Chapter/Tale 7: Automata Doll: Act 2
Author's Note Intro:
Hi everybody... I'm back from my temporary vacation… yeah, going back I still feel the aftereffects of the moving cruise ship or it's just that reality sucks. I had fun still. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that this chapter arc's concept played out really well, and so that's what I'm gonna stick with in the end after all. So, before that, trying to figure out a good concept for this arc was the real challenge once again. Ever since I've found out about the lore of Shiver Star, I wanted to have a crisis centered on that for the snow level and that creepy factory for the most part. If there is another Kirby game coming out this year, I hope something like this is covered for the lore. Hopefully it all works out. So, with that, let's get right on it… I felt like I literally lived on that ship. Also, the fights here may be short, so I apologize. Enjoy…
Factory Inspection- Overnight
"Knaiva… Knaiva... wake up…" A voice… who is that? I don't remember that voice- it's completely strange, and there's this funny feeling in my chest too. My eyes slowly pried open… when they did, the first thing I saw was the sight of somebody's chest and its warmth as well. I noticed another person alongside that one.
"Ngh…" I groaned. "W-what… what happened?"
"Ah, he's awake, Grill," The woman said. She appears to be a witch and her hand was on the back of my head. "Hey there, how are you feeling?"
I looked at the two ladies, one of them helping me sit up straight. "I suppose so… thanks…?"
The green haired woman that seemed to also be a witch as well pats me on the head. A strange hat seemingly of a witch was purple and yellow striped with a dice at the pointy end. She had blue eyes and some kind of red string tied to her sideburns. She had a black undershirt tied to her neck, a black and yellow striped shirt that doesn't cover her shoulders to show off the black undershirt, red shorts and long-knee socks covered by short red, white and yellow boots while wearing a purple robe to cover the upper body. A broom was strapped to her robe's back and she grants me a smile of relief as she spoke. "It was nothing really. I mean, we couldn't bear seeing you stuck in that capsule as a human experiment, even the workers were hesitant about it since they've had not a say in the matter. You're okay now, Knaiva."
"…Knaiva?" I repeated. "Is… that my name?"
"That's what it says on the label on the capsule," The busty witch replied. "And you might wanna look at yourself now because we have no idea what gender you are."
Taking her advice, I glanced down at my body. Sure enough, I was naked. However, that feeling I had earlier was legit when I noticed a hole drilled down in the center of my chest. I wasn't fazed by it, however, just a bit curious in a sense, although I don't know how exactly to put it. Being naked doesn't stir up any emotion in me either. "Oh, I see. That's what this hollow feeling was. It's definitely weird. Did I always have this hole?"
"Who knows? We just found you in that capsule, so maybe it was just recently," the green haired woman replied. "It does appear that you don't remember anything though, so I suppose it'd make sense to ask that."
"Just who are you two?" I asked.
"Oh, right. How rude of us. I'm Marxanae," The purple haired witch answered. "And this small chest here is Grill. We're both mages."
"Don't call me small chest," Grill huffed. "Anyway, to begin with, this place is known as the Factory Inspection. We've come to find out what the Tempestoria nation was hiding in here, and it's worse than we'd imagined. To think human experiments are performed here on a daily basis… it's terrible."
I glared at my body again, only for Marxanae to tell me this, "And a shock to you is that you've been injected with the cells of a Demon Beast as part of it. I don't know what they hope to achieve doing this to you or any of the others that are in here, but it's like they're engineering bodies as well, although I can't be too sure of that."
This was just too much for me to comprehend at once, yet I was able to get the gist of it. Seems like those two went to unveil this site's dark secret that's been kept from the public, I think. Maybe if I stick with them…
"Well, something will come up from that soon enough. Right now, how about we get you fixed up, sweetie?" Marxanae says, waving her hand over me and a flash of light illuminated for a brief second. The next thing I knew, I realized my naked body was wrapped in a white cloak of some sort. "That should do it for now until we get back with our friends outside this factory. At least it's better than running around naked; if you're either a boy or a girl…"
"Er… I don't think I have a specific gender…"
"I see. Knaiva must be a Hideyoshi- yeah, let's use that," Grill declared. "You don't have any dominating features of both genders, so you're definitely genderless with a boy/girl kind of name."
"Uh-huh…" I replied.
"So, with that, I do feel kinda guilty to just leave you with a 20 meter hole in your chest, so maybe we can replace it somehow. Perhaps there's something that can make you buff or give you big bazongas," Marxanae said, her cheeks turning a shade of red. "Anything to fill in that hole of yours."
"Your face is turning red when you said bazongas. What are bazongas?" I questioned.
"Something someone like her shouldn't let you know at this moment, you're too innocent," Grill fumed. "Now's not the time for innuendos, we've gotta get Knaiva outta here after we check out those files in that office."
"Agreed. They may have files about Knaiva kept there as well as the Elejewels found by Eris. Hey, can you stand?"
I tried to stand up, but I end up stumbling. "Ow… probably not."
"Your body still must be weak after being in that capsule," Grill pointed. "Here, we'll carry you. Hang tight, okay?" She was the one to lift me up and hoist me on her back. A warm smile bore her face.
"Um… thanks…" I shyly replied. "Is this really necessary, though? How long will it take until I can walk on my own?"
"As long as it takes, but just give it some time," Marxanae stroked my hair. "We'll figure out something if it appears to be permanent. Now let's go check out the archives."
"One more thing," I asked. "Who's Eris? I can't help but feel like I've seen her before…"
"Don't worry about that, you'll know that once we find those file about her," Grill answered. "It's just further up ahead."
"Okay…" I replied. "Maybe we should try to meet her, she might know something about myself and who I am."
"Sorry about that, but temporarily that's out of the question," Marxanae objected.
"Huh? Why's that?"
"As far as our situation goes, Eris is most likely on Crystal Star, which is unfortunately being dominated by an evil force known as Dark Matter, led by a bloody animosity known as Zero. It's quite complicated, the full story, but it's likely that Eris was captured by them," Marxanae sighed. "Our only bet is if we help our other allies find the Gem Star Diamond to break the barrier around that planet."
"Well, I just hope nothing bad happens to her…" I exhaled with that thought.
Shivera Starshine- Winterhaven Port
(Winters/Snowman- Earthbound)
"Neeugh… man, why do hotel beds feel way better than the bed you have at home? The world may never know…" Marx yawned. "Oh, we're already here? That was quicker than I thought. Wow, wouldja look at that? What an impressive town."
"Yeah, no kidding. This must be the town Winterhaven," I glance outside.
A range of a frozen seaside town was the epitome of attention to all those who haven't been there before. This town was the name of a famous city known for its chain of lakes everywhere in the area. Rare fish and creatures as well as strange phenomenons that only appear in this cold season are very frequent in this area. Perhaps we can find some info there.
