CHAPTER XXXII: Tenda Village II

"Ness? Wake up, buddy."

He opened his eyes slowly. His friend's heads were in a circle around him. Beyond them, there were lustrous, unfamiliar trees and bushes, and an unidentifiable light source. There was a thick sheen of clouds covering the sky. Jeff was lightly smacking his face.

"There he is," He grinned. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy-head."

"Where are we?" Ness asked, sitting up.

"The Lost Underworld," Paula sighed, looking around. "We made it...thanks to you, Ness."

"And with only one Sanctuary left to get to," Poo smiled, looking up. "Then..."

There was a vast silence.

Only Ness knew what to say.

"And then..." He whispered, just loud enough for his companions to hear. "Giygas..."

The humidity in the Lost Underworld was bordering on unbearable. They were all sweating after the first hour in the sunless world. Ness felt very small in the presence of such vast trees, but that was a small feeling compared to the one he felt when the dinosaur showed up.

A huge, yellow foot stomped down in front of them. Ness looked up, squinting into the unknown light. The silhouette of a huge, long-necked creature was right in front of him.

The Chomposaur leaned down, trying to bite at Ness. He rolled into a back handspring, dodging the vicious teeth by bare inches.

"Ah, man, we can't deal with this!" The young man exclaimed, drawing his baseball bat. "After that fight with the Electro Specter, we don't have enough energy to beat this guy!"

A massive foot attempted to squash all of them in one strike, but they moved out of the way. Poo leapt at the creature's unprotected back, drawing his sword, and slicing the Chomposaur's tail off in one clean motion. The blood flying from the end was yellow, and the stump of the tail slapped Poo upside the face, sending him falling to the ferny ground.

Paula growled. "I'm SICK of this!" She screamed, her hair flying in a sudden gust of psychic wind. "PSI FREEZE OMEGA!"

She didn't even move from there. The icy wind that swirled around her moved to the Chomposaur like a bullet leaving a gun, wrapping around its body. Ice moved up its scaly hide like a hideous disease, until it was completely covered in frozen water.

With a huge, crackling groan, the thing fell apart like week-old clay. The chunks fell to the ground, leaving massive holes. Ness ran over to Paula, catching her as she fell from exhaustion. He helped her to her feet.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"Y...yeah," She mumbled weakly, clutching to him. "Just a bit winded. I need to rest."

"The psychic energy discharged by that blast was enormous enough as it was," Jeff observed. "But forming it into ice seemed to take even more energy. Even I could feel the waves of power, and I'm not even attuned to psychic powers."

Poo stood up, looking off in the distance. "I see torches," He said. "And a fence. A village!"

"Great," Ness smiled widely. "We can get some rest, and maybe a good, hot meal!"

"I'm tired of camp-fire food," Jeff mock-whined.

"Are you saying my burgers don't cut it?" Ness scolded sharply.

They all laughed heartily, and walked towards the northern village.

>KNOCK!<

"Who goes there?" A voice growled from behind the wooden fence.

"I'm Ness," Ness called up. "And these are my friends, Paula, Jeff, and Poo! We came here from Tenda Village, up in Deep Darkness."

There was a long silence, then a sniffing sound.

"Sniff...sniff...what is that heavenly smell?"

Ness sniffed at his armpits, then at his shoulders. "Hm? All I smell is that awful Tendakraut..."

"TENDAKRAUT?! GET THAT GATE OPEN!"

The gate opened slowly, and about five Tendites ran out, mauling their backpacks, and swiping the Tendakraut. One of them stopped near Ness.

"Thank you, sir," The Tenda said. "We've been craving Tendakraut for years, ever since we moved here from our stupid shy cousins."

"Wait," Jeff chimed. "YOU'RE the Tenda that followed the melody into the hole?"

"Darn skippy," Another Tendite grinned, tearing his teeth into the stringy, yellowish substance. "Those creeps were so shy, and that melody was sooooooo alluring..."

"You guys are from above ground?" The leader asked. "Then you should go see the talking rock. He's the head honcho around here, and he said that a few outsiders would show up. Come on in, we're having a festival tonight, anyway. You can room with me tonight. By the way, that girl looks pretty tuckered out."

"I'll say I am," Paula sighed. "Thank you very much..."

Paula decided to sleep at the Tenda Leader's house, whose name was Kav. Poo and Jeff decided to walk around and check out some Tenda culture, so Ness made the decision to visit this talking rock that everyone was so excited about.

