Chapter 54: Nocturnes of Healing and Materialization

…

~~I don't know what's causing them to stay awake. But I think we're at the point where the Dreamweaver can't maintain control over them anymore. I feel sorry that we can't do anything to help them. Other than maybe ensure that the Dreamweaver doesn't feed on them anymore.

…

Link, Irleen, and Cale had a quick lunch before leaving for the library. Had it only been two days since he had last stepped inside, with this feeling of unfamiliarity with the shelves and the lights? Or maybe it was just that he was with Irleen. Being inside the technoworks felt even stranger, having not seen for a couple weeks the glitter of particles or the rolling clouds of colors that moved across the living tiles of rock. Perhaps the feeling was for the best; with all of the horrors he had seen and felt recently, he had forgotten most of what these technoworks had looked like when he had first entered the dream. Walking through those rooms to the control columns at the end instead brought back his memories of using the technoworks back in Hyrule, standing under his own spotlight and playing to the whims of intelligent stone.

Once they were in the control room, Link took his usual place in the middle. He had to go through the notes on the blues harp once again, having done this so few times he had forgotten the activation note. The pull on the seventh hole caused the particles to stop, so he kept inhaling on that note. The particles came together to form a bulleted list on each column, and Irleen immediately stepped forward to peruse it.

"How does it look?" Link asked.

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Much better," she answered with relief in her voice. She pressed a finger on one bullet, and the list spat out bands of blue light that did laps around the columns before spreading onto the ceiling. They formed a map of Obeeta, showing a dark blue blob surrounding green squares forming a rough cross shape. They were not completely green; from where Link stood, he could see small threads of red light peering through. Irleen beamed and said, "The technoworks are clear. All of their functions are back. We just need to tell them to heal before we put another Sky Line up."

"Is it possible that the damage to the technowohks might prevent us from making anothah Sky Line?" Cale asked. "I mean, even aftah the technowohks ah healed, those areas wheah necrosis has come to its conclusion won't be able to function."

"If a little necrosis would stop us that easily," Irleen replied as she tapped another bullet on the list in front of her, "we wouldn't be able to make the technoworks do anything. You see, some of the well-used technoworks used to actually house Greys. The only way they turned the lights off is by making a cavity they could sleep in and causing the interior to go through complete necrosis. For necrosis to actually affect the way the technoworks work, the technoworks would have to be so damaged that they couldn't even keep this island in the sky. So, trust me; we wouldn't even need to ask if the technoworks was that bad off."

"Indeed…" Cale said, a look of mild surprise on his face.

"I doubt the Dreamweaver would risk having the island fall," Link commented.

"Probably," Irleen said as she tapped another bullet on the right column. "Certainly would've saved us some trouble, though."

Link was about to mention that Irleen would not have been able to get her original body back, but he decided to hold in the comment as the light of the technoworks around them dimmed. He looked down at the blues harp in his hand as the emeralds on its surface began flashing in the pattern of notes that he had to play. Link had to stand and memorize it four times, having to rub his eyes during the second repetition of the notes. Then he started playing.

Link had never been good at remembering each song he had played for the technoworks note-for-note, at least not long after having played the song. He could at least recall the general tone. This technoworks was easier to remember because it had only been two weeks since he had last played. As he repeated the song the technoworks had requested, he realized that the tune was quite different from the almost celebratory glee of the first song. This song, on the other hand, was a series of low, long notes with an occasional jump to what Link could best perceive as a "middle" note. He had to push through the song, trying not to focus on the sound lest he restarted all over again. It was not easy; the shift bothered him. It was not exactly mournful, what with the variations keeping it from being completely gloomy. If anything, Link had the vague impression of mystery, as if the technoworks was actually trying to tell him there was something vital he was missing.

His first playthrough was still a little clumsy, and he could not tell if the technoworks had accepted it when none of the surrounding technoworks showed him damage. He simply continued through another three repetitions. During the fourth rendition of the song, he saw that the technoworks were slowly returning to their original color, so he stopped playing at the end of the piece. Then he turned to Cale and Irleen standing behind his right shoulder.

Cale, upon realizing that he had been staring at the wall, blinked and asked, "Ihleen? Did that sound like the same song as befoah?"

"No, it wasn't," Irleen replied, her own expression spooked. She glanced around as if to find an answer. "That was… weird."

"Did it change because we released the other technoworks?" Link asked.

"Ayeeeeeh…" Irleen droned with a nervous look on her face. Then she heaved a sigh and said, "I don't know. Sorry, boys, but I'm stumped, too."

"A rathah daunting prospect, Ihleen," Cale commented.

