Lily and Arisplotle gawked up at the cave of darkness before them. Lily glanced to the slime, giving him a grin. "Hey, I can see even more of the cave than the last time we were here."
"That is very troo." Arisplotle agreed as Lily began to drive into the void, he jiggled a little as he squished up against her leg, frowning. "Aren't you even a little scared to meet this captain?"
"Not really, I hope he's like my first captain. Captain Whitebones! The greatest captain the seas ever knew- don't tell Brownbeard I said that. Captain Whitebones almost disconnected my noggin from my shoulders, but then he needed someone to fix up his ship, that's where I came in." Lily was grinning from ear to ear as she told Arisplotle about her first encounter with monsters. It was rather peaceful in here, no arms trying to destroy them and only ghouls floating around not paying them much mind as they drove through. "What I would give to see him again."
The void began to lighten as they drove in further. And then they saw it, the ghostly ship that they needed. Lily's brows furrowed as she stared at it. "Arisplotle… I-I don't want… to get my hopes up-" She slammed the buggy to a halt when she glimpsed deep blue armor walking around the ship. She let out a strangled noise as she jumped out of the buggy and sprinted up the embankment to the ship. "CAPTAIN?!"
The skeletal captain turned and took a step to the side, narrowly missing the attack from the red-headed being. "Hey, what gives!" He froze when the girl looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Now wait just a minute… you look familiar… surely not…" He grabbed her by the back of her armor and lifted her up, his red eyes lighting up as he looked her over. "No, it really is you! My favorite little cabin girl! How in Hargon's name did you survive that storm?! And when did you change your hair color? Has it always been red?"
"I have no idea! Captain! I missed you so much!" Lily wailed as the captain held her up, hugging him tight when he finally set her down. "Oh, captain, so much has happened since you picked me up! But no… I wasn't always a red-head… I had to swim in a lake of blood to get materials."
"Why don't you tell me all about it, hm? You can even help me rebuild my ship!" The captain patted her head, letting her get her hugging and tears out of her system before pulling away. "Time to get busy, kiddo!" He froze though when one of the arms appeared and raised up, getting ready to slam down on his ship.
Lily sprang up, her hammer out as she rubbed the tears away. "Dammit, Malroth! Let me have my reunion!" She let out a squeal when Whitebones scooped her under his arm and jumped off the ship. "C-Captain?!"
"They always say a captain should go down with his ship, but nothin' about having to do it twice! We'll fight the damn arm off down here!" Whitebones set Lily down, he dug around in his armor for a moment before holding up a slimy piece of kale. "I was going to save it for myself, but now that you're here and I know how much you love the stuff." He laughed and turned to the arm, sword and shield at the ready. "If this really is the end, at least you get to scoff your favorite snack before you meet your maker."
Lily tucked the piece of kale into her pocket, a grin on her face as she slammed the sledgehammer down. "Guess it's time to do this." The three ran, and bounced, around as the arm threw dark orbs at them. They rolled away from the shockwave when the arm would slam down before rushing up and attacking the hand. Lily frowned as she struck the arm, she didn't want to attack Malroth like this, but she had to survive so she could save him.
When the arm disappeared again, Whitebones let out a loud laugh. "Not bad, builder! If I had to go out on a limb, I'd say no more arm will come to us now." He turned to her, giving her a curious look. "I still can't believe that you survived that shipwreck…" The captain reached out and patted her head when she relaxed. "Oh, it's so good to see your face again. And what a face it is – you've really grown up since we last saw each other. I barely recognized you. What happened in all that time?"
Lily grinned as she tucked her hands behind her back. "I'll tell you everything, but only if you agree to captain my Ark. We're going to rescue a lot of monsters, and my best friend. But I need you to be my captain again."
"Why does this not surprise me? Even when you were stuck on my slave ship, you did everything in your power to serve the crew. You just can't help yourself, can you? Alright, alright. I'll do it, I'll be your capt- oof!" Whitebones laughed when Lily squealed and hugged his old bones tight again. "Only on one condition." He growled as he flicked her forehead. "I want you to answer me a question, the same one I asked you way back when." Lily could hear the grin in his voice as he watched her. "Tell me, Lily, do you enjoy building things?"
