Chapter/Tale 7: Secret of the Abyss: Act 4
Author's Note:
Hey, everyone! I hope you all are doing well during this pandemic. For me, it's been one heck of a time. I've lost so many relatives to the virus than I can count, and it has been stressful for me and the rest of the family, especially if you're born in a big family with tons of relatives and so on. I'm sure it must be the same for you somehow. Seriously, I was not expecting this to happen, but all we can do is keep ourselves and our family safe and hopefully the virus will die down soon. Too bad we only have one life, so don't waste it, especially during this time. I'm sure we all can get through this together! So, with that, enjoy the chapter!
Also, don't forget that Blizzard/Shiver Star takes place on Earth if we consider the fact that it IS Earth in the Kirby universe as possibly canon. How else would you explain Adeline then? Anyway, can you guess what continent or part of earth is Tempestoria located at in modern time today?
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Continuing where we left off...
?'s POV: Unpleasant Memories
When I was little, my mom used to draw pictures for me. Seeing them just gave my heart a feeling that I couldn't describe then. What I did discover about my mom was that she had a strange ability that was tied to her art- her ability caused whatever she drew to come to life! Animals, food, you name it- it all became real the moment it's completed. I've noticed that she uses a special paintbrush whenever she draws. It looked ordinary at first glance, but it was through that paintbrush that made the things she drew extraordinary.
Mom was a shy yet caring artist who painted for everyone's benefit, and she used her power to help those in need. A simple stroke of a brush, and a person who was homeless was now content. Everyone admired her, even my Dad, who was an early Industrial/Digital Engineer for the Factory Plant part-time. Still, Dad always came home with a smile on his face regardless of the circumstances.
With Mom's ability, you would think we're living the high life right now. However, both Mom and Dad didn't care about being rich or anything like that. Dad was against it because someone he knew helped him to appreciate the benefits of a simple life rather than seeking riches before they passed away. I didn't completely understand what he meant then, but it seems that he liked things the way they are now. So did I.
As for me, I admired my parents so much that I wanted to be just like them. I tried to be what they called "responsible." Sure, it ended as a failure with every attempt, but I never stopped trying, and both Mom and Dad was happy either way. One day, I asked Mom about her power out of curiosity when I told her I wanted to become an artist like her one day. Mom was surprised at first, but she decided to tell me. She received this power from her mother when she was born. She loved painting so much that one day, as she drew an apple, it suddenly came out of the canvas she was drawing on. And the paintbrush she was using reacted to her, granting her the ability to draw anything and make it come to life. Mom told me that I might get it one day soon like she did, and I couldn't contain my excitement then. I wanted to draw something for both her and Dad and give it to them.
I never got that chance. It was on that day, when winter came when it wasn't supposed to. I was on my way home from school on the bus, finishing the drawing I promised them. The other kids were amazed and thought Mom and Dad would love it. Everything was carefree, as if nothing could ever ruin this moment-
"Breaking News! A mysterious unidentified object the size of a comet had collided with Earth and near the factory, creating the largest earthquake and explosion in the history of mankind! Reports also claim that the experiment known as the Genesis Project has been disrupted by the crash and giving birth to a strange creature that resembles a human girl. However, this resulted in a sudden climate change across the globe. For your own safety, please stay indoors until further notice!"
"What?!"
"No way!"
"You're kidding..."
That was the first time I was about to learn the true meaning of reality. It's so... cold. Just like how the next few years were like then. Dad was at the factory that time the explosion happened, but he managed to make it out alive. I was scared to near death. Words just can't describe how terrible things went after that. The days went by without a change in season, the air grew colder and colder, and people were in fear everyday now. The life I used to live was about to be encased in ice even further.
One day, Mom and Dad came home with a look of worry and fear, a look I ever saw them make for the first time. Both Mom and Dad glanced at each other and nodded. They both explained to me about the situation that was going on. The government had issued a solution to the impending crisis taking place. However, it required that all the parents must make a gruesome decision in doing so, because it was then I found out that a virus dubbed AbsolZero was killing people left and right. Apparently, it was dangerous than hypothermia, which turns people into ice inside out. For some reason, the children, who were at high risk, weren't showing any signs of catching the virus.
What does that have to do with me? Something that'll change my entire life forever. The officials were against the idea, but the situation left them with no choice but to save humanity by sending off the children into the depths of the galaxy to other planets that were found suitable for living beings. The very idea was absurd, madness, insane for sure, but it was very clear like water that if they don't act soon, everyone will pay the price with their lives.
In this situation, normally, I would be the one crying, the one distraught and torn, but that's what Mom and Dad were right now more than I was. They couldn't hide it in the end; they didn't want to do it, but everyone's options were severely limited to only one. All I could do is hug them. Remember that warm feeling from them, now that I know it will be the last time I will ever feel that feeling again.
A few weeks later, it was time for departure. Mom and Dad personally took me there, holding both my hands while walking alongside the other neighbors in our town and their children. Our luggage was already taken in the shuttle beforehand. After a dreadful eternity, that is what it seemed to me, we had arrived at the boarding zone. The pilots, the attendants, the passengers that were only children- were all miserable. Without context, you would think everyone just has depression or something. Regardless, all the children were having their last moments with their parents before they left- for good.
"Well, this is it, kiddo. I'm afraid we won't be able to join you at this time."
"I know, but I'm more worried about both you and Mom. How are you going to get by with the way things are?"
"Aw, sweetie. We'll be okay, we'll make it work. It's just an unfortunate setback, I'll say."
"Are you sure? Will we ever see each other again after this?"
"... that's... well, we don't know exactly when that'll be, perhaps until the situation dies down here. And unfortunately, that means you'll be on your own then."
"I guess. Oh, I want you to have this." It was the same drawing I had made years earlier. I forgot to give it to them before.
"Aw, honey. Look at that! She made this for us!"
"It's beautiful, darling. She'll be a great artist like you one day!"
"You like it?"
"Of course, we do, we love it! Thank you so much!" They both smiled.
"You're... you're welcome!" I giggled. "I'll be sure to draw lots of pictures for you one day, so promise me that we'll see each other again after this!"
"Aw, we promise, sweetheart!"
Little did I know it was that very moment eased up the despair going around the area that time. Seeing us gave a spark of hope to everyone else as I saw that children got the idea to give their parents something of them to remember them by, ending with them making a promise. At that moment, the intercom ranged.
"Preparations are complete. Now calling for boarding upon Shuttle #N64. Please board whenever you are ready to do so."
"Already? Aw, I guess I should go now."
"Sweetie, wait. Actually, you should keep your drawing."
"What? Why? This is the only time I'll ever get to give you something! Who knows when the next time will be?!"
"Darling, you've given us the best years of our lives, every moment we've spent with you. Of course, we love the drawing you made, but you are our most precious gift any parent could ever have, and just knowing that you made this with your heart is beautiful. That's why we want you to keep it, so that you'll never forget us. After all, I believe your mother wants to give you something."
"Really? Mom?" I looked at her.
Mom pats me on the head, but I realized that she had placed something there, as well as placing something in my hands. I knew exactly what it was she has given to me. "Your red beret and your paintbrush? But don't you need them more than I do?"
"Oh, honey, don't worry about that. I think you'll find it more helpful to you than me. After all, I did tell you that one day, you'll be able to use this paintbrush to its full potential. I know you can."
"You really think so?"
"I don't think so, I KNOW you can."
"Last call for all passengers to board Shuttle #N64. If you have some loose ends to tie up with your family, please do so and make your goodbyes worthwhile. I highly urge you not to fight as well, should anything happen."
"Looks like it's time. We're so sorry things had to turn out this way, sweetie. But I know you'll be okay; just remember, no matter how far apart we are, our hearts are still connected. Don't ever forget that, okay?"
"I... I promise..."
"And don't forget that we love you, Adeline."
"I love you too."
I embraced them for one last hug that ended in tears and for me, it felt like a long time. After that, I had to go on that shuttle, but I looked back one more time to get a glimpse at my parents' faces before they disappear.
"Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. I promise I'll see you again!"
How did things end up this way?
End of ?'s POV
Knaiva's POV: Silent Requiem
Reality merged back into the hallway we were just in as the memory fades away. Words fail to describe the emotions going on through that memory. I felt leaks of water drip down from my eyes, wondering what they were.
"Memory Recall complete. What are your thoughts? Do you believe this might answer some of the questions you have now?" Naiva asked.
"That memory was so... tragic," Grill gasped, "I can't even believe that actually happened."
"So, if I saw that right," I speculated, "Then that means the whole reason for this planet freezing to humanity's extinction was because of your crash into this very factory? And that person that threw us here earlier... could she have been the one who caused this winter by the explosion before?"
"I see, and that AbsolZero virus was killing people left and right, but the children weren't affected at all. That must've explained why the humans supposedly went extinct in the first place!" added Marxanae. "The children went out to different planets while the survivors stayed behind. Maybe the planets Kirby's group went to might've been the children who left Earth. And Adeline was one of them."
"Maybe this might've taken place before Kirby officially met Adeline," Pandora reasoned, "If that's the case, then... could it be? Excuse me, Naiva."
"Yes? Is there something you wish to ask me?"
"The reason for your fall, the condition of these people in Edenia, the Godbeast Celsius, and the supposed "extinction" of humankind," Pandora asked. "Was this all caused by Dark Matter?"
"Always has been. It was Dark Matter that was responsible for this planet's isolation of humans and their demise. Dark Matter then was a being that acted purely on instinct, without knowing right or wrong. When they attacked me without a reason, they developed the lust of other's despair and so they proceeded to cause chaos on Earth. I also blame myself for the things that happened on this poor planet. And after the events caused by my crash, even after Crystal Chaos, I served as a plethora of knowledge under the Zenoxia Family for the Re: Genesis Project, aimed to now reverse the effects of this cursed winter. Humans were finally getting back on track, but as you know now, Dark Matter struck once more several months ago, and the rest follows."
"I knew it. This planet reeks of Dark Matter all over, and I wasn't sure until you just confirmed it to me. Of course, I am a Knightess of Zero and I knew they were targeting this planet, and I would've ignored it if it weren't for these unfamiliar memories I've been having lately," Pandora sighs.
A thought came over me. "Hey, Naiva. Do you think you can get Pandora's memories back along with mine?"
"Knaiva?" Grill asked.
"I'm saying, maybe there's something she might remember that could possibly help this planet's situation. That could go for me as well. Either way, our memories may have a solution to this. Do you think it's possible?"
"Hmm, a plausible idea, I say. And I can tell that this Knight of Zero is telling the truth... Very well, I shall give it a try," Naiva agreed.
"You will?"
"Only for you, young one. However, I cannot revitalize her memories. It seems that there is a force that's preventing me from doing so, like a lock on her, if you put it that way."
"A lock? I thought so... maybe there is something that whoever placed that lock on my memories doesn't want me to remember. Just knowing that is enough for me. Well, thanks for that, Knaiva."
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry, I'll find another way. It's more important that you get yours back," Pandora smiled.
"Well, if you insist."
"All right, Naiva! Fire away!" Marxanae waved.
"Hold on," Grill intervened, her ears perking to an unpleasant sound. "I hear something... it sounds like... oh no."
"What is it?!" I worriedly asked.
"I'm sorry, Knaiva. It looks like what your friend is hearing are the footsteps of the Zenoxia Guard coming this way."
"You're kidding!" Pandora gasped. "Damn, they must've tracked us down here! But we've come all this way just to be interrupted by them! Sorry, Knaiva."
"You don't have to apologize. I'll find out about my memories later. Right now, we'll have to bail as soon as possible before they get us!"
"How? That pulse before disabled our use of escape artes! We can't afford to waste time trying to search every nook and cranny for a way out!" Grill questioned.
"That, I can help you with," answers Naiva. "However, I ask that you free all the people in this city. They have all been subjected to the cruelty of the Guard for several months, using them as catalysts for the experiment thanks to Dark Matter. Those chains can be broken if you use this." A light glimmered in the air, materializing an object made of prism and a rhombus; it hovered over to me in my hands.
