As mealtime wound down, with all who partook in it packed with enough meaty, cheesy, spicy, savory goodness to see them through the arduous ascent ahead of them, contemplation of how exactly to go from here picked up. Poppi didn’t exactly appreciate the way that Mao misconstrued her statement, but even if he argued from a place of selfishness rather than concern for the others’ wellbeing, his pronouncements contained a few grains of truth. If every problem could be solved by just throwing more manpower at it, the entire population of Alcamoth would be swarming festive little Tostarena Town like a plague of locusts, its heroic hordes robbing Deportes Bienes blind and eating the Happy Hongo out of house and home. The image of everyone tripping over one another trying to scale the mountainside made Tora chuckle through his empanada, although in truth he knew as well as the next Nopon that the dangers in store were no laughing matter. When it came time to actually fight the boss he wanted all hands on deck, but until then an oversized party seemed pretty much cost-prohibitive.
Of course, even if everyone reached that consensus, a million questions remained, the most obvious being the question of who would stay behind. Despite the disadvantages incurred by his new upgrades, Yoshitsune seemed intent on making the climb, even if he lacked even the most basic idea of how to go about it. Approaching Jesse for ideas was a stroke of luck on his part, although not for the reasons he might think. Before she said anything Joker, remembering well the many remarkable features of the FBC director’s Tool Gun, interjected with a different idea. “Well, she could tie some balloons to you and then pull them around with her power. But look, even if there’s a way to get you up there like that, you’ll be totally dependent on either a hackneyed mechanical solution or someone else risking his or her own neck to carry you the whole way.”
Mona gave a sagacious nod, his little arms crossed. “This is gonna be risky. We can’t afford to have dead weight. It’d be smarter to stay down here, then back us up when the time is right.” Given that his countryman hailed from the distant past, and lacked any sort of grasp on technology, Joker hoped that Yoshitsune would see the wisdom in his more modern peers’ suggestions.
Big Band shot the cat a brief but pointed look for his condescension. “Although Mona coulda worded that with a li’l more tact, he’s got a point. If anyone can’t fly, climb, or jump good, you oughta think twice ‘bout makin’ the trip,” the trenchcoat-clad detective warned. Murmurs broke out among the group as the team members reflected on themselves, and after a few moments Heavy, Medic, and Blue Poison decided to sit out. Even Ciella reconsidered her participation in the climb, knowing that her greatest asset, her Agito form, couldn’t be employed casually.
As the team of stay-behinds grew, Juan stepped forward to offer some consolation. “Don’t worry, amigos, you won’t be bored down here!” he told them, his voice every bit as larger-than-life as the rest of him. “Loco as it might sound, Tostarena’s got a heaping pile of stuff on our plate we oughta deal with, so any help would be muy bien!”
“Especially from an Al Mamoon official,” Tostada added, her eyes on Ciella. “Naturally, the tourism industry means the town can reward you all amply for your efforts.”
Although what the town’s guardians spoke of sounded rather like something that was beneath her, Ciella gave a stiff nod. “...I suppose that is within my ability.”
With one decision more or less made, Raz had already begun working his thinker about the other piece of the puzzle. If a substantial group planned to stay behind in reserve, how exactly would they go about backing the away team up when push came to shove? He mentioned zip lines and the cannon he spotted in Deportes Bienes, although the team dwarf stepped up to shoot him down even after Midna said her piece. “Unless you’re talkin’ Deep Rock’s stuff, zip lines are for goin’ down, not up!” the Scout reminded Raz. After pushing away from the table he hefted the bright yellow Platform Gun he’d purchased from the sports shop with his own gold. “Didja mean this ‘ere Platform Gun? Well, it en’t exactly my specialty I’ll admit, but it shoots out a loada plascrete that makes a big ol’ disc wherever ya pointed it. Good for us while climbin’, not so much for whoever’s down ‘ere.”
Midna also mentioned the possibility of luring the region boss down rather than bringing the others up, which held some water as far as Band was concerned. “If we can do that, we ought to. Still, we shouldn’t place all our bets on bein’ able to manipulate this thing like that. Otherwise, someone could just fly up, flick its nose, and come right back down. Or hell, just shoot the dang thing.”
