My purpose was to obey the command of the goddess and lead you on your quest... When I first awoke and began this task, I perceived it as merely serving my function as a servant to Her Grace... However, I have come to consider the information... ...among the most precious data I have on record... I do not have the capability to fully understand the human spirit... But now, at the end of my journey, as I prepare to sleep within the Master Sword forever, I experience a feeling I am unable to identify... I lack sufficient data to be sure of my conclusion, but I believe this feeling correlates closest to what people call... happiness...
My purpose was to obey the command of the goddess-
-among the most precious data I have on record-
-fully understand the human spirit-
-experience a feeling I am unable to identify-
-what people call... happiness... happiness... happiness... -
-I feel my consciousness fading away...
May we meet again in another life...
another life...
These are official quotes of Fi's departing words from SS. For a long time, during the synopses, I wanted Cleo to have a true connection with Hyrule and I was thinking she was the reincarnation of Fi herself, yet I know it wouldn't work because, in theory, the Master Sword needed Fi for its power (But, c'mon I really want Cleo to be a hero, not just because!). But after reading the dialogue, it gave me another idea for Cleo to be a living embodiment of Fi's happiness just as Ganondorf is of Demise's hatred. They had been vital for Cleo's true purpose, the true deeper reason for her existence that I wanted her to have in the story. You might notice that some parts of the quotes had been removed. The reason for that is because I only wanted to include the more important ones that focus on Fi's purpose and her happiness, the rest that mentions Link had nothing to do with the story here.
Cleo was floating in infinite blackness... emptiness...-
-Then a soft light appeared... it seemed far away, but then it grew... and grew... until it became a swirling galaxy. So big... so beautiful... then more galaxies came, farther away... then planets... and meteors flying by...
As she sailed over the first galaxy, the whole atmosphere changed... Another softer light emerged and seemed to be pulling her toward it like a vacuum. She flew faster and faster and yet not getting any closer to the blue orb of light... As she accelerated uncontrollably, the light suddenly brightened and she was now plunged into a new area of space...
Now she was surrounded by a huge stream of stars, thousands of them, and soft clouds covering the closest, brightest star.-
-A floating, futuristic platform awaited her there.-
-everything around her turned black.
Then a light shone like a sunrise and she was pulled into another brighter wormhole. As the swirling walls vanished, she was now floating above a vast majestic ocean. The low hanging sun shone into her face, though not bright enough to blind,-
-the oceanic view started spinning faster and faster until it all faded to black again.
The whole eye-catching description of the world inside Cleo's subconscious is straight from the final destination in SSBB, even the platform. I had to watch a youtube video carefully of the place's various backgrounds with the platform hacked out. It was a lot of fun to write this!
"When the Triforce was created, a forth piece was made to balance the three with a mighty negative force. It was strong, equivalent to the three triforces combined."
We finally learn that there is a fourth piece of the Triforce in existance and that the Death Eye was born from it.
"Exactly 14 years, 2 months, and 27 days ago, I concentrated the precious data of that feeling into a physical form and cast a living projection of that happiness into your world."
This reveals Cleo's birthdate if you can calculate when that is from Dec 20, 2012. That would be Sep 23, 1998, which makes her a Virgo/Libra (on a cusp day) and a tiger.
The whole place was multi-themed, a dungeon that had everything it could throw at Cleo, enemies, traps, puzzles, and various environments from previous dungeons. It required all the items, equipment, and skills she had to get through with careful timing and precision.
The final dungeon is usually all other previous dungeons thrown together in Zelda games. Sometimes you even have to fight some of the same bosses again before facing off against the final. Except in this case, certain rematches are not until the Death Eye.
As she entered, she gasped out in surprise, it was like she had stepped back in time, back to the very beginning of her adventure. It looked exactly like the same room Ghirahim had stayed in at the hotel in Miami. It was the penthouse apartment with his signature design of the interior. There was the same table placed where she had once sat with him, and a large round mirror chandelier hanging overhead.
Talk about deja vu!
"It may not have to... end like this. Not... really..."
"What are you implying?" Cleo too sat down.
"That we don't have to fight. Why must we? It doesn't have to be this way. 'Why must we be enemies' I asked myself, 'Why can't we be friends?' You and I, our fate could end differently, you know." He sighed and gently stroked his hair. "In all honesty, I'd rather not fight you... not when there is a possibility of a trustworthy partnership between us." He leaned forward, looking Cleo in the eye. "I am making you an offer, and it is going to be a once in a lifetime offer, mind you. Just join my side, Cleo. If you would accept my hand of friendship, I would be more than jubilant to give you whatever you wish, whatever your heart desires... And... against all odds and impossibility, I would find the power to undo the wrong I did the day I tried to kill you the first time... and bring your dear old mother back to life. Not only that, but when we win, you could live like a queen and rule over the new world we will create together. What do you say..."
