(God this is a weird thread stuff we gotta move things to)
----
After the disappearance of Audrey Redheart and the subsequent stopping of the Universe's destruction, The Bard is left somewhat content, with friends all over the world and a nice rest after a long journey...But that one loose thread? Audrey Redheart. Now, where had she gone? When The Bard finds a possible clue to the wherabouts of The Hero, they jump into action, but that may just be their undoing...
----
The Bard, known by many names, had a peaceful life, for all intents and purposes.
Before...well, everything, they usually woke up, headed into Langtree, talked to everyone - Especially grumpy old Ruby -, and headed into the woods to talk to the animals. Maybe even that weird cat near the house who talked something about a password. Finally, she'd talk to Mask about dancing and song, and it was already night. He'd go home, write a letter to their Mother back in Chismest, and headed to bed.
Then that dream happened. With the Goddess Eya's messenger, and a trial to become The Hero, which The Bard failed.
Luckily, they soon found that title and role was nothing to be desired. Audrey Redheart, however, found it plenty desirable. And, for all The Bard's efforts, she was stubborn.
With each Overseer slain by The Hero, the world came closer to the End, but The Bard had worked hard with the help of The Witch, and eventually overcame the End with the help of everyone.
....But where had The Hero gone?
-----
"Okay, I think that's enough for today." A sigh came out, with a slight musical cue, as a book cover closed, the waft of air pushed much louder than the quiet room. "Mom was right, this book writing stuff is hard, even if it's about music! Maybe I should talk to Marley, or maybe Francine, or maybe even Ruby..."
"...Scratch that last one," The speaker sighed, "Ruby's scary." They muttered, climbing to their bed. This was The Bard, real name Kiwi...or whatever first came to mind for anyone talking. A simple fellow who had recently saved the universe and then went back to daily life. Taking off his hat, she hopped into bed with a small leap along with a comical split-frame change into pyjamas. "Night, guys...." She yawned, hearing a short chirp response from an Owl just outside confirming the response was heard.
-
Of course, given everything that had happened to Kiwi, it shouldn't be any surprise strange things happened in sleep.
Kiwi awoke, in a familiar yet stranger land, filled with falling stars and a light red hue. The Dreamscape. Last time he was here, it was for Eya's trial thing they failed. But what now?
"Lil B? What are you doing here? I mean it's good to see you but why are you here" The familiar voice of Eyala called out from behind.
"Oh, hey Eyala! Um...I don't know? I just went to sleep." It quickly explained to the Angel, getting a shake of the head from the rainbow-haired messenger.
"Hm...Eya didn't say anything about another world ending thing...Wait, what's that light?" Suddenly, Eyala noticed something. "I'll go check it out, stay here lil B
" Somehow, like always, Eyala made an emoticon have noise before giving a peace sign and disappearing.
"This is weird..." The Bard murmured, standing for a moment, before turning to go investigate the light, turning into a pirouette in the process with a wide smile.
At the light, The Bard stopped, finding Eyala looking at a weird orb thing. Looking inside, it looked like...
"!" They let out an excited gasp. "IS THAT AUDREY!?" He yelled happily, surprising Eyala, who turned to see Kiwi.
"Yeah, lil b" They smiled. "Looks like Ichor Mountain too, fighting some weird thing with a helmet mask thing. might wanna go stop her she just paralysed a troll"
"MR TROLL!?" The Bard was surprised, and upset, but thought for a second and remembered who they were talking about. They decided to just get there quick.
"Well, I'll send you awake now, better get there fast. I'll figure out the purpose of this orb thingy, it's not something from Eya I think. Good luck, lil B
" Eyala soon responded, getting a determined nod - And the lightest blush you have ever seen from the sounded wink - before she snapped her fingers.
And The Bard awoke, getting a strange sense of dread.
-
It was barely dawn, and in the small household of the witch Sapphire and her Granddaughter, Miriam. And, as the usual, the old witch was hard at work trying to wake Miriam so they could work on magic and stuff - Miriam had only recently learnt how magic truly worked, and Saphy never knew before, so she was excited.
"Get up, Miriam! Ohoho, you know how interesting I find all this, mmm?"
"I'm getting up, Grandma, giving me a minute..."
"Didn't you agree to meet with that friend of yours, too-"
"MIRIAM!!!!" Suddenly, the front door burst open, that friend of Miriam's bursting in. This sudden jump got Miriam out of bed alright, causing the girl to come rolling out of bed with a yelp, hitting the floor. She quickly got up, rushing to get changed before heading down to meet her friend.
