Chapter Text
You hopped off the mound of sand, and scanned the room, eager to explore. You quickly decided on the room to your right, and you darted through the doorway. The room was a dead-end, smaller than the one you had just left and ringed with two canals full of clear mountain water. A pedestal sat in the center of the room, and you rapidly approached it as you realized that the bowl sitting atop it was filled with a mound of candy. You noticed a note nestled inside of the candy, and you pulled it out. The paper had the sort of soft texture only age and wear could cause, and the note written on it was in the same handwriting as the signs you had read earlier.
“Take only one,” you read, emphasizing the underlined word. You frowned and placed the note back into the bowl, pondering your options. Whoever wrote the signs, and by extension the note, was apparently not around anymore, so they wouldn’t mind... Your conscience won out, however, and you took only one of the colorful round candies before heading back through the doorway. You took a second to gain your bearings before proceeding towards the only doorway you hadn’t yet been through. Before you could reach it, the world turned black and white as a Cappy leapt into your path.
“Oh! Excuse me, I was heading this way,” you said. The Cappy only waggled its arms angrily in response, flinging its cap into the air and catching it back on its head.
“You won’t get any further, human!” it barked, continuing its wiggling. You frowned and tapped your chin, thinking back to your practice fight with the dummy. Stall them with conversation until Dee could show up… Well, Dee had no idea that you weren’t back in the other room waiting, so you’d have to do more than just stall. Your face lit up as you had a sudden idea.
“I like your mushroom hat!” you said cheerily. The Cappy’s agitated movements slowed in confusion.
“What?” it said blankly.
“It’s the biggest mushroom ever, I bet!” you continued, hoping your tactic would work. The Cappy went totally still, seemingly calming somewhat.
“Well, of course! I take very good care of it, unlike the others,” the monster sniffed, making the closest thing to a smug expression its face would allow. A new idea hit you, and you struggled to keep a sly grin off of your face.
“I guess, but I wouldn’t really know…” you responded, causing the Cappy to bounce a few times in surprised irritation.
“What? What’s that mean?” it snapped.
“Well, I can’t really know how much awesomer it is if I can’t see all the other Cappys,” you explained, waiting anxiously for the next response. The monster stilled again and seemed to be deep in thought before speaking again.
“Well, I guess I can let you go see them. So you can truly appreciate my amazing cap-“
“Thank you!” you said quickly, cutting the monster off and darting into the next room as color returned to your vision. You were so focused on escaping before the monster could change his mind that you failed to notice the cracked ground ahead. The second you stepped on it your foot broke through, followed by the rest of you as you plummeted into the room below. A soft pile of sand broke your fall, and you stood after a few moments of dizziness. You brushed the sand off of yourself as you looked around, quickly finding a doorway that led to a set of stone stairs. You climbed the stairs up as they wound around before climbing through a narrow entrance that had gone unnoticed in your earlier rush. You started as you noticed the Cappy from earlier standing on the other side of the cracked section.
“Be more careful, human! You can’t die before truly appreciating the extent of my glorious cap!” the monster called out. You smiled as you brushed yet more sand off your pants.
“Don’t worry Mr. Cappy, I’ll be OK! Bye bye!” you chirped, waving enthusiastically as you headed into the next room.
“I wasn’t worried!” it responded indignantly, bouncing wildly in anger and embarrassment. You barely heard the Cappy, however, due to your phone ringing the moment you entered the new room. You quickly picked it up.
“Hiiii!” you sang.
“Um, hey. For no particular reason, do you prefer strawberries and cream, or cake?” Dee asked, a low hum of what seemed like a bustling store in the background. You barely let him finish before answering.
“Cake! I loooove cake!” you said excitedly, drooling at the thought of all the different kinds of cake there were. There was a moment of silence on the other end before Dee spoke.
“Well that wasn’t a hard question, huh? Thanks for the answer, I’ll be back soon,” he said, before ending the call. You put the phone away, happy at the possibility of cake as you looked over the new area. There was a rock emblazoned with a star placed some distance away from a large metal switch, with a path eroded into the stone floor between the two. A line of the same sort of metal spikes from earlier divided the room just ahead of the rock and switch. You spotted a nearby sign and began to walk towards it when your phone rang again.
“Hi again!” you said, picking it up quickly.
“Uh, you don’t hate strawberries, right? Like you would still eat them if they were there?” Dee asked, seemingly distracted by something.
“Strawberries are tasty too!” you answered.
“OK, good. Hey, thanks for waiting by the way. You’ve been pretty patient with me.” The phone went silent again before you could respond, and you felt a pang of guilt at disobeying Dee’s only request. The call of adventure was strong, however, and you pocketed the phone as you walked up to the sign.
“If this puzzle exceeds your capabilities, I am sorely disappointed,” you read, again stumbling over the unfamiliar words. Whoever wrote the signs seemed a little grumpier than Dee, but at least they seemed to be helpful. There was a note written in yellow chalk just below the words, and you read it as well. “Push the stone onto the switch. Don’t be rude, uh…” you struggled to read the name, but it had been smudged beyond recognition. You stood for a few moments before shrugging and walking over to the stone.
The stone was cube-shaped and was adorned with a star carved into its surface. You leaned your full weight against the stone and pushed, nearly falling as it slid far more easily than you had anticipated. You slid it over the switch and it depressed with an audible click, causing the spikes to recede into their metal housing.
