IMPORTANT NOTICE
In my drafts of these chapters, I've been separating sections in the chapters with little star symbols. I directly copy the draft into fanfiction, and I upload straight away. It turns out that fanfiction actually has removed every single star from those chapters.
Therefore! Things have probably been a bit confusing, so my apologies for that. Importantly, it's worth checking back on chapters 15, 16 and 17, as in all three of those chapters, the italicised section at the start has actually been 2 different things. Without the separation, they looked like one thing. I've gone back and added a big long line to separate them in here chapters. Thanks to the stars disappearing, some people thought the main character in the italicised sections at the start is Ness or Lucas. They're not!
Sorry again for all that confusion, but I have now fixed all that, fortunately.
Anyways, hello readers! Welcome to Chapter 18. Chapter 18 is actually a huge milestone, as 18 is the amount of holes in the 18 hole game of golf on Wii Sports Resort. It's Lucas's perspective today, so please do enjoy!
Chapter 18: Day Terrors
Morning breaks in bursts, sunlight streaming through the curtainless windows, and I arise from the bed in the room that Duster provided for me. I glance outside - I am an educated man, so I conclude that it must be around 9am. I must've overslept! Ah, catastrophe! I hope Porky hasn't arrived to give his speech yet… I roll out of bed, falling dismally onto the floor. I pick myself up. I'm not a morning person. Duster comes in, smiling jovially.
"G'day! I trust you slept well?"
"Yeah, fine, thanks-"
"Fab! Now, c'mon, c'mon! Porky's speech is in a couple minutes!"
Once dressed, I follow Duster to the town square, just in time to see Porky himself, dressed in royal purple robes - who does he think he is?! He stands on a podium, flanked by some armoured bodyguards, his arms spread wide, wallowing in the applause and cheering of the Tazmily townsfolk. I shove through a couple of people, attempting to make my way to the front of the crowd - he has to see me. He can't do anything to me in front of all these people, or his illusion is shattered, but I can certainly bait him, I can certainly make him lose his cool… maybe I'm just seeking vengeance. Days, weeks, months of imprisonment! I want to mess with him.
Porky gives a cheeky grin to the crowd. "G'day, people of Tazmily!"
"G'day!" They all call back, laughing happily.
"As you all know… these are dark times. Onett's arm of power is reaching over, aiming to crush us into millions of pieces! Gimme a hiss for Onett!"
The crowd hisses and boos - what is this, a pantomime?
"But, as you also know, Tazmily is getting stronger! Thanks to my help, and my money, we will defend!"
The crowd cheers, waving wildly.
"Excuse me-" I shove through some more people, trying to avoid flailing arms. Come on- come on-
"Some of you know about my secret weapon!" He lowers his voice, dramatically.
The crowd looks around the place. "Oooooooh!"
"But, that's not why I'm here today! Today, I have a great offer…"
I listen, closely. I'm pretty sure that I know exactly what this is going to be.
"Sanctuary! For those, the women, the children, the cowardly, who do not wish to fight, I bring you sanctuary!"
More cheering and clapping breaks out amongst the crowd, as I finally shove my way to the front, just by the podium…
"I have a city! There is free housing for all who wish to stay there, to seek refuge from the oncoming war. Free food! Luxury - until the war is over, and then you can come home, to your loved ones. For I know what it's like to have someone I love! But they are not here today…"
He looks down, feigning sadness. Yeah, right. As if he's ever felt a single grain of love in his life.
"All who wish to come into my city, you may come to me, after this speech is over!"
There's another round of applause, and he bows.
"BOOO!" I shout, catching his attention, mid-bow. His eyes flicker over to me, flashing angrily, suddenly. I grin, feeling malicious all of a sudden.
"And, I have a special guest here today!" Porky shouts again, addressing the crowd, before glancing down at me, beckoning, with a wink…. Interesting. Boldly, I rise onto the stage, standing next to him, mildly uncertain.
"Mister Anonymous!" Duster cheers from the back, before a lot of people shush him.
"This is… Let's call him… Hmm…. ''Cruciatus in culo'
The crowd laugh. Bloody Latin - Latin for 'Pain in the ass'.
"And this," I gesture towards Porky. "His real name isn't Porky. It's actually corruptor, saevus!"
