ArtistTale: Ink and Adeleine

Act II: Chapter 8

(Perspective: Ink)

Adeleine was sitting next to me. For some reason, I started to get kind of nervous when I was around her. I didn't even know what is was or why it was happening. After we took off, Adeleine asked me if I wanted to play a game.

"Hey," she said to me, "It's going to be a long time before we get there, so do you want to play a game?"

"Sure," I said, "What did you have in mind?" Adeleine put her hand on her chin.

"Hmm," she said, "How about I-Spy?"

"That sounds like fun," Ribbon said, "We can see a lot from up here."

"I would also like to participate," Meta Knight added.

"I'll go first," Adeleine said, "I spy, with my little eye, something white."

"Is it the clouds?" Ribbon asked.

"Dang it!" Adeleine said, "How did you know?"

"We all know you're bad at this game," Meta Knight reminded.

"Well, I guess not," Adeleine said, "Ink, how about you go next?"

"Um," I said nervously, "Okay. I spy, with my little eye, something green, with a red hat, and beautiful... long... black... hair... and..." Oh no. I was going to throw up black ink again. I quickly grabbed a nearby garbage bag and threw up in it. Adeleine looked shocked.

"Are you alright?" she asked me.

"I'm fine," I said to her, faking a smile, "I guess riding up high makes me queasy."

"Are you sure?" she asked me, "You just threw up ink again."

"I told you, it's normal for that to happen," I told her.

"Ink, listen," Ribbon said, "If you're not feeling good, you need to tell us."

"But I feel fine," I defended.

"Ink," Adeleine said softly, "Is there something you're not telling us?" Suddenly, I heard thunder.

"That can't be good," Adeleine said.

"Looks like we're heading into a storm," Francisca said, "Which is strange, because the weather forecast said sunny."

"That's weird," Adeleine said. As we were going through the storm, bolts of lightning were coming from the sky. The bolts increased as we were getting closer to our destination. And then, we were hit.

"Uh oh," I said. The helicopter started to descend. Francisca looked like she was trying to stop it, but we must have been hit pretty hard, because none of the buttons she pressed seemed to be working. We starting descending faster.

"This is it!" I shouted, "My life is going to end right here! At least I got to meet all of you wonderful people."

"Ink, that's sweet," Adeleine said, "But now is not the time to be saying that." Not long after she said that, we hit the ground.

All I can see is darkness. Then, I see light, and the same field that I saw in my dreams. Adeleine was there in the distance, standing next to a tree. I run over to her as fast as I can. I was expecting Error to show up, but he didn't.

"Adeleine?" I said softly. She turned around.

"Ink?" she said. She gave me a hug, but quickly let go.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"We're on Planet Stardome, before it was destroyed," Adeleine explained, "This place was once a home to the Star Fairies. Mystical creatures with SOUL colors like humans."

"What are we doing here?" I asked, "Did we die? How did we get here?" Adeleine put her finger on my mouth.

"I will explain," she said, "We did pass away. At least you did. My determination is what brought us here. I'm still here, but we will disappear shortly."

"But where are Ribbon, Meta Knight, and Francisca?" I asked.

"They are fine," Adeleine answered, "I sense their presence back on Popstar. They are alive."

"But I thought I was immortal," I said, "I should be down there with them too."

"Being Soulless is not the same as being immortal," Adeleine explained. I started to get worried.

"But they need me!" I said, "I must defeat Error, or he will destroy everything in existence! What will we do?"

"Don't worry," Adeleine said, "I still have my SOUL. The only way for us to both return is if we use the SOUL. I'll be able to return just fine, but you won't due to lack of a SOUL. Let me give you half of mine." She pulled out her SOUL.

"A determined human has the power to split their SOUL in order to save another," she explained. Using up all of her might, she split her SOUL in half, and gave one to me. I was filled with Determination, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Empathy, Worry, Bravery, Kindness, Patience, and more! I could feel emotions like a normal person. Then, the world started to disappear and we were warped back to Popstar.

"Adeleine! Ink!" Ribbon shouted, "Wake up you lazy heads!" I could hear her voice.

"Ribbon, they're dead," Meta Knight said.

"I'm so sorry," Francisca said, "I should've ensured the weather was good before we left." Then, Adeleine and I woke up. I saw that we crashed landed into some sort of swamp. We were lying on the ground. I slowly got up, and Adeleine did the same.

"I accept your apology," I said to Francisca. Everyone freaked out.

"Ahh! A zombie!" Ribbon shouted.

"No silly," Adeleine said, "We're not zombies. We came back to life via Determination. I gave half of my SOUL to Ink."

"Right," Ribbon said, "Are you still a zombie?"

"NO!"

"Listen," I said, "Adeleine gave half of her SOUL to me so that we could come back. Because of her, I can now feel emotions and have determination. Wait, where's Broomie?"

"You mean your paintbrush?" Ribbon said, "We tried to get it from the helicopter, but it was too heavy. Then, the helicopter sank in the swamp water, so..."

"Broomie!" I shouted. I started to feel sad, like real sadness, and not the fake sadness from the paint bottles.

"Ink, it's okay," Adeleine said, "I can paint a new one." She pulled out her paintbrush, waved it in the air, and then Broomie reappeared. I quickly grabbed it and hugged.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're back," I said with true happiness. I could feel real happiness at last. Ribbon gave me a weird look.

"Is he okay?" she asked Adeleine.

"Perhaps he is going through something that makes him have mood swings," Meta Knight suggested.

"Guys, I just got a SOUL, half of one at least," I said, "I'm starting to feel real emotions for once."

"And there's your answer," Adeleine said, "He's just fine. Let's just find a way to get out of this swamp."

"I have a compass that points toward the city," Francisca told us, "If we follow it, we might be able to get closer to the city."

"Good thinking," Adeleine said, "The only problem is I don't want to get my shoes soggy. Oh well. We've all got to make sacrifices at some point." Francisca pointed the compass at the direction we needed to go.

"There," she said, "Follow me."

I had a feeling as we were following her that we were on the right track. Now that I had a SOUL, I could feel all of these emotions I had been missing out on. As we moved forward, I was filled with Determination.