This chapter introduces Raphael's foster daughter Amy. I hope to god I portrayed her well. Okay let's go.
Chapter 11: Amy
When they got to the house everyone was wide eyed and in shock. The house was huge. It was made with marble and giant pillars surrounded the house.
"Welcome back Mr. Vanderbilt." said a heavyset woman in a black and white uniform. She opened the house doors "The young mistress is out in the garden."
"Thank you Mary." Raphael said and they all walked into the house
"This place is amazing" said Xianghua "Finally a good place to sleep."
"Why would you be on a journey like this?" Mina said "I mean you have it all here."
"That's why he said looking at the little red head girl who was coming out to great him."
"I'm so glad your back Claude." The girl spoke.
"It's okay Amy they know my real name."
"Well I'm just happy your back. How could you leave me here for so long?"
"I'm sorry Amy but you know it's for your own good. You know why I must go on this Journey and you also know very well how dangerous it is."
"I know but it's so lonely here. It's no fun playing with the servants or eating at an empty dinner table, you can't expect me to be happy about that can you?"
"No, I can't but I know you can cope. So have you been a good girl since I've been gone." He said as they walked into the living room
She gave him a mischievous grin "Yeah"
He laughed "sure you have"
The others were just admiring the living room.
"Who are these people anyway?"
"They themselves are looking for Soul Edge."
"Are you sure you should have brought them here."
"Look at it this way now you can play with more than just the servants." A crooked grin formed on his face. She just nodded and sat down on one of the plush couches. "Okay, listen up, I have been kind enough to let you into my house and I expect you treat it with respect. Your rooms are on the second floor you can choose from any room there but I do not want you roaming around the place. Lastly while you are here you will address me by the name Claude Vanderbilt."
The others really were not too curious as to why he asked that of them. They were extremely tired and they still had to heal Link. They went up the marble staircase and first found a room for Link; Lyric went straight to work trying to make a potion that would help him. Talim and Xianghua stayed to help her. They others went to get there rooms.
"We're getting no where with this stuff!' Lyric yelled in frustration nothing was working.
"Don't worry we'll find something" Xianghua said
'We better soon because his conditions worsening he's gotten a high fever and his right arm and leg are swollen."
"I know but what can we do, we just have to use what we got in order to help him."
"Hmmm. Oh okay Maybe this can help." She pulled out her Ocarina and began to play the Song of Eternal Light. When the song was done Lyric Put back her Ocarina. "It told me to look on the south wall, second row in the locked room. It said there I'll find what I need. It also said to wait until tomorrow to look, it'll be easier to get ion."
"It told you all of that?"
"Yeah"
"So we have to wait till tomorrow. What if he can't make it till than" Talim finally spoke
'I have faith in the song besides Links a strong person he will make it."
Talim nodded "I hope your right."
Morning came quickly and the warriors assembled in the dinning room.
"Okay folks today Raphael I mean Claude, Siegfried, Sueng Mina, Kilik, Mitsurugi and I will be going to find a ship." Maxi announced
"While we are gone the rest of you should go look for some information on the whereabouts of the next piece or anything that can be helpful on our journey." Raphael said
"Okay sounds easy enough." Yunsuing said
"Oh yes before I forget I let the se4rvant have the day off so I need you guys to care of Amy while I'm out."
"Whoa wait a minute there Claude why are we looking after your daughter we're not your servants."
"Yes but your in my house and it is the least you can do."
"The least I can do is nothing" Yunsung mumbled. Raphael however decided to let it slide even if Yunsung didn't help look after Amy he was sure the others would. They left to go find the ship.
"Where is that little girl anyway" Talim said
"I don't know let's find her" said Xianghua
"Maybe she can help us get into that room." Lyric said
"Maybe but I'm sure that room is locked for a reason." Xianghua replied
They walked down the hall some way when they heard sing in the garden. When they went out there the singing stop but they did find Amy.
"Hey Amy was that you singing just now? Quizzed Talim but Amy remained silent "umm did Raphael I mean Claude tell you we're taking care of you today?" Still silence
"I think she asked you a question Amy." Yunsung said with a slight ting of agitation
"I can hear but I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She said sarcastically
"Yeah funny but listen I'm going to waste my time babysitting some brat so why don't you come inside the house and stay put."
"Yunsung shut up don't talk to her like that." Lyric said
"She was being rude, I don't Know why we have to deal with this pint sized brat."
"How can you say that when you don't even know her?! You can't call her names like that. She right she doesn't know us and we have to get to know her first before she can warm up to us."
"Whatever"
Lyric bent down in front of Amy. "Amy will you please come with us back to the house we have some things we have to do before we go out and I'd hate to see out here by yourself."
