Chapter 14 – Truth or Dare
So here is chapter 14. I guess you could call this the turning point of the story (Finally! You guys must be saying) Anyhow… Well, I have nothing much to say except enjoy the story!
As I have to say before… there are a lot of people I have to thank. My sister namely, because she let's me use her computer, my mother who actually thinks I have potential in writing… and of course my faithful reviewers… namely Superkawaiifreak, who is probably my most faithful reviewer here. She actually came back to me, even after that big period of me being dead.
Disclaimer: If I were to own Super Smash Bros. Melee there would be Jedi, elves, and Gollum/Smeagol… if you've gotten those characters… well that means that SSBM is owned by me! But until then…
Oh yes… What should I say… Oh yeah… this is rated F for fluff between Roy/Peach.
Okie dokie… now, here is Chapter 14. I hope you enjoy!
X.X.X
Link opened his eyes slowly. He wondered where he was. And it didn't take long to figure out that Captain Falcon was squishing him against a rough, wooden wall, apparently unconscious.
"Finally, you're awake," a familiar voice exclaimed. Her voice was lucid, and it cleared Link's head thoroughly.
"Samus?" He asked.
"Duh," the bounty huntress grinned at Link's squashed face, then grabbed the back of Captain Falcon's collar and dragged him off Link.
"Thanks," he said. He stood up to stretch… and immediately hit the ceiling.
"Ow…" he sat back down and glared at the low ceiling that prevented him from standing up.
"Yeah… That's what I said too, when I tried standing up," Samus grinned.
Link's eyes swiveled around the area. It was a simple room. Small, squat and entirely made of wood. There was a tiny window to let the hot air in, and a door, that Samus said, refused to budge open.
"How… how did we get here?" Link stammered, when the shock of finding himself in a different room wore off. "I mean… I remember I was with Peach. And there was this plushie unicorn that was trying to buck me off and then I became bite-sized and then I conked out. And now I'm here!" He exclaimed.
Being a bounty hunter, Samus was way smarter than the average mind. But right now, she was still trying to wrap her head around that story. She gave up entirely. Link saw her puzzled face and proceeded to explain what happened. Then Samus said, "I'm not sure how we came here. All I remember was that I was disappearing. In this white place. And I also remember that I was with Roy. But that's basically it."
"Now you're pulling my leg," Link laughed.
"Seriously," Samus laughed with him. Then she proceeded told him her adventure in detail.
Link frowned. He stared at the floor that was covered with people, who were also unconscious. And as he looked at them for a moment, a slight glimmer of truth dawned on him.
"Samus…" He said, scanning the hot room, looking at the 10 other people in the room.
"What?" Samus asked.
"Tell me…"
"What!" She asked impatiently.
"These people in the room. Do we… is there any connection between all of us?" Link asked.
"Um… not that I know of…" Samus started. She turned to face the Hylian. "Why?"
"Every single person who could hold the map… is here. In this room," Link said.
Samus looked puzzled, "Why would we be here, if we can hold the map?"
"I'm not sure… but there has to be a reason." Link said biting his lip as he watched Captain Falcon awaken with a moan.
""Wha…" He looked really confused as he surveyed his surroundings.
So while Samus explained what was going on, Link sat trying to sort it all out. All of them, kids and teens were picked for this theme park. It was a "Test". And somehow these strange map pieces were given to them. And then people started dying, not to mention Peach getting into some really close shaves. And then there was the incident between Saria, me, and Zelda. Link still didn't know what possessed Saria to try—scratch that, actually—break their relationship. It seemed that ever since Saria had come to the Amusement Park, she was always acting moody, strange, and not her normal way. Vaguely, Link wondered if Medusia had anything to do with it.
Speaking of which… was Medusia only killing people because of a silly feud between Peach and her for Roy's heart? It seemed highly unlikely. There was something else involved. Something far more sinister. There had to be a different reason besides popularity and Roy. Although Link had no idea what it was.
Finally… where the heck were they? Link and crew were standing in front of a run-down house… and all of a sudden… they were transported to different places… and then, half of them were in this wooden place? It really didn't make any sense.
"We need to get out of here!" Captain Falcon exclaimed.
"In case if you haven't noticed genius, the door is barred. I'm going to kill the person who stuck us in here." Samus said. She was avoiding his eyes, for a reason that Link didn't know of (A/N: When Samus thought Capt. Falcon was her Secret Admirer)
"I am truly sorry." A cold chuckle came from the door, sounding as though he really didn't mean that he was sorry, "But there was a very good reason."