Since Ghirahim hadn't attempted to make a friendly offer before now, I thought this is a good time for him to do that as a last ditch effort to dissuade Cleo from fighting (that, plus a backup plan with Finn, should it fail). This isn't the first time a villain would make this kind of move.
"This is a tempting offer, at least to a less determined person," she remarked.
"less determined" wasn't an obvious choice to use. I was going for "weaker" or something, but mom said it's too braggy for Cleo.
"Once again, you shall have butterflies something terrible."
In case you were confused by that, he meant butterflies in the stomach, not anything more like "having a cow". He was also referring back to when he used a butterfly to lure Cleo to her death, only to kill her mom.
"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request... It means 'no'."
"I know what it means!"
Two allusions in a row. The first is from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and the second (that's part of the first) is from Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events (1999-2006).
Finn's knee bumped against a heavy cardboard box.
This is a foreshadowing to David's sudden appearance in the cell. You might spot this if you're a fan to MGS (Metal Gear Solid). Don't ask me how he got in here, he's Solid Snake, he has his own way.
The mask began to glow, but the demon lord took one swipe with his blade and cut it cleanly in half. "Akairo!" The two halves fell onto the floor. The aura Cleo felt from the mask had disappeared... which meant that Akairo was dead. "Akairo..."
The second time I pretended to kill off a character. I'm so mean!
"You God damned spawn of Smithy!"
Smithy is a major villain from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, 1996). Like his namesake, he creates weapons. I thought it was a good fitting insult to an evil sword spirit.
"If something's good, it's good. Denying something's obvious worth out of disregard is foolish."
This line is from PoR.
On the way, they ran into a group of bokoblins. Before she could react, Finn began shooting at them and they started running for their lives. He gave chase, running ahead.
"Wow, your brother's got as much courage as you do," Joseph admitted.
"It won't do any good if he gets killed!" she responded in worry.
The bokoblins ran full pelt down a hallway followed by Finn giving out a war cry. He turned a corner and screamed even louder. He'd just ran into a whole army of them which fired arrows at him.
This scene was taken from Star Wars: a New Hope (1977) where Han Solo did the same with storm troopers.
"Your soul is too pure to remain, too conflicting for the Death Eye. The possession might get complicated. Time to die!"
This hints to what Cleo has to do in order to defeat him, although it's not obvious.
"We may be bokoblins on the outside, but on the inside, we will always be Groose!"
And here is the big side character reveal, not that that's important. At least it gave them a reason to help Cleo, 'cuz if it weren't for them, she would've ultimately lost.
"Wow, that Master Suard was something else!" said Ollo, mispronouncing the word.
The last JoshJepson quote. He mispronounces "sword" on purpose for entertainment.
"Now you two get outta here while I deal with Lord GaGa!"
I wonder how many fans call him that, comparing him with the pop singer?
"You arrogant, smugly, awful, monster of a girl! How I despise you, loathe you!"
This was from a line taken from the AI (artificial idiot) Wheatley from Portal 2 (PS3/XB/PC, 2011). "I despise you! I loathe you! You arrogant, smugly quiet, awful jumpsuited monster of a woman!"
"Get over yourself drama dragqueen!"
I thought this was the best description of Ghirahim I could use, cause he is such an overly dramatic and flamboyant character. It wasn't intended as an insult to real drag queens.
Demon Sword Spirit:
Ghirahim
Once more, I tried not to make it the exact same battle as the one in SS but still make it familiar. It was difficult trying to mix it around, not to mention giving a kind of description to help readers picture how intense this is without having to go into detail and yet not be too vague. I did add more details in the second round.
With perfect aim and movement, Cleo flipped the Master Sword upward as hard and high as she could, the spinning blade flew toward Ghirahim and hit him squarely in the chest, drawn to the sword, she leapt up with amazing propulsion and caught it in mid-air, then gave a series of fast aerial slashes, stabs, spin attacks, kicks, and finally finished with a mighty overhead slash that sent him crashing through the platform and into the ground in an explosive blow.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Great Aether in full detail. I watched a slow-mo close up video of Ike's final smash on YT, to get all the moves right.
