Just a walk in the Park
Chapter 9 – Investigation
Written by Mecha Kraken
Author's note-
I do not own any of the characters appearing in this fan fiction. All characters are owned and copyrighted to Nintendo or their respective franchises.
Here's Chapter 9, hope ya enjoy =)
They woke early the next morning, amid the high buzzing of Peach's digital, red mushroom alarm clock. Peach had been fully nestled into Link's big shoulder, and she was slow to open her eyes. Her golden hair lay about in tangled mats across her face, and she could see her pink-nail polished fingers resting on Link's bare chest.
"Oh… morning already…" she mumbled, straining her eyes against the faint light coming through the window nearby.
Brushing her hair back, Peach quietly rose to a sitting position on the bed, the blanket falling down and revealing her perky, soft breasts and tummy. After shutting off the alarm, she turned and observed Link sleeping peacefully beside her, still snoring away as if it were night time. A wry smirk spread across her lips, and she reached one of her hands over to massage a side of Link's sleek, angular face. As her fingers stroked his skin, Link's eyes twitched, and he grumbled a bit before opening them slightly.
"Good morning, Link…" Peach said softly, continuing to scratch the underside of Link's chin with her finger tips.
"Morning…" he whispered, enjoying Peach's tickling. He stretched his arms and shoulders, before leaning up to meet Peach's gaze.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked, cupping one of her curved shoulders in his hand.
"Yeah, it was great. Did you?"
"Always" Link replied with a smile, before gently pulling Peach close and kissing the side of her slender neck.
Peach yelped slightly at the unexpected action, but allowed herself to be taken cheerfully. Her soft, heated body was like heaven in his arms, and Link indulged on her warm flesh. Peach gripped Link's strong traps in her hands, the fingers digging in as she arched her back from the pleasure.
"Oh…" Peach gasped, feeling Link's touch on her skin, and the firm head of his rod poking against her thigh.
"Lay back for me, Peach" Link whispered into her ear, ready to go a second time.
"Nuh-uh. Not now, Link" the princess teased, trying to ease Link's warm frame off her. She stared into his blue eyes with a playful glare, while tracing a finger over his chest. "I have things to do first".
"Like what?" Link asked, trying to reach for Peach again.
"Things…" Peach whispered, giggling as she dodged Link's kisses towards her neck, chest, lips…
"What sort of things…" Link pressed, trying to kiss Peach's ear.
"I have to water my garden…" Peach began, as she pushed at Link's shoulders. "Then have breakfast with Toadsworth, and after that appear at the fund raiser for the new orphanage…"
"You're building an orphanage?" Link mumbled, between nibbles of Peach's neck.
"Link really, I mean it now, stop…" Peach exclaimed, pushing him off of her and onto the bed. Her pink breasts bounced from the exertion, and Peach took deep breaths, attempting to regain her composure. Link pouted as he watched Peach slid over to the edge of the mattress, her bare back revealing smooth, lean muscles. As she stepped onto the floor, her round ass came into Link's view, and he couldn't help but grab Peach's thighs in his powerful arms.
"Link!" Peach exclaimed, wide eyed.
"C'mon, Peach. Ten more minutes?" he pleaded, trailing kisses down her cheeks.
"No! Behave yourself!" Peach squeaked, trying to free herself from Link's embrace.
"C'mon…"
"Link… Link… "
Link continued to kiss the princess' ass, her hips, the base of her spine, fondling her creamy thighs in his hands…
"Link… Link… I mean it… LINK NOW STOP!" Peach shouted, grabbing a pink lamp from the bed table and bashing Link in the head with it. It broke into pieces over his forehead and sent him hurtling to the bed.
A few moments later…
"…oohhh…" Link mumbled, the world blurry for a moment as he opened his eyes.
"Link! Oh, I'm so sorry! So sorry!" Peach kept saying, over and over.
"W-what happened?" he mumbled, rubbing his head. As the room slowly came back into focus, he noticed he had a bandage wrapped on his forehead, and slight pain coursing through his skull.
"You were out for fifteen minutes… I'm so sorry!" Peach exclaimed, her eyes a little misty. Link noticed that she was wearing panties and a bra now, but aside from that she was still as bare as the night before.
"What hit me…?" he muttered, still rubbing his head.
"…Umm… you must have slipped or something when you had your arms around me…" the princess said sheepishly.
