Yay, I'm back. I like writing this episode, I really do. But, if no one stops me, there will probably be some… some… hmm… well, I guess you'll realise what I mean when you read.
Thank you so much for the reviews!
Zora&co: Good that you liked it, because I didn't. I wrote this episode after I saw an X-file about a cigarette company, but these are not linked in any way. And nah, don't put Nagiali in the cage, I like blood too!
RavenGhost: You hate her? I like writing about her, the personality is one of my favourites in this story!
Solanar: You liked the beginning? Wow, good. I didn't like it, but I like writing this episode… I haven't written an episode about illnesses before, so this is kind of Roy's specialty. I'm glad you like my stories.
Sorry, hater of gay people, I had to remove your review because you involved me in it. Flamers, please, flame only the story. I don't mind being called dumb like hater of gay people did, but when you don't know me, don't flame me. Thanks.
---
"What could this be? Why did Dr. Mario leave to that conference, we need him now…"
"So you said that you found her lifeless on the floor?"
"Yeah, she wasn't breathing but I enlivened her and carried her on her bed." Marth said calmly, watching the general's eyes thoughtful expression. "I think she'd been there for a long time, deducing from the amount of the coagulated blood… She must've been breathing on her own at times."
"She said that she vomited and coughed blood and her stomach hurts like hell…" Roy rubbed his chin with his thumb. "I think it could be tuberculosis…"
"But where did she get it?" The prince asked. "She seems to have got so ill so suddenly. I don't think any disease would take anyone over this fast."
"That's what surprises me. This could be some kind of a new disease, an advanced version of tuberculosis." The fiery boy sat down, holding his chest with his hand. "Ow."
"Are you all right?" Marth kneed next to him, his eyes showing his worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just shouldn't stay up for a long time because of the wound. I need to go get my painkillers." Roy tried to get up, but the noble didn't let him.
"I'll go get them. Where are they?"
"On my nightstand in a white can." The redhead held his chest, trying to keep a calm expression on his face, but failed. The cobalt eyed man hurried to the corridor, his cape billowing behind him.
Link walked from the bathroom, holding a little bottle in his hands. "I told you not to get up so early."
"But I can't just lay still when Peach's ill. And if my wound could stand last night in the carnival and after it, it'll be fine, Link. Stop worrying."
"Okay, okay. Just every time I see you like that it breaks my heart."
"Stop it, Link, you're embarrassing me."
"Fine." The Hylian said lovingly as he rolled his eyes. "But look at this." He sat down on the edge of the princess's bed, showing the bottle to the boy.
"Umm… Where did you find this?" Roy looked at the white wriggling larva in the bloody bottom of the bottle.
"It was on the bathroom floor, right where the blood was. I found a few others too, but they seemed to have… dried somehow. This was still swimming in the blood puddle."
"Don't tell me what you think." The general gave the bottle back to him. "This is tuberculosis as far as I can say. I already sent Ness and Young Link to the drugstore to bring her medicines."
"Just listen. I'm not asking you to beli--"
"Are these the painkillers?" Marth walked back with a prince's dignity, not knowing that he cut off Link's speech.
"Yeah, those are them." The fiery boy tried to get up once again, but this time the blonde stopped him.
"I'll go get you a glass of water." Link left as quickly as the noble had, the sound of his boots clomping against the floor faded away as he walked downstairs.
"So, tuberculosis?" The blue-haired man asked, looking at Peach sleep restlessly. She was still kicking, sometimes she mumbled a word or two, but she said it too quietly to hear what she said.
"I think so." Roy thought about the larva that the blonde had shown him.
"Whatever it is, I hope she'll get well soon." The voice of the prince was worried.
"Me too."
Soon Link ran back, holding a glass of water. The general took his medicines, looking grateful. He thanked the two for helping him, but also told them that he could've done it on his own.
Peach started coughing drastically, she couldn't breath suddenly. The princess sat up, trying to get some air, but it didn't help. Roy stood up, ignoring his pains and pressed her down on her back and went sitting on top of her, adjusting her head so that air flowed to her bronchus. With a loud growl Peach started breathing again, spitting a huge amount of blood at the general's face.
