Happy new year to all my friends. No worries, I haven't forgotten about you. For now, on with the show.

After the marvelous vista that was the Mushroom palace exterior, Marth found the interior decidedly underwhelming - quite cheerful, certainly, with the marble white flooring complemented by the lively pinks and reds of the panes and tapestries. Still, a castle was a castle, and its appeal was always more in the silhouette than the décor.

The rest of the party seemed to agree as they marched wordlessly behind their earnest hosts. The brothers were more than eager to explain the rich (and interminable) history of the kingdom and the eminent Toadstool dynasty, from the founding father to the current Princess – and to hear them tell it, she was a goddess in the living flesh; a wise, glorious, magnanimous ruler to whom no one could compare. The prince found his patience slowly waning, but nevertheless listened as intently as he could; information like this would no doubt go a long way toward negotiating. It was like studying for one of his instructors' exercises.

Just then, the sting of longing struck him like a knife through the heart. The brothers' voices faded to a murmur in Marth's ears as his mind shuffled between the memories of his home. To think it had only been two days since his life and livelihood were stolen from him. He tried to stop his thoughts from wandering too far, to focus on a portion of his life that would help him in this moment – his books, his professors, his father.

Those last, long two days.

He turned to face his sister, who marched on with a veneer of confidence that only the verbose brothers could have possibly mistaken for the genuine article. This strange new world gave her little in which she could find solace, and Marth could sympathize; no amount of whimsy in their surrounds or impassioned stories of bygone kings could have assuaged their anxiety. Even with the vague assurance of safety, there was no telling how long it would last.

Marth halted as soon as he saw everyone else did, and found himself in a spacious antechamber, featureless but for a massive red double door at its end. Judging by the preceding display, this was to be the throne room.

"Here we are," Luigi said. "We can meet the Princess whenever you're ready."

"We don't mean to obtrude upon her duties," Elice said. "We're happy to wait as long as we need to."

"It's no problem," Mario assured, preempting Marth's protest. "She hasn't had any real visitors from another kingdom in ages."

"'Real visitors?'" Link asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, most of the time it's just…" Luigi trailed off, then shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing for you guys to worry about."

The words came before Marth gave any thought to them. "Isn't it?" he said abruptly.

His sister shot him a warning glance. Perhaps his tone was a bit harsh.

He cleared his throat and continued. "Forgive me, but you must be aware of the toll this journey has taken on us. I think I speak for us all when I say we've had our fill of surprises."

Mario and Luigi looked to each other with uncertainty. This was never a good sign.

Luigi began, "A lot of me and Mario's job in the kingdom is to keep it safe."

"Every so often there's some guy or another trying to make trouble," Mario continued. "That's when we come in and teach them a lesson."

Marth stared suspiciously at the brothers. The placid façade of the Mushroom Kingdom was beginning to fall away. "Are incursions by these malcontents a regular occurrence?" he said.

"Kind of," Mario said, "But you can rest easy with us on the job."

Zelda had the courtesy not to retort, but the furrow in her brow said it all. This was hardly a satisfactory answer, Marth knew, but given his station and their situation, it wasn't his place to inquire further. "Then we leave it in your capable hands," he said resignedly. "Now, concerning the audience…"

"Thought you'd never ask!" the brothers said in unison.

Just as Elice was about to further argue diplomatic etiquette, their crimson-capped guide strode forward and merrily threw wide the double door as if he were its sole owner.

For a mercy, Luigi turned to the group to restore a semblance of propriety to the event. "Ladies and gentlemen, Her Royal Highness, Princess Peach Toadstool."

Marth's eyes burned. It was time to parley.

Stepping into the throne room was a relief that Zelda had been craving for too long. Even the city, impressive as though it might have been, was wilderness of a kind. Despite being untold miles from home, she was once again in familiar territory. Her strength thus renewed, she drank in the sights, only to exhaust herself anew.

The room sported much of the same saccharine design as the rest of the castle, bloated to near obscene proportions. Ornate tapestries and baubles, exotic plants, gleaming jewels, and lavish paintings framed a single throne in the room's center. It was a stunning panorama, one for which she was singularly unprepared.

The throne itself was occupied, Zelda supposed, by none other than the Princess herself, a dignified woman that the storybooks would have inadequately – perhaps incorrectly – described as "beautiful." Immaculate golden hair fell in waves around her cherubic face. She sat pin-straight and refined, looking down on the proceedings in mirthful anticipation. She seemed unreal, like some fairy-tale caricature of a monarch. A flattering objet d'art.