"Oh. Sorry for being so clumsy…" he mumbled. His gaze drifted to the floor, and he saw jagged pieces of a lamp in the waste basket next to the bed.
"Oh fuck, did I break that? I'm sorry, Peach…"
Peach only smirked and shook her head.
"Don't worry about it…"
Looking up, Link saw Peach smiling at him. A look of contentment was on her face.
"Okay, well, I have to get ready now. Toadsworth will be worried if I am not at the dining hall on time…"
"Alright" Link said with a nod. "But what should I do…?" he asked.
"You can stay here if you like… I'll let the guards know you're here and to show you hospitality" Peach replied.
"Ok, got it." Link said cheerfully. "Can I see you later in the day?"
"Of course you can. We can have dinner once everything's done. Oh, and you'll be sleeping with me tonight…" the princess said with a wink. Both Peach and Link laughed over this, and after a quick smooch, Peach dressed in her normal pink gown as Link watched. She then went to her bedroom mirror to comb her hair, put on jewelry, and do all of the normal things girls do to get ready. When she was finished, Peach paused at the doorway to blow Link a kiss, before gently closing the bedroom door behind her.
Link was still completely naked, and he felt a little silly about it. He also wondered why Peach made no move to at least help him make the bed. Didn't she care that questions might be asked about the tossed sheets?
("I guess that's what servants are for…") he thought, before squinting his eyes.
The creak of the morning sun then caught Link's attention, and he watched the events through the window of Peach's room.
The surrounding dark sky over the Mushroom Kingdom was a mix of indigo, violet, and gold. It held soft, light-blue clouds, iridescent stars, and a bright, beaming sun just past the dawn. Mario observed the early sunrise from his plush, red reclining chair, through the massive glass window in his corporate office. The window was one of the pinnacles of his office, taking up the entire southern wall, and providing a magnificent, unrivaled view of the entire kingdom.
He had chosen to come to his toy company the day before, to finish design concepts for a new Mario-mini that he would be selling later this year. It was funny, since even though he had become quite wealthy through the success the Super Mini-Mario World Theme Park, he still found himself depressed and mulling.
("Peach…")
Whenever he felt upset or needed a break from reality, he often found himself looking through his office window, down at the expansive features of the kingdom. Emerald forests, sandy deserts, the waves of the surrounding ocean. The citizens of the kingdom were as ants to him this high up, yet went about their daily lives. He viewed them from above, entering stores, driving cars, sitting on benches, talking to other toads. They had no idea they were being watched, which sometimes gave Mario a sense of power from his seat next to the window.
("Peach… was it all just a lie?")
Just then, the sudden opening of a door behind him caught Mario's attention.
"Mario, I have the new sketches you asked for!" Pauline beamed cheerily, holding a manila folder over her head.
"Great, just put them on my desk" Mario replied, dismissingly waving a hand in the air.
Pauline pranced over to his desk, her high heels making clump sounds on the red carpeting. She proudly smacked the folder down, and swiveled Mario's reclining chair to meet him in the eye.
"Guess what? Were already ahead of schedule! We've got more than enough time now to finish this before our deadline…" she exclaimed with a smile, which quickly faded when she got a look at Mario's face.
"What's wrong, Mario?"
"Nothing…"
"Yeah right. Did you slip fixing a sink or what?"
"I'm serious, it's nothing. I'll call you if I need you" Mario sputtered, before turning his chair to face the window again.
Pauline's face then scrunched as she cocked an eyebrow.
"Hey, you don't just back out of talking to me, mister!" she said all huffy, turning the chair again.
This time she got a good look at Mario, and he looked like hell. His eyebrows were bushy and spread all over, his skin was pasty, his eyes bloodshot. His cheeks were red as if he had been crying recently.
"What happened to you, Mario?" Pauline asked, the worry apparent in her voice.
Mario remained quiet. He looked at Pauline, who crossed her arms defiantly as if asking him to continue. After a moment, he finally gave way.
"I got dumped yesterday…" Mario blurted out, sniffing as he rubbed his nose.
"Oh…" Pauline sighed, the worry returning to her eyes.
"That stupid princess. Who does she think she is? Expecting me to rescue her, then fucking around without giving me any? What the fuck!" he shouted, clenching his fists.
"Who?" Pauline asked, shrugging.
