Hi, still not owning anything, still only getting two reviews for each chapter...I'm dying of a lack of revieessssss...I'm begging you, review, my life depends upon it.
Another thank you to Sacharja for your helpful comments, and I apologise if the story isn't meeting your expectations...hopefully it'll pick up soon
Chapter 7
Link had barely had time to process the information before Leon sprinted away. He wasn't sure if he wanted to leave Zelda's side for any length of time, but he supposed he could only defeat this enemy in Leon's world.
Sighing, he jogged into the castle to find the King sitting on his own in the throne room, his gaze distant and concerned. Link filled the King in, told him that he would be away and he was leaving Zelda here, before dashing to find the other men. He found them sitting in the dining room, chatting quietly.
"We're going to Leon's world. Meet me at the gate in five minutes, I'm going to see Zelda" he briefly informed them then ran to find Zelda, in their room.
"Zelda?" he asked cautiously, seeing his wife looking at him concernedly
"You're leaving, aren't you?"
"…Yes. I'll be back as soon as I can. I don't want to go….but I have to. We have to stop Wesker. Impa'll keep an eye on you and I'll contact you as much as I can." He knelt down by the side of the bed and looked up at her, wiping away the tears that were now streaming down her face. As he was doing so she reached down and caressed his cheek, drawing him up to kiss her.
Zelda pressed her head against Link's chest after the kiss had ended, weeping gently into his tunic front, clutching the green fabric as she felt her husbands arms around her back. Finally, she sniffled a little and drew herself away, smiling gently.
Link leant forwards as Zelda pulled away, and kissed her pale cheek. "I'll be back soon" he whispered in Hylian, before grabbing the Master Sword from the side of the bed where he had left it earlier. Slipping it onto his back, he grabbed his quiver, bow and shield, then smiled at her weakly then left.
Zelda watched the door close and then threw herself against her pillow, wailing and sobbing, salty tears sliding down to her chin and in between her lips as she gasped for breath, her body rising off the bed every time she took in a shaky breath.
There was a knock at the door and the King, her father, stepped in without waiting for her answer. She looked up, expecting him to be wearing a comforting smile. Instead, she got grave set features gazing back at her sorrowfully.
"Zelda…there's something I need to tell you"
Link found Sheik, Maxi, Liam, Siegfried, Yunsung and Kilik waiting for him by the outer gate of the castle. Upon seeing him Maxi flashed a smile to him, but Link found he couldn't return it, and Maxi's expression changed to sympathy over Link's sadness. Liam saw this and put his arm around Link's shoulders, but his brother shrugged out of the embrace, not wanting the other men to see him cry.
Link turned and seeing the almost offended expression on Liam's familiar features he mumbled out an apology, adding that he was just concerned about Zelda.
He guessed it worked because Liam nodded understandingly.
"We should meet Leon" Link mumbled and the group walked towards Hyrule field. After a few minutes of walking through town, they made out the tall figure of Leon, pacing by the drawbridge as he waited for them. Link raised his hand and Leon caught the movement with his eye, stopping to watch the group of seven men walking towards him.
"You ready to go? Leon asked and the group nodded in agreement.
They walked in silence, save for the occasional cough or sniff or sneeze. Leon was at the lead of the group, striding along with an easy confidence that was strange for him, Yunsung just behind him, looking bored at the lack of conversation. Maxi and Kilik walked side by side, occasionally glancing at each other, uncomfortable with the silence that had settled over the group. Siegfried and Sheik were just behind them, Siegfried walking with surprisingly long strides for his height, whilst Sheik walked with a quick, almost trotting compared to Siegfried's easy gait.Liam was off to the side of the group walking with light steps, casting his eyes around the field for signs of danger.
Link hung at the back of the group, having trouble with keeping up with his now heavy, burdened steps.
At the front of the group, Yunsung had quickened his pace and brought himself up to Leon's side, to speak with the older man.
"So," he started, turning to look at the dusty blonde haired man "What's your world like?"
"Different. It's over populated, polluted and not worth the trouble sometimes. It's nothing like this world, where this is beautiful and green and natural, my world is grey and ugly and man made."
