After sprinting like crazy and getting dirt stains on our clothes from kneeling behind walls, Zelda and I finally made it out of the castle and past the courtyard.
"We made it!" Zelda panted, nearly bent over with her hands on her knees, as I leaned against the castle gate to catch my breath. Link met us there a moment later.
"Come on, we'd better get out of here before the guards find out Zelda is gone, and that they were tricked so easily!" Laughing, he began to run down the path leading towards the town. Zelda and I glanced at each other, then began to run after him, a bit of laughter escaping ourselves.
As we ran down the streets, in between colorful shops and houses, I couldn't stop from gaping at my surroundings. Castle Town was a lot larger than I thought it would be, and there were a lot more people than I imagined. Even the fountain gleaming in the middle of the plaza was a lot bigger and more detailed. I had never seen anything like it before. The story tablets I had were about as interactive as a story could get, but it was nothing compared to being right in the middle of it all.
My attention was held by the plumes of water that sprayed up and sparkled as they caught the sun, before I heard someone call my name. I tore my gaze away from the beautiful fountain and ran to catch up to Link and Zelda, who were standing near what must have been the train station, a wooden platform beside some tracks.
"Is that your train?" I asked Link, just to make sure. The wooden train was a lot bigger up close.
"Yep!" Link jumped up the platform ahead of us, and went over to open the door to the passenger car.
"Link, what took so long?" Said someone from inside. "I've been waiting forever!"
"I'm sorry Alfonzo! After the ceremony, I met with the princess." Link stepped aside to let us enter. "She asked us to take her to the Tower of Spirits. It's very important."
"Your Highness!" Alfonzo said, sounding surprised as Zelda and I filed into the train car, which was exactly how it looked in the story pictures. Staring at the benches, and the pretty wood covering the walls and room, I slowly sat down in a seat across the aisle from Alfonzo, Link's engineer mentor. I was trying hard not to stare at him as an awful feeling made my chest tighten. In the story, I knew Alfonzo got hurt pretty badly. But maybe it would be different this time, and things wouldn't happen how they were supposed to, I thought to myself.
"Mia had some important stuff to tell Zelda, and she's coming to the tower too." Link called over his shoulder as he hopped out of the train car.
"Well, it's not every day you get royalty asking for a lift. Alright then, Princess, Mia. Make yourselves comfortable. It shouldn't be a long ride to the tower." Alfonzo did a short bow in seat as Zelda sat beside me on the bench.
"Please Alfonzo, no need for formalities." Zelda smiled and smoothed down the skirt of her dress.
"Alright your Highness. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Alfonzo stuck his hand out to me. I shook it formally and giggled.
"Okay, everything's set. We'll be there in a flash!" Link called through the doorway before slamming the door shut. I saw him walk to the front of the train through the windows. A few seconds later, the engine roared to life and with a jerk, we started moving. Feeling my eyes stretch wide, I glued myself to the window and watched the scenery slide past us. I never imagined riding on a train would be so amazing!
"Say, Princess, Mia, did you two know that I used to be a famous swordsman?" Alfonzo was gesturing to the sword laying on the seat beside him.
"Of course! My father often speaks of the loyalty of your family throughout the generations." Zelda exclaimed. "You come from a long line of great swordsman, do you not?"
"Did you ever fight any monsters?" I asked, looking away from the window. Just then the train pitched violently to one side, sending the three of us flying. We skidded sideways for a few seconds before the train stopped moving. I groaned and pushed myself off the floor as Zelda shakily stood up.
"Something must have happened to Link!" She gasped, and started toward the carriage door with shaky steps.
"Your Highness, wait!" Alfonzo leapt forward. "Allow me to go first." He pulled the door open and jumped out, holding out a hand to help Zelda make the big step to the ground. We wandered to the front of the train, and Zelda gasped. Link was lying on the ground, with little pieces of broken machinery covering the grass all around him. The train was smoking, and looked pretty damaged.
"Alfonzo! The tracks! They just disappeared again!" Link wasn't wrong. Where there had once been tracks leading from the castle towards the tower in the distance, there was just grass. Nothing to indicate that tracks had ever been there.
"Mia, you were right!" Zelda sounded very distressed. "Something is terribly wrong, look at the Tower of Spirits!"
Dark tendrils of smoke slowly were spiralling in the distance. The smoke seemed to be coming from a cloud of darkness that swirled directly above the tower and rapidly grew larger, electricity sparking across the middle. A blue wave of electricity shot out of the cloud and down the sides of the tower, splitting it into four pieces. The pieces of tower began spinning slowly, hanging suspended in the air by some strange force. All that was left on the ground was the base. We all stared up in horror at the huge tower parts.
"We...we're too late." I whispered, feeling frightened.
"Your Highness! Look over there!" Alfonzo was pointing to the left of the tower, where another dark cloud was forming. With no warning, something monstrous roared out of the cloud, heading straight at us. "Get down!" Alfonzo grabbed the Princess, shielding her with his massive body. Link and I dropped to the ground and covered our heads as a strong gust of wind whipped the air around us. We were pelted with a shower of grit as the creepy train flew over our heads and disappeared into the distance.
"Wh-what was that?" Zelda looked frightened, peering up at the sky.
"Did that train have a...face?" Link asked, getting up off of the ground. He was covered in dust.
"The Demon Train." I whispered again.
"Out for a leisurely stroll, your highness? You know that's not allowed!"
"Not allowed by who? You, Chancellor Cole?" Zelda said defiantly, stepping out from behind Alfonzo. The chancellor had walked up, appearing out of nowhere.