Too bad the four of us has to stay onboard while the others go out to investigate. At least we do have tons of time to ourselves to work out a lot of kinks and tweaks to this entire chaos. Well, not everybody's going, the 6 other elemental princesses are obliged to stay behind due to the plausible chance that they could get abducted without warning. Of course, they had to help out too, and in more ways than one, if ya know what I mean.
I'm talking maid outfits. That's right. Plus more nosebleeds. Anyway, with that nonsense going on, we had to help with serving breakfast and appealing to the audience as well. Cooking surprisingly ends up being my alleyway, but man, it's a hassle to do this until 12:00 though, and the others have already left before we even started. Freaking tourists.
How are we supposed to get some action around here anyway? It's getting kinda boring that way. And besides, if we just disguise ourselves and not do anything noticeable that the empire already knows about us like the time when we escaped Tempestoria, then there should be no problems whatsoever. But Vanja disagreed with that idea because of the off chance that the one who finds us out would end up being Rushgarde. Come to think of it, I don't think he was in the chase from before.
There's no way I could forget those merciless and cold silver eyes of his when we first saw him. He seemed valiant enough, but I picked up another sense of feeling from him, one that I can't properly describe at the moment. Either way, those vibes stuck to me like a tick in the end, regardless. If by chance we do run into him, it won't be pretty as Vanja claims.
Anyway, it's been a while ever since the others set out for the town. While I finished up cleaning after the other guests, Marx did his job as a jester and went to entertain the masses on the ship with Gooey as his joker and Taranza as the fool or something like that. The other girls helped me out as well. By the end of it all, we were exhausted, collapsed on the chairs and benches like a pile of corpses.
"Man, I don't know how much more of this I can take…" I sighed.
"When are the others coming back? It's been hours…" Meowed Callie. "Maybe we should try calling them, just in case. I would if my arms weren't feeling like paper right now…" By then, the exhaustion has caused Callie to transform into a cat. The same happened to Merina, turning her into a dog and Yae turning into a fox. Dinah had actually split into her two different personalities.
"Damn, why did we agree to do Vanja's dirty work? I think I'd rather do the dirty than to get myself physically dirty. What's taking them so long? They do realize they can't afford to go sightseeing at a time like this, right?" Demon Dinah sighed. "But I suppose it ain't too bad. With all the people going out to port, that makes perfect time to get everything done. Still, could it kill them to at least hurry up?"
"I know, sis, but perhaps something like finding rumors about the chamber may be hard to find off the bat and I'm sure they'll either come or call back the moment they- huh, what's that?" Angel Dinah was about to say when the bench started to vibrate.
"Talk about perfect timing, that must be them calling," Demon Dinah replied, but she slumped down instead of answering. "And I would get my phone if my arms weren't jelly."
"You've gotta be kidding me, dear sister. Never mind, I'll get that for you," Angel Dinah sighed, reaching for her other self's cleavage for her phone and rummaged around until she managed to get a hold of the shaking phone and answered. "Hello? Oh, hi Kazela. What's up? Did you find out anything? WHAT?!"
"Woah, Angelah," Adena groaned, startled by the sudden gasp along with everyone else. "Can you not do that? I'd rather not hear that while we're exhausted… unless, did something happen?"
"I see. Thanks for the warning!" Angelah (Nickname for Angel Dinah) ended the call there. "As a matter of fact, that's the case! It's the Zenoxia Guard- they're here in this town! It seems like somebody ratted us out after all and now the captain's on his way to the cruise!"
"Already!?" gasped Demonah (Nickname for Demon Dinah), suddenly bolted and sat upwards as if the exhaustion was just something yesterday. "Wait, how did they get themselves all the way from Tempestoria to Winterhaven in just two days?"
"Conspiracy. Besides that, I think it's about time we hightailed it out of here," Marx suggested. "It's not like they're that close or anything-"
"Princess Vanjamirae! It is the Royal Guard of Zenoxia here on the word that the nations most wanted are stowing away in this very cruise due to an anonymous tip! We ask that you let us inspect the premises at once in search for those criminals!"
"Son of a jack, should've kept my mouth shut; I hate those clichés," Marx facepalmed himself.
"Oh no! They're gonna dissect me! My insides are not for dissecting!" Gooey panicked.
"They probably will if we don't hide!" Taranza suggested. "That said, where are the others when we need them?"
"That's another thing, Kazela didn't mention where they were when that happened, but I'll assume they're coming here as fast as they can. And it seems like Vanja is already going to confront the guard as well."
"Guys, get down," Zeta warned us, who was nearing the huge window panel on her stomach and crawling like Solid Snake. "The enemy's within range of vision. Take caution not to be spotted by them if you plan on peeping from here. I can see the captain from here; not to mention that fearsome aura emitting from him as well."
Everyone decided to do the same and spy in the same manner as Zeta did. Of course there's no way we're doing it from the balcony nearby, so we moved as a group somewhere closer so as to listen in on the scene and to avoid detection and eventually got ourselves halfway comfortable enough to spy.
"What's happening down there?" I whispered, crawling on my belly.
"Shh, keep it down Magolor," Demonah shushed me respectfully while at least shielding my face with her boobs. Angelah did the same thing to Marx and Yae covered both Taranza and Gooey. "This may be weird at the moment, but it's only so that they won't see you if they look this way and this trick will hopefully knock some of them dead in the process."
"I don't think that was even necessary," Marx sighed into a whisper.
With that, I could only see between the crack, and it was good enough for me to see. Looking through there, I caught a glimpse of a knight standing in front of Vanja. A cold shiver escalated up my spine. Everything about this man was cold, from his gold crested armor to that silver dye in his long hair to the colorless setting of his eye color to nothing but blizzard black, an aura that even makes the monsters cower in fear at the very presence of this man, and to think that someone like Vanja who is seemingly a laidback character can even stand in front of him without shrinking back in fear really is something you wouldn't joke at.
Right there and then, the confrontation between them was like rivaling siblings, the atmosphere tensed and stressed that very much. That's when Vanja started the soon-to-be tensed encounter with a staged smile that she seems to have always had like it was a normal thing and spoke to Rushgarde.
"Oh, it's you, Rushgarde. I'm surprised you were able to reach here in only two days or less somehow. Anyway, where's the fire?"
Rushgarde respectfully spoke. "How perceptive of you, Vanjamirae. Surely you're aware of what's taken place these past two days, haven't you? We believe from an anonymous tip that Tempestoria's most wanted is hiding inside your cruise. They must be apprehended at once so that her highness can retake the Void Jewel back again and to bring swift justice upon those wrongdoers and that traitor as well. And you are to be at the castle as soon as possible for the Shiver Star Event planned."