"That Ghirahim, is the one reason why I would forgive you. You're just a weapon, a tool created to be used by the hand of evil. You took commands from Demise and the Death Eye without any independence. You had no free will of your own, you can only be exactly what is in your nature, because you were born this way. I know that your actions are not your fault. It's a pity... we would have been friends, maybe allies... if you where anything else..."
I wanted a reason for Cleo to forgive Ghirahim even though it wouldn't be revealed until his defeat. Yes, the 'born this way' wasn't an accident.
"Such a despicable act, Ghirahim-okama!"
Okama means cross-dresser in Japanese. At least it's a well hidden gay related word (except to the Japanese) I don't know if okama can be used the same way as -san or -chan or -baka, I decided I'll just go with it and hope it's been used in the right term.
"I am sorry for leaving you two like that, but it was important to feign my death so I could catch him by surprise."
There was an old plan for Zelda to interfere in Akairo's place, because I had that idea by accident with mom. But sadly, it looks like that had to be abandoned. She had her glory in the interludes and Akairo had yet to himself.
"The mask is just a shell. Even when it is destroyed, the spirit within lives on somewhere else." Cleo made a slight gasp at this fact. "Something troubling you, Cleo-chan?"
"If what you say is true... doesn't that mean-"
Cleo was about to mention Majora. This time I was certain to return him in the sequel as a victim.
"Death Eye! Come and take me! Take my body now!"
Ever since I came up with the Death Eye as the final boss, it was very decisive that Cleo was to fight the Death Eye in her subconscious where she spiritually awoke, as it feels the most meaningful route to take. I wonder how readers reacted to this totally random, unexpected cliffhanger?
"I still think it insane! You don't know if it will work!"
"But I do... I am... approximately 87% sure it will work."
Of course, I had to have Cleo talk like Fi once. 87 is actually the year I was born.
"You have been very helpful to me throughout this whole quest. A bit annoying at times..."
Yeah, too true with Zelda partners.
I will end your pain... I will take away the harsh light that blinds you... the illusion that lies to you... It is but a dream... time to wake up... ...wake up... ...wake up...
The entire scene that followed was to be one more obstacle between Cleo and the Death Eye that she had to overcome before the final showdown. In both LA (Link's Awakening) and BT, the island and it's inhabitants (like Marin and Tarin) never truly exist except in a dream and is a creation of the Death Eye and also in both, the evil being created this world to possess someone, the Wind Fish and Cleo respectively. That's how it thrives, by robbing a victims mind, taking everything about who they are and replace it with illusional memories of a false life. It also later revealed how Majora had been turned into a mindless puppet in the first place. The voice we hear from Majora was really the Death Eye's, speaking through him. In the end, the Death Eye is the root to all the evil beings in Hyrule.
"About time you got up, Emily!"
"Wha..." She felt her head throbbing. "Em...ily?"
Emily was the name of another OC of mine. She was to be in the Dragon Ball universe and I used her for day-dream role play only, not for an actual fanfic. That was long abandoned. Please don't ask me for a fanfic of Emily, it's never gonna happen.
Emily's eyes trailed to Marin's pendant. It was a red diamond. As soon as she saw it, a vision flashed through her mind.
This weird mental trigger at the beginning makes a comeback. It was lucky the character designers made that little detail.
Cleo backed away from the spot where Marin once was and then turned and ran.
This is just like what Link did after saying goodbye to Saria.
The inky blackness was eating away the dream world as she continued running. Whatever she did, Cleo must not stop. She reached the nearest house and, somehow knowing it would be safe, burst right in through the front door. She spun round and slammed it shut before the erasure could reach her.
This is very similar to the dream world in Coraline (2002, 2009 movie) where everything slowly disappears when true evil is revealed.
The room she was in was nowhere near as beautiful as the exterior. It was ruined, abandoned, haunted. There was broken furniture with splinters scattered, peeling walls with big holes. The only thing that was still whole was a bed, all neat and comfortable. The only source of light was a single stubbed candle, ominously flickering and on the verge of going out.
There was nothing else for it. She went over to the bed, removed the blanket, laid down, and tucked herself in. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Through her lids, the light had gone as the candle burned out and she was finally engulfed in the darkness.
The place is a combination of the old house by the bay and the Dream Shrine, both from LA. In the shrine, when you go to bed, you are taken to a strange chamber. This house fusion gives a strong sense of foreboding and of becoming enclosed while dark nothingness surrounds and constricts you. And going into that bed as darkness becomes complete makes it feel like the final plunge into the unkown.