"What. Is it?" She groaned out, Kiwi standing there still in the same pose as they entered in.
"I know where Audrey is!!!" They said excitedly, before Miriam just groaned again and Saphy giggled, having moved back to just behind a cauldron filled with alchemy... stuff.
"Oh, great, she's alive. I get to blast her myself." Miriam finally smirked, very clearly messing with her friend.
"Miriam! Thats- Oh." Kiwi took a few seconds to realise this. "Well come on, she's on Ichor Mountain!" They quickly got excited again. "She's fighting someone, we need to stop it...I think!"
"...Okay, but only because it's you. I still hate her." Miriam finally, begrudgingly, agreed to help. "Be back later, Grandma!"
"Love you too, Miriam!" A cheerful laugh came from Saphy. As soon as those two left, she sighed. "It's nice to see Miriam has friends, but I do miss when my little girl stayed with me more. Oh, well! Can't be helped, oh ho ho!"
-
"Kiwi, shift forward a little, the broom is off-balance." In the sky, high above the clouds, the duo were floating by on Miriam's (newest) broomstick, travelling to the mountain. They were still a while away, but the air already felt cold and bitter. Looking down, the pair spotted what appeared to be lanterns floating by, coming from the nearby city of Mohabumi, the city of witches.
"Looks like their old Queen kicked the bucket, huh?" Miriam solemnly noted. She wasn't the biggest fan of the city when they arrived there, having felt more isolated than ever in the city which should've felt familiar to her...but that same Queendom of Chandesh has just created peace after a goodness-knows-how-long war with the neighboring Kingdom of Rulle. A war that likely lasted most of that woman's lifetime, and certainly most of her children's lifetimes.
"Yeah...At least her and Hala get to see each other again." The Bard quickly tried to make it feel positive, but only felt more downtrodden themselves. Like themselves, Hala had believed she could've ended the war by going to the King of Rulle as a Princess of Chandeesh, only to die on the way. Even as a ghost, that girl persevered with Kiwi's help, but still failed.
One could only imagine what that felt like. Not a feeling the pair was keen on, that was for sure.
"A-anyway, how much longer to the mountain?"
"Give me a minute, you're not light, ya know. While we go, how'd you find this out anyway? The stuff about the maniac, I mean."
"Oh! When I went to sleep last night, I had a dream where I met Eyala, and we found this weird orb thing and saw Audrey in it, fighting someone on Ichor Mountain!"
"...You gotta be kidding me."
"Nope!" The Bard sung that one out at a noticeably high and excited pitched note.
"Well, who was she fighting, then?" Miriam decided to ask, still hesitant to believe this story.
"Some kind of small creature with a mask and a dark body!"
"Could be some leftover from the corruption stuff, she'll be fine."
"But what if she's not!!!? We did hit her with a lotta stuff before, what if she's still injured?"
"Kiwi, it's been 3 months, if she was still injured I doubt even SHE'D be that confident to get into a fight." Miriam let out a slight huff. She couldn't stand Audrey, and she knew for a fact Kiwi couldn't either. But at the same time, she understood why they cared so much. Caring for those around him was just something The Bard did no matter what, coupled with the why of why they couldn't convince Audrey before meant there was a chance.
Not a high chance, though. That girl was stubborn, and Miriam was not afraid to blast her to pieces this time if need be. Third time's the charm, right?
-
Ichor Mountain was, as always, a freezing nightmare. The tallest mountain in the world certainly lived up to it's achievement, too. Coupled with the fact that the cold meant the broom couldn't go very high, meant the pair had a terrible time ahead of them.
"A-A-Are you sure this is worth i-it?" Miriam chattered out, the freezing cold being a minor surprise to her.
"Yeah!" Kiwi was less surprised, having climbed this mountain before, and was simply hugging himself for warmth. "at least I hope it is..." She muttered out under their breath in addition, regretting that and immeadiantly shutting up. The pair soon ducked into a cave, shaking off the snow from their not-at-all-suited-to-the-cold clothes.
"MUCH better." Miriam chuckled. "And its surprisingly bright in here, lucky us, huh?" She added with a smile.
"Wow! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being optimistic!" Kiwi teased a little, getting a small glare from Miriam.
"You know me too well."
