Chapter 4: Kafei

Hey guys. If you're still with me here (Onion1122, for example, you'd better still be reading) I finally got around to posting this. I was busy with my SSBB story and my first one-shot, "Reflections." It follows New Beginnings. Then I had a TON of homework, and then I got sick. But enough about that, I own NOTHING! So would Nintendo please remove the lawyers from my property?!
Taki: Namco's lawyers too.
Urgh . . . just read.


Alexis:

"Anju," I said aloud. Jake gave me a funny look. "What?!"

"You're talking to a freaking spirit," he said flatly. I shrugged.

Please don't go, I'm so lonely, Anju whispered. Her voice echoed in whatever parallel plane of reality spirits existed on.

"I know, must be pretty boring to be a ghost and float around," I replied. Jake was still staring at me. "What?!" I demanded crossly.

"How can you hear her and I can't?"

I sighed. "I guess it's something called a 'Spiritual Guardian' or something. He's really irritating."

Hey!

Shut up. I growled back. Ignoring this, I faced Anju again. She was standing beside the stove, gazing at me with sad eyes. "So what happened to you?" I asked politely. "Why did you . . . die?"

Anju sobbed and vanished. The whole room went gray; the only things I could see were my own body and Jake's. This . . . . whispered Anju.

When the room came back into focus, it was a lot smaller. The old clay/brick cooking stove thingy was still in the corner. A row of counters stretched from the stove in the right corner to the wall. Along the other wall was a cabinet, full of plates, silverware, and pots and pans. A little stream ran through the wall in the corner opposite the stove. Someone placed a table in the center.

Anju was there as she was in life, leaning against the table, eyes full of worry and sorrow. I shivered when I saw her stuff the letter behind the brick, because I knew what came next.

Anju carefully wrapped a black shawl around her shoulders and placed a white veil on her head. She wore a wedding dress, not the clothes her spirit had on. In her hand, she clutched a tiny bottle.

Carefully opening the bottle, the doomed girl poured its contents into a glass of wine. She toasted someone invisible, whispering, "To my husband," and drank it down.

Almost immediately, Anju fell to the floor, shivering and convulsing. Foam dribbled from her mouth. She gave one weak cry and was still forever.

The room changed once more; Jake and I were back in our own time. Anju was crying again, transparent tears softly falling to the floor. "Why did you kill yourself?" asked Jake.

Because Kafei no longer loved me, whimpered Anju. He never sent back the Pendant. That boy never came back. I supposed Kafei told him not to. I frowned.

"What'd she say?" demanded Jake, seeing the upset look on my face. I told him gently, and his look changed from fascinated to miserable. "That's so . . . sad."

"Do you know where Kafei was?" I inquired of Anju. She sniffed.

No. Kafei sent me a letter explaining that he had to go away, but the postman didn't tell me where he was. Her head dropped. Kafei . . . my love . . . .

She vanished.

Jake still wore that damnable, wide-eyed look on his face. "Where'd she go?" he asked blankly.

"Duh, she vanished, ya little twerp," I growled. I sat at the table and glared at the polished surface.

He sat next to me. He had that look on his face, the soft, worried look that made his whole face seem sad. "Lexis, what are we gonna do?" he said expectantly.

"It's a dead end, dummy," I snapped back. I was suddenly furious and miserable inside. "No postman, no letter from Kafei, hell, we don't know where he spent his last moments. Anju decided to take poison and the messenger boy who knew something vanished. Probably grew up, raised a family, and forgot about the two. Or, he had a great laugh telling his grandkids about how he cheated them out of marriage, how he led Anju to kill herself, how he knew exactly where Kafei was but opted to make Anju's last moments a living hell until she killed herself!" I buried my face in my arms. "I just hate it! This girl really loved this guy, and this kid screws up, or the guy doesn't love the girl! I want to get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who ruined her life, the boy, or the man!" I started to cry. It didn't seem fair. Anju deserved closure, but what the hell could we do about it?!

Jake put a hand on my shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, sis," he said awkwardly. "We'll find out what to do."

"How?" I sniffed. "We don't have any leads, Jake. We're a pair of teenagers trying to solve a 200-plus-year-old mystery. What the hell are we gonna do?!"

"I don't know." Jake seemed upset. "I don't know what to do."

Annoyingly, my Guardian chose this opportunity to open his mouth. Girl . . . check the Laundry Pool.

Huh?

Just do it.

I growled a curse. What is the Laundry Pool?

Follow . . . find . . . follow . . . find . . . . And suddenly, I knew where to go. The Guardian implanted it in my head. I slid off the chair and slowly walked out the door, Jake shouting questions behind me.

