Skleee! Hi everybody (if you're actually re-reading this). I'm going to work harder now that I have a break from school, and I'm going to keep re-writing Unity! :D I like this chapter a lot, too. I love music, and that's what it feels like when it's the best.
Young Link tried to ignore the cries of the lady who was having a baby, ignore Navi's tinkled instructions. He made sure not to look over at them. He used the fanciest, most difficult manoeuvres he knew on the monsters facing him, fighting circles around every one of them, almost enjoying himself. He held his sword up, leaving a deliberate opening, then chopped down when three of the demons lunged for it. The little priestess was careful, pale and frightened looking, but if any monster went near the pregnant woman, she dove at it like a wildcat.
All in all, the demons were getting nowhere. But they had an advantage. They just kept coming. Every time he killed one of them, another popped up. There were more and more of them. He, Popo, Nana, Ness, and the little priestess girl kept fighting, but Young Link knew they'd start wearing down before long.
The little girl looked at Young Link. "Hey!" she said. "Does one of you have the pitch pipe?"
"Yeah," he said, beheading the gremlin-thing nearest to him. "I have it."
"Are you the Chosen Hero?" she asked. "Can you play it?"
"I can play it," Young Link said.
Her eyes went wide. "We can stop this!" she said. "Come on! The Shrine is just up ahead! And somebody's already singing there! Follow me, please. I know what to do."
"Ness, Popo, Nana!" Young Link called. "Can you handle this?"
"Got it!" Ness shouted, firing a burst of psychic flame at the nearest one. "Go ahead."
"Protect Lady Melanie!" the little girl said. "Don't let them hurt her."
"Nobody's gonna hurt her," Popo promised, not looking away from the gremlin he and Nana were squashing careful! Navi called. I have to stay little girl grabbed Young Link's hand and pulled him down a hallway. She still had her dagger in one hand. "Come on!" letting go of Young Link's hand, she grabbed a torch from the wall, cried something out. It burst into violet flames. "Melodia needs your help!"
The two children ran as fast as they could. "I'm Link. What's your name?" Young Link shouted.
"Chrissy," the girl replied.
"Oh, you're the one who wrote the diary," said Young Link. "It was open to one page. That's what told us to come."
"I'm glad," Chrissy said. "Hurry, it's just up ahead."
They entered a room. It was perfectly round, and violet candles, unlit, circled the room. Someone stood in the centre, suffused by light, singing something in a beautiful, echoing voice. Mewtwo, Pichu, and Pikachu stood in a corner of the room.
"Th-that's not a priestess..." Chrssy said, stopping to stare. Young Link looked harder, and saw...
"Jigglypuff!"
Chrissy stared at the singing Pokemon. "Well," she said, "She's singing Melodia's song, so it'll do." She started to run around the room, lighting each candle with her torch. "Link," she said. "Chosen Hero."
"What do I have to do?" he asked.
"See the symbol on the Pitch-pipe? It's shaped like an eighth note, with three ribbons behind it."
Young Link stared hard at the Pith-pipe. He saw the three ribbons behind a circle and a stick, like what was on the Ocarina. "Yeah!"
"Play it as loud and long as you can."
Link put the pitch-pipe to his lips and blew. A note came out, then it changed into a song, a counter-melody to what Jigglypuff was singing. It glowed, and the room was filled with light. The candles glowed, Jigglypuff shone, and the Pitch-pipe radiated pure white light.
He felt himself walk forward, still blowing. Some corner of his mind wondered how he could keep his air going for this long. The rest was caught up in a song he had never played before, but had always known. His heart sang along.
Jigglypuff's voice grew quieter. She stopped, and began to speak. Words flowed from her lips. She spoke, not in her own language, nor in any Young Link knew. Strangely, Young Link heard the words clearly in his mind, as the pitch-pipe played a melody.
"Our songs, the first-songs, sound still. I am the Melody. I sleep in all who have sung. The Song is here. Let all who know it sing, and the Realm become a Sanctuary once more."
—
The door swung open, and Game&Watch stepped into the hallway. After a moment, the priestesses and Bards followed.
The priestesses stared at the door. "Oh," said one of them. Then she cried out, "We're free!"
Stella ran up and hugged Game&Watch. "Thank you," she whispered. Then she raised him up in the air. "Hurray for our hero!" All the people present cheered. Game&Watch was tossed high, caught by another, and tossed again. They all cheered.
"Hey!" someone cried out. "Listen!"
Game&Watch looked around. He heard nothing, but all the priestesses put hands to their ears to listen.
"The Call," an old woman whispered hoarsely. "The Song is here. Let all who know it sing."