It was Giovanni.
X.X.X
"You okay Krystal?" Fox asked from his cockpit. She flashed him a grin through her screen. She looked okay and calm on the Great Fox.
Beside Fox, an Arwing dove expertly beside him, and the person inside did a thumbs up. I didn't ask Falco if he was okay… but wait… since when does Falco do a thumbs up? He thinks they'll burn his ego…
Fox looked again at the person. Was it the tint of the window, or did the person inside look a soft blue-purple color? He strained his eyes and realized that it wasn't Falco after all.
"Krystal! What are you doing here!" He shouted in surprise.
"What do you mean I'm doing here? I got invited to this creepy amusement park and-"
"That's not what I meant. I mean… what are you doing in an Arwing?" I asked.
"Killing herself." Came the reply of a rather surly Falco, who shot an enemy down.
"No! I know how to fly an Arwing better than our last mission! Rob gave me some pointers and I decided to try them out!" Krystal exclaimed.
The reason Fox did not want Krystal in an Arwing was because of their last mission. She nearly killed herself and an Arwing by crashing. If it weren't for Peppy saving her, she probably wouldn't be arguing with Fox right now.
"Well, I hope you know how to fly it good because, we're on the sun right now, which means you might overheat yourself," grumbled Falco, who was recklessly fighting a firebird.
It was true. They were on the sun level (A/N: In Star Fox64, there's a sun level that you have to go through. Since its really hot, you gain damage by the second.) And it was hot, despite the excellent cooling unit in the Star Fox team's Arwings. Fox was sweating, and worrying about Krystal's safety was drawing the limit.
"Fox!" Falco cried out. The firebird he had been battling had shot him in the wing. The last he saw of his wing was dissolving in the churning and boiling hot lava below. He was now imbalanced.
"Falco, fly up to the Great-"
But Fox never got past the sentence. A firebird had snuck up on him and shot him right in his engine. Fox's Arwing, now out of control was crashing into the fire. Falco and Krystal watched in fear. But something amazing happened. The firebird that had shot Fox down, sped toward Fox, picked up Fox in his claws and soared away, out of the sun.
"Did you see that?" Falco exclaimed, his screen popping up on Krystal's control panel. For somebody who was moody, and hardly showed his feelings, Falco was looking pretty shocked.
"Yeah, I think we should follow-" Krystal stopped, looking at Falco's plane. A firebird swooped up on him and threw a lava rock at him.
Bam!
Krystal watched in horror as Falco's Arwing was sloping downward, its nose drooping as if going to sleep. But something else happened. Something strange.
"Wha…?" Krystal asked herself, astonished. Falco's Arwing, was supposed to have dissolved, or crashed into the lava. But instead it had gone right through it.
Krystal frowned. This went against whatever she learned on solids and liquids. Falco and his Arwing went through the lava like it was—
"Gas…" breathed Krystal. She wondered if she could go through it. There was nothing left for her here. Fox was gone, and Krystal knew that there was no hope in finding him. However Falco was easy within reach.
On the other hand this was risky. What if Krystal's eyes deceived her and she crashed into oblivion in the lava? She didn't know what to do.
What am I supposed to do? Go after Fox, whose probably light-years away by now? Is there any hope I can still reach him? And what about Falco?
But Krystal couldn't think much longer. She had hesitated to long in midair. The firebird shot a rock at her Arwing, and whether she liked it or not, she found herself flying downward to the lava.
She instinctively screwed her eyes shut and jolted the control stick toward her. It wouldn't prevent her from crashing fully but it would help her survive. She braced herself, waiting for the crash.
Because Krystal's eyes were closed she didn't see herself going through the lava as if it never existed. Even though Krystal prepared to crash, her heart still jolted as she was thrown against the window. Smoke engulfed the cockpit and the emergency door opened automatically. With her now opened eyes streaming, Krystal came out, waving the smoke away with one hand. When her eyes cleared she saw Falco, who was leaning against his wrecked plane.
"Falco… you're alive?" Krystal asked.
"No, I'm dead, and I was miraculously brought alive," Falco sarcastically responded. Then bad mood cleared, and he asked, "Where are we?"
