Balan Wonderworld: Melody of Balance

Ch 12: The Diver and the Dolphin (Act 2)

The world around Melody changed once more, as the underwater world seemed to go even deeper than she had thought. As she continued forward, she ventured into another block of water. She shot through the waters and shot upwards, her head hitting a switch above her

"OW!" She yelled, as she watched another block of water rise from the ground. Jumping down, she walked towards it, only for The Negati to pop from the ground, one charging into her, making her lose her jellyfish costume. Melody's eyes shrunk as she Watched the Negati get closer to her, only this time, she HAD no costume "Timm-aaaaa TIM!!" The little Tims shouted, as they flung themselves towards the Negati...and bouncing off of them. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get them away from Melody, just enough for her to spot another costume, one that looked like a odd shaped Dolphin.

Grasping it, she twirled around and found herself in a strange looking wetsuit, with a Dolphin's fin and tail poking from the back, a ring around her neck and her hair has been restyled into what feels like a...ponytail. Melody had no time to admire her new look as she jumped back into the long block of water. Jumping out again, she ventured onwards, catching wind of that Diver lady again.

"Hello again!" She said, shaking her legs "Uh...Hi?" Melody said unsure about her. "You uh...haven't seen a big black spiky...thing have you?" Melody asked, only for The lady to vanish as she got closer. Melody sighed as she ventured forward, walking towards some floating bubbles of water when a Tim nudged her leg in a different direction.

"What is it little guy?" Melody asked, as more Tims followed it. Going after the Tims, she found that they led her to a big pink clamshell that was closed "...Why would you bring me here?" She asked as a blue Tim with bear ears tapped a nubby wing at it. Suddenly, the Clamshell began to open, a brilliant light shining from it as majestic music was heard. Melody used her hands to shield her eyes from the light, squinting as she couldn't see what was going on. When the light finally dimmed, she put her hands down to see...

Balan...

Wearing a merman costume...

Playing a harp...

"Hello again! Sweet Melody! Having a dip in the blue I see!" He said, plucking a few notes from the harp. Melody's eyes narrowed into slits "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Melody shouts, annoyed at Balan's antics "I just came to check on you little one! But now that you found me, how about a bit of fun?" He asked, to which Melody felt terrified. "I'm starting to question your idea of "Fun", because you're ideas and my ideas aren't the same." She said as she turned to walk away...until she slipped on a puddle of water...and grabbed Balan as a result. Balan's smile grew as he held Melody's hand tight

"NO NO NO! THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT-!!" Melody was cut off my Balan shooting off into the sky. The poor screamed as the underwater world disappeared and they shot back into the sky. Balan looked down at the frazzled girl. "I...hate you...so much..." she panted. Balan laughed and patted her head "As long as your body stays close to mine, We'll be OK. And you'll be fine!" He said, ignoring the daggers shot at him. "Well well...Look who's back in my way. A maestro and the fearful visitor that wants to play..."Purred a familiar voice. The two of them turned around and Melody grew pale. It was the tentacled man again. Balan's smile grew "Hello again Lance! You weren't trying to corrupt her, were you Per Chance?" He asked while Melody cowered behind him. "That's none of your concern, but what would you know? You don't understand the meaning of 'No'. Oh well, there is only one way to get rid of me, Just catch me if you can. It's that easy." Lance said as he darted away at high speeds. "C'mon dear, let's not find behind, Typical Lance always has a Ax to grind." Balan said as they shot after him.

Zooming through the air, Balan quickly charged up a glowing yellow ball of light, and chucked it at piece of debris. As they flew through the air, They encountered Lance once again, only now he looked angry. He growled at Balan and Melody as he gets ready to punch the both of them. Melody covered her face, bracing herself for whatever happens next. But the best thing she knew, she and Balan were BEHIND Lance, and Balan attacked him from behind. Lance recovered and shot off again, but the two of them were hot on his trail. Lance smirked as he tried to get away, But Balan was quicker as he threw another glowing Ball at Lance, making him lose his focus again. He glared at Balan.

