Sig’s Secret Chapter 8 - The Mysterious Ruins

While there's nothing the genius Lemres can't do, I don't think he's the one to end all of this and use the potion he got from Witch on Sig. That's all I could think of, not wanting to stop. I may be a klutz, and I know Sig's getting dangerous. I'm sorry. So sorry. Really sorry. I've gotta see him right now. I can't sit down and give up!

---

Primp Town may be peaceful, but outside the heart of town are many other mysterious places. There’s a tower that’s been unfinished for who knows how long, the suspicious manor that nobody lives in... And right now, we’re aiming towards these ruins. It’s sitting isolated in the middle of the forest, built out of really old stone, and the walls have these weird markings carved right into ‘em. I’m not sure what sort of lettering it is, since I can’t read it. People call it the “Sealed Ruins” because no one knows who put some seal on it. I feel like it was called something else though. It’s got that mysterious vibe, and since it’s somewhere way out of the way, not a lot of people get close to it. My mouth was slightly gaping open at the ruins’ entrance, turning over to Arle and Ringo once they finally showed up to talk to them.

"Right here! I'm very sure Sig and Lemres have got to be in there."

As I expected, the moment Ringo saw it for the first time, she got a gleam in her eye and gasped in awe.

"Ooh...such mysterious ruins! It truly exudes a fantasy dungeon feeling!"
"Uhm...?"
"Ah, please don't mind me. I'm talking about this here."

Sometimes I don't get what she says. I think she's probably closed off into her own world of rambles...

"Well then, let's go-go!"
"Gu guguu!"

Arle cheerfully waved over to us. And right around her feet, Carbuncle went all boing-boing bouncing around.

"Yeah! We've gotta hurry! Sig's in danger of this calamity..." I answered, also waving over like Arle, but then it hit me. "Hey uh...you two alright with this?"
"Well yeah, what about it?"
"You need affirmation?"

Arle and Ringo cocked their head. I continued on, though I can't stay still.

"But see, well uh, going in the danger calamity is gonna be bad news. I was the one that pushed myself to go and get myself involved with Sig, and I don't want to have to drag you two into the face of danger..."

After hearing my jumbled up thoughts, Arle and Ringo traded a look, and let a "Pfft." out of their mouth. W-Why are they laughing!?

"Oh, Amitie. So that's what's on your mind. We'll be behind you from the beginning, and we'll be behind you to the end. Right, Carby?"
"Gu gu!"

Arle and Carbuncle laughed. Well, phooey. They're going with me through and through. Though...

"B-But, didn't you say the opposite some time ago..."
"Amitie?"

Looking at me as I try to speak up, Ringo lifted up her index finger.

"Amitie, you won't let us go face Sig and the dangers on our own, right?"
"Y-yeah."
"Well, we feel the same way. We won't let you go face the dangers on your own, of course."
"...!"

I'm at a loss of words, Arle and Ringo traded a look, and then said "Right?" in unison, laughing with a head tilt.

"T-Thanks..."

Once I answered, Arle and Ringo lifted up a fist at the same time, and gave me a thumbs up. Oh man, these two are too cool!

"Well anyway, let's head out, and quickly!"
"Y-Yeah!"

And then the three of us stepped into the ruins.

---

We continued down the ruins’ long corridor.

“Ah, dungeon exploration...It’s been a while, and it’s kinda exciting, huh Carby?”
“Gu gu, gu gu♪”

Arle and Carbuncle traded laughs with each other.

"A while? You underwent these scenarios in the past, Arle?"
"Yup, I traveled to various different places alongside Carby. Sure I have to face a bit of danger, but I find it fun!" Arle smiled. She really loves her adventures. Ah, but wait...
"How do you understand Carbuncle, Arle?"
"Gugu!?"

I looked down at Arle's feet, watching Carbuncle bounce jump around on his own. He's always got the rather cute-looking carefree look and is pretty small.

"But Carbuncle's got the not-so-adventurous image~"
"Whaa? But Carby's been so reliable?"
"Really?"
"Hmm, Carby's..."
"HYAAAAAH!"

Interrupting our little talk was Ringo's sudden screaming, who wandered off a bit ago.

"Wh-what's going on!?" I rushed on over to her in a panic.
"Th-this gate is..." Ringo pointed over to it, and it had the relief of one big stony Nuisance Puyo as a decoration. So this is where she went.