The crowd laugh again. Two can play at that game!
Porky grins. "Well, at least I haven't got a giant nose…"
Grr, my nose isn't that big. I smile. "You know what they say about a big nose!"
The crowd whoop and cheer, some wolf-whistling.
Porky claps. "Big handkerchief!"
More cheering - I'm starting to get tired of the bantering. I turn to face Porky. "Now, why have you called me up here?"
"Well, you were the first volunteer to come along to my New Pork City, of course!"
"Yes, yes I was!" I lie, going along with whatever he's up to.
"And, that concludes this week's speech!"
With resounding applause, Porky steps off of the podium, gratuitously smiling at the Tazmilians. I follow tentatively, and as soon as we're out of sight, he grabs me by the shoulders, throwing me to the floor.
"What are you doing here?"
"Since I escaped your lovely jail, I obviously had to get into civilisation, didn't I?"
"You should be hiding from me. Why aren't you hiding!"
I smile, casually. "Because I'm not afraid."
"I'll kill you, here and now!"
"Good luck. I can scream very loud. When the townsfolk see, I'm sure they'll be quick to pop you into prison."
He snarls. "Fine. Then I'll kill you later, at the dead of night, when nobody is there to stop me."
I smile, cheerily. "Good luck!"
"Coming here was suicide!" He yells, clearly gunning for a reaction.
I get up right in his face, whispering. "I know."
"You're an idiot."
"No. I'm going to save these people from your plan. And you cannot stop me."
"You're almost as bad as- GRR! Get out of here,"
"Byeeeeee!" I wave, sauntering off into the crowd, attempting to maintain my composure, and posture. I guess, if I have to act formal all the time, I'm allowed to be a bit… silly, every now and again, right?
Saturday morning blasts by. Ness and I eat breakfast with our friends, we spend the morning completing any homework we have to do, and then it's lunch, and we're suddenly halfway through the day, already. That's the thing with days without school - I think they tend to go by much quicker, without the obligation of lessons… maybe lessons slow the days down, actually. Altogether… I'm glad for an empty morning. After last night's horror… I shiver, once again, thinking of that awful feeling, of floating through the dream, doomed to watching Ness suffer through halls, chased by The Cloak…
It took me 23 hours to figure out the whole thing was a fabricated dream. 23 hours! How slow have I gotten? I know, inside, that I caused Ness a lot of pain by not figuring anything out sooner… I wish I could figure out who's doing all this stuff to us, too. I wish I could figure anything out, about all that's happening, all that's going on… Ngh. Any thoughts or plans of 'not worrying about all of this' are out of the window now - now that we're in imminent danger, it's important that we keep well-informed, and most of all… I just want Ness to be safe.
I can tell Ness is feeling off. He keeps slipping into blank moments where he won't answer anything, where he won't focus on where he's going, and he'll walk into a wall, or just… stop, and stare around. I'm not sure what's going on inside his mind, but there's certainly a lot that it could be. Ness came out to me yesterday-! That must be messing with his mind, quite a lot… If other people knew, well, this awful, awful society wouldn't accept him anymore. So I will keep his secret - he's entrusted me with this, and I will hold it. I have no issue - none at all - if he is gay. But by my reckoning, he's confused at the moment; he doesn't really seem to know what he is.
Ness and I walk down the main corridor, to nowhere in particular. We should be working on the business plan… but something about it just makes me feel claustrophobic, and panicked. I need direct instructions, on what to do… I have no idea how to create a business plan! It's such a vague concept. I don't know what goes where, I don't know anything at all of what I'm supposed to do… my breathing quickens, even just thinking about it. We wander into the games room, where Toon Link and Villager are speaking in low tones, and Red is, of course, in his element, playing solo pool. Villager looks up, brightly, as we wander in.
"Hey!"
I smile, pleased to see them. "Hey!"
"Hey," Ness echoes softly. We sit on a couch - and the others sit on the couch opposite. Honestly, I've always felt like there's a sort of chemistry between Toon Link and Villager - they bounce off each other, building each other up, in a way. Obviously, Villager and Red are best friends, though. They went to primary school together - Anville, I think they're from?
Toon Link leans back, lazily. "What's gonna be going on this afternoon, then?"