"You think a lot of it then?"
"Heh…the city's are typically ugly, but the parts of the world that haven't been tainted by man are beautiful….which is why I still fight for it"
"How do we get there?"
"Same way as you got here…a portal….the only problem is going to be your clothing"
"What's wrong with it!" Yunsung shrieked, offended, looking down at what he was wearing.
"Nothing, it just doesn't fit in with modern styles…you're fine really Yunsung, you just need a different shirt" Leon shrugged "It's the rest that we're going to have trouble with" he flinched his head towards the rest of the group.
"Your people have no taste, Leon" Link commented, trying to lighten his own mood
Leon sniffed good naturedly and turned to the white patch on the wall ahead "perhaps not…but you still won't fit in"
They approached the portal, and checked around before Leon stepped through followed by Yunsung, Maxi, Kilik, Siegfried, Sheik, Liam and finally, Link.
Yunsung stepped onto the unfamiliar grass of Leon's world and recoiled at the sudden smell that was apparent to him in the air. It was a heavy stench of an oily smell, almost burning and it made the air around him seem dull, lifeless and humid.
"Geez, what is that smell?" he asked Leon, who was standing just ahead of him
"Car fumes…you'll get used to it, but it is a bit of a shock if you've never smelt it before"
"Right"
He suddenly noticed Leon's gaze travelling over him. "What're you looking at?"
"Your new shirt, is all"
Looking down, Yunsung himself noticed that his clothing had changed. Instead of his usual cropped orange and white costume top, he was wearing an orange t-shirt, the sleeves white with black around the hemline. The rest of his outfit was exactly the same, save for the lack of the extra belt that usually encircled the top of his trousers.
"Not too bad" Yunsung commented looking himself over
He was perhaps going to say more when Maxi stepped through and the two earlier arrivals instantly looked him over. Maxi's white sailor pants had been replaced with black jeans; slight gold depictions of oriental dragons, weaving over the thighs (think Maxi's second costume in SC2…the one where he's blonde). His top was merely a white undershirt, tucked into his jeans, the top of which was laced with black tribal patterns.
Maxi immediately registered what they were looking at and merely rolled his eyes, moving to stand by Yunsung.
"You look like Billy" Leon commented
"Who?"
"A friend, you'll meet him when we get to my apartment….now where the hell are the others?"
"They're coming, don't stress out….I think they're just a little more apprehensive, and Kilik hadn't even got used to Hyrule yet" Maxi answered
One by one, the five other men filed out of the portal. Kilik was now wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, some kind of studded army style belt over them, and an open fronted dark red jacket, a white t-shirt under it.
Siegfried was next, looking disgruntled as his hair was now tied back, and a good ten inches shorter so that it only just reached past his shoulders. He was wearing a pair of green combat pants, a dark brown turtle neck sweater, similar to Leon's own black one and a pair of brown boots.
After this came Liam and Link, their caps now gone, they now wore a layered long sleeved shirt and white tracksuit bottoms, like Yunsung's training pants. The only difference between the two outfits was that Liam's shirt was dark blue on top with white under sleeves and Link's was a dark green. The two, however, seemed completely comfortable within the new clothing. The only thing out of place, were their large eyes and ears, but Leon was certain that people here in Washington DC were so busy with their own lives, that they wouldn't notice the elfin boys.
Link seemed to have cheered up a small amount, being excited about new world had that affect on him, and whilst he was still worried about Zelda, he may as well enjoy his time in Leon's modern world.
"Is everyone here?" Leon called from Link's left and he turned to look at the local.
"Everyone except Sheik…he may be having problems with his costume though"
"He's going to have to deal with it"
"But if his face is uncovered….." Link trailed off. In the Sheikah culture, young unmarried men had to keep their faces covered until they had a wife. This, at least, stopped them from being judged on their looks, ensuring that the women would find a man who wasn't cocky about their looks.
