Chapter Text
Olimar was tired. So, so tired. His legs shook beneath him, refusing to carry his weight anymore. Through the tunnels he ran, twisting and turning, desperate to escape his fate. He couldn’t stop. But he couldn’t keep going either. Every turn seemed to bring new problems, problems he couldn’t solve. Wall after wall, bridge after unfinished bridge, hordes of enemies he couldn’t face alone. How he longed to hear the cry of a valiant Pikmin soldier. Just the tiniest shout, or the rousing song of the many warriors he had picked up along the way. But there was only silence.
Finally, he reached a wall of solid crystal, a wall he could not pass. He stared at the sweat-slicked reflection in the crystal, remembering countless times he had smashed through walls like this with ease. The rock Pikmin were durable, and he would give anything to hear them running behind him.
He didn’t even have the energy to cry out in frustration. Not anymore. He couldn’t bring himself to stare into the monster’s eyes again, not even as it loomed closer. He couldn’t watch as his body was hauled into the gelatinous cube’s body, consumed by a clear, gold-tinted liquid. His suit slowly lulled him back into the state of sleep he seemed to find himself in constantly. As his eyes closed, he could feel his body click back into the familiar cube of solid gold he’d long since stopped admiring.
⛓️🟨⛓️
After what felt like years, his eyes slowly opened, and he took in the surrounding scene. He was back in the dry, brittle tree he had come to call jail. He’d woken up to the same beating heat so many times it seemed like a loop. Maybe it was. Maybe this was his punishment. He’d left his loving family: his wife, son, and daughter! And for what? Some rumors of treasure on a far-off planet? And that’s just what he had done. He’d been dissatisfied and desperate for a change.
He felt tears hit his helmet with a soft plunk. He’d cried so much, he was surprised his suit hadn’t drowned him at this point.
He knew it was futile, yet he still struggled, trying as he had many times before, to escape the dry yet flexible vines that bound him. Then he heard it. That ominous sound of a creature dragging itself through dirt and sand, crushing rocks beneath its massive body, just as it had crushed his spirit so many moons ago. He refused to look up at the golden lump of gelatin that now towered over his slumped form. Slowly, a golden tendril reached out, gripping his chin and lifting his head to meet its eyes, or where he imagined its eyes to be. It made a sound resembling a purr and almost seemed to nuzzle Olimar’s helmet. He sighed. This was typical, but he’d never quite gotten used to it or understood why the creature acted this way towards him. He tried to push it off, but it let out a low growl, and he subsided. He shuddered as the creature pulled him closer, letting out a series of chirps and hums, more tentacles springing from its body and caressing him.
A soft voice purred inside his head, one he wished never to hear again.
“Why do you torment yourself so, Olimar?”
He tried to put up some kind of shield, trying to force the voice from his spiraling mind. The voice simply chuckled, probing deeper.
“Trying to force me out, are we? You know that’s not healthy for someone so fragile…”
The voice softened, yet the threat behind it remained.
“And I only want what’s best for you, Olimar.”
He raised a hand to pry the tentacles from his helmet, but a golden tendril quickly caught the blow, redirecting his hand to rest at his side.
“Olimar, you know better than to reject my affections.” The voice hissed lightly in his head.
“If you rejected me, who would take care of you?” The voice let out a sound of amusement. “Your darling wife?”
Olimar let out a pained cry at the mention of his beautiful wife. He missed her, he missed her, he missed her…
Claws gripped his mind firmly. “N0. You will not cry over such a pathetic waste of space. She let you go, let you come to this planet alone. She didn’t realize what she had, and she never will.” The voice switched to a more condescending tone. “You will stay, darling. I’ll take care of you and provide for you like she never would.”
“No, no, no, no…” He fell to his knees, shaking and crying softly as the image of his wife was consumed by flecks of gold, descending upon his vision.
The claws gripping his mind dug in further, erasing all images of his loving family. “That’s it Olimar… no one will ever love you but me. Leave and… you’re sure to drown.”