Nuisance Puyo are Puyo that are exactly what you expect, a total nuisance. They're different in that they don't pop if you connect them. Instead, when you pop Puyo next to them, they disappear along with them. They go away differently than the normal ones, and things could get ugly if they get mixed into your chains.

"What's up with the gate?" I asked, making Ringo take a gulp.
"I swear, I think the Rock Nuisance Puyo blinked just now...!"
"Wait what?"

I took another look at the gate. No matter how I look at it, it's just rock. It couldn't have moved an inch...but then...

*BLINK!*

"Did it just move!?"

The three of us let out a little shriek. The Nuisance Puyo decor really moved its eyes and looked down at us! On top of that...

"From here on, three tests lie ahead before you..."
"And it spoke!?" The three of us shouted again.
"I-I-It's alive isn't it!?" I turned over to Arle, but she shook her head.
"Hmm, I think it might be some sort of mechanism doing it...I don't know all the details though."
"I'm still getting bad vibes though!"

Panic wouldn't stop welling up as I got closer, and the enigmatic Nuisance Puyo continued to talk.

"This is the Sealed Ruins...To protect the scarlet secret that slumbers in the deepest ruins, tests are imposed on those who wish to invade this ground...It is best you leave this place..."
"For real!? I'm so bad at tests though!! Is it a written test? A calculated test?"
"Maybe, but it might be neither of the two!" Ringo interrupted me as I shouted.
"Wha, really now!? B-but then...what kind of test is it?" I looked up at the Rock Nuisance Puyo.
"The first test is a test of power...open the gate with any attempt...if you are capable of opening it...fu-fufufu...kuhuhuhu..."

The gate looks pretty dang study though. What's a good way to do it? Should the three of us shove it open? Or maybe a spell will do it... Geez, this is harder than it looks.

"Guuuu!"

But then from behind, a cheery voice is heard. And then the next moment...

*PSHOOOOM!*

A beam of light came shooting past from just above our heads, hitting straight-on at the talking Nuisance Puyo!

*Ka-BOOOOM!*

"GUAAAAAH!!"
"Wha..." I turned over to Carbuncle, who was happily bouncing around.
"Ah- Carby! Did you fire that beam?" Arle asked Carbuncle.
"Gu guu!"
"Ohh, and you attacked the obnoxious obstacle, didn't you?"
"Gu guguu!"
"Got that our of your system?"
"Gu gu♪"
"Geez. You're full of surprises, aren't you!"

Oh yeah. I forgot about that! Carbuncle can fire a beam from his forehead gem. I was left with this dumbfounded stare as I watched Arle and Carbuncle laugh away without a care. After a quick head shake, I looked at what was left of the busted up and wrecked gate.

"...I suppose this will do." Ringo muttered in the distance.
"Uhmm...Well, at least we can move on!" I exclaimed, as I turned away.

Well, when Arle said Carbuncle is "reliable," she wasn't kidding for the most part...

"The second test...we bestow a trial of wisdom."

The passage continued down into another room. And right down the center is another stony, giant Nuisance Puyo talking at the three of us. Somehow, the gate we just came from was nowhere to be found.

This Rock Nuisance Puyo is, somehow, jumping around and about all happy-go-lucky like a colored Puyo.

"If you win this contest of knowledge, I'll let you to traverse further down the path..."

Contest of knowledge huh...Hmm, can I do it though? As I think about it, Carbuncle, standing next to Arle, let out an annoyed "Gu~..."
"Uh, are you sure you should be firing the beam again to obliterate this Nuisance Puyo?" Arle interpreted. Unsurprisingly, the Rock Nuisance Puyo hastily replied.

"W-wait! I do not follow the destruction of I to follow the next path, and I do not concur!"
"There you go Carby, no beams this time~. Mass destruction won't be the answer to moving on!"
"Gu guguu!"

Okay then, we won't rely on Carbuncle this time around. Well then, let's give it our best shot! But before I know it, Ringo proudly stepped up to the plate.

"Incidentally, is this trial of wisdom a specific, concrete type of some kind?"
"With the surrounding Puyo, solve the myriad of tasks I issue thee..."
"Ah-hmm..." Ringo put her hand on her chin, closing her eyes. Then... "Fufufu...Hu hu hu hu hu! How very exciting! Puzzles and quizzes, those sorts of things are what I adore!"

