Work Text:
DEMO
Technically the part that covers the Demo of the game, when it comes out.
“What…the…?” Asked Arëmag, slowly coming to. He was in a small clearing, with a small lake, and a few trees. There was also a giant boulder behind him. Just then, he heard screaming. He whipped around, and saw a small seahorse creature, with feet, covered in coral.
“Y-you there!” It called. “HELP ME!” It was being chased by a tan creature. It had a vaguely humanoid figure, tentacles for arms, no eyes, and a gaping maw with rows of teeth. It also had a horn.
Arëmag suddenly felt a weight behind him. A sheath…? He reached, and pulled out a sword! Not questioning the oddness of this, he ran at the clearly evil monster, and stabbed it! It went limp for a few seconds, but got back up again!
“That thing won’t stop until you’ve cut off both of its tentacles, then stabbed it in the heart!” Called the seahorse creature. Arëmag ducked under a tentacle slash, and cut off both tentacles. He then stabbed the heart! It let out a yell, and it faded to black. Then, it disintegrated into a blackish-purple mixture of sludge and smoke.
“Thank you, mister!” Said the seahorse-thing. “You really turned that thing back into Sloke!”
“Uh… no problem. Um, where am I…? And what was that thing? And what are you? And why do I have a sword? And w-“
“Ah, I see. There’s something I need to explain to you.” Said the creature.
“Uh… okay…?” Said Arëmag.
“Okay. First, that thing was a Razzer, a creature created by Gamëra, a person I won’t talk about right now. I am a Lessnon, a hybrid of coral, and a seahorse. We Lessnon live in Lake Lessnon, a place not too far from here. Now, about why you’re here… Have you heard of the Last Light?”
“…No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, they’re basically the last remaining hope in the world. In a sea of darkness, they were the one to give us all hope. They foretold that someone from another dimension would come and save us all. That person must’ve been you! This may all seem confusing, but there was a person hundreds of years ago who appeared in the exact place you just did, and he saved this world. But, since you’ve came, I assume that you’re the next one to save us!”
“But-but I’m just a random person! How could I save anything or anyone?!”
“Just trust me. You were brought here for a reason. Now then, follow me!”
The Lessnon led Arëmag to a long path. It was surrounded by trees, and there were a few Razzers around.
“This is Raz Path, the path that separates Lake Lessnon from where you woke up, which we call the “Awakening Spot”. Anyways, we don’t come here often, because of the Razzers that occupy this place. It was dangerous for me to come this way, and then a Razzer noticed me, and chased me to you. Anyways, now that you’re here, you can kill those other Razzers here, so we can get to Lake Lessnon! C’mon!” And so, they walked down the path. Arëmag killed a few Razzers that came after them. Eventually, they reached a crossroads. One path seemed to lead to a hole, and the other led down a path where the trees seemed to have less and less leaves, and at the end was an odd castle-looking small statue.
“What’s down there?” asked Arëmag.
“Oh, that?” The Lessnon responded. “We don’t really go there. Rumor has it that the statue there is directly related to something evil… a greater evil then Gamëra.
Just looking at the statue seemed to make Arëmag start hearing whispers. “Then what’s the other path lead to?”
“Lake Lessnon!”
“So… we just jump down it?”
“Yep! Don’t worry, there’s water at the bottom, so you’ll be alright.”
Arëmag seemed to remember that water didn’t work that way in his world, but whatever. Monsters, seahorse-people, some statue that seemed somewhat like whatever this world’s equivalent of Satan is, water not hurting you from falling in wasn’t that strange.
They walked up to it, but suddenly the ground rumbled!
“W-what’s happening?!” Asked Arëmag.
“I don’t know!”
Just then, out of the sky came a giant eyeball! It had a purple eyelid, and a green pupil. It fell into the hole, but right before entering it, it shot out white goop from its sides, sticking to the wall! It was now blocking the way into the hole! It narrowed its eye as it looked at Arëmag and the Lessnon. It was about double the size of Arëmag.
“What’s that?!” Asked Arëmag.