The pair began to walk. And walk. Occasionally stopping to change their route on Kiwi's insistence to not step on a single bug. Miriam was fine with this, unlike how she would've been at the start of the journey, which was a welcome change in Kiwi's eyes. In return, the bugs worked with the pair, following (and singing along) with Kiwi's singing to clear the path without destruction.
Eventually, the pair came to a set of small platforms, followed by a drop.
"Guess we'd better not fall.." Miriam commented, her broom in hand ready for a short flight, but Kiwi stopped her.
"Wait, look at the bugs!" The bugs, in fact, were gesturing down the drop. "Alright, let's go down there, then!" Without hesitation, Kiwi jumped down the gap after clearing the platforms.
"W-wait-! Urgh, Kiwi!" Miriam called out, hopping on her broom and following.
Down the hole, there wasn't much light. From what Miriam could see, there were some sparks of a fight, seemingly proving that, yes, Audrey was here. Especially given those sparks were literal. Moments, later, she heard something. Singing.
"Oh, I was never one for notice, or expecting much from ye, I'm just a simple singer, and that's all I want to be...and when the world was ending, well I didn't run or hide, I worked hard and gave my heart, to show them what's inside~
️
️️️,️️⏺
️,
~~" The singer was certainly putting their heart into it, as if having been waiting for an excuse for a full song.
...wait, that didn't sound right. It was the Bard, alright, but what happened to the voice? What was with the...weird garbled shapes in the voice?
"Oh, hey Miriam! You made it down! I was helping Mr Troll here!"
Yep, that's Kiwi.
Instantly, the sparks around the Troll's frozen figure began to fade, as the paralysis began to heal, blessed by the Overseer. After blinking for a moment, it looked at the pair, before cheering...and giving Kiwi a big hug!
"Woah! Thanks, Mr Troll!" Kiwi began to say, only to gasp. "Too tight, too tight!" This caused the Troll to let go.
"Hey, have you seen a weird jerk with a big sword?" Miriam cut to the chase, getting a nod from The Troll, who began to explain, getting uh-huhs and the like from Kiwi. "Well? What'd he say?"
"I have no idea!" Kiwi responded almost instantly, getting a facepalm from Miriam and a groan from the Troll. After a moment of deliberating, the Troll grabbed them both.
"Hey, what are you doing!? Put us down!" Miriam protested, having been snatched off her broom.
"Y-yeah, please let us go!" The Bard added, feeling slight pain from the tight grab. The Troll, without hesitation, threw them up...through a hole in the ceiling that should not have been there.
-
At the top, it was freezing. Again. The Bard was the first of the pair to stand, the two having landed face first.
"Br...that hurt..." They groaned, before rushing to Miriam's side. "Miriam!! Are you okay!?"
"Y-yeah..." The witch groaned, getting up slower. "Why did that jerk throw us up here?!"
"Look, calm down, Miriam, maybe Audrey went up here-" Kiwi cut themselves off, spotting something. An Orb...
Just like the one seen in the Dreamscape.
"Kiwi? What's wrong?" Miriam questioned, before spotting the orb. "What...?"
"That's...!" Kiwi rushed to the orb, ignoring the cold groans of their body, picking it up. "Come on...!"
fizz...
BWOOM!
And just as the orb was picked up it blasted apart, a huge shockwave spreading across the world...starting from the inside of the orb! Things began to destabilize, including the mountain. Lava rose from the volcano, but it was rock cold. It began to rain, but the rain felt more like tears...
But what Miriam focused on was her friend.
"Kiwi!" She rushed forward, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging him away as the remnants of the orb exploded.
"W-what just...!?" The Bard was shocked. Why had it exploded...?
"Yo, lil B, found out something about the orbs don't touch them, it's dangerous to- oh" Right on schedule, Eyala arrived and gave some very late advice. "uh oh"
"Eyala...?" Kiwi coughed, the blast having got something in their throat.
"Okay, uh, listen, Eya can get this under control, but it might not work. Sorry, lil B." Eyala explained, raising her hand to the center of the blast spot.
"What do you mean, might not work!?" Miriam questioned the angel, worried.
"something could get through, or..."
"Wait, what?" Needless to say, that answer confused Miriam and the Bard more than anything.
"Look, it'll be fine, just sing guys I gotta keep it down while you guys get Eya"
"How do we do that?!?" Kiwi quickly asked, panicked about the mistake.