"Fucking Peach. PRINCESS PEACH, the fucking bitch!" Mario sobbed, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
Realization dawned on Pauline's face as she figured out who Mario was blubbering about.
"That's right." She said with a nod. "I saw it in the news; Peach was dating that guy from Hyrule, Link right? I bet what's-her-name… Princess Helga, is pretty pissed about that…!" Pauline coyly remarked.
"Who cares, she was supposed to be with me! Who was there to save her whenever she got kidnapped? I was!" Mario shouted, clenching his fists.
"…There are other girls, Mario" Pauline said softly.
"I only wanted her, and I did so much to get it. The lousy bitch…" Mario stammered, sniffling.
Seeing the boss like this was too much for Pauline, and she started frowning herself. Was this pink princess really that important to him? Pauline shook her head.
"You poor baby... Do you want me to take care of you again, Mario?" she asked.
"You… you can if you want…" Mario replied, wiping the tears from his eyes with a handkerchief.
"Okay…"
Pauline lowered herself onto her knees towards Mario's groin, unbuttoning his blue jean trousers. When they hit the floor, Pauline pulled back his mushroom-themed boxers, and with wide eyes, pulled out his stiff, thick cock.
"I thought you were sad, baby…" Pauline gasped, tapping her fingers alongside his shaft.
Mario only sniffed in response, before blowing his nose into the handkerchief.
"Okay, just relax sweetheart…" she whispered, before putting the head into her mouth. She began sucking him, running her hand up and down his rod. She wrapped her tongue around his head, spreading it over the bulging, red flesh. She licked at the neck of the shaft, up and down the spine, in-between the slit of his urethra with the tip of her tongue…
Pauline took her other hand and began playing with his balls, rolling them around and squeezing them together. She massaged the base of his bone with her thumb, pressing it against his flesh and rubbing up and down in a smooth motion. Pauline then lowered her head a bit, taking more of the meat into her mouth, sucking as hard as she could. She could feel the thick head of his penis resting against her tongue, and she licked it all around, going in and out with her neck.
"Ohhh…" Mario moaned, leaning back into the chair. He looked at Pauline's face, with her red lips wrapped tightly around his hard cock, the sunken-ness of her cheeks as she sucked him. He brushed away strands of stray hair that had fallen over her eyes, and was soon running his fingers through her scalp. She looked up at him to smile, his raging hard on still firmly in her mouth.
"Mmmm…" he moaned again, closing his eyes.
"Like thaaat?" Pauline mumbled, sucking between words.
"Yeah… good girl…" he whispered, grasping at her flowing, crimson hair.
Minutes passed as Pauling continued to suck Mario's knob, rubbing it against the soft sides of her mouth, touching the roof of her jaw with it, taking it out to bang against her tongue. She knew what he liked, and she was going to give him everything. She put Mario's rigid dick back into her mouth, and went deep on him as he leaned in to slip off the straps of her red dress. She shuddered a bit as she felt her garment come to rest against her waist, and with his junk still banging the back of her throat, reaching behind herself to unhook her rose colored bra. It came off in an instant, exposing her bare breasts to the air. They had to be at least a D…
"Those are some great tits you got there" Mario said, smiling as he watched Pauline suck his lollipop.
"Mmmhmm…" she moaned into his dick, now sucking it as hard as she could. She ran a hand up under Mario's red shirt, and began fondling Mario's stomach, tracing paths over his warm flesh and around his waist.
"Ugh…" he moaned, clasping her hair in his hands.
Pauline was going up and down furiously now, running her red lips over his hot skin. She paused for a minute at the base of his shaft, his salami all the way inside her, and sucked everything she could. After a moment, she reared her head back to get a few gasps of air, rubbing the cock against her neck with her hand.
Mario felt himself getting close, and smiled as he watched Pauline put his penis between her two breasts, rubbing them against his pulsing member. She smiled back at him, a hint of dancing passion in her eyes, and he leaned down to put his lips against hers.
"Mmm…" Pauline moaned into his mouth, feeling his tongue touch hers. Her heaving breasts were wrapped completely around his joystick, and she rubbed them up and down faster and faster.
"Cum for me…" she whispered, with her tongue in his mouth. She broke the kiss, and leaned down to his junk, looking up at him as she opened her mouth.
"Ohh… ohh…" Mario grunted, leaning back as he gripped the armrests of his chair.