"He'll have to deal with it, besides, all the women he's going to meet are going to be engaged, married or well, girls about 4 years old" Leon snapped
"4 year old girls?" Yunsung asked
"My daughter, Sora" Leon explained
"So who exactly are we going to be meeting and presumably working with?" Maxi asked
"Well…"Leon began "There's Chris, Claire, Billy, Jill, Rebecca and possibly Barry and Carlos…though I doubt you'll get to meet Carlos as he's in hospital…he was shot" he added seeing the questioning gaze from Kilik.
Maxi opened his mouth to ask something, when an extraordinarily unhappy and irritable Sheik stepped out of the portal, wearing his new modern clothes.
"Don't say a word!" he exclaimed, pointing angrily at Link, glaring at every one else.
Sheik was now wearing a pair of bluish-purple jeans, and a long sleeved close fitting t-shirt in the same hues. The lower half of the sleeves were a greyish white colour, along with the collar of the shirt and a large red Sheikah eye decorated the front of it. There were a pair of fingerless black gloves on his hands. His usual white turban was gone, leaving his blonde hair to fall past his shoulders in a somewhat tangled mess, some of his hair still covering his eye. The mask however, was completely gone, with nothing to replace it, and it was probably this that was most irritating the young Sheikah. He brushed his fingers along his jaw line self-consciously, not used to having his face completely bare.
Leon grinned, but said nothing, turning back to face the path that would lead them back to the main part of the park.
"Guys, follow me. We'll go back to my apartment and you can meet everyone"
The others nodded in compliance and began following Leon out of the foliage. As they got into the rest of the park to look at this new world, they stared round for a moment at the towering buildings that encircled the park on every side.
"Wow," Yunsung mumbled "You weren't kidding when you said it was all man made, were you?"
Leon looked back and gave the twenty year old a reassuring smile.
"Come on, we'll walk there, it's not far…and don't stare too much, it'll attract attention. Link, Liam and especially Sheik, keep your eyes to the floor, and see if you can cover your ears somehow"
They hurried through the park, walking briskly to try and get away from the eyes of the public, but despite the warning, the three Hyrulians had trouble not looking at the new surroundings and so would occasionally raise their heads to look. When a woman saw the three of them, her eyes widened at their appearances and they scurried away, prompting Leon to move.
It was a twenty minute walk to get to Leon's apartment. Usually it was only ten, but with the rush hour crowd as it was, it was difficult to get through. Leon checked his watch, noting that it was 5:40pm and pressed through the last dregs of the crowd, to turn onto the path that lead to the block of flats. Turning around, he was relieved to see that the entire group had made it through safely without getting separated, even if they did look a bit dazed.
"Let's get in. I'm dying for a drink"
Link stepped after Leon, suddenly nervous at this new world, where there were too many people and not enough space. The others shared his sentiment and moved a little closer to each other unconsciously, except Yunsung. The Korean seemed to be having the time of his life, and perhaps it was not unexpected. He was used to large crowds, and ever since he met Leon, he seemed to have been keen to go to the future, especially after seeing the display of Leon's weapons when he had taken on the Tyrant, two years ago. He ran up to Leon, catching up quickly, whilst the rest of the group lingered, hanging back, unsure of this place. Maxi seemed not to be affected as much as the others either, he wasn't eager like Yunsung, but he was willing to have a look around this place and give it a chance. Siegfried looked unsure, but indifferent overall, he didn't care where he was, as long as Soul Edge was safe. Kilik shared the same idea as Maxi and walked along side him, glancing back at the three, clearly uneasy Hylians, who had fallen behind again. Leon turned to them "Look, the sooner we get inside, the sooner we're away from this noise and we can relax. Trust me, all my friends will accept you, so stop worrying and get inside"
He pulled the door to the front of the building and watched the group file through, then began leading them again. After a couple of flights of stairs, they reached a long white corridor, doors lining both walls on either side. Leon walked up the middle of the corridor, and then moved to the sixth door up on the left and Link moved after him quickly. His enthusiasm about this world was coming back now that he was over the shock of it. Yunsung was already by Leon's side, eager as ever as the others lightly walked up to them.
Smiling at being home, Leon pushed the door to his apartment open and stepped inside to a small cloakroom. Pulling off his jacket, he hung it up and slipped off his boots before opening the next door into the living room.
