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Featured: Megalovania

Undertale

Copyright © 2015 Toby Fox

Another favorite from the game

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Lance nervously grips the wooden blade with both of his hands and looks up to watch his father. He studies his movements closely and I notice he is mostly watching his hands. When Ike takes the blade in his right hand, Lance looks down to his hands and grips the blade in his left, mirroring Ike.

So that is how he is going to learn. The same way Merric learned from me.

Ike moves the blade up close to the right side of his face and Lance does the same, but close to his left side. He studies Ike's stance for a moment, copying it.

Mirroring. A left hand teaching the right. Now a right one teaching the left. If I trained him first, he probably would have become right-handed too, like Merric.

Ronnie flashes through my mind and my eyes dart to him for a moment on the sidelines.

Ronnie is a leftie. When he sparred with us on his first day, his moves were similar to Ike's.

I swivel my eyes back and I watch Lance try his hand at using a blade, with Ike showing him the basics. The basics his style. I slowly start to rock back and forth on my feet while holding Merric against me in my arms. He is calming down now and I have been feeling his breathing slowly steady over time as we watch his father and his brother.

"Try taking swings at me, boy,"

Lance glances over at me before turning back to his father, "O—okay, papa," and he weakly swings the wooden blade at his father. Ike blocks the move with his and they clunk together. Lance pulls back and swings again but he stumbles over himself, falling to the ground on his face.

I chuckle as he quickly gets up while his face turns slightly red for a short moment. He tries to ignore what he just did and tries again, something filling his eyes. The emotion looks to be a form of determination or confidence. Watching Lance practice is heart-warming. He is the one who would make the most mistakes and feel embarrassed but also is the one who would give himself the confidence to keep going. Ever since he has learned to speak, he has been watching everything he possibly can, trying to become just like his father.

Whenever he learned something new, he would rush up to Ike, happily tell him what he found and had an expectant look in his eye hoping Ike would teach him something more.

He would probably be more embarrassed if I were teaching him. Since it is Ike, he pulls self-confidence out from nowhere and keeps trying.

He is not completely nervous around me but when it comes to his father, he perks up and everything vanishes from his worries. I watch his dark blue hair flop around on his head while his purple eyes constantly watch Ike's movements. He looks just like Ike, the sweat band wrapped around his forehead, pushing his hair up, and now the movements with the blade. His hair is a deeper blue though, with waves of black in it, giving it volume when light shines on it.

I watch Lance swing once more but once again Ike blocks his advancements. Before he proceeds to try again, Ike stops him, stepping forward, "Here, Lance, hold like this, point it this way and swing it with your arm like this,"

Lance's purple eyes are stuck on his father's hands as he shows him these things. He darts them around as if he is trying not to miss a single detail from his words and movements. I cannot help but smile at them as I watch. Merric stirs a bit in my arms and he looks up at me for a moment, showing me his smile as well before turning back to them. His blond hair shines in the sunlight as the wind blows gently around us and his bright emerald eyes sparkle with delight as he watches his brother learn to use a blade.

Lance is getting faster as he swings the blade the way Ike just showed him moments ago. With every swing, he looks more and more like Ike, the way he swings, the force behind it and the way he connects the following swings in smooth movements. With every move he completes, Ike demonstrates another one and allows Lance to try it on him.

I wonder what Merric is thinking about. Must be about how proud of his brother he is.

It is like waves of wonder fill me when I watch Merric and Lance. Like how Merric fills with glee or how Lance fills with excitement just warms my heart. Merric normally does not show much emotion to me. He rarely shows it with his father. But right now, I am filling up with happiness as it radiates from Merric. He probably does not realize it, but when a dark magician feels something strongly near another dark magician, we can sometimes feel it when the connection between them is high. A mother-son relationship is plenty for this connection to occur.

Mother taught me this when I was young. She always told me she could feel my emotions when I felt strongly about something. That is how she knew my love for Ike before he asked my hand in marriage. I apparently was broadcasting it strongly and had no idea I was, even though I vividly remember how much I tried to cover it up with aggression and bitterness.