Primrose ended up cycling back to the original topic, wondering why the notion of everyone going up in the first place might pose an issue. She also introduced a newcomer, an acquaintance of hers that she’d apparently met here. As Midna chatted away Tora and Poppi couldn’t help but be a little jealous, having missed their own friends since the very beginning of this whirlwind adventure, but neither planned on losing faith just yet. Somewhere, out in this crazy, mixed-up world of light, Rex, Mythra, Nia, and the others were waiting; their time would come.
Since the team’s appointed leader and figure of authority, Fox, seemed to be keeping quiet, Poppi decided to answer the dancer’s question as best she could. “Poppi think big group take more resources, attract more attention, and make communication plus coordination harder. We not have enough supplies or equipment. Also, there higher chance of losing track of individuals, causing collapse or avalanche, and accidentally interfering with one another. If something bad happen, chain reaction could lead to catastrophe.”
Tora shivered, remembering a few narrowly avoided disasters in the icy innards of Tantal. “Meeeeh...Tora even more happy that Poppi going to carry me.”
“Confidence ain’t always enough,” Band summarized. “Now, I don’t claim to be an expert, but even I know that mountain climbin’ ain’t nothin’ to take lightly. I seen a movie or two back in the day that chilled me straight to the bone. The only reason we have a chance in the first place is ‘cause of all the powers and stuff we got. I don’t wanna see any o’ y’all cast your fate to the wind.”
Panther crossed her arms. “That just brings us back to how we’re gonna get everyone up there, though.” Her giant pigtails swung back and forth as she looked around the group in search of ideas. “Can anyone, like, teleport or something?”
Out of everyone present, it was the town guardian Tostada who stepped up first. “Actually, there may be a way for those who make the climb to bring the others up after them.” The blue-skinned heroine headed toward the restaurant’s door, gesturing for the others to come along. “If you’re finished, pack up your things and follow me.
A few minutes later, the couple dozen Seekers stood on the northern outskirts of Tostada Town, gathered upon the red sands at the head of the trail. In front of them loomed the unfathomable eminence, a wall of stone that from their point of view blocked the whole horizon, reaching as far in either direction as anyone could see. For now they stood on the foothills, so it would be a while before the going got too steep, although that meant a great distance yet to go horizontally as well as vertically. Everyone could see the point at which desert red gave way to wintry white, and even what appeared to be snow-laden trees, a narrow but tight-packed coniferous belt of murky green around the mountain’s immense waist. Only by turning around could the heroes grasp the altitude they’d already attained, for from here they could peer outward over not just the rooftops of Tostarena Town, but over the whole of the continent’s Eastern Desert, and thereby take in that ceaseless expanse of wind and sand in which the splendid city of Al Mamoon appeared to be more than a speck. It really put into perspective not just how far the heroes had come, but how far they had yet to go.
For now, their attention lay on the rectangular totems jutting out of the sand at the trailhead. Tied with scraps of cloth that fluttered like scarves in the wind, they stood no taller or wider than fence posts. All of them bore columns of holes carved into their fronts, and though most appeared to be no more than black pits, a handful of the little pillars featured dark blue stones that glimmered slightly with latent power. It was to these artifacts that Tostada directed the group’s attention. “We don’t know much about these crystals, but a number of those who seek to scale this mountain have pried them loose to take on their journeys. Perhaps you can make something of them.”
Sectonia rose to the occasion, eager to flaunt her talent for magical appraisal. She examined the small stones inlaid into the faces of the pillars, then the larger gems that crowned them one apiece. Despite there not being many left to pore over, the Florelia’s ruler came away with a solid idea in mind of just what they were meant to do. The
big ones, roughly the size and shape of wine bottles, appeared to be magical anchors capable of receiving transmitted payloads, while the smaller stones boasted the ability to send them wherever they might be. “Like ships bringin’ cargo in to port,” Band analogized. “Looks like we’re in luck. If we take the destination with us, anyone down here can zip right up to it at a moment’s notice.”
