MAGICAL FIGHTER ZELDA TAKES ON THE SHADE!: PART 2
"Zelda! Time to wake up!"
Zelda moaned, burrowing deeper into her bed. It was warm in there, and comfy. And not school.
She heard the muffled sound of someone clomping up the stairs, then opening her door. "Zelda, is it really necessary to make me do this every morning?" her grandfather asked wearily.
Zelda did not reply, but attempted to curl into a tighter ball beneath her covers.
"Very well," her grandfather sighed, moving to the window. He threw open the blinds and bathed the entire room in blinding light, causing Zelda to shriek and fall to the floor as if thrown.
Her grandfather rolled his eyes. "So overdramatic. Breakfast is on the table, assuming you can get down in time to eat it and get to school."
"What time izzit?" Zelda muttered, cracking open one eye to look at the clock. She immediately leapt to her feet. "Seven o'clock!? Grandpa, I'm going to be late!"
Her Grandfather was already headed back downstairs, apparently unfazed by the concept. "It's my second day!" Zelda lamented, then ran for her dresser.
She arrived at school minutes before the first bell, a slice of toast still hanging out of her mouth. Devouring it as quickly as she could so as not to look unprepared, she located Nina and sidled up to her.
"Running late?" Nina asked wryly.
"Uh, no, of course not," Zelda said, wiping her face free of crumbs. "Just, you know, wanted to arrive just in the nick of time, like the cool rebel teenager I am."
"Uh-huh," Nina nodded sagely. "Well, if you're not too cool for little old me, would you be interested in heading for the mall after school? I've been itching to do some shopping!"
"Oh… yeah, that would be fun!" Zelda exclaimed, trying not to get too flustered. Some part of her was like a predator whenever potential friends arose, hunting even the smallest morsel of approval. That oasis in the desert metaphor again. This time, she decided, she would be different. "I-I'm kind of new to this city, so I'd appreciate being shown around."
Nina grinned. "I've lived here all my life, so I will have plenty to tell you." The bell rang. "Well, let's not be late again and face Lu Carioh's disapproval." She grimaced.
The day passed quite normally, though at lunch, Samus was absent from the table. Peach laughed it off and said something about her going off on a brief vacation, but Zelda could tell she was worried. Nina invited Peach along to the mall as well, but the Princess quickly explained that she had a prior engagement, though she was appreciative of the gesture.
Zelda tried to put her own worries about Samus behind her as she and Nina started out after school, headed for the local mall. Zelda didn't have much money on hand, but it was enough to purchase a smoothie from a vendor and then follow Nina around, who seemed absolutely smitten with the prospect of shopping. Nina turned out to be quite a fashionista, plucking out outfit after outfit and examining them with a critical eye. She even managed to locate a few clothes that Zelda would have loved to buy, had she enough cash. She'd have to bug her grandfather later.
Nina was also true to her word and showed Zelda around the nearby parts of the city, keeping up a running commentary as they went. Zelda found that she really enjoyed the other girl's company, and soon the two were joking and laughing like old friends. They only parted when the sky began to darken, and Zelda started to panic about what her grandfather would think.
The two girls hugged and split up, as Nina's apartment was in the opposite direction. Zelda found herself feeling quite peaceful and happy, when she was suddenly forced to stop in her tracks by a powerful red warning.
Oh, no. Not here, when she was alone. A Shade? Zelda turned fearfully, sensing that the Shade was close. There, in an alleyway. A whirl of shadow balls was forming, creating a shaggy body, short legs, powerful ram horns on its head. The Shade that had escaped the day before.
It scuffed at the ground. Zelda backed up, hoping to escape its notice. No such luck. Red eyes gleamed as they locked on to her, and then the beast chattered angrily and charged right for her.
At the sight, something inside Zelda snapped. Though she hardly knew what she was doing, she jumped straight into the air. Something, some kind of power, lifted her step, made her lighter than air, and she easily soared over the charging Shade and landed behind it. She extended her hand. A tiny, purple gemstone appeared just above it, drifting down to rest in her palm.
The Shade managed to turn itself around, giving a frustrated roar. It had a Magical Fighter in its sights now, and it was not about to stop for anything.
Zelda squeezed the gemstone in her hand, then lifted it to her opposite shoulder. The gemstone expanded and shifted, forming a golden harp that she held at rest against her left arm, her right hand ready at the strings.
Light surrounded her and whisked away her clothes, leaving her naked for only the briefest of seconds before swiftly replacing them. A white, floor-length skirt appeared, accentuated with purple and gold. High-heeled boots popped into existence underneath, perfectly fitted to Zelda's size. Above the skirt, the dress completed with a purple, sleeveless piece, and light plates of golden armour adorned her shoulders. Even her hair changed, suddenly bound in two strands that fell along her shoulders, with the rest flowing along her back, also bound at the end.
Somehow, it all felt right. As the Shade charged towards her, Zelda lifted her harp and plucked the first string.
