Hello there, and welcome to Chapter 21 of Count It Up!
I've run out of clever ways to say Nintendo has all the credit, so uh, that's a thing.
Chapter 21 is a monumental milestone for this fanfiction. This is because on Wii Play, in the Tanks minigame, level 21 is the first level of the bonus stages. I'm sure you're all thrilled to hear this news.
It's Ness's perspective, so please do enjoy!
Chapter 21: The Decision
I breathe in. I have a plan. If I can get the most influential person in the carriage - Pusher - on my side, then the others may be malleable to the new idea of freedom. Pusher should be easy to convince - I can sense he's disgruntled with Porky robbing him of his status. I should use that to my advantage, if I am to save these people. I suppose, the only way to let them know of the horror to come, is to tell my story. So, I begin:
"I was imprisoned, somewhere. By Porky. Or Pokey - whatever he calls himself, around you all. It doesn't matter where I was imprisoned, but I managed to get away; Porky was distracted by this place, and was away, giving me enough time to get out of the cell he'd put me in, and to steal a couple things of his. By the time he figured out that I had got away, I was long gone - armed with all the information that I overheard. See, he was very vocal about his plans. He was sure I'd never escape, so he told me everything, I think to mock me. It was a long walk from my place of imprisonment to Tazmily - I wasn't sure where I was going, but I was fortunate to get here."
Reggie stares, intently. "And what information did you find out?"
"I can't say everything," I reply, "But his general plan is to get as many people as possible into New Pork City, so he can take control of them, and use them to build an empire. I don't know why he wants to build an empire, but he's going to use all of you, he's going to rule with cruelty."
Elmore sniffs, with disapproval. "Why should we believe you?"
"Because," I say, exasperated, "I'm trying to help you. What would I gain from lying to you? I'm going to get all of you out of this, alright?"
Caroline applauds. "Well, aren't you our hero from the heavens!"
Angie groans. "Mother! Do you have to be so embarassing?"
Ollie grins at Angie. "At least your mother is actually nice-"
"What did you just say?" Elmore snaps at her son.
"Now, who's with me? We need to get out of here."
There's muttering from all angles. I turn to Pusher.
"Pusher, rightful mayor of Onett. Porky has dethroned you. He's taking your status as the richest man in Tazmily.
There's an outbreak of talking, and Pusher raises his hand, calling for silence.
"I am indeed the mayor of Tazmily, and, you are all, of course, expected to follow me. I say, this man…" He points to me. "He is right. Porky came into our town, he replaced me as the richest man in Tazmily! Who is he? Where did he come from? He came with all his… investments, and stuff, and he replaced ME! I am powerful, not him!" We have allowed ourselves to be… hoodwinked! We have been tricked, we have been backstabbed, and we have quite possibly been bamboozled! So I say, we follow this mysterious man, here, in our carriage, who we also don't know the origin of, instead."
Elmore folds her arms. "Oh, sure! Yeah, that's just a GREAT idea!"
"Thank you for your agreement, wife."
"I was being sar-"
I look round at all the members of the carriage. "So, everyone's in?"
Alex cheers. "Yeaaaaaaah! Hic! We're gonna… go adventuring!"
Caroline nods, placing a hand on Angie's shoulder. "We're in."
Sebastian nods, curtly. "Where my lord and ladyship Mr Pusher and Mrs Elmore go, I, truly, shall follow them."
Reggie nods his approval, and so does Tessie, the inkeeper.
I turn to Duster. "Come on, Duster, you have to see it."
Duster shakes his head. "You're all lunatics."
"Come on. An adventure is just what you need - sure, life in New Pork City might seem nice and easy, but if you really want to prove that you're not just an old codger… come on. Come along with the rest of us."
"But, he promised beauty, promise, sanctuary!"
"Porky's city is not a nice place. Seriously."
Duster sighs. "Fine, fine, but only because Pusher's comin', 'kay?"
