It's finally here. The last update – the epilogue. With this, the story is officially complete. I have to admit, writing or reading the endings of some stories makes me a little sad, so I stalled a bit here but it naturally had to come to a conclusion. Everything is wrapped up here, and then I will dish some details on the sequel below it.
Epilogue: The Puzzle is Complete
"Reuniting a murdered family while enduring the trials of a haunted house. Why do I always miss the cool stuff?" Iris sighed. What she envisioned in her head was a little more fantastic than what actually happened in the manor. Details like chasing after Niles after he grabbed Yoshi transformed into a harrowing trip down a trap-laden hallway, courtesy of her imagination.
Fox had listened to the story and found himself identifying with Niles more than he would have imagined. As they continued their trip down a creepy forest trail in search of civilization once again, he made a bold, sincere confession aloud. "To be honest, I don't blame the guy. If my son was murdered, I don't know what I'd do. Well, no, I know what I'd do, I just don't want to describe it here."
There was a collective sound of responses, some in agreement and others simply contemplative.
Samus noticed that, despite the spooky atmosphere and recent happenings, Kirby was his old jovial self...maybe more so than normal.
"Judging by that bounce in your step, you seem extra happy."
Kirby beamed at the bounty huntress. "We solved this problem without having to resort to violence. I feel good!"
Samus always found Kirby's pacifistic nature to be somewhat naïve, but she could not argue with him on that. He took her silence as agreement.
"I wonder what's going to happen to that Alana woman," Iris suddenly wondered aloud.
"Given her predicament, she really only has two choices," Zelda said. "She can stay as she is and be cursed to walk Hyrule as a wandering spirit for eternity, or she could move onto what I'm pretty sure won't be a pleasant or welcoming afterlife."
Iris frowned. The woman certainly brought it on herself, but she still felt that it was a horrible fate to suffer. "So what you're saying is that she's screwed."
"Pretty much," the princess replied.
"I'd like to think that everyone can find redemption somewhere eventually," Iris voiced with just a pinch of optimism.
The forest ended, and the trail led down a hill and straight into the festival. Everyone ogled at the dazzling lights and elaborate displays.
"Finally!" Young Link cried, at last having found the other side of the festival they were originally looking for. He led the charge down the hill, followed by Kirby and Captain Falcon. Everyone else was a little more reserved and took their time catching up. They were bathed in light cast by orange lanterns strung up from booth to booth. Cloth hung next to each lantern and was painted with the smiling, pupil-less face of a poe, giving the illusion that they were holding the lanterns.
"Ooooo, look!" Young Link screamed, nearly jumping from excitement. "The zoras are running a dunking game! Falcon, volunteer to get dunked!"
Captain Falcon recoiled at the thought. "Why me?" he whined, watching a middle-aged Hylian man drop into a tank of water after a child struck the bullseye with a rubber ball.
"Motivation," Fox replied casually. "Everyone is more likely to win if the victim is someone they want to see get dropped into a pool of water."
"The water will ruin my costume."
Young Link looked over the Space Pirate 'costume' once more. "The good news is that it can't get any worse than it already is."
"Hmph!" Captain Falcon put his pincers on his hips. "If you want to make fun of someone's outfit, go after Yoshi. He's still wearing that stupid dress. Dunk him!"
Yoshi felt uncomfortable with all the attention turned on him, and the looks on some of his friends' faces meant that they were agreeing with Falcon. "Hey, this isn't about me!"
"Either way, you are taking that ridiculous thing off before the festival is over," Samus declared, yanking Yoshi by the back of the dress.
"You can't make me!"
"I can and I will."
Zelda let out a giggle watching Yoshi fight Samus over the dress while Captain Falcon got pushed against his will towards the dunking game. With her friends enjoying themselves, she decided it was time to uncover some mysteries alone.
"There's someone I need to see. I'll be back soon," Zelda told them.
"Alright. Nobody's gonna go too far from here before you get back," Claude said.
Samus nodded in agreement. "We'll be in the area."
Zelda began to back away, but Link suddenly gripped her arm. She knew his apprehension of letting her go off alone before she even read it on his face.
"Don't worry, Link. I'll be fine." He reluctantly let go.
