//------------------------------// // Chapter 27: Traversing Waterfall // Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers // by Lucar //------------------------------// "I'm sorry you couldn't see much of the fight. It must have been boring to wait here." "That's okay. At least, I made a new friend," Frisk replied before she activated a Save Point just beside the seaweed. "The monster kid?" "Yes. We talked a lot while we were trying to "admire" the fight. You should have seen him, he was constantly ranting about how awesome Undyne was and why. It was very funny." The two then continued their journey. "Reminds me of one of my friends," Sweetie Belle said with a giggle. They then reached a new puzzle. Not a hard one. There was water blocking the way, and they had to align four plants called Bridge Seeds to make them open and create a bridge. Four of these plants were present just beside the water, so all they had to do was to grab them and throw them in the water. Before long, the bridge was formed and they could traverse. A similar puzzle followed, but a little more complex. But first, they had to deal with a monster that looked like a buffed sea stallion that came out of the water. The monster, the famous Aaron that Sweetie Belle heard about back when she arrived, then began to show off his muscles, sending by the same occasion drops of sweat toward them which hurt upon contact. Also, he quickly revealed to have the weird habit of constantly winking at them while talking in a flirty tone, which creeped Frisk out. Sweetie Belle quickly decided to just teleport him to the river beside where they fought Papyrus and Sans. "It should take some time for that weirdo to come back. Let's hurry to do this puzzle," the filly said, and Frisk agreed with several nods before she took one of the Bridge Seeds here and went to place it in the water. There wasn't, however, enough space to align four Seeds from one side of the small river blocking the way to the other, so they had to find another solution. It wasn't hard to find, thankfully. While they couldn't place the Seeds "horizontally", they could place them "vertically". They just had to place a first Seed against the waterfall at the end (the Seed remaining at its foot), then align the three remaining ones after it, and it was enough to allow them to traverse. They then reached a "Wishing Room" with some Echo Flowers, one of them saying that the monsters whispered their wishes to the stars in the sky and that, if they hoped with all their heart, the wishes would come true. But now that they were trapped underground, all they had were the sparkling stones on the ceiling. A sad reminder of the actual condition of the monsters. It was easy to forget that they were trapped in this place. Some monsters were in the room, mainly little slimes named Moldsmal that could simply be ignored, but also a Woshua, a strange monster that looked like a living bathtub with a round head, a crank-like tail, and a small bird sitting on the water in the body. The Woshua was a cleaning maniac, and Sweetie Belle and Frisk had to let themselves being cleaned by the monster. For this, they had to move into green colored drops of water while avoiding the others. Once they were clean, the Woshua let them go. In the end of the room was a telescope that offered a better view of the "stars". From it, a path was leading to a dead end. However, when Frisk went to have a look in the telescope, she discovered upon pointing at a light section of the ceiling a secret message written on one of the lens that said to check the wall with an arrow pointing to the wall at the end of the path. When Sweetie Belle touched it, a hole suddenly opened, letting them continue. They reached a wooden dock above dark water in which Water Sausages grew. On a wall were several ancient glyphs that they were both able to read, even Frisk, somehow, though she had some difficulty. The War of Humans and Monsters. "Oh... They're about the War..." Sweetie Belle said. "Will you be alright reading them?" she asked to Frisk. The human girl looked very unsure, frowning, but she still nodded. "I need to know what happened." So they continued to read. Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human SOUL. "Really. Talk about a power disadvantage. A single human could probably slaughter all the monsters if they wanted," Sweetie Belle commented. "Unless the monsters could overwhelm the human with number." Frisk made a grimace. "But you saw them. The monsters are so carefree that by the time they would understand that there's a threat, it would be too late. And remember what we read in the library. It would be... very easy... to kill them..." "I'm starting to have doubts..." Sweetie Belle began. "If they go to the surface, won't they simply be... slaughtered by the humans? Like you said, it would be very easy. It would only take one human getting the wrong idea." "But... We can't just leave them trapped here. It's not better." "I know..." But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their SOUL. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death. "Oh... I think that I know where this goes..." Sweetie Belle said. If a monster defeats a human, they can take its SOUL. A monster with a human SOUL... A horrible beast with unfathomable power. Following these glyphs was an illustration of such a beast, very unsettling. However, the glyphs stopped here as they reached the end of the dock. "This can't end here. There must be more glyphs somewhere else," Sweetie Belle said. "But I think that I already know what is next. The humans declared war on the monsters out of fear because of their ability to absorb human SOULs to become very powerful." She then looked at Frisk. "But then, if the monsters go to the surface, what is stopping History from repeating itself?" Frisk remained silent a few seconds before she answered, "Nothing..." They both sighed. They understood that it wasn't an easy situation for the monsters. Either they remained trapped in the Underground, or they risked being slaughtered at the surface, with the possibility for the potential survivors to be trapped again in the end. It was very possible that, at first, most humans and monsters will get along well. It had been a long time since the War after all. But it was obvious that something was bound to go wrong sooner or later. It was probably the first time since Sweetie Belle became a hero that she found herself in a situation where beating up someone won't solve anything. Continuing, they reached a raft that they had to use to reach the next part of their journey. Only one person could go on it however, so Sweetie Belle was forced to fly alongside Frisk as the raft transported her to another dock beside a row of rock pillars. Frisk's phone then rang, and she answered. «FRISK! I JUST FINISHED BRINGING UNDYNE BACK TO HER HOME. NOW, SHE'S TAKING A SMALL NAP. BUT KNOWING HER, SHE WILL QUICKLY BE UP, JUST IN TIME FOR MY COOKING LESSON WITH HER.» "You have cooking lessons with Undyne?" Frisk asked. «SHE'S THE ONE WHO GAVE ME THE LOVE OF COOKING PASTAS! SHE TRANSMITTED TO ME HER PASSION, ALTHOUGH EVEN I MUST ADMIT THAT SHE IF OFTEN TOO PASSIONATE... TO THE POINT OF GOING OVERKILL. COOKING WITH HER IS LIKE GOING IN A BATTLEFIELD, WITH TOMATO JUICE REDDENING THE WALLS AND SPAGHETTI BEATEN UP UNTIL ONLY PULP REMAINS!» "A soldier even in the kitchen," Frisk said with a giggle. «INDEED! BUT I HAVE BEEN THINKING OF TURNING TODAY'S COOKING LESSON INTO AN OCCASION FOR YOU AND UNDYNE TO GET BETTER ACQUAINTED, AND EVEN BECOME FRIENDS! REALLY, WHEN SHE DOESN'T TRY TO KILL YOU, SHE'S NICE TO HANG OUT WITH! WHAT DO YOU THINK?» "I think that this is a great idea, Papyrus!" «PERFECT!!! THEN I WILL AWAIT YOU IN FRONT OF HER HOME! YOU WILL RECOGNIZE IT EASILY! IT SHOULDN'T BE FAR FROM YOUR POSITION, BUT A BIG CHASM OF WATER SEPARATES YOU FROM IT. THERE IS A SMALL BIRD THAT CAN TRANSPORT YOU, OR YOU CAN LET SWEETIE BELLE DO IT, BUT SINCE UNDYNE IS SLEEPING RIGHT NOW, I ADVICE YOU INSTEAD TO TAKE THE LONGER PATH AND HAVE A NICE TOUR OF WATERFALL. IT WILL BE WORTH IT, TRUST ME!» "Alright. Thank you." «NYEH HEH HEH!» Papyrus then stopped the call. By this time, they had reached the end of the dock, before another patch of seaweed, much bigger than the first one. "So, hanging out with Undyne?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Yes." "Well, it will be interesting. I hope she won't hold a grudge against me. I would like to be her friend too." After traversing the patch of seaweed, they reached another Save Point beside a cheese trapped in a crystal and an Echo Flower in front of a small hole in a wall that was repeating the squeaky noise of a mouse. Just after, they found Sans beside another telescope and a box. "i'm thinking about getting into the telescope business. it's normally 50000G to use this premium telescope, but... since i know you, you can use it for free. howzabout it?" Staring at Sans not sure what he was doing now, Frisk went to look into the telescope, only to see nothing but red. "Wait..." Looking at the eyepiece, she saw that the lens and the part around it were covered by red paint. Feeling something around her eye, she put a finger, and when she gave a look, she saw red paint now on it. She then looked at Sans who chuckled along with Sweetie Belle when they saw her now red eye. "I see what you did there." "are you seeing red?" Sans asked. "Depends. Does it gives me a nice look?" "Well, it makes you look like you went in a fight..." Sweetie Belle commented. "Nah. I have a red eye, not a black eye." "want me to put black paint?" Sans asked. "Shouldn't I wait to be a teen to have my gothic period?" "why wait?" "I have nobody to annoy with pessimistic remarks and overly loud metal music." "you have me and paps." "You would just find it funny. As for Papyrus... He already is annoyed enough with you." "good point. but my offer still stands if you change your mind." Sweetie Belle and Frisk then left Sans by first exploring a passage beside him that led to a room with more glyphs. It doesn't stop with just one SOUL. It is said that if a monster absorbs seven human SOULs, then it becomes a God, gaining omnipotent power. It never happened as far as we know, and it certainly