Cleo opened her eyes again and she found herself standing in a dungeon room with four pathways to choose from. This was a looping maze, she was sure of it. Thankfully, she knew the right path by heart and she followed it. Eventually, she found a door at the very end. She reached out and opened it.
This was the final dungeon in LA (not much of a dungeon, with no enemies and the looping maze being the only puzzle). The only in-game info to the exact path to take towards the final boss is in a library book called Dark Secrets and Mysteries of Koholint. It's different every new game file. Here are the correct paths: U, U, U, U. In this fanfic, Cleo used dowsing to find her way.
The Death Eye
Coming up with the whole fight scene for a final boss is unquestionably the hardest in the whole fanfic, just as the final boss is the hardest to beat in a video game. I had to think up many different stages for the Death Eye and I had to get my ideas somewhere. Using the different strengths, items, and virtues was necessary for this and gaining help from her friends was the way to go. Cleo asking for help in prayer at the final fight is just like in EB.
Then Zelda appeared with Kaepora on her shoulder. "I deliver to you your companion and the light needed to defeat the darkness." She held out her hand and a golden bow and arrows appeared before her.
Zelda had provided Cleo the Light Arrows before in MTG. It is Zelda's Final Smash in SSBB. In earlier games, it's called the Silver Arrow.
"Cleo, you'll need these!" said the voice of her father. "Become solid!"
Solid like the snake himself.
It changed again, becoming a Koloktos.
But it wasn't an impersonation, Cleo could sense Kole's captured spirit trapped inside.
Cleo never got the chance to fight the automaton before so this was a good opportunity. When Poismid destroyed Kole, it stole its soul and brought it to the Death Eye.
"Everyone can hear you now, they're all giving their love for you." Then she heard the voices of everyone she new. David, Finn, Joseph, Oi and Ollo, Kaepora, Akairo, Zelda, the eight sages, SK, Link, Midna, Syrilla, Telma, Meg, Joelle, Beth, Amy, Eiji, Tendaji, the elephant, the Zora, the Willoughby twins, Pacha's father, Paulo, the thief and his daughter, the Petra Royal family, Phoebe, Molly and her mother, the Hero's shade, and many other people she had met in past adventures, and then finally...
"... ... ...I'm here Cleo..." said a woman's voice. "I'm always here for you..."
All of the people who ever supported Cleo had been listed, including the ones that weren't in the fanfic. The "many other people" were included because I was planning to write a midquel (a story that takes place between MTG and BT) with new characters. The last person listed was obviously her mother, reaching out to help her from beyond. That last part almost brought tears to my eyes.
All was absolute silence... Cleo was in a grassy meadow covered in a thick mist. Slowly, the mist parted, revealing a large tree with branches that stretched a good ten feet on top of a small hill. As she got closer, the mist completely cleared away. It was a beautiful place for a picnic except... there was no one around to have a picnic with. But as she was nearing the tree, she realized that there was someone... sitting all by himself right underneath.
This was practically the same scene as the one in MTG where Cleo was lost in Majora's mind. It had been downsized for this fanfic, removing certain sentences from last time that don't have anything to do with this situation. The conversation between them that followed is very different this time, in a far more peaceful moment, ending with Majora put to rest without any conflict.
"...Hide and seek... I remember... My brother and I used to play that game together... until... our parents' death... ...I caused it... It was my fault... and I... kept it bottled up inside and blamed my brother for it instead. Then the gods forced on me the responsibility to watch over the Death Eye's seal. This made me angry... and after it possessed me, it took all of my anger, hatred, sadness, and used it create Ghirahim and Demise."
"I understand how you feel... in a lot of ways... and I'm here for you... I'll always be here..."
To write a possible sympathetic backstory to Majora in this scene, It was necessary for both him and Cleo to have something in common and that they were not so different from each other. Cleo's understanding of his pain and her willingness to reach out to him, despite what he put her through, is born of her empathy towards his loss. And that kind of connection was what helped him in his passing.
She stood up and raised her hand upward. Everything, sky, ground, darkness itself, started dissolving and was absorbed into her palm until nothing was left but whiteness.
This was similar to the Wind Tunnel that Miroku uses in InuYasha (1996-2010 overall versions).
"... ... ...Cleo?... ...Cleo!... Please wake up!"
"Sis?... C'mon sis, wake up..."
"Wake up already, would ya?..."
Her eyes opened and the first thing she saw were the faces of her loved ones standing over her.