I smile. These people are going to be safe! "Okay, so here's the plan. We wait for one of the steel-armoured guards to bring us dinner. We get as much food as we can, we eat enough to keep us going, and then we pack the rest away in your handbag, Elmore," I point, "and then we wait for the morning, we collect whatever food they serve for breakfast, and we get out of the carriage doors when they open them to deliver that breakfast. We need to immobilise the guard, so they can't report to Porky that we've escaped his little plan.
"If it's a trap, why hasn't Porky chained us down already?" Elmore snaps.
"He needs to make us feel powerful, you see, so we all think we're coming along to New Pork City willingly," I explain. "When we arrive at New Pork City, when there's no chance of riot or escape, that's when he'll be chaining people down. So now, we wait."
Everyone, surprisingly, nods in agreement, and we sit back, as the carriage travels onwards.
It's a huge relief.
I panic - it's Dark Pit, it looks exactly like him, so, so, so - what does that mean! I turn on my heels, grabbing Lucas's arm, but it's faster, he's faster, and we're backed against the outer wall of the school- I breathe, the wind is suddenly tearing at me, it's suddenly ice cold - Lucas, Lucas, Lucas-!
"Placet Auxilium."
I screw my eyes tight shut, and Lucas, the far braver one of us, speaks out: "Dark Pit!"
It stops moving. I open my eyes, slowly, daring to observe what's become of our friend - and there's a sick twist in my stomach as I srr now, where his interior should be, where his organs should be, there's cogs, and, and metal, and it's wrong, and I can hardly believe that Dark Pit has become - no, has been turned into- into this, this thing! I want to panic, I can't to cry, this is, this is an abomination, how is this possible! It's frozen in place, for now, though - he - it - isn't moving, nor is it talking. Lucas takes my hand in the darkness, which I'm grateful for- it's a slight comfort - and I try to process, this isn't Dark Pit, not anymore, but it means- it means Dark Pit is- he's dead, and I can't, I refuse to believe that-
It speaks. "Pit."
Lucas's voice is high. He's scared - but he's being brave, for us, I show my appreciation with a small squeeze of the hand. Lucas looks up. "Yes, we know Pit, your twin! We're Ness, and Lucas, you remember us, right, Dark Pit? You're in there, right?"
"Tutum?"
I scramble through my mind, thinking hard. Latin - I was briefly taught some Latin at primary school "That means- that means safe!" I tell Lucas, frantically, and he nods, a lot more calmly, in understanding.
"Yes, Pit is safe!" Lucas nods, peacefully. "He's safe - why are you here, though! What happened to you?"
The wind pounds my eyes, so I can barely see as Dark Pit-Future Human shakes his head, while putting his hands to his temples - he looks to be in agony- I can only imagine- my stomach twists sickeningly as I look at the scene before me. I can't imagine being - being cut open and turned into - into that!
"We're going to go back to the castle," I tell Future-Human-Dark-Pit, fearfully. "We have to - we'll look after Pit, okay?"
Dark-Pit-Future-Human nods, stepping back away with us, but suddenly, his eyes turn blank-! I scramble against the wall, alarmed, but he - it - stands rigidly still, and I breathe a shaky sigh of relief, but it's short lived, as we start to run, back into the castle, through the castle doors, out of the cold wind, into the entrance hall- I just can't process it. Dark Pit is - is that, now, I- I grab Lucas's shoulders, trembling-
"That was- that was Dark- Dark Pit- I-"
"I know, Ness," Lucas grimaces. "Or at least, what's left of him."
"His eyes- they went- they went blank- they-"
Lucas nods, miserably. "I guess. We gave Dark Pit's spirit closure. We told him Pit was safe. Dark Pit is-" he averts his eyes, "Gone, now-"
"So, what's- what's left of him is just- his body- and something, something else is in control?"
"No doubt about it. Whatever did that to him. Whatever, whoever that was, down there in the bright room in the passages, they're behind this, they must somehow be controlling the Future Humans to go after me - but what's left of Dark Pit fought back, saving us. Now - now, it'll be relentless. It might even be coming inside!"