"Dunno, Lucas and I have some books to read," Ness informs them. Yes - he's right. We do need to check out those books on magic. Perhaps they'll actually explain a thing or two - that would certainly be nice. We also need to figure out what this comedy idea Ness had for the talent show is - that's quite important. We also should work on the business plan… I shiver, slightly. Dammit - it's just a piece of schoolwork. I need to stop being stupid, and pull myself together.
"We should do something, as a group," Villager suggests, faintly.
"The books can wait," Ness agrees, keenly. "But what can we do?"
Red turns. "Pool. All afternoon. All evening. Nothing else. Ever."
We all laugh. Toon Link chuckles. "No, I don't think we should do that. I do value my sanity, after all."
Pit wanders into the room, looking gloomy - oh dear. I'd sort of forgotten about what happened to Dark Pit, what with the dream, and all the other chaos that's basically taken over our lives… The mood drastically shifts as Pit slumps down, squeezing in next to me.
"Hey," I say, awkwardly.
"Hey," Pit replies, trying, and failing, to sound jaunty.
"How are you?" Villager asks, softly, doing a much better job at expressing kindness than I.
Pit shrugs. "Crap."
I nod. "Understandable."
"Look - they will find Dark Pit," Toon Link promises, not one for beating around the bush. "No doubt they're digging through everything right now."
Pit shrugs again. "I dunno."
Villager comes over, and sits on the floor beside our couch. "It's okay to be anxious about it. It was a tragic occurrence."
Pit stares. "It wasn't a tragedy. It was ordinary."
Villager frowns, furrowing his brow. "I don't really see how there was anything ordinary about that-"
Pit covers his face. "People die all the time. He was just another one."
"We don't know if he's dead," Ness speaks up.
Pit laughs, empitly. "I do. I feel it," he puts a hand to his heart, "in here."
We're all quiet.
He speaks up again. "Those passages - do you think there's other entrances to them?"
"Well, yeah," I say, "we've been in them quite a few times. There's a lot."
"...The very least I can do is get his- his body," Pit rubs his cheek.
Red suddenly turns round. "He deserved better."
Pit smiles, emptily. "He didn't deserve better. Nobody deserves anything. But he is owed better. Better than being buried under a load of rubble."
Toon Link frowns. "Deep. But, I don't think he's buried under a load of rubble. Whatever that thing was in the lit up room dragged him in."
Pit rubs his face, tense. "That's really not much better."
We're silent, morose. I'm not sure what to say at all - it's all a mess. A big damn mess. We met Dark Pit on Tuesday. 3 days later, he might be dead. With everything going on around me… I can't help but believe that it's my fault that all of this is happening, to everyone. I can't help but think, if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have got the invitation, and then been curious… I slump against Ness. Does that make me a murderer? I don't want to be a murderer! But I save the tears. He might still be alive. He might be alright. I have to believe that. Ness snakes an arm around me, and I feel somewhat safer, somewhat reassured.
Pit buried his face in his hands. "It's my goddamn fault, as well."
"Hey," Villager says, sternly. "It's not your fault at all."
"It is! Why can't you see that! It was me, me that was keen for us to go and follow the invitation, me that didn't listen to any of you-"
"Blaming yourself does no good," I say, evenly. "It was as much him wanting to go down there as you-"
"So you're saying he DESERVED to die?"
I backtrack hastily. "No! I didn't say that at all!"
A tear rolls down Pit's cheek. "I've not just lost my twin brother. I've lost my best friend."
Toon Link stares at the floor. "You two were… really close."
"Inseparable," Villager agrees.
Pit grits his teeth. "You know, that's really not helping, not one bit."
There's an awkward pause, and Pit stands, rigidly. "Screw this. Screw everything!" He runs, sprinting out of the room at an alarming rate. I stand hastily.
I look round at everyone. "I should-" I run, following after Pit. I follow him along the main hall - good, he seems to be going to the dorms, that's a relief. I'm worried - really worried about him, maybe if Dark Pit was okay, maybe then… but I have a feeling too. I have a feeling that Dark Pit has been finished off. I don't want to confirm that - I don't want to believe it, but, but it's true. But it's not true in my mind, yet. For now, Dark Pit is alive, according to me. My feelings aren't exactly an accurate source of information.
