Altered States
A Legend Of Zelda Fanfiction
By OJR
Part 2
"So, what now? I suppose I should give you a tour of the
town."
Jamie had told his parents
that his new friends were foreign exchange students on a visit to England from
America. He said they were only staying
a week and that he'd volunteered to put them up for the duration. His mum, Irene, had taken it surprisingly
well. He'd decided to take them
shopping for clothes before his sisters got back from town. He dearly hoped not to run into them as
Zelda was still wearing Kelly's clothes.
"I'll take you two to town
and we can buy you something nice, I don't suppose you have any money do
you?" Jamie almost kicked himself for
making such a gaffe. They were from another
dimension! Why would they have a bunch
of £20 notes?
"We have some rupees, the
currency of our kingdom" Zelda held out
a pouch, which rattled like marbles.
"Rupees? They're not worth much here." Jamie had wrongly assumed she was talking
about Indian rupees or something similar. He tipped the bag out into his hand and almost choked in shock. He was holding a fistful of perfectly cut,
beautifully flawless jewels. Red ones,
green, blue and even one or two yellow.
"EEP! This is what you use as money? You must be able to buy anything!"
"Not really." Commented
Link. "That would probably buy you a tunic or something similar. Why? How much are they worth here?" Jamie did a swift bit of mental arithmetic.
"Ummmm, The Millenium
Dome. I don't think money is going to
be a problem."
They stepped out into the
street, which was quite quiet. Zelda
and Link liked the trees quite a bit. They stopped to smell the air, which was very polluted by comparison to
the clear Hyrule atmosphere.
"What's that rumbling
sound? Is there a waterfall nearby?"
"Nope, that's the cars on
the Wolverhampton Road, Zelda."
"What are cars? Like horse carriages?" She looked a little worried.
"Kind of, they are like
carriages with no horses, driven by a combustion engine. The only problem is, is that they make noxious
gasses that pollute the air. Don't be
alarmed, just don't get in their way."
After some initial frights
and some hurried explanations they got on a bus. They were dropped into Birmingham and made their way into the
Saturday afternoon throng.
"There's so many
people! So many shops! It's amazing!" Zelda was enthralled by all the hustle and bustle of the city
centre. Link was getting some funny
looks as he talked into the rucksack that Jamie had given him to store his gear
and to keep Navi in.
"Don't worry Navi, you'll be
able to come out soon. Don't you have
some kind of invisibility spell?"
"No, I'm going to stay in
here! I don't like all those people, it
scares me."
"Trust me Navi, they are
much more afraid of you than you are of them."
"Well, I'll try and get a
spell together, just for you Link."
"I'm glad to hear it." Link smiled warmly into the bag,
The shop bell tinkled and
the old man, who had been reading the paper peacefully, regarded the three
youths entering his shop with some distain. He didn't like young people very much.
"What can I do for you
kids?" Not so much polite as
terse. He obviously wanted them out of
his jewellery shop before they started playing loud music or swearing or
something. Jamie reached into the pouch
and pulled out a red jewel.
"I'm sorry to disturb you
sir, but could you please value this jewel for us? It's from a collection of my great grandmothers."
"Hmmmph, probably just
glass, give it here then." He almost
choked when he looked at it through his magnifier.
"This is a ruby! A perfect ruby! It's got to be worth at least 250 grand! Do you have the rest of the collection?"
"Oh yes, about 50 of similar
size and shape. Here's a green one."
"AYP! It's emerald! Flawless emerald! I'm
calling the police."
"No! Wait…!" But it was too late, the shop owner was already enquiring as to whether
any jewels had been stolen.
"Are you sure? No robberies of precious stones?!" The man shakily put the telephone down. His lips curled into an unsteady smile, while
the three youths stood patiently.
"I'd be delighted to sell
these for you, I'll set it all up straight away."
"We-eel we need cash right
now I'm afraid."
"I have £200 thousand in the
business account, I can give you a cheque right now, if you'll leave that ruby
behind."
"So we'll be 50 grand down
on the deal? Fair enough."
Jamie almost leapt for joy
as he entered the bank.
"What's so amazing
Jamie? Why are you so happy?" Zelda was amused
"Because you have just made
yourselves millionaires!"
"Well you keep it, it's the
least we can do." Link smiled with this
statement as the young man nearly fainted. Jamie deposited the cheque in his life-savings account and watched the
clerk jump in his seat as the cheque registered as cleared on the computer.
"I-I-I hope we will enjoy
your…deposits…in future, Mr. Forbes." The clerk handed over Jamie's new platinum card. He wandered off from his post, deciding that
he needed a rest.
"So, are we going to get
some clothes now? I wonder if we could
trouble you for some food also." Zelda
seemed to be eager to experience Earth while she could. Link also beamed, seeing how his princess
and his new friend were so happy. Navi
was the only one who wasn't happy, having failed to cast an invisibility spell
on herself she'd gone into a sulk. They
advanced toward the bank doors to go on the mother of all shopping expeditions
when they saw a black van screech up outside the bank. The doors burst open and 5 men wearing
balaclavas and brandishing sawn-off shotguns, pistols and even a MAC-10
submachine gun ran in.
"EVERYBODY ON THE
FLOOR! NOW!"