"That's right! Me! The one who's really in charge!" He cried as his hats spontaneously flew off his head to reveal lopsided horns. "It's so tiring to pretend to be human all the time. I had meant to keep up the ruse for a little longer, but you pushed me to this. You children, and your infernal meddling! But now that those vile train tracks are gone, all we need is you, your Highness!" Cole turned to Princess Zelda with creepy look on his face.
"Alfonzo," I rushed up to him and pulled on his hand. "Alfonzo, you have to stop him. Before he gets Zelda!"
"Nobody is going to hurt Zelda," Alfonzo said grimly, drawing his sword and stepping in front of Zelda. "I don't know who these guys are, your highness, but they are obviously bad news. With your permission, I'd be happy to take care of them." He carved a few double-handed strokes with his sword, and Chancellor Cole gave another creepy giggle as he floated up into the air.
"Melodrama is so incredibly boring. Byrne, would you please dispose of this fool?"
"This man speaks the truth, Cole. His moments are not those of an amateur." Another figure I immediately recognized as Byrne, walked out from behind the train. From what I could see of him, he was tall, had a dark ponytail, and a green scarf covering the lower part of his face. What caught my attention the most was a metal gauntlet on the end of his left arm. He looked about ten times more threatening than Cole, and a lot scarier than he had looked in the story. "But, he is only human."
The two began to circle each other. Alfonzo suddenly struck out with a blow aimed at Byrne's head. Byrne blocked the attack, but Alfonzo pressed forward, raining a flurry of strikes down on his opponent. Each time, Byrne blocked them with his gauntlet, metal meeting metal with a clang that rang in my ears. I cringed each time Alfonzo was almost too late to block Byrne's attacks. Then, their weapons locked together. "I told you, I will protect the princess at any cost!"
"And I told you. You're only human." Byrne said cooly, and shoved Alfonzo slightly downwards.
They broke away from each other and spun back around. Byrne charged, and Alfonzo raised his sword in a defensive position. I noticed Byrne's metal hand start glowing with an ominous purple light, and opened my mouth to warn Alfonzo, but I was too late.
Alfonzo flew backwards into the passenger car and slumped to the ground, little flickers of electricity sparking all over his body. I stared at him in horror. Beside me, Zelda screamed.
Laughing, Cole danced in the air around Byrne's head. "Excellent work Byrne! You do know how to put on a show!"
"It wasn't a fair fight, Cole." Byrne replied, then started walking towards Zelda.
"Help me Link!" Zelda stood frozen as Byrne moved closer.
Link immediately threw himself in front of her. Byrne took one look at Link and swatted him out of the way with his arm. I gasped as Link flew through the air, just like Alfonzo had earlier. He landed hard on the packed ground, and gave a squeak of pain, while Byrne continued towards Zelda.
"Link!" Zelda cried, clutching at me in fear. I was shaking. Suddenly, I wanted to wake up from this dream. I wanted to wake up from it now, as Chancellor Cole rose in the air, holding two crackling orbs of energy in his hands. He fired the orbs, and Zelda jumped out of the way, dragging me behind her, but we didn't move fast enough.
"Ahh!" Zelda let go of my arm and crumpled to the ground, becoming deathly still.
I stared at motionless body, my eyes wide. She looked dead.
"Pesky brat!" Cole hissed.
I looked up, just as Byrne stormed over and grabbed me around my middle. "Ahh! Let me go!" I squirmed and kicked, tried to hit him, but I couldn't reach. He regarded me for a minute, then dropped me on the ground. I tried not to scream as his shadow fell over me, and stared as his hand started glowing with electrical power.
"No!" I shrieked, holding my hands in front of my face as a bolt of power shot toward me. I clenched my teeth and braced for the searing pain...which never came. Instead, the electricity somehow dissipated the moment it came into contact with my skin. All I felt was a warm tingling.
Byrne took a step backwards slightly, a bewildered expression on his face.
"Wh-what…?" I breathed, then realized I should probably be knocked out like the others. I immediately flopped over on the ground, trying to act dead. I couldn't keep from trembling as I wondered if they would see through my ruse. But Cole seemed to buy it.
"Good work Byrne. You have no idea how much trouble those pests have given me. Now grab the princess and let's get out of here." I heard Cole say gleefully. Even though I was pretty sure Byrne knew his dark power hadn't hurt me, he left me alone.
I cracked one eye open and saw the two of them walking towards a distant forest, taking Zelda with them. I waited until I was sure they were gone before daring to sit up. Link was lying on the ground with his limbs splayed out. I crawled over to him. "Link! Link, wake up!" No response. "Link!"
I made a fist and struck the ground, tears of fear and confusion welling up in my eyes. The moment my fist hit the ground, a reaction of some sort was triggered. I stared as electricity danced across my palm, and my skin began to light up from the inside. My hand began to glow bright blue. I blinked away the spots in my vision and gasped for air, feeling more than a little freaked out. "W-what is happening?"
There appeared to be some sort of symbol on the back of my left hand; a swirly, spirally sort of thing that was blurred through my tears. It was pulsing, and growing, stretching to cover more of my hand. I forced myself to stay calm. "It's just a dream." I whispered, closing my eyes. "It's just a story, it's not real." When I opened my eyes and stared at my hand, the symbol was gone. My hand was completely blank. A dizzy feeling overcame me, and my vision began to grow dim. The last thing I heard was someone shouting something and footsteps pounding on the grass.