As me and Castellar travel deeper into the caverns, I try to strike up some conversation with her as we stroll through the dampening cave.
"So, Castellar, do you...like Impact? You seem to get mad at him pretty often..." I giggle, Castellar staying quiet as she thinks of an answer.
" Hmm...it's a bit difficult to say. I love him, of course. He's my older brother, how couldn't I? I used to look up to him a lot...he was one of the reasons I joined the Guard, I wanted to be just like him!" She explains, as I listen intently.
"But then a few years ago, something...happened. And Impact's never been the same. " Castellar admits, and I raise an eyebrow.
"And yelling at him helps how?" I ask, Castellar frowning as she understands my point.
"I know that something's going on in his head, but that doesn't mean he has to bring that to work! He needs to keep his own issues to himself when we're on duty, not just half-ass everything! And I've tried to be nicer about it in private with him, but he never wants to talk about it!" She rants, but takes a deep sigh before continuing.
"It's just really irritating that he won't even talk to his own sister about his problems..." She whines, as she looks down at the floor and starts to fidget with her hands.
"That kinda sucks...hearing about how you and Impact have drifted apart. What...what happened, all those years ago? Do you know?" I ask, trying to not strike a nerve with her. She looks back up at me, her joyous smile faltering.
"As I said...he barely talks to me about it. All I know is that there was...this bad person, doing bad things that nobody can remember anymore - besides Impact. I know because he talks in his sleep about it...when he has these terrible nightmares where he lashes out, he even fired attacks in his sleep once! It cost so much to fix that hole in the wall...Anyway, there's no use bothering him about it if he doesn't want to talk." She sighs again, looking back down at the floor as she's lost in thought.
" Huh...but yeah, you're right. He probably just needs some time. " I reassure, before we stop as we reach a clearing.
Castellar pauses, as she sees Impact at another one of his posts. She opens her mouth to say sonething, but then looks back at me as she hesitates. I give her a comforting smile.
"...You're right. I should probably be nicer to him in general." She sighs, before walking up to his post, and slamming her hands down on the table. Impact is unfased by the manoeuvre, as Castellar hangs her head down and mumbles something.
"Hey Impact. What are you doing, nothing?" I hear her chuckle, as Impact raises an eyebrow at her change in attitude.
" Hey Castellar...? Are you okay? You're...not yelling at me like normal." He consoles, confused and concerned over the change.
And as Castellar raises her head, I see tears start to stream down her face.
"This...this shouldn't be normal, Impact! I've been having a go at you so much recently, I forgot to account for how you feel about it! I must have made you feel horrible these past few weeks! I'm so sorry!" She sobs, as Impact immediately starts gesturing for her to calm down.
"Woah, hey, Castellar! This isn't your fault!" He remarks, running around from his post to put an arm around her in comfort.
"...it's my fault. You're right to be angry at me. You're always right." Impact mumbles sadly, and I see him...frown. I see him frown for the very first time.
"No! Stop it! Let me blame myself for once!" Castellar demands, shaking her brother's hand off of her.
"I know you've been having nightmares about that horrible thing that happened a few years ago, and I did nothing to help you! I was more concerned about the money to fix the wall then you, when you used an attack on your sleep! No wonder...no wonder you think I don't care about you!" She trembles, falling to her knees as she's overwhelmed by her revelation.
She's finally realised that this may not be the best way to deal with things, for both her and Impact. At least now, she's realised her mistake, and is trying to make amends.
But she could really use more Patience... wounds take time to heal, after all.
She reminds me of somebody that I used to know...
"Castellar...let's finish this conversation at home, okay? The kids don't need to hear this." Impact winces, seeing that I'm still listening.
"Oh...okay. You're right. We'll talk about this later, when I've lead Tyler through Waterfall, okay?" Castellar replies, as she smiles weakly, happy that Impact is giving her a chance.
"Alright." Impact agrees, sighing in relief. Turns out he maybe does want to talk about it, after all. Castellar just needed to be honest about her true feelings about the situation. I'm glad that I'm helping them make up.