Lily's bottom lip quivered as she reached up and brushed away the tears that pooled in her eyes. "I sure do, captain."
"Of course, you do! I had a feeling in my bones you'd say that. Right, it's a deal! You've got yourself a captain! Let's get to this Ark of yours, hm? I'm excited to see my new ship!" Whitebones put his fists on his hips when Lily ran back to his old ship. "What are you doing?"
The two monsters watched as Lily snagged the old flag off the ship. She paused at the stairs and looked down them. She disappeared below deck before reemerging a moment later and ran back to her two friends, smiling when she returned. "I can't imagine why you would want that, but you always were a bit of a head case." Whitebones shrugged and glanced at her hip. "Is that… a new sword?"
"Sure is! I found it in the pot down below. I could feel it hiding there." Lily grinned as she led the way to the buggy. "C'mon, let's go back so you can see your new ship and crew!" The whole way back, Lily gave Whitebones the tales of her adventure, barely leaving any bit out.
Whitebones leaned down and slowly picked up his lower jaw as he gawked at the Ark. "Did… did you make all this!? I'll make no bones about it, I'm impressed!" He gave her a warm look, pride in his voice as he spoke. "I'm real proud of you, little builder. But… that thing you said on the ride over, about this world being an illusion created by Hargon… that really rattled me." He shook his skull and shrugged. "I feel rather silly, my adventure is nothing compared to yours. I'd love to know what really happened to myself, but after we sank, all I remember is darkness. Then I woke up here.
I thought I'd take a leaf out of your book and see if I could rebuild my ship. So that's what I've been doing ever since. Some of the other monsters came to say hello, but when they saw me trying to fix the ship, they called me a weirdo and kept their distance." The look in his eyes changed, making him look upset as he pouted to the builder. "Sticks and stones my break my bones, and all that. Still, I think I understand the struggles you've had to go through. We're not all that different, you and me!" He slapped her back and gave her another laugh. "And now we're shipmates again! You leave command of this Ark with me. I'll make sure it's shipshape for the maiden voyage!"
"Thank you, captain." Lily tucked her hands behind her again as Adamn and Hellen ran over. "Captain, this is Hellen and Adamn. Hellen, Adamn, this is Captain Whitebones."
"You two seem thick as thieves, do you know each other, perchance?" Hellen gave a tilt of her head as she studied the two of them.
"He's an old friend of mine." Lily giggled as Whitebones twirled his sword around.
"Old friend, you say?! Lily, you do fall into the strangest fellowships…" Adamn shook his big head, chuckling at the builder. "You seem to have a way with monsters that I've never seen before. Are you sure you're not one yourself?" The grin on his face slowly dropped when Lily grinned up at him. He saw something in that moment, hiding deep in her eyes. A hunger he would never quite understand. One he felt when the Master's arms would appear. "I jest, I jest!" He tried to hide his nervous laughter as he turned to Whitebones, nodding at him. "Right… then… shall we?"
Lily placed two of the huge eyeballs, gagging some while she placed them in just the right spot before backing away and looking to the cockpit where Whitebones was waiting for her signal. "Ready when you are!"
"Got it, kiddo!" Whitebones turned to his controls and set to work, laughing when the ship rumbled to life. "We got it, kid! We got it!"
"Lily! Ark-completion-is-at-ninety-nine-percent! Ninety-nine-percent!" N04H screamed from below, which sent all the monsters into a small frenzy as they searched for whatever could be missing.
Lily grinned as she met Whitebones down in the main area. "Hello there, builder. Causing trouble again?"
"But of course, I am." Lily beamed as she laughed, listening to the monsters squawk and cry about no missing blocks. "I just need to hang Hargon's standard and we'll be fit as fiddles!"