Pit forces open his dormitory door, and enters. I wait a little bit, before knocking, to no response. I crack the door open just a little.
"Can I come in?"
Pit is face down in his bed. Another bed - evidently untouched for a couple days - contains matching covers, and matching pyjamas to the pyjamas down by Pit's bed. The walls are surprisingly bright and colourful - Dark Pit's half of the room a mix of darker shades, Pit's half of the room a mixture of lighter shades. I reckon they painted them on themselves. At the border between the two halves, there's a photograph hanging on the wall, of what looks like a family - two young twin boys, and a mother, smiling - and it's suddenly all I can do to choke back a small sob. The room naturally contains a wardrobe and a bookshelf, as do all of the dorms in school, but the bookshelf is mostly empty.
Pit doesn't reply, so I allow myself entry, closing the door behind me, sitting next to Pit's shaking self. I breathe heavily.
"I feel it too," I mumble.
There's silence, before Pit turns his head slightly. "Feel what?"
"I feel that he's gone."
Pit slumps down against the bed. "At least I'm not going mad."
"It's okay to be sad-" I mumble, as Pit curls up.
"I know."
I stare around the room. "There's space in Ness and I's dorm, if, if you don't want to sleep in here," I tell him, softly. Pit stares up at me, gratefully.
"Thanks. This room is… weird, now."
I look over at Dark Pit's unmade bed. "Yeah."
"I feel like you get it - you and Ness are so close, you know how it would feel to lose…"
"It would be hell," I answer, simply.
Pit smiles, wryly. "This is hell."
"You don't deserve hell."
"..." Pit is quiet. I pat his back experimentally and he flinches.
"Sorry- I- physical contact, I don't really-"
I nod. "That's okay."
Pit breathes in. "Lucas, thank you."
I'm bewildered. "...Thank you? For what?"
"I've known you just four days, and you're in here, caring for me. And you saved my life, down in the passage. I think Dark Pit would want me to live on, for him. To create mayhem… heh."
I blush. "It's- I try and be kind, to everyone-"
"You do an awesome job. Ness is very lucky to have you as a boyfriend."
I blush even deeper. "We're not- not-"
"Oh? Could've fooled me. All the hand-holding and cuddling."
"We're just- affectionate," I reason. "We- we-"
Pit laughs softly. "Sure, bud… but yeah. Dark Pit wouldn't want me getting too down about all of this, would he?"
"It's okay to grieve," I console him. I feel really awkward now - I wish I'd asked Ness to come up with me. Pit curls back up into his ball again, still tremoring. I stand.
"I and the others will be in the games room. I'm... here for you. Take a sick day off tomorrow. You need time."
Pit pulls the covers over himself, giving a muffled "Thank you." I walk out of the room, rubbing my arms slightly nervously. It's a terrible business, but I shove it to the back of my mind and thoughts of the egg and the business plan come rolling back to me - there's a lot to be worried about, without being dragged down by something that, unfortunately, cannot be undone, or changed.
I come up with a plan. The magic books, that was what we were gonna do. We were gonna check them, to see if there's anything about magic dream-eggs, or dream-sharing… A goal set firmly in mind, I walk back into the games room, expecting to find Ness and the others, but - oh great - it's Bowser -
I try to turn, but Bowser notices me right away. "PIPSQUEAK! I've been looking for you for DAYS."
I inwardly curl in on myself - dammit - I guess it was inevitable that I'd be found eventually, but, ugh, this isn't what I need. "Is there a problem, Professor?" I try to keep my voice polite.
"Yes. Yes, there is a big problem."
"And what's that, Professor?"
"YOU AND NESS BUNKED OUT OF MY LESSON!"
"Ness was sick," I lie.
"He should've thrown up on the person in front of him, then!" Bowser grabs me by the scruff of the neck, lifting me off the floor with ease. I struggle - as much as I can, but Bowser is apparently alarmingly strong. I'm carried unceremoniously to Bowser's charred office - and I'm dropped in a stiff seat, made to look upwards at Bowser's towering strength. Honestly, I really hope Bowser is the villain we're looking for. He's nice and easy to hate, heh. But, sadly, Bowser isn't smart enough, by any stretch of the imagination. Oh well - at least he's ruled out. Bowser seems to be fiddling around in a cupboard, which unnerves me - what's he getting? I can't imagine anything good. I think back to the occurrence - it had been right for Ness and I to leave. Ness was hurting. Whatever's going to happen to me now, I don't care, because I did the right thing. I fix Bowser with a steely gaze.