"Hey everyone," he greeted his own family, poking his head round the door. He motioned to the people behind him to close the door and stay where they were for the moment.
Inside the living room Leon's family and modern friends looked up and smiled at him in greeting. He noticed as he scanned everyone's faces, that Barry, Rebecca and Sora were missing, leaving Chris, Claire, Billy and Jill still in the apartment.
"Alright, Leon?" Billy asked from his place in an armchair, magazine in hand.
"Yeah, not bad….where's everyone else, Claire?"
His wife looked up at him "Rebecca went back to the hospital she's working and visiting Carlos at the same time" Leon noticed Billy wince slightly at the name "Barry took Sora to the park…I'm surprised you didn't see them on the way back"
"Probably too busy….I'll say hi to them when they get back"
"Has anyone come then?" Chris asked. He was sitting in the middle of the three seater sofa, Claire on his left, Jill on his right
"Yeah…7 came"
"Well, bring them in then. Don't leave them standing out there" Claire scolded
Leon rolled his eyes but stepped fully into the warm sitting room, pulling his gun holster from his shoulders, placing it on the table.
"You can come in then guys" he called, and the other worlders came nervously into the room. Yunsung was the first to step out, and even his bravado was failing him slightly. Siegfried, Maxi and Kilik came out together, followed by Link and Liam. Sheik edged his way out and stood at the back of the group, trying to hide behind the slightly taller figure of Maxi.
"Guys" he addressed the Soul Warriors and the Hyrulians "This is Chris and his wife Jill, my wife Claire and Billy"
Liam looked around at Leon's family and friends, and they in turn returned the gaze, studying him and the rest of the group.
Liam had seen a picture of Claire before, but he realised now that you really couldn't appreciate her beauty unless you had met her in real life. She was an average height, slim and curved her legs that were curled up underneath her, long and elegant. She had a somewhat long face, with highish cheekbones and clear blue eyes, chestnut hair that was pulled back into a tight pony tail framing her face.
The man, Chris, that was sitting next to her….well, you didn't have to be told to know they were siblings. He seemed to be a few years older than her, but had the same traits she did, chestnut hair, clear blue eyes, and a strong jaw line. His hair was slightly darker than hers, as was his skin, a slightly tanned hint present from his working outdoors a lot. He was tall, closing in on six foot, and his shoulders and chest were broad and muscular, but not to an excess. He seemed, like his sister, to have a strength about him, but also kindness.
Chris's wife, Jill, was leaning against him, her arm resting on his shoulder. She looked like some sort of super model, Liam reflected. She was as tall as Claire, and just as beautiful, but she had a more mature look to her, as well as more grace than Claire's tomboyishness. She was more formed than Claire, too, her waist seeming to taper more. She was paler than both her sister-in-law and her husband. Her eyes were a light almost transparent blue, almond shaped, short light brown strands of hair, spilling over her cheekbones at the moment.
Liam finally turned his attention to the last person Leon had named…Billy.
The man was sitting in an arm chair, casually stretched out and reading a magazine article. He was slightly shorter than Chris and Leon, and more heavily built. He was wearing a close fitting shirt like Maxi's, and it defined his muscular chest all the more as well as his small waist. A tattoo stretched down his arm. Unlike everyone else, his cheekbones weren't high and at first glanced he seemed rather bland and unremarkable to Liam and he had a rather broad, almost cat like looking face. His hair was a dark mahogany brown, loosely combed back from his forehead, and his eyes were incredibly dark. They were a sort of inky blue, looking black as he was sitting in a slightly darker part of the room. His skin was more tanned than Chris's and he gave off a hostile aura. He looked and felt dangerous to Liam.
The group that were assembled in the chairs around the room smiled at their guests and got up to greet them and Liam watched as Billy pulled himself out of the comfortable chair to stand up.
"Claire and everyone, before you greet the others, let me introduce them. This is Yunsung, Maxi, Siegfried, Kilik, Link, Liam and Sheik."
They nodded back and Leon slipped out of the living room and into the bedroom to get changed, leaving them to get acquainted.
Back in the living room, Claire glared at the retreating figure of her husband.