"You wanted it… so you could decorate the ship with it? You do realize that the Children are the sworn enemies of builders everywhere, right?" Whitebones shrugged and brushed Lily off with a small laugh. "To each their own, I suppose. Go hang that flag, I won't stop you." He watched as Lily ran off and hung the flag behind the unholy altar, laughing even more when she returned to him. "Are you happy with it?"
He put his hands on his hips and gave a sigh. "I don't know why you'd want to do such a thing, but it makes me feel right at home to see the old flag flying. You're alright, Lily, you know that?" He looked around at the other monsters who smiled when they saw the flag. "Sprucing the ship up is all well and good, but you came here to rescue your friend, right? But… what if your friend doesn't want rescuing? No offense, but if he's really who you say he is, he might not even remember you…"
Lily reached behind herself, feeling the bandages that were wrapped around her. "He remembers me, Captain. I know he does, I won't give up on him until he tells me himself that he doesn't want saved. And… if he doesn't… then I still have two worlds to save. If it ends that way, then I… I'll do whatever it takes to save these two worlds. Even if it costs me our lives."
Hey, Lily? If something bad happens to me, like… I stop being myself, would you… would you hit me? I mean hard – like wake-up-and-come-to-your-senses hard. Can you do that for me?
Lily turned and looked back at the castle, a determined look coming to her eyes. "I promised him I'd wake him up if something ever happened to him. I won't go back on my promise, not now."
"Keh heh, heh. Sounds like the two of you were pretty close. Mates like that are hard to come by… you'll save him. I know you will."
Gremville flew over to the two and perched himself on Lily's head, frowning at the old flag. "Hey, Lily. Why did you hang Hargon'th thtandard? We've all given up dethtruction-"
"Destruction isn't a bad thing, Grem. It has it's good points too. Arisplotle pointed it out when we met Zebadee the first time. You can't have destruction without creation and vise versa. Besides, you monsters built this Ark, you should have your emblem hanging high." Lily watched as the monsters burst into excited cheers and danced about.
But their celebration was short lived when shadow monsters appeared just outside the Ark. Lily looked around to the monsters, grinning when they all rushed the battlefield. This battle lasted longer than the previous ones, only thanks to the sheer amount of shadow fiends that rushed them, but they eventually put an end to the shadows.
When they all gathered in the Ark, the monsters were cheering and celebrating again. N04H turned to Lily, buzzing confidently. "Now-that-obstacle-is-out-of-our-way-we-can-bzzzzzzt! Bzzzzt! Obstacle-way-bzzzzzzt-that-now-of-can-bzzzzzt-Miriam!"
"Awe, N, not again, buddy." Lily ducked under his spinning blade again, pouting at him.
"BZZZT-BZZZT! BLOOP-BLEEP!"
"We're so close to the end, N. Can't you stick with us a little while longer?" Lily kneeled next to the robot when he finally collapsed, his light flickering.
"We-we-we-bzzzzt-won-the-bat-battle-but-bzzzzt-I-overclocked-my-CPU-for-too-long. The-great-server-in-the-clouds-is-calling-me…I fear-that-I-am-beyond-repair. My-warranty-has-has-has-bzzzzzt-long-since-expired." N04H turned his little robot head to Lily, his light struggling to stay on. "Lily… would-you-do-this-obsolete-hunk-of-junk-one-bzzzzt-last-favor?" His parts gave a sad sigh as he sank lower, his springs slowly giving out. "I-want-you…to-destroy-me. Use-my-parts-to-upgrade-the-Bug-Bug-Buggy. You-must-reach-re-reach-Hargon's-castle."
"I can do you one better. I can repair you; I know I can."
"You-over-estimate-yourself-Lily."
"Don't be rude, N!"
"Please-Lily… my-only-wish… take-your-hammer-use-my-parts-for-bug-gy…"
Lily did her best to pull the heap of metal closer to the buggy before digging around inside of it and pulling out some components. She turned her attention to the buggy and set to work there. It took her almost no time before magic was swimming around the vehicle. She snapped her fingers one last time, smiling when the buggy changed once more. "How's it feel buddy?"