The team quickly gathered up the remaining portcrystals and ferrystones, although the grand total came to just two of the former, and eleven of the latter. As they did, Peacock pointed something out about her compatriot’s logic. “Hold the phone, whaddya mean ‘notice’? How’re they gonna see or hear anything way down here? I fly a mean flag, but nobody’s peepers are that good!” From hammerspace she produced a pair of red and white flags and waved them to show what she meant.
As it turned out, the ferrystones didn’t glow if their portcrystal wasn’t available, so that problem solved itself in short order. In fact, with most of the issues figured out, not a whole lot remained to bar them from getting on with it. Few of the Seekers, assembled and outfitted for a grueling odyssey to the split peak of the lonely mountain, could claim that they faced this foe without at least a little fear in their hearts. But this was why they were here--to overcome impossible odds, and save the world.
“The first leg of the journey should be easy,” Tostada was saying. “Between the sand and the snowline it’s mostly canyons and crags. Just keep an eye out for Riders on the way up. They don’t mean any harm, but there’s always a ton of them out racing, and they’re about as reckless as they are committed to winning. Don’t worry about them even if they crash, just make sure it’s not into you.”
“Sounds like fun, meh,” Tora grunted, less than enthused about the prospect of being hit by careless mountain bikers. He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Stage One - Redstone City
From a distance it looked like nothing more that a stony slope that rose from the dunes, pitted and gouged by the incessant scraping of desert winds, but as they grew closer the climbers realized both how wrong they were and how little justice Tostada’s words did the incredible natural wonder that sprawled before them. Before them sprawled a veritable metropolis of rust-tinted rock, a burgeoning expanse a dozen stories high of walls and doors, arches and columns, balconies and galleries, ramps, rooves, and towers, as if an entire civilization had been hewed from the earth by primeval hands. Yet, as far as Tora’s awestruck eyes could attest, very little of it seemed to be manmade. Even as he waddled forward, stepping in and out of the shadows cast by the afternoon sun, he struggled to come to grips with it. By now the Nopon figured he’d be at least a little desensitized to all the marvels this World of Light kept throwing at him, but nope. Thoroughly able to separate the art from the artist, Tora just couldn’t stop being amazed by the wonders of Galeem’s creation.
As such, when the first bike slammed into him at seventy miles per hour, Tora was not remotely prepared. In fact, he’d already totally forgotten Tostada’s words of wisdom, so he only even registered the incoming blur a split second before it struck and managed to interpose his shield in the way. “MEEEH!?” he screamed, more surprised than hurt by the high-speed collision, although the same couldn’t be said for the Rider. The tartan-wearing man launched overhead like a bullet as his bicycle crumpled into scrap metal, soaring straight for the canyon wall. Focused by the realization of what happened, Tora whirled around, his eyes wide with fear. “Oh no, nonono! Tora sorry! Tora…” Just as suddenly as they arrived, both bike and rider blipped out of existence with an effect rather like television static, then reappeared totally unharmed off to the side a split second later. Not even shaken, the supernatural sportsman began working the pedals in a frenzy, desperate to rebuild the speed he’d lost. “...Sorry?” Tora watched him go in complete bewilderment until the biker disappeared around a corner a moment later, not a word uttered, as if the terrific impact never happened at all.
Poppi lowered her hand, glad that the ether barrier she’d channeled to protect her Masterpon hadn’t shattered from the collision. “Now Poppi understand what friend Tostada meant,” she remarked offhandedly. “Please stay alert, everyone!”
The appearance of other Riders all around quickly proved that Tora’s encounter was no isolated phenomenon. Arriving right at the start of a large-scale Mass Rass, the Seekers found not one, not two, not ten, but a hundred Riders to deal with all hurtling through the area. They cruised downhill at high speed, constantly hitting walls, one another, and sick tricks after flying off jumps in what would have been an exhilarating spectacle if the heroes weren’t right in the middle of it. Most of the daredevils sped through on bikes, but some came on go-karts, skateboards, or even skis (somehow), and some weren’t humans at all. The living wrecking balls known as
Gorons rolled down the Redstone City’s narrow ‘streets’ with destructive power, easier to see coming but much harder to stop than their human counterparts, and similarly rotund
Shiverians bounced through the canyons like giant, fuzzy ping pong balls. All of them seemed to be having a grand old time, too, in stark contrast to the heroes whose progress their sport was making considerably harder. Whether through dodging, blocking, parrying, or other means, the Seekers needed to push through.