When he let go of her to wipe the blood off, she started coughing again, this time blood gargling in her mouth and flowing on the bed. He told Link to get some warm bandages and Marth to bring him paper to wipe his face clean as he adjusted the blonde girl's neck again.
"Come on, Peach, you can breathe on your own!" He commanded the pained girl under him.
The Princess of Mushroom Kingdom calmed down, but coughed up a great amount of blood. Her whole face, neck, Roy's hands and the mattress and pillow around her head were covered in blood. Gently the fiery boy took his hands off, adjusting the pillow so that it aided her breathing.
"At this rate we'll need a blood transfer." He said as he got off her, wiping his face in the paper the prince had brought. When he was done cleaning his face from the coagulating blood, he put a warm bandage on Peach's forehead carefully.
"A blood transfer…?" Link asked having a questioning expression. "What is that?"
"It's when you take someone else's blood and put it to someone else." The noble explained. Roy nodded in agreement.
"We need to know her blood type before it." He said thoughtfully. "But now I need someone to stay next to her at all times."
"I can." Marth offered kindly.
"But you can't stay all the time. I think we should take turns and if she gets any kind of reaction, the one looking over her would come to get me immediately." The general said, looking at the bloodstained bed where the princess lay.
"I can be the first to stay." The cobalt eyed man offered again.
"Thank you, Marth." Link thanked the prince.
"I'll go clean myself up. Then I need to get the lunch ready." The redheaded teen smiled gratefully, trying to hide the pain in his chest behind it. It was his turn to make the food that day.
"But, Marth…" The Hylian looked after the boy who left. "You don't want to see the match between Young Link and Ganondorf?"
"I…I… forgot."
"You'd like to?"
"…Yeah. But I'm here with Peach now. Tell Young Link to come here before the match starts, I want to wish him good luck."
"I can stay here, I've got nothing better to do." Link offered. "I think Mini-Me appreciates it more if you're watching his fight than me."
Marth looked at his feet. "I guess so."
"So go. I'll be fine."
---
Link sighed as he sat on Peach's bed, looking at the larva in the bottle with a focused expression. He had a thought of what could be going on, but he wasn't sure. He'd seen the same kind of disease in Hyrule, in the deepest parts of the Lost Woods. But it hadn't been dangerous, it was a normal parasite living on the animals.
He put the bottle away where the larva still weakly wriggled in the blood as he changed the bandage on the princess's forehead.
It's taking incredibly long for the blood to coagulate… He thought as he wiped off the blood on her face that had been there for over an hour. Maybe the larva put something in it to keep it liquid.
"Hey, Link."
"What is it, Mini?" He turned to look at himself.
"Have you seen Roy? I've been looking for him for a long time now." The tiny blonde lifted his belt.
"Yeah, he was here an hour ago."
"Hmm… Do you know where he could be?" Young Link looked at the girl lying on the bed, breathing calmly.
"He said it's his turn to make the food, so he could be in the kitchen."
"And…Link…"
"Yeah?"
"What's making love?" The boy looked in his cerulean eyes with a puzzled expression.
"What!?" The Hero wasn't sure had he heard the boy right. "What did you say?"
"What… is… making… love?" Young Link said annoyingly clearly.
"Uh…" Link was totally surprised by the question. "You… you don't know?"
"No. That's why I'm asking, jerk!"
"It's… uh…"
"Well?"
"Uh… You… you don't need to think about it yet… okay?"
"Not okay. How do you make love?" The small elf asked again.
"Uh…" Link was feeling highly uncomfortable. He hoped that someone would come to the room and interrupt their conversation, but no one came. He looked at Peach and changed her bandage with trembling hands.
I can't tell him yet! He wouldn't understand!
"I need to focus on Peach now. Please, ask from someone else."
"Aww!! Link, you are boring!" Young Link said disappointedly and stuck his tongue out before leaving the room. When the Hylian took the bottle in his hands again, he realised that the larva had encapsulated in the blood. He shook it, but nothing happened. It had really encapsulated. This was something he needed to talk to Roy to. A larva couldn't have possibly survived inside a human if it wasn't a parasite. And this was exactly what it seemed.
---
Roy browsed the telephone book in attempt to find a pizzeria to order some pizza for lunch. He'd decided to cook something for dinner and was planning on leaving to Haine to buy some ingredients, though he doubted that he'd just go and buy lots of pizzas from the nearest shop.