"Trust him to leave" she complained to no-one particular
Link caught the comment and tilted his head at it, watching her. Seeing that he had heard, Claire explained "Without giving us a decent introduction of who each of you are….but perhaps we should leave that for later." She stepped back to view all of the group that had now intermingled and she noticed that already, everyone had pretty much established who they liked the most.
Chris was standing off to the side, talking to Yunsung. Jill was talking to Sheik and Kilik, although she would occasionally throw a comment to someone else. Billy was talking, for him at least, comfortably to Maxi and Siegfried. Claire herself had been talking to Link and Liam.
"Alright," she raised her voice "Before you all get comfortable and sit down….who's hungry, 'cos it's about six o'clock and we were about to get dinner"
"I am" Chris called from by the TV "But not enough to eat your cooking and I'm sure Leon and Jill don't feel like cooking, so let's order a takeaway"
Claire glared at him and snorted before stalking away to find Leon.
"That was mean, Chris" Jill scolded
"It's the truth!" he protested "She can't cook to save her life!...neither can I, for that matter, runs in the family" he shrugged
"So what're we ordering?" Billy asked
"Depends what everyone else wants….as for me, I'm up for pizza" Chris answered. As he did Leon and Claire walked back in "We had pizza yesterday for lunch before we left for the compound" Claire complained
Leon rolled his eyes and slumped onto the sofa, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. The group were always arguing about what to order, and who was to say that the other worlders would even like modern junk food? He was willing to bet that they wouldn't think much of it. Shuffling up into a sitting position, he looked over at Claire, who was now trying to beat Chris up, and voiced his concerns.
"Guys!" They stopped and looked at him, in fact so did the rest of the group "I don't know whether you've considered this, but there's a distinct possibility that our guests won't like modern fast food"
"Chris and I were just talking about that" Yunsung put in "And I, at least, am willing to try anything once. Come on, it's not like we're going to get much of a chance to relax"
To Yunsung's surprise, Maxi looked at him and stated "I agree…..for a change"
The rest of the assembly promptly nodded in agreement at the statements.
"Fair enough….I think you have an answer, Leon" Billy sat down in the armchair again "Just a case of finding out who here wants what"
"Alright. Let's vote on it"
Whilst Leon called out various different cuisines that they could order, the warriors moved to the side to talk amongst themselves.
"Are you sure about this Yunsung?" Kilik asked "It's unlikely that we're going to like this food, I mean…" Kilik was interrupted by Leon's cry of "Fine! Fine! Chinese it is!"
The rod master turned to the rest of the group and grinned "Maybe this won't be so bad"
Sometime later, the group of 11 were lying contentedly on the floor of the apartment's living room, the furniture pushed up to the walls in an attempt to make space for the large ensemble.
"Ok, we're finished with dinner and socialising" Chris mumbled, pushing aside a pile of tin foil containers that had held the Chinese food.
Leon and Claire were fishing bits of rice off the floor and putting them into another container, and Jill was trying to find the various plates, whilst trying to block the sight of the skeleton of what had been the crispy duck from the birds in the corner.
Billy was standing over by the birds' cage, feeding them before they let them out for the night to stretch their wings.
With the food cleared up, Leon sat on the floor, cross legged.
"We need to discuss our problem with Wesker" he stated, addressing the group as one of the birds fluttered onto his shoulder "That's the reason we're all together, after all"
"Well where should we start?" Claire asked, lying on her stomach "We've heard about the mutations, so there's not much to talk about"
"There is something that Link picked up at the end of the tape. It may only be the name of the virus, but it might help."
"See if you can block out the other noises on the CD and get it clearer." Chris ordered
Leon nodded and moved to the computer at the far side of the room, slipping into the swivel chair in front of the desk, turning the computer on. After 30 seconds he typed in a password, logging into his account and opening up a piece of soft ware, putting the disc into the CD drive.
The CD played and Leon tried various methods to reduce the surrounding noise on the recording.
Chris turned back to the others.
