Dargon: Anyone else think it's been A THOUSAND years since I've last updated? No? Am I the only one?

XD JKJKJKJKJK! I'M SOOOOOOO SOOOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN, LIKE, FOREVER! MY TEACHERS ARE LIKE DOING THE WHOLE "IT'S-NEAR-THE-END-OF-THE-SCHOOL-YEAR-AND-SO-THAT-MEANS-WE-SHALL-DUMP-MOUNDS-OF-HOMEWORK-ON-YOU" TACTIC. SORRY GUYS... BUT HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Vio groaned. "Ughhh… owwww." Groggily, feeling as if there was a leaden weight pressing down on his eyelids, Vio forced his eyes open to see Blue, Green, and Zelda leaning over him, concern flitting their expressions. Turning his head to the side, he could see just the tip of Shadow's head visible underneath the covers.

"Are you feeling okay, Vio?" Zelda whispered.

Vio winced as a painful ache flared in his forehead, causing him to feel sick. "I'm fine," he managed to choke out, and cringed again as he heard his own raspy voice.

Blue appeared at his side with a cup full of water, shaking his head as he passed the cup to the violet Link, who gratefully took it. "Seriously, what happened to you guys in there? You were in there for a long time, and when you were passed out you were talking in your sleep about -" Blue quickly clammed up as Green shot him a look.

"Vio, what happened?" Green asked.

Vio looked around at them all. He sighed. "It's a long story…"

"We have time," Blue said, and the others all agreed.

"Okay, then." Taking a deep breath, Vio cleared his throat, then explained what happened when they had entered Red's memory bank.

The others listened in silence, and when Vio had finally finished, Blue shook his head again. "...That's messed up." The conscious Links and Zelda all looked at where Red was lying in the sickbed. At least, for the time being, he wasn't a monster… yet.

"We only have about a week." Green sighed. "That seems like a long time…"

"...But what if it's not?" Vio finished for him. "We need to find a cure and fast, but we didn't find anything that could lead us to it."

"Actually, I think we did." A hoarse, muffled voice issued behind them, and they all turned to see Shadow, the pillow stuffed over his head, only a bleary, half-open eye of the shadow Link visible.

"Shadow!" They all cried.

Shadow looked at Vio. "After we went through the portal to exit Red's memory bank, did you hear anything, as we were falling?"

Vio wracked his mind, searching for anything he had noticed while they were exiting Red's mind, but nothing came. "No," he admitted. "I think I passed out right after we stepped through the portal."

"Well, just as we were getting out of there, I heard a voice… it said… something like… Slaverus Draconius."

"A voice?" Green asked, scratching his head in confusion. "Who could it be?"

"I dunno, probably a voice of Red's consciousness… I have no idea. It was all messed up in there." Shadow shook his head.

Something was nagging at Vio, bothering him. The name certainly seemed familiar… Suddenly, Vio bolted upright, startling the others. He knew that name. He definitely heard it from somewhere. But where…?

And then, it all clicked into place.

"Slaverus Draconius?" Vio asked, clutching at the sheets until his knuckles turned white.

"...Yeah," Shadow said slowly. "That ring a bell?"

"It's in… I have to get… back at the house…" Vio tried to get out of bed, but pain flared in his chest, constricting it, and he stifled a groan, wincing.

"What? What is it?" Green asked.

"Back at the house… book… green cover… in the chest… at the foot of the bed…" Vio cringed. "I need... to look at something…"

Green and Blue glanced at each other, and then they both nodded. "We'll go get it," Blue announced. "We'll be back as fast as we can."

"Th...Thanks…" Vio murmured gratefully, relaxing and lowering himself back into the bed, resting his head weakly against the pillow.

They left, leaving Vio and Shadow alone with Zelda.

Zelda cast her eyes down at the ground. "S-Sorry. I just wanted to say... with Red -"

She was interrupted as pounding footsteps suddenly sounded, growing louder and louder until a guard burst into the infirmary, his eyes wide. "Milady -"

He stopped abruptly as he saw the two Links. "Um... Is this what I think it is?"

"N-No!" The Links and Zelda spluttered at the same time.

The guard relaxed. "Oh, cause I thought..."