Claws flashed like daggers in the meager, sickly yellow light of burning sea slugs, and in their wake spurted odorous, unclean blood. Taken by surprise, the murlocs staggered away from the interloper hurled without warning into their midst, gurgling as they clutched their throats in a vain attempt to staunch the flow. Whether they bled out or not Nadia didn’t care; for now, she needed to focus on the Shark Giant menacing her friend. That Ace had faced bigger and tougher in his storied monster-hunting career she didn’t doubt, but none of them could afford to underestimate their opposition--not here, in this accursed place, swaddled by sickness and infested by horrors of the eldritch deep. She landed on the first floor with feline grace and spotted the pelagic brute, its encrusted anchor held tight as it fought the Cadet man to man. Nadia could hear a whole lot of hubbub filtering in from outside, but for now she managed to concentrate on the task at hand. Ace was okay, so much so that he could still crack jokes, which made her smile despite the circumstances. “Okay, let’s!”
Before they could get to it, however, something happened to Ace’s weaponry. It burst into a virulent green flame, taking both monster hunter and cat burglar by surprise, which given the circumstances led to an immediate, unintended side effect. Unbothered by the sorcerous fire and very, very pissed, the Shark Giant walloped Ace straight through an exterior wall and back into the village’s central basin. After him went Kamek, directing his support to the injured party to help him fend off the murlocs whose animosity turned his way. Instead, Junior came to the rescue, pelting the Shark Giant with both splattershot fire and bioelectricity. He taunted the monster from above, and with a garbled snarl it turned its attention on him, swinging its anchor again and again. Nadia realized that it would be only a matter of time before Junior got hit. As her confusion turned to anger she bared her gleaming fangs. “Nyaow it’s purr-sonal!” Without a second thought, she launched herself forward.
Once in range Nadia closed the remainder of the distance with a
Cat Scratch, her claws aimed to rake through the exposed flesh under its arm. She could only guess where this twisted fishman’s protective ribs ended and its guts began, but she went all-in nonetheless, executing a second slash to deepen the wound before she sprang up to deliver an
axe kick that cleave into the side of its face. The blow tore out a chunk of flesh right around the spot where its malformed, vestigial eye had been inundated with Junior’s paint, but the Shark Giant didn’t so much as flinch. Instead the oceanic juggernaut swung its arm without looking, as if to swat a fly. Nadia steered clear of the flailing blow with a downward blood spurt, then landed on the monster and kicked off just in time to avoid it twisting toward her. Three rows of teeth clamped down on empty air as she flipped backward, her gymnastic maneuver landing her on the floor a safe distance away.
She clenched her teeth as the Shark Giant turned her way. No longer interested in the annoyance that was Junior, it gathered itself to plow through the shack straight for her. This thing was strong, so strong that it could fight as mindlessly and sloppily as it wanted. Nadia could work with big and stupid and had done so before, but this thing made even the toughest Dagonian thug in Little Innsmouth look like a guppy in a fishbowl. Even damaging it was an issue; clusters of shellfish and tube sponges either adhered to or protruded out from most of its body, creating a grotesque armor that provided an extra layer of protection. Punches and kicks were going to hurt her more than they did it. Then again, even with its attention one hundred percent elsewhere, the best she’d done hadn’t even slowed it down. No matter how Nadia sliced it, this was going to be rough. She steeled herself, and the monster charged.
It crawled across the waterlogged floor of the shack with the speed of a ghost in a horror flick, then threw itself at Nadia mouth-first. She obeyed her panicked impulse to get the hell out of the way happily, dashing diagonally to avoid a toothy demise before she pivoted on her heel to strike the Shark Giant from behind. She closed in with a leap of her own and extended her arms to deliver a flying
x-slice, then once back on the ground followed up with a
Nail Clipper into a flip slash that brought her back to her feet. The giant began to turn, raising its anchor with both arms to smash Nadia flat, but the feral decided finished her combo off with
Claws for Concern, a full-force crescent slash that brought her off her feet with its lunge and into a forward roll. Unfortunately, she misjudged her distance, and her enemy needed to course correct only a little to bring its weapon down on her with cruel might, just as Kamek and Ace re-entered the building.