Game&Watch heard a melody, just a quiet echo. But it began to grow, as each priestess took up the song. He noticed that the boys without instruments remained silent, but looked up with wonder on their faces. The boy with the harp played a soft counter-melody, adding a couple of chords as he got comfortable. Another, who held a trumpet, played the same melody.
—
And it is done, Navi said, as the child's first cry rang out. Give the Lady her daughter. Samus took the squirming baby in her hands. She placed it into Melanie's outstretched arms. Melanie pulled a bit of her robes away, and put the child to her bared breast. The baby girl latched on, beginning to feed for the first time.
Suddenly, they heard a voice, ringing through the hallway. "The Song is here. Let all those who know it sing."
"Bethany," Melanie said weakly. "It's the Call."
The other woman, Bethany, looked shocked. "Chrissy?" she asked.
Melanie shook her head slowly. "No, it's not Chrissy's voice. I'd know Chrissy's."
"Then who?" Bethany asked.
"I... don't know," said Melanie. "Someone is in the Shrine, and the Hero is there."
Bethany got to her feet. She started to sing, quietly, then with a growing voice. Lady Melanie joined in weakly, unable to stand.
It's the Song of Melodia, Navi said quietly. The little demons that the three children were fighting froze.
Suddenly, another tiny voice joined in. Melanie looked down. "Oh, Goddess," she said. "Bethany, look at my daughter." The newborn had opened her mouth, and her tiny voice was singing the Song. Tears coursed down Melanie's face, and she laughed before starting to sing again. This time it was in a stronger, more trained voice.
—
Marth and Roy looked up, hearing a song echo through the building.
"Something's happening," Roy said. Then he looked over at Marth. "D'you know you're humming."
Marth looked up. "I am?" he asked.
Roy nodded slowly. "You're humming that song."
Marth paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "It's very, very catchy." He looked over at Roy. "Now you're humming it too."
Roy laughed. "Am I?"
—
All the blue-lit instruments started to play. But, strangely, they played the opposite of the beautiful song echoing through the building. They were loud, they were very loud, and the notes were unbelievably dissonant. The light shining through the building began to dim. The out-of-tune instruments played louder.
"Something tells me that is not good," Fox said.
—
It hurt to hear the beautiful song, sung by so many voices, being contested by the blare of the possessed instruments near them. Zelda and Link covered their keen ears, trying to drown out the cacophony of noise. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong conversed quickly in low hoots and cries.
—
The blaring of out-of-tune instruments reached Melanie's ears. She stopped singing. "What is that?" she asked. The baby girl started to screech, a high, keening sound. The Song began to falter, as the sound of the instruments grew louder. The demons attacked again, and this time there were more. Samus joined in the fight, but still they were outnumbered.
—
As the blare of angry instruments reached their ears, a wave of pain travelled through Young Link's body. Something squeezed his lungs, forcing the air out of them. His notes petered out. Jiggypuff cried out in pain.
—
"No," said Falco, "It doesn't sound good at all."
"The song that was purging the darkness from the building is being interrupted by this," said Gannondorf, in his authority as the most sensitive to magic in the room.
"Then it needs to be stopped," said Fox.
"Let's-a go!" Mario said. He flung a fireball at the nearest instrument. It stopped playing for a moment.
—
"We have to stop those instruments!" Zelda cried.
"Come on," said Link. They charged back the way they had come, to see the door hanging open. Zelda summoned her magic, and Link drew his sword. Donkey Kong cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists. Diddy pulled out a gun, and loaded oversized peanuts into it. Yoshi, Mario, Luigi, Fox, Falco, and Gannondorf were already fighting the instruments.
Peach burst into the room from another door, Captain Falcon and Ike with her. "Come on!" Peach shouted. The three attacked as well.
—
The out-of-tune notes, contrasted by the serene beauty of the song drilled into Mewtwo, Pikachu, and Pichu. It was agonizing to listen to. Slowly, slowly, the blaring was drowned out.
—
Jigglypuff cried out, still in that strange voice. "Let the Song not falter. The Music plays on. Take heart, singers of Melodia, for the Darkness is held off. Sing, and Darkness will disappear. Stop, and Music will die."
Jigglypuff sang again, louder, in a richer, fuller voice than Young Link had ever heard. Young Link felt air return to his lungs, and the torment abated. Notes poured from his pipe once more.
It was as if a universe had opened up before them. Each star was a singer, sending their strength to him and Jigglypuff. He was connected to every heart in the building, and yet it was as if he watched his own actions from a distance. He felt, more than saw, light surge through the building, purging the darkness from it. He had the urge to jump, to sing, to shout for joy, yet he couldn't move a muscle.
He watched himself take the Pitch-pipe away from his lips, and cry something - he didn't understand - out. Then the world went black.