You got the Nova Shard! Use this to break the Voidthrilis Chains at once!
"A shard?" Pandora glanced at it.
"Yes, all clockwork stars possess this within their bodies. And it can serve more than just a single purpose; in fact, I sense another one of my kind traveling with the Star Warriors at this moment. Give that to her, will ya? Right now, I'll be able to warp you out of my body and into the city, giving you enough time to guide everyone to safety. It'll take a while, but I should be able to redirect a portal open somewhere in the factory with time. With that, the reason I ask you to free the people is because one of them knows a way out of the city; take their advice and lead them through there as well as the other victims in the factory area. Should anything happen when you reach the outside, return here with my brethren."
"All right, we're on it!" I declared. "You can count on us!"
"Right!" The others joined in.
"Perfect. Now erecting Quick Travel. 3... 2... 1... GO!" At that, before we could even blink, a light quickly flashed, taking us away from the library.
"Good luck..."
Edenia- The Great Escape
We had appeared in the center of this massive city in a flash. Without hesitating for one moment, I used the Nova Shard right where I stood. A golden shockwave echoed in one sitting, vibrating the air and the sounds of unlatched cuffs ripple in a rhythm. The people gathered to the center of the square to where we were, recognizing us as the ones from earlier.
"Were you the ones who broke our binds? You're not with those Zenoxia Guards?"
"Yeah, we did. And as much as we'd like to explain everything, long story short is that we're breaking you all out of here," Marxanae explained. "Whether you like it or not! It sure beats staying around while Dark Matter is causing havoc."
"Dark Matter is back?!" They shrieked, and it didn't take long for a mob mass panic to spread like a virus.
"Well, yes, but whatever happened with you and them, they're not here for any of you this time! However, they must've influenced the Knights at that time!" Grill shouted. "That's why if you so much value your life, take the chance with us to leave this place!"
At first, no one said a word for a few moments. Eventually, someone did. "I'm in. There's no way I'm staying another minute in this accursed abyss. Every day was hell; we've been plagued and experimented like lab rats for that stupid project! If it wasn't for Dark Matter, none of us would be in this crap right now! I don't even know if my own children are okay or not, and I want to see them so much again! Those guards weren't like the way they are now several months ago, and I bet that Dark Matter is behind that as well! How else can you explain why they started injecting all of us with the cells of Demon Beasts and using our DNA to make replicas or something?! This place was supposed to be an escape from the virus years ago, not a damn prison! I've had enough! Dark Matter is gonna pay hell for what they've done to all of us! It's time we bust outta here; these guys are our one and only chance we'll have! Who's with me?!"
"WE ARE!" The rest of the crowd roars with fury and a newborn hope. That person gave us a thumbs up.
"Thanks for that! Now, we don't have a lot of time! The Guard had just entered the Sanctuary, so while they're occupied, we'll use that time to get to the nearest exit of this city!" Pandora explained. "By the time we get there, we'll make an escape arte large enough to get us all out before they catch up with us! Where's the nearest exit?"
Someone shouted, "It's out the same way you probably came in by chance in that area. The quickest way to get there is on that bridge over there!"
"Wait, isn't that the one with the huge security defense robot?! It could attack us at any point in time!"
"Then we'll just get rid of it! After all, just like that boy here, we have the cells of Demon Beasts coursing through our veins right now! And those binds were made to lock them; now that they're broken, we'll be more than capable of busting out of here instead of being a burden to the ones who helped us!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
"Yeah, how about we all make a run for it before the Guard realizes it was all a diversion?" Someone pointed out.
"Agreed," Everyone replied together.
"In that case," I shouted. "We're all getting out of here! No one gets left behind! Let's go!"
With those words, the four of us took the lead to guide the people out of the city before the Guard reaches notice. There were some soldiers standing guard, and they were about to alert the other soldiers, but some of the prisoners put a stop to that instantly. It seems that the DNA of Demon Beasts gave each of them incredible powers, perhaps depending on the kind of Demon Beast. In fact, where did the factory get the DNA of those monsters at all? Either way, they were raising all sorts of hell after being freed.
"Damn, I've never felt so alive in my entire life! This totally makes up for the entire time I've been down here!"
"Wow, he sure is energetic, huh?" Grill sweatdropped.
"Eh, Luke's always been like this for the time I've known him," answers a girl named Feena, the one who told us about the robot. "Don't mind how he acts on the outside, that just shows how much he cares on the inside, even if he doesn't show it."
"Can't blame him. It makes things more interesting around here, I should say," Marxanae shrugged.
"Besides that, we should be reaching the gate bridge right about now," Pandora allured ahead.
"Yeah, let's blow this place wide open!" I declared. Before that, I found a treasure chest nearby and immediately ran to open it. Inside was a Skill Book and some strange trophy that held a symbol of a set of knives. I'm gonna guess that maybe someone else could use it, so I'll keep that just in case.
Skill Book obtained! Knaiva learned Sniping Dagger!
You also got the "Knives" ability, a fusion of Sword and Danmaku! Throw a multitude of daggers and knives from all angles like a maid with the ability to stop time! By the way, this ability is more effective if enchanted with Chrono! 5/12 abilities collected!
Running to the gate ahead of everyone, I ended up stepping on a strange circle, which I felt rejuvenated in an instant.
Would You Like to Save Your Progress? Yes.
Now Saving... Save Complete! Showing Results...
Current Status:
World 7, Level 7-?: The Abyss
Live x 70
4/12 Abilities Collected so far.
Current Level: Level 41. Next Level in 4800 Experience Points.
Party: Knaiva, Marxanae, Grill, and Pandora.
Current Location: Edenia Gate Bridge, Escaping the Abyss
Now Exiting...
I didn't know what that was all about, but I guess that it somehow helps. With that, the massive gate that was sealed broke open, revealing the expansive indigo-violet bridge ahead of us. I glanced ahead as far as I could, and sure enough, it was long, but it was the quickest way to get out of here.
"All right, there aren't any guards up ahead," I reported. "Let's move as quickly as we can, and we'll be out of here in no time!"
"Right!" Everyone agreed. And without further hesitation, we all stepped forward to cross the bridge.
The Bridge of the Abyss
The bridge seems endless at first sight. The vibrant colors fade to the same patches as the very bridge we're running on in the background as it melds with the buildings. I found it weird that nothing was trying to stop us or at least attempting to do that.
"Hey, we're almost at the exit," Grill pointed. "Wow, that was easier than I thought."
"Yeah, just a little bit further and we'll make it," Marxanae spoke. "After that, we'll try to find Kirby and the others and join up with them."
That's what I would like to think, that is, if it wasn't for this strange feeling I've just picked up. Something's not right the moment we stepped foot on the bridge. And the feeling only got stronger and stronger, until suddenly, the alarm in my head went off in panic, telling me where the feeling was exactly coming from.
"Everyone, hit the floor!" I shouted. "INCOMING!"
No one questioned why I shouted that, but they still did it anyway, and it saved them their lives. A thin yellow laser beam had just been shot our way, and following that, a huge explosion in the depths of the endless abyss below us. That outburst shook us.
"W-what the hell?! That was close! Thanks for the warning, kid!" Luke coughs.
"Y-yeah, but where did that beam come from?" I asked. "That was way out of the blue to be just a stray shot!"
"Aw, crud. Remember when I said that this bridge had a robot in the area?" The person who told us about this bridge reminded us; it was Feena. "That's one of the robot's attacks, which means... it's here."
After that line spoken, that's when a huge shadow flew by from the background on cue. It flew down seemingly into its own doom in the depths of the literal abyss below us; if only we knew what was down there, to be honest. It didn't take long for the shadow to mass itself from the bottom, rising like a... god, I believe.
The figure was a robot- it had this whole lighthouse shaped figure to it, marble white on the entire body, yellow seemingly eyes and a red mouth in the middle, long white paddle arms and blue edges on the ends, connected by a yellow shoulder piece that looks like a wire capsule for fishing, the legs were thrusters with a red triangle symbol, red and black edges, and azure blue fire coming out on all fours, and the head was a pointy needle with space to place a yellow eye in the middle. It hovered a fair distance away from the bridge as it presented itself.
"Is that the robot you were talking about?!" Marxanae squealed in shock. "That thing is huge!"
"Unfortunately; it's known as HR-H. That robot is something that was made to defend the city if the Godbeast discovered this place back then, before she was tamed. It's most likely that they reversed its program now to keep us at bay thanks to whatever's going on up there. I tell you, we're in big trouble now! We're done for!"
The same person who riled up the crowd rose to the occasion once again, that must be Luke. "Don't give up, not when we're so close to freedom! Look! These four risked their lives to helping us get out of here, even if that wasn't their original intent, but they still did it anyway! If they got here, then there's a way out as well! And right now, there's only one way that we'll all get to the other side- by defeating this stupid robot!"
"What?! But if we waste time fighting it, we'll be bound to get caught by the guards! We'll die!" Feena argues.
"And if we don't, they'll use it to wreak havoc again here and maybe even on the surface, and even if we kept running, it would've tried to stop us either way! We gotta take it down right here, right now if we don't want it in our way now and later! Otherwise, we'll never get out of here!" Luke shouted.
"Man, you have a point there. But that robot's armor is impenetrable, for a fact. Just how do you suppose we take it down without it wiping out everyone at the same time?" Feena cocked an eyebrow.
"We'll figure out something," I jumped in. "Actually, taking down this hunk of metal might buy us some time after all. Who could capture prisoners when you have an out-of-control robot on the loose? In fact, we could use this to our advantage! I've got an idea!"
"See? Kid's got amnesia and even he gets the idea. Either way, we'll probably end up fighting that one way or another. Bottom line, we have to destroy that robot!"
HR-H emitted a deafening screech as a warning, making us cover our ears. I could tell that it was ready to spill blood right now, and it wasn't going to let us pass over its dead metal body.
"Damn, looks like we don't have a choice!" Pandora growled. "Sorry about this, everyone, but we'll have to fight our way out of this one!"
"And how are going to do that with all of these people with us?!" Grill questioned. "That's going to be a problem! That makes us easy targets for that hunk of metal!"
"Actually, my plan was to distract the robot long enough so that it wouldn't notice everyone else getting to the end of the bridge," I intervened. "Not everyone has the will to fight right now, so our main priority is to make sure that everyone gets across safely!"
"See? Kid's got amnesia and he already has a plan. Let's go with that!"
"Well, I hope your plan works, because here it comes!" Marxanae shouted.
Man, the only thing that's standing in our way is a huge robot. It looks like our plan to escape the Abyss will have to be delayed for now while we deal with this thing. I sure hope we can hold out long enough to get out of here.
For some reason, I wonder what it's like on the outside of this place... Well, we're left with no choice but to fight for it!
Chaos from the Abyss- 39th Boss Battle
Knaiva, Marxanae, Grill and Pandora VS HR-H, Guardian Robot of the Abyssal Shiver Star (Boss- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards)
Boss Description: Shiver Star is a planet shrouded in mystery, vague as to why the planet truly froze over in the first place- canonically speaking. No one knows why, but it seems something terrible took place, and this open abyss may have shielded the inhabitants from what took place, or whatever remains of them, accompanied by this robot with no clear clue of its maker and only the assumption that it may be a relic of the Ancients. In the year 2000, it was defeated by Kirby, holding a Crystal Shard for unknown reasons during the trilogy saga of Dark Matter. Now it follows the program to prevent anyone from escaping albeit it strays from its original purpose. However, even Kirby and his group had trouble penetrating its solid defensive body at first, but they manage to stop it. Perhaps you could find a place to at least land a hit on it?
HR-H stands in your way! Defeat it and escape from the abyss before the guard catches you!
"Come on, bring it on!" I shouted. "The rest of you, head towards the end of the bridge! Defend yourselves if necessary!"
"Right!" The rebels agreed, making their way towards the other side of the bridge immediately. And just as planned, HR-H's attention was solely focused on the ones who stayed behind.