"Well, if I recall right, we saw this when we were dealing with Cunimincus two years ago," Irleen said. "It seemed like the technoworks on Bold Island changed what song they made us use when we put the Sky Line back."

"But was it because of a change in the technowohks oh something else?" Cale asked. "If one recalls, we had just destroyed Cunimincus' ship just as the Undying Stohm disappeahed."

"Maybe that had something to do with it, maybe it didn't," Irleen told him. Then she turned back to Link and said, "I think we should keep going. Whatever's going on doesn't seem to bother the technoworks enough that they don't work."

"It is concehning, howevah," Cale spoke up.

Link nodded. "I know, but Irleen's got a point." He indicated the column to his left. "Irleen, we need a return line next."

"This couldn't be complicated enough…" Irleen said to herself as she started studying the column.

"Captain," Cale said. "A thought?"

"What is it?" Link asked.

"Now that we've exclusive access to the technowohks, how difficult would it be to change them so that ouh voyage back to the kingdom would be shohtah?"

Link gave him a stunned frown. "You know, I hadn't really thought about that," he admitted.

"Uh, boys?" Irleen spoke up. "Sure as I am that we'll get home, I don't think we should be making the trip shorter right away."

"Why not?" Link asked her.

"Well, if what you said is true, that The Night is going to rely on us to draw more people in, we probably shouldn't make the trip any easier." She turned completely to them. "In fact, if we go back without taking care of The Night, we should use the technoworks on Might Island to get rid of the Sky Lines that lead here."

"I don't think it'll change anything," Link said. "The Night'll still draw people here whether the Sky Lines bring them or not."

"Yeah, well, just because it won't change anything doesn't mean we should make it easy for it."

Link glanced at Cale to see if he had anything to add. Then he nodded. "All right," he said. "If we leave here without destroying The Night, we should make sure we take out the Sky Lines at Might Island. And, if we do take out The Night, we can always change the Sky Lines before we leave."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Irleen said. As she started looking through the column's lists again, she added, "Someone should let Leynne know we're getting smarter…"

"I expect that Mistah Leynne would have considahed the possibilities at this point," Cale said.

Both boys watched as Irleen looked through the column. She had to tap a couple bullets before finding a separate list she was looking for. Even still, she asked in uncertainty, "You guys think 'Materialize' sounds like what we need?"

"I'm… not even sure what that means." Link admitted.

Irleen gave him an irritated look. "Why do you keep getting these translated words, but you don't know what they mean?" she asked.

"It sounds as if you have youh own doubts," Cale replied while Link gave a helpless shrug. "Howevah, in the interests of fuhthering ouh task, I believe that this selection has potential."

Irleen glanced at Cale. Then she asked Link, "That was a 'yes', right?"

"I think so," Link answered, grinning at the exhausted look Cale gave her.

Irleen shrugged and pressed her finger to the column. The words on the column soundlessly burst into a flurry of blue specks that ascended to the ceiling. The trio watched as they gathered on the wall in front of Link. There, they swirled in place. Link glanced down to see a pattern of lights on the blues harp. It was only a short piece of eight notes, and Link only had to let it play through twice before he attempted it. Once again, the technoworks had chosen a tune that favored long, low notes for a decidedly mysterious mood. He played through twice, his eyes shifting between the top of the blues harp and the wall to see if there was any change.

Then the specks formed lines that twisted around each other for a moment. They eventually formed a pair of loops set close to a pair of dark teal shapes that Link barely recognized as Might Island (encircled in the loops) and Obeeta. He assumed the two loops to be Sky Lines, mainly because one was a bright blue line while the other was dull and red; it made sense to him that the technoworks would show what was there and what could be there in different colors.

Still, he asked, "Is this it?"

"It should be," Irleen answered. "Might Island is probably the only major island close enough for these technoworks to make a feasible Sky Line."

Link looked at the blues harp again to see one of the emeralds flashing. So, he brought the instrument to his lips and blew on the corresponding note. The picture on the wall glowed completely blue for a moment. Then it burst apart. The technoworks became a chamber of dim orange, and a ring of blue light had appeared on the floor. This was a scene Link was very familiar with, so he started memorizing the longer musical piece that the blues harp was giving him.

"Do we have to wohry about potentially misaligning the islands by adding anothah Sky Line?" Cale asked.

"The islands that were already surrounded by Sky Lines will be fine," Irleen whispered to him. "Obeeta might start moving away, though, now that it has Sky Lines active around it."

"Hm. The prospect has appeal…"

"Yeah, but we'd lose all the resources on this island."

"A faih price if The Night is still here."

"Do you guys mind?" Link growled, having found that he could not focus on the song with them talking nearby. When neither responded, he returned to following the pattern, a process elongated by the interruption.