So, I need… chicken, rice, corn, peas… what else? The general sat around the kitchen table, propping his chin up with his hand and tapping the table with the pen he held. Suddenly he wrote down paprika and smiled. Then he took the paper and threw it to the trash.
Oh well, I'll just order food then. He thought as he went to the fridge, realising that they had only one bottle of milk and juice. So he needed to go.
Damn… The fiery boy opened the door to the bright day and walked outside, smelling the soil and the mouldering scent of the decomposing leaves on the ground. He thought of Link, how he wanted the blonde with him, but told himself that he was way too old and dignified to be dependent on someone. If the Hylian wanted to come he never told him not to but he would never ask the blonde to accompany him.
He reached Haine soon and stopped, wondering what he had to buy. He looked around, seeing how people were happy in the carnival. They really enjoyed it. And no wonder, it was fun having a carnival at times.
Roy remembered he had come for the drinks and started towards a grocery store, the only one he knew existed in the city. When he was about to enter, he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, you are the boy who didn't want his fortune told?" The old lady walked rigth behind him. He gasped.
"Uh… yeah…" He felt the colour rise on his face.
"Would you like it told now?"
"Uh… I…" Roy didn't want to, he was feeling awkward.
"I'll read it for free." The lady said with a warm smile. "You're an interesting persona."
"Oh, okay." The redhead sighed, giving the lady his hand.
"Let's go to my tent. I can't focus here, sir."
"Okay." The general followed her, not knowing should he just run away and go to the shop. He didn't need to listen to her.
The lady put him sit on the chair where Zelda had sat and took his hand. First she studied the palm, drawing odd circles on it and humming quietly. Then she started:
"You don't believe in the supernatural, do you?"
"No, I don't." Roy agreed. She was an obvious swindler.
"You've been a general… For three years?" She suggested. "A long time ago. You were just a child back then."
"Yeah."
"You're not impressed, are you?"
"No." The redhead sighed.
"Well then… You've been a general since you were twelve, that's pretty good. It must've been hard."
"As hard as any other job." The coldness of the boy's voice indicated that he didn't want to listen to her and would very soon leave if she wouldn't say something interesting.
"Oh!"
The fortune teller waited for Roy to ask what, but when he didn't, she continued: "You've lost someone very close to you when you were little!"
"I will not listen to this." The general said as he tried to get up, but she didn't let him.
"I'm sorry… I didn't know you don't want to talk about it. What about the kidnapping?"
"The what? I've never been kidnapped!" Roy flared up and stood, releasing his hand from her grip. He turned to leave and said: "Now, please, leave me alone."
The general walked out of the tent, leaving the old lady alone in the dim light.
"We'll see, we'll see… You'll probably come crawling back to me in a few days, sweetheart."
---
Roy sped up as he walked to the shop, feeling that the lady was following him, wanting to finish reading his fortune. She'd been right… every single time. If she'd gone deeper, she would've known his deepest secret… The secret he didn't even want to know he had.
He shivered when he entered the shop, feeling the warmth on his skin. He quickly bought juices and milk, thinking about the fortuneteller all the time.
I'll never go to carnivals again. The general thought as he exited the shop, trotting towards the Smash Building.
When he came back, he almost hit the tiny elf. Young Link greeted him cheerfully, asking what's for lunch.
"Pizza." The redheaded teen said flatly. "Want to call?"
"Yeah! And here're the medicines you asked for." The boy gave him a bag filled with white cans.
The general thanked and handed the phone to the boy, smiling. Then he saw Marth walking down the stairs and went to him, asking why he wasn't with Peach.
"Link promised to look after her, because I wanted to see Young Link's and Ganondorf's match."
"Oh, good. I'll soon get the lunch", the general nodded to Young Link, who was talking to the phone excitedly. "And take them something to eat."
Marth laughed shortly.
"Could you do me a favour, Marth?" Roy looked into the cobalt eyes of his friend. "I'd need internal feeding on Peach. Could you go to the drugstore and bring it to me?"
"Of course I can." The noble said, already leaving to the door.
"No, Marth, you don't need to go yet!" The general stopped the blue haired man by pressing his hands on the other ones chest. Their blue eyes met and both quickly looked away.