"Well, that worked," I shrugged. "Now to figure out how we should take this thing down." Without much thought, I mutate my arm into an extensive blade and swung at it just to see what it is made of. And just as stated before, not a single scratch was on it.
HR-H made its first move by extending out its left arm and flinging it across the bridge on impact, some jumped or ducked to avoid it, and it was a close shave too. After that, it swung its right arm again at us from our left suddenly, throwing us off guard and we suffered for it with damage.
"Ouch! You'll pay for that!" Marxanae growled, retaliating with spell artes. "See how you like this! Violent Bloom!" Petals materialized, and instantly the petals turn into knives, firing directly at HR-H in a blink of an eye. However, no damage was dealt to it whatsoever, just as stated before.
"You're kidding...! Not a single scratch!" Marxanae seethed and grunts.
"What did I tell you?" Feena shouts, "HR-H has impenetrable armor on the body made of a special kind of material, allowing it to tank even the deadliest of explosive attacks! Not even elemental artes could scratch it!"
Luke shakes his head as he also tried to attack the body and came back to avoid the offensive counter shield it had just deployed. "Shoot, no wonder they kept this thing around then."
HR-H then erects the same yellow laser that nearly did us in before, this time guiding it across the bridge, making us jump. However, trails of the plasma from the laser were left behind, and without a second of delay, the plasma traces erupted like a volcano, shooting us up into the air before we knew what hit us.
"Ow! That's it! We have to retaliate somehow!" Pandora shouts, erecting another attack while still airborne. "Melancholy Prism!" Pandora materializes prisms of ice which shattered by her command to form icy slash wave projectiles and fired at the robot, seemingly to be effective.
"Count me in too!" Grill joins her. "Dolphin Splash!" A materialized ball of water suddenly formed and sprayed a scalding stream of water to cover Pandora a second after her attack was SHOT.
HR-H, however, counters this with pockets of fired missiles from the lower body, cancelling out the opposition in a matter of mere seconds, whereas it also shot a much stronger laser to completely dissipate the water stream. "Seriously?!" Pandora growled, becoming frustrated as we land roughly to avoid the incoming arm swing from the blue.
"Hold on, this doesn't make any sense," Grill exhales loudly, "If I remember this right, Kirby and the others with him did manage to defeat it before, so it must have some weak point hidden somewhere. But where exactly? The only thing Kirby said was that he attacked wherever he could land a hit on since it's constantly hovering in the background the most part."
Feena sweatdrops as she dodges another laser. "That's literally what we did, and it's not helping at all!" Soon, it was basically a game of dodging then.
"Anywhere he could land a hit on, huh?" I thought, "It's pretty clear that it's made to nullify any long-ranged projectiles at once from all angles, so that's why nobody's spell artes were any effective in the first place. Firing lasers and missiles are one thing, but it also swings its arms on the bridge as well... wait a minute! Oh, I see!"
After the missiles and lasers finished their turn, up next was HR-H swinging its arms at us again. This time, it was both arms for a sideway pincer attack coming our way. Just as usual, we all jumped to avoid the arms, and I noticed that the moment the arms clap together, they were rising into the air and pausing for a second for another attack. And sure enough, it did attack again, smashing the bridge with full force, but not destroying it at all. For some reason, the arms were stuck in that position as HR-H struggled to pull out.
"Everyone, the arms! Get the arms!" I shouted, making the first strike of the group by using my new arte, Sniping Daggers, flinging a multitude of small needles of metal directly at the arm, piercing through both arms like a bullet fired from a ghost. And to make sure the plan works, I fired a laser bullet as a combo finisher for a guarantee.
A brief explosion followed, and the others thought the same thing was going to occur. When the smoke cleared, however, you could see massive damage dealt on both arms instead and that also made HR-H come down with paralysis as well!
"Just as planned," I smirk, "It worked! Turns out HR-H would've been impossible to destroy if it wasn't for those long paddle arms! All that armor was only directed on the body, not the extensions! That means attacking the arms will actually affect the body in the long run!"
"Seriously? The robot's actual weakness are the arms?!" Feena gasped. "The heck? They made it sound like every part of it was impenetrable!" The others agree as well.
Luke wasn't one for pointless dialogue as he was already bashing the arms mindlessly but effectively. "Yeah, yeah! That's great and all, but how about you all get over here and beat his arms to a pulp before he strikes again?!"
"Oh, right!" We shouted, eventually joining in on the action with Luke for a couple of moments before HR-H got its arms out and retracted them from the bridge. It was ready to fight again. This time, we used attacks that spreads out to all areas of the body in case it tries to avoid using its arms to attack again.
Eventually, the moment it unintentionally swung both arms, it was already checkmate as I got in the way for a counterattack. "Rendering Force!" I charged my fist and pulled off a force blast cancel at the arms, forcing HR-H back from the bridge further than usual, sparks escaping from its body and electricity circling around as well.
"Yeah! That oughta show 'em!" Luke laughed triumphantly. "And it looks like everyone got to the other side safely as well! Come on, let's get going!"
"Hold on," Feena interjected. "Something's not right! HR-H is doing something weird! Look!"
HR-H was supposed to be malfunctioning, sparks and everything. But another look made us realize that it appears to us as if nothing has happened to it at all. Instead, it shrieks wildly as it mindlessly caused destruction in its wake to anything nearby, then it calmed down and cited a strange kind of command protocol.
"What the-?!"
"Targets appear to be more resistant than calculated. Engaging Second Phase Mode: HR-E. Preparing to eliminate. Releasing locks on the bridge."
Phase Two Activate!
Suddenly, I could feel a strong draft coming from between the lines in the bridge, and it feels a lot less stable than just moments ago. Meanwhile, HR-H hovers over to the starting point of where we entered the bridge, and when it landed, it quickly changes its form into a rocket vehicle facing horizontally as opposed to being vertical before, now with its paddle arms becoming large scissor hands and possessing a black body core with plasma green eyes. The shriek echoed again.
"What?! This guy has a second form?! The heck, Feena?!" Luke shouted. "You never told us that!"
"How should I have known?! I only knew about the base form; I didn't know it also had another one!" Feena defends herself. "The fact that it does proves that they were keeping it secret in case anyone encounters it!"
"Um, guys?" Pandora stutters, pointing a finger at the robot. "We've got bigger problems right now! The platforms on the bridge are starting to fall!"
Ah, so that explains the draft between the lines earlier! Wait a minute, that's not good. Just as Pandora said, the platforms underneath HR-E now started to descend into the literal abyss one by one.
"Should we-?" Grill asked.
"Start running?" Marxanae finished the sentence. "Right now? Yeah, no kidding! RUN! FOR IT!"
Pretty much, we started using the secret technique of running away from our doom and a robot. "Um, did it ever occur to anyone that we're gonna have to stop HR-E eventually?" I asked. "Right now, it's firing more missiles at us as we speak."
HR-E again fired more missiles from above, arcing near us when fired. We barely avoided them on impact, but not when it exploded a second after, launching us forward. Before we could even catch a breath, HR-E deployed a fat missile from its body, flying forward at a much slower pace than the other missiles.
Without thinking, I ran towards the missile because I noticed something weird about the body. I unconsciously avoided the pincer arms as well while I ended up punting the missile directly at the black section of the second form. The fat missile exploded and slowed down HR-E for a moment before resuming course again.
"The black core! That's the weak point!" Luke realized. "Nice going, kid!"
"Thank god the weak point isn't so obscure this time!" Marxanae cheered, getting ready to strike back. "Let's try this again! Violent Bloom!"
This time, her attack dealt a lot of damage than before in its first form. Grill and Pandora also performed the same attack as before, while both Feena and Luke combo the black core together. HR-E, overwhelmed, suddenly revert to its first form and ascended upwards. Gazing upwards, HR-H was rapidly homing on us while descending to crush us. Before I knew it, it would've gotten us if it wasn't for the opening underneath the thrusters.
After that, it scoots back while changing into HR-E again and continues the pursuit with the platforms also falling on command. It also tried to cut us in half with its pincers in the process, and we did our best to push it back and damage it as much as we can.
"Hey, guys!" Grill shouts, pointing. "We're almost at the end of the bridge! We have to stop it now before- what the?!"
Suddenly, HR-E deployed not those fat missiles, but a cannon that was storing up energy for one final death beam as a last resort, and the speed of the falling platforms were increasing rapidly on us, not to mention the platforms at the end of the bridge were also falling too!
"Crap, what now?! The platforms are falling on both ends!" Marxanae squealed, panicking. "And if it fires now, we're dead!"
Luke laughed, the only one who was calm about the situation, had an idea. "Oh, that's easy! First, we JUMP RIGHT NOW!" That's what we did when the gap of the platforms were closing at its end.
"Okay, now what?!" Feena screams. The others were exclaiming excitedly out of dread seeing the situation we were in. It does seem like we can make the jump after all.
"Simple: we use the secret technique of doing absolutely nothing the moment we land," Luke answers, landing swiftly as he catches Feena like a princess while we landed on our own two feet. I was the last to land, unfortunately in the range of the beam.
"KNAIVA, NO!" The girls shrieked louder than before as HR-E fires the deadly beam at the one in the range- me.
"Don't worry, the second part of the secret technique is to let nature take its course!" Luke finishes.
"HUH?!" Everyone questions.
The moment I turned around, you would think I was a dead boy right where I stood, right? Yeah, that would be the case if it wasn't for the fact that the beam struck the exact spot of my chest where I had the hole defect. Instead of going through me, the beam was slowly being thinned out and exhausted to the point where it stopped altogether at once.
To everyone's surprise, I unconsciously deflected the beam right at HR-E in no time- a direct hit! And of course, the rest follows: HR-E was dressed in explosions like a meteor storm, losing control and plowing directly over the crowd, luckily, and crashed nearby and away from us. An explosion arose. HR-E wasn't in pieces, but at least it wasn't going to harm us anymore.
"Well, I certainly did not see that one coming," I shrugs, not feeling impressed about what happened. "Eh, what are you gonna do about it? The important thing is, we made it out alive! We won!"
HR-H/HR-E has malfunctioned! Victory! (Stage Clear- Kirby Mass Attack/Normal Victory- Grandia 1 HD)
You gained 4800 Experience Points! You are now Level 42!
Health rose to 2400! All stats rose by 240!
Knaiva learns Chaos Requiem, the move he had just pulled off!
You got the "Spider" ability! 6/12 abilities collected!
Next Level in 5200 Experience Points.
HR-H laid there in the crater, unable to continue any further to kill us at this point. I exhaled in relief as a sign of victory as the crowds cheered for us like a leader who led their army to freedom.
"Knaiva! Thank god you're okay!" The three girls jumped me, relieved that I wasn't dead in that dreadful moment. Marxanae abruptly squeezes me with her lumps, almost in tears. Grill was the same as well; Pandora adds to the tightness of air by also squeezing me in between her huge airbags and cups her hands around my body.
"Alright, I get it already!" I tried to tell them. "Just let me go, your big lumps or boobs are kinda killing me right now, and not in front of everyone too! It's embarrassing!"
Luke cackles, "Hey, don't worry about it! You did almost bite the stardust if it wasn't for the hole in your chest! And you're on your way to becoming what we call a man of culture! Accept that from them! They were really worried about you!"
Marxanae huffs at me, but then she affectionately leans forward and places her lips on my forehead- they called it a kiss, and Pandora kisses me along with Grill as well. The crowd of prisoners gasps and awes upon seeing the affection I was given.
"No, it's what you get for making us worry like that," Marxanae smiles with a toothy grin. "Please don't do that again, okay? We've only met you, but you're like a little brother to us. Except for Pandora, of course."
"Ara ara, then I suppose that would make me your cousin with ridiculously huge boobs than anyone in this story. A shame this isn't Rated M, these kinds of scenes would be perfect material for my fanfiction if they were, y'know, a bit bolder? I wouldn't mind being the material model either. Too bad, and I was hoping to reveal a little bit more than this, if you know what I mean."
"Interesting," Marxanae and Grill hummed. "We want in too on this!"
