhmm! I promise!" Two kids making a promise, though the two keyblade wielders wouldn't know what that wish would be yet as they came across another of the ancient wall writings that they discovered earlier. Rick would stop to read it, "The power to take their SOULS. This is the power that the Humans feared…" He'd look around for a moment before he and Chloe began to continue walking. "Strange… It feels like these writings are depicting more of the story that Toriel told us." Chloe says as she follows close to Rick. "You're right, it does… Almost like there is more to this story about this world than what was written in books." They would walk out to another natural bridge, this one surrounded by water as the path led to the next area. "Well, no reason to believe they didn't come this way."

The two would go down the path, looking at the water as they walked by before hearing something that sounded like something coming out of the water. When they turned around, whatever it was went back into the water. "Okay… Just, keep walking." Rick would say as he turned back around to continue on. It seemed as if things were more calm now when they started to continue walking, but then Rick noticed he was the only one walking as he turned to Chloe, "What's wrong?" When he asked, she was pointing towards her left. Upon looking in that direction, he blinked as he saw a large Octopus with an… Interesting looking facial expression. "Hey… There… noticed you were… here… I'm Onionsan!" The creature pulled it's tentacles down as it introduced itself, and the two looked at one another before Rick spoke, "Hello… um, I'm Rick, that's Chloe."

"Oh pleasure to meet you! You're visiting Waterfall too, huh! It's great here, huh!" Onionsan would speak excitedly as what they said a second ago caught their attention, "Wait, we're not the only ones? Was there another person earlier? A human child? Young girl perhaps?" Chloe would quickly begin to ask. "Oh yes! She was here! I think Waterfall's her Big Favorite too!" Onsionsan would respond as they seemed rather excited. "Which way did they go? Do you know?" Rick asked as Chloe approached the edge. "Please, we hate to be in a hurry, but we're afraid that she's in some danger and we promised to look after her." Onionsan would look over Chloe when she spoke, seeing the sincerity in her eyes causing the octopus creature to put it's head half way in the water as it spoke, "Oh yes, she came and went that way." Onionsan would say pointing down the path, "I saw someone else go with her too, it looked like young Monster Kid." "Monster Kid?" Rick responded as he looked down the path Onionsan pointed out. "Mhmm, he's a good kid, a big fan of Undynes too! Though I hope he doesn't get into trouble… I didn't realize she was a human. If Undyne catches her…" The two keyblade wielders looked back at one another before giving a nod, "Thank you Onionsan, we best get moving." "You'll… come back when you can right? And come visit?" Onionsan would ask as their head came up from the water, looking between the two as Chloe knelt down with a smile. "Of course, we'll try to visit when we can." She'd reassure the Octopus, which had Onionsan smiling. "Thank you!"

Chloe would wave Onionsan as they submerged back into the water before she stood up straight, and the two began to rush down the path. "I hope we can reach them in time, I'd hate to think what would happen if they caught Frisk." Chloe says as she runs right behind Rick. "Best focus on trying to catch up." He'd tell her as they entered the next area, it felt more like a cavern sort of area as they moved deeper in, and only stopped when they noticed what appeared to be more ancient writings. These writings described when a Monster Dies and how their SOUL disappears, and at the same time telling how a Human couldn't take a Monster's SOUL. "Incredible power to take a living monster's SOUL… Not sure I want to know what sort of power that could be." Rick would say as Chloe walked over to the next glyph to read it, "Maybe it's these Boss Monsters?" She'd say as she motioned to the glyphs. "Says that their SOUL is strong enough to persist after death…" Rick would turn his attention to the glyphs she was reading, noting how it said a human could absorb a Boss Monster's soul. "Why would anyone want to absorb a heart-... Or in this case a SOUL..? If their not a Heartless or a Nobody, it… Wouldn't give them power… Would it?" Rick would ask as he looked to Chloe who shrugged. She then glanced over to the other end of the corridor and blinked as she'd started to walk down further in. "Hey… Do you hear that?"