A yowl of agony exploded from Nadia as the anchor fell upon her. Its force cracked her bones, and its point pierced all the way through her back and into a lung. With a roar the Shark Giant raised its weapon, feral still attached, and swung it in a vain attempt to hit her again. Instead Nadia tore free, flying away limply to crash into the shack’s wooden wall. She hit the ground in a heap, hacking up blood. “...Damn it,” she gasped, her voice haggard and hollow as she rose to her hands and knees. The Life Gem had already begun stitching her together, but her mistake had cost her dearly. A couple more like that and its healing would be too weak to keep her in the fight. With dismay she noticed how little she’d managed to gouge out of the Shark Giant’s body, and with it couldn’t help but despair at how long it would take to bring the monster down at this rate. This just wasn’t a foe she was equipped to fight on her own.
Luckily, she wasn’t on hand. With a longsword made deadly by dual empowerments Ace engaged the Shark Decoy, while Kamek appeared with his retinue of magical clones to extend Nadia the same support he shared with Ace earlier. For a moment Nadia didn’t realize what was going on, but when her healing accelerated and a malefic fire empowered her natural weapons, she didn’t question it. “Purr-fect!” She jumped to her feet, worse for wear but still more than able to fight.
Since the Shark Giant was busy with Ace, Nadia went right ahead and darted in to hack away at its thigh, one, two, three times. When turned on her with a roar and a swing of its anchor she leaned way back, detaching her head as she did, and felt the wind of the monster’s bludgeon in her hair as it breezed by her. She then whacked her head with the flat of her tail like she might a cricket bat, embedding it ears-first into the Shark Giant’s head. This time the brute actually staggered a little, and after putting her tail back, Nadia’s body took full advantage of it with a super-powered
Limber Up kick that launched the blood-slicked anchor from the monster’s hand. She then unleashed a sneeze for the riposte, wrenching her head free in a spray of feculent fish goop to sail back over to her body.
Nadia caught her head and popped it on to watch the Shark Giant flail with visceral satisfaction. In this state it was wide open for Ace could go to town, and maybe even finish the thing. Despite the pain that still lanced through her back, Nadia grinned. The tides had turned.
Outside, the battle was similarly intense. After saving Delsin, Link found that the watery battlefield he’d helped to rid of murlocs had become a target-rich environment once more, and nothing commanded his attention quite like the loathsome Judicator. The hellish clamor stabbed into his mind like a poisoned blade, its eldritch toxins rattling the bindings that kept him sane, but the sight of outside assistance in the mix stayed his hand. Though as eager to carve the two-headed abomination into pieces as Link, Spinal recognized a cannon when he saw one, so when Geralt called forth his Ordnance Platform the pirate and his pokemon stepped back for a moment to give him all the space he needed. A second later the deafening report of the Witcher’s Abyssal artillery rattled the fishing village, a thunderclap on par with those of the storm surrounding Carcass Isle, and in its wake came the wailing of the Judicator. With almost half its life erased in a single blast, it howled its pain with not just the drowned voices of its two heads, but a guttural groan from the jagged maw that lurked beneath, or perhaps extruded forth, that damnably human torso. The swordsmen then passed one another, with Link skirting across the basin’s surface to take on the Sea Crawlers while Geralt waded through to finish what he started.
After emerging onto the plaza’s central promontory the Witcher engaged the Judicator in battle. Their swords clashed in the rain, sending up sparks amidst the clangs of silver against bronze. Though the horror fought with surprising ability, especially given the bombardment that left it wounded and shell-shocked, the exchange made Geralt confident enough to fight for real. Spinal joined the fray with gusto, teleporting in and around the Judicator to hack at its leg joints one by one. The monster fought with reckless abandon, spewing out gushes of blight from its mouths and swinging its scales like a flail along with its sword, but it couldn’t compete against the double onslaught. In the span of a few short moments its assailants drove it back toward the well it crawled up from, at which point Spinal’s Dhelmise unleashed its Anchor Shot. Steel chains ensnared the Judicator’s limbs, holding it in place for the others.