The males hearing this suddenly jolted, staring at the girls with big old bloodshot eyes, shouting:
"OH YES. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! OH MY GOD! OH GOD YES!"
The females shook their heads; Luke wasn't too concerned about it. "Well, glad to know that, everyone. But that ain't gonna happen unless we get out of here alive! Once we do that, you guys and ladies are free to get your freak on!"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
After letting go of me, I smiled and turned red, but shook that off afterwards and pointed ahead of us. "Alright, everyone. We're almost out of the woods! It's just a little bit further from here! It's time to bust this joint! Let's go!"
"HELL YEAH!" Everyone screamed excitedly. Without hesitating, we all made a cautious but mad dash towards the path that'll lead us to freedom from this accursed abyss.
"Oh, Knaiva," Marxanae and Pandora told me, pulling from between their lumps the same files that they had from before and gave it to me. "We think you should hold onto that, just in case."
"Alright, I will," I thanked them.
You know, I wonder if I came from the surface as well; I wonder what it's like outside...
Shivera Starshine- Hillside Port
(Frozen Hillside- Kirby's Air Ride)
The next day, the same thing continued as usual even though it's only been 2-3 days on Blizzard Star so far. In that range of time, we've somehow traveled to the edge of different continents that would've taken weeks to get to by cruise or plane. Every time we anchored to new land, we had to stay behind and watch over the cruise or restock on supplies while in disguise, and every morning, we had to serve the passengers breakfast or clean their rooms. And it continued in a way that felt like we literally lived in this cruise! If it wasn't for what's happening right now, I would've enjoyed the experience.
Yesterday was the same thing, except that we've sent four kids to do our jobs for us, which they handled quite better than we ever did. They saved Espera's sister, Esderane, and now the passengers can recover safely from the virus. That's one less problem to deal with. Today, we've arrived at Frozen Hillside's Port, and Vanja had sent the four kids to scout ahead for any sign of the Zenoxia Knights earlier, if Esderane was right about that, while the passengers recover and while we plan out our next move to find the Shiver Chamber.
Man, this is honestly a lot to deal with. I've tried calling Daroach weeks ago, but apparently, the entire squad is out elsewhere in another galaxy at that time, said it was urgent business. Ever since we were on the run, let me tell you right now, I can't believe I flew ten thousand light years or something for this crap to happen. We had to deal with the entire planet on our butts nonstop trying to assassinate us left and right, this I swear to Nova! Honestly, how the hell did I end up with the most nefarious members of the Star Allies in this situation?
Well, it doesn't matter now. I had a feeling we were eventually going to end up like this somehow either way. All we can do is find a way to fix this. Those were the recollection of my thoughts when they were interrupted by another boob hug to the face. I was not fazed.
"What's the matter, Maggie? Lost in your thoughts again?" asked Vanja.
"It's nothing," I reply.
"Come on," Vanja huffs, pressing her boobs against my face a bit tighter. "Obviously you're troubled when you say that. Oh, you're thinking about this whole situation right now, aren't you? Don't be sad, I'm sure it'll all work out."
"You're pretty laid-back despite what's going on around you, huh? Can you say and act the same if something happened to the Queen?"
"That's a stupid question to ask, of course I'll be conflicted about it. Who wouldn't be? I've known her for some time now, and even after Crystal Chaos, we basically looked after each other once I helped Kaila get by as an accursed human. My family knew lots of people, had a lot of ties with them, and that's how we became on good terms with the Zenoxia Family for generations, even till now. I took over for the business a few years ago, so all of this is cakewalk for me. If anything, I'm more worried about your friend, Taranza. Poor arachnid's been through a lot." She shakes her head and releases me from her breasts, sitting down next to me.
I sigh. "I know, he lost his dear friend in that incident a few years ago. When he was in depression, he kept blaming himself, saying over and over if only he hadn't given her that damn mirror... it's not like he knew about the mirror back then. Now we gotta keep his butt in check ever since he got with Spectra. I heard him say that she looks just like her. To be fair, I found the resemblance to be uncanny as well. Of course, she's a human, but you could feel that aura if you were him."
"Hmm... you don't say," Vanja ponders. "As much as I could just say that it may be a coincidence, I'm afraid coincidences just don't cut it in this kind of situation. We may need to investigate that as well. Sure enough, if anyone can knock sense into her, it must be Taranza. Knock some sense into him before he even does that, will you?"
I nod. "Alright, I was planning on doing that anyway. I just hope it's just in time before we settle this mess for good."
At this moment, we were greeted by the kids who had just returned from their little mission. "We're back, Vanja!" shouted Kazela.
"That was quicker than I thought," Vanja replies. "So, was Esderane right about the Zenoxia Guards being there?"
"Unfortunately," answers Jodie. "Security around the town has grown tighter than before. Must be what happened two days ago. Anyway, we overheard some of the soldiers saying that the wanted might try to hide away in this town, and they even think that they're hiding among the people in this cruise."
"Crud, just our luck," Vanja grunted, becoming quite frustrated. "Looks like Esderane was right. That means we can't afford to waste any more time. But we need to find out where that chamber is before we even step foot in Tempestoria. Obviously, it's going to draw suspicion if I send the kids back there since we haven't anchored near the main port, Magolor and the other three isn't an option, and the rest of the allies are still shrunk as dolls. And after the ruckus we made, anyone that was in this cruise could be persecuted and be used against us."
"And then there's the matter of what happened two days ago," Fololo brought up. "There's a chance the same thing could happen again. Just how do we avoid that if we have no one that could do so right now? And how else are we gonna find out where the Shiver Chamber is?"
I don't know how to say this, but somehow, it seems like someone's always able to provide an answer to our problems. Simply put, a few of the passengers had approached us as if they had the solution to the problem.
"My, I don't think you all should be up after that incident," Vanja said, worried. "I'm really sorry about that."
"Don't apologize," One of them responds, whose name was Lin. "That wasn't your fault in the first place, and besides, thanks to your friends here and Esderane, we're all better now! The entire crew had just recovered this morning!"
"Really?! That's a relief!" Vanja smiles. "I don't know what I would've done if you didn't pull through."
"It's fine! In fact, we should be the one repaying you," Another one of them offers, named Mattia. "We overheard you earlier saying something about a chamber, right? In that case, I know someone who did see something like that place a few days ago."
"Wait, seriously?" I asked.
"Yep. Well, she didn't see where specifically she saw it, but she was somewhere in Tempestoria when she did stumble upon it, so that chamber you're looking for is ironically in that same area that nearly froze us all to death."
"Of course, it's in the place that nearly screwed us over," Falala sighed.
"Hey, at least we know where it is now," countered Fololo. "It should be a simple in-and-out mission. That saves us the trouble of going around the planet anyway."
"Thank you very much," Vanja bowed. "We really owe you for this!"
"Er, it's no big deal, really," the other humbly refuted named Naomi. "It's the least we could do for you."
"Well, it's one thing that we know where the chamber is," Kazela interjected, "But that raises another problem- how are we going to cross the town after what happened days ago? Those knights will jump this cruise again the moment they see it; I'm surprised we were even able to haul the stuff you asked for without being stopped. Regardless, I'd like to avoid another run in, if possible, please."
And then there's another problem plaguing us from the shadows. I mean, the girl does have a valid point. Being bombarded by the knights again will most likely be the outcome if they spot the cruise, and everyone just recovered this morning. There's no way any of us are going through that the second time! So how can we avoid the same scenario this time?
Turns out, one of the passengers also had an idea to the solution. "Valid point, kid. Tempestoria is a day away from Frozen Hillside, after all. And I just heard they also barricaded the normal path for all cruises around Hillside as well. Well, to be fair, taking the usual route, in reality, costs a cruise two days to reach Tempestoria if they were to encounter toll booths or something like that. I would know that myself from experience."
"Just where exactly are you going with this?" I questioned, only to realize what his idea could possibly be. "Hold on, are you saying that you know how exactly to get through the fuzz?"
That passenger, who was named Vyse, nods to confirm this. "That's right. Your situation requires a shortcut. Frozen Hillside was named after a course in that Air Ride Event years back, and the residents of that area abide to one rule: to never speak of the location of the hidden passageway stream. It was, y'know, in case of an emergency. And since the cruise is in the range of where it is and not near the port, that makes it easier to get through the fuzz in-and-out to avoid trouble like venting, in a way. I think everyone knows this pass as the Sea of Rage."
"The Sea of Rage?!" Naomi squeals, "Are you crazy, Vyse?! There's a reason why hardly anyone passes through that stream these days! Ships were devastated in a matter of minutes just by entering a couple of feet in there! We'll be in pieces before we even make it out of there, and almost all the Star Warriors are in no condition to help in their shrunken state!"
Vyse was steadily calm about this idea. "A gamble it is, I know. But it's not like we have any other options at this point, right? For one, if we break through the barricade right now, we're just driving the nails further in our own coffins that we managed to escape from, and we won't be able to pull through if we get the disease the second time."
"That was because they thought the wanted criminals were hiding away in this cruise!" Mattia objected.
"And that's why going through the Sea of Rage is our best bet," Vyse refuted, "Have none of you found it bizarre that the Zenoxia Knights would actually attempt to forfeit the lives of innocents all for the capture of wanted criminals because they stole the jewel? Anyone can infer that the Zenoxia Family is involved in some sort of dark conspiracy, and maybe what they said happened was nothing more than a lie to cover that up; maybe the wanted found out something they weren't supposed to, and this manhunt was to keep them quiet. That jewel is so valuable that they will stop at nothing to get it back, even if it means spilling a little blood, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were on this very cruise ship right now. Sorry, but my budget doesn't allow the compensation for a thousand memorial services."
"Vyse does have a point there," Lin agrees, "I'd rather not go through that again. But if you suggest that strongly, I hope you do have a plan before anyone agrees to it, that I doubt."
"As a matter of fact, I do," Vyse answers, "But that's only if the captain herself agrees to it. Well, what says you?"
The dragon princess takes a moment to consider the idea of crossing the Sea of Rage. She glances at me for my opinion on this as well as the other kids present. Honestly, the answer to me was obvious.
"A no-brainer, Vanja," I casted my vote. "We might as well just do that than deal with the accident days ago. We can't afford to waste whatever time we somehow have left in our given scenario."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry, I'll take the frontlines in defending the cruise if that helps with the others. Besides, it's risky, but it's also convenient at the same time if it gets us there faster. We will make it out, I promise."
Vanja was speechless at first, but she reverted right back to her same character as usual, meaning she's on board with the idea. "Alright, Vyse. We'll take you up on the offer. Sounds like you've been through the Sea of Rage yourself, so as the man with the plan, you'll lead the way for this event only. In fact, I may have an idea as well."
"So, it's settled then," Jodie spoke, "That means you should alert everyone that we're taking a detour while we get the others to help us. Luckily, Aqua and Karly are cured of the virus and they've turned back to normal, so maybe we can get them to guide the cruise from underwater with Adena as mermaids."
"Heh, looks like you had the same idea I had," Vyse smirks. "After all, a single mermaid can easily move a cruise like this one without much effort and accuracy. And having more of them guarantees our success for navigation. That way, we can focus on taking out the monsters that jump onboard. It's that simple than it sounds!"
"Geez, I kinda wish you said that earlier," Naomi sighs a little. "I got worried for nothing, it seems."
"In any case, we should get everyone ready for this," I suggested, "And we better hurry before the knights spot us."
"Agreed," Everyone replies, breaking off to warn the others in the cruise and prepare for a tempest through the deadly pass.
"Okay, Maggie, meet me in the quarters with the others once everything's taken care of, alright?" Vanja orders.
"On it," I answered, running to get the others.
Later...