I turn in alarm, and close the great school doors, praying it can't come through like The Cloak in that dream-
Lucas continues. "I think that they-they've been luring people down there, into the passages, like with Pit and Dark Pit and they've been taking them and turning them into- into Future Humans. They're been experimenting, on-on them, improving them, and that's why people are disappearing, and that's where the Future Humans are coming from-"
"Then, we need to go down to that room right now, and put a stop to all this!" I blunder, but Lucas shakes his head.
"The passage caved in, remember? There's no known way down."
I process this. "So, whoever it is, doing all this down there is trapped inside?"
"Maybe," Lucas grimaces, "but I'll bet there's another way out. We just can't use it because we don't know it."
We're silent, for what feels like hours, standing there in the entrance hallway.
"Dark Pit is dead," I croak, the realisation once again slashing at me. "Dark Pit is goddamn dead."
Lucas nods, holding me close and I sob- the knowledge consuming me. Dark Pit is gone, he's no more. Lucas cries too, burying his face into my chest - he's gone, whoever is doing this is evil, pure evil, but why! Why would anyone do all this? I don't get it. It's not fair!
With renewed sobs, I bury my face into Lucas's soft hair.
"We can't tell Pit," Lucas mumbles, "we can't tell Pit exactly what's happened to Dark Pit. He'd be devastated."
I nod, in agreement. "He can know he's dead, but not - not that he's one of those things."
Lucas holds onto me, his composure breaking down further. "I'm scared, Ness."
"So am I, Lucas."
The tears continue to roll down my face. "What do we- what do we do!?"
"We need to keep looking for details. We need to solve this. We need to listen - look closely at everything suspicious, count it up, we need to find out what's in the golden egg - what The Face has to do with all this, what the hell the grave is doing there, we need to find out about the magical monsters and mythical creatures book, that first had the Future Humans in, we need to find out what Bowser was sneaking around for, we need to find out what Meta Knight and Olimar are up to-"
I cut in. "And we need to find out why whoever's behind it all is creating these Future Humans, sending them after you, trapping me in a dream with the golden egg, and attacking you in the shower."
"Yeah, finding all that is possible," he says, weakly. "Totally."
"We should head to bed," I mumble, miserably. Each time I think back to Dark Pit, a new wave of mourning flashes across me - I knew him for just 4 days. 4 days! But, he was so lively, so funny, and he's- he's dead.
"Bed sounds good," Lucas decides. "Pit will be waiting."
And poor Pit - Dark Pit was his twin brother, and his best friend. I can scarcely imagine losing Lucas - I'd be inconsolable - but I imagine that's what Pit must be feeling, right now. I resolve to help Pit through the pain as much as I can.
We step out of the hall - but I'm surprised to see Toon Link, Red and Villager, almost waiting there for us.
"There you are!" Toon Link cries out. "What were you doing outside!"
I gulp, realising that this might not go so well. "Uhm-"
Red folds his arms. "We saw everything. We saw you summon- summon fire and ice, out of the window - what the hell? Is this witchcraft or something!?"
I panic. "No, that must've been someone else-"
"It was you," Villager says, matter of factly.
Lucas grips tighter onto my hand. "We didn't want to say, because-"
The tension running through me feels unreal.
"Because what?" Red asks, sharply.
Toon Link sighs. "Look, everything's getting really weird recently. Please, I've had enough of the lies. What are you two? Why are those - those creatures after you, anyways?! Just, tell us what the hell is going on?"
Lucas's hand shakes in mine. "I'm sorry, I-"
He covers his face. "I look at you two, and I hardly recognise you anymore."
"Now that's not fair!" I counter at Toon Link, suddenly angry, sensing that Toon Link has made Lucas sad. "You're not entitled to know everything going on with us!"
Toon Link uncovers his eyes, shocks anger flashing across him too. He steps closer to me. "Oh, so, it's going to be like that, is it? Just because you two are all happy together, and you two have it made, you think that you should rub it in by having all these crazy things you're hiding from us, your friends? Do you just want to feel even more special, is that it?"
