The Train of Memories has arrived at the station
Author: Hello, and thanks for taking the time to come look at this story. Before we begin, I'll give you a few basic pointers. First, when you see underlined and italicized text, go to YouTube and search it up. This provides an easy way to help influence the story without being incredibly descriptive. And when you see just italicized text, that shows where this part starts and ends. On that note, go ahead and read this installment of "Senil's Journal – Tower of Apotos", and please provide some constructive criticism!
The Train of Memories is now departing
Prologue
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Lost Woods
It was cold. Dark. The moon was hiding, as were the stars. All lights were off, except for one. This light, the light of the steam engine known as the 888 Express, was special. It was hope. The train sped forward, puffing around the dark hills before braking to a halt. The light stayed on. The train's windows glowed with a yellow light, shining silhouettes of its passengers. The conductor opened the front most door, and glanced outside. A thick fog was rolling in. The conductor waved the three other passengers to follow him. They hopped off and dashed into the distance, in hopes of escaping the fog. This fog would destroy this town if the four riders did not hurry.
Chapter One – The Hills of Apotos
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Sneaking out of Hyrule Castle
"Coffee? Symphony? You two here?" called the conductor. With the thick fog around them, vision any farther that two feet is impossible.
"We're here, don't worry Senil, replied the one known as Symphony.
"Me too!" called out the other known as Coffee. The fourth was right by Senil.
"Hmph. Forgot about me, didn't you?" asked a deep, dark voice. Senil shuddered slightly when he heard this.
"Sorry Sir. Forgot you were here is all." The four walked forward in hopes of reaching the city limits before the fog got even thicker. The city of Apotos loomed before them, with torches ablaze and faint candle light streaming from windows. "We're here. Don't worry, we're here." Senil began to lightly tear, knowing that this may be the last time he can see the gates. The man with the dark voice looked at Senil, and simply nodded. The four moved forward, with goals of finding the lost key to the Tower of Apotos.
Chapter Two – Welcome to Apotos
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Spirit Tower
The four, Senil, Coffee, Symphony, and 'Sir' walked up to the gates of Apotos. They heard a voice from a guard.
"Who are you?" boomed a guard. 'Sir' nodded, signaling that he would deal with this.
"I am Retl Cvoti. I am here to locate the key to the Tower of Apotos for my research. I am accompanied by Senil Ardatchivia XIV, Symphony, and Coffee. They all have the same goals as I." Retl stood still as the guard signaled for the gate to open. As the gate opened, torchlight filtered out, pushing the fog away. "Interesting…the fog despises light, but what kind?" Retl walked forward, signaling for Senil, Symphony, and Coffee to follow him.
"Wow. It's been so long since I left Apotos that I forgot how wonderful it feels like," spoke Senil.
"The smells are beautiful! I can't even tell what they smell like!" cried Coffee.
"The music, it's so soothing and calm, yet hyper and complex!" said Symphony.
"Come, we have many things to do," spoke Retl. Retl led them to a local hotel that Senil had stayed at upon his first, original arrival at Apotos. "Welcome back to the Apotos Inn." The four walked inside the small, cozy inn to see nothing other than a crackling fire, some rocking chairs around the fire, and an old woman at the check-in / check-out counter. She was dusting and sighing.
"*sigh* We haven't had any business for the past six months…if we don't get any soon I'll have to close down shop and retire." The old woman heard the door creak shut and looked up. "*gasp* Guests! Welcome to the Apotos Inn! Thank you so much for coming. Do you have a reservation here?" The woman spoke far faster than one would expect for her age. Retl nodded.
"Yes, we do."
"What is the name signed under the reservation?"
"Retl Cvoti." The woman nodded and pulled out a large book, which had imprinted on the front in a now worn-out bronze lettering 'Reservations'. She flipped open to the marked page and saw Retl's name.