"Attention, all passengers. Due to unfortunate events, it seems that there has been a change of plans. Please listen carefully. After what took place recently this week, the Zenoxia Forces have barricaded the entire route to prevent us from going any further. Because of this, we are left with no choice but to cross the discreet pass of this area known as the Sea of Rage. I know what you're thinking right now, and I understand. However, we do have a plan to get through the serpent's pass. Some of our allies have recovered from the poison, those having the ability to become Mermaids. They will dive underwater to clear the path of any hazards that comes our way and carefully guide the cruise, while we have some who will take the frontlines and defend the cruise from any monsters that may come aboard. In the meantime, stay away from your cabins and from the lower levels when we do cross. Trust me when I say that your lives literally depend on your cooperation! We can't guarantee the safety of everyone if you all don't comply! I promise to explain everything only after we make it through in one piece! If you understand, head towards the upper levels at once! This is not a drill!"
At once, the announcement made things go rather smoothly as every single person followed orders, obviously to avoid what happened recently the second time. With that out of the way, the rest of us were prepping for a violent crossing. Of course, most of the party were in no condition to fight, so they were on standby. Aqua and Karly somehow recovered quickly than the rest, which was rather convenient for some reason. Aside from that, we have three mermaids to help us, as Vyse planned. The other princesses were the recovery squad; Merina and Esderane were healers, Callie was the receptionist for the people and the captain, both sides of Dinah were living ammunition like cannons, Yae was the hidden sniper assassin using her katana as a rifle imbued with shadow artes, and Zeta was the technical engineer to control the internals of the ship, statistics and such.
In the frontlines: Me, Marx, Taranza, Gooey, Kazela, Jodie, Fololo, Falala, and Adeline. In the situation that the cruise was going to be attacked, the top deck automatically transforms itself for combat, making it more spacious and to avoid property damages that way, which is a little too convenient. Monsters will jump on the front, and in the chance that some enters from the rear, Yae got us covered as well as the mermaids. With that, we just need to fend off the monsters on our part and we'll be fine. God, I hope so.
Everything was set; I went to Vanja as instructed and the operation was set into motion. The cruise silently drifted intentionally into the mist that Vanja made to conceal ourselves, gliding through a pass that I didn't see at all the first time. And with everything prepared, the cruise ventured into the chasm that would be our own deaths.
"Alright," Vyse chuckled. "Let's do this."
Level Three- Sea of Rage (Compass- Kuubi)
Crossing the Sea of Rage
The Sea of Rage is one of the deadliest passes or areas ever to exist in this adventure. Now that almost your entire party is out of commission and with only two of them helping Adena man the cruise from the sea, it's up to you to defend the frontlines from any dangers that may come across. The Starshine has a damage bar, and you need to make sure that it doesn't go down at all. It's tough to crack the defenses, but that's not entirely a guarantee, I should tell you. Listen up and listen well, the party may recover after knockout, but the ship won't, and you're screwed if that happens! Zeta will try to repair the damages after a wave, but make sure that whenever you encounter obstacles or enemies, be sure to take minimal damage as possible should you encounter anything near the end of the Sea of Rage. Remember that you're fighting for two groups of lives here! Good Luck!
"Alright, crew!" Vyse ordered, "Prepare for battle! First wave incoming!" The monsters were expected, they shot themselves on board and made their first move like pirates.
"Let's kill them!" Marx howled demonically as he erected crescent-shaped blades from his wings and hurled them at the invaders as the first strike. Gooey dashed and transformed into an azure fireball, smashing right into the hordes like a bowling ball, Taranza ensnared some in spider webs and kicked them at nearby monsters, Adeline was casting offensive Star Artes, Jodie and Kazela went melee while the Cubix Twins fired cubes at monsters from above while I shot some revolving spheres in response.
The monsters fell at once whereas the remaining fled from the deck and into the cold waters below. "Well, that wasn't so bad at all!" Marx snorted. "Those monsters were definitely the weakest here, though. I don't know what made them think they could take us all at once."
"It always starts off with the weakest, Marx," I replied. "It won't be long before they start shipping strong monsters to get us when we least expect it."
"Come to think of it, how do we exactly get out of this pass anyway?" Gooey wondered.
"You don't get out," Vyse boomed ominously, "YOU SURVIVE."
"I mean, how do we actually leave the pass?"
Vyse answers, "Oh, that's the simple but hardest part of the pass. We just follow the current all the way until we reach an area where the walls aren't narrow, or specifically, a huge dome area with a massive door, for some reason. That I'll take care of. The hardest part is even getting there alive and in one piece."
"Why is that the hardest part?"
"Gooey," Taranza sighed, "They don't call it the Sea of Rage for nothing. In other words, we're basically targets for the assassins to kill, meaning whatever it is that makes it deadly will come at us without warning. That first wave was but a mere warmup or a warning for us should we continue any further. I sure hope the girls are holding up well."
At this, someone leapt from the waters and clutched onto the rails for the top deck. It was Aqua in her mermaid form. Those who have never seen a mermaid before in person were amazed and gazed at her. "Don't worry, we're okay. Pushing a massive cruise like this is cakewalk for a single mermaid like myself. Adena and Karly swam ahead to check out any other dangers that might come our way. Also, don't stare at me like that, it's a little embarrassing."
"Wow," Marx whistles, "And to think that she's Bandana Dee's girlfriend... I'm still trying to process that."
Aqua giggles. "Anyway, I better get back right now. Excuse me." She backflips from the handles and dives from the 10th floor into the warm, freezing sea. Everyone clapped for that. 10/10 for me.
Naomi was still starstruck. "Geez, Vyse. How did you know there were mermaids among the Star Warriors anyway?"
"Ha-ha, I didn't," He admits, "But considering how they solved the recent crisis's those past few weeks, it would be logical to bring one along with them in case. Like I said before, mermaids can move even the heaviest of ships with ease as well as control its direction. And it's good that there's three of them to scout ahead for us."
"Sounds rather convenient," Lin shrugs. "So, how long does it take to reach that area you were talking about?"
"Assuming that we get there without any major damages or fatalities and with the minimum amount of damage to the cruise plus taking out the enemies and the deadly traps laying up ahead for us, I'd say roughly about 5-10 minutes, only if we even reach there at all and we make sure we get rid of any obstacles in our way, like that second wave coming now."
"Wait, what?" Mattia gasped.
"You gotta be kidding me," Adeline groans.
Ironically, a second wave of monsters boarded the ship as soon as Vyse said that specific line. In fact, these monsters emit a stronger aura than the previous wave we fought a while ago.
"Looks like these guys mean business," Jodie barked. "Don't get cocky, they're not like the first wave."
"Welp," Kazela shrugs, "Here comes round two."
From here on out, the voyage into the Sea of Rage was a struggle. As the seas grew restless, so did the monsters as well. The cruise did take considerable damage during this, but it was a good thing the marks weren't fatal or anything. Part of the reason why they call it the Sea of Rage is because of how nature can be a person's worst enemy as it's not biased towards anything or anyone. Literally, nature attacks you!
How is it doing that? I don't know, nothing except for the unexpected chunks of ice popping out of nowhere from the freezing waters below, trying to sink the cruise! Doesn't that part sound familiar to any of you? Besides that, the waters are growing rapidly, causing a turbulence for all of us, inside and outside, and I feel bad for anyone who gets seasick! Not to mention the walls are literally chucking chunks of ice straight at us like a football! Good thing Yae was able to snipe through them in time from the shadows.
Don't ask me how, but regardless of the dangers we went through just now, we were able to make it through the rage, in one piece altogether as well. Exhausted, we all were collapsed on the ground, drained of our energy and covered in bruises. The recovery team rushed to treat us in less than a few seconds to spare.
"Report: Shivera received minimum damage as possible. Internals and other exterior damage have been calculated to be less than the expected damage," Zeta announced. "We'll be fine for now."
"Better than I expected," Vyse nods. "And luckily for us, we should be arriving near the area dome in a matter of moments."
"That's a relief," I sighed.
"The repairs are finished as well," Zeta mentions. "We should have no problems whatsoever."
Vanja clasps her hands in response. "Good. Should anything happen to it, I'll murder the person that does attempt to get at it- oh! Look, it seems we're about to enter that spacious area you mentioned, Vyse! Mermaid girls, full speed ahead!"
The Starshine glides with much swiftness thanks to the three mermaids in the cold waters. As we float forward, I felt some strange energy resonating all over. Maybe I'm just imagining it?
Would You Like to Save Your Progress? Yes.
Now Saving... Save Complete! Showing Results...
Current Status:
World 7, Level 7-3: Sea of Rage
Lives x 71
6/12 Abilities Collected So Far.
Current Level: Level 42. Next Level in 5200 Experience Points.
Party: Magolor, Marx, Gooey, Taranza, Adeline, Kazela, Jodie, Fololo, Falala.
Current Location: Sea of Rage
Now Exiting...
Shrugging it off, the cruise continued its uncharted course and swam towards the opening ahead of us of the pass that would lead directly to the exit.
For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this...
Sea of Rage- Exit Dome
Upon entering, the narrow, standard hallway route suddenly expanded into an open world path of a sandbox game. It's so massive it kinda creeps me out with the way the walls were apart from each other as we moved forward. The waters that were violent before were now still as if the moon was in orbit already.
"Amazing, so this is what the dome looks like," Kazela glances around. "And look, there's that massive door Vyse was talking about earlier. Seems so out of place, to be honest. How did they manage to make something like this at all?"
"Something that I think we shouldn't question," Marx answers, "If it helps us in the end, so why bother?"
"Typical Marx," Fala sighed.
"He does have a point," Folo agreed.
"Never mind that," Taranza went in. "What matters the most is that we made it through in one piece without any problems whatsoever. Now let's open the door and get out of here as soon as possible."
"Agreed," I reply, "Any more of this and- hm? What's wrong, Gooey?"
Gooey didn't respond at first, seeming like he was being wary of something that we haven't took notice of as he did. Then, he did. "Someone's here..."
"What are you talking about?" Adeline asks.
Gooey points ahead in the direction where the door was. "Look! Someone's coming our way, and they're not friendly!"
Just as Gooey claimed, when we looked to where he was pointing, there was a figure that dashed themselves right at us and landed on the deck we were on. The moment the mysterious person stepped on the floor, that's when ice began to morph the area in which they stood, creating a gust of cold wind to fan us with chills. Upon gazing on the person, it revealed to be a woman. However, I got the same feeling from when we escaped the nation from her. You're kidding... she couldn't be...?!
"Man, why did it suddenly become cold?!" Vyse shivered but got his act together. "And who the hell is that woman?! I ought to- wait a minute, wait a minute!" He took one good look at her before he reconstructs his sentence.
"So, you wanna know something, guys?"
"Vyse, what is it?!" Naomi asks, worried. "You don't think-?!"
Vyse stood straight and calmly answered to everyone, "Well, shit. We're in danger."
"How very perceptive of you, inferior being," the mysterious woman responded. "Never would I have imagined a vessel of this size being able to make it through this deadly pass in one piece. Impressive, I must say."
"There's always a first for everything. You're saying that like you've never seen that happen," Marx rudely retorted. "We're kinda in the middle of something right now, so what's it to ya anyway?"
The woman chuckled arrogantly. "I'll tell you what's it to me. I find it strange that a cruise would attempt cross this deathtrap of a pass just to avoid security. Now that anyone would find suspicious, and considering the recent events, that would most likely mean that you're hiding something, such as wanted criminals, perhaps?"
"Wow, what idiot gave you that idea? We're just a couple of passengers who wants to enjoy a simple vacation in this winter environment on a cruise; that got nothing to do with us, so why don't you scram before you ruin this for us and make us mad?" Marx ordered.
"Oh? I suppose arrogance does eliminate fear from fools after all," The woman sneers. "Your arrogance knows no bounds in the presence of a divine being. So, I can assume you know of what I seek from you, correct? Play your options right, and maybe I won't have to get all physical, if you get my meaning."
While the woman was occupied with Marx, the rest of us silently and quickly huddled up for a solution. Vanja could understand whispers, so she knew she had to be ready to act and left the decision to us.
"Wait, what does she mean by that?" Gooey whispers.
"She suspects that we're on the cruise and she'll wreck it if we don't turn ourselves in. That woman is with the Zenoxia Guard," Adeline explains.