"I… I don't know," Krystal admitted, looking around at the lush forest, "But what I just experienced now was the most weirdest thing ever."
"Tell me about it," Falco said. He walked over to Krystal and stared at the brilliant blue sky.
"It is a pleasure meeting you here," a dream-like, voice said, just above a whisper.
"And now that we have met, you must come with us. Your destiny awaits you," yet another voice said. This voice was bold, warm, and friendly. But it also held a touch of mystery.
Falco and Krysta's heads shot down to the voices. They saw two children standing in front of them. One was a girl and one was a boy.
"I'm not going anywhere with you kid," snarled Falco.
"I believe that we are older than you. To be exact we are reaching the age of one hundred. You may call us children, but our age difference is very high. I am called Luna by the way, and I am High Advisor to the Moon. May I ask what your names are?"
The dream-like voice belonged to the girl. The girl looked a little past five years old, but Krystal did not doubt that she was almost one hundred. Her large pale blue eyes were like orbs and they reflected wisdom in them. Silvery long blonde hair fell in sheets down her back. She was wearing a long silver dress, with sleeves that widened considerably at the end, and currently covered her delicate and frail figure. The dress was so long that it swept the floor when she walked and glinted softly in the sunlight. It seemed as if she had hardly seen the sun because her skin was so pale, it looked almost gray. In one hand she held a staff that had something that looked like a mini-moon on top. Currently it was half-shaped, though Krystal guessed that it changed according to the days. The cycle of the moon was crudely carved onto the wooden stick part. The whole image of the girl looked vague, and a little ghostly.
"The name's Krystal. And this is my friend, Falco. You have to excuse his manners," Krystal whispered the last sentence to them as an afterthought.
"I heard that," Falco exclaimed.
"Do not be heated by what your friend Krystal has just said, it has a little truth in it. My name is Solus and I am High Advisor to the Sun."
The warm friendly voice belonged to the boy. His hair was flaming golden. His skin was tanned though his cheeks were rosy and dimpled and he was pleasantly plump. He had a cheerful, inviting look to his face, and his hazel eyes had a mischievous look to it. But you could also see that he was wise too. He wore bright yellow, orange, and red robes and had a staff the looked exactly like Luna's except on the top there was a model of the sun hovering over it. And on the stick had crude designs of the sun rising, and setting. The boy, contrary to the girl, looked brighter than usual.
"Hi," Krystal said, "So what are you guys doing on the face of Earth if you are High Advisors?"
"The mighty sun and moon tell when we come down. Apparently, it seems as if you two need help to escape from this mess. And your friends do too. That is why we are here. If you two, pass a test of ours, you may be able to find yourself with lesser problems." Luna said.
"Either that… or you're a pair of nutters…" muttered Falco.
"Our friends? You know where they are!" Krystal asked. He looked at the kids interestedly.
In response to Krystal's statement, Luna and Solus held up their staffs and pointed it toward the ground. A mirror image was on the floor, showing half the group. It seemed as if they were in the forest too. It also looked like they had just met up and were chatting about their adventures. Krystal counted Dr. Mario, Peach, Bowser, Ganondorf, Saria, Mr. Game & Watch, Pichu, Mewtwo, Marth, Roy, and Zelda before the image dissolved.
"Whoa… how did you do that!" an amazed Falco asked.
"It's called the Art of Scrying and is very useful," Solus explained. Then he turned to Krystal, "We are going to your friends. Do you care to join us?"
"Do we ever! C'mon Falco, let's go!" She said tugging on his arm.
"Wait a second… how do we know that you munchkins aren't lying?" He asked, wrenching himself from her grasp.
"You will have to trust us," Luna simply said.
"We are forbidden to lie," Solus said, "It is for the Moon and Sun's protection."
"C'mon Falco… We have to trust them. What if it is a way out of here?" Krystal pleaded.
"Oh fine! I'm coming…" Falco said, but when Luna and Solus turned their backs on the Star Fox pilots, Falco shot them a skeptical look.
"After all you've been through, I'm sure that you have a reason to be unsure of us," Luna said in her quiet voice, as though she read Falco's mind.
"I sure as hell do," Falco muttered to Krystal, "First we've been teleported to a memory, then we crash through lava into this forest thing, while our leader gets captured by some stupid firebird thing, and finally we see suspicious little kids who look five but they're almost one-hundred. And they know some pretty advanced magic," He added.