He turns around, holding a particularly wicked-looking cane, and my resolve crumbles as soon as it was formed - I've been injured quite enough this term, but regardless, I'm made to stand against the wall, and Bowser readies the cane…
A good 40 strikes later, I stagger out of Bowser's office, in absolute agony. I can only imagine how Toon Link feels, every time he breaks the rules and is caught out. Ngh - ow - Ness is gonna be fussing over me like mad now… my mind slips away slightly, as I try to ground myself, but it hurts. So. Much. Even the wounds on my feet feel like nothing now, compared to… this. My eyes sting with tears, but I will not cry. I will never give Bowser that satisfaction.
I find Ness and the others in our lounge - they must've migrated there when catching sight of Bowser - I stagger inwards, and I make a giant fool of myself by instantly collapsing onto Ness.
"Sorry-" I say, trying to scramble into a position that doesn't involve sitting down, but Ness catches me off-guard and tickles me - I laugh myself onto the floor, curling up to protect myself, like a giant hedgehog. I'm glad everyone is in a cheery mood - I was kind of worried that everyone would be really down still. I worry faintly if I'm selfish - everything that's happened with Dark Pit is absolutely sad, but, I don't like being sad. I don't want to sit in big sad silences with my friends… and, if my days are numbered, like the grave's existence kind of suggests, I'd quite like to actually have a good time.
Dammit, Ness is right, I am a big sap really.
"C'mon Lucas, sit down up here," Ness laughs.
"I can't," I answer honestly.
Ness laughs again. "Why's that, then?"
I wince. "No reason-"
Ness's face grows with worry - great, of course, I have sucked the happiness out of the room. "Lucas, did something happen?"
"Bowser caught me," I say, getting it over with - Ness would only find out later, anyways.
Ness stands up abruptly. "What did he do to you!"
I gaze up at him. "Uh-"
Ness folds his arms, putting two and two together, stamping his foot. "That's it! I'm going to go and beat him up right now!" But I stand quickly , sitting Ness back down.
"That's a really bad idea Ness, c'mon, it happens to Toon Link most days, I'm fine, I really am, I'll be able to sit down soon-" I lie down on Ness's chest instead, and it's actually kind of comfortable, to my surprise, while also serving as a way to make sure Ness doesn't go and start a fight with Bowser.
Red sighs. "I should start working hard on my business plan for Wario."
Villager sighs, "I have to do an A3 design page for Crafts, great."
Toon Link sighs, "I have to go and learn my Robin Hood lines for theatre, ugh."
Ness looks at me. "Then it looks like we've got to continue on with the business plan…" my stomach sinks. I still have no idea what to do, or where to go with it. So far, Ness has done all the work… which I feel bad about, for one, but, something about this stupid businessplan is suddenly making me feel queasy today. Ness and I take our leave however, and begin heading upstairs to our dormitory, when we're suddenly obstructed by HeadMaster Hand.
I smile faintly. "Can we help, HeadMaster?"
"Well, I just thought you'd be glad to know that your dormitory has finally been repaired from the fire damage. You can move back in tonight."
We smile. "Thank you, HeadMaster." We move along, a little spring in our steps. Our new, temporary top floor dorm is definitely nice, but there's something about our old dorm that I miss, for some reason. We agree to move all of our stuff later, and to work first…
"I think we should find somewhere with tables," Ness concludes wisely. "I don't much fancy filling this thing out on the floor."
"I agree, we should check around the third floor to see if there's anywhere that we can do this."
We eventually find a rather nice room tucked away in an obscure corridor - covered in a variety of paintings, perhaps some from former students - even one of my paintings of a desert is here, to my surprise. It's nice, though, and there's plenty of tables and chairs around the place, and no other students. We lay the businessplan out on a table, sit down, and stare at it.
And stare at it some more.
And some more.
"I have no idea what to do," Ness admits, after a while. "We've done the designing of the shop, and what we're going to sell… I have no idea what else to put in!"