And we have the "wake up" scene for the final time. I'm sure you must be tired of it by now.
"Um, Mr. Hayster? You can let go of me now." He finally realized that he was still holding on to Zelda and, to his major embarrassment, had his hand on an inappropriate part of her chest.
"Ah!" He quickly withdrew it and did as told. "Sorry! Forceofhabit!" he flustered.
Typical Snake! Still couldn't resist.
"How fitting for Amaterasu to display it for us."
Amaterasu is the Japanese goddess of the sun. The morning in this scene is December 21 which is the day in celebration of the goddess emerging from a cave in Japan. In Okami (PS2, 2006), she is a white wolf and a playable character.
Cleo ran to Kaepora and picked him up. He was limp. "Kae!"
The owl lifted his head and let out a pitiful hoooooooo... "I'm sorry Cleo... I think I overdid it."
"What do you mean?!"
"I had to use astral projection to get into your subconscious... But it takes... so much of my life energy to transfer my spirit there, leaving me mortally weak."
"Don't worry... I'll take care of you."
Kaepora shook his head slowly. "No... I'm done... You don't have to do anything for me. This body is too weak to continue now. I have no choice but to shed it."
"But you'll die, won't you?"
"Not die exactly... I'll just... move on... as a mere spirit. Even if I choose to remain on this earth, it will be a long time before I gain a new body... So either way, this is goodbye..."
Always in the Zelda series, the hero and his/her partner had to part ways forever for one reason or another after the adventure comes to an end. I'm not completely killing him off because there's no telling if Kaepora would officially appear again in a game that would technically take place after the events in BT (in theory). But at the same time I had give him a reason for leaving spiritually after he can no longer retain a physical form.
Cleo told the story about her quest to Finn and her Dad and then talked about her previous adventures like the time she had save the Twilight Realm from an evil demon.
Right now, I'm actually writing a midqual involving the latter tale. It's being posted on Deviantart (under the same username, just Google 'Narutotoro Deviantart'), still incomplete, as I write this. So this sentence advertises it. It's called the Skribal Sword.
The fox spirit had been busy setting up a special party just for them and somehow managed to summon pretty much everyone. Regardless of whether they were from Hyrule or another part of the globe, they were all here.
I realized that I forgot the Zora. But maybe it's for the best that she didn't come during the middle of winter.
Jackie also talked to Cleo about considering a career in archeology.
After completing the Sanctuary of Fire, I was going to have him say something to Cleo about a possible future career for her. But I decided to move that to the very end of the story.
Then she got a lot of presents, the best ones were a Nintendo Wii U and a pair of skates from Nick.
The Wii U was released in late 2012, which was this time of celebration and, of course, I added the punchline to Cleo's accidental request for skates.
"Listen... back at school, the day before you left on that crazy trip... um..."
"Just forget about it," she said. "We were both being idiots. Teenagers do that you know."
"It's not the fight I was talking about. It's about what I said..."
"I said forget it. It's no big deal!"
"Yes it is!" He started facing her. "After what I learned about what really happened to your mom, I... man!" He scoffed. "I was adopted, I was told my real mother had abandoned me. That's why I thought-"
This was going to be in the scene with Cleo and Joseph in the Mayan Temple, but was also moved to the very end.
A snowflake floated down between them and they looked up. Snow started to fall, ever so gently. They hadn't had any snow in town yet this season, it looked peaceful and calm.
I forgot to add this little moment with the snowing when I uploaded it on Deviantart, which should have been since it's winter.
Cleo pulled two feathers out of her pocket. One was obviously Kaepora's, the other was blue. "This, and the Hylian Travel Guide are all that's left of him now. It was his book that started everything. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't be standing here right now. I may have fulfilled the prophecy and stopped the apocalypse, but the one who truly deserves the credit is him."
This is the kind of respect he so desperately deserves after all that hate given to him by so-called Zelda fans.
Cleo gave Joseph the blue feather.
If you've played at least one of the Harvest Moon games, then you know what this will foreshadow.
Somewhere deep in the darkest part of the Faron Woods, a place where no creature, not even the skull kids would dare go, there rested a black zigzag edged sword. It sat there silently, but very sentient, patiently waiting for someone to come by. Waiting for its new dark master...
I can't say for sure if he'll come back again. There's no plan for a story involving his comeback, 'cuz right now I've got other ideas.
Well that's it for all the trivia! I hoped you liked it. And please, for the sake of decency, do not steal my work for profit and/or claim it as yours! Thank you.