Rick turned his gaze to where Chloe was looking, and thought he could hear something… It sounded almost like music. The two would then begin to walk slowly down the path, until finding a statue that held an Umbrella. As rain was dropping from a hole in the ceiling, the sound of a music box playing was heard coming from the statue. A gentle tune it was, yet… Something about it felt sad, so much so that as Chloe walked closer to the statue, she knelt down and placed a hand over her heart. "Chloe?" Rick would kneel down next to her as Chloe closed her eyes for a moment. "I-I'm fine… Just… Something about this… Feels so sad." The more they listened to it, the more some hidden emotion could be felt from the music in itself. It was hard to describe, but Rick could feel it as well as he looked up to the statue before glancing back down to his companion and friend. "Hey, it's alright… Come on." He'd say as he gently helped Chloe to stand back up. "Ya know, something tells me Frisk put this here… And if not for some puzzle, then perhaps to help keep this poor memorial from getting wet." Chloe looked up at Rick for a moment, and took a moment to think before giving a nod. "I suppose so.. She sounds like she's a good person.." "A good person we were asked to help." Rick would say as he started to walk away from the statue with Chloe in hand, before she stopped after a few steps looking at Rick. "Rick… I need to ask, why… Did you pick this world for us to come to?"

Rick stopped for a moment to look back at Chloe, he had to admit that it was a good question… Though not one he knew how to answer. "I… Didn't actually." Chloe gave a confused look at him, and he'd take a moment to reach under his shirt to pull out the necklace he wore. "To be honest, all I did was pour some magic into this, and… I suppose you could say I prayed, or wished for us to travel. Where to, i never really gave a destination, the power inside this necklace chose the destination." He'd say before putting the necklace back under his shirt, "Then… Why here?" He couldn't help but chuckle at her repeated question before letting out a sigh. "Honestly?... Probably because this world needs help. I mean think about it, your world was suffering when nobody knew it, until the Heartless came, and we were faced with Akonis as a sort of guiding beacon of Darkness for the Heartless to come to… Think about the story we've heard and what we've seen so far from the history of this world. Humans and Monsters who once lived together, one casting the other down to this Underground, and through this time Six human children have disappeared down here… And their SOULs taken by Asgore." Rick would say as Chloe let go of his hand to place it back to her heart, "But there's more… Those echo flowers… That music box." She'd say as she looked back behind her to the statue as it continued playing, "Maybe it's just me but… I feel like there's more to this…" "And that's why we're here." Rick would say as he turned to place both hands on Chloe's shoulders, "To find out who, why, and what we can do to help this world… Trust me, we haven't seen the Heartless come by yet, but if there is something going wrong with this world, and we can stop it to prevent the Heartless from coming, than I say we do everything in our powers to do so."

Chloe would look back at her friend, giving a nod as she smiled, before suddenly giving the older boy a hug that caught him off guard. "Thanks Rick…" He'd gently hug Chloe back, though had to admit this felt a little awkward for some reason before he'd start to slowly walk with her still holding him, "Let's keep moving…" He'd say as they moved to a nearby area where the roof seemed to open up more here, and rain was falling from the ceiling. There was a sign that said "Please take only One." and next to it was a basket full of umbrellas. The two would look at one another before Chloe let go for Rick to pick up one of the umbrellas. "Well… Guess we're sharing this for a bit." "Yeah.." The two would stand underneath the open Umbrella before continuing on as the rain continued to pour down upon them. As they walked, the light from crystals in the walls to those in the ceiling continued to shine down as rain came from the open portions of it. The trek was long, but the walk helped calm the nerves after being away from the music box.

"Have to wonder… Who that music box and statue was for…" Chloe would say aloud as they walked down the path, following it around as Rick glanced over to her for a moment, "Who knows… Maybe a fallen monster…. Or maybe one of the humans that fell before? Maybe when we see Sans and Papyrus again, we can ask them." He'd say as he gave her a gentle smile to help calm her down, to say that things would be ok. Meanwhile as they walked, one side of the path had more cat tails as they passed shallow waters, the rain continued to pour down as the sounds of the music box faded with the rain drops falling onto the umbrella covering them. There weren't any signs of a monster near them, as this path seemed like a lonely path. "Not many must travel this way." Rick would say as they came to a turn, and it led to what seemed like an almost endless field of glowing blue flowers. Smaller than the echo flowers, but still was quite a sight. "It's.. Beautiful." Chloe would say as she stepped out from under the umbrella, noting that there wasn't any rain in this area as she gently brushed her hands over the flowers. "This is quite the sight." Rick would say as he lowered the umbrella while following behind her, till he looked over to one side and stopped to stare at the castle-like structure far out in the distance. "Chloe…" He asked for her attention, and when she turned to look at the castle as well, she felt her heart stop for just a moment. "That… Must be the castle to the King…" "Looks like it's got quite the town surrounding it." Rick would respond as he looked up to the ceiling of the Underground, noting the bright jewels that shone in the dark like stars. "It's hard to believe… Yet not so disbelievable for these monsters to build such an amazing looking castle… But that must also mean that somewhere behind there is the way out."