Pauline dipped her tongue and swirled it around his head, jerking him hard with her massive breasts.
"Ohh… Ohh… OOHHHH, OOHH SHIIIIITTT…." He exclaimed, lurching as something hot and sticky pumped out of him, up in the air and onto Pauline's face, her hair, all around her boobs… His entire body went rigid, before collapsing into the chair and exhaling deeply.
"Mmmm…" Pauline moaned, swallowing the portions that had gone into her mouth. She ran her tongue across her lips, getting a few specks that were around her mouth, before rising up and reaching for a tissue.
Mario watched her wipe off her face, staring at her huge, tanned jugs and how they jiggled as she moved her arms. She had toned and lean abs, with a swaying belly ring shaped like a star man. He smiled to himself as his head rested against the chair, enjoying post climax.
"Feeling better…?" she asked with a smile, once the sticky stuff was out of her crimson red hair.
"Yeah, thanks Pauline…" Mario mumbled, taking deep breaths.
"You're every bit of a man, Mario…" Pauline exclaimed, taking a seat on Mario's lap. His spent cock was suddenly brushed up against her soaked panties, and she played with his ears between her fingers, her two massive tits encapsulating his face.
"So you gonna smile for me?"
Mario looked up at Pauline through her cleavage against his cheeks. She was smiling cheerfully, reaching for his red cap to place it on her own head. She winked at him and grinned, before running her hands through his coarse brown hair. Mario had to admit it; there was something about Pauline, whenever she did this for him. He couldn't help but smile.
"So… about those toys" Mario stammered, reaching for the manila envelope Pauline had placed on his desk.
"First tell me what you think of THESE toys" Pauline giggled, grabbing his head and plopping it between her huge breasts….
Elsewhere…
Ike yawned as he tensed his back muscles, still sore after the lousy sleep he had gotten from the rough mattress in his hotel room. Grumpy and disheveled, he opted for a pint of porter this morning to start the day right.
"No OJ, huh?" the long-haired bartender joked, laying a frothy mug down in front of Ike.
Ike only shook his head, raising the glass to his lips and taking a few gulps.
"Tch, commercial for booze if I ever saw it…" the bartender said again, grinning. "If ya need anything else, I'll be at the other end of the bar, dig?"
Ike nodded while waving the weirdo off, completely uninterested. After a while when the bartender was gone, Ike relaxed finally, taking in his surroundings. He found that if he had to describe the bar in the hotel with one word, it would be… cheap.
The place was obviously old, a relic from times of yore. Framed black and white photographs hung on the brick walls, and a rotted grand piano sat in a corner of the room. It had seemingly been placed there as an afterthought, since Ike was sure the dust piling up on it was an inch in length. The tables and chairs were all made of thin ply wood, with little porcelain vases that held fake flowers resting on top.
("Wow, what a dump…") Ike thought, sipping his porter. When he laid down his pint, the glass made a thick hollow sound against the rough, wooden counter. Ike sighed.
("Poor Zelda… I wish I could help her. How in the holy world of fuck could Link cheat on such a fine piece of… no, Zelda is more than that. She's a good person, inside and out. I wish she would wake up and see that there is still a world out there, one she could be living in instead of that blasted room…")
Ike stared down into the swirling patterns of the brown porter in his glass. His reflection was distorted, swiveling back and forth between the ripples. Lowering a hand to his money pouch, he grimaced as he felt the few gold coins he still had left.
("Damn, almost out of money…") Ike thought. ("I didn't plan on staying in Hyrule this long… what am I going to do?")
Just then, an aged man with thinning black hair stepped behind the bar. He seemed burly for his years, and his face held the tough eyes of an old wolf, cunning and practical.
"You're up early…" the man spoke to Ike.
"Nothing I'm not used to…" Ike replied, taking another sip of his porter. Hearing this made the man smirk a bit.
"I take it ye found the room to yer likin'?" he said, picking up a glass to polish it with a rag.
"As a matter of fact, I didn't." Ike said, looking the man in the eye with a frown. "The bed was awful, and I'm sure I overpaid for it".
"That so…?"
"That's so" Ike replied sternly.
"Well sorry to hear ya weren't satisfied with the room. I can offer ye another if ye plan to be stayin' another night…" the man quickly suggested.
"I don't think so. Besides, I don't have much money left anyway…" Ike mumbled.