"Ah yes. I have you in for two rooms and a week-long stay. Is that true?" Retl nodded as the old woman put the book away. "Come, come. I feel like I've seen your faces before, years ago. My name is Kurdyavka Kitchim. But please, just call me Miss Kitchim. It's much easier." Miss Kitchim led the three to their rooms. "Here you go. Please enjoy your stay." The four split – Retl and Senil in one room, Symphony and Coffee in the other. They walked into their respective rooms and got ready for a long adventure ahead.
Chapter Three – Unlocking of the Tower
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: The Spirit Flute
Inside Senil and Retl's room, Retl pulled out what looked like an ancient instrument. It was a panflute.
"Senil, do you know what this is? Its name?" asked Retl.
"Of course I do. That's the Spirit Flute, known for its history of sealing up the Demon King."
"Good, good. You're on your way to finding the key and unlocking the tower. But do you know why I brought the flute?" Senil had a vague idea of why he did.
"The flute will be a part of the key?" Senil thought that was really far off of the true reason.
"Correct. The 'key' we require to open the tower's doors are really several parts put together. The Spirit Flute is a major component that alone could, theoretically, unlock the doors. But its power has been lost over the years. That is why we need the other five components – the Forest Cello, the Snow Shamisen, the Ocean Clarinet, the Fire Timpani, and the Sand Saxophone. With just the Spirit Flute, we could open the gates to access the first two floors, but anything higher up will be locked. That is why we require every component to get to what we need." Senil was slightly confused by all of this.
"I barely follow you, but OK. It makes some sense at least." Senil was still trying to wrap his mind about why they're here anyways. What could possibly be in the Tower of Apotos that could clear the looming fog, which Retl believed to contain excessive amounts of evil energy that will penetrate the Tower in one week. Senil didn't even know if THAT was true either.
"Don't worry, it will all make sense in due time. Tomorrow, perhaps, we will have a deeper understanding of what we'll need to do. We should get some rest, as it's late." Retl then climbed into his bed and fell asleep. Senil followed suit with the other bed.
Memories have been recorded. Health has been restored to full. Sapphire Energy restored.
Day One of Seven.
LoZ: Wind Waker: Dawn
The sun rose from it's slumber, and the people of Apotos began to awaken themselves. The regular hustle and bustle soon came back to Apotos, as our four heroes begin to wake up. Retl was the first up, with Coffee soon after. Then came Senil and Symphony to awaken, mostly because the other two threw items at them to awaken the sleepers.
"OW! What the hell made you do that Retl?" shouted Senil. He was not happy right now.
"To wake you up. Remember, we don't have much time."
LoZ: Wind Waker: Ocean theme (Orchestrated)
"Oh, right." Senil rubbed the back of his head as he remembered.
Things went only slightly better with Symphony and Coffee. The two are practically part of the family, which consists of Senil, Symphony, and Coffee. Finally, everyone was awake and ready for their journey around Apotos. They were ready for adventure, even if it means that there's a time limit.
"Ready to begin the First Day?" asked Retl. He wanted to make sure that everyone was ready before they went to the Tower of Apotos.
"Why wouldn't I?" replied Senil.
"Of course we're ready!" said Symphony.
"Let's go!" spoke Coffee, very enthusiastically by the way. Retl nodded in agreement with all of them, and they all left the Inn to head to the Tower.
LoZ: Wind Waker: Windfall Island
As they exited the Inn, they were greeted to a wonderful sight. The sun was shining through the fog, and almost instantly after leaving the comfort of the Inn they were picked up by the town's day life. They were each peppy and excited, except for Retl, who was dark and mysterious like always. They made their way to the Tower of Apotos, which is rather easy considering that it's the tallest tower in the town anyways. As they walked along the roads they encountered a few faces, many of which we already know of. They encountered Miles "Tails" Prower, who decided to come along on the journey, Sonic the Hedgehog, who came along as well (and beat everyone to the tower too, I might add), and Blaze the Cat. Blaze was, how to put this, "forced" into doing this (I have no idea how). Soon they reached the Tower of Apotos, walking up to the main gate, locked by the spirit's energy.