If Solus or Luna heard that, they didn't comment on it.
They walked through the forest in silence for five minutes, while the birds twittered around them. Then Krystal broke the silence by asking, "So wait… you said we had to pass a little test of yours. What exactly is this test?"
"This sort of test is honored by all our people. We take this challenge very seriously. It is used in trial and bets. Alas, you know well of it as well. But you humans—and er… animals—know of it too. But you call it a game."
"So what's this game? Tag?" Krystal asked.
Luna turned around and stared at her straight through the eye. Krystal caught a glimpse of sympathy in them, but it vanished before Krystal could clarify it. "The "game" that we are playing is called Truth…" She said, as they reached the same clearing that Krystal and Falco saw in the Scryed image.
"…or Dare," finished Solus.
X.X.X
"It looks like our final member is here," Giovanni said through a smirk. Fox appeared a second later, the shoulders of his clothes singed.
"Fox!" Link exclaimed. He helped the vulpine to the floor, who was breathing heavily, looking exhausted but at least he wasn't conked out.
"Welcome Map Bearers. I trust you know why you're here?" Giovanni asked.
A murmur of confusion was heard through the now 12 creatures and humans alike.
"Do not tell me that you do not know," Giovanni said through his annoyingly superior smirk.
"Either you're going to stay here forever saying that, or you can tell us why," Samus said testily.
Giovanni's smile broadened. A couple people shifted uneasily in the room. Giovanni paced around the little area of the room, not even bothering to apologize to the people he was stepping on.
"You twelve are the only ones that can hold the map, am I not correct?" Giovanni asked smoothly.
There was a collective murmur of assent through the room. "The map is the answer to your location. You thought that I had scattered you throughout various lands. You thought that you all were far apart. But in fact, your friends are within each other's reach, they just need to look into their minds," Giovanni said.
"What?" Link asked, while others simply looked puzzled.
"It is exactly what I said," Giovanni simply stated. Suddenly his face lightened up. "And now that most of all your fellow friends are reunited, I suppose you will enjoy watching them suffer from the sidelines."
Instantly he snapped his fingers and a screen filled the whole wall. The group saw everybody there except…
"Where are Young Link, Nana and Popo?" Ness asked.
"Indeed, where are they?" Giovanni said, looking genuinely curious. But his eyes still glittered with malice. "I will leave you in peace to see your friends' fate," he said, before taking out a key, inserting it in the lock and opening the door. Link got up to barge his way out but Giovanni shut the door quickly and locked it before Link even had the chance to make a move.
There was nothing left to do except watch, and pray for their friends safety.
X.X.X
Once Solus and Luna introduced themselves they explained the rules for Truth or Dare.
"You will pick either truth or dare," Luna quietly said.
"If you pick truth, Luna will ask you a question about your personal life. Do not think that you can fool her and lie. If you lie, you are out of the game.
"If you pick dare, I will assign you a dare. If you are not able to do the dare, you are out of the game," Solus said.
"What happens if you're out of the game?" Pichu squeaked nervously.
Solus just gave her a look and said in an unusually solemn voice, "Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies."
That made everybody shudder.
"You are first," Solus, said smiling warmly and pointing his staff at Dr. Mario. "Truth or dare?"
Not wanting to look like a chicken, Dr. Mario mustered up all the confidence he had and said, "Dare."
Solus gazed deeply into his eyes for a minute then said quietly, "I dare you to operate on yourself."
Dr. Mario nervously looked at him, "How?"
"There is a bug in your left eye. You must take the bug out. Whatever tool you wish for, I will be happy to bring them to you."
Murmurs of disgust filled the group. People looked like they were about to be sick.
Dr. Mario did not want to do the operation, but he had no choice. "Okay, I'm going to need a mirror…" He started saying all the medical tools he needed, and as named each tool, one appeared.
Then Dr. Mario started operating on himself. He used one hand throughout the process to hold a mirror to see what he was doing and the whole time, he was sweating. When he extracted the eyeball out, there were murmurs of disgust. Zelda and Peach actually looked away, their faces greener than a traffic light.
Strings of flesh hung loosely out of his empty socket. He tenderly dropped it onto the table he requested. For about fifteen minutes he worked on getting the "bug" out. The bug turned out to be a metal bug that had glowing red eyes. He threw it on the floor and it scuttled away. It took about a half an hour to put back his eye, and when he did, everybody applauded.