Whoah, Ringo's so amazing~. Stuff like reading into riddles and puzzles is tough for me.

"Puzzles in here♪ Puzzles in here♪ We got puzzles in here~♪ P-U-Z-Z-L-I-N-G! I challenge your test of wisdom~~~!"

And Ringo's breaking out into a cheery, arm flailing spinny dance singing some weird song. She has a habit of singing self-made tunes when she's excited.

"Okay, bring it on! What's the first of many!"
"Hm, such vibrant enthusiasm! Here is the first!"

The moment Ringo snapped a finger to the Rock Nuisance Puyo, it responded with some Nuisance Puyo.

"Whoah, seems like Ringo's riding high with the tension from that Nuisance Puyo..." Arle commented to herself, with a wry smile on her face.

"With these four Red Puyo and four Blue Puyo, create a chain of two!"

"Is that so...that's easy, way too easy!"

But I guess her excitement is nothing unreasonable? She is quite studious, and loves tackling the tough questions. I guess I could say that among the three of us, she's unmistakably the smarts of the group! Oh, and just like that, she's already made the two-chain.

"Fufufu...That is but a preliminary. Here is the next chain!" Right as soon as the Nuisance Puyo finished the sentence, Puyo piled up all around us. "Pop this chain, and it must lead to an All Clear!"
"T-That huh..." Ringo looked at the Puyo stack for a few moments, and then... "And solved...just like so!"

Ringo tossed the Red Puyo she had at the also red ones at the bottom. Plop, plop, plop...the Puyo kept popping one after another...that's amazing, there isn't even a single Puyo left! It's an All Clear!

"Grrngh, curses...on to the next! Pop two colors of Puyo simultaneously!"
"Head in the game, keeping my aim! And I've done it!"
"Ngh, cleared that one too! Next, pop eight or more Puyo simultaneously, this shall prove to be difficult...""What an easygoing task, one-and-done!"
"What!? S-So quick...Next, pop the Yellow Puyo at the high point here!"
"What a tingling feeling! Nyahahahahaha!"
"Grrrrrngh...T-that task was my trump card. Make a 3-chain, but they all must pop groups of five or more Puyo!""Hu hu hu...leave it to me! When the hard gets harder, I'll stand with burning determination!"
"This can't be, why won't you falter!?"

Ringo's just solving puzzles nonstop at a crazy fast speed. She's got a beaming smile to boot!

"R-Ringo's good at this. Too good, even..." Arle nervously gulped down something. Yeah, I'm getting overwhelmed here too... After watching her for a bit more...

"Y...You pass! A girl with such wit is worthy to be allowed passage..." The Rock Nuisance Puyo declared. And with that, the front gate opened up, clearing up as if it didn't even exist and revealing another path. Alrighty, onwards we go, and it's thataway!

"Wicked! Thanks so much, Ringo! Let's get going!" I said, getting up close to Ringo. But then...
"Eh? Don't you know I was just getting started in here? C'mon, what's next! What's the next puzzle!?"

Ringo’s got that shine...or rather, a gleam in her eye with a grin as she called the Rock Nuisance Puyo out.

"Eep...a-ahem, you already passed..."
"Don't say such stingy, miserly things, hey, come on!"
"Uhm, I'm afraid I lack more puzzles..."
"Certainly that cannot be the reason! C'mon, keep them coming!"
"S-Someone HEEEELP!!"
"...Ringo...Aren't you missing the point of all this?"
"The Nuisance Puyo looks pretty shaken up~..."

That's Ringo's excited self. Me and Arle went to firmly grab her by the arms.

"Eh? Wai-...But I want to keep going though!"

With that, we dragged her off and onwards.

"Not yet! Hang on guys, I want to stay heeeere!"

So Arle and I took along the maybe-too-excited Ringo out of the second test room, and she dropped her head puzzle-deprived head in front of the Rock Nuisance Puyo.

"Urgh...guess I troubled you with my earlier behavior.
"Oh, no problemo~. You were really in the zone though, Ringo."

Sooner or later, Ringo quickly bounced back to her usual, calm self. And of course, we all continued down the pathway.

"So then, this'll be the third test? This next one's got to be the last." Arle said, her voice sounding a bit tense.
"And if we get out of that, Sig will be at the end for sure!"