"We didn't want to tell you about all this because you'd never believe us, and you'd just worry!" I argue. "You'd just think we're weird. We only found out that we could summon ice and fire today-"
"Is there anything else you're keeping from us?" Toon Link borderline shouts. "Or are you going to keep lying to us every second, and putting yourselves in bloody danger, and-"
"We can explain it all!" Lucas cuts in, his tone panicked. "Please, just-"
"I seriously don't wanna know!" Toon Link yells, turning away. "Save it for someone who cares." He storms off, hastily followed by Villager and Red, leaving me in shock, which is quickly replaced with guilt, which is quickly replaced feeling like I want to shrivel up and die - what have I done now? Why do I have to be like this? My heart suddenly feels a lot heavier, I have a feeling I've suddenly messed up, big time. Oh no - oh no! Lucas continues to hold me, gently. I wan to be angry at Toon Link. Toon Link doesn't get it. Why does he have to be an ass to us about all this?! Yeah, that's right it's him in the wrong - but, but it's me, it's definitely me, it's my fault, I've upset my friends - I've dragged Lucas into all this too-
Lucas sniffles into my chest. "It's not our fault. I think Toonie is just… confused."
I sniffle too. I'm in the wrong, and I know it. "Let's just go to bed."
Lucas nods, and I try to push cloudy thoughts of Dark Pit and Toon Link out of my mind. We enter our bedroom to find Pit, already here, seeming to be pretty happy, to my relief. I can't bear to tell him about Dark Pit and about the argument though - he doesn't need to know. I can't even be bothered to change into pyjamas, as I just scramble into bed. Why is it that as soon as I'm feeling alright, as soon as I'm finally not feeling awful about myself, as soon as I'm free from self hatred for just an hour, something happens to just, push me right back down again. Maybe I do deserve it all. Maybe buttercup is my rational side, telling me that I am wrong, that I'm wrong, that I-
Pit's voice sounds from the other side of my emotional barricade. "Uhm, I'll take this bed then, if that's alright, or I can sleep on the floor-"
"It's okay, Ness and I can share," Lucas assures him. Pit smiles gratefully, and gets into Lucas's bed, and Lucas slips in to join me in mine, wrapping slender arms around me.
"Thanks again for this-" Pit smiles, nervously. "You really didn't have to-"
"It's really no problem," Lucas replies. "We're here for you."
"Thanks-"
"So uh, Pit, how do you get on with the others?" Lucas asks. I notice that he neglects to mention the fact that we've just fallen out with them, possibly forever, and that they all probably hate me now and think we're complete freaks.
"Well," Pit considers. "Toon Link's one of the nicest guys I've met - Villager is chill, even if he may," he chuckles slightly, "lack any distinctive personality traits, heh, Red is quiet but, yeah, I think he seems pretty nice too-"
I try to involve myself in the conversation, but I can only bring myself to nod. I'm too weighed down, yet again. I'm weak. So. Weak.
"We, uh, kinda uh, fell out with them," Lucas admits. "Just now-"
Pit's face falls. "Oh- oh no, what about?"
Lucas blushes, realising he's trapped himself. "Oh, uh, it's a - it's a long story-"
"We've got time," shrugs Pit. Lucas looks at me, nervously.
"We can tell him the essentials," I whisper, quietly, and Lucas inclines his head to demonstrate his agreement.
"Alright," Lucas begins. "This is going to sound really insane."
Pit shrugs. "I don't think much would sound insane to me right about now."
I decide to curl up under the covers, watching, allowing myself to wallow in self deprecation while Lucas explains to him about how we read the book and figured out about our powers, and how Toon Link and the others got mad because we said we were going to bed, and because we didn't tell them what we'd found out - and every word that Lucas says drills it into my mind that all this, all of this chaos of tonight, is my fault. I suddenly sob quietly, unexpectedly, and I curse myself for crying, praying that nobody will hear me. Lucas tightens his hold on my broken self.
"Alright," Pit nods, after Lucas has told him the basics. "Makes sense."
"...You're not freaked out?" Lucas asks, tentatively.
