Chapter VIII Arriving in Termina
As Lance landed smack dab in the middle of Termina, he blacked out on impact. He awoke to find himself in a strange room, lying in a strange bed, surrounded by strange people. Lance sat bolt up right. His hat had been removed and Navi was nowhere in sight, until…
"Navi? Is that you?" Lance called out to the fairy across the room. The fairy zoomed over to Lance. It apparently wasn't Navi.
"Me? Heavens no! You dare mistake me as that big-nosed, blabber-mouth over there?" The strange fairy exclaimed obviously offended. She pointed to a clear glass jar sitting on the table on the other side of the room. Lance could see Navi shouting and banging her fists on the inside of the jar. The fairy cursed loudly and knocked the jar over the edge of the table. When the jar hit the floor, it shattered, and released Navi.
Navi rushed to Lance, "I'm Navi," she explained then clearing her throat loudly said, "That freak with wings over there," she pointed at the fairy on the other side of Lance, "is Tatl."
"Pleased to meet you…?" the new fairy, Tatl inquired for his name.
Lance opened his mouth to answer but Navi beat him, "That's Lance," she said to Tatl, but quickly switched over to Lance, "Apparently we're in some kind of inn. These people were kind enough to share their room with you and I." Navi paused as Lance looked over at the people who occupied the room.
There was a creepy old man, playing a strange instrument that sounded something like an accordion emitting old polka music. The other two were twins, both girls with bright red hair. They were dressed in dance clothes, one red and one blue. They were the famous Rosa Sisters, the newest dance sensations, who preformed throughout Hyrule. The girls waved enthusiastically at Lance. Lance just half-smiled back, still dazed.
"So," Tatl broke the peace, "I, um, heroically saved your life…"
"Oh, yeah, uh, thanks?" Lance muttered.
Navi who was greatly satisfied decided it was time to go, "Okay, now that all is said and done, Lance, we ought to be going now—"
"Oh, but Lance," Tatl interrupted, "I did save your life! Does that mean anything to you?" Navi rolled her eyes. Lance was oblivious to Tatl's hints.
As Navi tried to usher Lance out the door, Tatl explained, "Well, usually when someone saves someone else's life, they say, 'I'm am forever in your debt,' or 'I owe you my life,' or they simply give them a very big reward." Tatl grinned at her lovely little plan.
Only Navi saw her angle, "Okay, okay, what do you want?" she asked rudely.
Tatl had her mind made up, "Oh… um… just…well… Could you take me with you on your journey? Please, oh please, oh please?"
At this, the little switch in his brain clicked, and Lance understood. "You're trying to blackmail me…" he figured, "with my own guilt. If I don't take you with me, I'll feel guilty…"
"Took you long enough," Navi coughed under her breath.
"So…" Tatl asked with and excited expression that ran across her face.
Lance weighed his options, "Well, I can't exactly say no…"
That was enough for Tatl, "Okay, great! Then it's settled! Let's go!" She grabbed Lance's pack and flew out the door and down the stairs of the small inn. With out wasting time, Navi quickly switched gears and flew after the possessed fairy.
"Where do you think you're going with that, you… you…" Navi's voice faded away as she flew after Tatl.
"Um…" Lance just stood there, staring out the door. He turned to face the Rosa Sisters. They were both wearing very concerned faces, but said nothing. The creepy man on the other hand, said nothing also, and continued to play the polka music…Lance figured he was a bit on the loony side.
"Um…" Lance repeated, "I'd better go find them, before… Oh gosh." Lance ran out the door as he heard a piece of glass crashing down in the lobby below.
"It was nice meeting you all!" Lance shouted over his shoulder as he ran down the hall, searching for the door to the stairs.
"You too!" one of the sisters shouted after him as she leaned out into the hallway.
"It's the third door on the right!" the other sister informed Lance, as she leaned over her sister to get a better look at the situation.
Lance found the door, "Thanks much!"
"No problem!" the Rosa sisters replied in unison.
But what Lance didn't hear was, "He's kind of cute, where have we seen him before?"
"I don't know, but definitely familiar."