"Lily? I-am…buggy?" The crowd of monsters roared in disbelief when they heard N04H over the little speakers in the buggy. "But-how-did-you-do-that?"
"I'm a builder, I can do anything I put my mind to." Lily patted the bug looking vehicle. "Will you help me save Malroth?"
"But-of-course! What-are-we-waiting-for?!"
Lily sat in the buggy, looking down at Arisplotle who was frowning up at her. "Are you sure you don't want to run with us?" The slime pouted, wishing his new friend would stay with him.
"I'll meet you on the other side, Ari. I promise. And I never break a promise. Once I'm done at the castle, we'll go on lots of adventures, alright?"
"Lily! Wait!" Hellen ran up, something in her hands. "We found this while fighting the shadow monsters, I think you should wear it into this combat."
Lily took the armor, looking it over. "Hellen… thank you." She quickly changed out of the bloodstained silver armor and all but dove into the pretty blue armor, grinning over at Whitebones who laughed at her new threads. "We match now, Captain!"
"We also made this for you, it might not taste as good to your human belly, but it'll help in the end." Hellen sat a bag of goregasbords in the seat next to Lily. "Now, you have a friend to save, don't you?"
Lily gave a nod before patting the dashboard of the buggy. "Alright, N04H! Let's get going!" The buggy lifted off and soon the builder was off, easily taking out the shadow madusa's that showed up and knocking out the barrier that protected the castle.
Lily turned her hungry gaze to the castle, grinning as she pushed the buggy forward. "I'm coming, Malroth. Just hang on for a few more moments!" She looked up, seeing a bright light on the top of the castle. "Hermit!" She laughed and drove straight for the silly little glowing monster.
As soon as Lily landed she jumped out and ran over to the hermit, looking him over. "What's the mat-mat-matter? You thought Hargon kill-kill-killed me, did you? Ho, ho, ho! You can't kill an illusion! You can ban-ban-banish it, but it can always come back! Well, until the world it lives in finally fades away, anyway…" The Hermit gave Lily a sad look, touching her hand with his fuzzy little one. "Lily, I have some-some-something to tell you. I'm sorry I never got the chance to say this back-back-back on the Isle…
Every time you com-com-completed one of the Tablet Targets, a little bit of building came back to the island, and with it a frag-frag-fragment of my memory. After a while, I'd remembered enough to start stick-stick-sticking things back together. I realized that the legendary builder was, in fact, me! When I arrived in Mid-Mid-Midenhall, or should I say the illusion of it – it was clear to me that the art of building had been lost, so I set-set-set about trying to bring it back. The Deitree, Goldirox, Moonbrooke Castle – all my hand-hand-handiwork! Even the Builder's Bells and mind-bending puzzles dot-dot-dotted about the land were made by me. But I was dog-dog-dogged by the Children of Hargon every step of the way… I finally fled-fled-fled to the Isle of Awakening, but I barely had any life left in me… my legacy is those stone-stone-stone tablets, my final creations in this world or any other."
The Hermit sighed, a slow smile spreading on his lips. "I'd given up hope on ever seeing the power of build-build-building return to the island… until you rock-rock-rocked up and changed all that. And change it you did! You've got a way with block-block-blocks that I could never hope to emulate, even in my wild-wild-wildest dreams! I expect you're off to find Malroth now. He's sleeping in the bowels of the castle. Those blue flames with lead-lead-lead you to him. Foul beasts may try to block your path, but Lily, just remember that they're nothing more than illusions. Just make it through the door."
Lily leaned down, hugging the Hermit one more time, giving him a hard squeeze. "Thank you, Hermit."
"Thank you, Lily. I'm glad I got to see you again. You showed a hair-hair-hairy old hermit how to dream again. And for that, I am eternally grate-grate-grateful!" Lily watched as the Hermit slowly faded, tearing up when she saw the tears in his own eyes.
"Until next time, Hermit." Lily moved to the stairs and looked down, puffing her chest up as she prepared herself to take on the castle of Hargon.