"Guard, what is it?" Zelda quickly asked.

"Uh, right. The zomb -"

"What?!" Zelda cried. "But I thought -"

"It would be easier to explain if you saw it yourself! Follow me, please!" The guard ran out of the room.

Zelda blushed, looking apologetically at the Links. "Sorry, he really does get the wrong..." Seeing their looks, Zelda sighed and said, "Okay, then, just wait here," before dashing out of the room after the castle guard.

Vio and Shadow looked at each other.

"Like we were going to go anywhere," Shadow grumbled, a faint red tinge still coloring his cheeks.

Green and Blue hurried out of the castle. Outside, it had turned nighttime, the moon and stars glinting brightly amidst the twilit sky. Green ran behind the castle to the stables for a few moments and then returned quickly, guiding two chestnut-brown horses behind him.

"Here!" he called to Blue, tossing the reins of one of the horses to him. The two Links swiftly hoisted themselves on top of their steeds, and then without so much of a pause they took off, pounding along the dirt road as they rode towards their home to get the book Vio had requested. As they galloped across grassy plains, Green let his mind wander. No doubt, Vio had recognized the term from one of the many books he had read. It was uncanny, how he could remember that one phrase from the millions of books he had in his head.

All of a sudden, Blue shouted, "Hold up!"

Snapped apart from his musings, Green yanked on his horse's reins, causing the horse to skid to a halt.

"What is it?" he asked Blue.

"Is it me, or are the townsfolk...?" Blue pointed ahead, and Green looked to see the dark streets and houses of Castle Town a few yards away. He could see dark figures roaming around the streets. Green was about to ask what was bothering Blue when he saw the figures were making throaty, slavering sounds, shuffling in erratic movements.

"Oh, my..." It couldn't be... Were those zombies? But Zelda had said they had imprisoned the three zombies...

Oh. OH.

The disease. It was the disease that was spreading through the air that was slowly transforming all of the townsfolk into the undead. They may have captured the zombies who had been created by the disease, but it was impossible to capture an illness.

One of the shambling zombies turned and lumbered into one of the quiet houses along the street. Seconds later, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from within the house, followed by a series of terrible gurgling, choking sounds. The zombie that had first entered the house then came back out, with another undead right behind it.

Blue stared at the hulking forms, as if he wanted to slice the monsters' heads off, but Green grabbed his arm.

"There's nothing we can do, until we have the cure," he reminded him, slightly afraid of the dark shadow that suddenly crossed Blue's face for a second.

After a lengthy pause, Blue shook his head, as if clearing it, and turned away from the town. The Links took off again, now an increased urgency to their gallop.

When Blue and Green finally reached the house, they stopped dead in their tracks as they walked up to the front door.

Drawn quite clearly on the wooden door was the number seven, having been grisly splashed on with blood.

"A reminder... seven days..." Green murmured.

"Nice decor," Blue commented.

Green shook his head and opened the door, walking inside. The Links hurried upstairs to the bedroom.

"Where did he say it was?" Blue asked.

"He said it was in the chest at the foot of the bed... has a green cover." Green tugged on the lid of the chest, opening it with a small creak. He drew out an old tome, with a dark green cover that was layered with.. Were those real scales? A series of unintelligible lettering was neatly printed on the cover, its ink fading. "What language is this?"

Blue shrugged, scrunching up his face. "Vio reads this stuff?"

"Well, let's get back to the castle as soon as possible. I don't think I want to hang around, possibly wait for whoever wrote on the door to come back."

The others all crowded around Vio as he propped the book open on his knees, carefully flipping the old, flimsy pages.

"S..." he murmured to himself. "S... SD... There we go. Slaverus Draconius..." He cleared his throat. "Slaverus Draconius... A disease that ails its victims, causing a spore-like fungus, labeled 'Slaverus Draconitus', to grow and reproduce over a being's mind, causing it to malfunction and focus only on spreading the disease to others."

Blue coughed. "We're looking for a cure, right?"

"I'm getting to that part. Ingredients… 'Poisoned brown mushroom' -"

"Poisoned?!" Everyone cried. "I thought this was a cure!"