"You have passed," Solus said.
This quieted the crowd down. They stared at Solus's warm face, and wondered what would the next person be and what he would do.
"You are next," Luna pointed at Zelda.
Zelda walked up to Luna and calmly said, "Truth."
Luna gave a silvery little laugh, that made the rest of the group jump and then she smiled at Zelda.
"Good," Luna said. She closed her orb-like eyes for a moment and when she reopened them she stared at Zelda, with such intensity that Zelda felt her insides go cold. She didn't know why she felt it, but there was something about Luna that made her seem inferior. Zelda, as possessor of the Triforce of Wisdom always had the upper hand when it came to knowledge. But this time, she felt very stupid and meek.
"I shall ask you a question. And you will answer it. You must answer it with a loud and clear voice so that everybody can hear you. Am I clear?" Luna asked.
"Yes," a now nervous Zelda replied.
"Is it, or is it not true, that you love Link and wish it more than ever that you both can be together?"
Zelda stared, awestruck at Luna. How did she know? She thought in disbelief. Can she read minds? Zelda thought nervously.
"We are waiting, princess," Luna's whispery voice penetrated Zelda's thoughts.
Zelda's face was red. Her head was pointing down. It was now or never. She tilted her head up and her bright blue eyes matched Luna's gaze, "Yes. I wish that I could be together again with him. But I don't think he feels the same way to me, especially the way I treated him before this happened."
Luna stared at Zelda. Then her face broke into a smile, "You have passed."
Zelda was shaking when she walked back. There was scattered applause, because nobody actually knew what was going on between Zelda and Link.
"Zelda," Saria said, as Zelda walked back.
"What?" Zelda grunted. The last person she wanted to talk to now besides Link was Saria.
"I-I wanted to let you know that I'm really sorry for breaking up your relationship with Link. I know it meant a lot to you," she stammered.
"Oh really? That's great," Zelda found that she really didn't care if Saria apologized or not. One apology from Saria wouldn't fix whatever Link would do to Zelda. Zelda started to walk away, but Saria grasped her firmly on the shoulder. Zelda turned around.
"Wait… there's more," Saria pleaded, "Hear me out. I know I've been acting really weird lately."
"You think?" Peach butted in from nowhere.
Saria glared at her before continuing; "There was a reason for it. It was Medusia. She bribed me! She said to break things up between you two, and she also told me to steal Samus's map piece."
"And you did whatever she said?" Peach asked in utter disbelief.
"She said that in exchange for all my doings, she would give me Zelda's status, to Link." Saria flushed when she said it. Zelda didn't comment, and Peach didn't either. Encouraged, Saria went on, "When I found out why she really was doing it, I told her I didn't want to do her dirty work. She was really mad. She threatened me of all sorts. So I went to her lab, and switched around a couple of bottles in the room. Some were poisonous so I refilled it with water. One of them even was a love potion! I was skepti-"
"Wait a second," Roy, who had been eavesdropping from a few feet away, "You said that you saw a love potion. Did you tamper with it?"
"Um… yeah. I dumped it out, and replaced it with Pepto Bismol, because they were the same shades of color."
Roy burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Saria frowned.
"Nothing." Roy said. He seemed a whole lot happier.
"Anyway. So I tampered with her potions. I tried to do as much damage as I could, but I only messed up a few. But while I was in her lab I overheard her talking with Giovanni!" Saria said.
"Giovanni?" Falco said, joining the conversation.
"Yeah. You won't believe that he's working for her!"
"Giovanni's working for Medusia!" Marth exclaimed. He clapped a hand to his forehead, and muttered, "Why didn't I see this before?"
"What's up buddy?" Roy asked.
"Giovanni is the one who made a mess between Samus and I. He said that if I didn't kill Samus and steal her map piece, then he would conquer my kingdom with a legion of powerful Pokemon." Marth explained.
Roy let out a low whistle, "That explains why you were so harsh to her, yesterday night!"
"What happened yesterday night?" Peach demanded. But nobody paid attention to her.
"Go on," Zelda prodded Saria softly.
"Anyway, I also heard the reason why Medusia is doing this. She's been a spoiled brat, and she's got whatever she wanted except for one thing. Attention. Master Hand is her foster father, and he never showed her attention or love. He left that to her tutors, wet nurses, and governesses. And when she heard about this theme park, she got even more jealous. The reason why Master Hand is doing this is because he wants us to become stars of some sort. Whoever passes this Test, will become a celebrity. I'm not sure why they'll be famous, but he'll make the winning participants stars!