"Hmmm" The red head looked up at the sky "only if you show me how to play that Instrument of yours."
"What you mean my Ocarina but how did you…"
"I heard you playing it last night I was curious and went to check it out."
"Wow your slick I didn't even hear or sense your presence last night. Hmmm, of course I'll teach you but it won't be easy.'
Amy nodded her head "Hmmm I know you want to enter the library but that's Claude's Private place to think and stuff. Of course I can get you in if … you also show me how to use a sword."
"I don't know if your father would want that."
"He doesn't need to know besides your friend needs your help and I'm the only way you're getting into that library."
"Okay Amy, how about this I'll give you your first ocarina lesson when we get to the house then you take us to the library then I'll teach you how to use a sword.'
"Hmmm, No the other way around the swordplay first than the Ocarina lesson."
Lyric put her hand on her hip "You're a smart girl Amy, Okay you have yourself a deal but I warn you now the only way I know is the hard way cause that's the way I was taught. This won't be a cake walk." Amy nodded. They went inside the house.
"So Amy where can we go to practice"
"Well usually Claude practices in the locked room but we also have a pretty empty attic." She didn't know exactly why she made this deal with them. She didn't understand why Raphael had even entrusted them with taken care of her. Maybe he had good reason but she still didn't trust them. In the end this deal was made on so she could finally learn what Raphael refused to teach her, swordplay. She wanted to be like him and fight. He had no idea how much she hated being alone here and how much she looked up to him and wanted to travel and fight alongside him. After all he was her foster father and how can she not want to be with him after he took her in. Being alone in the house was no different than being alone in the streets; you still had that cold and lonely feeling. She knew he did it for her but if he trusted these people so much why not let them find the sword and he stay here with her. A fugitive tear rolled down her cheek.
"Are you okay Amy?" Lyric said
"Of course I'm Okay what do I look like, a baby?!" She quickly wiped the tear from her face
Lyric laughed "It's okay to cry sometimes especially since you're a little girl. If you don't release your emotions they can build up inside you and drive you crazy, you don't want that do you?"
"No." She had finally made up her mind that this girl was a nice person still she wasn't sure if she could be trusted. The other three women didn't seem interested in here at all and the Boy was a real jackass.
When they got to the attack Lyric brought out too sticks "These are deku sticks we'll use these as swords" Amy nodded. Taki, Talim and Xianghua went to go check on Link and Yunsung sat in the corner of the room and watched. "Okay are you right handed or left handed."
"Right"
"Okay so obviously you'll be using your right hand to hold your sword. Okay first lesson, you need to work on your stance you should have your right foot in front and your left leg back."
She did what she was told
"Okay good. Now horizontal strikes bring the sword from left to right or from right to left."
She once again did what she was told
"Okay good, now vertical strikes up don or down up."
Amy did this.
"You're doing great, Now Thrust Bring your right hand close to the hilt and put your left hand at the end. Good now bring it to either side and thrust foreword."
Again she accomplished the task "I thought this was supposed to be hard!"
"Don't worry, here comes the hard stuff that was just the easy tutorial. Now I want you to use what you just learned land to break this glass battle at my waist if you can do that I'll teach you a new more difficult move. Are you ready?"
"If that's all then this is way too easy." She charged Lyric and had planned to thrust the stick into the bottle but Lyric quickly side stepped and hit Amy in the head wit her own stick.
"Ouch, that hurt." Amy yelled but before she could recover Lyric attacked "Hey let me breathe, why don't you"
"Sorry but I told you it won't be easy the only way you can break this bottle is by fighting for it."
"Fine then I'll just have to take you down."
"You're very confident for a beginner."
"Shut up and fight." Amy charged again and attempted a horizontal slash but Lyric blocked it with ease. She then countered by hitting Amy in the back of her head. Over and Over again the scene played out and Amy was becoming more exhausted but Lyric seemed to gain more energy. Finally Amy decided to put all her strength behind one Final attack. She charged forward and Jumped attacking with a powerful vertical. Lyric simply side stepped and hit Amy on the hind legs. Amy fell to the ground.
"Are you alright Amy?" Lyric said offering the red head a hand
"Could… be… better…"Amy was extremely exhausted she could hardly move.
Yunsung who was watching the whole spectacle burst into laughter.
"Stop it Yunsung she did a great job for a novice. Amy don't mind him, He can be really immature sometimes, no …wait … all the time." Lyric said while picking up the little girl "You want to give it another round." Amy by no means was someone to turn down a challenge but she just didn't feel up to it.
"No" she sighed
Suddenly Talim burst into the room "Lyric we need to get into that room Link he's having trouble breathing and his fevers shot way up!" There was extreme panic in her voice
'Okay, right Amy can you get us into that room? We need to go we can't waste any more time here." Amy nodded. She went in her pocket and produced a small gold key. She handed the key to Lyric.