I chuckle slightly at myself and Merric shuffles while turning back up to look at me again, "What is it, mama?"

I turn my eyes down to his, "You love watching your brother, don't you?"

His smile widens and his eyes fill with wonder, "Yeah," He turns back to them, "He's the best baby brother, ever,"

I lean down and kiss the top of his head before he hops down from my embrace. He glances up at me before looking off towards our right. I follow his gaze and find Donnie and Ronnie had stepped out from the shadows. Merric is locked on Donnie and he darts them between him and Ronnie. When I turn my eyes up to them as well, Donnie averts his gaze from me and Ronnie does the same. However, his gaze turns towards Ike and my son in the field.

I suddenly feel my stomach churn as worry fills me up while my eyes dart between him and Lance. My uneasiness forces me into a wave of worry as I keep my gaze bouncing between them, watching Ronnie's every move. I instinctively kneel down and pull Merric back into an embrace, trying to ease my uneasiness as much as I can.

But then it increases.

My eyes widen as I watch Ronnie turn away from his brother with a nod and slowly begin approaching Ike and my son out in the field. I watch closely, stopping my urge to shove him back away from my son and Ike.

What is he doing?

When he gets a bit closer, Ike stops Lance and turns to face him. Lance nervously runs and hides behind Ike's legs while peeking out around him up at Ronnie. I feel my uneasiness slack when I see Ronnie stop before getting to close to them, probably remembering the time I screamed at him about how I feel about him being close to my boys.

Ike glances towards me before looking back down to Ronnie, "May I spar with you, Ike?" I see Ronnie glance down at Lance a couple of times, but he does not look aggressive. Something else flashes through his eyes when he looks at him.

I wonder what that is?

Ike looks down at his son clutching his legs and he looks up at him, "Lance, go stand with your mother,"

Lance nods shyly, "O—okay, papa," and he darts around behind Ike and runs over to me while watching Ronnie. I hold out my arm and he runs into my embrace, joining Merric before he slips out to stand by us, happily smiling at his brother. Lance smiles back weakly, like he is still a little wary around him.

I tear my gaze from my boys and back up to Ike and Ronnie. My uneasiness ceases and I tighten my grip on Lance as he hugs me. I kiss the top of his head.

"Prepare yourself, then," Ike says to Ronnie and he nods. Ronnie drops his silver blade to the side and picks up the wooden one Lance was using moments ago.

So Ronnie is about to show us his skill, finally. But why now? Why all of a sudden does he wish to do this? Donnie sparred with us a while back.

I glance around, notice the others have entered the field and are now watching. They must also wonder why Ronnie is all of a sudden doing this. Oscar, Boyd, Titania, Ralf, Papa and Myst are scattered around watching. Oscar and Boyd approach me and stand next to me. I smile at them as I stand up and raise Lance up with me, holding him close like I held Merric earlier. Lance lays his head on my shoulder and watches his father intently, not wanting to miss anything while wrapping his arms around my neck.

"He has grown so fast," Oscar comments while he looks Lance over in my embrace. Lance looks at him and gives another one of his weak smiles before darting back to his father.

"Yes, very fast," I respond with a wide smile on my lips.

"This one is a miniature Ike. Looks just like him!" Boyd says.

Lance stirs in my embrace, glancing to Boyd as well before gluing his gaze back onto his father. I chuckle and move his bangs out from his face. Before I can say anything else, Ike and Ronnie begin their match.

He is fast as lightning. Just like his brother.

But Ike keeps up with him easily. As they take swings towards one another, Ronnie's swings look similar to Ike's. I feel as though I have already taken this observation before glancing down at Lance in my embrace before darting them back up.

It is like a mirror match. I watch Ike deepen his focus on the battle as he moves around the field, blocking Ronnie's advancements. Every move Ike does in response, Ronnie blocks just as easily, in the same form as Ike.

This is so strange.

Ike's face contorts in what looks to be confusion and curiousness as he studies Ronnie while sparring with him. When they take several more swings, and all of them gets blocked, they stop like time stopped and they stare at each other. Ronnie's purple eyes shine when the sunlight hits them for a second and my son's face flashes through my mind, matching Ronnie's face perfectly.