"When Medusia heard about this, she was really mad. She sabotaged everything. She killed people, and planned to take everybody's map pieces so that everybody here would be trapped." Saria explained.
"Wait… but then…" Roy frowned, "Why is Medusia messing up Samus, Marth, Zelda, and Link's love lives?" Peach noticed that he didn't mention her or him.
"She's jealous of you all. Ever since high school she's been jealous of all of you. She's known about the famous Zelda and Link couple. She was jealous about their undying relationship. As for Marth and Samus, she couldn't understand why a prince would fall for a plain bounty hunter. After all, nobody fell for her, when she was rich and beautiful. And she's always been crushing on Roy, and is mighty jealous of Peach," Saria explained.
"Oh,"
"Saria, you are next," interrupted Solus.
Marth saw that aside from Dr. Mario and Zelda, Bowser, Ganondorf, and Mr. Game & Watch had gone already, during their little conversation. He wondered what they had to do and if they picked truth or dare.
"Truth or dare?" Luna asked.
"Um… Dare," Saria nervously said.
"Okay," Solus stared directly at Saria. Saria uncomfortably shifted as she stared back.
"Your dare is to start a fire in this forest," Solus said.
"What! But you don't understand! This is my home! I could not possible start a fire in my own home. I am Sage of this forest you cannot make me do-"
"…Will you do it?" Solus interrupted.
"Are you kidding! No! I will never hurt a forest that I grew up in!"
Scarcely after Saria had spoken those words, there was a clapping noise that sounded like thunder. A blinding flash of light… and Saria was gone.
"What did you do!" Zelda asked, horrified.
"Nothing. She has refused to do the dare. She lost. She is eliminated from this game," Luna said. The way she said it, brought chills up everybody's spines.
"W-where did you send her?" Krystal asked nervously, not even sure she wanted to know the answer.
"How do you present life creatures say it? Ah yes… that is for me to know and you to find out," Solus said.
The group exchanged looks with each other nervously. Nobody wanted to find out where she went.
"You are next," Luna said, in her whisper-like voice. She pointed her staff at Falco, who stepped up, "Truth or dare?" She asked.
"Dare," Falco said.
"Swallow your pride, Falco," Solus commanded.
"Er… what?" Falco asked.
"Swallow your pride, and crash your Arwing, and humiliate yourself."
"But… my Arwing is crashed already! You saw it!" Falco said. What kind of a dare was this? This wasn't exactly swallowing his pride.
"Well then here you go," Solus waved his staff around and everybody but Solus and Luna jumped when they saw an Arwing appear magically, buffed and gleamingly clean.
"Crash it," Solus commanded.
Falco had never seen his Arwing as beautiful as now. And now he had to crash it. He felt as if he was losing his best friend over again, but he climbed into the cockpit anyway.
As he shot up from the ground, he couldn't help admiring how smoothly the ship moved. But he knew he had business, so wincing, he jerked the joystick up and the nose of the Arwing immediately shot down.
Falco felt a sense of dread. His hands twitched on the joystick, almost jolting it downward, so that it could go up. But then I would lose the dare… he thought sadly. So he kept the joystick upward. He screwed his eyes shut, counting downward, to see how long it would take.
3…
Falco wasn't even sure why he was doing this.
2…
He wasn't even sure if he was sane anymore.
1…
CRUUUUNCH!
Falco was thrown against the cockpit's window for the second time. Jet steams hissed around him as he pulled the emergency hatch open. At first it wouldn't budge because it was jammed. But as Falco threw himself against the door, it reluctantly hissed open. He got out of the smoking, once beautiful Arwing.
"A pass," Solus flashed a warm smile at him.
Falco walked back to the group, a sense of relief, and sadness overwhelming him. At least it was less daring than what Dr. Mario did. He thought.
"You are next," Luna whispered, "Truth or dare?"
Marth walked up, "Truth." And that's when he started feeling as if a sudden chill was piercing his soul, and before he could figure out what was going on, it stopped.
"What do you value more; your kingdom… or Samus?" Luna asked.