"No room for dead beats here" the man said with a shrug, laying the clean glass on the rack. "Though you might want ta reconsider, since I do keep prices reasonable…"
Ike shook his head, returning his gaze to the surface of his porter.
"If'n ya need money, why don'cha take a look at that bulletin board behind ye on the wall. People post jobs there every day. Maybe there's one there for you…" the man said, before slapping a wet rag on the counter.
Ike looked up, and watched the man wordlessly go down the bar to serve another patron, and to yell at the younger, long-haired bartender. Ike sighed, than looked again at his reflection in the porter, watching himself ripple and sway for a moment. Seeing himself in the liquid, his expression hardened, and he raised the mug to his lips.
After finishing it, he let the tingling kiss of porter flow through him, before setting the glass down and rising from his stool. Turning, he made his way towards the bulletin board the man had pointed out to him, and studied it. Various scraps of paper lined the board, all scrawled with hard to read letters.
("What the hell? He calls this crap a job board?") Ike thought, scowling.
Scanning the entire board, the only thing that caught his interest was a single sheet of paper, buried behind other "requests" that had been tacked on after it. Moving these scraps aside, Ike saw that the paper had the headline "Missing" labeled at the top.
("A missing person's case? Is this really a job?") Ike thought, studying the paper in his hand. The missing person in question looked to be an eighteen-year old girl named Ashley, who had gone missing two months ago, according to the date printed on the paper. She had neck-length white hair, and pale skin. No other information was provided on the sheet.
("…I wonder if that old blowhard can tell me more about this….")
Turning, Ike made his way back to the bar, where the man he spoke to before was now polishing the countertops.
"You were right, there did seem to be a job that I would be interested in. Can you tell me anything about this?" Ike mentioned, showing the man the paper.
"You gonna look for Ashley?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That depends. I need to know who posted this, and how much their offering…"
The man looked at Ike, as if to ask him if he were serious. Looking him over, the man seemed to dismiss him as well.
"Well, maybe ye might have better luck then some of the other riff raff what tried the job." He said at last, giving the sheet back to Ike. Ike nodded, folding the paper and placing it in his breast pocket.
"So can you tell me anything about this? Because I really hate to repeat myself." he mentioned with a frown.
"Girl named Jessica posted it. She's stayin' at room 211. Though ye might wanna go back n look at some o' the smaller fish on that board. I don't think you're up to this, kid…"
"We'll see. Thanks for the help, pops" Ike said, laying down a coin to pay for the drink. Turning, he headed towards the door, and up the stairs.
"Don' mention it" the man spat, polishing another glass in his aged hands.
Ike made his way through the hotel. He knew room 211 was on the same floor as the one he had been staying in, room 217.
("Maybe if I earn some money, I can stay here longer…") Ike thought with hope. (The Greil Knights can handle things back home for a while. Zelda needs my help right now…")
After climbing a second set of creaking stairs, Ike found himself on the second floor. The rooms were all numbered numerically, so he knew the girl's room, Jessica, was just down the hall, room 211. When he got to the door, he took the slip of paper out of his pocket, and studied it.
("Might as well give it a go…") he thought, looking up. Ike knocked on the door in front of him.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
He waited a moment for a reply, before trying the door again.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Another moment passed, and still nothing.
"Hello? Jessica?" Ike asked, tapping his knuckles against the wood.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Only silence.
("Hmm, guess she's out. Oh well…") he thought, grimacing. He stared at the door a moment more, before deciding to leave. He had only taken a few steps down the hall though, before Ike heard the door open behind him.
"Yes?" a woman's voice answered.
"Ah…" Ike stuttered, turning to face the woman.
This he wasn't expecting. A young woman was at the door, who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore a black mini-skirt, stockings, and orange blouse. Her auburn, bob-cut hair swished at the sides of her face, and the glasses she wore gave her a look of sophistication. Ike was impressed.
"Is there a reason that you are banging on my door?" the woman said again.
"Yeah…" Ike said finally, walking back towards the door. Unfolding the sheet of paper in his hand, he showed it to the woman. Her eyes widened a bit while looking at it.
"I'm looking for the person who posted this; I'm interested in taking the job…" he said, crossing his arms.
The woman looked up from the paper she was holding, and a look of discontentment was across her face.
"The guards tried for a month to find her, before calling off the search. And the private detectives I hired found nothing either. Do you think you can do something about this?"
