Woona moved forward slowly, keeping careful watch of her surroundings. As there were several Echo Flowers lining the path, she stopped to hear what each one said. She learned she was in the 'Wishing Room', a place for making wishes. Just as she was thinking about what wish to make herself, she found herself in a FIGHT with another monster. This one resembled a green turtle with a blue shell...that held a basing on its back, with a tiny bird inside.
Woshua, Chara informed Woona. AT 18, DF 5. This humble germophobe desires to cleanse the whole world.
Woona's eyes lit up. "You mean I finally have a chance to wash my hooves?" she gasped out eagerly. "I've been getting hungry, but I can't eat with dirty hooves..."
The Woshua danced happily, bouncing over to let Woona wash her hooves in his magic water. "Green means clean!" the little bird tweeted. Once her hooves were clean, she gave the Woshua a pat on his turtle head, letting him go on his way as she paused to eat a spider doughnut.
Looking through a nearby telescope at the sparkly ceiling, Woona spotted an instruction to 'Check Wall', pointing up. Moving north, she checked the wall, finding a hidden door. "These puzzles are getting simpler," she pointed out with a frown.
They'll get more complicated later, Chara assured her.
Through the door, Woona found herself on a wooden bridge over water. Against a stone wall, placards read off the grim tale of the war between monsters and humans. How the humans learned of the power Monsters might have if they took a human soul, and went to war from fear of something no monster had the intention of doing in the first place. The last placard had an illustration Woona assumed was meant to represent a Monster that had taken a human soul, but it was too unsettling to examine to closely.
Beyond the placards, Woona rode a wooden platform over the water to another wooden bridge. As she moved, she shivered. She couldn't help but feel there was something significant that was to happen here. The way the place was illuminated felt so...dramatic. Unsure what else to do, she walked forward.
Stop! Chara suddenly barked out.
Woona instantly froze, a blue magic spear nearly clipping the tip of her horn as it slammed into the wood in front of her before fading. T...that would have speared me if I hadn't stopped...
Over there! Chara insisted, drawing her gaze.
Beyond the waters, Woona could see the armored figure, its baleful gaze locked upon her. The figure raised one hand, and blue magic took the shape of a spear.
RUN! Chara yelled out.
You don't have to tell me twice! Woona agreed as she took off as fast as her four little legs could carry her. Surprisingly enough, she was actually able to outrun the figure, or at least her spears, as she dashed headlong down the bridge. The spears kept coming, however, and at the end of the bridge Woona could see some tall grass, which she recklessly dove into.
Freeze! Chara barked out, causing Woona to come to a complete halt.
The armored figure approached through the tall grass until it was practically on top of Woona. Fear raced through her small body, but she found she wasn't shivering in terror like she expected. Feeling the shadowy touch within her limbs, she realized Chara had locked her muscles to keep her from giving herself away. She bit her own lip till it bled to keep from screaming out in terror as her heart raced in her barrel.
The figure's armored hand shot down into the tall grass, and Woona was certain she was done for. But the hand came up...holding MK! Woona started to focus her magic to try and save him.
Don't, Chara insisted. She won't hurt him.
Seeing that MK was grinning ear to ear, Woona decided to trust Chara, despite how scared she was. The figure set MK down, and then turned and walked away. As soon as she felt Chara release her muscles, Woona raced out of the tall grass in the other direction, struggling to breathe as she tried to calm her racing heart.
MK's coming up behind you, Chara whispered in warning.
"Did you see that?!" MK squealed happily. "Undyne touched me! I'm never washing my face again!" Noticing Woona's state, he chuckled. "Yeah, I know how you feel! You're just so unlucky! If you'd been just a bit to your left, it could have been you instead! Sooo exciting! But don't worry, I'm sure we'll see her again!" Still squealing in excitement, he raced forward, only to once more trip over his sleeves and land on his face. Undeterred, he got back to his feet and raced away.
"...that's so reassuring..." Woona whimpered, eventually managing to catch her breath again. Getting back to her hooves, she moved on.
Finding a table with some crystallized cheese on it, Woona couldn't help but giggle. Seeing a mouse hole nearby, she smiled, and used her magic to conjure a mouse sized pickax, leaving it beside the crystal containing the cheese before continuing onward.