"Not really, all this talk of magic throughout history, it was pretty unlikely for it not to be real."
Lucas nods awkwardly. "Well, that's good."
Pit thinks. "But, as for your falling out… Dark Pit and I... we were always fighting, but what we found is the best thing to do always is, is quite simply, even if you're certain that you're in the right, just apologise in the morning, and move on. That's it."
Lucas nods. "Yeah, we'll- we'll do that, then."
"But," Pit adds, "in addition, I don't think Toon Link necessarily is right. Sure, he's worried about you, but, you're not obliged to tell them what you found out today."
Lucas thinks. "Yeah, that sorta makes sense, but I get it, you know. I get why Toon Link would be kinda angry."
I bury myself further under the pillows. Because of me. Toon Link is angry because of me.
Pit nods his agreement at Lucas. "He'll come around."
Lucas looks down. "I just worry… they'll all be scared of us, now. They'll think we're different."
Pit shakes his head. "I don't think so. You're still you, I think."
Lucas smiles a little bit. "I promise we won't blast you with fire in your sleep."
Pit laughs, slightly. "Yeah. Anyways, sleep, that sounds good. But - first - you and Ness-" he blushes slightly. "Since we're sharing a room, are you, you know, together?"
My face grows warm and I'm sure Lucas is probably blushing too. Lucas shakes his head in response to Pit. "We're not together - we're just best friends, that's all."
I'm reminded, yet another problem with me. Another reason why I'm awful. I still have a huge crush on my best friend. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh, why do I have to exist?
Pit nods. "Good to know. Uh, yeah, ok, goodnight, Ness, Lucas and thanks again-"
"It's no problem!" Lucas smiles. "Goodnight. If you need anything, just wake me up, ok?"
"Okay."
There's a silence, until I hear Pit's gentle snoring coming from the other side of the room. Upon hearing this too, Lucas turns to me, worry written all over his face.
"Ness."
"I suppose you're angry at me now, aren't you?" I say, bitterly.
"What? No, I could never be angry at you."
I breathe heavily. "It's my fault, though."
"It's not your fault, Ness. You didn't ask Toon Link to get angry."
"I've ruined everything again, Lucas."
"You've ruined nothing."
I cover my eyes. He can't see my tears. "Everything I do, everything, I do it wrong, I hurt people, I get angry, everything wants to kill us, and it burns inside. I hate it. I hate it."
Lucas tightens his hold on me. "Ness, you haven't done anything wrong-"
I gasp for air. "And-And now everyone's slowly starting to hate me-! Pit probably doesn't like me, Toon Link is angry, Red, Villager, Father, everyone!"
"Ness, they don't hate you! They-"
"They do."
"Ness, please, try to think rationally."
"I can't! Not when there's a - a damn voice in my head telling me that I'm worthless, not when my Father tells me every day that I'm a mistake, not when - not when you're being chased after by a load of awful things-"
Lucas rubs my back, soothingly, but it doesn't help. He makes a small noise. "Ness, please, I don't like seeing you this upset, I don't want you to be hurt, I don't want you to be sad."
I screw my face up. "You might as well not want me then, because I'm always sad. It's always like this. Always!"
"Ness, all that's going on is putting so much pressure on you, that's why you're feeling this way, whoever's doing this wants to get to you, they- they- oh- oh-"
"Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"This person after us. They hate you for some reason, yeah?"
"Them and everyone else."
"Ness, don't say that. But what if - that's why they're attacking me, why they're doing this, because they know that's the best way to get to you!"
I'm silent. They're after… me? I wouldn't be surprised. "Then- then it is all my fault!" I cry, hysterically. "You being attacked by those things is all my fault!"
"Ness-"
I break out of his arms rapidly. "That's it I- I have to- we need to stop hanging out, we need to stop everything-"
Lucas recoils in alarm. "Ness!? No!"
"If we stop hanging out, they'll stop going after you, and you'll be safe."
"But- no! Ness, I need you!"
"Tell me I'm wrong."
"But-"
"Tell me!" I demand.