"Huh, I see. So you believe that they're on my cruise at this moment as we speak, right?" Vanja restated the question. "I understand what's going on, but don't you think you may be jumping to conclusions? Not every anonymous tip leads you to the right path, you know. For all we know, there could be people that may be mistaken for them."
"Yes, we are aware of that, Vanjamirae," Rushgarde replied. "However, an event like this is something that we can't let pass up like that, especially if it poses a worldwide threat to everything and everyone. That blue haired kid, I believe he was named Gooey- a strange named indeed, holds the family's most prized possession for generations ever since. It must be retrieved at all costs."
Vanja was in some thought before she answered. "Interesting. Well, I'm afraid I can't help you on that one, captain. No sir. It's not that I don't trust you, it's the fact that I'm wondering how far are you willing to go to get those four back and the jewel. I may be able to in some way, shape or form, but in exchange, tell me what's been going on with Spectra lately. I can understand the jewel part, true, but because of the fact that she has never found any use for the jewel up until now, that certainly drives the curiosity for suspecting her of something, am I correct?"
Rushgarde grunts. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? Are you suspicious of the Queen being involved in a conspiracy of some sort, princess? How dare you accuse her of such a thing!?"
"I haven't suggested anything of the sort; the possibility exists, that's all. But if that were to end up being true, then ironically that will end up justifying the crime of those four rather than to go against them. I'm pretty sure she's got something to hide, or maybe somebody else is plotting to overthrow the nation and the throne. Guess what I'm saying is, you better watch your back if that possibility becomes more than just a questioning," Vanja smirked.
"What did you say?!"
"Interpret this however you want, but you may wanna think it over before you decide to go trigger happy on them. In a situation like this, no doubt someone will become a bigger traitor than Taranza hardly was. So, I really can't help you then. Sorry about that," Vanja giggled innocently. The soldiers and the captain sweatdropped.
"Pulling that innocent look isn't gonna help you at this rate. In that case, I'm afraid we'll have to force our way in if you refuse to even aid us," At this, Rushgarde drew his blade at Vanja without mercy, pointing it at her face; she didn't flinch an inch. "Strangely, her highness did mention something else- anyone that resists will be shown no mercy, not even you."
Everyone gasped silently. "That ain't good."
Vanja only scoffed mockingly. "So that's how it is, huh? Just try me, and you'll see what happens."
"You better let us through or else your friends and guests will suffer for your own folly!" Rushgarde threatened, throwing Vanja off-guard, but she remains unfazed. The captain grins menacingly. "Curious? Well, at this point, why not? Men, you know what to do."
With a quick beep, something flashed behind the guards. A huge chunk of ice appeared as if it was excavated from a dig site. I found nothing peculiar at first when I saw it, but when I recalled when Rushgarde had said before that, I gasped in shock. "That dirty bastard! He didn't-!" So did everyone else when they saw what was in the ice.
That's right, it was everyone else that left the cruise earlier this morning, trapped inside that ice block! Vanja gasped then growled angrily at the wicked smiling captain. "What the hell!? I can't believe you! How could you do this to them?! You're willing to go that far as to blackmail me into doing your twisted bidding?!"
"I warned you, Vanjamirae. No one is to get in the way of our duty let alone attempt to defy us, the Zenoxia Guard, not even you. And I wouldn't try anything brash here as your little friends are all trapped inside with these worthless lives, or rather the Star Allies that are acquainted with the criminals; they're just as guilty as them scum for allowing this to happen."
"You wouldn't dare, you bastard," Vanja boomed in a grim voice. "Lay a hand on them and you will pay for it." She stepped forward, only to stop when Rushgarde directed his sword to the ice block.
"Another move and they'll be reduced to crushed ice. Perhaps you're willing to cooperate with us now?"
"Tch… damn you," Vanja snarled, her fangs were shining with suppressed anger waiting to sink her fangs into the captain.
"No freaking way, this was a trap from the very beginning," Gooey growled. "That's how far they'll go just to get us all, at the cost of many lives? I can't stand those clichés- now Vanja can't lash out without compromising everyone's lives."
"Damn right, I wanna give that little bastard a piece of my mind," Marx concurred. "We better do something, quick."
"Not recklessly, though," Merina reminded us. "Maybe I could try shooting the ice with flaming arrows, but that could also give away our position. I don't know if I can risk that along with them being reduced to shards in a snap."
"Well, what shall it be, princess? Your cooperation?" Rushgarde demanded, positioning his sword towards the ice cage, ready to strike anytime. "Or their meaningless deaths? What's a waste of lives to justice?"
"And what's justice to a heartless bastard?" A voice boomed.
Suddenly, the ice cage instantly thawed before anybody realized it, freeing everybody in that time-frame. Unfortunately, everyone was unconscious in that state. The girls knew they had to rush over to their aid, and so they did while we simply disguised ourselves in a flash and went off to their aid. The guards were caught off guard at this very moment, then being taken down by the girls in a blinding rush.
"Impossible! My Celsius Prison has been shattered instantly?! Who dares to defy the nation's finest?!" Rushgarde growled, darting his eyes around for the culprit.
"That would be me, captain," I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
Coming down from the town path to the port came a girl wielding a paintbrush, a menacing walk like Dio and a face of no mercy. It was Adeline; behind her, it was the four kids of the group, Kazela, Jodie, and the two block twins. Honestly, if all it took to break your defense was a little girl, then you should definitely be in fear. "And to be fair, I would've thought you'd resort to underhanded methods such as blackmail to get a job done in this situation. I wonder how the queen will react when word of this gets out."
"An insolent little girl dares stand in my way? Impudent brat-!" Rushgarde gasped suddenly at the mere look of Adeline as if he was struck with a look of strange fear. He was taken aback by surprise.
"You-! It can't be- urk!" He ended up being a punching bag when Adeline socked him in the stomach, and hard too. The captain didn't let himself become a ragdoll in that regard while he got himself together. "You cocky brat! You shall pay for this!"
As soon as we arrived, the other kids with Adeline went to handle the unconscious guests as instructed by Adeline. "Don't worry, we've got the people covered!" Vanja informed us without giving off any suspicious vibes. "I would tell you to run, but it looks like the scary captain's surprisingly traumatized the moment he saw Adeline. Now would be the best time to rough him up while he's like that, huh?"
"Whatever happened to run and hide?" Gooey refuted.
"Who the nova cares? I'm gonna tear that Hendrik rip-off a new one in a matter of seconds for humiliating us earlier!" Marx cackled. At least he's looking on the brighter side of this. Should I be hyped up about this? Hmm, maybe not with Marx's enthusiasm, though… Nonetheless, this was our chance.
