Qube’s hand was still on the Chosen One’s shoulder when he touched the Save Point. Afterwards, she could only assume that his body acting as a filter was the only thing that kept her alive. It was the compulsion of the Golden Prophecy, that same squeezing vice, mixed with the all-consuming burn to obey any direct orders from the Chosen One.

Only it was corrupted somehow. She felt as if she was merging with the Chosen One, her very sense of self being pulled into his and compiled. But through his eyes she saw that behind him there was something terrible and beautiful, a connection to creatures beyond her ken. Golden beings that had no space within their realm for her, and so she must be destroyed.

Fire raced up her arm, scorching in its intensity, but before she could react, the Chosen One threw her hand off of him, breaking the contact. The whole thing had taken place in under a second.

He was shouting something; she could see his lips moving, but she couldn’t understand him. Then his hand finished passing through the Save Point, and he disappeared.

It was only for a moment, just long enough for Qube to take a shuddering breath.

It was an eternity, where she waited in the darkness.

It was long enough that she lived entire lifetimes, but short enough that she hadn’t even finished blinking.

Then he was back, and the world came into focus.

They stood there, staring at each other in silence. The Chosen One broke eye contact first, looking around the rest of the room, as if checking that the other party members were there.

“Are you okay?” the Chosen One asked Qube, almost gingerly. Qube nodded carefully.

“I think so?” she said. “Was that… the devs?”

“What did you see?” the Chosen One’s look of concern gave way to the familiar razor sharp curiosity.

Qube stared into the Save Point, struggling to find a way to put what had just happened into words. Even trying to remember the experience hurt, like her own mind was trying to shield her from the memory.

“Painful,” she said, eventually. “Like I was invading a sacred space.”

The Chosen One grimaced.

“Ok, well, that kinda puts a damper on some of my eviller plans,” he sighed.

“Chosen One, you could never be Evil!” Qube declared, shocked by his doubt in himself. “It was my fault that I was touching you when you touched the Save Point. Please don’t blame yourself!”

“That’s not what I — sure, yeah, let’s roll with that. How about we both just keep some distance from each other near future Save Points, yeah?” the Chosen One, clearly feeling overwhelming guilt for inflicting pain on his childhood friend, obviously wanted to move on from the topic. Qube, naturally, obliged.

“Of course, Chosen One! Now, let’s look around for the next hidden entrance! Can anyone see a lever?” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady and Definitely Bad Guy instantly started wandering around the mud pool and waterfall, searching for the switch.

Sewer Bard, however, didn’t move. He was looking back and forth between the Chosen One and Qube. He seemed to be thinking very deeply. Unhappy thoughts, from his sour expression.

“What’s up, song bro?” the Chosen One asked the Bard.

Sewer Bard looked steadily at the Chosen One.

“Noble Patron, far be it for me to criticise you, but I find it most ungallant to blame our fair Healer for your own actions.” The Chosen One and Qube both stared at him.

“What?” the Hero said eventually.

“While there are no doubt many thoughts that weigh heavily on our Noble Patron’s mind, our lovely companion here had her hand on his shoulder long before he touched the Save Point,” Sewer Bard explained.

A shadowy tendril of thought slithered across Qube’s mind. She could see the Save Points because of her unique connection to the Chosen One. How and when had Sewer Bard started seeing them? Had he strengthened his connection with the Chosen One to the point where he too could now see Save Points?

The Qube at the start of their adventures would have instantly tried to put Sewer Bard back in his place, reminding him that she, not he, was the Chosen One’s closest companion, and his attempts to become more in tune with the Chosen One were neither necessary nor appreciated.

But the Qube standing in the Water Temple was not the same one who had first left the village. She had grown, matured, and felt much more secure in her position as Childhood Companion.

“Why can you see the Save Point?” she asked Sewer Bard only semi-accusingly.

More secure. Still not entirely secure.

“I have been able to see them for some little time, dear Healer,” Sewer Bard said, continuing to look steadily at the Chosen One. “Faintly, at first, but then with increasing clarity. However, I have only been able to see them fully since the library. Nonetheless,” he cut off Qube before she could ask any follow-up questions, “my point remains. Noble Patron, you should not let her unfairly shoulder the blame for your own thoughtless actions. It is ungentlemanly.”

The Chosen One scowled, before sighing, his brief irritation leaking out of him.

“I know,” he started to say.

“No, Chosen One, I —”

“No, Sewer Bard is right,” the Chosen One said ruefully. “Which is one heck of a sentence. But yeah. I just need to be more careful.” The Hero looked at his Healer. “I’m sorry,” he said. His attention seemed to turn inwards. Qube and Sewer Bard both stood there in silence, letting him process whatever was occurring inside his head.

After a few minutes he sighed heavily, and came back to them. He looked at Qube, as if about to say something, when he appeared struck by a sudden realisation. His head snapped towards Sewer Bard.

“Wait, why can you see Save Points?” he incredulously demanded.

Qube beamed.