They rushed upstairs. When they got there Xianghua and Taki were waiting there and Taki was holding Link in her arms Xianghua had the potions and herbs.
"We couldn't wait the fever was to bad we have to save him immediately" Taki said explaining why she was carrying Link
Lyric hurriedly unlocked the door and they all walked inside. The room was a grand library but they had no time to admire its beauty.
"South wall second row... from the top or bottom?" Lyric said
"Let's try both." Said Talim
"Yunsung get on that ladder and start searching for a book on medicine"
"But …'
"Just do it!"
They searched frantically on the two rows until Lyric was suddenly drawn to a book about witch craft she opened the book on the table next to where Link lay.
"Witchcraft" Xianghua said questioning Lyric
Lyric herself thought it was crazy but something told her this was right. She began flipping pages until one in particularly caught her eye. She mixed the certain ingredients. "Talim wipe this on his forehead." Talim did this and Lyric sang something in a foreign tongue and then she bought out her ocarina and played Zelda's lullaby. First nothing happened then suddenly the room became cold when it became warm again Talim felt Links head.
"His fever it's gone and the swelling's gone. He's stirring."
"Where… am I." Said Link his voice thin and weak not even a whisper
"Don't worry Link we'll explain everything soon." Talim said wiping his brow tears coming out of her eyes
"Hey let me see this book." Yunsung said but when he looked at the book he realized who couldn't read it. This was nothing he had ever seen before. The symbols were round and intricate and were written horizontally across the page. He also noticed what seemed to be music notes scrolled in the bottom right corner. "What the hell is this?"
Taki, Xianghua and even Talim took a look. "What is this and did Lyric know what this was." Asked Xianghua
"That my friend is Hylish."
"What is it doing in this book?" Taki asked
"Maybe Hylans have used that portal to come back and forth between worlds for centuries" Lyric said
"Well at least Link is alive." Talim said relief in her voice
"Well we should bring Link back to his room and we should tell him what's been going on." Taki suggested
"Wait!" Yunsung said still on top of the ladder. He jumped down with a book in his hand. He put it on the table and opened. "Look what I found it may be a clue to help us find Soul Edge."
Later that evening the others came back from looking for a boat. They were surprised to see a refreshed and able bodied Link at the table.
"I see you guys found the cure" Raphael said. The girls nodded
"Yeah well we found a great deal on a great vessel it's not as good as the ship but it will do." Said Maxi
"Trust him it's no where near as good as the old ship… It's better than that heap of junk." Mina sniggered
"Hey that ship was with me through some of my most perilous adventures."
"Yeah in two weeks it should be ready some guy they call Trimmer wants to sell it for 180000 gold. It's worth it though and we'll still have enough money left over to get us through a year if we rationalize food and water." Kilik said
"So how was Amy was she good." Asked Raphael
"Yes she was very good and she was really helpful when it came to helping Link." Lyric said
"I hope so because whenever IU go out these two weeks I'm going to entrust you 6 with her safety."
"What?!" burst Yunsung spitting out his drink
"Well I told the servants they could have the next two weeks off because I trusted you would be able take care of Amy. Of course it's up to Amy if she rather be taken care of by the servants or you guys." He looked over at Amy.
"I want to stay with them." Amy said without an ounce of doubt. She still had ocarina lessons and she wasn't gonna let them forget it.
"Well then it's settled."
Everyone cleaned up and went to bed.
falling, falling into never-ending darkness "Don't be afraid for its fate" whispers a voicethere is no light only darkness surrounds you "Remember the sword comes first but do not falter in your Quest for peace."And then there's a light "Do not wallow in despair, hold on to the light and your journey through the darkness will be a safe on."
Lyric bolted up straight out of her bed. 'Not again' she thought. She had been having these dreams for over a year now. "What does it all mean" she whispered to herself. She decided a little walk in the Garden would help her sleep.
Yunsung looked down from his window and saw someone walking in the garden. He then saw that it was Lyric. 'What is she doing up' he thought. She looked so natural and graceful in the moonlit garden as her long sleeping gown dragged behind her. It was then that he realized how beautiful she was and his gaze was transfixed on her. He then noticed there was something wrong with her and wondered what could possibly have kept her up. Then he came back to his senses what was he thinking this was Lyric he was thinking about. He looked back down but she was gone. Maybe he was just imagining things, he thought as he drifted into a deep sleep.
Soon morning came and a brand new challenge with it, today Amy was going to start learning how to play the ocarina. The group that left last time left once again to seal the deal with the captain.
"Okay Amy we'll begin soon." Lyric assured her. Amy was excited to learn how to play the ocarina. She didn't realize it but she was opening up more and more to Lyric. To her Lyric was someone she had come trust.