Zelda broke off from her friends and headed backwards up the trail, away from the festivities. She had no intention of walking all the way back to her intended destination, after all, that's what the convenience of magic was for. The princess simply didn't want to risk damaging any of the booths or setups.
When she was a safe distance away, Zelda summoned the power of Farore and was whisked away by green winds. She touched down on the other side of the festival, in front of a quaint magenta tent: Madam Baker's Fortunes. A sliver of moonlight illuminated the area, and she released a small sigh as she wondered if she would find the answers that she sought. More puzzling was that she wasn't entirely sure what questions she was seeking the answers to.
With one motion, she parted the tent's entrance and stepped inside. Chamomile incense filled her nostrils and she smiled when she noticed that the tent was empty besides herself and Madam Baker. She was not intruding; in fact, it seemed that the old woman was awaiting her presence.
"Come, princess. Sit down. You wish to speak to me again?"
Madam Baker's shriveled hands pushed the crystal ball away from her and towards the center of the table before her fingers interlaced under the shadow of her violet shawl.
Zelda held her dress in place and sat on a velvet pillow – the same seat she occupied earlier that night. It was a few moments before she could bring herself to speak; her thoughts were strangely muddled now that she was meeting with the fortuneteller.
"Yoshi said that he thought you told us to avoid the house so that we would ignore you and go inside anyway. Did you...have any idea what was going on in there, or the tragic history of that manor?" Once the words left her mouth, she realized that those questions weren't really what was bothering her, but starting the conversation would most likely lead her to a substantial truth that would satisfy her inquiries.
The old woman leaned forward. "My warning was sincere. I could feel the hate in that house, but I also knew that you were special people. I foresaw the troubles you would experience if you entered but I did not see an end to it. I did not know that you would end the conflict that plagued that house for almost half a century. Your group of friends is more gifted than I realized." Madam Baker leaned back and let her hands rest upon the table. "You did what I never had the courage to do."
"I don't understand. What connection did you have to the Worthington Manor?"
Madam Baker fell silent and made no motion. Yoshi's words from earlier in the day echoed in Zelda's mind as she waited.
'Did she just fall asleep!?'
'No, that's ridiculous,' Zelda thought. Madam Baker quickly stirred once again.
"Raymour was my cousin."
Zelda fell silent. She wasn't expecting that answer, but for Madam Baker to reveal a secret like that, there must have been more to the story than she realized.
"A few weeks after the murders, I came to visit my cousin, to see what he had decided to do with his life now that the family he had faithfully worked for had been killed. I came across him packing hastily. He hinted that he had come into some money, and decided that he would leave Hyrule and move to Labrynna."
Zelda was almost afraid to ask, "Did you know what he had done?"
"I wasn't a dull girl. I put two and two together, but I couldn't summon the courage to confront him about it. Instead, I told no one."
"It must have been hard for you to carry that knowledge while your cousin was free to do as he pleased, after what he and Alana had done to the Worthingtons."
"I actually didn't have to keep his secret for him for too long. It's strange, but on the day that he was to leave, I visited him one last time. And that's when I discovered his body. The conclusion of the investigation was that he was mauled to death by a monster with a vile tongue, possibly canine in nature, but they could not tie it to any creature that exists in Hyrule so the case was never truly solved."
Zelda gazed off into the distance as she imagined the scene in her mind. From that description, she had a pretty good idea of what was responsible for Raymour's death, because she and her friends narrowly escaped it on the Worthington lawn. She wasn't entirely sure if Madam Baker knew that or not, or the extent of her powers of precognition, and wondered if she should speak on that matter.
But there was something else she felt was more important to say.
"So you found the money and kept it..."
"Think of me what you will, but I used that money to support myself and my family," Madam Baker snapped in defense, her tired voice rising above a whisper for the first time. "We still led simple lives, but without the pressure of financial burdens, I was able to use my time to harness and hone the supernatural abilities that have long since been common in my bloodline. You can say that my fortunes are...a small atonement for what Raymour did, and a way to lead those with uncertain futures away from a similar path of destruction."
"You...I won't judge you. It's not my place. I have my beliefs and morals, but I won't bludgeon you with them," Zelda admitted. She felt strongly about that revelation, but nothing she said now would change anything. "However, I made a promise to Niles Worthington. I promised him that I would tell all of Hyrule the truth behind the Worthington murders. If people discover your connection to the true history of that house, they may become hostile towards you."