A faint feeling of nausea rises in me, as I look at it. I'm tempted to panic, because this is worth 50% of our grade - and I don't know what I'm doing, at all! And if I fail - Father won't be proud of me, and I won't get into a good university - I need at least a pass in everything for that, and, then I won't be able to study science, and I'll end up being sad and miserable and-
I stare back down at the paper in front of me. "I feel like we're supposed to do something to do with money…"
Ness closes it. "Screw this, we can just copy Red's, c'mon."
But when we find Red, in the library, he doesn't seem to have much of an idea what we're supposed to do either - why did Wario have to be so vague! He could've given us a framework, he could've given us anything that might actually have helped, but no, no of course it has to be difficult - ngh, this is so frustrating, it's so big and overwhelming, I- I- I- without thinking, I grab the business plan, and I savagely tear it in half, feeling so tense-
Ness gasps. "Lucas!"
I suddenly realise what I've done, and I panic - what the hell! What's wrong with me! I throw down the halves of the plan onto the ground, panicking - I've ruined it, I've ruined Ness's hard work, I've, I- I burst into tears, right there, in the library, what a mess-
Ness, however, far from angry, takes me into his arms and hugs me, caringly, lovingly.
"I'm sorry, I-" I gasp for breath. "I didn't know- I don't know what to do- I- got frustrated, and-"
Ness rubs my back. "C'mon, I've got an idea."
Leaving the remains of the business plan on the floor, Ness takes me by the hand, leading us towards… Rosalina's office? What are we doing here? I hastily dry my eyes, to avoid any embarrassment, but it's hard when the tears are still kind of flowing-
Ness knocks on her door, and she swings it open.
"Hello, what can I do for you?"
We enter the room, and Rosalina shuts the door behind us. "Would you like to take a seat?"
I blush, gulping.. "I can't really-"
Rosalina looks puzzled. "Huh? Why not?"
"Bowser caned him," Ness reveals, outraged. I blush.
Rosalina's expression darkens. "That man, I swear… I'm going to have words with him. Anyways, what's up?"
Ness stands next to me. "Lucas needs to switch subjects."
I blanch, wiping away the last of the tears. "No- no, it's fine! I can do it, I can finish the work-"
"It's Business," Ness continues, "Wario has repeatedly hurt him, and he's made the work basically impossible, and it's making Lucas sad and I don't want that, so, we need to change subjects, as soon as possible!"
Rosalina shushes him, and Ness breathes easier. Rosalina looks over at me, and I pray my cheeks aren't too tear stained - I don't know why I've become such a crybaby lately - a little bit of shame creeps into me. Claus wouldn't cry. Claus would've finished the business plan off early, he'd have handed it in, complete… he wouldn't have any problems with all this. He'd put together what's going on with Future Human, he'd have all the answers… but he's not here. I'm the one who's still here. I can't help but think some mistake was made somewhere, that someone got it wrong, that I was the one who was meant to leave, to disappear…
I run my arm, tensely. I still don't know where Claus went - why he had to leave us - why I hadn't been good enough for him to want to stay… nausea builds back up in my throat. All this nausea today leads me to think that I might be ill, again, which would be just what I need, of course.
Rosalina nods. "I can try my best to sort that with the Headmaster. But which subject would you take instead?"
"Music," I say, instantly. "Definitely music."
"Yeah, let's do music," Ness agrees.
I glance at him. "You too? But- your father-"
"I don't care what my Father wants," Ness folds his arms, stubbornly. "It's like Tracy said - the more I disobey him, the more annoyed he gets."
I frown. "Isn't that a.. bad thing?"
Ness laughs, faintly. "I want to show him… I don't know. I just… yeah."
I'm not sure I understand, but nevertheless, I turn back to Rosalina. "Can we do that then?"
"Almost definitely," Rosalina smiles. "By the way, speaking of your Father, Ness…"
Ness shifts nervously next to me. "Yeah?"
"...Does he ever mention Ryu?"
Ness thinks, puzzled. "No, I don't think so, why?"
Rosalina smiles faintly. "I went to school with them both. Ryu and your Father were close, but things fell apart for some reason, I'm not sure exactly what… I was just curious, that's all."
Ness looks at me. "Ryu mentioned Father in our very first history lesson, didn't he? He said I looked like him."
I don't really recall - but I nod anyways. "Yeah."