will never happen. So, nothing new. So they left the room, passed beside some strange white monster, and reached the chasm with water that Papyrus had talked about, the water having a strange and beautiful light blue glow with Water Sausages and Waterlilies in it. There were even little glowing particles coming out of it, adding to the beauty. They could see the small bird at the other side, waiting for someone to transport. Instead, they followed Papyrus' advice and traversed a small bridge at the right that led to an area surrounded by the glowing water where the ground was all black with some grass here and there and some very beautiful trees whose trunk glowed like the water. The contrast between the black ground and the blue glowing water and trees with the particles and the few Echo Flowers visible here and there, without forgetting the glowing gems on the walls and ceiling... There was just no word to describe it. Nature in all its splendor. They were right to follow Papyrus' advice, it truly was worth it just for this. And it was only the beginning. After a brief encounter with Aaron and a Woshua where Sweetie Belle teleported Aaron away before they let the Woshua clean them, Sweetie Belle finally decided to ask after some hesitation, "So... You have nobody? Did you mean here in the Underground or..." Frisk understood what she was asking and looked at the filly for a few seconds with visible sadness and uncertainty before she decided to answer. "I don't know..." "Uh?" "I... I have no memories of my life before I woke up in the Ruins." "Oh... You must have hit your head when you fell..." But Frisk shook her head. "I wasn't bleeding, and my head didn't hurt. I don't think that's it. Also, I do remember pretty much everything else about the surface, the objects, and all. But when it came to remembering my name, my family, or where I lived, I drew a blank..." "Then Frisk..." "Is just a name that I decided to give myself because it sounded right. I have no idea what is my real name. This is why I want to get out of the Underground, to search about my past. But... I admit that I wouldn't have minded remaining with Toriel. It was like having a mom." Frisk then paused, wanting to say something else but not sure if she should. Sweetie Belle let her decide. "There is something else however, something very weird. Before I woke up, I had a dream, or maybe a vision, I'm not sure. In it, I was climbing Mt. Ebott and falling into the Underground. What is weird is that, in it, I was wearing a green shirt with a single yellow stripe instead of my current one. And I haven't changed clothes a single time since I woke up!" "Uh... You're right, that's weird. Maybe you somehow got the memories of one of the other fallen humans?" "Maybe... I also have this name that came to my mind, Chara, but it made my tummy feel weird so I decided not to use it." "...I suppose we will learn more in New Home. This is where all the humans ended up after all. So, maybe if we ask the king..." Frisk agreed with a nod. She had the feeling that the voice in her head wanted to say something, but it remained silent. Until now, the voice had only narrated, giving small comments about objects and monsters when they fought and whenever she interacted with a Save Point. Frisk had tried to reach out to that voice, but it never answered back, instead remaining distant and detached but giving little touches of humor every now and then. But for the first time, the voice seemed ready to say something out of its narrating duty, and this concerned the name Chara and that weird vision, only to remain shut. The only other times it broke character was when it laughed at Sweetie Belle and the skeletons' hilarious antics. It tried to resist laughing, but it failed several times. It seemed to be particularly weak to puns. Frisk had a lot of questions about this voice, and more continued to be added as time passed. If the voice really had its own consciousness, she hoped that it will open up, and soon. While they talked, they traversed a succession of passages connected by bridges, briefly hearing the whispers of the Echo Flowers they passed by. Before long, they reached more glyphs at what seemed to be the end of the area. The power to take their SOULs. This is the power that the humans feared. "Called it!" Sweetie Belle said. Continuing, they reached a rather big lake with their path traversing it. Here, they had a nice encounter with a giant octopus monster named Onionsan who had been feeling very lonely, resulting in it not stopping talking to them about its life until they left the place. Apparently, the poor thing was the only monster now living in this lake, the others having gone into an aquarium in New Home, and Onionsan itself was feeling cramped in these waters and couldn't wait to see the ocean. After that, they entered a room where they encountered a fish-like monster named Shyren who well deserved her name as she had her back turned to them. She was apparently tone deaf too, which made her ashamed to sing her "deadly song". It wasn't hard to guess what they had to do to help her. Both Sweetie Belle and