"I could never forget a face like that…"
Lance skimmed down the stairs at enormous speed. He ran so fast that he ran into a girl. They bumped into each other with so much force that they were both sent flying down the stairs, tumbling on top of each other. Once they had both landed, Lance immediately picked himself back up again. He pulled the girl up with him.
"Hi, I'm so sorry, but I gotta' catch my—" Lance explained as he rushed into the lobby. The girl rushed in after him.
"Hey wait!" She called after him, "Are those your fairies?" She followed Lance into the lobby to see Lance shouting at the two fairies fighting over a backpack. One fairy had the left strap and the other had the right. Unfortunately, they had the pack upside down, and as they pulled, items fell to the floor at Lance's feet.
Lance stood in awe. The girl ran up behind him. It didn't take long for her to figure out what to do.
"STOP!"
And they did.
"SHE STARTED IT!" they both said, dropping the backpack and pointing at each other. The girl rolled her eyes and bent down to gather Lance's things. Lance solved the bickering by grabbing one of the two bottles that hadn't broken and in one clean swipe managing to capture both inside it. It was a little too close for comfort, but that's what they deserved. Lance sat the occupied jar on the counter and bent down to help the girl with his things.
"I'm Ella," she stated simply, "My mom owns the inn."
Lance replied, "I'm—"
"Prince Lance of Hyrule, I know," Ella interrupted.
"Yeah, I get that a lot…" Lance went on in a sarcastic tone, "You see, I'm not really Prince Lance I'm his look-alike. But if you like princes then yes by all means, I'll be a prince for you." He gave her his boyish grin.
Obviously she didn't get his flirting. "I don't go around waiting for knights in shining armor to come and 'sweep me off my feet' if that's what you're trying to do." She answered seriously with a frown.
"Jeesh," Lance said as he stood up.
"Plus," she continued and stood up as well; "I already have a boyfriend." She stuck her nose up in the air. She was stunning, Lance admitted, but nothing compared to Mandy of course. She had long red hair that fell past her thighs, and swished when she walked. She was short. About five foot three, while Lance stood somewhere a little under six feet. Wearing a long plain dress, she looked pretty plain. But with a little yellow on the sleeves, and a shorter hem…Lance admired her.
"What is it?" She noticed Lance staring, "It's my hair, isn't it?" She took hold of the long strands and pulled them in front of her. "It's too long isn't it? I knew it…" She walked off, crestfallen.
"No, It's—" Lance called after her, but she didn't hear, and kept walking. "Beautiful," Lance finished in a whisper, staring after her long swishing hair. Lance's thoughts were interrupted once more by the two winged monsters. They joined together, banging and shouting at the same time. Lance had no choice but to release them…they'd be mad at him either way.
Lance reluctantly took the cork out of the bottle, allowing the two fairies to come out of their confines. Lance was greeted with angry shouts.
"WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" Navi and Tatl yelled in unison. They continued to talk incomprehensibly.
"Who was that…? Why did you…? Where are we…? Blee, blah, bloo blah!"
"Let's just go," Lance said and with out waiting for an answer, left the inn.
Once outside, Lance turned around to look at the inn. The sign said, 'Stock Pot Inn.' Lance made a mental note to come back here someday. Lance looked around. This wasn't what he expected. He saw that he was in a town of some sort. He expected fields, like in Hyrule. Lance wondered around, and was soon followed by Navi and Tatl. Tatl, who claimed that she, knew this place like the back of her hand, proved useless in sense of direction. After inquiring a local, Lance discovered that they were in East Clock Town and there was also a North, South, and West Clock Town.
As soon as Lance felt particularly lost. He sat down on the ground in what he thought was somewhere around North Clock Town. He decided he should try to apologize to Mandy. After all, she did give him the ugly, old mask… Even if he didn't know what it was for, it was still a gift.
Navi and Tatl flew off to try to pop some balloon while Lance pulled out his ocarina. Alone now, Lance played Mandy's Melody. But no one answered. Lance huffed, disgusted with himself for even thinking about trying to get a hold of Mandy. He didn't need her…and apparently she didn't need him either.