Vio winced in pain as he shifted, putting a hand over his chest. "Let me finish, and then I'll explain. 'Poisoned brown mushroom, an elixir potion, the left eye of a colossal frog, and an egg from a dragon.'"

Silence.

"...Oh snap," Green murmured.

"Way to make it harder for all of us!" Blue rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and pouting grumpily. "Great, now we gotta waste energy going around and -"

"So, how's a poison supposed to formulate a cure?" Zelda asked worriedly. "I mean, if it's poison -"

"The poison acts as a counterproductive, retaliating against the spore-like fungus that grows over a victim's brain when infected. Ever heard of the term 'Fight fire with fire'? Well, in this case, we have to counteract to the deadly infection with something deadly of our own in hand," Vio explained.

Everyone stared at him, clearly confused as they scratched their heads, perplexed. "Uh…"

Vio sighed. "That was the simple explanation."

More stares.

"Umm… back to the task at hand?"

"Sure." Zelda blinked, suddenly all-business. "We can take care of the elixir potion; we have brewers here in the castle that know how to make it. But the mushroom, the frog's eyeball, and the dragon's egg? Where would you find that?..."

"In the Forbidden Woods," Vio answered simply. "That's the only place where we can find them. Creatures of all sizes can be found there, not to mention a select few mushrooms."

"The Forbidden Woods? But… the legends…"

Vio sighed. "I know… but we have to risk it."

Green and Blue glanced at each other. "Um… what legends, exactly?" Green asked warily.

"C'mon, Green, you can't possibly be scared of an old tall tale," Blue teased, punching him in the arm.

"Old tales, spoken of how the forest drives whoever decides to enter it to complete madness, you know, that kind of stuff," Shadow explained.

Green swallowed. "Uh… they don't happen to be wrong, do they?"

"Who knows… no one's ever been in there before. And now we have to break that streak."

"Now?" Green glanced at Shadow and Vio. "But… are you feeling okay enough to go?"

"We'll survive." Vio looked at Shadow, and they both slid out of the sickbed.

Blue tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, then, let's go! Finally, something to do!"

Green cringed at how bold Blue was, though they could possibly die in the Forbidden Woods. "If you wanna be the first one to die, Blue, then be my guest!"

"Nah." Blue rolled his eyes. "Me die first? Pfffft… I bet ol' scaredy-cat Green's gonna kick the bucket before we even get there."

Green, Blue, Vio, and Shadow stood in front of the entrance to the Forbidden Woods, an opening cut into the thick foliage of the looming, dark forest ahead of them. An unearthly, ghostly-sounding howl rose out of the woods, somewhere buried deep inside. The Links all shivered, even Blue, though the air was nowhere near chilly.

"Having second thoughts?" Green murmured to Blue.

"N-No way! I'm not afraid of anything!" Blue protested.

"Well, we're going to see if that's true... in there." Vio pointed to the foreboding forest.

Blue swept off his hat in a single motion, bowing low and gesturing with one hand to the entrance. "Well, in that case, ladies first."

Shadow snorted, and Green huffed, "Shaddup." Nevertheless, Green walked forwards first, stepping into the dense woods, the other trailing after him.

Meanwhile, hidden in the leafy canopy of a twisted, gnarled oak tree nearby, a single, solitary black raven sat perched on one of the tree's branches. The raven's beady red eyes regarded the Links as they proceeded into the so-called haunted forest until they were out of sight. It gave a low laugh, sounding more human than bird. Yesssss… it hissed. Yesssss, enter my home… and become my prisonerssss.. forever! You may have ssssafety in numberssss, but I'll take care of that… ssssoon enough.

With a loud cackle, it rose up into the air in a whirlwind of black feathers, and was gone.

Dargon: Oh, give me a break, you're bein' too kind

These creatures have a one-track mind!

The orchard is not their restaurant

But do they ever think what others may want?...

...

O.o

SORRY. IT'S STUCK IN MY HEAD RIGHT NOW.

I have only three more Skittles left...

Oh... never mind. They're gone now.

HEH HEH... BAI! I PROMISE I WILL TRY TO UPDATE MORE QUICKLY! BUT IN THE MEANWHILE...

SEE YA! *Salutes*