"You may have one this round, but I'll back...and you might not survive the next attack..." He warned as he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Balan's smile got bigger as the two of them looped the loop "See, That wasn't that bad! It had actually worked better than I would have thought it would have!" Balan said as Melody looked at him with a terrified look in her eyes "What does that mean?!" She asked, but she never got her answer as they had approached the same spiky thing that looked like the black tree. "Here we go my dear! Compared to Lance, you have nothing to fear!" Balan said as they charged through it, Melody screamingthe whole way, causing it to shatter and explode.

The two of them dove back into the undersea ruins, a splash sounding as they did, however, When Melody hit the ground again, she had discovered that Balan had vanished again, leaving nothing but a pile of drops in his place. Melody sighed, it was just as bad as the first time she had did it. Continuing forward, Melody hopped into the Floating bubbles of Water. Using this to her advantage, she dove through bubble to bubble, jumping through hoops of drops as she did.

"I feel like a Dolphin in those sea shows..." she said "Well, you sure did jump through the water like one!" The Diver lady says, a smile gracing her face "Yeah, and I feel stupid because of it..." Melody admits, "You shouldn't, I thought you were really good!" The Diver tells her "I don't feel really good..." Melody shoots back, as she looks at her reflection in a nearby puddle. "Awwww, You shouldn't feel down! I'm sure you have friends that tell you otherwise! Like my friend: Echo!" That got Melody intrigued "Echo? Who's Echo?" She asked, getting closer, and causing her to disappear again. Poor Melody groaned, she needed to know HOW to find Finn and get out of here, but no one could talk to her. Her inner thoughts were halted at the sight of the big moving metal blocks, slowly moving in a circle...in the pqth she needed to go. Melody was scared, but she just told herself

'The sooner you get through, the sooner you find Finn...Do it for Finn' She told herself. Taking a deep breath, she quickly rushed through the path, swiftly avoiding the blocks that followed her. Melody panted as she walked towards a small gate with black tentacles on it . Suddenly, A Bigger Negati that looked like a seahorse appear. It suddenly split apart and made two more of itself, just without the white mask like features it had. Suddenly, it charged at her, An electric field appearing around it Melody screamed as she quickly dodged it, and it disappeared again. It then reappeared again, it's duplicates by it's side. Taking a chance, Melody attacked the masked fiend as it let out a cry of pain. It vanished and appeared again, only this time there were 4 instead of 3, charging for the masked one again causing it to screech again. It vanished once more and appeared with 5 different doppelgangers. Melody attacked again, causing it to fade away and for the tentacles to disappear. The swirls on the gate glowed as it lifted for her, revealing the black tree glowing at a distance. Melody dove into the water blocks again, swimming as fast as she could. Once she reached the top, she stood aside to let the Tims glow once more, revealing the cage like structure with a heart shaped hole. The underwater world shook as the ruins were washed away, Melody's watched the world crumble as her vision turned white

Melody saw that she was now at the sea in the real world, a boat peacefully bobbing in the water as a Dolphin leaps out of the water. She then sees the beauty of the ocean underneath it's waves, a treasure trove of coral, shells and fish greeted her sight. When she sees the Diver lady, Fiona Demetria swimming with a young Dolphin, and they look very happy together. The Diver lady swims with her underwater friend, joyfully exploring the sea (with Balan scuba diving for some bizarre reason) Suddenly, Melody sees the Dolphin accidentally bumping into the Diver, causing her air tank to get knocked off as she sinks deeper into the sea, and the Dolphin she once called her friend looked at her with red eyes and malicious intent when it goes dark. When Melody could see again, she found herself in a hospital room, The Diver, now in a hospital gown, was hugging her knees to her chest, her back turned to a nearby trash can. Looking inside, she sees a torn picture of her and the Dolphin she used to call her friend. A shadowy Dolphin witb red eyes swims around them, with the hospital room becoming the bottom of the sea once more, but it's much less inviting, much less Welcoming...

And then it all goes Dark...

(Little side note! Echo the Dolphin belongs to Livigirl88)