Lucas shrinks back. "I guess - I guess you're right, but-"
"Then that settles it," I conclude. "Goodnight."
"I-"
I pull the covers over us, and bury my face into the pillow, pretending to be asleep. I don't think Lucas buys it, but he doesn't speak, instead he curls up in a ball, on the other side of the bed. He has to know I'm doing this for his own safety. I'm right. I know I'm right. All this time, the Future Humans have been going after Lucas, because whoever this mystery person is, who apparently hates me, they've just been trying to upset me. Whoever it is… it's better if I let them take me instead, instead of them hurting Lucas. Maybe with distance, I might get over this stupid crush on Lucas, as well! That's a plus. I'm doing the right thing, and I know it. Besides, I was only dragging him down - with my constant misery, and brashness. I've become a dead weight. I breathe, deeply.
Tomorrow morning, I'll wake up early, I'll go and apologise to Toon Link, and then I'll keep my distance from them all in a lounge or somewhere, and I'll study. Yeah. Then, I please my Father too - it all fits together, good! I'll sleep on a sofa somewhere. Lucas won't be forced to share a bed with me. And if I'm found by whoever is doing this - then that's all the better, because then I can confront them, and if they kill me… again.
All the better.
I drift off into sleep.
I'm 11 or so years old - it's the last year at Onett primary school. Lucas, Toon Link, Inkling and I are walking home from school. We're just walking past the main road when I see a figure behind a nearby tree - I frown. We keep walking, however, and I neglect to mention the figure to my friends. But to my horror, the figure suddenly makes a dash for us - and I notice instantly, it's Porky, of course it's Porky.
"Run!" I call to my friends. Lucas tries to stop and wait for me, but Toon Link takes his hand, and they run down the road. Porky turns to me.
"Tell me where the blonde one lives."
"Never! Get your creepy ass away from us!"
Porky grins horribly. "All I want to do is play!" He pouts, and it's disgusting.
"Get- get away!" I push him, somehow causing him to stumble back over a rock, and he falls back onto the grass, shouting angrily - I make a dash for it, grabbing Lucas's hand when I reach them. Despite being a terrible runner, I lead - we take a diversion, twisting down other alleyways and other paths to escape Porky.
We never take that route again.
Lucas sniffles, crying - he's scared of Porky. We all are. But Lucas more than any of us - I sometimes wonder what else Porky might have done to Lucas. I dread to think, in the years when he was alone, when he didn't know us, when there was nobody there to protect him… I hold myself firm. I will keep Lucas safe. I will always keep Lucas safe - and that's what I do. Porky never will lay a finger on Lucas again. I hug Lucas, as Lucas cries…
I wake up. I can still hear crying - and it's coming from the other side of the room.
Pit.
The room is dim - it must still be night - I notice Lucas has moved positions, so he's lying parallel to me. Lucas glances over at me, suddenly, and we exchange a worried gaze, before I remember I'm not supposed to be keeping close to him anymore, and I look away. I look over at Pit, instead - Pit's covers are shaking, and he's almost certainly underneath. I feel a sting of sadness for him. It must be a dark night for him - I want to help, but I don't know how… I don't think he'd appreciate it. Not right now. He doesn't deserve any of this tragedy. I roll over, facing the wall, and I'm quickly brought back into slumber.
Early morning comes soon enough. Resolution fills me, and I rise from bed, hastily getting dressed before Lucas can wake up himself. Pit's quiet now - I hope he's sleeping - and I creep out of the room, silently. I'm sure Toon Link will be around here somewhere, what with his insomnia. I ready my apology in my head - now I just hope that he accepts it. Another sting of guilt hits me, and I want to curl up, but I don't. I walk down the corridor, and down the stairs… into the main hall. Toon Link glances round from the other end of it.
I wave,suddenly nervous. "Hey."
He bites his lip. "Hey."
I run towards him. "I'm sorry - I'm so sorry-"
Toon Link runs towards me, too. "No, I'm sorry - agh, I'm, I didn't get a wink of sleep thinking about it - I was way out of line, you don't have to tell anybody anything, I-"
I almost laugh. "No, it's okay. It was my fault."