"Okay."
"Link can you help me teach? I'm sure it'll be fun and you can get to k now Amy a little better." Link nodded surprisingly the other girls and even Yunsung wanted to watch.
'Yeah well yesterday was a good laugh hopefully today's musical lessons will be one too." Was Yunsung's casual response
They lessons went by pretty quickly. Lyric gave Amy an Ocarina that she uses when she wants to practices new songs. First she thought Amy the basics like fingering and how to hold an ocarina properly. Next she taught Amy how to read Hylish notes and this realms equivalent. Amy was a natural and by the end of the lesson she learned three basic songs: Zelda's lullaby, Epona's song, and Saria's song.
The group had finally gotten to the ship. "Ahoy Captain Trimmer" called Maxi, a man in his mid thirties with spiky blond hair walked up to them. He wore a buttoned down blue overcoat and beige billowy pants.
"Ahoy there Maxi" he bellowed
"So you remember we're here to buy the boat. The deal was the boat will need to be fully stocked and fixed up and in two weeks it'll be ready."
"Yeah, I remember but there's no deal. However we know you came all this way to pay for this ship so we'll be gentlemen and take your money."
His crew surrounded them and he unsheathed a one handed sword. "Don't make me have to use this.'
Maxi sighed "Everybody wants to be a pirate."
Siegfried was quiet for so long but he was unable to control his anger he grabbed the captain by the neck and the crew tensed.
"Listen up, new deal; you will take us to where we need to go. We will not pay you a single cent and you will take us. DO KNOW WHO I AM? I'm the Azure Nightmare. I will slaughter you and your crew if you decided to renege and trust me I WILL find you if you leave before the deadline. In 2 weeks we will be back and you better be here." Siegfried through him down and the captain and crew were trembling. The captain was corrupt but he wasn't stupid. He will be there or else he'd lose his life.
The group came back home and told the others of there new deal with the captain appropriately leaving out how they struck the new deal. The others were suspicious but decided it was better not to ask.
"Oh we forgot" said Lyric "Yunsung found us a clue to the next pieces whereabouts."
"Yeah we sort of went into your library" Talim said hesitantly
"I know you left it unlocked" Raphael said
"Well in the book it said an Egyptian city disappeared four years ago, around the same time soul edge was first defeated. Now that area is nothing but a desert wasteland. Further more those who have gone into the desert say it's haunted by evil spirits and there's an eerie glow in the night sky." Yunsung recited
"Well then Egypt's our next destination." Said maxi and everyone else agreed
2 weeks passed and Amy had opened up to the group a lot she trusted them and considered them her friends. She hurt inside to see them and Raphael go. Again she was alone and even though she understood the cause she didn't want to live the same life she led just 2 weeks prior. Her eyes were opened to so many things. She had become very good with the sword and she learned many techniques from the different warriors even Yunsung. She also had become a skilled ocarina player and she knew 10 songs.
"Here Amy I want you to have this." She gave her a sheet of music " If you play this song we'll be able to talk from far away distances use don't abuse it's powers but I thought you could use when your feeling down or lonely." She took it and put it in her pocket
"Thank you" Amy said hugging Lyric
Raphael came up to Amy and picked her up lifting her high into the air. "Now you behave yourself while I'm gone and I'll be back before you know it." The little girl nodded and a few stray tears fell from her eyes. He put her done and joined the others they walked further away from the house and Raphael took one look back but Amy was gone his heart sank. These 2 weeks he had spent little time with Amy because he feared that if he had spent a lot of time with her he'd have second thoughts about going on the long journey and leaving Amy. He regretted it now because for the first time he realized he may she his daughter again.
Rend of chapter 11
This chapter took forever to write in fact I started typing this on Sunday and just finished today. The thing was I decided when I posted chapter 10 I wanted to give you 2 chapters because chapter 10 was so short but I got a summer job that started this Monday and my parents are upset that I'm on the computer so long. I'm so sorry for the long wait but it is summer vacation and even with my summer job I'm going to post everyday or at least every other day depending on chapter length even when I'm crazy tired. I'm trying to finish this story by the end of this summer so I can start putting up the second story in the trilogy. Even though I haven't been posting I have been writing and I 'm done with this story and am well into the second, this said I'm still open for suggestions and will readily change my story if I feel your advice makes the story better. I'm so thankful people are reading the story and I really want to thank whoever's reading it. Please read and Review, I really need Your reviews to compel me to write more because if people are reading and I don't know how they feel about certain elements of the story I can't grow as a writer and I can't make my stories better, I can't stress that enough. So Read and Review and I should have another chapter for you in a maximum of two days.
Inuken