"Just do what you do best, lil b"
"R-right..." And with that, The Bard began to sing, Miriam, terrified of the cold still, tried her best to join in and actually mostly succeeded in joining in. The 'song' was mostly panicked, hwoever.
Slowly, the center of the blast seemed to calm. Things began back to normal, though the lava seemed to freeze in the air now.
"Did we do it...?" Miriam sighed in relief.
"Yeah, Eya did it
but uh bad news turns out Audrey's on the other side of that"
"WHAT????!!!"
Needless to say, Eyala had to shortly explain the concept of more than one universe to Kiwi, though Miriam was interested even more so.
"So, if we go on the other side of that, we can save Audrey! Let's go then!"
"nuh uh, lil B, only one can go and besides that might just help destabilize everything. Eya's struggling as is to keep this universe going as is, somethin about a nexus going in the wrong hands or something."
"Oh." The Bard seemed downtrodden at that. "But still!! We have to try! And I'll be as quick as possible!" They insisted.
"Yeah, Kiwi's got a point...Eyala, was it? It can't be that hard to convince Audrey since she's no longer filling Eya's sacred duties or whatever, and knowing Kiwi maybe they'll turn those wrong hands into right hands." Miriam chose to spoke up, defending her friend's choice.
"Aw, okay, I can't deny you cuties" Eyala relaxed, the blast opening slightly to reveal a door. "Go on, lil b, good luck" She added.
"Okay!" The Bard went to the door after giving Miriam a good hug. "just in case!" They rationalised it, before opening the door.
"Bye, you two! I'll be back soon!" They promised, entering. Immeadiantly after entering, The door shut and disappeared.
"lil b's not making the best decision here, right"
"Oh no, definitely not. But I guess Kiwi'd rather both the needs of the many and the needs of the few were filled, no matter the risk."
"I guess so, hehe" Eyala giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing, cutie."
----
"Urgh..." After the door was a void. Oops. The Bard had made such a mistake, it seemed, but didn't feel like they were falling. In fact, they could see quite clearly. They saw...some kind of window, like another dimension. A tournament? Audrey was fighting...no, she'd lost. Where was she?
Suddenly, they began to fall, blacking out.
The next thing The Bard awoke to? The outskirts of a small town of sorts.
A new world.
----
After the disappearance of Audrey Redheart and the subsequent stopping of the Universe's destruction, The Bard is left somewhat content, with friends all over the world and a nice rest after a long journey...But that one loose thread? Audrey Redheart. Now, where had she gone? When The Bard finds a possible clue to the wherabouts of The Hero, they jump into action, but that may just be their undoing...
----
The Bard, known by many names, had a peaceful life, for all intents and purposes.
Before...well, everything, they usually woke up, headed into Langtree, talked to everyone - Especially grumpy old Ruby -, and headed into the woods to talk to the animals. Maybe even that weird cat near the house who talked something about a password. Finally, she'd talk to Mask about dancing and song, and it was already night. He'd go home, write a letter to their Mother back in Chismest, and headed to bed.
Then that dream happened. With the Goddess Eya's messenger, and a trial to become The Hero, which The Bard failed.
Luckily, they soon found that title and role was nothing to be desired. Audrey Redheart, however, found it plenty desirable. And, for all The Bard's efforts, she was stubborn.
With each Overseer slain by The Hero, the world came closer to the End, but The Bard had worked hard with the help of The Witch, and eventually overcame the End with the help of everyone.
....But where had The Hero gone?
-----
"Okay, I think that's enough for today." A sigh came out, with a slight musical cue, as a book cover closed, the waft of air pushed much louder than the quiet room. "Mom was right, this book writing stuff is hard, even if it's about music! Maybe I should talk to Marley, or maybe Francine, or maybe even Ruby..."
"...Scratch that last one," The speaker sighed, "Ruby's scary." They muttered, climbing to their bed. This was The Bard, real name Kiwi...or whatever first came to mind for anyone talking. A simple fellow who had recently saved the universe and then went back to daily life. Taking off his hat, she hopped into bed with a small leap along with a comical split-frame change into pyjamas. "Night, guys...." She yawned, hearing a short chirp response from an Owl just outside confirming the response was heard.
-
Of course, given everything that had happened to Kiwi, it shouldn't be any surprise strange things happened in sleep.
Kiwi awoke, in a familiar yet stranger land, filled with falling stars and a light red hue. The Dreamscape. Last time he was here, it was for Eya's trial thing they failed. But what now?
