The Legend of Zelda: The Dream Walker
Chapter 17
"Teamwork"
By MEGAMANX411
Link and Meia were transported back to the original room, and the crystal they had encountered first was now destroyed. Most likely symbolic of that realm of Elene's multiple personality being terminated, leaving only three left. The real Elene had to be there, somewhere. Meia noticed that Link was wearing a new suit of armor, which was gleaming in the light.
"Where did you get that armor?" she asked, gesturing to the keepsake.
Link had a rather sad expression on his face.
"It was a gift from a dear friend. It's his will to protect me, as the son he never had," he replied.
Meia held her head low.
"I'm sorry..." she responded.
Link shook his head.
"No, it's fine. So, which crystal do we go to next?" he asked.
Meia shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine. How about the crystal across from the first?" she suggested, gesturing to the one just behind Link.
Link turned and gave it a quick look, then returned his gaze to Meia and nodded.
"Sure, why not?" he exclaimed.
Meia gestured for Link to go first.
"Lead the way," she muttered.
Link nodded, starting to walk over there slowly.
"OK...." he whispered.
Link grabbed Meia's hand, and lead the way into the crystal. As they touched it, they were transported into a room filled with lava, and pedastals across. Link gave the room a look over.
"Man, it's hot in here. Even if it is a dream," he added.
Meia chuckled.
"Either way, I don't want to find out if that lava hurts or not first hand. I think we better find a safer route," she replied.
Link nodded, and smirked back.
"Looks like we'll have to jump from platform to platform to cross," he suggested, pointing to the platforms that stretched across the room.
Meia sighed, obviously not liking the fact that they had to cross lava.
"Oh boy..." she muttered.
Link placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he comforted.
Meia just smiled. Link raised an eyebrow and gave her a curious look.
"What?" he asked, oblivious to what Meia's underlying sentiment was.
"Nevermind," she replied. "Let's go."
Link built up some running speed, and jumped to the first platform, breathing a big sigh of relief as he landed. He then turned and gave a shout to Meia.
"Now you jump!" he shouted.
"Coming!" she replied.
Meia followed suit, and easily made it to the next platform. Link went to the next and so on. He got to the next one, but he began to lose his footing!
"Oh sh--!"
Meia quickly leaped over, grabbed Link, and pulled him towards the center of the platform. Link wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as he breathed deeply.
"Thank you....whew.." he muttered.
"Don't worry Link, I won't let you fall either," she teased.
Link shrugged.
"Heh.." he muttered.
"Let's go!" Meia shouted, leaving Link in her dust.
"Hey, wait up!" Link cried.
Meia jumped to the next one. Link followed, and they soon reached the end of that room, and another door. Link gave Meia a concerned look.
"There could be another dream demon inside. Stay close," he warned.
"OK, you be careful too, Link," she replied.
Link and Meia slowly crept inside the large, open square room, and they saw Elene.
"Elene!" Link shouted.
Elene merely laughed uncontrollably, twitching violently and her body was jerking violently. Meia was taken aback at the sight.
"That can't be the real Elene..." she muttered, looking at the crazed individual that stood before them.
Link noticed that Elene's body was changing.
"Prepare yourself!" he warned, gesturing for Meia to back up.
Elene then changed into a monster, like the one that was in Bonaire's dream.
"Meia, be careful!" Link shouted. "This monster can teleport!"
Meia nodded, and took note of Link's advice.
"OK," she replied.
She then noticed something. Her eyes widened from pure shock, andshe took a second to assess the situation.She pointed behind Link and tried to warn him of something.
"What?" Link asked.
"Behind you!" she shouted.
Meia dove over, and quickly unsheathed her sword. She brought her blade down on the creature which had teleported behind Link, and dug her sword into its arm. Link was a bit shocked at this turn of events.
"Thanks," he replied, sounding pleased, shocked, and relieved.
Link and Meia stood back to back in the center of the room, and waited for the creature to reappear. Link cocked his head to one side, and his eyes winced.
"It's coming," he warned. "Meia! Turn to your right!" he shouted.
Link and Meia both turned to where Link said, and struck. Both blades were imbedded in the monster's flesh, and its blood ran freely out of the wounds at a quick rate. The monster winced in pain, and quickly disappeared again. Link and Meia sighed simultaneously, and both searched the room frantically for where the creature would show up next.
"Where is it going to attack from?" Meia asked.
"Just stay calm, and it will come to you," Link replied, keeping his legs loose and his sword ready to strike.
The creature appeared by Meia, and tried to incinerate her with a fireball. He quickly dove in front of it, taking the blunt of the blast.