"Crap, too soon," Taranza discreetly joins in. "What do we do now? If it goes down like last time, there won't be a next time for any of us here."
"Don't worry, as long as no one does anything stupid, we'll make it through somehow," I answer, "Is what I would say when we all know someone's going to screw this up."
"Either way, what's the point? I think we all know where this is going, so we might as well just get this over with before any more complications arrive after this one," Kazela suggested.
"Well, you lowly human?" The woman walked up to Marx to intimidate him, hands on her hips and her busty chest arching forward a little bit. "What will your answer be?"
What will Marx do in this predicament? Well, he's Marx, what else would he do? Er, other than the fact that he's getting an eyeful at the same time. A typical Marx thing everyday.
"Alright, we have made our decision, woman."
"Feh, at least you have some common sense in that head of yours. So how about you have those four criminals turn themselves in right now?"
"Hmm, let me think about it, of course we will," Marx stalls for a bit, and then he gave his real answer. "Except for one thing."
"And what's that?"
"I REFUSE," Marx shot back, suddenly sitting down as if he's posing and made a face that I'm sure most of you would recognize in a heartbeat after that specific line. He said that in Japanese, I'm serious.
"What do you mean, you refuse?" The woman started to lose her patience. "Do you realize that you're offering up a challenge by saying that? What makes you think that you or anybody can beat me?"
"You see, one of our favorite things to do is to say no to the idiots who foolishly think they have the absolute advantage over us!" Marx quotes, posing like there's no tomorrow.
Kazela adds into this by saying, "What he means to say is that we're gonna kick your butt in that exhibitionist getup! And while we're at it, at least you have boobs to make up for it."
I don't know how, but as if Kazela erased a few seconds of time from where she was standing, she was already coping a feel from the woman, who in turn, became flustered and jumps back, embarrassed that she was touched by a 10-year-old girl in front of everyone. Kazela reappeared at Marx side after that.
"How were they, soldier?"
"Better than I had ever imagined. They truly make you believe in gravity, no- they felt like you have achieved Heaven itself."
"Ohoho, nice!" Marx cackled before giving her a high five, while most of us sweatdropped and the others who were men of culture rejoiced.
"GODDAMN IT, JESTER! YOU JUST PISSED OFF ONE OF THIS PLANET'S DEADLIEST BEINGS WITH THAT ACT OF YOURS!" I shouted.
The woman's expression became enraged but fused with flustered and embarrassment. "You little brat! How dare you and that creep friend of yours do this to me?! Never have I've been humiliated in my entire life from the moment I was created! You know what?! Forget those four! I, the Frost Godbeast Celsius, will make this moment for you freaks a living hell!"
"Ha-ha, we're really screwed now," Vyse sighed. "Well, honestly speaking, I think we all knew where this was going anyway, so let's just skip to the end, shall we?"
"All of you, get back!" Kazela shouted. "We'll handle this!"
"Ugh, I honestly knew something like this was going to happen the moment we arrived here," Taranza readies himself along with everyone else.
"Nah, mate. The important thing is getting through this alive one more time," Jodie spoke.
"Ain't we just lucky?" Adeline growled.
"Finally, some action!" Marx cackles, "Prepare to get beaten into submission, sucker!"
"Ha-ha, very funny!" Celsius radiated a murderous aura as a cold front began to swirl around her. "You won't be laughing once I freeze you all into ice sculptures! Now prepare to taste your imminent defeat!"
"Here she comes!" Gooey shouts.
"Let's do this!" I yelled.
Absolute Divinity- 40th Boss Battle
Magolor & Party VS Shiverflake Celsius, Godbeast of Frost (Midboss 2- Tales of Eternia)
Boss Description: This woman is known as one of the seven godbeasts in existence, Shiverflake Celsius. She can be classified as a mystery for the time being considering recent and past events, but her past ties in with what's going on in Blizzard Star. From the moment she was accidentally born, her very presence brought about havoc to those that she was near and was always out of control only until a few years ago that she was tamed. Right now, it must be someone from the Zenoxia Family who tamed her, because her aim is to capture the four wanted criminals and the Void Jewel as well! Don't take her lightly now!
Celsius brings upon her icy wrath! Stay warm before you stay cold!
Celsius made the first move, aiming directly for Marx as the first victim. The jester only gave her a smug, unconcerned look on his face before he swiftly maneuvers himself to evade her attacks. To add to his cocky attitude, he also effortlessly parried each move aside as she continues to attack.
That's when Kazela jumps in and knocks her back with a side kick. Celsius shakes the hit off before she rebounds for another attack. She rushes forward while bringing herself lower to the ground and sweeps her legs around, flinging a wave of icicles from the ground. In response, I quickly casted flames to cancel the attack before it could reach the others inside the cruise.
Doing that left me unexpectedly wide open when Celsius swept her leg against my left side before she pops her heel right into my gut at full force. I barely manage to resist the knockback power as I struggle to keep my footing. Before she could get another swing in, her swinging leg was reeled by Taranza's thread and was yanked away from me.
The Godbeast manages to break the thread and regain her footing, and just in time when Gooey lashes a parasol from behind; she backflips over him and swings her leg to retaliate, but Gooey manages to limbo the attack by accidentally slipping on the icy floor created by her earlier.
At the exact moment she unexpectedly missed, Jodie casts Amethyst Edge and shot a blast of void, striking her completely and blasted her back. She clenches her hands halfway, generating energy in her palms before she hurled them at us. Both Fololo and Falala shot cubix bullets to pierce through the energy blasts and strike Celsius during the clash.
Adeline casted Flame Breath to swarm Celsius at all angles, which forced her to shell herself in ice to defend against the attack. As expected, ice is weak against fire, so the shell instantly melted and shattered. In that moment, the Godbeast was unexpectedly struck by a fold-up board and fell flat on the ground.
"Ow, what the-?!"
"Are you... BOARD?" Marx cackled, spamming an air horn while he's at it making that terrible pun in which he calls a joke.
"Lame!" Vanja and the rest of the crew boos.
Gritting her teeth, she manages to still her confident posture for that scene before she becomes ever more agitated. "Why you damn showoff! Undermining me for a fool, huh? Enough games! I'll bury you all alive!"
Phase Two Activated!
"Oho, what kind of trick are you gonna do for us this time?" Marx laughs arrogantly and cockily.
"A trick, huh?" Celsius ceases her enraged attitude and switches to a calm, seductive tone as she suddenly appears behind Marx and samples a taste of his... neck?! "Here's one for you... I call this one the 'Flying Man'!"
"Eh- ACK!" Marx gargled his words forcefully interrupted when Celsius kicks him so hard that he was sent flying away from the cruise before anyone could even blink. Like a perfectly good anime battle with godly animation, you could see him being hurled still a few feet above the cold water as the waves diverges as if to move out of the way. It wasn't long before he crashed into the wall like a cannonball.
"Not so confident now, are you?" Celsius laughed as she nimbly avoids Kazela's dropkick and simply flick her back towards us with her finger. "Oh, that's right. You lot, stay put for me, now."
The moment I caught Kazela was when we were imprisoned in ice restraints, bound to our wrists and ankles. While we were occupied with that, the Godbeast bounced from the deck at full speed for the kill at Marx.
"Aw crap, she's aiming straight for Marx!" I coughed.
Those icicle restraints seem to have some sort of ailment implanted in them- hypothermia. It was slowly draining at us and fast, and even if we did break out of them, we'd later succumb to the ailment in a matter of moments. What now?
"Everyone! I've got you covered!" Callie rushes out of the cafeteria to aid us. "Aiding Cinders!" Casting a sparkle of cinders, the little flames circles around our infected parts and melts the ice away while also curing our ailment.
"Thanks, Callie!" Taranza responded. "Now to get to Marx and fast!"
"Oh, let me help you with that," Vanja offers while erecting an arte for us. "Frost Step!" That arte has given us the ability to walk on water while making an ice path on the way. "That should do it. We'll try to get the others to safety as you take her on! Be careful! All right, mermaid girls! Move it!"
While that was taken care of, Marx was holding his own against Celsius as he avoided using his wings to evade the attacks due to being known with strange wings on his back, so he instead jumped to get around the relentless assault of attacks from her.
"What's the matter, can't handle a cold front?! You look like you're shaking!" The woman laughs, bashing attacks as Marx parries them and countered hers like a DBZ fight.
"Ha! The cold doesn't bother me anyway!" Marx refutes, flinging deadly arrows as a counter, which Celsius quickly evades from. Marx hurls boomerang cutters to dice the icicles sprouting from the walls behind him, wallrunning the entire way.
"Oh really? Let's see how much your tolerance can last! Icicle Lancer!" Celsius casts that spell, causing needles of icicles to fire from the seal rune like a machine gun at a rapid firing rate.
"Canvas Rashiedo!" Adeline casts the arte, defending Marx and nullifying the attack at once.
Celsius gaze her attention to us the moment that spell was put into play. "Tch! You just don't know when to give up, do you?!"
"I guess we don't!" Marx took the chances to punch Celsius hard while she was distracted. The jester concentrated dark aura into his palm and shoves her with that same aura converted into a sphere. "Ultima Burst!" That moves sent her flying but she regains herself before we could combo on her.
Celsius spits out blood and prepared to take us on at once as we went all out on her. She took and gave her share of hits and blows as did we, dodging, attacking and defending at the same time. At one point, Kazela jumps up and manages to attempt another dropkick on Celsius again, this time nailing it. The second time, Celsius defends against it.
"It's over!" Kazela shouts.
"Stupid brats! You think you can match to the power of one of the Godbeasts with that bravado?!" Celsius grunts as she pushes Kazela away to evade the twin's barrage. "Face it! You fools can't win against me!"
"How should we know that..." Fololo answers, landing a swinging arm on her, pushing her back a bit and causing the ice to erupt like a geyser.
"-Unless we try it?! Don't get too cocky!" Falala finishes the sentence, roundhousing Celsius across the back in union with her counterpart brother.
"You may be right about that," Jodie unleashes his shadow dragon and pounds the water to make a shockwave. "But that doesn't mean it'll go your way!"
As Celsius jumps backwards, she got splattered in paint and smacked with Adeline's brush. "After all, everyone has their limit!"
When she regains her footing, she lost it again when Gooey finally rams her as a fireball. "Be careful, though- someone may trip you when you least expect it!"
"That's just nonsense you're speaking!" Celsius counters, not before she was bombarded by energy blasts from both me and Taranza.
"Ha! You wish!" We both shouted. "But that is the truth we speak!"
Celsius was nearly on her knees at that moment, readying herself to counterattack. But that never happened because the victor was decided in that moment by a single person.
"And that's why you FAIL!" Marx declared, ending this fight with one punch. The Godbeast was sent flying until she crashed into the wall and fell on top of the water at her knees, unable to go on as ice shattered around her.
"Ngh... damn it!" Celsius coughed.
"Well Celsius, looks like you've just been..." Marx jokes, "Put on ice."
We all sweatdropped. "Oh my god, Marx."
Celsius has been put on ice! Victory! (Normal Victory- Grandia 1 HD)
Party has gain 5200 Experience Points! You are now Level 43!
Health rose to 2800! All stats rose by 280!
You got a new ability, "Mass Attack"! Replicate yourself into 10 and wreak havoc and chaos as a deadly mini force! 7/12 Abilities Collected.
Next Level in 5800 Experience Points.
"What? Oh, come on! You all know that one nailed the landing!" Marx blows a raspberry at us. "You're just jealous your puns don't stick!"
"Sure, we're jealous..." I sarcastically replied.
"Pff. At least we managed to hold our own against this "Godbeast" here," Marx shrugs, turning his attention to Celsius. "So, do them sour grapes taste well for ya?"
"Hah... you got just lucky this time," Celsius huffs. "But I'll admit this was a rare time a group of commoners like you and the rest of your poor choices of friends made me sweat. Now I'll know who to watch out for next time, especially you, joker. In fact, your arrogance and vanity reminds me of a particular witch I've met earlier. Too bad she and her group will be facing some... unintended consequences."
