Altered States 2

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!"