"Link!" Meia shouted.
Link landed on the ground hard, and Meia angrily repaid the monster by slashing it's eyes out with her blade, causing it to bleed to death. The creature was felled, and its corpse vanished before it hit the ground.
"Link!" she shouted. "Are you alright?"
Link slowly sat up, and rubbed his backside.
"Uh..yeah..I'm fine," he replied, sounding a bit amazed.
"I guess that armor came in handy," Meia responded, gesturing to Jess' keepsake.
"Yeah..." Link whispered. Thank you Jess, he thought.
Link then turned to Meia.
"Thank you for your help Meia," he said happily, nodding his head appreciatively.
Meia just replied to his sentiment with a humble smile.
"No problem Link," she responded.
Link shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, let's continue," he muttered, looking ahead.
Link and Meia went back to the main dream chamber, and went to the next crystal. The room they were brought to was covered in sand, like a small desert. Meia began to walk forward.
"Well, this is pretty easy..." she observed.
"No!" Link shouted.
Link dove at Meia, and knocked her out of the way. Meia gave Link an angry look, obviously a bit furious that Link just tackled her.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
Link put a hand on Meia's shoulder to get her attention.
"Look..." he muttered.
Link pointed to where Meia was walking towards. The sand seemed different than the other areas. Meia rolled her eyes.
"So?" she asked.
Link remained firm.
"Just watch," he replied.
All of the sudden, a worm-like creature popped out of the ground there, and spouted acid at the spot Link was pointing to, where another creature was standing. The corrosive liquid boiled on the ground, making steam rise at it burned the creature's flesh off. Meia's eyes widened and she gulped loudly.
"Thanks Link..." she whispered.
Link got to his feet, and helped Meia up.
"I wasn't about to let you get hurt. Come on, let's go," he replied.
Link and Meia continued forward through the sandy area, and they tried to avoid any of the spots were the worms were hiding. At one point, Meia stumbled over a patch of weeds, and was about to be attacked by the worms.
"Meia!" Link shouted, rushing over.
Link quickly pulled out his sword, and sliced the worm creature in half.
"You ok?" Link asked, extending a hand.
"Yeah....behind you!"Meia shouted, unsheathing her own sword.
She slashed at a creature that was ready to attack Link from behind, and the creature was slain before it had the chance to injure him.
"Whoah...thank you.." Link muttered, sounding partly shocked and grateful at the same time.
Meia got to her feet, and dusted herself off.
"No problem Link, I'm not about to let you get yourself into trouble either," she teased. "OK, come on," she added, gesturing for them both to continue through the door at the end of the room.
Link and Meia reached the end of the room, and saw Elene. Again.
"OK," Link began, "chances are this is the real Elene, although if it isn't, then we know where the real one is."
Meia nodded back, and placeda hand on her weapon.
"OK, let's just find out then...Elene? Can you hear me?" she asked, stretching out a helping hand.
Elene just stood there, and affixed her gaze.
"Die! Die! Die!" she shouted, frantically screaming.
Link sighed.
"Oh great...this isn't good.." he muttered.
Elene disappeared, and three gelatinous monsters came forth. Meia's eyes widened at the sight of these monstrous creatures.
"Uh? Link?" she asked worried.
Link was equally worried, but still remained strong.
"This..is quite the opposite of good," he observed.
Meia was then struck by a bolt of inspiration.
"Wait a minute! I have an idea! Ready your sword, but give me your pack of bombs," she asked, gesturing for Link to give her his pack.
Link gave her a concerned Link.
"You sure?" he asked.
Meia nodded quickly.
"Yes, just trust me," she replied.
Link nodded back, and gave her a smirk.
"OK, I trust you," he responded, handing her his pack of bombs.
Meia pulled out a bomb from the pack, and approached one of the monsters. It tried to attack Meia by hurling its body on her, but Meia proved to be too agile. She lit the fuse of the bomb, but before she could throw it, another one of the creature's shot a tentacle from its body and grabbed her arm, forcing her to drop the bomb.
"No!" she shouted, trying to reach for the explosive.
Meia quickly used her sword to break free of the monster's grip, and picked up the bomb before it exploded.. She threw the bomb at the monster, which sunk into its body, and floated near the middle. The bomb exploded, sending pieces of it everywhere, its gooey flesh raining down like a violent storm. And it's eye was exposed on the ground! Link readied his sword, and charged.
"I see! Consider that one down!!" he shouted.
Link rushed over, and stabbed the eye with his sword, impaling the monster on his prized blade. Its eye was ripped in half from a few slices of Link's sword, and it vanished soon after. The first one was down!