Although I do have to wonder what happened to cause Impact to have such horrible nightmares...
My train of thought is interrupted as Castellar's phone starts to ring, playing a catchy jingle as her ringtone.
"Oh, sorry, I've got to take this." She apologises, before she quickly fumbles around in her pocket and picks up the call.
"Oh! Crimson! How are you?" She asks the caller. Crimson...she's the leader of the Royal Guard, right? Castellar's boss...
"...W-What? You want to meet up and talk? Uh...sure! When do you want to...RIGHT NOW?! OH MY GOD! I'LL BE RIGHT THERE! Same spot as always? ...Okay, see you!" Castellar panicks, before the other end hangs up on her. She puts a smile on her face again, and gives a happy sigh.
" Uh... sorry, Tyler. I'll lead you through Waterfall later, okay? I've got a meeting with Crimson. You can wait a few minutes, right? " She chuckles nervously, and I nod.
"Okay. But you've got to tell Crimson about how you really feel about the Guard, okay? Promise me." I wink and smile, as Castellar sweats slightly.
"O-Okay. I will." And with that, she runs off further into the caves.
------------------------------------------------------
" Sorry for that earlier, kid. It got a little intense, didn't it? Like Castellar says...we should keep matters like that in the comforts of our own homes. Anyway...how about while we wait for her to get back, we go out and grab some food? To make it up to you. " He winks, and I nod eagerly.
"Yes please! All I've eaten today was a cereal bar on my way up the mountain and a MineCream earlier!" I beam, and Impact chuckles.
" Alright, let's go. But..we could always take a shortcut if ya want. " He winks, and it takes me a moment to realise what he means.
"Oh! You mean you can teleport us there? That would be awesome! Let's do it! " I cheer, but pause.
"Wait..uh...can my...invisible friend come too?" I quite lie, blushing slightly. Impact blinks, and then smiles.
" Sure. Just make sure we all link arms. " He shrugs, as I grab his hand. Once again, I'm zapped by the joy buzzer.
"Sorry. Couldn't resist." He chuckles, as I suddenly see the world around me blur.
For a split second, I swear I see millions of ones and zeroes zipping through space with us.
And then, we're there.
My eyes take some time to adjust, but we're at the entrance to Grillby's.
"Heh, you get used to it after a while." He comments, seeing me stumble around dizzily.
"Why didn't you just teleport inside?" I question.
"Gets people jumpy when I randomly appear in there. Also there's the chance I might teleport into somebody since it's so busy in there, and that wouldn't be very pleasant, trust me." He shrugs, as he opens the door .
The pub is bustling with a lot more life and energy than the last time I went on here. This must be the peak time for people to be here. The titular owner Grillby is a fire e lemental, and he stands behind the bar cleaning a glass with a tea towel.
"Hey everyone. I brought guests." Impact announces, everyone turning around to look. Impact must be a regular here. I hear people mumble amongst themselves.
"Oh! It's the human! I hear they're really nice! "
"I heard the human made friends with the Revenant Siblings! Can they get me to be friends with them too? "
"Wait, where's the other guest? "
Impact smiles at everyone as he goes to sit down in a seat at the bar. The only other person sitting there is a mysterious cloaked figure.
"Oh, hey Riverperson. Haven't seen you here in a while. Tyler, this is the Riverperson. If you ever need to get across the underground, grab a ride on her boat and you'll be there in no time. Hey, Riverperson, Tyler's a good friend of mine, and they're kinda trying to free all monsterkind, so could you give them free rides? " Impact introduces, the Riverperson smiling from behind her hood.
"Tra la la. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Of course you can ride for free, Tyler. I don't charge for children, anyway, tra la. " She whimsically replies, and nod in thanks. She drifts away out of the door, and I see Luke take her seat.
"What would you like, Tyler? Anything's possible, 'long as it's not too expensive. " Impact suggests, pointing towards the menu he pushed in front of me at some point. I skim read the piece of laminated paper, and look back to Impact.