Ike was about to cut in to ask what the compensation for the job was, but decided it could wait for later after looking at the expression on the woman's face.
"You're Jessica, right?" he asked.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"The guy running the bar told me, and said to come see you for more information" Ike replied, taking the paper back.
"Well, at least that fool can do something right…" Jessica mentioned, looking away.
"Looks like we agree on something, at least." Ike said with a smile. Jessica offered no response to this, and a few seconds passed before she spoke again.
"Yeah, so what was your name again?"
"It's Ike. I'm a commander of a mercenary corps in Ellincia, here on vacation. Figured the vacation was boring though, and thought I'd see what I could do to help…"
"Ike, huh…" Jessica repeated, looking him up and down. She seemed to study the various parts of his armor, and the huge sword that lay in the scabbard against his waist.
Ike wordlessly watched her gaze go over his body, before her eyes met his.
"So tell me, Ike, do you always walk around with a head-band on?"
"Every damn day" he said with a nod of his head.
"Huh. Well… come in, and we'll talk more about this" Jessica beckoned, opening the door.
Ike obliged, and upon entering Jessica's room, he could see that there was little difference between it and his room. The bed was in the same exact position, with a small TV resting on top of a one-drawer cabinet. A mini-fridge next to it also seemed to be acting as an end table, with hotel pamphlets and a tea tray on top.
"Nice place…" Ike commented.
"It gets the job done…" Jessica said, waving a hand in the air. "Speaking of which, let's talk about why you're here."
Ike nodded, and took a seat on a wooden chair next to the bed. It creaked and shifted a bit as he sat into it, eliciting a frown from his face.
"So what's the relation between you and… Ashley?" he asked.
"She's my niece..." Jessica answered, sitting down onto the bed and elegantly crossing her legs. "The daughter of my brother and sister-in-law"
"Your niece! So… where's the father?" Ike asked, a bit surprised.
"He's back home, in a place called Los Angeles…"
"Los Angeles?" Ike repeated. "Never heard of it…"
"That doesn't surprise me…" Jessica commented, shaking her head.
"What country is that? Los Angeles?" he asked.
"Somewhere not here…" Jessica answered, shrugging.
"Hold it, you're confusing me…" Ike said, scratching his head.
"Heh, you're telling me…" Jessica stated, frowning. Ike only stared at her, trying to make sense of what she was telling him. His face soon hardened, however.
"Can you please explain to me what's going on?" He asked at last, anger welling in his voice.
Jessica only looked up at him, her expression seeming to be just as perplexed as he was.
"Listen, I'll tell you what I know, but there are some things that I can't explain myself…" she stated.
"Go on…" Ike encouraged, his face still set and tight.
Jessica paused, clearing her throat. She removed her thin-rimmed glasses to rub her two eyes together, before placing them back on her head and turning her attention to Ike.
"Ashley is a sweet girl, always has been…" Jessica said with a smile. "But she's had problems with the father – my brother, since the time she was born. After the death of his wife, he dedicated himself to the construction of a machine, something that could change people's memories..."
Ike's eyes twitched with a confused glare, as he attempted to take all of this in.
"It came to the point where he had all but lost contact with my niece, and he had asked me to take care of her while he was away. I was hesitant, but somehow I knew that he needed this time to do what he had to do. Years pass, and I find myself still looking after her..."
Ike frowned, not sure what to make of what he had heard so far.
"So the guy up and leaves, and you're ok with that? Leaving his own daughter without a father, to build some kind of… device?" Ike commented, the disgust heavy in his voice.
"I know it sounds strange, but something inside told me to let him be." Jessica said. "Then later, after eleven years, he decides to come home and live with his daughter. We both think the worst is over, and that he'll stay this time. Turns out we were wrong…"
"He ditched Ashley again, didn't he?"
"Yeah. I still kept close contact with my niece even after she left to live with him. Hell, I might as well have called her my own daughter by now. But anyway, my brother leaves again to continue work on his machine, and Ashley came back to me…"
"Hmph. Sounds like the guy needs a serious reality check…" Ike commented. Jessica looked up, smirking a bit at this.
"Anyway, I decide that a vacation would be best to forget about what was happening, and arrange for a stay in Santa Monica, near the seashore. I used to spend time there myself as a child…"
Jessica paused for a moment, smiling, as if to reminisce of earlier days. It wasn't long before she returned to her story though.