So this is what I am reduced to, Zelda thought, hoping she at least seemed calm. Recollections of her discussions with Marth clawed upwards from the depths of her skull. Sharp words would avail them nothing. If they were to have any chance of winning the Princess' favor, it fell to Zelda to establish a rapport. After pleading to Nayru for Her guidance, Zelda took to the van. This was a battle she was best equipped to win.

At once, Princess Peach rose from her seat. "Welcome, new friends, to the Mushroom Kingdom!" she trilled joyfully. "It's been so long since we've had visitors. The news came in such short notice, we had no time to prepare for your arrival. I do hope everything has been to your liking so far."

"It has been a singular delight, Your Highness," Zelda replied with an understated bow. "I am Queen Zelda Andoria Hyrule, and I am come with my royal peers from Altea to entreat your aid."

Elice stepped forward and curtsied to her hostess. "Would it please you, Your Highness," she said, "I am Princess Elice of Altea, and this is my younger brother, Prince Marth."

"Isn't this astounding?" Peach said. "Rulers volunteering as envoys? What a marvelous novelty! And the others?"

"Our most trusted retinue." Zelda said. "Without their help, we may never have reached this place alive, if at all."

Peach paused for the briefest of moments, taking the measure of each of the party. Zelda took slow breaths and kept her gaze fixed forward for the length of the examination, looking for some sort of opening all the while. Yet, while the Mushroom Princess' countenance remained warm and inviting, it betrayed no weakness of any sort. There was no raised guard, only curiosity. Neither of them knew what to do with the other, she reasoned. Perhaps there was more to her than met the eye. Best, then, to play it by ear.

"Well then," Peach continued, "We know just who to thank for the pleasure of this visit. And no wonder." Her eyes fell on Lucario. "It's rare enough or outsiders to visit us like this, but rarer still that they have a Pokémon with them. And a strong-looking Lucario, no less. Which one of you is the trainer?"

Zelda couldn't decide if this was intriguing or nonsensical. No one was training anyone, as far as she could tell, least of all Lucario. And just what the hell was a "Pokémon?" The rest of the group shared in her confusion, it seemed; all of them shuffled a half-step backward, eyes darting between Peach and the beast-man as if trying to spy an answer in the middle.

Mario was the last person she expected to hear from on the issue. "That's right. I thought something about you seemed familiar."

"There hasn't been a real Pokémon in these parts for ages," Luigi said. "I thought they were all driven out."

Zelda was rapidly growing tired of secrets. Do these people know you? she asked Lucario directly.

«Just a second,» came his private response. He looked Peach dead in the eye. Whatever conversation was taking place between them wasn't for anyone else to hear. Still, the Princess' overt reaction to him made it clear she understood him.

Peach's expression steadily grew more solemn as she looked everyone over. "Oh, dear," she mused softly. "My mistake. I hope I didn't offend."

«Not at all,» Lucario said to all assembled. «I'm surprised anyone even remembers that old pastime.»

What did you say to her? Zelda thought.

« I gave her the more important details from the forest up to now,» he said to her alone.«You can tell her the rest of the story later on.»

And what of this talk of 'trainers?'

A half-second of silence was too long for a telepathic response. «Some other time,» he eventually said.

Zelda took a deep breath in. Her patience for riddles had long been exhausted. She would simply press for answers when she had the energy.

"And you," Peach said, "You've all been through so much."

"Indeed, we have, Your Highness," Zelda said. "Which is why we humbly request sanctuary within your city. We may be out of reach of our pursuers for now, but it is nonetheless imperative that we act with all speed."

"Nonsense!" Peach's tone shifted immediately to a familiar authoritative snap. "Rushing things will do nobody any good, least of all you. Therefore, I invite you to enjoy the protection of the Mushroom Kingdom for however long you choose to stay. It's the least I can do to ease the burdens of the road."

Zelda assumed their proposition a long shot from the first, but to see it flower so quickly fair left her speechless. Her faltering tongue unfortunately allowed Marth an opportunity to open his trap. "Your hospitality is greatly appreciated, Your Highness," he said, "But I must insist that we discuss what manner of material aid your kingdom can provide as soon as possible. Time is decidedly not in our favor."

"Then we'll discuss it after you've had a wash and a rest. We can't have you fighting these battles in the state you're in now."

Only then did Zelda realize what an unseemly spectacle they must have been – between her tattered gown, Marth's bloodstained cloak, and the unholy mess smearing Link's tunic, it was a wonder they weren't disrobed and scrubbed down before entering the city limits, much less the castle gate.

The Mushroom Princess laughed lightly as if knowing her peer's very thoughts. "My stewards will see your clothing mended and cleaned while you're in the bath. Each of you will be given a private chamber where you can rest, and I'll have a light supper ready for when you wake up. Let this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

A clap from Peach's hands, and the brothers began to usher the assembly into the antechamber. The day began on the forest floor. It ended with a bed, fresh clothes, and a real meal. Zelda could have wept with joy.