When Link finally began to play, he discovered that the song felt like a continuation of the short piece he had played before. If the technoworks really were trying to tell him something, he wished it would be more overt. As it was now, it only left a rumble in the pit of his stomach that served to prod his wounded side. How he was able to achieve playing the piece through three times and not miss a note (not that there was anything to tell him that he had), he could not be certain.

When he was finished, the technoworks had returned to its usual state. "Did it work?" he asked as he turned to look at Irleen.

Irleen shrugged. "Don't really see how it couldn't," she said. "Pull up the list." Link obliged her with a single pull on the blues harp. She pressed two bullets, and the wall in front of Link shifted colors. They saw a shadow representative of the island's shape. To the south of it were a pair of thin, blue, shallow curves running nearly parallel to each other. "That's it."

"A pleasuah to receive good news every now and then," Cale commented.

"Anything else we need to do before we leave?" Irleen asked.

"Yeah," Link said. "Get rid of The Night."

…

The trio returned to the ship with plenty of afternoon light to spare. Naturally, this served to make them nervous. The Obeetans were still going about their usual habit of wandering around and saying nonsensical things to thin air. Link wondered if they would ever tire out. If The Night's hold on them was waning, they might actually go to sleep tonight. Although, once he considered how the island might look, he found that he preferred them wandering around at night after all.

As they set foot on the deck, Leynne, having been observing something to port with his duoscope, turned and glanced over his shoulder. Then he spun and approached the trio. Link saw that there was a slight drag to his step, as if he did not have the energy to raise his feet. The impression was strengthened when he was close enough to see Leynne's eyes bloodshot with bags underneath.

Link made to point this out, but Leynne spoke up first. "I take it preparations foh ouh depahtuh have been finalized," he said.

"Just about," Link replied, unsure of whether he should point out Leynne's tired appearance.

"Leynne, you look like hell," Irleen spoke up. "Did something happen?"

Leynne curled back his lips as if he was about to snarl at her. However, he seemed to think better of it and heaved a sigh instead. "No, nothing's happened," he told her. "I've… I've had a nightmah. I'm afraid I did not nap well eahlieh."

"A nightmah?" Cale asked, surprise prevalent in his voice.

"You don't mean th—" Link started to ask.

"I doubt if it is any direct responsibility of The Night," Leynne quickly told them. "As it occuhred during the day, I am inclined to think that my subconscious mehly wants to asseht its own opinions of condemnation."

"Uuuuuuh…" Irleen droned, vocalizing Link's own confusion.

"I suspect that ouh cihcumstances influenced my mid-day dream," Leynne clarified.

"Things are that bad, huh?" Link asked.

"I would ratheh believe that than think that The Night has influence during the day as well," Leynne explained. "Othehwise, we ah in moh serious trouble than we had hoped."

Link nodded and said, "Yeah, I can agree with that."

Leynne glanced over his shoulder. "I take it that we ah still plotting The Night's demise."

"Yeah," Link said.

Leynne sighed and said, "I wish we could do something to help you, Link. I suppose wishing you luck is about the best we have."

"I'll take it at this point."

…

~~We have a return Sky Line back to the kingdom. We might even be able to shorten the trip back even further after we've removed The—I've just remembered that we've been talking about killing a Sorian this whole time. The same people we've been trying to find—no. No, this isn't who we were looking for. This is just who we found. I wonder if he knows that we've been trying to find the rest of his people.

~~I didn't think about it before, but I wonder what he thinks of us planning to kill him. Probably about the same as he thought about the Mystics going after him. I don't know if it's good or not that none of my crew have been killed by this point, and it certainly seems as though he tried. Not to mention that he's been slowly driving them out of their minds. I'm ready to put an end to this.

…

Link decided to try one of the Sorian rations just to get an idea of what his crew was in for. One item was some type of leaf that had been dried and packed with salt. He found that it tasted like paper rather than the lettucey flavor he had been expecting. Another was meat of an unknown variety shaped into a stick and cooked to a hardness not unlike jerky but a little greasy for his taste. He could not tell what the meat was nor could he remember what kind of livestock he had seen on Forelight Island, so he was content to believe that it was just some exotic form of beef. He would have to ask Irleen later. The nuts and dried fruit, he expected. How the Sorians made something preserved taste so good, however, was yet another mystery. The last was a biscuit that he was sure he chipped a tooth on.

