Apollo- Wow… this place is a lot darker than Aria's…
Sol- You'll get used to it.
Anri- I'm glad you could come visit, I missed you guys.
Tiana- Aw, we missed you too, Anri.
Apollo- Um… can I ask one of you to get me something to eat? I'm kinda hungry…
RCM- I thought I heard voices out here. You must be Apollo.
(the orange fairy nods silently, slightly intimidated by the Mage)
Anri- How's the work coming along, Master?
RCM- Oh… that… well, I still have a lot to do, and about 4 days to get it done in, but I can make it work. Since I knew we would have company, I went to the liberty of postponing that to let these little ones aid in the next chapter.
Tiana and Apollo- Cool!
Anri- Who does the disclaimer this time?
RCM- Hmm… well, since you two are here most often, and since Tiana's done it for me once before… I think Apollo should have the honor.
Apollo- Me? Really? I've never done this before…
Sol- It's easy. Just read this out loud. (quickly writes a small note and hands it to Apollo) Every word.
Apollo- "The Red Chaos Mage does not own Zelda, nor does he own the various other concepts readers may recognize." (quick sideways glance at Sol, who smirks back) "And Tiana has a bug on her back…"
Tiana- (screams, flittering about wildly, trying to get the supposed bug off of her. After hearing the two boys burst out laughing…) APOLLON! SOLARIS! YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD!!!
Apollo- Uh oh…
Sol- RUN! (both fly off, with Tiana in hot pursuit)
RCM- Oh for crying out loud…
Anri- You can't really say you're surprised though, right?
RCM- Anri, follow them, try to calm Tiana down… And tell Solaris I would like to have a word with him about that little stunt.
Anri- Yes sir. (flies off after the others)
RCM- Well, I suppose the only thing left to do here is get the chapter started. In this episode, we shall witness a Gyorg attack and the remaining Wind Techniques that the heroes have learned.
Anri- No Sol, not in there! Apollo, Tiana, watch out for that… (loud crash and the sound of shattering glass) potion cabinet…
RCM- I guess I'll have to take care of this personally… Excuse me.
Chapter 19
Old Tricks With New Twists
Bidding farewell to the Northern lands that most of them called home, the group boarded the decent-sized ship the Nymphs had provided. Looking over it approvingly, Link said "This isn't too bad… it reminds me of Tetra's."
Shadow turned to the boy. "A friend of yours has a boat like this?"
"You forget where I came from is mostly covered in ocean water. Sailing is virtually the only way to get around."
Hugh raised an eyebrow as he tied down some of the loose supplies. "Virtually? What other ways are there?"
"Alright, so I found a shortcut or two. It's not like I didn't have to cruise the waters after using them anyway."
Lance and Hugh hoisted the sail and found that they had a bit of a problem. "Um, call it a hunch, but I think we need a bit of a breeze to get going." Rolling his eyes, Link started shuffling through his pockets for the tool he knew would do the trick. "Hey, whatcha looking for?"
The boy in green pulled out the sparkling baton. "This." After blinking in confusion, both humans broke down in fits of laughter. "What? Didn't I tell you how I controlled the winds?" No response, as they were laughing too hard to hear him. "Hmph. Fine then, I'll show you." Conducting the Wind's Requiem, he felt the breeze rise up around the boat.
"Well I'll be!" A cloud lowered to them, carrying what looked like a large blue-green frog. "Of all the places I'd hear your call, I never expected it to be in this realm, young one."
As the others watched in awe, Link smiled at the frog. "It's good to see you again Zephos. How are you and your brother doing?"
The entity chuckled. "That blowhard is still miffed about being caught by that rat of a witch you and Zelda slew back in the forest. Won't stop complaining about it. I bet he's gonna start brewing twisters around just to vent his frustration. Granted, I can't blame him, she was a real pest."
The boy nodded. "Yeah… well, since Valoo told me you control the winds here too, I was wondering…"
"Say no more, my boy. Which direction do you need?" Looking up at the sail, the god ventured the guess. "East is it?"
"Yes, we're going east to the Island Shrine." Before Link could finish, Zephos waved his hand and the sails were filled with a brisk breeze.
"Happy sailing, boys and girl. Be seein' ya!" Laughing heartily, the frog flew off along the wind. Smiling smugly at his human allies, he went below decks to call Tetra as promised the day before.
About an hour later, trouble arose. "Link! Shadow! Get up here fast, we're under attack!" Heeding Tikal's cry, the two raced up to the deck to the sounds of splashes and low growls.
"We've got about forty sharks charging at us from the island area. I'd bet anything that the lot of them are Chaos-bred."
A single look over the side confirmed Link's suspicion. "Gyorgs. Typical water monsters back home… Wait a sec…" Pulling out his telescope, the boy focused on a darker section of the sea. What he saw brought forth an uncharacteristic oath from the Hylian. "There's another one, much bigger, that looks like its commanding the whole school. It looks real nasty…"
Hugh whispered to Lance "We must be rubbing off on him if he's starting to use those kinds of words."