In all the years he'd known her, Link had never seen anything so glorious as watching Zelda fall forward onto a bed, in full regalia, and immediately drifting off to sleep. Their guide, an excitable Toad stewardess, gently pulled the door closed before him and took her leave with an exaggerated bow, leaving Link alone in the empty, spacious corridor.

He drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and listened. But once the patter of the Toad woman's footsteps faded, there was nothing. Perhaps that was for the best. After spending all that time trudging up difficult mountain paths and fighting their way to safety, Zelda needed the quiet. At long last, she was safe, under guard, and resting. For now, he could consider his job done.

If only he could find another.

It was a curious sort of restlessness that followed a grueling adventure; even after the march and the battle at Eldin, Link found no satisfaction in such a swift conclusion. Back then, he found it useful to pick a direction and walk, stopping only once he found a way to make himself useful. And so he did now.

He forced his eyes open and ambled down the hallway in the opposite direction of their erstwhile attendant. It was only then that the length of the journey and the punishing battles manifested themselves in his body. His aching shoulders struggled to support the weight of his head. His legs throbbed with a crushing pain. And gods of creation, his arms. The hurts he could stand, but the intermittent numbing sensations were becoming worrisome. Zant must have broken something.

Darkness crept around the edges of Link's vision as he fought the mounting fatigue. His stride broke for only an instant, and he stumbled to one side and collided with the wall. Hard. The crash of the impact filled the empty hallway, bouncing and echoing and laying siege to his sensitive ears. He shut his eyes against the din and the world fell away.

Something hit the ground. Probably himself.

Time had stopped. No light stirred from the depths. He might once have had a dream.

The first sight to greet him upon his reawakening was an outstretched hand in a cotton glove. He stared at it for a few seconds and eventually concluded that he was to grab it. Once he did so, he found himself lifted upright with surprising ease. He focused his vision as best he could, and found the owner of the hand to be none other than Luigi.

"Are you okay?" the man asked apprehensively.

Link gave the question a frankly unnecessary amount of thought, but in the end just shook his head. "I've been worse," he said.

"If that's true, I don't envy your day job."

That might have been a joke. Link was too tired to care. "I was just looking for something to do."

"Not like that, you're not. You look like you're fit to keel over a second time."

He felt like it, too. The room rocked and dipped like a boat caught in a riptide. Nevertheless, he stood his ground as best he could.

Luigi donned his best reassuring smile. "You know, you don't have to do everything yourself. You're under the best protection we've got to offer. Just leave everything to me and Mario."

Come to think of it, Mario was rather conspicuous by his absence. Link scanned the hallway for any sign of the elder brother, but found none.

"He's probably still talking to the Princess," Luigi said. "This is the first time in a long while that anyone important came by, so they want to make sure they do everything right."

"You're advisors, too?"

"Not really. But he likes to give her some advice about stuff like this." He let out a chuckle. "I'll bet they're deciding what kind of food to have at breakfast."

A grin swept across Link's face. "I'm fond of apples."

"Apples it is, then!" Luigi declared joyfully.

Link laughed a bit at that, and nearly collapsed again from the lightness in his head. Luigi caught him before he could.

The man's smile disappeared. "I'll bet you and Mario would get along great," Luigi said, "You both act like the hero. Like you've got to solve everyone's problems except your own. And look what it's doing to you."

"I'm fine."

"Oh, yeah? What would that Queen of yours say if she saw you passing out all over the place?"

Link's response withered to nothing. Zelda was out of harm's reach, but his task was far from complete. She would need him at his best when she awoke. He nodded to his host, his secret longing for a well-deserved rest surfacing all at once.

Luigi nudged him toward the end of the hall. "Second door on the right," he said. "See you tomorrow, Mister Hero." With that, he turned and left.

Thus was Link alone again, his mind still racing but his body in no condition to start chasing it. The room was easy enough to find. He hadn't stayed awake long enough to see whether he'd made it to the bed.

Author's Note: I can never be sure how long I'm going to be away, can I? But like I said, I'll never be gone forever.

I confess that I thought I handled the previous chapter very poorly. I was going for something of a minor break in the tone that an editor would have urged strongly against. If the story up to this point has been any indication, I do not employ an editor. I'm going mostly in the vague direction of an imaginary outline, but I'm getting very close to uncharted territory. That on top of the usual litany of technological foibles has prevented me from getting any work done on this thing.

But there I go again making excuses. This isn't a one-a-year project and I shouldn't be treating it like one. I hope you all forgive me, and hope that the next installment will be a timely one.