"Lil B? What are you doing here? I mean it's good to see you but why are you here" The familiar voice of Eyala called out from behind.
"Oh, hey Eyala! Um...I don't know? I just went to sleep." It quickly explained to the Angel, getting a shake of the head from the rainbow-haired messenger.
"Hm...Eya didn't say anything about another world ending thing...Wait, what's that light?" Suddenly, Eyala noticed something. "I'll go check it out, stay here lil B
" Somehow, like always, Eyala made an emoticon have noise before giving a peace sign and disappearing."This is weird..." The Bard murmured, standing for a moment, before turning to go investigate the light, turning into a pirouette in the process with a wide smile.
At the light, The Bard stopped, finding Eyala looking at a weird orb thing. Looking inside, it looked like...
"!" They let out an excited gasp. "IS THAT AUDREY!?" He yelled happily, surprising Eyala, who turned to see Kiwi.
"Yeah, lil b" They smiled. "Looks like Ichor Mountain too, fighting some weird thing with a helmet mask thing. might wanna go stop her she just paralysed a troll"
"MR TROLL!?" The Bard was surprised, and upset, but thought for a second and remembered who they were talking about. They decided to just get there quick.
"Well, I'll send you awake now, better get there fast. I'll figure out the purpose of this orb thingy, it's not something from Eya I think. Good luck, lil B
" Eyala soon responded, getting a determined nod - And the lightest blush you have ever seen from the sounded wink - before she snapped her fingers.And The Bard awoke, getting a strange sense of dread.
-
It was barely dawn, and in the small household of the witch Sapphire and her Granddaughter, Miriam. And, as the usual, the old witch was hard at work trying to wake Miriam so they could work on magic and stuff - Miriam had only recently learnt how magic truly worked, and Saphy never knew before, so she was excited.
"Get up, Miriam! Ohoho, you know how interesting I find all this, mmm?"
"I'm getting up, Grandma, giving me a minute..."
"Didn't you agree to meet with that friend of yours, too-"
"MIRIAM!!!!" Suddenly, the front door burst open, that friend of Miriam's bursting in. This sudden jump got Miriam out of bed alright, causing the girl to come rolling out of bed with a yelp, hitting the floor. She quickly got up, rushing to get changed before heading down to meet her friend.
"What. Is it?" She groaned out, Kiwi standing there still in the same pose as they entered in.
"I know where Audrey is!!!" They said excitedly, before Miriam just groaned again and Saphy giggled, having moved back to just behind a cauldron filled with alchemy... stuff.
"Oh, great, she's alive. I get to blast her myself." Miriam finally smirked, very clearly messing with her friend.
"Miriam! Thats- Oh." Kiwi took a few seconds to realise this. "Well come on, she's on Ichor Mountain!" They quickly got excited again. "She's fighting someone, we need to stop it...I think!"
"...Okay, but only because it's you. I still hate her." Miriam finally, begrudgingly, agreed to help. "Be back later, Grandma!"
"Love you too, Miriam!" A cheerful laugh came from Saphy. As soon as those two left, she sighed. "It's nice to see Miriam has friends, but I do miss when my little girl stayed with me more. Oh, well! Can't be helped, oh ho ho!"
-
"Kiwi, shift forward a little, the broom is off-balance." In the sky, high above the clouds, the duo were floating by on Miriam's (newest) broomstick, travelling to the mountain. They were still a while away, but the air already felt cold and bitter. Looking down, the pair spotted what appeared to be lanterns floating by, coming from the nearby city of Mohabumi, the city of witches.
"Looks like their old Queen kicked the bucket, huh?" Miriam solemnly noted. She wasn't the biggest fan of the city when they arrived there, having felt more isolated than ever in the city which should've felt familiar to her...but that same Queendom of Chandesh has just created peace after a goodness-knows-how-long war with the neighboring Kingdom of Rulle. A war that likely lasted most of that woman's lifetime, and certainly most of her children's lifetimes.
"Yeah...At least her and Hala get to see each other again." The Bard quickly tried to make it feel positive, but only felt more downtrodden themselves. Like themselves, Hala had believed she could've ended the war by going to the King of Rulle as a Princess of Chandeesh, only to die on the way. Even as a ghost, that girl persevered with Kiwi's help, but still failed.
One could only imagine what that felt like. Not a feeling the pair was keen on, that was for sure.