“That’s a… a Blockeye! But they normally don’t come in such big sizes… and now we can’t enter the lake!”
“So…what do we do?” Asked Arëmag.
“Well…your sword! That might work!”
“Okay…” Arëmag stepped up to it, and plunged the sword into the Big Blockeye! Luckily, it was close to the top of the hole, so Arëmag didn’t fall in. The eyelid shut closed, and when it opened, the pupil was colored red! It glared at Arëmag, then closed its eyelid just as Arëmag thrust his sword again, and deflected the sword off! The eyelid remained closed.
“Wait until it opens!” Said the Lessnon.
After a few seconds, the eyelid did open, and he hit it again! Tears poured out of the eyes, and the goop broke off! The eye fell into the lake below, and 2 white splotches of goop remained on the side of the hole.
Arëmag jumped in the hole with the Lessnon.
As they landed in the lake, Arëmag somehow could breathe. Then again, new world physics, so it wasn’t that odd.
Lying on the ground of the lake, which was about 50 feet away, was an immobile Big Blockeye, with an X on its eye. Little wisps of white floated around it, where the goop evaporated.
As they swam to the bottom, they landed on the lakebed, and looked in front of them. There was a semi-long path, leading to a town in the distance.
“Over there’s my town!” Said the Lessnon. “Let’s go!”
They walked down the path, and eventually they found a chest!
“In those chests you can find cool things!” Said the Lessnon. But as Arëmag reached out, he stopped him.
“Wait a second. Do you see anything odd about that chest?” The Lessnon asked.
“Huh, now that I think about it, should there be tentacles around that thing?”
“No. That isn’t a chest. That’s part of the body of a Trapeezee, a creature native to this place. While many monsters can be found almost everywhere, some are native to a specific place.”
“So, what do I do?”
“Well, look at this.” The Lessnon picked up a nearby rock, and tossed it at the rock. It slowly flew through the water, and brushed against the chest. Suddenly, the tentacles grasped it, and pulled it under the sand-like ground! After a few seconds, the tentacles came back up.
“So, can it be defeated?” Arëmag asked.
“Yes,” said the Lessnon. “Slash off its tentacles.”
Arëmag did so, and afterwards, a thing came out of the ground!
“Now, finish it!”
Arëmag hit the thing with his sword, and it turned into Sloke which evaporated shortly after.
“Great job!” Said the Lessnon. “Make sure to tell the difference between actual chests and Trapeezees!”
They were close to the village now, and found one last thing.
“Is that an Anglerfish?” Arëmag wondered aloud.
“It’s an Arrghlerfish,” replied the Lessnon. “Watch out for the light on its head! Cut it off!”
The light started chomping at the water, pulling the Anglerfish-like creature towards them! Arëmag cut at the thin line connecting the light to the fish, and then it stopped moving as the disembodied light dimmed until it was the color of the water, and then it turned into Sloke. The leftover fish tried flapping its fins, but didn’t make it anywhere. Arëmag hit the fish, but his sword bounced off like it was rubber! It sent the Arrghlerfish slowly gliding away uncontrollably, bouncing off anything it hit like a beach ball. As it slowly drifted off into the distance, flapping its fins desperately.
“Great! Now we’re at Lessnon Town!” Exclaimed the Lessnon. “Thanks for escorting me!” And with that, he swam off into the town.
Now by himself, Arëmag looked around.
The place looked pretty nice, with Lessnons moving around, just living life. But a few of the houses seemed to be broken down.
As he walked around, he heard a voice.
“Hey! You! Yeah, you!”
He turned to the source of the voice, and saw another Lessnon.
“Heya! The name’s Lessnonio, Nonio for short!”
“Uh, hi.”
“So, I heard you were looking to stop Gamëra?”
“I guess…?”
“Well, then let me come with you! Gamëra destroyed my home, and I want revenge! With you, I can finally do that!”
“I guess so…? I mean, extra help wouldn’t be too bad.”
“GREAT! Thanks a lot! I promise, you won’t regret this! I know a lot about this place! So, if you want to head to Gamëra’s castle, then you’ll need to know where you’re going! Lucky for you, I happen to have a map of the Golostverse! Or, at least, part of the Golostverse. It’s a pretty big place. Here, look!”