---

Sexy Screamy Spider Lady got very excited when she found the lever. She kept loudly announcing it over and over, until the Chosen One came over and flipped it. Before the water got too high, Qube hurried over to the Chosen One and pushed his backpack aside, wrapping her arms around his neck.

The water only rose halfway up the room, to where there was an alcove hidden behind the waterfall. Somehow, possibly through the Golden Prophecy’s guidance, the Chosen One knew to go directly for the waterfall.

Qube was still trying to figure out the water mechanics of this Temple. Was it tailored to each room? It couldn’t be delivering the same amount, since the rooms were different shapes and sizes, and the water needed to reach different levels. If magic was what was transporting said water, why did they bother with grates on the ceiling and floor? How was it filling up so fast, and why did everything drain so quickly?

Once again, Qube was astounded by the level of power displayed by the Temples. The only thing she couldn’t figure out was… why? Why had these Temples been made? Was their purpose just to house the items needed to defeat the Evil Emperor? No, that couldn’t be right. The Dryad Queen (Qube felt a shiver run down her spine at the mere thought of her name) had been the one to hold the Forest Temple’s item needed to defeat the Evil Emperor. It had been the wolf with her heart inside the Temple. And the Boss guarding the three spells.

Then the Temples must exist to house and protect the three enchanted pillars. It was the only thing that made sense. Therefore the items needed to defeat the Evil Emperor had simply been placed in the hands or spaces of those powerful enough to protect them. It was entirely possible that they could come across some other Temple guardian (for all her vaguely murderous faults, the Dryad Queen was the guardian of the Temple) who wouldn’t need them to do anything dangerous, but instead immediately recognise them and hand over what they needed.

Which meant that the Deep Ones were more than likely the guardians of the Water Temple, and had custody of whatever the Chosen One needed to help save the world. The mermaids were clearly newcomers who had just crashed into their territory. They couldn’t possibly be the guardians.

If anything, this meant that the Deep Ones were being incredibly compassionate by not instantly killing the mermaids as potential threats to the sacred item they presumably were sworn to protect. And the mermaids had repaid their kindness by trying to trick the Chosen One into murdering the Deep Ones!

Qube felt her heart stir.

There was no way Qube could be a party to killing such an obviously Good group!

Either there had been some sort of miscommunication (which could easily be resolved), or the mermaids were Evil. And Qube knew only one way to deal with Evil… which was standing back and letting the Chosen One, etc. beat them up.

They might have to send Sewer Bard away, though. No need to upset him by making him watch them murder a bunch of mermaids.

She would need to find some way to make sure that the Chosen One didn’t accidentally offend the Deep Ones by accusing them of being horrible to the mermaids, or by being… well, the Chosen One. As much as she cared for the Hero, he prioritised a lot of other things over social graces.

Maybe she could get Sewer Bard to agree to open the talks. Definitely Bad Guy would be on board with anything that kept the Deep Ones alive long enough for him to study them. She had to tell him not to hurt them, though… although really, she probably didn’t need to worry about it. There were few people in the world as Good as Definitely Bad Guy.

Qube was still formulating plans to stop the diplomatic nightmare that was the Chosen One when they came to the end of the corridor, and were plunged into darkness.

As her eyes adjusted, the first thing Qube saw was a large, glowing orb, hovering just about head height of the Chosen One. It was beautiful, swaying slightly from some unfelt breeze, just off to their left.

“Be careful, Noble Patron,” Sewer Bard whispered. “I have heard tell of will o’ wisps, that lure unwary travelers to their doom in bogs.”

Qube could just make out the whites of the Chosen One’s eyes as he rolled them.

“We’re in an underground temple made out of stone,” he whispered back. “What bogs?”

Qube felt, rather than saw, Sewer Bard’s frustration.

“Perhaps some kind of water based trap, then. It is not as if this place is devoid of liquid.”

“Hey, sparky,” Chosen One ignored the Sewer Bard and his low tones, instead reverting to a normal volume. It echoed strangely. “Light this place up, yeah?”

There was a confused silence as the party tried to figure out who he was referring to.

“Definitely Bad Guy. Fire dude. You know, the only one here who can literally make firelight appear with his hands,” there was the sound of movement, as if the Chosen One had thrown his hands up in the air. “Fireballs, please!”

“[Lesser Fire],” Definitely Bad Guy sneered, and three fireballs appeared, floating in a lazy circle over his head. Sewer Bard, scowling, strummed some notes on his lute.

“[Light],” he pointedly sang as everyone’s various weapons lit up. To his credit, the Chosen One looked mildly sheepish at forgetting one of the core spells of his second-oldest companion.

Their light combined was just enough to illuminate the area around the glowing orb. And the thick tether of flesh that sprouted from the top of it, and continued into the darkness. And finally, faintly, the two giant, milky-white eyes that hovered above them all in the blackness and the rows upon rows of giant, jagged teeth and the terrible, slowly-opening maw.

The Chosen One swallowed, hard.

“I think,” he said faintly, “we’ve found the Deep Ones.”