"A-anyway, how much longer to the mountain?"
"Give me a minute, you're not light, ya know. While we go, how'd you find this out anyway? The stuff about the maniac, I mean."
"Oh! When I went to sleep last night, I had a dream where I met Eyala, and we found this weird orb thing and saw Audrey in it, fighting someone on Ichor Mountain!"
"...You gotta be kidding me."
"Nope!" The Bard sung that one out at a noticeably high and excited pitched note.
"Well, who was she fighting, then?" Miriam decided to ask, still hesitant to believe this story.
"Some kind of small creature with a mask and a dark body!"
"Could be some leftover from the corruption stuff, she'll be fine."
"But what if she's not!!!? We did hit her with a lotta stuff before, what if she's still injured?"
"Kiwi, it's been 3 months, if she was still injured I doubt even SHE'D be that confident to get into a fight." Miriam let out a slight huff. She couldn't stand Audrey, and she knew for a fact Kiwi couldn't either. But at the same time, she understood why they cared so much. Caring for those around him was just something The Bard did no matter what, coupled with the why of why they couldn't convince Audrey before meant there was a chance.
Not a high chance, though. That girl was stubborn, and Miriam was not afraid to blast her to pieces this time if need be. Third time's the charm, right?
-
Ichor Mountain was, as always, a freezing nightmare. The tallest mountain in the world certainly lived up to it's achievement, too. Coupled with the fact that the cold meant the broom couldn't go very high, meant the pair had a terrible time ahead of them.
"A-A-Are you sure this is worth i-it?" Miriam chattered out, the freezing cold being a minor surprise to her.
"Yeah!" Kiwi was less surprised, having climbed this mountain before, and was simply hugging himself for warmth. "at least I hope it is..." She muttered out under their breath in addition, regretting that and immeadiantly shutting up. The pair soon ducked into a cave, shaking off the snow from their not-at-all-suited-to-the-cold clothes.
"MUCH better." Miriam chuckled. "And its surprisingly bright in here, lucky us, huh?" She added with a smile.
"Wow! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being optimistic!" Kiwi teased a little, getting a small glare from Miriam.
"You know me too well."
The pair began to walk. And walk. Occasionally stopping to change their route on Kiwi's insistence to not step on a single bug. Miriam was fine with this, unlike how she would've been at the start of the journey, which was a welcome change in Kiwi's eyes. In return, the bugs worked with the pair, following (and singing along) with Kiwi's singing to clear the path without destruction.
Eventually, the pair came to a set of small platforms, followed by a drop.
"Guess we'd better not fall.." Miriam commented, her broom in hand ready for a short flight, but Kiwi stopped her.
"Wait, look at the bugs!" The bugs, in fact, were gesturing down the drop. "Alright, let's go down there, then!" Without hesitation, Kiwi jumped down the gap after clearing the platforms.
"W-wait-! Urgh, Kiwi!" Miriam called out, hopping on her broom and following.
Down the hole, there wasn't much light. From what Miriam could see, there were some sparks of a fight, seemingly proving that, yes, Audrey was here. Especially given those sparks were literal. Moments, later, she heard something. Singing.
"Oh, I was never one for notice, or expecting much from ye, I'm just a simple singer, and that's all I want to be...and when the world was ending, well I didn't run or hide, I worked hard and gave my heart, to show them what's inside~
️️️️,️️⏺️,~~" The singer was certainly putting their heart into it, as if having been waiting for an excuse for a full song....wait, that didn't sound right. It was the Bard, alright, but what happened to the voice? What was with the...weird garbled shapes in the voice?
"Oh, hey Miriam! You made it down! I was helping Mr Troll here!"
Yep, that's Kiwi.
Instantly, the sparks around the Troll's frozen figure began to fade, as the paralysis began to heal, blessed by the Overseer. After blinking for a moment, it looked at the pair, before cheering...and giving Kiwi a big hug!
"Woah! Thanks, Mr Troll!" Kiwi began to say, only to gasp. "Too tight, too tight!" This caused the Troll to let go.
"Hey, have you seen a weird jerk with a big sword?" Miriam cut to the chase, getting a nod from The Troll, who began to explain, getting uh-huhs and the like from Kiwi. "Well? What'd he say?"
"I have no idea!" Kiwi responded almost instantly, getting a facepalm from Miriam and a groan from the Troll. After a moment of deliberating, the Troll grabbed them both.
