Ocarina
Part 9
by
SeaSide, Calatia (Noon)-
Link paced through the marble hallways, Kevin and Mike right behind him. In a clatter of footsteps, they rounded the corner. A shadow stepped out from behind a marble pillar, stopping the mad dash through the palace corridors. Kevin stepped around Link, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen someone calling himself Resurgam around here, would you?"
"I have," the shadow said in a voice that could have been Link's. "He's sent me after Lusus." He raised a head that could have been Link's, except that Link was the one he was after.
"Doppelgänger," Kevin and Mike said simutaniously. Link didn't miss the frowns on their faces.
"What?"
"When someone sees their own doppelgänger," Kevin quietly said, "his or her death soon follows."
"Exactly," said the shadow.
"I'm familiar with the story behind doppelgängers," Link looked down. "Hey! Where's my shadow..." He looked back up, his eyes widening to the size of diner plates. "Aw... no. Don't tell me..." He jerked to the side, less he be decapitated by the thrown sword bolt from the dark blade the shadow suddenly pulled out. "This is not my day."
Mike pat Link on the back. "Well... It was nice knowing you, bud."
Link found himself dodging another sword blast. "You know," he glanced at his two companions, "You might want to get going. I'll catch up."
"And let him kill you?" Kevin demanded. "In case you haven't forgotten, you're not exactly in peak condition. I'll make you eat dirt again if I have to, I'm not leaving you behind."
"As much as I love the taste of dirt," there was no end to sarcasm in Link's voice, "I'll remind you that he's not trying to kill you." This time, Link rolled out of the way to escape the dark blade's arc. "The show's just going to have to go on a little while with out me."
Kevin hessitated. Mike reached over and pulled him along. "You heard what the man said, Captain Keene." Captain Keene? Now that was a new one. Mike pulled the reluctant captain after him.
Link and his shadow circled one another. Like Link, the shadow also had a cast on one arm and buldges under his tunic indicating bandages. Unlike Link, the shadow didn't actually seem to have those ailments. "You don't suppose you could take it easy?" Link asked.
The shadow answered by throwing another sword bolt at Link. Link jumped.
"I guess not."
SeaSide, Calatia (Shortly After Noon)-
The corridors were largly empty. The first people Kevin and Mike met were three royalties. Princess Lana, Princess Zelda... and the Queen of Calatia. The Queen looked obcenely overdressed next to the tanktops and shorts the princess duo were wearing. "Captain N, I presume?" The Queen asked, to which Kevin nodded and Mike pointed to Kevin. "Their Royal Hignesses have told me Mister Resurgam's true purpose."
"Have you seen Resurgam?" Kevin asked.
"Nope," said Lana.
"Still looking," said Zelda.
"I do have the entire castle staff looking," the Queen assured. "But Mister Resurgam's been trained by the Gerudo thieves. He won't be found easily among the other Gerudos gathered here today. Even the Gerudos look for him, and they haven't found him."
"Yet," Lana added.
SeaSide, Calatia (Early Afternoon)-
Link backflipped. He unsheithed his sword with his left hand, the uncasted one. Unfortunatly... he wasn't left handed. Very unfortunatly, he wasn't on the winning side of the fight. "Ever thought about sitting down and talking it over?" Link asked.
"Ever hear that actions speak louder than words?" The shadow lunged at Link.
Link side stepped. "Yeah, and yours scream murder."
Play the ocarina.
Link looked behind the shadow. He really wasn't all that surprised to see the blue haired woman. She didn't open her mouth, but Link could hear her voice all the same. He distanced himself from his shadow, pulling out the ocarina. He put it to his lips, but he didn't know what to play.
Spirits wander where they don't belong. Put them to rest with the Sun Song.
Huh?
Play the ocarina.
Link blew. His fingers picked out a melody he had never played before... never heard before. It was somehow bright and cheerful, perky to the point of annoyance. It bathed Link with light... and froze his shadow stiff... literally. Link pulled the ocarina away from his lips, "That's incredible."
The blue haired woman walked over, placing a hand on the shadow. "The land of the living is harsh and cold. Go back to where you belong, to the warmth of the shadows." The ice melted from the shadow. The shadow melted into the floor, reataching to Link's feet.
"Thanks," Link said.
"There is little time," the blue haired woman said. "I must guide you, follow me, quickly."
SeaSide, Calatia (Afternoon)-
One lone figure paced the steps of the palace. Gerudo cape cascaded off of slim shoulders, ruffling slighly in the breeze. No attention was given to the enviroment, not to the flowering hicubuses, nor to purple and yellow butterflies. Even the flashy yellow birds pecking at scraps didn't draw attention.
A second figure slowly and silently approched the first from behind. He stopped only a few feet from the first. He, too, paid no attention to the beautiful surroundings. "You know, you're an absolute fool to come here, especially if you still think you can change my mind and stop me." The first did not respond except to stop pacing. "What is it about you that you can do absolutly nothing and still irritate me?" The first still didn't respond. The second quickly looked around, seeing no one, he closed the distance between him and the first.
Clank!
The second man pulled his arm back. The dagger he plunged into the back of the first figure was still in his hand... bent. The first figure turned around- showing two people. One short winged redhead sitting on the shoulders of a taller blue armored man. "What in the..." the second exclaimed.
"I wonder..." someone behind the second said, "if your nephews were still alive, would you kill them just to say they were dead?"
The second spun. "Oh, very clever Lusus. Put your Gerudo armor on someone else and don that green crap just so I attack the wrong person. But even your cleverness won't stop me. Your country of Hyrule is doomed."