Sig's face suddenly came to mind. Yeah, now I've definitely gotta go all out!
"Regarding Sig...Considering the green one passed by before us, he must have passed all the tests on his own..." Ringo muttered to herself.

She's right if you think about it. Sig and Lemres must be amazing if they got here flying solo. But Sig's gotta be alright...right? This great calamity and stuff, the dangerous obstacles...Uh, wouldn't I just lose with that mindset? ...No, I can't worry about right now. I think he's A-OK, even if my heart is pounding loudly. I totally gotta hurry...that's the main point of this.

"Ah, this test definitely the last one!" Arle called, looking up and ahead. Then...
"W-What in the world~~~!?" I shouted in response.

As we headed onward, there was this really huge and deep pool-like area with countless amounts of Puyo stuffed in it. I held my arms out to grab hold of the bridge, but the other side...was pretty far, but I managed to reach for it and continue on just like before. There's probably a better way to do cross that though. But that wasn't thing I should be panicking about...

On both sides of the bridge, Puyo began bouncing straight all bloop-bloop nonstop. They were bouncing out of the pool and onto the bridge all over, and if I fall into the pool...I can't be thinking about them right now, I don't want déjà vu up in here!

"W-We can't cross over like this!"

With the Puyo hurling themselves and shaking up the balance of the bridge we're crossing on, I might just fall into the pool of Puyo. What do I do now? Oh geez, I don't want to think about it! To get us even more confused, we're hearing a voice from up above.

"Fufufu, how admirable of you to come this far... This is the last test. A test of your bravery!"

It only just clicked to me on what whatever the heck I'm seeing right now, but the ceiling had a huge Rock Nuisance Puyo relief carved into it, and it's looking down at us.

"A-are you saying we can't go around all of this!?" I complained to the relief...
"Fuhahahahaha...Just try and break through..."

Oh phooey, looks like it didn't hear a thing!

"...Ringo, got a moment?" For a few moments, Arle whispered something to Ringo, down low and straight into her ear.
"Uh? What'cha two talking about?" I tried to get close, but they suddenly split from their convo. Then Arle just laughed it up.
"Well, I just got a plan up my sleeve here."
"Huh!? Really!?"
"Yes. With likely success!" Ringo declared. Sweet, good going Arle!
"Uh, um, what do we do?"
"Amitie. On my mark, you do everything to make a run for it."
"Wha...t-that's it?" I asked blankly. If that's the plan, then I guess I trust them... "Hold up, but wouldn't be that too un-challenging?" I scratched the side of my face, but then Ringo, not Arle, called out "Amitie." with all this seriousness.
"Do me a favor and please believe in us."
"Please, Amitie. You have to cross the bridge." Arle answered, with the same serious face.
"......" After a bit of silence, I replied, "G...Got it!"

Can I really break through this though? The suspense is getting to me. These two though... They're always here to bail me out of trouble, and they're great for that, and told me to "Believe me." now. I've gotta gamble on those words now!

"O~~~kay then, you ready to go, Amitie?" Arle asked.
"Yeah!" I answered.

I turned to face the exit. Like always, all of sorts of Puyo were bouncing around in front of me.

"Alright then, ready...GOOOO!!"

On Arle's cue, I frantically ran for it. Somehow, I didn't even trip on a single Puyo! So then, they're also gonna speed through this too...wait. Wha!?

"Don't look back, Amitie!"
"Just keep running!"

I turned around to hear Arle and Ringo's voices. I'm the only one running for it, and the two of them and Carbuncle aren't moving an inch.

"Are you for real!? Why!?"

But then...from my left, a Green Puyo leapt at me. Ack, a direct hit...! Or so I thought, because the next moment...

"Fire!"

*bloop!*

The Green Puyo that was getting at me, was suddenly met with another from behind, popped and was no more.

"!?"

I got confused,and now this time there was a Blue Puyo getting close from the right. But then...

"Cosine!"

*bloop!*

Another Blue Puyo jumped from behind and that one popped too. I see, I get it now. They're taking cover for me. Just so I can go ahead. Arle and Ringo are staying put just to pop any Puyo that are trying to get me!

"Oh come on, you two!" I shouted out as I ran.
"Just leave this to us, Amitie!"
"You go hurry on and see Sig right this instant!"
"Yeah...of course...!"

Everything was a blur as emotions piled high. All I did was run. There's totally no reason to focus on their feelings right now!