"Hey, what are you doing!? Put us down!" Miriam protested, having been snatched off her broom.
"Y-yeah, please let us go!" The Bard added, feeling slight pain from the tight grab. The Troll, without hesitation, threw them up...through a hole in the ceiling that should not have been there.
-
At the top, it was freezing. Again. The Bard was the first of the pair to stand, the two having landed face first.
"Br...that hurt..." They groaned, before rushing to Miriam's side. "Miriam!! Are you okay!?"
"Y-yeah..." The witch groaned, getting up slower. "Why did that jerk throw us up here?!"
"Look, calm down, Miriam, maybe Audrey went up here-" Kiwi cut themselves off, spotting something. An Orb...
Just like the one seen in the Dreamscape.
"Kiwi? What's wrong?" Miriam questioned, before spotting the orb. "What...?"
"That's...!" Kiwi rushed to the orb, ignoring the cold groans of their body, picking it up. "Come on...!"
fizz...
BWOOM!
And just as the orb was picked up it blasted apart, a huge shockwave spreading across the world...starting from the inside of the orb! Things began to destabilize, including the mountain. Lava rose from the volcano, but it was rock cold. It began to rain, but the rain felt more like tears...
But what Miriam focused on was her friend.
"Kiwi!" She rushed forward, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging him away as the remnants of the orb exploded.
"W-what just...!?" The Bard was shocked. Why had it exploded...?
"Yo, lil B, found out something about the orbs don't touch them, it's dangerous to- oh" Right on schedule, Eyala arrived and gave some very late advice. "uh oh"
"Eyala...?" Kiwi coughed, the blast having got something in their throat.
"Okay, uh, listen, Eya can get this under control, but it might not work. Sorry, lil B." Eyala explained, raising her hand to the center of the blast spot.
"What do you mean, might not work!?" Miriam questioned the angel, worried.
"something could get through, or..."
"Wait, what?" Needless to say, that answer confused Miriam and the Bard more than anything.
"Look, it'll be fine, just sing guys I gotta keep it down while you guys get Eya"
"How do we do that?!?" Kiwi quickly asked, panicked about the mistake.
"Just do what you do best, lil b
""R-right..." And with that, The Bard began to sing, Miriam, terrified of the cold still, tried her best to join in and actually mostly succeeded in joining in. The 'song' was mostly panicked, hwoever.
Slowly, the center of the blast seemed to calm. Things began back to normal, though the lava seemed to freeze in the air now.
"Did we do it...?" Miriam sighed in relief.
"Yeah, Eya did it
but uh bad news turns out Audrey's on the other side of that""WHAT????!!!"
Needless to say, Eyala had to shortly explain the concept of more than one universe to Kiwi, though Miriam was interested even more so.
"So, if we go on the other side of that, we can save Audrey! Let's go then!"
"nuh uh, lil B, only one can go and besides that might just help destabilize everything. Eya's struggling as is to keep this universe going as is, somethin about a nexus going in the wrong hands or something."
"Oh." The Bard seemed downtrodden at that. "But still!! We have to try! And I'll be as quick as possible!" They insisted.
"Yeah, Kiwi's got a point...Eyala, was it? It can't be that hard to convince Audrey since she's no longer filling Eya's sacred duties or whatever, and knowing Kiwi maybe they'll turn those wrong hands into right hands." Miriam chose to spoke up, defending her friend's choice.
"Aw, okay, I can't deny you cuties" Eyala relaxed, the blast opening slightly to reveal a door. "Go on, lil b, good luck
" She added."Okay!" The Bard went to the door after giving Miriam a good hug. "just in case!" They rationalised it, before opening the door.
"Bye, you two! I'll be back soon!" They promised, entering. Immeadiantly after entering, The door shut and disappeared.
"lil b's not making the best decision here, right"
"Oh no, definitely not. But I guess Kiwi'd rather both the needs of the many and the needs of the few were filled, no matter the risk."
"I guess so, hehe" Eyala giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing, cutie."
----
"Urgh..." After the door was a void. Oops. The Bard had made such a mistake, it seemed, but didn't feel like they were falling. In fact, they could see quite clearly. They saw...some kind of window, like another dimension. A tournament? Audrey was fighting...no, she'd lost. Where was she?
Suddenly, they began to fall, blacking out.
The next thing The Bard awoke to? The outskirts of a small town of sorts.
A new world.