"Hugh, now's not the time. Right now we fight!" Leaping overboard, Lance drew his sword.
"Lance?! Are you outta your mind?!"
The response was a whirling white cyclone rising from the spot where the boy had touched water, six of the oncoming fish caught in the updraft. Within seconds, Lance spiraled up the tornado, blade first, landing neatly on the edge of the ship's railing. The sharks were reduced to the usual smoke. "I think my Hurricane Blade has a rather uplifting effect, don't you?"
Rolling his eyes, Hugh turned towards Tikal, who was lifting about a dozen Gyorgs from the water with a magical cyclone of her own. "Could one of you wrap this up for me? Tornado Hold doesn't do any damage on its own!" Nodding, Hugh and Shadow let loose their Chaos attacks. Charging energy into his sword, Hugh stood where he was and performed a fierce vertical slash. The Wind Cutter's energy leapt off of the blade, slicing through half of the immobilized sharks. Also absorbing wind power into his scythe, Shadow reared back as if about to charge at the hoard. However, he halted his lunge in mid-move. The stored energy leapt forward, taking form as a translucent copy of the Darkman. The windy apparition charged right through the remaining six sharks, its blade leaving nothing but smoke in its wake. After continuing another few feet, the specter vanished, the Chaos energy used for the Twin Dream attack expired.
Link quickly disposed of a good number of the Gyorgs still in the water, while Elric's Swift Arrows clipped the ones the boomerang hadn't hit. Though they managed to destroy the last of the little sharks, the lead Gyorg had evaded their detection, and was about to ram the boat. Leaping with a roar, the gargantuan fish slammed its horns into the hull, rupturing the wooden vessel. Luckily, the impact was too high to take in water. "Argh! I hate fish!"
"Hugh, shut up and blast the damn thing!" Lance again dove over the side, but his spinning assault hit nothing but dead air. "Okay, that didn't work…"
Tikal let loose a flaming burst of her magic, but the Inferno spell narrowly missed the target. However, the reaction of the large Gyorg told them that she had managed to scare the monster a great deal. "Hey, I think it might be scared of fire!"
His eyes lighting up, Link realized he had the perfect opportunity to give his new magic a field test. Jumping onto the railing, he summoned the energies necessary into his palm. "Alright you overgrown guppy… Have a taste of Din's Fire!" He flung the ball downward, hitting the beast dead center on the dorsal fin. The others let out a sigh of relief as the orb expanded over the entire beast, eliminating the threat.
"Nice work kid…" Shadow said, slight contempt in his voice. He had wanted to kill the big one, but the awkward terrain disallowed either of his Chaos techniques. He was clearly annoyed by that fact. "Next time let the rest of us in on the fun."
Letting the Darkman go vent by himself, the rest of the party watched the Island Shrine approaching in the distance. "It's almost time…" Lance said softly, "…for Chaos Shard number three…"
End Chapter 19
RCM- I trust you will refrain from this behavior for the rest of your visit?
Apollo- Yes sir…
Tiana- We're sorry…
Apollo- You're going to tell Aria, aren't you…?
RCM- As much as I should, I will not. It was Solaris who instigated this fiasco, so the blame will rest on his shoulders.
Sol- It was a good idea at the time…
Anri- Aren't they all?
RCM- Though she will likely be disappointed in your behavior, I will recommend she not discipline you two for this mess. (takes hold of Solaris) YOU on the other hand…
Anri- Uh oh…
Sol- Um… can we do this after the readers leave?
RCM- Well… I suppose so. I don't know what I want you to do yet anyway…
Tiana- Um, if I may… what was that list thing on the table in there?
RCM- You mean…? Oh no… Solaris, don't tell me you forgot to put away the Storyline Planner again…
Sol- Uh… I don't… think I did…
Apollo- I read it, it was just a list of upcoming Chaos Control Techniques. I won't tell anybody what they are.
RCM- Still, I don't like people finding out my plans ahead of time…
Anri- Oh, Master, one of the reviewers gave a suggestion for a character name.
RCM- Really? Hmm… (reads it) That might be useful later for a minor character, but I already have a name chosen for the final Destined one. However, I could use names for the three Dark Mage brothers that will prove to be quite the problem for the Protectors. They have the powers of Water, Wind and Fire, so if the names somehow tie in with those, all the better. If you have suggestions for them, I will gladly welcome them.
Sol- But we might come up with some of our own before they make their appearance. We still have about 7 chapters to go before they crash the party.
Anri- We really should start cleaning this mess up…
RCM- Yes, we should. Sol and Apollo will clean up the potions, Tiana will use the repair magic she learned last time she was here to fix the broken furniture and you, Anri, will put the scattered paperwork back where it belongs. I have to finish my homework. If you all finish before dinner, I will treat you all to pizza.
Fairies- Cool! We'll get right on it! (fly off to do their chores)
RCM- Well, I must be going. The next time we meet, I will likely be entrapped in the hell known as High School. See you all then.