"I knew it would take more than 10 hours of driving however to get there, so the two of us decided to spend a night in this hotel. We stayed overnight… and wound up here…"
"Wound up here…?" Ike repeated, confused.
"That's right" Jessica agreed, nodding.
"Hold on a second. There's no Santa Monica or whatever around here…" Ike cut in. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Jessica only shook her head, as if she had been asked this question a hundred times before, and that her answer had always been the same.
"It's funny, but the moment we stepped into this hotel, it was as if we had completely left Los Angeles. I open the door of the hotel to leave the next day, and see a town with people carrying swords and riding horses. My car is nowhere in sight…"
"You're not making any sense, Jessica…" Ike stated calmly. He suddenly found himself trying to decide the sanity of this person in front of him.
"I don't know myself…" Jessica said, before removing her glasses again. Taking a handkerchief, she began to weep and bawl as a confused Ike stared on.
After sniffling for a bit, she wiped her eyes and rubbed them again with her fingers. Ike was silent the whole time, as he attempted to put two and two together…
"So… what you're saying is that when you entered the hotel, you were in a place called… 'Los Angeles'… And when you tried to leave the hotel, you were here in Castle Town? Is that what happened?" he stated slowly, trying to believe for himself what he was actually saying.
"That's right…" Jessica agreed, wiping her eyes again.
Ike went silent again, not sure what to say. Perhaps the woman really was mad? He tried to think of alternatives and explanations in his mind.
("I've seen what powerful magic can do…") he thought, his chin in his hand. ("I know what it's capable of… could that woman have stumbled upon some kind of magic?")
While he was thinking, Jessica spoke again at last, placing the glasses back onto her pretty face.
"You probably think I'm crazy. Everyone else seems to think so, when I talk to them about what happened."
Ike shook his head, dismissing the notion.
"Let's not think about that right now" he said. "You still haven't told me how Ashley went missing…"
Jessica took a deep breath, before continuing with her story.
"After about a month, with no way to go back, my niece and I decided to try and make a life here in… Hyrule. We only had a little money with us, and the only place that seemed to accept it was the hotel. I decided to get a job teaching at the local school in Castle Town, and began to earn some money. Ashley found work as a guitarist, playing on stage for tourists. We both made enough to support ourselves, and this room has come to be our home…"
"You're living here?" Ike asked, a bit surprised. Living in a hotel was an option for people, but usually not the best, because of the high cost involved.
"Yeah, I wanted us to be close to the hotel. In case whatever sent us here decides to send us back…"
Ike found himself nodding at the logic of the woman.
"So when did she go missing?"
"Two months ago… right after a performance she was giving at Kakariko Village. It was at night, and when she had just finished the show at 9pm, that was the last anyone saw her…"
"She didn't come home?" Ike asked.
"No… I asked everyone, and told the guards. They searched for her for weeks, and everyone in Castle Town helped. After a while though, people started to slow in their efforts, before stopping altogether."
"Damn…" Ike muttered.
"Two months pass, and now it seems like I'm the only one looking for her. I put missing posters all over the town. I visited every place I could think of to search for her. And I always end up with the same thing – nothing…" Jessica stated, before starting to cry again.
Ike frowned, shaking his head. He took a deep breath.
("This woman's been through a lot, I can see that. I should see what I can do to help, never mind the money…") he thought to himself, nodding.
"You said Ashley went missing in Kakariko village… could you tell me where?" he asked after a moment.
Jessica continued to snuffle, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief. Ike remained patient, his arms crossed and waiting for her to speak again.
"S-she made her last performance in the town square, near the graveyard…" Jessica sputtered at last.
"Town square huh… ok. Sit tight, I'm gonna go check things out" Ike exclaimed, rising from the cheap wooden seat he had been perched on.
"Hold it, I'm going with you" Jessica said, rising as well. She wiped her cheeks with the handkerchief, and then threw it into the wastebasket nearby.
"Are you sure…?" Ike asked, a little apprehensive.
"She's my niece. If there's anything I can do to help, I will" Jessica stated, walking over to the coat rack against the door. She put on a cotton black overcoat, which very nearly covered her entire outfit. Once it was fully buttoned, she turned back to Ike.
"Let's go…" she said, grabbing him by the arm and walking out of the room.