For a moment, Rick thought back to the story that Toriel had told them, about Humans and Monsters, and then the glyphs that they had been reading up to this point… It was obvious that there was a lot more to it. Yet for some reason as he was looking out to the Castle far away, and the thought that came to him of how many monsters lived in it, around it, and in the different regions within the Underground itself… The idea of these monsters being stuck down here seemed wrong, especially when some of them seemed like they were somewhat friendly. "Back in Melandra…" Chloe began to speak as she stared at the castle, "We were told that most monsters were mindless… Only ever acting on instinct, because of their nature… The rare occasion one gained some intelligence was when one would rise up to become a General or Lord like Monster… They always attacked humans, never speaking a word to anyone… But seeing Toriel… Sans, Papyrus… They're nothing like the monsters I grew up knowing…" Rick would look back at the castle for a moment before he stepped closer to Chloe, "I know what you mean, they are very unique… Unique monsters that are fun to talk to." She'd return the smile to him before they both looked out towards the castle for a moment longer before turning to continue to the otherside of the field, where they saw a cave like entrance. "Something tells me they went through here… Let's keep going."

Once again they were in an area where there was a small amount of rain, but ahead they saw also a bucket full of umbrellas along with a ledge to climb over ahead. Rick would go to deposit the umbrella he carried into the basket before looking over the ledge that they would have to climb over. "Seems simple enough." Chloe would say as Rick walked to the ledge and turned to face Chloe as he knelt down, "I'll give you a hand." Chloe would go to take a step on Rick's knee as he helped her up onto the edge, then once she climbed onto the ledge, Chloe knelt down to hold her hand out and help Rick up onto the ledge.

The two looked down and noticed how far high the ledge was, "If Frisk is a child, she would have had help to get up from there…" Chloe would say as the two looked down the path, "I hope we're getting closer." Chloe began to take a few steps forward as Rick turned to follow, noticing where it went from ground to a wooden path ahead. As they stepped closer to where it began a long stretch of a platform, Rick placed his hand on Chloe's arm to stop her. "Sh…" He'd motion to listen, as the sounds of heavy metal footsteps could be heard… They were close, and as they looked ahead, they saw nothing. "Let's keep going… Carefully…" He'd say as he stepped ever careful across, with Chloe being right behind her as the heavy footsteps could be heard easily from nearby. When Rick stopped, so did Chloe, and so did the footsteps. "I don't suspect that's Papyrus… His footsteps aren't as… Metallic…" Chloe says as she slowly starts to look over the edge. Just at that moment, Rick pulled her back as a blue, magical spear suddenly shot up from the edge. "Run for it!" Rick shouted before he and Chloe started running.

As they ran the two would avoid many spears that seem to come out from the wood, some of which narrowly hits Rick or Chloe, one or two seem to come from the air itself as Rick rolled to dodge before summoning a single keyblade to block another spear. "Don't stop moving!" Chloe would shout as she pulled Rick, just in time as a spear suddenly came out from below he was just standing earlier. If she hadn't pulled him, that thing would have impaled him. "COME BACK HERE!" They would hear who they assumed was Undyne on the platform below them, as they followed the path of the bridge platform they were on. They ran, going one direction and another as Chloe pointed out, "I think I see where we can go! Come on!" She'd say as Chloe lead the way. Rick would follow her as more spears came up in front of them. Chloe materialized her keyblade, and was using it to block some of the spears to help get around them. The further they ran, the more spears Undyne seem to send at them as she yelled at them, "Get back here! Stop running! Come here!"