"I'll have a burger and fries, and two cups of golden flower tea, one for me and one for my imaginary friend. "I smile, Impact nodding.
"You hear them, Grillbz. I'll just have the regular." He says to Grillby, as he nods, and walks into the kitchen to give the order to whoever cooks.
" So," Impact starts, "What's your imaginary friend like? They have a name?"
" Dude...you know you can talk to me, right? It's rude to pretend you haven't seen me this whole time. " Luke frowns, crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Still, I don't know anything about you." Impact shrugs.
I'm surprised a little, but I guess it makes sense. Some people can see Luke, like Impact and me, and some people can't, like Castellar and Guidea.
...I just remembered. I think Flowey could see Luke, too. And it seemed like those two knew each other, too!
"My name's Luke." Luke introduces, Impact's face lighting up in recognition.
"I ...see. So you're..Luke...? " Impact questions, Luke raising an eyebrow
"Uhm...yes? What about it?" He replies, Impact sighing.
"So even YOU don't remember? That's...a little odd. You can usually remember what happened. But I guess something messed up your two's memories this time." He mumbles, not really making any sense.
"Huh? What are we supposed to remember?" I ask, Impact stopping in thought for a moment.
" Tyler...why did you fall down the mountain? You knew the rumours, and you came anyway. What gives? "
"Uh, what? First off, I didn't fall, I jumped. And I JUMPED down so I could free all the monsters, of course! Why else would I? " I explain in short, Impact mumbling something under his breath.
"Well? Speak up!" Luke demands.
" I SAID that I suspected as much. Anyway, food's here. "
I grab my box as soon as it touches the table, and crack it open. I clear out the entire thing in only a few minutes.
"Woah, Tyler, you really were hungry. Want some ketchup on your chips? " He offers, passing me a sachet.
"Sure." I accept, as I tear open the sachet on my chips. I see Impact rip open his own packet, but instead of putting it on anything, he flat out stars to suck on the opening like a barbarian.
Wincing, I ask, "Wait, what did you order, Impact?"
" Ketchup. "
"Of course you did."
As Impact finishes off the horrible deed, he turns towards me.
"Hey kid. I actually need to tell you something important. Have you ever heard...of a talking flower? "
"Uh...yes? Why?"
" There once was this monster, who loved to receive people by looking like an innocent flower. But when people let down their guard...he'd do horrible, horrible things. His name...was Flowey. "
"Wait, Flowey?! He was the one who did that stuff? I met him earlier! He tried to kill me! " I exclaim, Impact looking at me in panic.
"W-WHAT?! I...I was about to say I had suspicions that he was going to try to something funny again....But you saw him? Really...? " He stutters, his voice cracking a little. His eyes show true panic...
"Tyler, please listen to me. I know that you're a pacifist now...But promise ke. If you EVER see Flowey again...do not hesitate to kill him. You have no idea what he is capable of, and we'll all be a lot safer if you never find out. I failed to stop him last time..But maybe you can! You have control over the timeline!"
"Woah, woah! Slow down! Kill him? Isn't that a little extreme? What did he do last time? And...timeline? What do you mean? You're not making any sense!" I say, ad Impact tried to call himself down.
"Have you ever noticed these...yellow stars, in certain places? Those are save points. And if you were to die at any point...you could revert time back to the last point you saved at. But you haven't died yet, so I guess that's why you don't know. Anyway, when flower had control over the timeline, he destroyed my life and so many others. He treated us as his playthings, and when he got bored, he threw us away. He needs to be taken care of before anything like that happens again. "
"But if I have control, can't I just reset back to where he didn't mess things up?"
" Tyler! Please! Just think about it...for my peace of mind. Anyway, Castellar's probably back by now. Let's get going. Grillby, put it on my tab."
"[Impact, there's over 10,000 of debt on your tab, you know? You have to pay it, even if you are my nephew-in-law.] " Grillby signs, and Luke translates for me in my head.
"Yeah, I will, I will. No promises though. " Impact winks, as the three of us teleport back to Waterfall.