"Alright, we're on it, Vanja," I nodded. "We'll do what we can here." Vanja smiles and pats my head gently before she helps up a victim and hands them to Yae next to her as the rest of us runs over to confront the nation's finest captain.
"Tch! You think I'd lower my blade to the likes of you trash?!" Rushgarde raises his sword at us. "Come! We shall settle this right here, right now!"
The Royal Pain- 36th Boss Battle
Adeline and Criminals VS Captain Rushgarde, Zenoxia Royal Guard Captain- Round 1 (The Law of the Battle- Tales of Symphonia)
Boss Description: In anime, guards and captains of the knight squad tend to be deadly in many cases. When you're a knight for Queen Spectralinae of the Zenoxia Royal Family, expectations are high and talent is highly regarded. That is true of the nation's best knight captain; Rushgarde is no exception to this. His skills and efforts were something extraordinary, straight up out of this world. His knack for perfection and doing what's right has always motivated the knights, but with the way he's acting right now… no, it's nothing, for now. But did something happen to him that made him this way? Regardless, it seems like seeing Adeline has struck a nerve of fear or something. Does he know her?
Rushgarde challenges you to brawl! Come on! Bring it!
"You little earworms! Don't make this blade take your lives if it must!" Rushgarde howled. A 5-on-1 fight was in session. Still, don't ever think for a moment that having a large group will help. It just makes way for easy targets and dead bodies. If what Vanja said about him is true, then why try to underestimate him?
The captain started strafing side to side, waiting to counter anybody that comes at him. "Try me. I dare you."
"Try ya? Okay, try this!" Marx made the first move and hurled two prank balls at the captain with remorse. The captain swiftly dodged the two clown balls, leaving him only open to Gooey attempting to ram him as a blue fireball. He managed to pummel his back, but that wasn't enough to faze the captain when he grabbed Gooey and hurled him straight at Taranza.
The spider dodged, leaving Gooey to get struck by a pole headfirst as a comedic relief. Gotta hurt. I spewed flames like a fire elementalist at the captain. Rushgarde countered with shields of ice and manipulated them to change form whenever necessary.
Taranza wrapped a huge rock in webs and yanked it hard from its rooting spot, spinning it around like the hammer throw toss event in the Olympic Games. This caused a major whirlwind to form for a short time before the outburst throw was shot.
In the meantime, Adeline sniped daggers made out of crayons that pierced through his armor just like that. While he was caught off guard, Marx kicked a prank ball directly at his face and socked him real hard whereas Taranza managed to hurl the huge rock with the spider string at Rushgarde. A huge explosion of rock shards scattered everywhere, and the captain was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe you would've thought that he was crushed under all that, but you should know better than to assume that; no boulder or size and amount could ever hinder a captain like him. In that regard, Rushgarde actually tanked the entire rock blow, although leaving his armor with some major dents. Gooey came charging back as a burning fireball, this time being able to successfully land a major blow to the opponent.
Staggering for a bit, Rushgarde backdashed to dodge the slashing paintbrush of Adeline and parried it with his blade. I don't know what the brush is made out of, but it's not every day you see someone using a brush against a sword in this position. I think a knife is more accurate to call that brush, because she landed more than 20 hits on Rushgarde in a second than I could blink. That's crazy chief. Strangely, I don't even remember her performing those kinds of attacks at all before.
Regardless of the five W's, that wasn't really much of a concern if it ends up working for you. While that's happening, I hurled revolution orbs straight at Rushgarde at his back when he was distracted. He suffered minor damage though. Marx shot hailing arrows as well. Gooey jumped into the air and transformed into a giant stone with his eyes on it to dunk on the captain. Taranza created an energy sphere that was like a mace and swung at him with it. Adeline kept on with the assassination attacks to kept Rush on edge.
As Rushgarde kept dodging nimbly, he ended up tripping over Gooey who was still in stone, leaving him wide open to be stabbed in the lower gut of his stomach luckily as it does seem that Adeline was aiming for his heart. But in that instance, he instantly shattered into ice, reappearing away from us all, grasping where his wound was inflicted and suddenly falling on his knees.
"Urk! Damn…"
"How's that, sucker?!" Marx laughed.
Rushgarde lost the round! Victory!
Party gains 3500 experience points! You are now Level 39!
Health has extended to 1700! All stats rose by 160!
You got the Cleaning Ability! 1/12 abilities collected!
Item Retrieval: Shiver Crystal, Snowflake Gem (Forgeable)
Next Level in 3800 experience points.
"Give it up, captain. It's over," I declared, stepping forward to him, but at a safe distance. "I don't get why are you doing this, going so far as to capture the nation's most wanted by using innocent people as bait, not to mention you've threaten the dragon princess as well in that suspicion. Why would your superior think of you if word gets out about this?"
"Just what do you know? You're just a commoner around these parts, let alone a simple vacation tourist with incredible powers," Rushgarde growled. Looks like he doesn't recognize us, even after all that. Maybe it's because of Adeline. "If you're not aware, our nation's most prized possession has been stolen by four criminals, and we must get it back by whatever means necessary. Do you not realize the importance of this task?"
"Sounds like a pain," Marx shrugged. "That doesn't mean you can risk people's lives to demand what you want. It will work for some time but it backfires at the very end. We would know ourselves. Besides, someone might come for you out of revenge, like Adeline over here. The way you were acting when you saw her makes me think you possibly know her. Is that so?"
"That's… hmph…" The captain wanted to refute this, but when Adeline gazed at him with ruthless eyes, he found himself helpless in that regard so as to even utter a word of refutation.
"Well? Answer the question, fool," Gooey taunted.
Taranza facepalmed himself. "You're not making this any better, man."
Rushgarde quickly got up from that scuffle and up on his feet. "No matter. We still have a job to do. The opinions of such commoners shouldn't even pose a concern to us knights. For now, you're being left off with a warning. The next time, we won't show any mercy no matter how much you beg. Men! Fall back at once! That's an order!"
"Yes, sir!" The knights complied. Soon they all started to regroup together. With a wave of his hand, that marked the command to fall out at once.
The captain stopped in his tracks though. "Ah, yes. One more thing, should any of you attempt anything rash, you'll earn yourself a permanent spot in the factory prison on the double. Believe me when I say that you may have a bad time in there." Saying those words, he finally left.
And with that, making sure no one else is around, we scurried back to the cruise without a second wasted.
Level One Complete!
"Damn, that was a close one," I sighed. "Thanks for that, Adeline. It would seem likely everyone else could be goners had you not been there."