After dinner, his concerns about his crew arose, and he made his rounds. Of course, a number of them were falling asleep at their posts or, in the case of the day shift, nodding off in the galley. Sello was the only one who appeared to be getting any decent sleep; it did not seem to bother him that he had fallen asleep with a bottle, set upright, jabbing into his lower back while he lay on his couch. Nester looked like he was trying to take inventory. Layna sat in the cargo hold, and Link dared to nudge her to keep her from drifting off. When she responded, it was with a weary look that Link could sympathize with. The deck crew were still patrolling back and forth in the middle of the deck. Gold might have fallen asleep on the wheel if it had not been for Link prodding him awake.

Once Leynne had informed him that it should have been time, Link went to his cabin to go to sleep. He woke up three time expecting to be in the dream, and he kept the light in his cabin on to be sure. However, those three times, he found that he simply was not going to sleep. Between the clear sky, the Obeetans being off their routine, and Leynne losing his watch, Link realized that they were sailing blind trying to guess when The Night would create another dream.

It felt like hours before Link woke again. This time, he turned to see his real body lying under the covers. He grunted to himself something incoherent about how long he had had to wait as he rose. He was partway dressed when he froze and turned around to look about his cabin. It felt eerie not having Janni immediately nearby to tease or chat with him. Yet, his cabin was empty. He knew she was imprisoned in the shield, so why was she hiding? He recalled how she had been hurt the previous night, so he concluded that she might have simply decided to skip tonight. Thinking as much, he continued preparing for the attack on the tower.

As he went for the shield sitting next to the head of his bed, he caught sight of something out the corner of one eye. He turned to his desk to find that Janni had actually appeared. He could read the melancholy on her, huddled in his high-backed chair like a child fretting over the monster under her bed. Even then, her expression told a different story. Her eyes sizzled with scorn, her mouth turned in a frown that almost wanted to bare teeth. Link was not sure how to interpret her emotions, never having seen her looking so conflicted.

He took a step toward her. "Janni?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she responded in a voice too small for Link to read.

Link glanced down at the shield and spied the cut on the lower edge. "You doing all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said.

"You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

Janni took a moment to respond this time, the glare in her eyes unyielding. "I felt the pain," she told him, her voice a little more audible. "It's gone now, but getting trapped in the ground didn't make it any easier."

"Getting… getting trapped in the ground?" Link asked.

Janni gave a slight nod. "When the Dreamweaver let the dream go, we were both in the ground rather than the technoworks," she explained. "That was probably why your body was all locked up when you woke up; I had something similar to deal with."

Link glanced down at his left hand as he flexed it. "So that's what happened…" he uttered to himself. Then, in a louder voice, he asked, "But you're doing okay now?" Janni's response was barely an affirmative. So, Link pressed, "Then… why do you look like you're gonna take down the bulkhead with an axe?"

"Maybe because I want to," she replied, her voice gaining a bit of heat. "Maybe because I wanna take a sledgehammer to every miserable bastard in front of me. Maybe because I want this piss-soaked island to burn all the way to the end of the world."

Link felt his heart punch him in the chest as if to warn him that she was about to explode. "Janni?" he asked, stepping toward the front of the desk to see her expression better. "What's wrong?"

Janni's eyes deigned to meet his gaze. Still, she allowed a moment before she replied. "I've never been in danger like that before," she said. "I've never been in pain like that."

"Well, it didn't seem like you'd ever been hit by this sword before," Link said, tapping the hilt of the Sorian sword for emphasis. "It's been down in the technoworks for a hundred years."

"A hundred years…" she repeated with an almost voiceless breath. Then she told him, "That's right, Link. A hundred years. A hundred years inside a shield. Not a threat. Not important. I seem to just exist anymore."

"Uuuh…" Link droned, uncertain how he should respond.

Janni relaxed her arms and let her feet touch the deck. "For one hundred years, I haven't been important enough to bother," she said. "I was just put inside of a shield and thrown aside. It was a great deal; I survived with my mind slowly twisting apart."

Link felt a chill rattle his spine. "But… something's different," he suggested.

Janni glanced toward the bed, her eyes attempting to avoid making contact with Link. "He attacked me."

"He attacked both of us," Link pointed out. "If it hadn't been for us working toge—"

Janni jumped to her feet. "He attacked me!" she shrieked. At the same time, a heavy gust of hot air hit Link, causing him to stumble backwards a few steps. He quickly raised his arms to brace himself against another outburst. However, when it did not come, he dared to look at Janni. She was still seething, but she at least had appeared to compose herself again. "He attacked me, Link," she repeated. "After one hundred years. Maybe it's because I'm betraying him by helping you. Or maybe he's just gotten tired of me floating around. Last night really opened my eyes to the kind of perdition I'm living in, Link. I can be ignored so long as I'm not causing trouble. But if I happen to get in the way, I mean little more than an insect. So I don't care anymore. I want you to do it, Link.

"I want you to kill the Dreamweaver."