Frisk began to hum a song, and soon enough, this got Shyren out of her shell as she began to sing. However, while singing, she sent deadly music notes toward the children, forcing them to move around to avoid them. They continued for a little while, getting Shyren more and more confident in her singing as they attracted a crowd. But eventually, they had to put an end to their improvised concert to continue their journey, leaving behind a very happy fish. Beside Shyren were glyphs that said that the northern room was hiding a great treasure, so they went North only to find a piano and some glyphs that said that they had to play a song. Having no idea what song it was, they left the room and continued East where there were more glyphs describing the history of the War. This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's SOUL. When a monster dies, its SOUL disappears. And an incredible power would be needed to take the SOUL of a living monster. There is only one exception. The SOUL of a special species of monster called a "Boss Monster." A Boss Monster's SOUL is strong enough to persist after death... If only for a few moments. A human could absorb this SOUL. But this has never happened. And now, it never will. "Who do you think are these Boss Monsters?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Maybe the king?" Frisk wondered. "It would be logic." No more glyphs followed, but they found instead a lonely statue with water dripping on it from the ceiling. The statue was partially covered in shadows and was also damaged by the water, so they couldn't see many features beside the shape of the body, head with horns, arms, legs, and the fact that it was sitting and seemingly looking down. It... actually looked sad. Not far after the statue was a bucket full of umbrellas. Frisk took one, but instead of continuing, she backtracked to the statue and placed the umbrella on it, protecting it from the water. A music box then activated inside the statue. Sweetie Belle found it beautiful, and for some reason, filled her with a feeling of nostalgia that made her give a sad smile as she listened. Was this statue a memorial? It looked like... "Do you think this is the song we need to play on the piano?" she then asked to Frisk, only to receive no answer. "Frisk?" When she turned to look at Frisk, she saw the human with her eyes closed, tears dripping down her cheeks. Slowly, the filly put a hoof on her arm before she repeated her name. This got Frisk out of whatever thoughts she had. Feeling the tears on her cheeks, she wiped them with the sleeves of her jumper. "Sorry. I'm alright. I don't know why, when I heard this song, I... I suddenly became very sad and it was as if I became lost in memories that I don't have. And I feel like I heard this song before." And she wasn't the only one who was sad. The voice was crying too, even if it seemed to better control itself. Did the voice know that music? "Then you probably heard it sometime in your life before you fell to the Underground. I wonder what is this song. Anyway, I was saying that it may be the song that we need to play on the piano." "Huh. Now that you say this..." They both returned to the room with the piano and, after a few tries, managed to play the first eight notes of the song on the piano, and a hole appeared in the wall behind. But then, Frisk's phone rang again. «UNDYNE JUST WOKE UP!» Papyrus informed. "Already?!" Frisk asked. «YES, SHE JUST CALLED ME TO INFORM ME OF THIS, AND THAT SHE WAS READY TO GIVE ME MY COOKING LESSON! I TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE QUICK! I'M STILL IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE, BUT I TOLD HER THAT I WAS BACK IN SNOWDIN. SO THIS SHOULD GIVE YOU ENOUGH TIME TO REACH HER HOME WITHOUT HER GETTING SUSPICIOUS OF MY ABSENCE. BE CAREFUL, HOWEVER, SHE SEEMS TO BE IN A BAD MOOD.» Frisk stifled a laugh. "Yeah, I suppose that getting their butt kicked again and again does that to someone." «YES... I'M ACTUALLY SURPRISED SHE HASN'T SIMPLY GONE HUNTING YOU AGAIN. BUT I'M GLAD OF IT!» "She probably thought that it was no use if it was only to have her butt kicked again. Or maybe she first needed to cool down. Anyway, right now, we're at that room with the piano." «AH! THE PIANO PUZZLE! DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT?» "Not at all! We actually just solved it!" «WHAT? REALLY?! BUT NOBODY... *AHEM* CONGRATULATION! UNDYNE WILL BE HAPPY TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE FINALLY SOLVED THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS HER WHO MADE IT, YOU KNOW?» "Really?" «YES. SHE IS NOT FOND OF PUZZLES NORMALLY, SHE IS MORE FAN OF THE MOST DIRECT WAY, IF YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN. BUT JUST THIS ONCE, SHE MADE ONE! AND A GREAT ONE, AT THAT! THAT EVEN I COULDN'T SOLVE! IF THIS ISN'T PROOF OF HER GENIUS... AND HAVE YOU SEEN THE LEGENDARY ARTEFACT?» "Not yet. We haven't entered the next room yet." «I SEE! WELL, IF YOU DON'T MIND, COULD YOU WAIT FOR ME TO BE WITH YOU BEFORE ENTERING IT? I WANT TO DISCOVER THIS ARTEFACT WITH YOU! MAYBE AFTER HANGING OUT WITH UNDYNE?» "You