"Not a problem. That was the first thing I realized that was wrong with the atmosphere of Winterhaven; the guards were around that time. And I and the other kids ended up meeting the town mayor at the time when we heard a shriek coming from the port. Everyone else branched off to check out the town then. I wasn't expecting this to happen at all," Adeline responded. "It's a good thing the townspeople offered to help us."
"Well, you sure did came at the right time," Marx shook his head. "By the way, what's your beef with the Hendrik rip-off of a captain anyway? I mean, you were just merciless against him!"
"Him? That's… well…"
"Personal, huh? That's okay, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to. Just be glad you managed to get everybody out on this cruise out of a hard place," Taranza added. "Speaking of, do you think everybody's gonna be fine?"
"Hard to say, who knows how long they've been trapped in that hunk of ice than we thought?" Gooey placed his doubts.
At this moment, Vanja headed towards us- and by that, I mean me. A warm boob hug from her was how she greeted us. "I can't ever thank you guys enough for this, especially you, Magolor. We definitely should go on a date after this!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's nice and all, but I'm about to die now," I choked through my breath. "Let go, please."
"Screw you, chicken! It's the best you'll ever get!" A squeaky voice was etched and echoed. It sounded like Aege on helium there and then.
"Aege, is that you?" I questioned.
With my good hearing, I was able to narrow the location of that voice coming from… the table we were sitting at?
"Huh?"
To everyone's surprise, a smaller version of Aege was on the table we were sitting at. He was a chibi sized doll.
"Huh, didn't know they sold Aege dolls here."
"I'm not a doll! I've shrunk to this pathetic size when I woke up suddenly!" He cried out. "And I'm not the only one as well! Look, Vanja's carrying the others as well."
As Aege stated, Vanja moved closer to the table and laid out a pile of chibi dolls that resembles every last one of our allies in a box, which they came crawling out on the side adorably.
The other kids came up to the table at the time, only to be charmed by them. Jodie and Fololo were amazed while Kazela and Falala squealed with ecstasy. "Aw, they're so cute!" The girls squealed, staring the group with adorable eyes.
"Huh?!" Chibi Kirby gasped. "How did you guys get so big all of a sudden?! What the heck happened?!"
"No, Kirby. They didn't get bigger, it's because we're the ones who've shrunk!" Karly answered. "I mean, our hands, our bodies look like chibi dolls! How did this happen?!" The ones who were shrunk were frantic about their being shrunk.
"I believe I can answer that," A voice approached from behind. An old man with snow white colored hair and a beard came in. Adeline recognized him.
"Oh, it's you, mayor. What are you doing here?"
"I just came by to thank you all for helping us back there, I mean, it's bad enough the jewel was stolen, but to think the knight force would even dare pull a trick like that just to lure out the criminals makes it rather troublesome, not to mention that the captain has plagued your guests and your friends with a deadly illness," The mayor responded.
"What do you mean by an illness?" Vanja asked.
"The Shiver Poison is the cause of your entire party's shrinkage," The mayor answered, pointing at the shrunken allies. "For some reason, no one else but these ones suffered from this major side effect. Nonetheless, this disease immobilizes a person to the point where certain parts in the body suddenly shrinks like poison, which can be dangerous if a vital organ were to shrink without warning. This can be caused in abnormal amount spent in ice, the kind that Rushgarde uses."
"Are you serious?! Everyone's gonna die at this rate!" Chibi Kailaine gasped. "But we could be stuck like this forever!"
"Don't fret, young lady. In your case, the effect will wear off in a few days or so. But if you wish to save the passengers onboard, your best bet would be to head to Snowlight Resort for the Shiva Tea that they serve there. I'd suggest waiting till the appointed lunch time to do so; in the meantime, the townsfolk shall give you some recipes to help slow down the illness for your passengers."
"Woah, you really don't have to do that for us, you know," Falala interjected humbly. "Our being here caused you all much enough trouble as it already is."
"Don't sweat it. You helped us, isn't it natural to return the favor to the do-gooders? Besides, all of you are capable warriors, and if we had more daring people like yourselves here, the world wouldn't have these problems… perhaps so. But regardless, we can't have heroes dying when the world needs them the most."
"Oh, well, if you insist on that, then we'll kindly take you up on your offer, mayor," Vanja smiled.
"No problem. Anything for the Star Allies. Youths like you these days… takes me back when I was young, even during the Everlasting Hail. A dark time that was… I'm sure the ones who survived are elsewhere in the galaxy as of now…"
"Hmm? What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly waste anymore of your time, but if you really wish to know, then take this," The mayor said as he hands Vanja a hard cover book in red. "Feel free to keep it, this may be your key out of this crisis in some way."
You got a book entitled Frozen Tears. Read this at your own time and pace; this may be useful later on.
"Ah, thanks mayor. We'll take good care of it. Thank you so much," Vanja bowed.
"Anytime. You're just like your mother, you know that?" The mayor complimented.
After that, the townspeople and the mayor greeted us off as the cruise sailed away for Snowlight Resort, our next destination ironically. The day's daily shift was over and so both afternoon and evening went to start their shifts for a little while before night fills in for them the remainder of the time. Nothing but darkness entombed the deep black sea as it strolled on by blind but the lights on the top deck and the clouded full moon.
In our rooms, the chibi Star Warriors and some allies were stuck to having being confined to the room's desks and tables. It was like playing with your toys, only being in shock after finding out they're alive. I may have Amiibo figures, but this is way different right now.
Kazela picked up her chibi older sister. "Kaila, are you gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine, Kazela. I'm relieved that you're safe from any of this," Kailaine replied. "Also, will you stop poking me? Just because I'm chibi-sized doesn't mean you can poke me like a doll when I'm alive."
"Man, I wasn't expecting this to happen at all. Must be hard for you guys," Jodie sighed.
"That's where you're wrong, Jodie boy!" Aege cackled. "You see, if you really call yourself a man of culture, then you'll find joy in the wonders of being small, if ya know what I mean."
"You know it, bro!" Saito joined Aege along with Dylan, Dash, Dedede, and the gang of men of culture.
"Well, glad we established that," Taranza said sarcastically. "Anyway, I can imagine that security has tightened up over there by now thanks to that rumble from before. I just hope that getting the cure isn't much of a hassle by then."
"No worries, we'll just take it or beat up anybody that gets in our way. Simple," Marx sneered.
"You say that, but doesn't that mean we'd have to fight the captain again? After what happened earlier, it won't take him long to find us out if we keep doing this," Gooey rejected Marx's ambitious manslaughtering suggestion.
"Too bad Gooey's right," I concurred. "We're utterly screwed if we keep on with this act only to get caught in the end. Seems like our only option is to send someone over there in our stead tomorrow."