He showed the map to Arëmag.
“So, you’ll need to head through the Sarpaint Tunnel, which is just past the Open Ocean. Through that gateway over there! Unfortunately, Scarlie’s blocking the way right now… but I know you can beat him!”
“So, through that gateway?” Arëmag pointed towards the gateway.
“Yep! Let’s go!”
Arëmag followed Nonio, and they eventually exited the town, and saw a large fish-like creature.
“Where do you think you’re going?” It asked.
“We’re passing through.” Replied Arëmag.
“Not for long,” said the creature, raising his trident. “I’m Scarlie, supreme leader of the Scalies, the rivals to the Lessnon, and I have been ordered by Gamëra to not let anyone pass through! So, to prevent you from passing, I’ll send my Scalies to stop you! You won’t be able to make it past my fortress!” Scarlie turned around, and started off, but tripped partway through, drifted through the water, got back on his feet, and swam off.
In a puff of Sloke appeared 3 smaller-looking things looking like Scarlie! One was red, one was blue, and the last was yellow.
“We’re the Power Scalies, commanders of the Scalie army! You won’t be able to pass!” Said the first one.
“Yeah! Just try’n best our troops! We dare ya!” Said the second.
“Uh…yeah. What they said.” Said the third one. All three vanished in another puff of Sloke, leaving 2 Scalies!
The first one quickly raised his trident, and thrust it at Arëmag! He dodged it, and slashed at him. It made contact, and he fell back a little. The second lunged at Nonio, who swam to the right, and hit him in the back with his arms. He fell over as well, as the first one got back up. He threw his trident at Nonio, who dodged as Arëmag slashed again. It hit him, and he turned into Sloke. Nonio defeated the second one, and they started moving through the area, which had led into an ocean.
“We’re in the Open Ocean now,” said Nonio. “Scarlie’s fort blocks the way to Sarpaint tunnel, so we’ll have to defeat him to pass.” As they stepped forwards, they were blocked by a Razzer in an innertube! Arëmag hit the innertube, and it shot the Razzer off into the distance. As they moved through the ocean, they killed a few Scalies, along with an Arrghlerfish and a couple Trapeezees. They eventually reached a fortress.
“That must be Fort Scarlie!” Said Nonio, pointing. “Be prepared for whatever Scarlie’s got cooking there.”
They entered, and entered into a fighting arena, with Scalies in the stands. On a tall podium was Scarlie, with a microphone.
“Two challengers! Hear me well; you won’t make it past this point! But, before you die, let’s make some fun out of it!”
A gate across from Arëmag and Nonio lifted up, revealing 3 Scalies.
“Let’s see if you can beat THESE GUYS!” Scarlie gestured to a nearby Scalie, who pressed a button on a machine, making it play a “Dun-dun-DUUUUN!!” sound.
The three Scalies swam at them, and Arëmag and Nonio fought them. After a while, the three were defeated.
“Well…” Scarlie trailed off for a moment. “That was anticlimactic…A-ANYWAY! We’re only warming up! Ready for round two?”
Another voice came.
“Heh. Looks like it’s time for us to shine!” The red Scalie appeared.
“Dur hur hur… yer not gonna last a minute!” The blue one appeared.
“Uh…yeah. We’re gonna beat you, or something.” The yellow Scalie appeared.
“Behold!” The three said. “THE POWER SCALIES!”
They raised their weapons, as the crowd roared in applause and cheers.
The blue and yellow one vanished, leaving the red one. He raised his buzzsaw-looking trident, as the saw part spun. He ran at Nonio, and slashed at him! He missed, and Arëmag hit him in the back with his sword! He stumbled, and whipped around, Arëmag ducking under the saw-trident. Nonio hit him as well, and Arëmag slashed again!
The Scalie flew away, and hit the ground, exploding in red Sloke. The audience gasped, as the blue one appeared.
“Ya defeated him?” He asked. “Well, whatever! Yer gonna die now!”