Now, this statement did confuse most of us as we had no idea what this person's relevance was to us, but that wasn't the case with the joker of our party- Marx. "A witch? What does she have to do with me anyway? That was completely out of the blue there."
Celsius merely chuckles. "Sounds like you're familiar with her, I see. Well, this'll be interesting for me. Regardless, I'll let you lot off with a warning for now. But if you insist on defying Tempestoria by going against any of us, mercy won't be an option for any of you. Now, I should go handle those witches and the demon with them. Remember- nobody messes with Tempestoria!"
"The only thing I care about is how these babies feel right now," Kazela innocently says as she did the same thing to Celsius earlier before again, causing the Godbeast to turn red, fluster, and pulls Kazela away from her boobs before tossing her back to Marx. "Yep, they're heaven attaining!"
"And get her to stop fondling my chest already, you terrible degenerate! I won't tolerate a little girl feeling me up like that; she has an obsession over it! Just how many pairs of boobs did you allow this girl to grope?!"
"Ok, whatever you say, Godbeast," Marx shrugs. "By the way, I don't know. How many men have you've gotten with in your life?"
Well, damn. Typical savage Marx. After all, there's just no coming back from a reference like that.
"Damn degenerate! You will rue the day you've made a fool out of me! You haven't seen the last of me! Mark my words! I'll kill you the next time I end up seeing you again!" Celsius declared, embarrassed. And with that, a winter gale surrounds her and vanished with her. She has made her leave.
"Welp, so much for being called a Godbeast," Kazela shakes her head. "At least her boobs make up for it. They are heaven-attaining, once again!"
Marx grins and laughs. "Oho! Perfect job, girl! Put her there!" They both high-fived again.
We sweatdropped. Normally it's not common to take advice from your enemy, but on second thought, she may be right about Kazela's unhealthy obsession with boobs. Someone please remind me to neutralize that for her. My advice to you is to keep your younger siblings away from this kind of stuff as far as possible. Trust me, it will not end will if you don't.
"Anyway, I guess she didn't recognize any of us, even during the battle earlier, so I guess we can breathe one more day for now," Taranza broke the awkwardness. "I suppose we should leave this place while we can before she decides to come back again and catch up with the others."
"Yeah, that would be best," Adeline concurs.
"I'm more curious about what Celsius said," Gooey brings up. "I don't know if anyone caught sight of it, but it looks like to me that Marx seems to know what she was talking about."
"So you've noticed too, huh?" I add in. "Well, let's get with the others first."
With that, we quickly took our leave from the Sea of Rage and went to meet up with the crew before anything else decides to come and take place.
Level Three Complete!
Shivera Starshine- Abyssal Sonata of the Night
After we returned, we were hailed as heroes by the passengers and thanked for saving them. After all, we did intently almost stake their lives during that cross. What can I say? We just got lucky, that's all.
As the day descends into the abyss of night, everyone resumed their normal cruise life whereas we discussed later plans with the group. The mermaid girls were tending to the other shrunk members in the meantime. Vanja, of course, did her usual thing and cuddles me with her chest.
"Now that we've made it out of the pass in one piece, what should we do next? I believe the others should return to normal sometime this night. But we do need to find the chamber if we're to do this," asked Kazela.
"Actually, I believe Marx has something he should explain to us before that," Gooey spoke. "What Celsius said earlier, do you know who she was talking about?"
Marx hesitated at first, but he eventually complies. "Geez, I had no idea you were that perceptive, Gooey. Alright, I might have an idea who it might be."
"Is it someone you knew before?" Kirby asks.
"Actually, I think you may have run into her a while back. Last I heard, she went back to Lunadark for some reason. Of course, it was just recently as well. Since she did mention "witches" as well, I think she was with another mage too."
"Lunadark Star?" Yae thought aloud. Then, she picked up on a possible idea. "Hey, do you think it was Marxanae she was talking about? After all, she was the only person we did run into while we were trying to infiltrate the Void Capital."
A lightbulb came to the ones who knew of her. "Oh yeah, it has to be Marxanae! She's the only witch who we've ever met during all of that drama going on."
"So that has to mean that she's somewhere on this planet!" Dedede concludes. "Here's hoping that she doesn't get herself into any sort of trouble at all."
"Well, I can assume that she might be with her friend, Grill. I'm sure Kirby knows who she is, right?" Marx continues.
"Yep," Kirby answers, "I haven't seen her since the Star Stacker Tournament years ago. Quite the tomboy, isn't she?"
"No kidding. Anyway, the point is, the fact that someone like Celsius is aware of those two is what irks me the most out of anything. From what I do know, the Godbeast is rarely seen nowadays in public except for earlier before. There can only be one reason as to why- it's most likely that those two may have crossed into the Factory Inspection a while after the manhunt started."
This grabbed everyone's attention. It was odd to see Marx show any sort of concern before, but if it wasn't in the past before he did show it, better now than never, I suppose. "The factory?! Does that mean they're probably in danger right now?" Taranza guessed.
"No kidding, sherlock! I may be assuming this out of the blue, but I think they probably found something that the officials wanted kept secret from the public, and if that is the scenario, the only thing that'll do is make it even more complex for us right now. As if we didn't have enough problems already."
"...he's got a point there," I reasoned. "We do have to get the Gem Spirit eventually and find the source of Dark Matter as well."
"No need to go places anyway, because the den of it is somewhere in the Tempestoria nation," Gooey brought up, receiving confused and surprised looks from us as well. "What? I know this because of the Void Jewel. Lately, my senses seemed to be more aware than usual, which is why I was able to detect Celsius coming for us before. It's almost like it's telling me this without using its words."
Espera glances at Gooey with an intrigued yet concerned look expressed. "You don't say, huh? Alright, mock matter, once I return to normal, we'll have you checked out immediately, ok? It may be nothing in the end, but I'm still rather concerned as you are the only one who can contain and withstand all the unstable aura of the Elejewel."
"Yes, ma'am," Gooey sighed.
"Well, maybe tomorrow we should split up with as much people as we can once these guys manages to recover like Aqua and Karly did," Adeline suggests. "And after what just happened before, we did get the entire crew of passengers involved in the crossfire twice, so I believe that maybe we should come clean about that and have the four "wanted criminals" explain what really happened that spiraled the insane, massive manhunt in the first place."
"I don't know, there's no way anyone would believe us even if it were the truth," Merina doubts. "Good luck trying to convince anybody here of that."
Kazela had an idea for that problem. "Well, I can probably think of someone who'd believe us. After all, he is the reason why we were able to cross the Sea of Rage in one piece today."
"You mean Vyse?" Falala guessed.
"Yeah, Vyse'll take our side," Fololo agreed. "Even he thinks those four are innocent and believes this manhunt was a way to silence them, assuming that is what truly happened. How about we explain this to him?"
"Perhaps so," Vanja concurs. "How about we wait until the others recover before we do explain the situation to them?"
"Yep, I'm all in for it," Bandana Dee raised his tiny hand. Aqua held him in her cupped hands and nuzzles her cheek against him gently before putting him down. Suddenly, before anyone could blink, Aqua herself has shrunk again into a chibi.
"?!" Everyone gasped. Before anyone moved a muscle, Aqua had returned into her normal size again as if she was showing off her ability. "How the-?!"
"Huh. Oh, I see!" Aqua awkwardly beams. "Looks like I can shrink myself whenever I wanted to. I suppose that might be a side effect of being frozen that time."
Adaption Ability Discovered! You can now shrink yourself and enter holes and small spaces or use that to sneak around places undetected!
"Wait, you mean we were cured of this ailment the whole time?!" Aege hacked out of surprise. "Let me try it out! Here goes!"
Aege jumps off the table he was on and lands on the floor. In the blink of an eye, a figure arose before us, revealing to be Aege back to his normal self again. "Holy crap! I'm back to normal! Hey guys, you should try it out yourselves!"
Without hesitating, the rest of the shrunken party members jumped off the table, spacing themselves apart to avoid a cluster, and just as expected, the entire group maximized to their normal heights again, glancing at their bodies before exhaling a sigh of relief, which got themselves an audience who clapped and cheered at their recovery.
"Wow, I was not expecting that," Espera sweatdrops. "But I was expecting not to expect anything, so it doesn't count."
"We're back! Oh, how I missed my fabulous physique so much!" Dedede cheered.
"Well, it was horrible while it lasted," Meta shrugged, greeted with the same boobs to the head gesture from Dinah.
"Let's agree to never speak of this again, alright?" Susie dusts herself. "I know Espera's gonna kept teasing me about this nonstop."
"How could I forget about this?" Sirica refuted. "We could've died and we almost bit the dust!"
"Geez, calm down, girl," KJ teased her.
"Meh, we've been through worse," Dylan responds, seemingly looked unfazed and sighs as he glances at Saito and Dash coming down with motion sickness.
Kailaine ran to Kazela and hugs her, almost like she was going to bawl. "Hey, calm down, sis! I'm not going anywhere, but I'm glad you're okay," Kazela smiles.
"Me too," Kailaine responds with a smile as well.
"At least everyone's back to normal now," Aqua said, giving Bandana Dee a kiss on the lips. "Aw, don't worry, darling. You were adorable when you were tiny, but I'm just glad to have you back the way you were."
"Heh heh, I guess so," Bandana Dee shyly laughs.
"I just wish that we knew we could turn back to normal before, y'know," Kirby shook his head as Karly, Kailaine and Kazela rush him with a group hug. "Hey, no need to be this excited."
Niva was the last one to revert to normal with everyone. "Geez, at least give me five more minutes... I was in the middle of a good dream too. Man, Naiva would always peg me for napping too much. I just wish I could see him again... Oh well, it's been years since I have heard from him, so he's probably fine."
"A little carefree, don't you think?" Adeline sweatdrops.
"At least that Naiva guy isn't in danger or anything, compared to Marxanae and Grill," Marx grumbles out of frustration. "I just hope they don't do anything stupid."
"Really? I think you of all people aren't certified to say lines like that," Taranza glances at Marx. "I just find that so ironic."
"Yeah, you're right. What am I doing, worrying restlessly about them? This isn't like me at all. I'm sure they're fine right now."
"Are you sure about that? Anything can happen at this point," I reminded him.
"Hey, I'm prepared for the worst-case scenario at this point," Marx sighed. "If there's one thing about Marxanae, it's that she's pretty good at convincing others to take her side, so I'm sure they have somebody with them. I just hope that person pulls through for them."
"Yeah... let's hope that for sure," I said.
Knaiva's POV: An Unfortunate Twist of Events
After defeating the guardian robot, we followed the path that eventually led us out of the abyss and into the upper levels of the factory, freeing any victims we could find on the way there and taking out any remaining security there is left. As before, areas were locked up and it would take too much time to just blow the doors down, not to mention we were only halfway there into the factory area.
Luckily, for some reason, the Nova Shard was guiding us in a certain way on its own, and before we knew it, the shard had led us to a big area full of other huge projects and weapons, but beyond that was the easiest means of escape- a portal!
"Finally, here it is! Our ticket out of this accursed abyss!" Marxanae wheezed, gasping for air exhaustedly.
It took us a while, but in the end, we managed to reach the exit that'll take us out of the abyss and out into the open world waiting for us above. A spell circle with a hovering, prism orb laid right in front us unguarded; that must be the escape method Naiva mentioned before. With this, we'll be free at last.
"This is our ticket out of here!" Grill beams. "And it isn't even guarded! Just our luck!"
"My god, I can't believe we're finally getting out of here," Feena starts to tear up. "And I was starting to lose hope after what happened those years ago! That was too much for us to bear!"
"Hey, it's gonna be okay, Feena," Luke comforts her. "We have these guys to thank for all of this, otherwise none of this would be possible."
"Aw, don't worry about it," Pandora assures them. "Think nothing of it."
"Yeah, that's great and all," I intervene, "But let's save that for when we actually do leave. Like right now. And it looks like we don't have to worry about making that escape arte after all. We can just simply direct ourselves to warp away from the factory to somewhere safe. Let's see here... where to?"