A jagged vibration blossomed out from the harp, shaking stones loose from buildings and causing the Shade to trip. As it stumbled back to its feet, Zelda tried out the second string. A similar vibration occurred, this one concentrated like a funnel, and it only hit the Shade, disorienting it even further. Shadow balls began to fall off of the creature and dissolve.
"What was it Samus said," Zelda muttered to herself, leaping to the side so as to be a less stationary target. "You won't defeat it just by taking it head-on. So what am I meant to do…?"
She tried plucking the third string, and this time the vibrations solidified into a barrier around her, startling her enough to make her squeak. All right, good to know she was able to do that.
The fourth string buzzed powerfully without any apparent effect, and the rest simply made notes like a regular harp. Zelda danced back uncertainly as the Shade healed its wounds and turned to face her.
"All right. Um… die!" She cried, then strummed every string. The power of the vibrations doubled, sending the Shade sliding back, and creating a barrier around Zelda at the same time. The Shade recovered quickly, and Zelda leapt toward it, continuously plucking the second string. The force of vibration around the Shade was causing its healing shadow balls to dissolve more quickly than they could be generated.
In the end, even though she could stop it from healing, her harp just wasn't powerful enough to severely hurt it. Soon the Shade was learning her attack patterns, running to the side instead of straight at her. Zelda started to panic. She wasn't able to do this…! The Shade would get away, and feed on more emotions! That couldn't be allowed to happen!
"Incoming!" someone shrieked, and suddenly the Shade was being shot from the other direction. Yet another Fighter landed nearby, smacking the Shade directly in the face with her weapon.
Samus and Peach had arrived.
Samus darted around, harrying the Shade, and Peach jumped back to stand next to Zelda. "Hey, wow, I love your outfit!" Peach exclaimed. "Perfect for kicking Shade butt!"
"What…? How did you two…?"
"Samus was out looking for the Shade all day, anyway," Peach laughed. "I joined her after school was done. Imagine our surprise when we finally find it-only to have you fighting it off by yourself!"
"I'm surprised about it too!" Zelda cried.
"Zelda! Keep attacking it!" Samus called as the Shade began to recover. "You kill a healer by first killing its shadow bugs, so that it can't heal. Your weapon's perfect for that!"
"Right!" Zelda called and resumed beating down the Shade with sound waves from her harp. Peach flashed her one last smile and then leapt over to help Samus, smacking shadow bugs left and right like baseballs. Soon enough the Shade was completely without, and all three girls leapt forward at once to deal the finishing blow.
The Shade dissolved immediately, shadowy globs fading into pale sparkles. A tiny golden disk fell to the pavement and spun there like a coin for a moment before settling with a clink.
"All right!" Peach exclaimed, sharing high fives. "We've done it! We make a great team, don't we?"
"I'd say," Samus said, stooping to pick up the Trophy. She examined it for a moment before offering it to Zelda. "Well, Zelda, Peach and I would never have even found the thing if it wasn't for you. I think its Trophy belongs to you-provided you'd like to be a Magical Fighter with us, that is."
"I…um…" Zelda tentatively took the Trophy and held it to the light. It didn't look like much, but just like she could sense it in red when Shades approached, she could feel the warm yellow glow of the Trophy on her mind.
"We'll teach you, of course," Peach said earnestly. "I mean, no one just picks this stuff up right off the bat. You'll be the third member of our team." She giggled. "Now we're an even match for LuLu's crew, right, Samus?"
"As if we weren't already more than equal to them," Samus rolled her eyes, but offered a smile to Zelda. "Well? Fancy joining the club?"
"Y-yeah! Of course!" Zelda exclaimed. It was scary, sure, but the Shades needed to be fought-and she felt good doing it: powerful; in control. She was ready to face any challenges that might come along with her decision.
"Hmm… looks like we've got an audience," Samus said, gesturing upwards. Zelda turned and followed her gaze, to find three figures standing atop a nearby rooftop, looking down on them.
Lu stood at the front, as usual. She jabbed two fingers in Zelda, Samus, and Peach's direction, her meaning clear: I'm watching you. With that, the team whirled and departed, leaping over rooftops.
"Well, never mind them," Peach said cheerfully. "It's not like they could ever compare to a team like this." Her Princess garb disappeared in a flash of light. "Hey, Samus, what type of Magical Fighter do you suppose Zelda is? I've never seen a musical instrument used as a weapon."
"Hmm," Samus murmured, circling Zelda as Samus' own outfit disappeared, replaced with a casual sweater and jeans. "Well, the outfit almost suggests she's another Princess, but obviously her attacks are long-range, so that can't be the case." She snapped her fingers. "Aha! You're the type of Magical Fighter called a Composer. Pretty rare, that one."
Zelda was able to return to her school uniform easily, and her harp disappeared entirely. There was a new ring on her finger, silver with a purple stone.
"That's your Magical Fighter weapon when it's on standby," Samus said, gesturing to her necklace. "This is mine."
"And mine," Peach said, tapping a pink hairclip. "Next time you need to transform, just concentrate on your ring and you'll be able to change. Then we can all take on the Shades together!"
Peach pulled them both into a group hug, grinning. "I just know we're going to be the best team of Magical Fighters ever!"