Marth thought about the kingdom he was exiled from. His childhood memories, being treated like royalty… But I was banished from my kingdom… and there is nothing else left for me. It's time from me to move along. He thought. And then he thought about his new found love.
He did not deny it. He didn't like Samus. No… he loved her. He didn't want to be her boyfriend. He wanted to be her soul mate. And after all the pretty girls that his father had brought him in hopes of a suitor, his mind could only stay on one girl that was unique. A tough, wild, simple but pretty girl. One girl who was hard to open up. One who had her own job as a bounty huntress. Samus… he thought.
"…I value the thing that comforts me. I value the thing that makes me feel richer…"
What! Is Marth just a gold digger? Zelda thought. She found herself disappointed in Marth. She believed that Marth was a soft, romantic person at heart. Somebody who valued a human and not wealth or power. But Zelda's thinking stopped when she heard Marth say his last words.
"I value Samus more than my kingdom." Marth said.
"A pass," Luna said. "I am proud that you value Samus Aran more than your kingdom. She is a bigger gem to your heart than your kingdom," she winked at him, and he grinned back.
"Pichu."
The young electric mouse nervously came forward. "Dare," she squeaked.
Solus smiled kindly at the mouse before saying, "Go through the dark tunnel. It is filled with demons and monsters. You must not scream, squeak, or utter any type of fear. Also you can never turn back until you get out the other end of the tunnel. Understand?"
Pichu whimpered, but nodded. A tunnel magically appeared from nowhere. And Pichu stumbled into the hole. Roars emerged from the tunnel, but the group didn't hear a single peep from the Pokemon.
Pichu saw the demons. Every single monster she'd had from a nightmare was in the tunnel, odd enough. She squeezed her eyes shut, which helped a little. But the roars that erupted inside still made it hard for her not to squeak or yell. The din was deafening, but Pichu kept going. She wanted to look back so badly, so she could be comforted by friends, but knew she would lose the dare. Trembling, she walked as casually as possible. She considered breaking for it, but feared that she would be eliminated if she ran. Finally she opened her eye a peep. There was only a couple more feet to be covered. She quickened her pace, hoping she didn't look scared. Finally she reached the end.
"I did it!" Pichu yelled, before she was teleported back to the entrance. She scampered up to Solus and repeated, "I did it!"
"Yes you did. You have passed," Solus smiled.
Pichu squealed in happiness and ran back.
"Mewtwo," Luna called out, if you could call it calling out.
"I am here," Mewtwo stated, floating forward calmly. Everybody was curious as what he would say. "Dare."
"Endure 15 minutes without your meditation powers," Solus said, and before Mewtwo could respond, he felt a sudden change in the atmosphere.
And he felt a sudden pressure coursing through his body. He didn't know what was going on. Adrenaline rushed through, making him feel numb and cold. Is this how panic is supposed to feel? He thought wildly.
He dropped to his knees on the floor. He moaned in agony as images flashed through his brain. He tried but he could not control the increasing panic that mounted with each second. He couldn't control it. Would he die in panic? A yell of "Stop!" tore through his lips.
The group never saw Mewtwo like this. Mewtwo losing control? Impossible. 15 minutes seemed like 15 days, and when Mewtwo finally got his meditation powers back he was breathing heavily like a wounded rhinoceros.
"Pass," Solus said.
Everybody didn't seem to want to come close to Mewtwo as he floated gently back to the crowd as though nothing had happened.
"Peach," Peach jumped. She was so concerned over her fellow friends that she forgot that it was her turn. Shakingly she ambled slowly to Solus.
"Dare," her voice shook when she said it.
Solus closed his eyes for a minute. "Consume whatever is in your pocket. But only drink half of it."
This was where it ended. Peach slowly took out the bottle that she had been carrying, even though Roy and Dr. Mario told her to throw it away. Either way, Peach would die. She definitely didn't want to end up where Saria ended. And who knows? Maybe the potion wasn't poisonous.
Peach uncorked the bottle, and raised the bottle to her lips. Slowly her lips parted and the liquid seeped through. It tasted… delicious! Out of all things, Peach never thought the potion would taste this good. It was sweet and addictive. She wanted to down the whole bottle! But then she remembered the dare. Only drink half the bottle. Reluctantly, she only downed half of it and spilled the rest on the grass.