Woona was more relieved than she cared to admit when she found Sans beside another telescope. "hey, woona," he greeted happily. "you doing okay?"
Woona managed to smile. "Just bone tired."
Sans giggled. "wanna use this telescope?"
"I'd rather have a hug," Woona replied.
Chara groaned. Gag me, he grumbled.
"i think i could manage that," Sans replied, pulling Woona into a hug. "...either of those, actually."
Woona couldn't help but giggle as Chara blew a raspberry at them both.
With that comfort given, Woona made her way forward, following a well lit path past many Echo Flowers. These seemed to be repeating a private conversation, so Woona didn't listen. It wasn't polite to eavesdrop, after all.
Beyond the well lighted path, Woona found herself crossing a bridge over a deep lake. As she walked, white tentacles lifted out of the water, eventually revealing the onion shaped head of a giant octopus. The creature smiled eagerly at her, plainly happy to see someone after so long.
"Hey there!" the octopus greeted.
"Hey!" Woona replied happily. "I'm Woona!"
"I'm Onion-san!" the octopus replied.
Grinning, Woona continued the conversation as she walked. "You live here?"
"Yup!" Onion-san replied. "It's great here...even though most of my friends have moved to live in an aquarium in the city... But I don't mind! I like the openness of the water here in Waterfall! ...even though it is lonely... But I'd never want to move to the city aquarium! ...not that there's room for me...and the water's getting so shallow here I have to sit down all the time..."
Woona steeled herself. "What if the barrier was broken and you could live in the ocean with all your friends?" she offered.
"Oh, that would be awesome!" Onion-san replied eagerly. "Undyne's working on that, actually!"
"I'm gonna help!"
Onion-san couldn't help but giggle. "Of course. Everyone's going to help!" Seeing the end of the passageway approaching, Onion-san withdrew. "Well...maybe I'll see you later?"
"I'll see you again from the beach in the ocean!" Woona promised.
Onion-san smiled, Woona's certainty helping the octopus believe it.
Entering the next chamber, Woona soon entered a FIGHT with a fish like monster.
It's Shyren, Chara explained. She's not very confident in her singing skills.
I'll help her, then! Woona decided as she started to hum, only for Shyren to hum along with her.
Once Shyren was comfortable with humming, Woona began singing a catchy tune that somehow appeared in her mind. Shyren eagerly sang along, and as the pair sang, monsters gathered to listen, only for it to become a full concert. At one point, Woona even noticed Sans selling tickets made out of toilet paper, nearly bursting into laughter.
Before long, the song was done, and Woona and Shyren took a bow before exchanging tight hugs and parting as friends.
After picking her way through the socks all the concert attendees had thrown, Woona found her way past a statue that was being rained on to a bucket of umbrellas. Happy to see this, she took one umbrella and went back to put it on the statue...only for a music box inside the statue to start playing.
Woona, we should head back, Chara said suddenly.
Why? Woona asked, confused.
There's...I need to see something in another chamber, Chara explained. The music from this statue...if you play it on the piano-
"There's a piano?" Woona squealed eagerly, dashing back to the chamber in question. Seeing the piano, she eagerly played the notes...only for another door to appear. Curious, she went through it.
Behind the door, Woona saw an empty pedestal labeled "The Legendary Artifact". Standing beside it was a strange monster. He looked like a skeleton at first glance, but there was...something strange about him. His skull was cracked on one side, and he seemed to be fading in and out of reality as he stared at them. A frighteningly organic eye stared out of the depths of the one socket that was open. All the rest of his features were hidden by a black trenchcoat.
I never expected to see you here, he stated bluntly, his voice pitched in such a way Woona couldn't fully grasp his words, and was painful for her to listen to. Care to explain what happened here? He gently patted the empty pedestal. ...Chara
Woona felt her soul become shrouded by Chara's shadows, her grip on her body slowly slipping away. I need to talk to him, Chara whispered. There's...answers we need.
...okay, Woona whispered as she hid in the comforting shadows, relinquishing control of her voice.
Chara shivered, somewhat unnerved by how trusting Woona was of him...but he pushed past it. "It's been a while...Gaster."