When Fizz joined the fight, however, he put a stopper in any plans to dispatch the Judicator quickly. His seastone trident, carefully aimed and swiftly thrust, helped to take down the Quen barrier already touched upon by the Judicator. Once unhindered by Quen, his polearm pierced Geralt’s armor and sank into his flesh over and over, inflicting bleeding. The little squirt moved constantly, darting around to reposition himself for another meaty stab, and if a coordinated attack forced his hand Fizz pulled off Playful Trickster, becoming untouchable for a brief moment as he vaulted to safety on his trident. Over the years Geralt had outmaneuvered many a larger foe with his speed and his wits, which made it all the more ironic to now find himself on the receiving end. Worse still, with its enemies’ pressure diminished, the Judicator took the chance to lash its own back with its scales like a flagellant, knitting together accursed flesh to heal some of the damage already dealt to it.
Meanwhile, Link attended to the monsters that emerged from the body of Scylla in the eastern harbor pit. He loosed an arrow at each to mixed results, getting the most mileage out of the shots that hit Eel-ectric and the tongue of the Hermit. Tidehunter cared little for the arrow embedded in his chest thanks to his Kraken Shell, which due to its negation of a flat portion of any physical damage dealt to him, made him incredibly resilient against low-damage attacks. The shot did, however, get his attention, and with a snort the burly leviathan waded Link’s way. Four to one made for poor odds, Hero of the Wild or not, but after another moment Link found himself in good company. Sakura arrived to push the Sea Crawlers into the shallows, which left Tidehunter all to Link until Peach arrived to back him up, her fusion with Chao Hu keeping her above the water. Tidehunter did not turn away from the two-on-one fight, for even if his damage output turned out to be inferior, he was confident that his wealth of debuff-inflicting abilities would tip the scales in his favor.
Sakura’s fight with the Sea Crawlers featured an explosive start, and though the street fighter managed to get her foes moving toward where she wanted them, her limited visibility didn’t tell the whole story. For instance, she didn’t notice that ‘Crabby’ reduced the damage of her explosive Hadoken to all three using its Coral Shield, but zoomed in to engage all three. Before they could surround her she put her new skill to use to deftly avoid Crabby’s haymaker, V-Shifting out of the way of its blow, then maneuvering it into the shallows. That put her at odds with all three at once, although her eager smile never left her face. The battle was on.
She kicked Crabby and ‘Clammy’ in sequence, but by the time her foot had connected with the latter, the former was on the offensive. Even if Sakura’s remarkable strength cracked its chitinous armor, the sheer crustacean bulk beneath absorbed physical attacks well enough to leave it almost totally unfazed. It unleashed a ground pound, the pressure wave kicking up debris and water in equal measure. Through the tumult flew a lightning-charged bubble, launched by ‘Zappy’ from afar, to explode on impact Both attacks, meanwhile, gave Clammy an opening. It lunged for Sakura in an attempt to clamp down on one of her limbs or even her head with its own, only to fall short. Sakura uppercut its rock-hard jaw in return, taking some damage to her knuckles and also triggering the electric aura placed on it by Zappy, shocking her. As Sakura and Clammy landed the relentless juggernaut Crabby attacked again, followed by a lash from Zappy as he used his electric eel like a whip. When he got back up, Clammy did not rush in again, but opened wide his four-hundred-pound head to spew a poisonous cloud in the area. Each of the three Sea Crawlers, it seemed, had a trick or two of its sleeve, and together all three could apply so much pressure that even a whiz kid like Sakura could barely keep up.
Bella's arrival put a sudden stop to the Sea Crawlers' bullying. She burst from the basin to snap the jaws of her leviathan tail shut on Clammy's human body, then dragged the monster into the water with her. In a miniature maelstrom she began her death roll, inflicting constant grievous injury without giving the enemy a chance to so much as get its bearings. When the poison cleared, only Crabby and Zappy remained before Sakura.