"And who would you suggest?" asked Bandana Dee. "Maybe Adeline, but she's been acting weird all day and the few days before we arrived here, and I don't wanna assume the worst, but I think she might be forcibly relieving whatever her trauma is now. I don't think we can ask her to do that in her state."
"You've noticed too, huh?" added Aqua. Before that, I heard a few rumors around this girl and Bandana Dee, and honestly after finding out the rumors were true, I can definitely say I don't think anybody ever saw that shipping coming at all. "I'm worried about her. She did get captured after all along with Kaila."
"Great, now what?" Karly sighed, utterly giving up already. How pathetic, is what I would say to her face, but it's just not worth the pain she brings.
"We'll do it," volunteered Kazela by surprise, followed by Fololo, Falala, and Jodie. "Can't believe you guys forgot about us. Besides, the captain hasn't actually noticed the four of us from before, meaning we can go through undetected and with no problems. Don't worry, we'll be fine."
"I'm still worried," Kaila refuted.
"Well, what other choice do you have? It's not like anyone will notice any of you all the way you are right now," Falala stated.
"Kid's got a point," Marx agreed. "After all, a little someone from whom I'd rather not have heard this from informed me of a little girl who kicked the asses of the entire Demon Beast's army without even trying before she shocked me over the phone somehow. I can probably assume the little princess is behind that."
"Yep!"
"So if there aren't any objections, it's decided that we'll go check out the Snowlight Resort tomorrow' Fololo spoke. "Trust us, we got this."
A moment of hesitation arose. "Even if you say that, I'm still on edge about the idea, though," Sirica sighed.
"Yet, what other choice do we even have at this point with the way things are?" Knuckle Joe said. "Look at us! We're literal anime plushies that you can buy off the internet at a good price! If all plushies were alive, the world would already be dominated in a few seconds flat!"
"Oh my god, I'd kill for that sort of thing to happen!" Espera drooled ecstatically. She's certainly a dedicated fan, huh? Ro, ro, fight the power.
"Moving on, we should ask Adeline regardless. It's pretty clear that Rushgarde knows Adeline and that's the only reason why we got out alive in the first place. What do you all think about this?" I raised the question.
For the moment, everyone kept silent as to speculate on a possible answer to this particular question. Then, someone spoke up. "Now, while I can't assume what I say is exactly the answer, I was thinking that the possible answer might have something to do with the factory," Kirby boldly stated. "Do you think she knows something we don't?"
"Hard to say," Taranza shrugged. "But what Rushgarde said before he took off pretty much implied a connection about that place between them. I mean, what's so special about that dumb factory anyway? It's like they're hiding something in there that they do not want the general public to find out about."
"I think a better question would be, who'd be foolish enough to actually raid the place as we speak right now, other than us, of course?" Gooey said.
"Hell if I know, possibly Marxanae, since she loves to raid huge places for fun," coughed Marx. "Speaking of which, I haven't seen her in a while. Probably hanging out with Grill or something. How ironic would that be if she were to be at the same factory at this very moment?"
"Let's hope not," I sighed. "Besides that, we should get some rest."
"Yeah, but how are we gonna sleep like this?" Karly asked.
"You can worry about that," Aege snickered. "Meanwhile, the boys and I have already set our minds on a special place, if ya catch my drift. We're out." And just like that, they left regardless of how small they were, being able to open the door themselves. My guess is that they're probably heading to the girl's room. Why would they- oh, I see now.
"Pff, men of culture these days," Kailaine scoffed.
"I'm hungry," Kirby whined. "Can someone get us all a plate from the café please? Magolor, don't you have to accompany your date?"
I fumed. "No, we're not dating!"
"Sure you aren't. That's fair; for me, I'll take any girl as long as they're cute, kind, humble, can cook, caring, and won't be a Malty and no one has ever loved a Malty but loved a Melty," Kirby preached.
"Amen to that," Gooey agreed.
"Oh, I should be a Melty then," Kazela said. "She sounds really nice. But who's Malty? She sounds like a betch to me."
"You should take the time to know Melty, I don't know anything about anybody named Malty," Kirby dodged the last part.
"You never change, Kirby," I thought. "Never change."
Factory Inspection- 8:00 P.M.
"Marxanae, did we really have to take a detour to the cafeteria on the way there?" Grill complained, ironically munching on some goodies as we walked.
"Come on, poor Knaiva must've been starving after being cooped up in that pod of his," Marxanae reasoned. I don't remember the last time I had any food to consume, but munching on some left a pleasurable feeling in my mouth and my stomach. In that regard, Marxanae gently hugs me. "And just look at him. I mean, he's so adorable; just think of him as a cute demon for a sister that everyone must protect at all costs from predators, with a bamboo gag."
"Uh-huh," Grill replied flatly. "A Hideyoshi, remember? Don't assume Knaiva's automatically a boy. He could be a girl under that body. Then again, you could be after his innocence so you could drown him with your yoked-out bazongas."
"Well, we're about to find out," Marxanae declared. We had stepped through a door that seems ordinary, but in actuality it was the boss room, hidden in plain sight as to be mistaken for a normal door with some meaningless contents in it. The door has closed itself once the last person walked inside. Inside was a massive collection of books and files all packed onto shelves and the whole place were like the walls of a maze labyrinth.
"So huge…" Marxanae muttered.
"How are we going to find the archives like this?" Grill gasped in awe. "It'll take forever, it does seem like it."
"I wonder…" I thought. A heightened sense of mine had allured me to a certain direction as if it was guiding me by the hand. The two ladies ended up following me once they realized I was that close to leaving their range of view completely. "You guys are looking for files about those Elejewels, right?"
"Yeah," Grill answered while she pulled from the shelf any book or file she can get her hands on with a spell along with Marxanae. "Do you happen to know where it is?"
"Not really, but somehow I do know the area it can possibly be in; it's like… following an invisible trail, if you put it that way. Assuming if I'm right…" I trailed off in which that distinct feeling has been traced to a metal cabinet at the end of the library hallway. I bent down for a closer inspection of it. "The trail I'm sensing is circling around here."
"A cabinet? I suppose that makes sense to keep something that valuable in here if it's unbreakable," Marxanae stated. "Looks impenetrable on the outside, though. And I can simply tell from the outside that it's locked."
A strange feeling was directed to my finger when I just poked at the lock encased the files inside. It had morphed into a short but pointy little blade needle coincidentally. Seems like I can morph any part of my body into a weapon of some sort.
Without a second thought, I drilled around the lock in a relaxing manner before it popped off once the circle has been drawn. There were two more drawers, so I figured I might as well take care of those too. I stood out of the way for the ladies to go and find the file they were looking for. Eventually, they found the files they wanted.