He raised his spear with holes in the side of it, and sharp scales shot out of them, homing in on Arëmag! He dodged them, and hit him with his sword! Nonio followed up with a few strikes, and Arëmag hit him again.
The Scalie thrust his spear at Nonio, who dodged, as Arëmag landed the final hit! He exploded in blue.
The yellow one appeared. “Oh, you killed them. Uh, okay. Guess I gotta kill you now.”
He raised his giant club, and hit the ground, causing rocks to launch at Nonio and Arëmag! Nonio got hit by one, but seemed okay. Arëmag avoided them all, but then the Scalie threw his club at him! He ducked, but had to get out of the way when the club flew back into the Scalie’s hands! Nonio ran up and struck him a few times, but was hit into the wall when he was hit by the club being swung!
Arëmag hit him one last time, and he exploded in yellow. Scarlie was speechless.
“You…I…I didn’t actually plan for what would happen if you beat them. So, uh… you can pass, I guess.”
Arëmag pulled Nonio out of the wall, and he came back to consciousness. They exited the arena, but as they left, Scarlie looked at them from behind.
He spoke to himself. “This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, suckers…”
…
“Okay!” Said Nonio. “Once we pass through the Sarpaint Tunnel, we’ll make it to the end of Lessnon land!”
They entered the tunnel, which was, thankfully, not dark. There were small cracks in the walls.
“Watch out,” warned Nonio. “Sarpaints can flatten themselves to fit through those cracks. They could appear out of any of those cracks.” Just as he finished saying that, the tunnel rumbled. Bursting out of a crack came a red serpent!
“That’s a Sarpaint!” Informed Nonio.
“Is it weak to anything?” Asked Arëmag.
“Just watch out for the fact that it can come out of any of those cracks.” Replied Nonio.
Arëmag readied his sword, and slashed at it, but it retreated into the crack before he could hit it! He looked around, and eventually it came out of a crack on the ground! Arëmag quickly hit it, and cut it in half! It turned into Sloke and vanished.
They walked through the tunnel, defeating a few Sarpaints along the way. At the end of the tunnel, they reached a large arena-like place! There were cracks on tall rocks everywhere.
Suddenly, a tentacle bursted out of a rock, nearly missing Nonio, who ducked and covered his head. Arëmag turned to the tentacle, which flailed around, then went back in. The same thing happened with another rock, missing Arëmag, who fell over out of the way. Everything started rumbling, then a large Sarpaint came out of a rock directly across from Nonio and Arëmag, and roared!
“What the?!” Asked Arëmag.
“That’s Sarpaint Deluxe!” Said Nonio. “It has tentacles that can come out of the cracks as well. I didn’t think it would be around here…” he turned to Arëmag. “Sarpaint Deluxe is one of Gamëra’s ‘G-bosses’, which there are many of. This one is one of the weakest, but that doesn’t make it easy.”
Sarpaint Deluxe lunged at Arëmag, biting at him, but he swam out of the way. He swam over to a tentacle, and slashed it, cutting it off!
SD roared, and went back in a crack, along with its remaining tentacle. Everything remained still for a moment, then the tentacle came out of a crack near Arëmag, hitting him! Nonio hit the tentacle, and Arëmag got back up, cutting the tentacle off. Both tentacles were gone now, and SD came out of a crack, and hit at Arëmag, who stabbed his sword into its mouth before it reached him, and it crumbled into Sloke and vanished!
“You beat it!” Said Nonio. “Great job! Now we can leave this lake!”
“Up that hill?”
“Yep!” Replied Nonio. “Let’s go! So many adventures await us… I’m so excited to see the Golostverse! I think the next place for us to go to iisss…”
“…Carhan Canyon! Great! Let’s go, Arëmag!”
And so, they exited Lake Lessnon, heading for Carhan Canyon, endless adventures on the horizon…
AND SO, THE DEMO HAS COME TO AN END. BE PREPARED FOR ADVENTURES, FANTASTICAL MONSTERS, OVERSIZED CASINOS, AND SO MUCH MORE!