Link- once more in white body suit, green tunic and floppy cap, shook his head. "You are mistaken, Mister Acts Chance. Hyrule is not my country- I am Calatian," he said in a voice low enough that only the Hylian ears of the second picked it up.
"How did you find out what my name was?"
"You are missinfomred," Link kept his voice low. "Tekuiela told you I was Hyrulian, didn't she?" People were gathering around, some were Gerudos- from both sides of the fence, some were N Team members. "What else has Tekuiela told you that was not true?" he asked, loud enough for the gathering group to hear.
"I have told him no lies!" Tekuiela exclaimed where she had gathered the Gerudos on her side.
"That right there is a lie!" Nabooru tossed back from her group of Gerudos.
Princess Lana and Princesss Zelda pushed their way into the group. Kevin and Mike helped with the shoving. Their attention was rivited on Link, their faces horrified. "We're too late. War's already been declared." It was a lie, but Acts didn't know it. They were just setting up for Link. Standing behind the two was the Queen of Calatia.
Link faced Acts, his face adorned with fake horror. "And what if your nephew does die in this war?"
Acts frowned. "You are still trying to tell me they're alive?"
Link walked over to Acts's side. "Uncle Acts... please..." he whispered.
Acts shoved Link away. "LIAR! That is impossible! You accuse Tekuiela of lying, then you spin out a monsterious lie! How dare you..."
Rick and Medila dashed up. "What is it with everyone calling him a liar?" Kevin asked.
"Maybe he is," Link's mother said.
"You all tell lies," Acts hissed. "You should die! You should all die!"
"He sounds familiar," Medila whispered to Rick.
To everyone's surprise, Link sat down. "If you feel killing me is the only solution, so be it. You won't mind if I serenade you, do you?" Without waiting for responce, Link brought the ocarina to his mouth, craddled in his good and bad hand.
Acts raised a scimitar... but stopped. He tilted an ear to the music, listening to the rather poor rendition. He looked at Link, as if seeing him for the first time. "It is you, isn't it? It really is you!" Link stopped playing. "Gods! Where have you been?"
"He is tricking you," Tekuiela boomed. "Do not believe him."
Acts turned around "He's right. How many lies have you been telling me?"
"Don't believe him. KILL HIM!" Tekuiela was upon Link. Acts shoved himself between Link and Tekuiela. In one swift motion, her pike was in hand, and it's bladed end jabbed into Acts's body. Acts clutched at his chest, then slipped off the pike and fell to the floor.
"Nooooo!" Link crawled over to Acts's side. "No! Uncle Acts!"
"Acts!" Medila gasped.
The queen of Calatia was still standing behind Lana and Zelda. "You are the nephew whose death this war was to get revenge on?"
Gerudos, both those who had been with Tekuiela and those who were against her, surrounded her, scimitars and pikes pointed at her. Kid Icarus and Mega Man, who had been silent and still until that point, threw off the Gerudo garb and aimed their respective weapons at Tekuiela. Amid the sudden chaos, Link leaned over Acts. "Uncle Acts," his voice dried and cracked, he barely managed to get it out. "You can't die, not after thirteen years. Please?"
One of Acts's bloodied hands reached up to pat Link. "A little too late, but I'm glad I've finally got to see you again. Say hi to your father and younger brother for me..."
"Uncle Acts? Uncle Acts?" Link shook Acts with his good hand, his uncle no longer moved. "Uncle Acts!" Absolute silence reigned among those still on the palace's steps, all eyes watched Link in his vain attept to pry a responce from his dead uncle.
Maybe it was something that could only come from a black school movie ('To Sir With Love' being one of them). Kevin started singing softly. Recognizing the tune, Mike joined in, as did Rick. Lana too also knew it, and- yes -it was appropriate.
Sometimes
in our lives
We
all have pain
We
all have sorrow
But-
If we are wise
We
know that there's
Lean
on me
When
you're not strong
And
I'll be your friend
I'll
help you carry on
For-
It won't be long
Somebody to lean on
Medila pulled her son away from the dead body, hugging him and rocking him gently. That he didn't put up any kind of struggle was testimony to how devistated he was.
If
there is a load
You
have to bare
That
you can't carry
I'm-
right up the road
I'll
share your load
If
you'll just call me
Lean
on me
When
you're not strong
And
I'll be your friend
I'll
help you carry on
For-
It won't be long
'Til
I'm gonna need
Somebody
to lean on
You
just call on me brother
When
you need a hand
We
all need
Somebody
to lean on
I
just might have a problem
That
you'd understand
We
all need
Somebody
to lean on
Lean
on me
When
you're not strong
And
I'll be your friend
I'll
help you carry on
For-
It won't be long
'Til
I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
The singing stopped. Silence prevailed, only the Queen of Calatia dared break it. Her heavy gown ruffeled as she walked over to Link and Medila. "I see now what this was all about, and how it was we got in this situation in the first place. Mister Chance, I have not been overly kind to you on my rare visits to Hyrule. I may have been wrong. If you'll allow me..." she turned and faced Medila, "I would like to rectify my mistake by arranging... the funeral."
Medila nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you." She wiped the moisture rolling down her cheeks. Her attention turned back to her son. "Link, let's go back home." She lead him away.
Link tore himself away and walked over to Tekuiela. "You've something to say to me?" Tekuiela defiantly asked. Link did seem to want to say something, he opened his mouth. He paused, then changed his mind, opting to backhand the Gerudo and knock her off her feet. Then he walked back over to his mother.
"Would you have wanted revenge so long if you knew it would be so sour?" Nabooru asked, her pike still pointed at Tekuiela, though she had turned to face Link.
He stopped, but didn't turn around. His shoulders shuttered and continued on, away from here.