Elejewel files obtained! You also got a new ability, Wire! String your opponents with assassin wires, craft weapons from the wires and go all out like Spiderman! 2/12 abilities collected.
"This is it, the files for the Elejewels Eris left behind," Marxanae and Grill exclaimed. "Thanks for your help, Knaiva!" The girls both hugged me with their chests. I feel fuzzy and warm from it. A feeling of blush filled my cheeks with a shade of red.
"Er, you're welcome," I answered. "What is this fuzzy feeling?"
"You'll know soon enough. For now, let's get the heck out of here," Marxanae shrunk the files and stuffed them between the lumps on her chest as she said that. They both took my hand and carried me along the way. We were just nearing the exit when I suddenly stopped. "What's wrong, Knaiva?"
"Huh, I really don't know. Maybe I'm just imagining things or something," I shook it off as I scurried ahead of them in a rush. Unfortunately, I ended up running into someone else's chest, with lumps so huge than Marxanae's headfirst.
"Ack, c-can't breathe…!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," The woman replied. "It's kind of hard for me to see below me with these huge breasts of mine. Are you okay?" She softly pulls me away for me to breathe.
"Er, yes, I'm fine. Thanks a lot, lady," I replied.
"Knaiva, are you- eh? Hey, isn't that-?!" Grill gasped and came to a halt. Both mages look rather intimidated by the person whose chest I had ran into.
"What the-?! You're-! Stay back, Knaiva!" She yanked me away from the mysterious lady and holds me against her chest. Her lumps weren't as big as Marxanae's or that lady's though but it still felt nice.
Marxanae got herself in a defensive position. "You're one of those Zero Knights, aren't you?" She demanded from the mysterious lady with the big lumps on her chest.
"Huh, I'm surprised you figured that one out already," The woman replied. I didn't notice earlier, but the woman also had on her hand some files as well. Perhaps they were from another section or something? "The name's Pandora, if you will."
"Tch, just when things were going so well," Grill growled. "I guess we weren't prepared to fight at all."
Pandora stops them. "Save it. I don't have the slightest intent of fighting you guys, though we could be evenly matched, you know. But seriously, I'm not going to waste my time with pointless fights, as if I exist for that reason only."
The girls lowered their defenses but cautiously kept on the alert. "What do you mean by that? Aren't you just another loyal servant to your master?"
"Yeah, you're right… at least that's what I used to believe at first," Pandora sighed heavily. "Just hear me out; I used to believe that serving the master that I have today was my one and only purpose for existing. And I would've kept to that conviction had it not been for the strange dreams I've been having for some time, not to mention that my little brother Eclipse was the first to have them longer than I did and he seemed to have acted out of line to help your friends in some way."
"Oh, him? Yeah, I met him during the Void Hour before I met Kirby," Marxanae said. "So, your point is…?"
"The whole reason why I'm here is because this planet was caught in between Crystal Chaos, so I was hoping to find out anything about ourselves here," Pandora continues. "I knew if I didn't, I would keep doing things with these doubts in my mind, so I want to clear that of any doubts I have about myself and my siblings. Just think of it as an identity crisis, as you may call it."
A lightbulb flashed in both Marxanae's head and Grill's as well. "Oh, that makes sense. Just like Knaiva here; poor kid can't remember anything. We totally understand."
"Knaiva? That's your name?" Pandora asked me. I nodded. "Ah, you're the kid in that pod from earlier. Of course, I only saw the workers carry you to the spot where those two found you. Are they treating you like they're your parents?"
"Woah! That isn't what it looks like," Marxanae refuted. "Just think of us as responsible, caring older sisters that loves their little brother very much!" She hugs me against her big lumps as she said that.
"Seriously? You're making it sound like we have a little brother complex cliché," Grill sweatdropped. "I'm pretty sure most of the older sisters don't hug their younger siblings like that in a seductive way. That's gross. The practice itself, not hating on the person."
"Hey, what's wrong with that? I hold my little brother against my boobs because he's precious to me like he was my own kid. In fact, that's what someone like Knaiva needs now since he lost his memories," Pandora agreed with Marxanae.
"You stuff him between those knockers daily? I'm jealous," Marxanae sighed, glaring at Pandora's huge lumps and compared it to hers.
Grill and I seem to be the only one that were… well, sane. I spoke up. "Okay, you guys can hug me with your lumps later. I think we should all bail before someone finds us out here."
"Don't worry, Grill. It'll take those suckers a lot more time if they wanna get their hands on these knockers. But yeah, probably we should head out now," The witch replied as we all ended up walking together to exit the room. But just at the moment Marxanae stepped forward, things suddenly went wrong. The alarm went off wildly along with some strange pulse.
"Ooh, that ain't good," I gasped by surprise. "Why is the alarm going off? It didn't do that the first time we entered! What's going on?!"
Marxanae's chest started to flash red, so she dug in between her lumps and pulled out the files that she took earlier and opened it. To our surprise, a red device was flashing off and on consistently the moment she opened it! "May I kindly ask, what the actual hell?! They put an alarm in these files?! Who the hell does that?!"
"I knew it! These files are so valuable that it's worth putting those dumb alarms in them!" Grill groaned.
Pandora had the same thing with the file she picked out. "Looks like this was indeed a trap to weed out intruders! I think we've overstayed our welcome here! No worries though, I can simply just warp us all out of here in a flash!" Pandora declared as she snaps her fingers.
Nothing happened. "What?! It isn't working? What's going on?!"
Marxanae and Grill attempted to do the same thing to cast a warping spell, but nothing happened. "Ours isn't working either. Our other spells work, but not the instant escape one. Seriously, what is happening right now?!"
The magnetic pulse has disabled instant escape spells! Warping away from here is not an option at this point!
"That pulse! It must've disabled your escape abilities when the alarm tripped!" I answered. "It must be a countermeasure to ensure the easy capture of anybody that enters here! We're definitely screwed; we have to bail now by foot!"
"All the way to the exit?! But we're so deep in the factory at this point!" Grill said. "And the exit could be blocked off anyway! How are we gonna get out of this one?! There's no way we'll make it out!"
"Now activating defense mechanism program. Preparing to toast the intruders."
"On second thought, it sure does beat being turned into Swiss cheese," Grill calmly spoke before she yelled, "CRAP, RUN!" We bolted out the door to evade the rapid laser fire onslaught that has taken place. I was taken by Pandora while Marxanae took Grill.
"Ugh, w-what the hell…? That was a close shave!" Grill gasped as we got up from the ground.
"We're not out of the fryer yet. Our goal is to find a way out of here, going out the way you guys came in!" I suggested. "And I hear security piling up and fast!"