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Tower of Spirits
The group of seven walked up to the main gate of the Tower, feeling some kind of energy surround them. Retl pulled out the Spirit Flute and handed it to Senil, certain that he would be the one to, at least, unlock this door. Senil grasped the flute and played it for a bit, in order to get a feel for what might make the gate react. Finally he found the tone he was looking for.
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Zelda's Spirit Lullaby
Senil began playing a song he was taught when he was very young. The tune was simple, and was the song every child had to know by heart if they were going to live in Apotos. He slowly swayed around as the main gate to the Tower rumbled.
"Keep it up Senil! You've almost got it!" whispered Retl and Symphony. The gate rumbled further and slowly cracked open. Senil continued to play, and gathered a small crowd of people around him, which slowly grew as the citizens of Apotos heard the rumbling. Gossip began to come forth.
"The gate has never opened before, has it?"
"He must have blood of the Ancients!"
"This is impossible! How could someone like him open the door?"
"You're almost there Senil!" yelled everyone in our seven-man group, except for Senil. The gate began to rumble even more as the Tower's base became visible. Soon the doors were totally open, ready for the group to enter. But before they did, something strange happened. Very, very strange.
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Final Boss Battle Malladus
The fog came back, and was darker than the previous night. It collected and formed a cloud of fog, floating just above the ground. Soon something began to emerge from it. The crowd surrounding the seven gasped and ran away, screaming various things.
"The Demon! It's back!"
"That man unleashed the Demon King!"
"The Demon Train! The Demon Train is back!"
"Apotos is doomed to centuries of darkness!"
"The Tower is corrupt!" Everything yelled was beginning to be pushed away, literally, as the Demon Train fully emerged and roared past the group, forcing anyone still around the seven to be forced away.
"Retl, was that supposed to happen?" Senil's words landed on deaf ears. Retl was no where to be found. "Retl?" Senil searched around and gave up. Then he saw him, running into the Tower. "Uh oh."
Chapter Four – The Corruption of the Tower
LoZ: Spirit Tracks: Troubled Realm
The remaining six saw Retl dashing into the Tower. After some contemplation they ran in after him. Senil began to think.
"Why would he do this? Just tell me what I need to do to unlock the Tower and find what we 'need', accidentally give me the flute, and run inside? Unless..." Senil came to a sudden realization. Retl was never working in their interests. He was working for his own. And his own interests must have involved unlocking the Demon King from his prison inside the Tower of Apotos. Senil led the others into the tower, only to find it too late. Retl was already bringing out the Demon King. "No...NO!" Senil ran forward and threw Retl against a wall. But his efforts were in vain. The Demon King, was back. And this time, there would be no stopping him. Or...might there be a slim chance that our heroes can rescue Apotos and the neighboring cities? Only time will tell.
Ending Day One.
Memories have been recorded. Health has been restored to full. Sapphire Energy restored.
The Train of Memories has arrived at the station
Author: That was an interesting beginning, was it not? I figured that I would time to explain some things. First off, this story is lightly based on the concept of a diary, with every day being a new "entry". There's also the fact that at the end of each day, it says "Memories have been recorded. Health has been restored to full. Sapphire Energy restored". That's on purpose. I'd like to bring in Senil for a quick thing before we say good-bye.
Senil : Thank you Author. I feel like Retl's doing this to take over the world. Is that true Author?
Author: We'll find out in due time. Don't worry, it will become clearer. And remember the other thing?
Senil : Oh yes. The Train of Memories is a convenient way to ask the Author and the Cast some questions. If a question is answered in the next chapter, it will not be mentioned at the end because it has been answered. Send the questions in!
Author: Thank you Senil. See you all later!
The Train of Memories has now departed