I walked down the street, my brain dreamily unconcerned about my surroundings. I had no idea what I was doing. I passed a boy on his bicycle, countless houses, and even the Library, hearing dimly the pounding footsteps of my younger brother beside me. Finally I stopped, turning down a narrow alleyway.

I had the feeling nothing much changed in this place. A river ran into the wall on the left and under a building on the right. Thick metal grilles kept larger objects from floating away, probably for clothes and the like when Anju still lived. The bridge that crossed it was small and made of iron.

I growled, frustrated, and turned around. Jake sat in the grass, panting in exhaustion. "Where are we?" he asked, between gulps of air.

"Where the Guardian wanted us to be," I responded. Now why?

It is time you know the truth. A ghostly figure began to slowly materialize beside me. Scared, I backed up. The bluish, transparent figure was a boy, maybe eleven, or twelve at the most. His hair was blonde, his eyes crystal blue, and his strange tunic was green. On his back were a sword and a shield I recognized from the Hylian Museum. A Hylian Shield, used by the soldiers hundreds of years ago.

I am Link, he said finally. I was the messenger Anju sent to Kafei. He was living here; he indicated the door in the far corner, one I hadn't seen.I had the Pendant of Memories with me. Kafei loved Anju dearly. But . . .

"But WHAT?!" I snarled at him. He sighed.

As I attempted to return to Anju, I heard of a paranormal researcher that might be able to help Kafei. When I traveled to Ikana Canyon, I was killed in a rockslide. Link explained somberly. Just before I died, I buried the Pendant in the graveyard, in case I . . . I didn't make it back.

"Why didn't you tell Anju's ghost?" I demanded, feeling the tears on my cheeks again. "She'd feel so much better!" It wasn't fair!

I never found out what became of Kafei afterwards, said Link sadly. I did not want her to know of this, my greatest failure. It is all my fault she died, it is all my fault Kafei never told her how much he loved her . . . .

"What was wrong with Kafei?" asked Jake. At my inquiring look, he added, "I can hear this guy for some reason."

I can project into both your minds. And as for Kafei . . . . he sighed ghostily. Have you ever heard of Majora?

"The evil mask dude? Yeah, I've heard of him," I responded. "Why?"

He turned Kafei into a little boy right before his wedding. An old thief called Sakon then stole his wedding mask. Overwrought with grief, Kafei sought the help of his old friend and stayed with him. Poor Anju . . . .

"But what can we do about it?" I demanded angrily. "Where's the Pendant?"

It is still in the graveyard, beside the old tree, next to the grave marked, "Lyru, Servant of Mother Farore." You must find it, and quickly.

"But what do we do with it?!" I snarled. "Anju's DEAD!"

Find Kafei.

"He's dead too."

You'll know what to do when you find the Pendant. Link rapidly faded away, leaving us alone in the late afternoon sunlight.

When we arrived at home again, Mom was waiting for us, a cleaning rag in one hand. "Where have you two been?" she demanded crossly. "I asked you two to help us clean up the rooms this morning! We'll have guests by the end of summer and those rooms are full of dust and grime!"

"Sorry, Mom," said Jake obediently.

Mom frowned at us. "And by the way, you two have been spending a lot of time together. What's up?"

"Jeez, Mom, can't I just be spending time with my little bro?" I demanded.

"Well, Miss Pierce, the librarian, said that you've been checking out books pertaining to this Inn and asking around about someone named Anju."
"We were curious," I replied innocently. "I guess Anju killed herself here and—"

"Alexis!" I flinched. "What a horrible thing to say!" Mom raised her voice only rarely, but when she did, you were in for it.

"But it's true, Mom," said Jake earnestly. "It's really true!"

"Enough!" our mother's sharp voice made Jake fall silent. "Now you're filling your brother's head with morbid thoughts too! Alexis, I've had enough of this. Go to your room, you're grounded, little missy."

"For how long?" I asked.

Mom scowled dangerously. "At least a week. In that time, you're not allowed out of the house or out of your room past eight. You'll help us clean out the rooms and will not talk with Jake. I can't have you stuffing his head full of vile, morbid, horrible things such as this."

Link took the time to pipe up. A week is too long. You must find Kafei before then, or it will be too late.

Let me see if I can convince her. I replied. Aloud, I began, in a pleading voice, "Mom . . . "

"No buts! One week. Your room. No cell phone, no music, no leaving the house. Period."

She turned, cleaning rag in hand, and headed off down the hall.


Sorry, I kinda cheaped out on the end. I'm still sick and my head hurts as if Link hit me with the Megaton Hammer. Sorry :(
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