"Look out!" Meia shouted.
Link was too busy to notice the danger he was in.
"What?" he shouted, wondering what was going on.
"Look above you!" Meia warned.
Link looked up, but it was too late. One of the gelatinous monsters fell on top of Link! And what's worse, he was absorbed inside of it! Link sturggled frantically, flailing his arms and legs around.
"Gotta get outta here before it digests me! Come on, come on...!!" he shouted, trying to devise a plan.
Link pulled out his Earth Scroll, and giant boulders began shooting out from inside the monster, scattering the gelatinous creature all over the room, and decimating its eye in the process. There was only one left. Link fell to the ground, covered in goo, gasping for breath.
"Jeez...that..thing....sucks!" he shouted, heaving breaths as he stood up.
Meia helped him up.
"You ok?" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm ok...I just need a shower..." he replied, picking the strange substance off of his armor.
"Well, there's only one left now!" Meia observed, readying her sword.
Link had similar ideas.
"I got it!!" he shouted.
Link was readying his bow, and pulled the string back as far as it would go.
"Keep the thing busy so I can ready this shot," Link pleaded.
"OK, got it," Meia replied.
She fended the creature's attacks off with her sword, but tried not to engage it too closely, so she wouldn't get sucked in.
"Ready! Out of the way Meia!" Link shouted.
With that, Meia dove to the side, and Link let loose and arrow, which flew straight and true, and went straight through the eye of the creature. It violently twitched and oozed over the ground before it vanished into thin air. Meia slowly put her sword away and walked back towards Link.
"Well, I guess this means we know where the real Elene is," she observed.
"Yeah,"Link replied.
Meia and Link went through the next crystal, and it brought them to a walkway. They simply proceeded on to the next room, where they saw Elene. She was sitting the ground, with her head in her hands, and she apparently was crying.
"Are you here to help me?" she asked, sniffling a bit as she did so.
Link nodded, and stretched outa helping hand for the little girl.
"Yes, my name is Link, and this is Meia," he replied.
Elene smiled, and began to wipe away her tears as she stood up.
"Thank you so much!" she cried, and with that, the nightmare was ended, and Link and Meia exited the dream.
Link's and Meia's bodies began to reanimate before the townsfolk, and they were eagerly awaiting hearing of the results.
"Is Elene alright?" Gustav cried.
Septimus smirked.
"Better than alright, Gustav," he replied. "If my predictions are correct, Link and Meia also managed to get rid of her split personalities as well."
Gustav was overflowing with joy.
"You mean...?" he replied, his eyes beaming.
Elene woke up, slowly opening her eyes as she sat up in her bed.
"Why is everyone by my bed?" she asked curiously.
Gustav frantically hugged his daughter.
"Elene!! You're ok!" he cried.
Elene looked a bit confused, but happy nonetheless.
"Of course I'm ok daddy," she replied, not fully understanding what was going on.
Gustav turned to Link and Meia.
"Link, Meia, I can't thank you enough. I promise I'll never drink again," he vowed.
Link smiled and gave Gustav a handshake.
"You don't have to thank us Gustav," he replied.
"I'm just glad you have your daughter back," Meia added.
"There must be something I can give to you..." he protested.
Gustav went searching through a chest in his home quickly, and returned with a weapon.
"Here, take this. It's an old weapon Jess made for me back when I was a hunter. It's a steel flail, a bit stronger than iron," he replied.
Meia gave Link a smirk.
"Why don't you take it Link? I'm afraid such a weapon isn't very fitting for me," she replied, staying humble.
"Thank you very much Gustav," Link replied, putting the newly acquired item into his pack.
On the way back to Jess' house, Link was talking to Meia.
"Thank you very much for your help Meia, I couldn't have done that without you," Link began, smiling.
"It's nothing really, I just wanted to help save these people. And I have to defeat the evil that plagues their dreams," Meia replied, once again becoming very serious.
Link placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Just don't forget that you're not alone," he reminded her.
Meia chuckled a bit.
"Thanks Link. Why don't you get some rest, it's getting rather late," she offered.
Link shrugged.
"Yeah, getting sucked into the gelatinous monster took a lot outta of me!" he jested, joining Meia in laughter after he uttered those words.
Link and Meia both stopped, and then took a moment to look into each other's eyes. For a moment, they didn't say anything, they just looked at each other. Until Meia finally broke the silence.
"Well, good night!" she exclaimed, walking to her house.
"Yeah, good night," Link replied.
Link went back to Jess' house for some much deserved sleep, with thoughts of Meia ringing through his mind.