But now she was anxious. What if it was poison? Suddenly she was hit with pain in her head. It felt like somebody had pierced her brain with thousands of tiny shard glass. She dropped on all fours, trying to stay alive. I don't want it to end like this! She thought desperately, trying to stay conscious. But the grass that she was looking at was fading in and out, becoming blurrier by the second.
"Peach!' Roy's voice sounded from very far away, like she was hearing him from underwater.
And then Peach saw images that seemed familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was night. Two girls were beside her. One was a bounty huntress and the other was a princess. Both held looks of fear. And she heard a voice she hated with passion. Peach screwed her eyes shut to get the image more into her head. Medusia explaining who really had saved her life. Who Link really loved. And who Samus's famous secret admirer was.
Tears were running down her face, though Peach didn't quite know why. All she knew was that after she saw the memory, she was half lying down in somebody's arms. The person was half whispering half moaning something in her hair over and over. What was it?
"I don't know what I would do without you…"
Peach was suddenly hit with warmth. She knew this voice. She felt his tears falling down her hair, mingling with her own. "Roy?" She was disgusted with herself by how weak and faint she sounded, but it couldn't be helped.
"Peach!" She felt Roy's arms pull her up, out of the embrace. She wished she had never spoken, because she felt so warm and safe in there. "Are you alright?" He asked. She saw his face was pulled into concern.
"You lied to me all those times… why?" Peach asked through her tears.
"What?" Roy asked. Clearly he didn't know that Peach got her memory back.
"You saved me from the elevator. It was you who saved me from my attacker. Why did you lie and say it was Marth and Link!" Peach asked, the tears still flowing down.
For once in his life, Roy went against his brain's warnings and hugged the Mushroom Kingdom's princess to him. "I never wanted to admit that I loved you. I used to think love was for fools. It isn't something for a general like me, and I didn't want to get your hopes up high. Sometimes love is a crazy thing. But now, I guess I can't back out from the truth." He pulled her face close to his. "Peach. This will sound sappy to you… and I admit… I'm embarrassed to say this… but there's no other way to say it… I kinda... like—no—love you." Before he could stop himself, he kissed her on the lips. Their tears made it bittersweet, but Peach wouldn't have traded it for the world.
"Roy… Just promise me one thing," Peach said, when they drew away.
"What?"
"Never say love is for fools. And don't ever lie to me like that again. Is that clear?" Peach asked firmly.
"Yeah," then Roy couldn't help himself, "Peachy keen."
"Roy!" Peach started laughing and hit him on the shoulder playfully. She stood up, pulling Roy with her.
Solus looked up at her, "Pass," he smiled at them.
"Pass," Luna smiled too, looking at Roy.
"What? But I didn't even go yet!" Roy protested.
"Actually, you did. I knew you were going to pick truth, and I was going to ask you about your feelings to Peach. But now that you did it already…" Luna tossed her silvery blonde hair back and smiled.
Roy beamed. He felt like the luckiest person on earth. And Peach felt like she was the luckiest person on earth too.
Once they had retreated back to the crowd, Solus called out, "Krystal."
Peach and Roy were feeling giddy. They knew that their adventure was still going on, but it made it seem much better when you had somebody you loved right by your side to confront the adventure with you.
X.X.X
The three kids peered at the map that was in front of them.
"This doesn't make any sense…" Popo muttered looking at the map.
"I think the map's gone whack." Nana added.
"But yet it makes perfect sense." Young Link said.
On the map showed all 27 teenagers, animals, and creatures alike who had stood in front of the house before. There was one exception. They were now in the house. The house consisted of 3 rooms. The right room held 12 people, who were strewing about in that room. The Map-Bearers to be precise, Young Link thought as he read their names on the map.
The rest of them were in the left room, in a perfect circle. None of them were moving. "Wait a minute," Nana who was studying the map with a frown, ordered, "Link… walk about ten steps."
Link took giant steps. But on the map he wasn't moving. "That's weird," murmured Popo.
"Well, it took you long enough to find out that this was just an illusion of everything around you." A cold feminine voice sneered on our right. We turned around.
Surprise, surprise. It was Medusia.
X.X.X
END OF CHAPTER 14…
I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it up (especially the Peach/Roy part!) Don't worry though… Marth/Samus and Link/Zelda will be in the next chapter… That's a Crystalicios promise!
Wait a minute… Don't take that promise for granted. But anyway, please read (Which you've probably already and review and tell me what you think about it! Criticism and flames are accepted.