Rosalina stares at the ceiling, lost in nostalgia. "Ah, your Father was actually a pleasant man back then."
Ness coughs. "Yeah, right."
"It's true! I don't know what happened, I don't know what turned him rotten, but him, Ryu and I were a bit of a trio..."
"Kinky," I say before I can stop myself - I blush furiously. I'm become Toon Link - that's definitely the dirtiest thing I've ever said, I don't- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Fortunately, I don't think Rosalina heardd, but Ness bursts into surprised laughter, which brings Rosalina out of her nostalgic trance.
Ness makes a straight face and instantly becomes silent with comedic speed. "So, um, yeah, what was Father like, when he was, you know, nice?"
"Ah, he would always cheek us, he'd tease us but you know, it's like friends do? He had a little bit of an ego, but I think we all did, really. Don't tell Ryu I said this - but Ryu's hair was really long, down to his shoulders, back then, and he even had an edgy phase of wearing only black-"
"An edgy phase," Ness repeats, trying not to laugh.
Rosalina smiles. "Those were good times… now, I won't keep you any longer, I'm sure you were up to something important, before coming in."
"Yeah, business homework, but we don't need to worry about that anymore," I smile, with remarkably intense relief. I don't think I'd quite grasped how much I hate business… I wish I could drop English too, but sadly, it's mandatory. But now, no more business plan, no more Wario- ah, yes! This is amazing news. And, music, I love playing the piano in orchestra… I feel like I'm overreacting a little, but this really is a perfect solution. But Father… Father wouldn't be proud of me taking music. Though, I like to think Claus would've been musical. Claus always liked to sing and dance - yeah, Claus would've hated business too. So, logically, Father should actually approve… Though, business was my plan to escape from the debt. All of the debt that's piled up thanks to Porky… but then again! Wario never was going to teach us good enough for that to ever work. Besides, I can play the piano for money, perhaps! Having justified all of this in my mind, Ness and I happily leave Rosalina's office.
"Ok, that's kinda awesome," I grin goofily at him. I can't stop dang smiling! Ness sees my smile, and he grins too, grabbing my hand.
"C'mon, best buddy Lucas, let's go and see what everyone's up to!" He starts running alarmingly, but since I'm still faster, I quickly catch up. I think running in the halls isn't allowed, but, heh, I feel so free all of a sudden. Future Human, The Face, the disappearances all that can get out of here and go away forever, quite honestly. We manage to almost run directly into Toon Link, who seems to be pacing the halls, practising his lines.
Toon Link drops his script. "Woah, watch it! Oh, it's you two-"
Ness waves rapidly. "Hey-"
Toon Link laughs. "What's got you all energetic, then?"
"We quit business forever, we're doing music now," Ness grins giddily.
Toon Link gasps. "You might be in my class! Yesssssssssssssss-"
"What are the lessons like?" I ask, thinking practically.
Toon Link shrugs. "You just show up, and you learn some music theory and then you work on a song. Sebastian Tute is the teacher, he's just as weird as in orchestra, but, yeah, awesome!"
"How's Villager?" Ness asks jauntily - a peculiar question, that leaves Toon Link blushing, for some reason.
"He's fine - why do you ask?"
Ness cackles slightly, and I scratch my head in confusion. "What's going on?"
Toon Link groans. "Ness, you idiot, why did you have to ask that?"
Ness shrugs. "Perfectly innocent question-"
"You know full well it isn't!"
There's a sudden tension in the air. Ness hangs his head. "Sorry."
Toon Link looks down at the floor. "Sorry - it's just sorta sensitive, yeah? Not cool."
I look between the pair, utterly confused - what's so weird about that question? "Sorry - I still don't understand-" I say, in a small voice, and Toon Link sighs.
"Come on. We'll go somewhere where we won't be heard."
We end up in Toon Link's dorm - everywhere else is jam-packed with the weekend crowds cramming in their study and homework, desperately asking others for answers… I'm glad we didn't get much work to do this week. We sit in Toon Link's room, and my mind drifts slightly to the egg - we definitely need to investigate that egg, and we still need to check the books, for goodness sake-
Toon Link turns to me. "So uh, basically, I like Villager. You know… like that."