Albedo did not anticipate the child breaking the silence he’d allowed to settle back over the small group in their booth by the window, although in all fairness Frisk had broken the ice earlier, too. No researcher worth his salt would forgo re-evaluation of prior conclusions when presented with new evidence, and even if just with a few words, this youngster seemed to be challenging Albedo’s conclusions about their nature. Maybe it wasn’t introversion that prompted Frisk’s typically taciturn demeanor, but a sort of considerate deliberation. Nobody could provide a better example of shyness than Treat, after all, and when juxtaposing her distance with Frisk’s nearness Albedo could see quite the contrast.
Then again, maybe he was making mountains out of molehills. His new acquaintance had just commented on Linkle’s eyes, describing as ‘cool’ what would probably be scary or at least ominous to the average middle schooler. Having observed her eyes himself, Albedo found himself in agreement. Of course, his definition of ‘cool’ better suited the brisk air that permeated the foothills of Dragonspine, but he knew the colloquial meaning, and irises that shone like rubies, inlaid with patterns resembling the matching halves of skull, struck him as fascinatingly novel. Still, Linkle couldn’t accept the compliment even for the sake of small talk. She could not disassociate her eyes from the evil that created them. So rather than chime in his consensus, Albedo stayed quiet, still except for the effort it took to take another sip of his cocoa. Did she truly believe that the Skull Heart’s touch conferred the irreparable taint of evil? In the alchemist’s mind he could thwart that hypothesis, convinced by ample evidence that Linkle possessed a good heart still, figuratively if not literally.
“Purity is a rare phenomenon.” he said softly, murmuring into his cup. “Oftentimes so much as to be merely conceptual. Nobody is pure good, nor pure evil. Every one of us is a mixture, diluted by countless sources. And yet, does what someone’s made of truly define what someone is?” He fixed his seafoam-green eyes on Linkle’s vivid red rubies. “People are remarkable creatures. That one is merely the sum of one’s parts...to me, that sounds like a hasty conclusion. As long as humans can choose, they can be more than the cards dealt to them.”
After that came the arrival of Treat, followed shortly by the arrival of the corgi on Albedo’s chest, then the arrival of Frisk to endow the friend-shaped animal with a sweater-clad embrace. Given the dog’s position, that meant getting up close and personal with Albedo too, yer the child betrayed not a hint of hesitation. Although momentarily frozen by indecision despite the mounting temperatures from the trio of heat sources, the alchemist decided to repay the gesture of friendliness in kind and display no aversion; he did no more than tilt his head away so that his chin wouldn’t impact Frisk’s cranium. If his time with that joyous rascal Klee taught him anything, it was that children wore their hearts on their sleeves. Maybe all of them liked doling out hugs as much as she did. “How...sweet,” he breathed, trying not to disturb either of the little ones making his booth their home.
Linkle’s encounter with Treat, meanwhile, took a different turn. Having her ears called ‘cute’ made the wolf girl smile despite herself, but when Linkle unveiled her long, silky rabbit ears, Treat jolted as if jabbed by a cattle prod. “Oh!” she squeaked, her eyes wide with fear as unwarranted apologies spilled out of her like spaghetti. “S-sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize..!” Without another word the girl backed off, averting her eyes from Linkle as if even her gaze might be an insult of some kind, until she could turn tail and dash out through Grillby’s front door. Albedo watched her fluffy tail flap back and forth until Treat ran out of earshot.
“Ah...that’s unfortunate,” Grillby remarked, rubbing his fiery head. “It’s my fault for forgetting. Apparently, before moving here she lived in a village of rabbit-folk like you, miss. As far as I know they treated her worse than dirt.” The gravity of his words made it clear that there was no pun intended. “Feared, distrusted, bullied, ostracized, the works. The rabbits in Snowdin aren’t much better. They’re so sure she’s just biding her time to eat them that they don’t think twice about making her life hell, and there’s not a thing anyone can say to convince them otherwise. But she’s got nowhere else to go, so she just shuts herself up inside. Living around bunnies has made her one lonely wolf.” The fire elemental gave a mournful shake of his head.
Albedo mulled over the information. “Routine cruelty from rabbit-eared people would explain the reflexive flight response, I suppose.” He glanced at Linkle, confident in his assessment that she could not let another mischaracterization stand. “I would hazard a guess that you’re not okay with such a state of affairs?”