My eyes widen slightly as Ike takes a step forward, with curiousness in his eyes and he narrows them at him, "How do you know how to fight like that? Who taught you?"

Ronnie does not ever turn away from Ike's gaze as he responds slyly and softly, "My father,"

Father? Who could he be talking about? Donnie said something similar. What was it again?

My eyes widen as the words are repeated through my mind like the day I heard them.

My mother. That is what Donnie told me.

Ike's fact twists into determination, like he cannot figure out what his answer means and it is killing him inside to know. The sparring continues and it is just as fierce as it was before they paused it. My eyes dart around the field, watching their speedy movements. I feel Lance climb down from my embrace and stand near me with his brother. Merric has clutched my waist and is holding me while watching them, with a flabbergasted look on his face. Lance is on the other side of me, leaning against me while grasping my hand.

When I glance down to look at both boys, another set of feet catch my gaze. I look up to see Donnie approaching me. I feel my heart skip a beat and I defensively pull Merric and Lance closer to me.

He approaches me cautiously. As he slowly gets nearer, I begin to see the look in his eye which shows multiple emotions, ones that I cannot figure out, before he masks them from me.

He's thinking about something. What could he possibly be approaching me for? Why are they changing all of a sudden today? Ronnie asks for a sparring match, and Donnie approaches me? He has not approached me in a long time.

When he gets several feet away, he slowly stops and keeps his cold and hard stare on mine. His gaze is distant and feels as though he is looking right through me. He glances down at my boys before finding my gaze once again.

He looks as though he wants to speak but is having a difficult time finding the proper words. The words that escape his lips first cause my stomach to drop, "We have come from the future," He says to me, his gaze not leaving mine as something flashes in his eyes, "To prevent you from leaving us,"

My eyes widen at his words and I feel Merric tighten his grip on my waist. What? The future? What is he talking about? How—?

"You mustn't block any dark spells from hitting the King in the next ambush,"

My eyes widen even more. From hitting the King? How dare—!

I feel anger emerge from deep within me as I narrow my gaze at his and clench my fists at my sides, "How dare you say that to me! I will not do no such thi—!"

Donnie cuts me off and raises his right index finger at me, pointing right at me, "NO! This is for your own good m—ah, Star!" He raises his voice at me.

I see something appear in his eyes once again as he stutters over his words. For a brief moment, he looks vulnerable before masking it away.

What did he stop himself from saying to me?

My emotion bubbles up to the brim as I do not even begin to stop the anger from spilling over the top. My eyes darken as I glare towards him. I feel them flicker on and off before staying lit up as I glare into his. It is my turn to raise my left index finger at him, and I shake it violently as Lance hides behind me, "How dare you try to tell me what to do, Don—!"

He sends me a look I have never seen him give me before, while cutting me off once again. I can see the anger spilling from his eyes as well when he darkens them, "Just do it! You do not understand what will happen! How dare you be so selfish...!" His eyes begin to glisten when he says that as he clenches his fists. He looks as though he is trying his hardest to hold back tears. His voice is beginning to drift off and become wobbly as he says those last few words.

Tears?

My mouth opens slightly at how ridiculous he is being right now.

Be so selfish? It is my duty to protect the King! I am the furthest from selfish!

"Me? Selfish? I believe you have me confused with you!" I scream.

"NO! Bad things are going to happen if you don—!"

Donnie gets cut off by another voice. His eyes widen slightly as he gets caught off guard by the voice calling his name from across the field. I cannot believe my ears when I hear Ronnie's words come out of his mouth as he softens his voice and calls out at us. The voice he has never used before.

The voice that sounds like my son.

I feel my stomach drop, my magic dissipates from my eyes, and my mouth opens marginally as I turn and watch Ronnie frantically approach us at a rapid pace with wide, purple eyes.

"No! Not yet, Merric!"

Did Ronnie just call Donnie, Merric? :0

Star really does not get along with Donnie, huh?