My eyes widen in astonishment. I had not been expecting that, not one bit-
"Ohhhhhh! That's cool!" I exclaim, hugging him. "So you're gay too?"
Toon Link frowns. "I think so? But I might be bisexual - I seriously have no clue. But, yeah, heh, Villager…"
"Why? Why him?" I ask, curiosity overtaking me.
"That's a good question," Ness chimes in.
Toon Link laughs, nervously. "Ah, it's just - he's so dow to earth, he sorta cancels me out, y'know? But in a good way - and he's so damn cute and adorable and funny, and - and -" a rosy blush settles on his cheeks.
"And you're all ok with that?" I question, nervously.
Toon Link "Yeah, yeah, took some time, but I don't mind liking boys, I think it's… fine, yeah."
I poke Ness. "You should take a leaf out of his book."
Ness flushes. "It's not that simple…"
"And do you think Villager feels the same?" I query, intently.
"Pfff," Toon Link shrugs, "I dunno. Probably not. I dunno why he would."
"I dunno, you're cool," I reason. "Though, Zelda…"
"...Yeah," Toon Link confirms, miserably. "Zelda."
Ness smiles apologetically. "He might have moved on, three years ago, like he said."
I smile, shyly. "I don't really talk about relationships much."
Toon Link gives me a nuggie, to my alarm. "We should talk about relationships more! C'mon, Lucas, have you got a crush?
I blush almost as much as Toon Link. "I don't think- I've never really thought about it before…" I think - yeah, I've never really considered crushes and all that. I've been aware of other people's, but I don't know if I've ever had a crush of my own. I'm not sure what they're really supposed to feel like. I can acknowledge people are pretty, like Ness, but I dunno. I really don't know! It's kind of scary, but also exciting at the same time to think about… romance. I think it's safest just to see where things end up taking me.
Ness bundles us both into a hug - I'm glad Ness is in an affectionate mood, because so am I, and the three of us sort of flop about.
"Did you tell Lucas-?" Toon link asks Ness, quietly, but I still overhear.
"I told him that I might be gay," Ness answers, and Toon Link nods.
"That's brave."
I nod in agreement. "Yeah, Ness, that's really brave. It sounded like a scary thing to say… I'm proud."
Ness blushes once again. "You guys-"
There's a gentle quiet, until Toon Link breaks it. "I wish Inkling was here. I wonder what she'd say?"
I frown. "I don't know… I miss her."
Ness frowns. "I asked my sister if they go to the same school in a letter, but I haven't got a reply yet."
I think back. Inkling… We haven't seen her since Primary School, and we were 11 then and 16 now… I wonder if she remembers us? We'd always have a good time. Always… I let nostalgia overcome me.
Inkling cheers as we run into the playground for break. "C'mon! It's finally break! Let's play…. spies, today!"
Spies is a game we invented. One person has the pinecone, and they hide it somewhere. The other players must find and retrieve the pinecone, without being caught by the hider. The winner is the hider if they find the spies, or the spy that manages to get the pinecone. Toon Link smiles, nervously.
"That'd be really really fun - but what - what if we're told off by a professor again?"
"Ah, Toon Link! Don't worry yourself. There's no professor on duty today!" And she's right - whoever it is on the rota must've not shown up. I peer into the forest, and I notice… hm. Is that someone there, watching? But before I can do anything, the figure in the forest dashes away, abruptly. Unshaken, I turn back to the others and we ready ourselves to play the game.
I smile. "She's probably okay. She was stronger than all of us combined."
Toon Link chuckles faintly. "Yeah…"
Ness stands up. "Anyways! Lucas and I, we've got some preparations to make for the talent show, and we've got to move back into our old dorm, and investigate a golden egg and read some books, so good Lucas, will you accompany me to our dorm?
I smile. "C'mon. Let's go."
A/N I intended to do a lot more in this chapter than actually happened, rip. But that's ok! Next chapter will have them instead. Hopefully this chapter wasn't boring, the next chapter might actually unfold the plot somewhat, rather than focusing on e mo tio ns…
Sorry it's kinda late, real life has been really, really quote crazy. We, in the UK, are now on lockdown, meaning we can't leave the house (and I'm kinda getting lonely waaaa)
Notes:
There are no notes to include this time around.
Thank you for reading!
~ ReadyforTeddy