want to be part of this historic moment, uh?" Frisk said with a knowing tone. «YOU KNOW ME SO WELL!» "Alright, after hanging out with Undyne then." «GREAT!» So they left the piano room and backtracked to the bucket of umbrellas where Frisk took another one before they traversed a waterlogged area where it constantly rained. There were many waterfalls around as well as puddles of perfectly clear water on the path. Further, the path passed beside more of that dark water with Water sausages growing in it, and they could see some Echo Flowers on grounds they couldn't access. After a moment, they exited the raining place and reached a new area that gave a very nice view of the Underground, the ceiling with the sparkling stones, and in the distance, a city with a big castle: New Home. Both children were left speechless by the view. The Underground really was full of wonders. And it reminded them of how huge the cavern was. Then, they entered another small area where it rained, with another bucket of umbrellas to put the one they had in, which they did. Sweetie Belle then had to help Frisk climb a small ledge to continue. Another Save Point was found not long after, as well as more glyphs. The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly, and without mercy. In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single SOUL was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust... "In the end, the monsters have more reasons to fear the humans than the humans the monsters," Sweetie Belle said. Frisk then began to cry, and Sweetie Belle quickly hugged her. "Don't feel guilty, Frisk! It was a long time ago!" "I-I know... But I feel so bad... J-just because we were s-stupidly scared!" Sweetie Belle sighed. "Fear is probably the worst feeling. Maybe even worse than hate. It's not the first time that I hear of tragic events caused by it. But there's nothing we can do about it. Again, don't feel guilty because of what your species did in the past. Instead, think of what you... we can do to make things better." Frisk sniffled a little before she replied, "Destroying the Barrier... That's a good beginning... And then... I don't know... I think that I can try to help the monsters integrate themselves back among the humans... But I'm not sure... What if..." Sweetie Belle frowned. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We already thought about it. We know that it will be a matter of time before events repeat themselves if nothing is done. Maybe not right now, but sometime in the future. So we need to find a way to prepare the monsters for the possibility of another war against the humans, or to make sure that such a war won't happen. And you can work with them to find this solution. At worst, I can try to find a world where the monsters will be at peace, without humans." "You could do that?" "Of course! All you would have to do is to gather the monsters, then I would open a rift to a world where humans don't exist, and the monsters could walk through it. Of course, this means that I would need to keep an eye on this dimension to see if my help will be needed... Darn, I really need to find a way to communicate between dimensions. You know what, to be sure that everything goes smoothly after we destroy the Barrier, I will remain here a few days. You can count on me to protect the monsters from any humans who would want to hurt them." "...Thank you." "Now let's go, Papyrus is waiting for us." All this time, the voice wanted to talk, only to say nothing again. Frisk nodded, and they left the glyphs, reaching a huge maze-like bridge. It wasn't hard to find the right path however, and eventually, they walked down a staircase leading to a place with a Save Point and several paths that led to some houses, to where the small bird they saw earlier was, to what seemed to be a garbage dump, and to the rest of Waterfall. Near one of the house that looked like the head of a scary-looking fish (or sea-monster), they could see Papyrus who was approaching them. "YOU FINALLY ARRIVED! ARE YOU READY TO HANG OUT WITH UNDYNE?" he asked. Instead of getting an answer, he got a hug from Frisk. "OH... UH... YOU MUST BE VERY EXCITED!" "I'm sorry... For what the humans did..." Frisk muttered. "OH..." Papyrus said as he immediately understood. "WERE YOU BORN DURING THE WAR?" "Uh? Of course not! It was a long time ago!" "THEN WHAT ARE YOU SORRY FOR? YOU HAVE NOTHING TO REPROACH YOURSELF! YOU HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT NICE SINCE I ENCOUNTERED YOU! AND IF YOU STILL FEEL DOWN DESPITE WHAT I SAID, THEN I KNOW HOW TO CHEER YOU UP!!!" "Uh?" Papyrus suddenly grabbed Frisk and placed her on his shoulders, and the little girl couldn't stop herself from letting out a squeak. "THERE! NOW YOU HAVE NO REASON TO FEEL DOWN NOW THAT YOU'RE UP!" This made Frisk giggle. "Nice pun," Sweetie Belle said. "I thought you said you wouldn't let Sans corrupt you anymore." "JUST THIS ONCE! THAT PUN WAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE! NOW, LET'S NOT MAKE UNDYNE WAIT LONGER! YOU WILL SEE! SHE WILL BEAT ALL THAT NEGATIVITY OUT OF YOU! NOT LITERALLY! I HOPE!"