"All we know is what this virus is doing and we have to stop it. If Wesker gets control of the people of your world, then there is no hope for any of us. When it comes down to it, our only option is to get Wesker to spread the anti-virus, and hope that it works"
"If Soul Edge is infected though and acting to spread the virus more, then I don't think that'll work….it'll just keep pumping out more of it." Siegfried commented
"Then he'd have to inject it directly to the sword and spread more into an airborne state so that it helps those that could be saved" Billy answered.
"If it that's simple then there's no problem really. Not in our world, as long as we get him to cure it"
"That's fine…..but what if the Triforce gets infected? If what Leon says is true, then that's what we should be worrying about"
"Then there will probably be no way to cure it" Sheik answered for Link who had just opened his mouth to reply.
"How's the CD coming Leon?" Jill asked, looking over at the younger man
"….got it!...I think it's only the name of the virus but it's there"
He turned the speakers up and played back the audio clip. A door banged shut and then there was a muffled scuffling of the group that had infiltrated the HCF building only yesterday, then Wesker's voice, faint but unmistakable.
"Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne"
Link stared at the computer monitor than turned to the Hyrulians "Excuse me for this but…….." he let a long string of curse words, whilst the onlookers edged away.
Link finished and panted "Sorry"
"Uh-huh" Billy commented "Anodyne….weird name for a virus"
"Anodyne is a pain killer though….Anadin anyway. But…it means dull, boring, uninteresting….it makes no sense to call a virus that" Jill explained
"It's irony" Billy stated "More than likely…but that's not the key issue here….what he said is, not the name though"
Chris's eyebrows furrowed together "What are you getting at?"
"Listen to it again… Leon, play it back"
"Spread your disease, you only have to touch her…after all…you are the Anodyne"
Chris looked at Billy and spoke "You are the Anodyne…he was talking to Aaron after he had left….Aaron is the virus"
"How is that possible? He's a person" It was Claire who threw up the objection
The group looked around to each other for an answer. None came. That is until Rebecca walked in.
"Aaron is a physical manifestation of the virus and Wesker has plenty of test subjects….Not that he's used a person. He's taken the basic structure from the DNA of a person, played with it and added the virus. He's created Aaron to be exactly how he wanted him"
"How do you know this?"
"I don't for certain…. it's just a guess, but the theory works….in principal, at least"
"Ah hah. Now, second question…when did you get here?" Chris asked
"About five minutes ago... but I can be incredibly quiet and when you're distracted it's easy"
"Ok, so we know all this but, what good does it do us?" Maxi enquired
"It means that we know to be careful of Aaron when we confront him and Wesker…and the virus' name" Chris again took charge of the conversation
"I take it that the next step is to confront them then…and Hi" Maxi added, turning to look at Rebecca. Rebecca nodded back to the Japanese man.
Chris rolled his eyes and dipped his head to answer Maxi's question.
"When are you planning this for?" Sheik asked, the first thing he'd really said since arriving in this world.
"A few days time would be best" Leon commented from by the computer and swivelled in his chair to look at Chris. "We need to make a plan, find out if Wesker has moved anywhere, and get any equipment we might need. On top of that, these guys might have to be briefed more on the ways of this world"
"I doubt that" Link commented "But…we'll need to know what's going to go on while we're there…and…" he trailed off
"And?"
"Well, I don't want to put too fine a point on it but…our weapons are a bit behind yours. If we can't use them adequately when we go…then there won't be much point in us joining you and we can't learn how to use your weapons in just a few days"
"He's got a fair point…but, there, hopefully, won't be any need for fighting" Jill remarked
"You think Wesker's gonna share that point of view?" Chris asked "Anyway, we'd take you along regardless. You have every right to; you're trying to save you worlds, after all"
"Perhaps we should leave the discussions for now, and just relax. We've been over everything we need to, so we can start the planning tomorrow" Claire suggested
Agreeing, the group settled down for the evening, talking about their cultures and worlds. Link stood up and walked to the window that made up an entire wall of Leon's apartment.
Lowering his head, he offered a prayer to the goddesses….for Zelda.
Yes, a cheesy end to a chapter (aren't they all?) but I'm proud of being a cheesy sap. You kniw what I'm gonna say know, but I'll say it anyway...REVIEW PLEASE!