Marxanae and Grill looked at each other and nodded. "Alright, we'll lead the way. But first, can we trust that she won't pull a fast one on us, Knaiva?"
I looked at Pandora and I nodded. "She's telling the truth, I can tell that very much. Trust me."
"…alright, we trust you, Knaiva," They replied.
Pandora smiled and blushed. "Thank you, Knaiva."
"No problem-!" I said, only to be interrupted by gunshots in our direction. Pandora quickly erected an ice wall to halt the bullets. "Let's get outta here, okay?"
"I second that," Grill concurred.
Marxanae, Grill, and Pandora joins your party! Strange, isn't it? Anyway, escape the factory and run like heck!
As expected, we had to run from the office with Marxanae and Grill leading the way. Inevitable as it was, defeating guards and constantly ran through detours and reroute every turn wasn't an option. I really can't say for sure what my ability exactly is, but for now I'll assume it's turning my body into different weapons. That sure came in handy during this run.
I was hoping to find out more about my memories, but that'll have to wait for another day. For the moment, our priority right now couldn't be any clearer. "There's the way we came in!" All three ladies exclaimed. "Just up ahead!"
We were inside a massive area that stores giant, mechanical weapons and combat robots. The atmosphere was lifeless. Just malice and dread. A chill crawled down my spine by the aura of it all. Good thing that we were going to leave this sick place all at once-
"Hit the floor!" Pandora shouts, making us all fall to the ground in time to avoid the hurling giant snowflake coming our way. "Damn, so close!"
"Oh, come on! Who dares stand in our way now?!" Marxanae growls.
On cue, intimidating footsteps echo through the area, revealing a man with cyan hair and a white long robe that covered his entire body and black eyes. Another figure was floating besides him; a female with long blue hair, an outfit looking like it belongs at the beach with a long blue drape, gold bracelets at both her wrists, cold snow eyes, and snow boots along with wings made of ice. She seems to be the one that nearly killed us. The man chuckled out of habit.
"Well, well, well. Now this was something I did not see coming," The man replied. "Just my surprise, a bunch of snoopers having their hands on something very special. Interesting."
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"The name's Teyren, the chancellor for Queen Spectralinae of Tempestoria. And this one here is the Godbeast known as Shiverflake Celsius," The man introduced himself and the woman. "Surely you've heard of her before, right?'
"Oh no, we're screwed," Grill gasped silently.
"That's right, her purpose is to serve us and to eliminate any scum like you pesky germs like she was to take care of those four criminals on the spot. Perhaps you're affiliated with them in any way?" Teyren cocked an eyebrow to go with that smug look on his face.
"Even if we were, there's no way we'd tell you! I mean, if we got the jewel back from them, you'd assume we were in cahoots with the theft anyways!" Marxanae refuted.
"Hmm, you make an interesting point. I suppose that's fair enough," Teyren shrugged. "Oh well, it doesn't matter, because the three of you will suffer the consequences of your intrusion and for releasing this child from their pod. Shiver, seize them."
"Yes, Master. Grand Snowflake!" Shiverflake shouted. Instantly, the same massive snowflake from before has been erected and hurled at us fast.
"Celsius Bullet!" Pandora casted from her hands a manifested bullet of ice that was shot at high speed without a blink and pierced through the giant snowflake blade. It turned into snow afterwards.
"Tch, you're much stronger than I had assumed you were. But your fates are sealed at this very moment! Howling Obedience!" Shiverflake snapped her fingers and without a second passing by, the ground began to shake violently; we could've jumped if that skill didn't force us on the ground like it was gravity. "You've made it this far, let's see how long you'll last in the labyrinth!"
"Ngh! Damn you!" I growled.
Suddenly, false swipes from blades slashed the floor in a flash, causing cracks to quake and crumble to shards as if it were chopped by an assassin. Right there and then, the floor broke and created a pitfall on us. "Eh?!"
"EEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" We spiraled down into the tales of the abyss below us before we knew it!
"Hang on, everyone!" Marxanae shouted as we continued to fall ever deeper into the factory, it felt like a long time to the point where I couldn't see the light as though we were shrouded in complete tales of darkness. I couldn't see anything, but I felt someone's hand grab me and wrapped me against the lumps on their chest.
"Don't worry, I got you, Knaiva," It was Marxanae who said that. I felt hands touch me, must be Grill and Pandora.
"Hey, I see light from below us! Prepare yourselves!" Grill shouted as the light grew ever brighter on our sight until everything goes completely white for a while that we had to close our eyes. When I opened my eyes, my eyes were displaying an unbelievable sight:
A massive city, a civilization lives below us as we fall.
"W-W-WHAT IS THIS?!" Those were the words that escaped our mouths at that moment.
Now Saving… Save Complete!
To be continued…
End of Chapter 7 Act 2!
Author's Note Summary:
Sorry about the long delay, guys. We had some serious testing issues going on at school for underclassmen and such, so that's why. They even made the seniors that did show up stay in the auditorium for 4 hours straight! Yeah, a bummer. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter act! I'm sorry if the fights were a bit shorter than usual, I've been having writer's block lately for some reason. Must be the thought of graduating this year and Senioritis as well.
Besides that, I've been playing Tales of Phantasia lately as well as watching other tales games to the point where I want at least one of them to be in Smash along with Disgaea which I've watched the anime though, also finally started reading Tower of God after finding out it was getting an anime adaption. I wish they do one for unOrdinary soon! The hype! I guess procrastination it is then.
Anyway, to the story at hand, our heroes go head to head with the toughest knight of the nation, Rushgarde, who have trapped everybody in ice as a means of luring out our heroes/criminals on the spot. But Adeline and the kids manage to bail out the party out of a tough spot and get everybody to safety whereas the criminals disguise themselves and take their chances of fighting against the captain which resulted in their temporary victory. However, it bites them in the butt as the passengers are suffering from an illness caused by the captain's earlier harassment. Ironically, only the party turned into chibis as a result from this effect. Thus, leaving the children to be their saviors by the next day to get the cure.
Meanwhile, the mages and Knaiva invades the archives for the files and retrieves it, unexpectedly running into Pandora on the way out. Soon, things escalates from bad to worse as they are caught by the Chancellor Teyren and the Godbeast Shiverflake Celsius; Shiver's last attack caused them to fall beneath the ground where they discover something more shocking, which awaits you all in the next act. What will become of them next?
Well, that's pretty much everything. I just wanted to get this finished with already because I was supposed to finish and post this last week or a few days ago, but stuff happened, so yeah. Anyway, I apologize for the monthly wait but I still hope you enjoyed it! Let me know the usual in the reviews or PM as always; I'm open for suggestions and stuff like that. That's all and take care of yourselves!