"I ordered the pizza! They should be here any minute now!" Young Link said happily.
"Good." Roy said. Before the noble could say anything, he disappeared upstairs, looking for his beloved.
He met Link in Peach's room where he was supposed to be. He closed the door quietly and closed his beloved in a warm embrace, followed by a kiss.
"Hi, Roy." The Hylian said.
"Hi." Roy nuzzled his head to the elf's shoulder.
"Miss me?" Link teased. When the general didn't react, he caressed his hair gently, smiling a loving smile.
"Roy…?"
"Hm?"
"I think I might have a theory what's wrong with Peach."
"Shoot." The general mumbled to his neck.
"Well… What if the larva in that bottle is some kind of a parasite that lives in blood?"
"And you base that on…?" The voice of the boy was as unbelieving as ever.
"The larva I found dead on Peach's bathroom floor weren't in the blood. It seems like they were trying to find a new host before they dried. This larva in the bottle was in an air proof space and it encapsulated."
"But… that's not possible. No larva lives their larval-stage inside someone and then encapsulates when it can't get any air! Link, all living things need air, even fish."
"Look at it." Link tore the general's head from his neck and showed the bottle to him.
"But…but… it's not true. This creature can't have been inside Peach. There aren't any parasites that would be this large."
"You think this larva just popped out of somewhere, not from Peach?"
"Mm-hm."
"Oh, Roy…" The Hylian sighed. "But it is possible for a human to have larvae?"
"Yeah. Sure. Just like dogs and cats can have them."
"What if I had larvae, what would I do?"
"What are you chasing?" The general looked into his lover's cerulean eyes.
"I just thought. So, what?"
"You would probably vomit and have a diarrhoea and feel awful pains in your stomach. It depends on the type of the larva."
"Hmm…"
"Oh no, Link. I don't like that." The general shook his head.
"I need to go to the library." The blonde stood up quickly, leaving the general alone sitting on the edge of the bed.
"What about lunch?"
"I don't care. Just you look after Peach, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Roy said as he received a kiss from the one he loved. He smiled an encouraging smile when he said: "Don't get too excited, okay? This is just tuberculosis after all…"
"I won't. And soon you'll know that this isn't just tuberculosis." Link said as he walked away, leaving the general with the princess.
Roy watched her sleep, observed every little movement, afraid that she could get another seizure. He thought about what the blonde had said about the larvae, it was true that she could have them, but where did the fever come from? And that larva in the bottle was way too big to be a parasite.
The redhead sighed. Maybe he should examine her guts too, make sure she didn't have larvae. That way Link too would believe and would stop chasing after gigantic parasite worms.
"The pizzas are here!" Young Link ran to the door.
"You stay with Peach, I'll go and pay for them." Roy stood up and walked downstairs. Before he came to the door, the pizza boy left and he realised that Marth had paid for the pizzas.
"Marth?" he said. "Did you pay for them already?"
"Yeah."
"How much was it? I'll pay you back." Roy looked into his wallet.
"You don't need to. It's all right, I think I kind of owe--"
"No, it's not. I want to pay for these." The boy insisted without listening to the other. He couldn't let the noble pay for his pizzas, no matter how kind the cobalt eyed man was.
"Uh…" Marth looked at him with a furrowed forehead. "…It was 1257 Gil."
"All pizzas?"
"Yeah. But you don't have to, I don't—"
"Here's 1260. Now, we need to eat something." Roy changed the subject.
'I kind of owe--'? What did you mean by that, Marth?
"Yeah, let's go." The prince led the way to the dining hall. The general took a pizza with him and left upstairs, thinking that Young Link was probably hungrier than him and would be absolutely furious to lose lunching with his beloved.
Young Link and Marth… They were a couple destined to be doomed. They couldn't love each other in an adult way like the noble probably wanted. He would be a child abuser if they did. Maybe Marth didn't even love the elf? Maybe he just pretended because he's so kind, wanting the boy to be happy. Roy shook his head, they couldn't be together.
"You took your time!" Young Link ran past him. "I thought you'd died when you didn't come back!"
The general checked his watch. He'd been gone for five minutes. To children a minute was forever, so he smiled an apologised. The small elf probably couldn't hear him, his clear voice shouted downstairs: "I want the Salami pizza!"