"Just tell me you'll be safe?" Toon Link whispers.
I nod. "We will be, now."
"We will be, now? What's that supposed to mean?"
I rub my arm. "Well, those - creatures - they're after Lucas, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So, I'm going to keep my distance from him. They'll stop chasing after him - we figured out that whoever is behind this is attacking him in order to upset me. So, if I keep my distance, they'll stop attacking him."
"That's a terrible idea!" Toon Link disagrees. "Look- you need each other!"
I nod, slowly. "It'll be fine."
"But you- you, you know, you like him-"
"I never said I did!"
Toon Link shrugs "It's uh, kinda obvious-"
"Whatever - so what if I do, Toon Link, I'm doing the right thing."
"I disagree," Toon Link furrows his brow, "but I won't force you not to do it."
"Good. Also, I should tell you what else we found out," I realise.
Toon Link nods. "Yeah - it'd be good to know."
I take a breath. "So, whoever is behind this, they're taking people - causing these disappearances - and they're turning these people into the Future Human creatures."
Toon Link gasps. "That's awful! How did you find this out?"
I hang my head. "We saw Dark Pit."
Toon Link looks sickened. "Oh my God. Poor Dark Pit - Poor Pit! Did you tell him?"
"I couldn't," I admit. "We decided best not, considering-"
Toon Link nods. "Good. I don't think knowing that would do Pit any favours."
I nod.
"But what about the magic!" Toon Link asks, keenly. "I'm a little jealous, I'll admit-"
"Heh," I begin, "well, Lucas and I, we figured it out because we share dreams and things sometimes, so we looked through some books on magic that Ryu gave Lucas, and we read and we found out, well, we found out we're psychic."
"Psychic! Well I never."
"Yeah, apparently being a psychic is extremely rare…"
Toon Link frowns. "Funny coincidence that you and Lucas ended up being best friends then."
"That's what Lucas said."
"But, what else? What can you do?"
"Well," I think, trying to remember all I can from the book. "There's 5 types of magic - Ryu is apparently able to do… I think it was 'Diplomatics magic'? He said that was like, tracking, and martial arts, which is how he tracks the creatures, yeah? Rosalina - she can apparently do the light magic, I'm not so sure what that actually does but she can teleport away the Future Human creatures… There's another two, I think it was… creation and elemental magic. Anyways, some guy made a stone for each type of magic, and if people are near the stone, I guess they're more likely to be born with magical power? That's what the book seemed to suggest. Oh, and there was an extra stone - the time stone, whatever that is, that might send people back in time that touch it, but, it went missing so apparently they're not sure-" I gasp for breath.
Toon Link's eyes are wide. "Right. Magical stones, time stone, Ryu and Rosalina are magic too, got it. But what exactly can you do?"
"So, there's three categories of psychics - I can't remember them - but I'm an empath, which means I'm emotional, heh, and I can see what other people's emotions are or something, and I can also summon a little bit of ice and fire…"
"What about Lucas?"
"Well, Lucas is apparently super powerful, and he is all three categories, of course, which means he can do a ton of stuff, but it means him and I can do telepathy if like, our foreheads are touching or something, and we sometimes share dreams-"
Toon Link whistles. "Ness, this is seriously crazy."
I nod. "I know. You believe me, right?"
"'Course - I saw the ice and fire stuff all happen out the window. It was scary! But - man, is this weird."
"I know," I agree. "This is all super weird - I'm just as weirded out as you. This is all super freaky."
"I'd have thought you'd be even more weirded out than this though," Toon Link ponders, analytically.
I blush. "I think I know why I'm not."
"Why?"
"Well.. it's Lucas. Discovering all this magic stuff with Lucas is a lot more.. comforting, than it would be otherwise."
Toon Link frowns. "Then why separate yourself from him?"
"Because," I say gravely, "I'd rather he didn't end up dead."