"Honestly, I don't care as long as it's far away from here!" Luke answers, with everyone agreeing to this statement as well.
"Well, if that's so, then screw the decision making! I'm winging it!" With that, I randomly selected a location with the orb, and the spell circle turns green as the orb turns into a star. "Alright, it worked!"
And the sound of a thousand footsteps arrived as well and fast from far away. "And just in time too! They're not close, but the guards are heading this way and fast!" Grill warned us.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's bust this crap joint right now!" Marxanae shouted.
After that, we escorted the escapees to the circle, and one by one, they assume the form of a star and flew off into the air before vanishing. It wasn't going to stay open for very long, so we had to hurry, but we somehow got almost everyone on the gate circle in a short amount of time. By then, only Luke and Feena remained.
"That's everyone," Luke confirms. "Come on, let's get going."
"Right behind ya on that one!" We shouted as we advance towards the portal. At last, we can finally leave this place for good! We're finally free-
"Hold it right there!" A voice suddenly echoes, causing us to skid in our tracks. The voice came from behind and I knew who exactly it was as that person is the reason why we got trapped in the Abyss in the first place. Turning around, it's who I feared it was.
"Damn it, out of all the times to show up, it just had to be now you appear," Pandora growls. "Celsius."
"In the flesh, miserable lowlifes," She proudly smirks. "I was sure you wouldn't have lasted at all when I threw you into the Abyss, but it appears I was wrong, thinking you were nothing more than rats. I believe roaches would accurately describe you fools."
"Yeah! We don't die that easily!" Marxanae scoffs. "Just try us, exhibitionist!"
"Tch, just as I thought. Looks like you are just like that boy I fought before. Your personalities seem to be similar; he even said that same word to me as well. Perfect, now it looks like I won't have to kill you anymore."
"It must've been Marx she was talking about, right?" Grill whispered to Marxanae, and she slowly nods.
"Well, too bad that's not happening!" Grill shot back. "It's not like you'd spare us anyway, murderer!"
"Oh? What do you mean, insignificant vermin?"
"I know that's what you are, but what are we? Only what people like you made us to be, and now we've had it! Just what do you hope to accomplish by imprisoning us here?!" Luke shouted. "We lost everything we cared about and it's all your fault! What the hell did we do to deserve this?! Why?!"
"Nothing much, really," Celsius laughs. "And why are you complaining? You humans were the ones who live their lives by the phrase "Survival of the Fittest", was it not? It simply means you lot were just too weak to keep up. Honestly, your whole race is nothing more than a poor excuse of living beings. I just did you all a favor."
"Really? You do realize that we humans are the reason for your very existence in the first place, right?! It was an accident, but you were born from it! Don't think you're more significant than we are, and you have no right to say that after what you've done to us, you monster!" Feena yelled.
"Of course! I'm a Godbeast and you're just lowlife humans before me!" Celsius boasted. "And all of this talk is boring me right now. You can't touch me at all-!"
Well, I just touched her. No, I gave her the hardest punch there ever was to make her shut up. Celsius couldn't comprehend that until the pain surface. "You were saying just now, you poor excuse for a Godbeast?"
"Y-y-you little brat! You dare hit me?! Now you've done it! I was supposed to kill you, but it seems there's been a change of plans. You all are coming with me this instant, and by force, if I must!" Another punch silenced her, once that sent her flying a few feet away from us.
"Yeah, no. You're not understanding us. We're gonna leave right now and hopefully never see your pathetic, exhibitionist-looking face again!" I declared as we continued our way to leave the factory through the portal.
"No, you're not," A different voice appeared alongside another one echoed again, one that I also knew and one I was not familiar with at all. A blade was hurled before us to stop us in our tracks. "Bravo, you're quite the interesting lab rat, Subject 2000, Knaiva."
One I knew to be Teyren, but the other was someone I did not know. "You again? Leave us alone, will ya?" I groaned. "We're not interested in your games as of now!"
"I don't think so, demon beast. After all, you were responsible for the chaos that fell upon this very facility. Now normally we would exterminate you like roaches, but Celsius has proposed perhaps a better solution. And whether you like it or not, you will comply, and you don't have a say in this."
"Not anymore you don't!" Luke resists. "I knew you scum were up to no good the entire time, and you made us suffer for your worthless ambitions that won't amount to anything! Just what do you hope to gain with the project now? It was supposed to reverse this damn winter in the first place! Keep that up, and you'll probably unleash something even worse than this winter or is that your goal this whole time?!"
"Ah, an interesting theory, one that derives from a child's mouth. Leave that to your imagination, capice? Rushgarde. Celsius," Teyren commanded. Those two joined at his side.
"Your orders, sir?" Rushgarde requested.
"I believe they have something that doesn't belong to them as well, as well as those demon beast subjects," Teyren orders. "Bind them at once. Of course, I'll join in on the fun as well."
"With pleasure," They both replied, now readying themselves to get us this time. Rushgarde dashes forward at us instantly.
"Hey, back off!" I screamed, jumping in his way to counter his blade with my own hand sword. I tried to parry off his attacks as much as I could, but I could tell that he's on a whole different level. Desperately, I ignited my hand with energy and shoved it straight at him on any open spot I could get him. That caught him off guard and he blocked the burst bomb that shoved him back.
"Hmm, not bad. As expected of a demon beast," Rushgarde smirks. "With that, however-" Suddenly, he vanishes.
"What?! Where did he- agh!" I hacked suddenly when his knee rams right into my stomach and the force pushed me back. He appeared before me and I only had time to defend myself against his fury of attacks.
"-is where the difference between our power is clearly evident!" Rushguarde laughs all the while whereas I was being roughed up in cuts and bruises in a rapid sequence. Once that let up, I was wide open for a side kick.
"Agh!" I coughed as I skid across the floor. I wasn't the only one getting bodied suddenly. Luke, Feena, Marxanae, Grill, and even Pandora was struggling to hold out against the other two, who suddenly outclassed us in a flash.
"Damn, not good!" Luke gasped, covered in bruises. Teyren dealt another blow to him before flinging him right next to me.
"Urk! Bastards!" Marxanae clashed against Celsius furiously before Rushgarde ambushes her without warning, throwing her against Grill and Feena, while Pandora was about fire an arte at Teyren and got interrupted by the trio of girls being shoved at her. Soon, we were all lying on the floor, unable to move a muscle. The portal was about to vanish as well.
"N-no... not when we were so close to leaving..." Feena groans.
"Heh, that was hardly even a fight," Celsius chuckles. "Too easy, even that boy put up a much better fight than you did, witch."
"Now, now, Celsius," Rushguarde interjects, "Let's not get carried away. Need I remind you that you did yield to that boy you mentioned before. Don't underestimate your opponents."
"Oh, quiet you!"
"Enough, you two," Teyren commands. "What matters the most is that we have them at the lowest before us. Now's the time to seize that opportunity."
"Damn it, what now?" Luke groans. "We're all done for this time... we'll never get out of here... they're gonna take us back there again..."
"Luke..." Feena gasps.
Even I thought things looked bleak at this point. However, it seems like the other three girls have agreed on something... an idea as they nod to each other before they look at us.
"No, Luke. You're getting out of here in the end right now," Grill softly smiles.
We were all genuinely confused at this line. Then, Feena was the one to realize what she meant. "Wait... you aren't thinking about...?"
Pandora continues the train of answers. "It's the three of you that they want the most, and we're not as wanted as you guys are. You'll be finally free from here."
"No! You can't do this, not when we're right there!" Luke starts to shout.
Marxanae lifts her hand slowly, her wrists wrapped in a spell circle, along with the other two girls. When I realized what they're about to do, I wanted to stop them, but my body couldn't move no matter how much it desperately wanted to.
"No, please... I'm begging you!" I stretched my hand for them.
Marxanae smiles and says, "I'm sorry, but you don't need to stay here any longer than you've already have. Take care of him for us, you guys."
"What?! Don't-!" I cried out, but that didn't matter because it was already too late for us to save them.
"NOW! Cyclone Shot!" Marxanae commands, and the other two complies and erects the spell on us. Before our enemies could even react or do anything about it, we were blown away, hard enough to be sent flying into the shrinking portal.
"NO! MARXANAE! GRILL! PANDORA!" I screamed for them.
And before I knew it, everything turned white and then black.
Marxanae, Grill, and Pandora are no longer in your party...
Now Saving... Save Complete!
To be continued...
End of Chapter 7 Act 4!
Author's Note Summary:
Geez, it's done at last! So, hey I'm back! Sorry I took so long, college complications and a writer's block and other unnecessary and tragic complications arose as well, even though I was so close to finishing the end of the chapter. College, am I right? But the important thing is that we're here, and I also hope you enjoyed the chapter as well. Forgive me for the long delay, the story was way longer than I had expected, but I was expecting not to expect anything, so it doesn't count.
So, what do you think so far? This time, I started with a flashback for Adeline. Of course, we really don't know her actual backstory because it was never expanded upon, so don't think you can criticize me for that. At this point, any fan theory can be canon until they have dived into that subject. In here, her backstory was a far-fetched but possible idea of why earth froze and there were no humans around in Kirby 64. It may not be that emotionally effective, but I try anyway.
With that flashback done with, this gave the party enough answers to put the pieces together. Also, did I ever mention that the idea for the library of memories was something I got from that one episode of Star vs The Forces of Evil? One of my favorite shows. Besides that, the twist would be that for some people, their memories can't be view as a result of a force suppressing it, which was the case for Pandora, but that alone could tell you that something was fishy. And just when that became a problem, the guards are now on their butts for them.
And now came one of the challenging parts of the story for me- getting all the prisoners out and the battle against HR-H. It did take me a while to figure out something, and I was planning to have the fight cut to only the first phase and you get to reach the second phase after other group's side of the story, but I decided not to do that and do it at once. Well, eventually after that, they manage to disable the robot and make their escape.
Now the other challenge- how the group was going to bypass the entire blockade of the Zenoxia Guard. Well, by taking the dangerous pass called the Sea of Rage. I wasn't gonna go into depth on their progression bit by bit, but I only describe some of it, something like how it would go in an actual game. And once they near the end, a surprise boss battle by the Godbeast Celsius, which I'll admit was my favorite part, especially how she puts up with Marx's shenanigans and Jojo references, followed by Kazela's unhealthy habit of touching boobs. And now the brawl begins with a hilarious start. The soundtrack I chose makes more sense when you find the part where it plays in the game, and the Tales series are really good, you should check it out sometime.
And eventually, after managing to outlast Celsius, now the group must figure out an idea before they cross into the Tempestoria nation. And lastly, the escape from the factory almost went well if it weren't for the trio of soldiers ambushing the remaining six left. Sadly, only three manages to escape against their will, and thus ends the chapter there. In fact, yesterday at 2 in the morning, that's when I wrote the last part and finished it before the AN today. Sure enough, I go to bed at 2 anyway, especially on Saturdays to watch the english dubbed anime on Adult Swim.
Well, that's everything. Once again, sorry it took so long after two months. I had winter break and I was freaking out over the fact that Sephdawg is in Smash like everyone else is! I almost had a heart attack! And poor Mario, he can never catch a break, can he? I've also been playing a lot of Final Fantasy games, at least the older titles in the series like 4 and 6 and rewatching TeamFourStar's Abridged Version of Final Fantasy 7, which you should definitely check out, it'll have your sides hurting for days from laughter.
One more thing, I'm helping my twin sister is also writing her fanfic on AO3 on Jojo's Bizarre Adventure called The Queen of Cups, so I'd appreciate it if you would check it out! I'm sure she'd like that. I'll leave a link in my profile for that if you're interested.
Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I apologize for the long delay as well. What did you like or did not like about it? Let me know in your reviews below and constructive criticism definitely helps, I'm always looking for ways to improve this story and my writing in general. So, take care of yourselves during the pandemic and I'll see you next time! Bye! Also, SoLH501, thank you for your kind review as well!