It wasn't until they reached a larger platform as they ran, before the exit they were heading towards suddenly had spears blocking the path, forcing them to stop. "We're trapped!" Chloe shouted as the sound of a loud crash was heard behind them. Slowly the two would turn around, facing what could only be described as a tall knight in full armor. Full plate and a helmet to match. "You… So you're the ones Papyrus and Sans let in…" Undyne would begin to walk towards them as Rick got into a fighting stance. "Hm? What's this? You think you can fight me?" Undyne let out an amused smirk as she looked between Rick and Chloe, "Although you two don't seem to be as… Wimpy as the shrimp." "Where's Frisk!? What did you do to her!?" Chloe would call out as she too took a fighting stance. "Oh don't you worry, despite how wimpy they are, I'm sure they survived… They took a fall down to the waters below.. Now you two, I'm sure won't make me mad enough to send you down that way too…"

Rick would look over towards the edge, it was hard to tell if there was a bottom as it seemed quite dark below. But if there is, and Frisk went down there… He'd turn his attention back to Undyne as she seemed prepared to fight. "Think we could take her?" Chloe would ask in a soft voice so as not to get Undyne's attention. "Something tells me that she's a tough one… But, perhaps to see how we handle.." Rick would glance over to Chloe for a moment, the two nodding as he'd say "Right, on three, one… Two… THREE!"

The two would rush the Boss Monster, and before they got close Undyne would send several spears towards Chloe forcing her to stop and block them. Rick however, as he got closer, she swiped her spear at him, it missed… But yet Rick could feel as if something happened, cause all of a sudden he was unable to move. "What the- how are you-!?" "Don't move." With a snap of her fingers, several spears started to come at Rick from all directions. Rick looked around before materializing his second keyblade to block the incoming spears. "You two know how to summon magical weapons- wait… But those aren't covered in magic." Undyne would take notice of their weapons before Rick rushed to try and strike her. When he brought one keyblade down, she blocked it with a spear as Chloe came around from behind Rick to swipe at her. Undyne lowered her spear just enough to block Chloe's attack before pushing the two off of her. "Not bad, seems as if you two do know how to fight."

The two slid back as Undyne swiped her spear again, this time catching Chloe in the same sort of conditions as Rick. She tried to move, but she found it difficult to move at all as Undyne summoned spears to attack the two. "Well this doesn't seem fair!" Rick would shout as he began blocking some of the spears. With the two being next to one another, they were able to keep one another covered as Rick could keep Chloe's back covered, and Chloe kept his until the effects they were under seemed to wear off for a moment. "Not sure how you're able to restrict our movements like that, but I'm not gonna let ya try that again!" Rick rushed to strike at her, with a swipe from one keyblade that she blocked, and then bringing his other keyblade down on her which was blocked again before she pushed him back. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you!" She'd call out as Undyne rushed them now, forcing Rick to block her spear, holding her back as Chloe went to vertical strike her keyblade on Undyne's back. However as her Keyblade was coming down, Undyne blocked it with the armor on her arm before grabbing the keyblade, and picking up Chloe to toss her behind Rick. "Chloe!" He'd call out as he managed to push Undyne off of him, only for a moment as he jumped back when a spear came out from underneath him. "You ok!?" "Y-yeah, I'm alright." Chloe would say as she stood back up. The two looked at each other as Undyne stood there glaring at them. "You've seen my might, Humans, no matter how powerful your SOULs are, you can't beat my might."

"Yeah… Beginning to see that." Rick would say as he looked around, trying to think of what they should do before his eyes turned to Chloe. "I think I got an idea.." "I'd love to hear it." "You may not like it…" Rick would say, making Chloe look over at him, before glancing over to the edge. "You're… Not serious…" "Are you giving up, Humans?" Undyne would speak up as she took a few steps towards them. "You might say that." Rick would reply, as he flourished his keyblades before bringing them up above him, and merging both keyblades into their double blade form. "Whoa… Those can merge." Undyne spoke in a brief moment of awe. "Here we come!" Rick would shout before charging again. He'd flourish his double keyblade, striking at Undyne's spear when she went on the defensive before he went to strike at her leg, just catching the armor before Chloe came up and shoved herself against Undyne to throw her off balance.

The Captain of the Royal Guard found herself catching herself from falling, right as Rick turned to Chloe to shout, "JUMP!" and as Undyne managed to reassert her footing, she watched as the two humans jumped off the edge of the platform. "NO! NO NO NO!" She'd shout as she rushed to the edge, and watched as the two fell out of sight. "DANG IT! SONOFA- GAH! WHY DO THEY RETREAT! HEY!" She'd shout down below, "YOU TWO BETTER NOT DIE! WE STILL HAVE TO SETTLE THIS!" Undyne was furious at this point, growling while gripping her spear tightly to where the magic creating it began to fracture and break. "First the kid runs away, and then those two fight for all but a few moments before running… Are all humans so cowardly? AUGH! I SWEAR ON ASGORE I WILL DEFEAT THEM! And when I do… We'll have more than enough SOULs to free everyone from this prison…"