Toon Link whistles slowly. "Look, all this is mad, right, but I, and the others, we're here for you, with that creepy grave and whoever this is trying to get you. We'll stick by you."
I nod. "Thank you. I should go now. I need to check if I've got any letters." It's been a while since I've heard from Tracy - there's a mild prickle of worry in my mind that Tracy might not be writing back because in my last letter, I said that I might be gay, which I now know I almost certainly am, but I'm hoping that premonition is not right… I need to check the school postbox, though. The school postbox is where all of the mail from Onett to students or staff is left, and usually the mail handed out at breakfast, but I'm impatient.
"Alright," Toon Link nods. "I'll see you. Sorry again - and stay safe!"
"I will," I assure him, as I walk away.
Toon Link heads off somewhere - presumably to the music room, or the theatre room, to practice his lines for Robin Hood, and I, meanwhile, head towards the postbox. It's Sunday, which means most people are probably still sleeping. I open the postbox up and rifle through the letters - perfect, there's one addressed to me - I quickly tear it open and I read:
Hey Nesster,
Sorry for the late reply, Father grounded me. Uh, I don't know an Inkling, no, I'm not entirely sure who you mean there. Whoever they are, I hope they're well?
And I totally knew it! You and Lucas would be the perfect couple, you'd be so cute! You better keep me updated, or else I'll have to blackmail you. Heh.
Update on life here: everyone's getting ready to go to war against Tazmily. Father doesn't have to go! Since he owns the coal mine, they've decided he needs to keep doing that, so they can still make weapons and stuff. I don't know much about the virus, everyone's just acting completely normal, which is kinda weird.
I, meanwhile, am causing plenty of chaos at school, of course. I even went out to one of those big parties, and I mighhhht've got a bit tipsy, but I don't think mother or father suspected anything. Oh yeah - mother and father had a row! About time mother stood up to him.
Anyways, I gotta go. The cook is supposed to be teaching me spag bol tonight - and I gotta get started.
~ Tracy.
I start writing my reply instantly.
Hi Trace,
Ok, shame you don't know her, but thanks for checking. Inkling's an old school friend - I didn't know where she's got to.
Nooo, please don't say that. I've decided to… distance myself from Lucas, because there's someone who's trying to hurt him in order to get at me, so I've got to keep him safe, right? So, no more shipping me and him, please. It's not going to happen.
War - ugh, why! Do you even know what Tazmily supposedly did to cause Onett to start this war? It's ridiculous. And, stay safe - that virus sounds properly bad, keep inside, yeah? And DON'T GET DRUNK NOOOO! You're literally 13, why would you do that! Live like me - no alcohol, ever. And, a row? Is mother okay?
Anyways, keep in touch.
~ Ness.
I place the letter in the delivery postbox, ready for it to be sent off back to Onett, and I turn back around, ready to begin my day of solitude.
The plan starts perfectly. We eat some of our dinner that we're served, and the rest we store away in Elmore's handbag. We spend a bit of time getting to know each other, what our lives are like, and what we do, before heading to sleep. I do feel bad for all the others, in all of the other carriages - but I know that I can't save them all. All I can do is the best that I can, right? But, that doesn't stop my dreams from being haunted with scenes of what might - what will - happen to all of these innocent people.
Nevertheless, Sunday morning soon breaks and we're ready.
It's time to put our plan into action.
A/N Ah, Ness, you idiot, why do you do this? I hope you enjoyed this slightly short chapter…
More of the mystery finally unfolds. And Dark Pit! I feel really bad for Dark Pit. I feel slightly evil now, too. He deserved better… and Pit, too. I'm a pure menace.
I also went back and fixed up chapter 1, because I noticed a lot of people sadly were just reading chapter 1, and stopping. It's about time I fixed it too, because the introduction has been bothering me for so long, but I think it's better now-
There's no changes to the actual plot, though, so there's no need for any of you to go back and reread it; it was just fixing typos and fixing the wording of a couple things.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this! The next chapter might be, uh, sad, so, mini warning there. But until then, see ya!
~ReadyForTeddy