“Another puzzle solved!” you exclaimed, putting your hands on your hips in a triumphant pose. You allowed yourself to bask in the minor accomplishment for a few moments before continuing to the next room. This room was larger than the last, and most of the floor was utterly riddled with cracks. You gulped and walked onto the floor but were surprised when it managed to hold your weight. You continued, emboldened as the stone held together beneath your feet. Suddenly, your next step broke through and you fell into the room below, only partially being cushioned by the sand.
“Oooow,” you groaned, laying in the fetal position for a minute as the throbbing pain in your hip and shoulder faded. You stood and looked around, noting how the room seemed to be shaped identically to the one above. A path seemed to have been carefully swept into the sand, and you followed it to another sign affixed to the wall. “What is on the surface often imitates what is below it,” read the familiar curly handwriting. Another note in chalk was there as well, reading “Seriously? This is way too vague. Copy the path down here and you won’t fall.” You giggled to yourself at the apparent bickering that must have gone on. Dee must have been really close to whoever wrote these signs to talk to them so easily, albeit through writing. You walked to the far side of the area with the sand path, carefully memorizing the pattern before you walked up the nearby staircase and back to the room you had fallen from.
“OK, no falling this time,” you murmured, carefully picking your way through the cracked floor and pausing in front of another sign. “One must walk their path without hesitation, for straying may remove such choices from your grasp,” you read. You shook your head and continued to the next room, wishing that the sign person didn’t use such weird words. The next room had three stones and three switches, as well as an irritated-looking purple bug monster. Wait.
“A human?! Here?!” the monster sputtered, buzzing around angrily as the room turned black-and-white.
“Wait, I don’t wanna fight!” you stammered, holding your hands out in a pacifying manner. The monster didn’t even bother to respond, instead sending out a small burst of what looked like flies. You braced yourself against the onslaught, screwing your eyes shut against the pain as several of the bugs impacted your SOUL. You fell back as the monster approached, flinching at the apparent sensation of flies being crushed beneath you. You peeked below you, only to be shocked as the “flies” melted away into wisps of what seemed like smoke.
“You have a lotta nerve showing up around here-“
“Oh! These aren’t really bugs!” The monster looked at you in confusion as you cut him off, presenting several of the fake bugs in your palm as they faded away.
“Uh, no. It’s my magic,” he explained, hovering in place as he stared you down.
“Oh good! I don’t wanna squish any bugs,” you chirped, relieved. The monster blinked, and landed, walking closer to you on his stubby feet.
“You…like bugs?” he asked. You smiled and nodded, sitting up.
“Yeah, they’re cool little guys. I’m Kirby, what’s your name?”
“Uh, Bronto Burt. But everyone just calls me Burt,” he answered, looking around awkwardly. You hopped to your feet and gave him a cheerful wave.
“It’s nice to meet you. You’re really big for a bug,” you said.
“Well, I am a monster,” Burt said. He then fluttered gently back into the air, looking distinctly sheepish. “You know, you’re not so bad for a human. Sorry about the whole attempted murder thing.”
“It’s OK, you’re not the only monster to try,” you laughed, causing Burt to give you an intensely concerned look.
“Then try to stay safe I guess. See you around,” he said, flying over your head and off into the ruins as color returned to the world.
“Bye!” you called after him, before you turned to evaluate the new puzzle before you. You swiftly set to work, easily pushing the first two stones into place. The final stone had two slips of worn paper taped to it, with the first simply reading “ANNOYING!” and the second reading “Don’t be rude!” The sign person sure was a grump. You went to push the stone and very nearly jumped away when it spoke.
“Hey, do you always go round shovin’ people?” it snapped, and you sheepishly rubbed the back of your neck.
“Uh sorry, I just didn’t think-“
“Well duh you didn’t think! Anyway, I’ll cut you a deal. You want me on that switch right?”
“Uh huh…” you said, nodding despite your intense confusion.
“If you get these dang notes offa me, I’ll mosey right on over there,” it continued. You hesitated for a moment before reaching out and gently pulling the notes off of the stone, quietly pocketing them. The stone let out a sigh of relief and slid its way onto the switch, causing the row of spikes ahead to retract. You walked over the retracted spikes and into the next room, saying farewell to the stone as you went and getting only a loud snoring sound in response.
Another golden star floated in this room, but that wasn’t what first caught your eye. Another dummy stood in the room along with a wooden cutout. You walked closer and were surprised to see that the dummy was nearly destroyed, with its stuffing poking out through multiple large holes in the fabric. Even the intact fabric was full of stitches, as if it had been repaired many times before. But the thing that managed to unnerve you was the cutout. It was more than just vaguely human-shaped and had a red x over where the heart would be. The head had been cleaved in two by what must have been a wickedly sharp weapon swung with great force.
“Creepy,” you muttered, moving on to a paper affixed to the wall. It seemed to be a page from a comic book featuring a sword-wielding warrior striking a triumphant pose, along with what looked like a series of times corresponding with different workout routines scrawled below it. You returned to the golden star and touched its warm surface, still slightly unnerved by the room’s contents.
The fact that whoever uses this room is at least not here right now fills you with…
Determination.