Tenda Village II, however, was much larger than it's former. It took him until evening to find it. It wasn't very impressive, a large, round boulder atop a simple pedestal. The stone had a face in red paint splayed across it. As Ness approached, the Sound Stone in his backpack began to ring. The stone began to turn towards him, and he took an impulsive step backwards.

"Chosen," A soft, smooth voice spoke. "Welcome to my home."

"Who...who are you?"

"I am the last living testament to the Prophecy of Hope, the ancient Scarabian myth. Come forward, Chosen, and accept my blessing."

A ray of light surrounded the rock, blasting into the prehistoric air. Ness took a tentative step into the beam, and suddenly felt himself lifted from his feet. He was floating, all around him there was a swirling blue color. He turned to gaze at the stone.

"You have come a long way, Chosen," The stone whispered. "I have watched your progress, and have seen your struggles. There is much doubt in you, yes?"

Ness pulled back. "Doubt?" He asked, his ire rising a bit. "Why would I be doubtful?"

"You are afraid..." The stone whispered again. "You are afraid that you are weak...that you won't be able to protect your friends. Their powers seem to be growing at an alarming rate, and yours remain dormant. Your strongest skill is still only at its second stage."

Ness gasped. How had it known?

"Especially...the girl..."

"What?"

"Paula," The stone said. "You love her, don't you? You're worried that you won't be able to protect her, aren't you?"

"What do you know?!" Ness flared, clenching one fist. "You're just a stupid rock with a face painted on it!"

"Chosen," The talking rock continued. "These feelings and worries are only natural. Love can blossom in the strangest of ways, and--"

"Shut UP!" He yelled. "Where do you get off talking like that, you lousy hunk 'a MARBLE? This is none of your business! I'm out of here!"

He turned to leave, but a shockwave of pain ran through his body. He winced, doubling over in the air, eyes clenched shut.

"Listen, Chosen...there is a great power within you...a power so enormous that even I...or Giygas...are unable to fathom it. Paula may be the very key to unlocking that power. Your skills in combat already rank in the strongest in history, yet it is still not enough. Go west, Ness..."

He squinted up through the blue haze of pain surrounding him. The hold released, and he dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Struggling, he stood. "What..." He stuttered. "What's in the west?"

"The final Sanctuary," The stone told him with a surge of elation. "The Fire Springs, where the Sound Stone was born from the light of the Earth, and the magic of the Scarabians. Once returned to its origin, you will be filled with a tremendous power...the power to defeat Giygas once and for all. Ness...you have come a long way. How long has it been since Pokey knocked on your door that fateful night back in Onett?"

Ness thought for a moment, realizing it had been awhile since he had even heard of Pokey. "About..." he began, then said with some surprise. "About a year and a half."

"It doesn't seem too long ago, does it?" The talking stone said with a hint of amusement. "Treasure these times with your friends, Ness. They won't last forever...in fact, they're almost at an end. This journey will go down in history, and these may be the best days of your life. Go, Ness...go to your friends..."

And the blue light slowly dissipated, leaving Ness standing alone next to a silent and rather silly-looking rock. He looked up. The stars were in the sky, so evening had come...had it been so long ago that they'd started talking?

Wait...stars?

Wasn't this place underground?

Squinting, he realized that thy weren't stars--several thousand diamonds were lodged into the roof of the world-spawning cave. An utterly beautiful sight, the young man mused idly, but a bit unsettling. With the conversation about the journey buzzing inside his head, Ness returned to Kav's house to find everyone waiting for him.

"Where were you, Ness?" Jeff asked, taking a sip of Kraken Fin Soup. "We looked everywhere for you, but couldn't find you. You just...disappeared about four hours ago."

"Did you happen to look at the talking rock?" Ness asked wearily.

"About a dozen times," Poo nodded. "Not a trace."

Ness sighed, looking off to the side. Paula caught that, and looked over at him.

"Ness?" She asked in a worried tone. "Are...are you okay?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing," he said, thinking of what the rock had said about her. "I'm fine."

The key to unlocking that power, he thought...in Paula?

"I'm going to bed," He yawned, waving at them. "Tell Kav I said 'hi'."

Paula looked after him as he disappeared into the guestroom.

"Something is wrong with him," She whispered to herself.

Part 33