Roy went to Peach's room, realising that she was awake, her eyes trying to stay open but it was too hard. The redheaded teen went sitting on the edge of her bed, trying her forehead to make sure her body temperature was normal.
"How are you?" He took the medicines from the table where he'd put them and checked the labels.
"What… do you… think?" The princess coughed, blood splashing in her mouth.
Good, they got the right medicines. He took a pill on his hand and fetched a glass of water from Peach's bathroom.
"Take these and you should feel better. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah…" The blonde girl took the pill and drank the water greedily. "Thank you, Roy."
"It's nothing. I'm not sure should you be eating yet, but Marth promised to bring you an internal feeding later."
"Oh… Thank you."
"Now, sleep. It'll do good to you." The redhead took a paper from the table and wiped the blood from her face she had coughed up.
"Roy… check Zelda… She's not… okay."
"What?" The boy looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"She's… not okay." Peach tried to get up, but Roy didn't let her.
"I'll check her later. Now I need to take care of you."
"Go! She… needs… help…!" The coughing began again and the general had to sit on her and help her breathe.
What the--!? The fiery boy looked at a white larva that squirmed by her ear.
---
Young Link pointed at Ganondorf with the Kokiri Sword. He told himself that if Jigglypuff had been able to defeat him, he would be too. He stood in fighter stance, his cerulean eyes glaring at his archenemy, the one who had killed his parents so long ago.
You are going down, Ganondorf. So down…
Ready…
GO!
He waited for the man to walk to him, ready to roll out of the way any second. He knew he was often thought as an easy opponent because of his size, but he could be a pain if he wanted to. And he wanted to.
He dodged a smash the Gerudo did, shouting insults to him all the time. He cut him in the ankle, doing the first hit in the fight. Then he spun around, throwing Ganondorf away from him, still following him all the time with his eyes.
Instead of doing as the man thought he would, he stood still, waiting. The Gerudo King stood up and ran to the boy, hitting his face with his elbow. An evil smile spread across his face as he heard the elven child scream.
Young Link stood up quickly and jumped, doing a meteor smash on his enemy. Ganondorf couldn't dodge it and was hit three times in a row.
"Get ready, kid." The gerudo laughed as he got up. "This is where I get serious."
---
Young Link couldn't see how Marth's cobalt eyes followed his movements, hoping for him to realise the Gerudo's weak point before it was too late. Doing the meteor smash in the Mushroom Kingdom II was a bad idea because of the gaps. Young Link would eventually fall in one of them if he weren't careful.
The noble closed his eyes as he saw Ganondorf toss the small boy on the ground on jumped on him several times, knocking the wind out of him.
Isn't that forbidden?
Young Link was truly losing. He was limp in the arms of the man, trying to breathe. His damage was 106% and Ganondorf's only 23%.
Come on, Link! Get away from him and use some long-range attacks!
The boy weakly struggled free from the big man's grasp. The Gerudo hit him ruthlessly time after time, laughing all the time. Finally Young Link freed himself and did a meteor smash on his enemy again.
---
You're not going to win this! He thought as he hit him. However, a smash hit him and he was tossed out. When they were teleported back, he didn't even look at his bonuses, he ran straight to Marth.
"You fought well." The noble said kindly.
"No I didn't!" Young Link hugged him. "I didn't win!"
"I think you did. You fought fair."
The elf paused, looking into the calm cobalt eyes he loved. "But I still didn't win…"
"Don't worry about it."
"But now the tournament is over for me!" The small blonde buried his head into Marth's neck, sobbing quietly. "And… and if they send me back to Kokiri Forest, I won't be able to be with you…" he whispered as his tears moistened the blue haired man's neck.
"You're free to stay if you want. Isn't that what the Master Hand said when the tournament began?"
"I don't know… I HATE losing! I HATE it! HATE!" The boy hit Marth's chest with his small fists in his hatred. "I HATE Ganondorf! I HATE this!"
"Shh…" The prince calmed him down by taking him in his cool hug.
---
My god! That really didn't come from her ear! It just can't be!
---
Okay, this part's done. Now, I'd like to ask a question: Which one of my characters is the best? (The best personality? Past? Thoughts?) Please answer me, it would help a lot! Thank you already!