"So be it. I did not need my gifts to foresee such a day." Madam Baker reached out for the crystal ball and drew it back towards her before she said, "it seems that you are not completely satisfied."
The mild frustration on the princess's face melted a little. "I guess what I'm really wondering is how such an injustice like this could continue for so long without being resolved. This is my land. I am the princess of Hyrule. I should have known about this. I shouldn't have come across the Worthington's plight by chance during a Poe Festival..."
"Ah, but princess, no one can see everything, even I who can see glimmers of what has yet to pass. As a tradeoff for this power, I am incapable of seeing my own future."
"I know it's unrealistic to think that I can stop all dreadful things from happening, but I still feel this way."
"As long as you set right what went wrong, you are well on your way."
"This is true. The Worthingtons are happy now." Zelda stood from her seat, feeling much better about the situation. "I guess it's time to draw their story to a close." She fished for rupees in a hidden pocket of her dress until Madam Baker declined.
"No charge, this was simply a friendly chat. But a word of advice for you and your friends, princess: the green one will bring plight to you all if you don't keep him under control."
"Yoshi? When does he not cause trouble?" Zelda murmured. "Goodnight, Madam Baker." The soothsayer nodded as the princess stepped out of the tent, and a few seconds later, the veil that was the tent's entrance flapped inside from a strong gust of wind.
When Zelda returned to the festival, she found Yoshi sitting on a bench with James and his stroller in front of him. Next to him on the bench was the white dress folded neatly. The dino's arms were crossed and he aimed a particularly sour scowl at the ground. It seemed that the dress had been removed by force, and he wasn't happy about it.
"I feel violated," Yoshi muttered without prompt. "And maybe a little confused. Where did you go anyway?"
"I went to get some questions about the Worthington manor answered," Zelda replied, rubbing James under his chin. The fox cub closed his eyes and smiled from her touch.
Yoshi sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes. "I know where you were. I can smell that cheap incense all over you."
Zelda sighed. "Don't start."
"Fine. I don't want to talk about her anyway."
Captain Falcon trudged noisily over to the bench, and under the light of the lanterns, Zelda saw that he was completely drenched. His racer suit was fine, but what remained of his Space Pirate costume was beyond salvaging. His footsteps were noisy due to water sloshing out of his boots with each step.
"Looks like I missed the fun," Zelda said, summoning a small ball of heat. Falcon put his hands up to it just as part of his pincer detached and swung, hanging on by a single piece of tape. He didn't look any happier than Yoshi.
"I told them I didn't want to do the dunking game," he muttered unhappily. "Aaarrgh. I can't even say that because I'm not a Space Pirate anymore."
"Where is everyone anyway?"
"Remember the haunted house we were trying to find in the first place?" He turned around and pointed over the stands to a hill behind the festivities where a lone building sat upon it. "They went there, to the real haunted house. Well, not the real one, the fake one, we went into a real one. That's really the one we wanted to go to. I think. I'm so confused!"
"It looks like a shack," she said, though she hoped her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Why didn't you go?"
"I didn't want to go in looking like this. And Yoshi is still mourning the dress."
"That's ridiculous! I'm not mourning the dress!" Yoshi shouted, though he never took his eyes off of the garment when he said it.
"I hope it's more impressive on the inside," Zelda mentioned, still eying the house on the hill.
"It's not," Young Link stated flatly as he and the others rounded a few booths and joined them at the benches.
Marth rested a hand on hilt of the Falchion. "Having experienced the haunted house attraction for myself, I find that I am still puzzled as to why anyone would find this entertaining."
"That's because it sucked!" Young Link pointed out. "Three rooms, and they were all lame! The costumes were worse than yours!" He tapped Captain Falcon and the flailing pincer piece finally hit the ground.
"The one kid dressed as a poe tripped over his own sheet trying to lunge at us," Fox recalled. "It took a lot of willpower not to laugh in his face." At least the thought put a smile on his muzzle.
Iris was also smiling as she made her way over to James. It was actually pretty rare not to see her smiling, so it wasn't much of a surprise. "I don't know, I had some fun. Maybe ten seconds of fun, but it was still fun!"
"I hate to admit it, but I had more fun in the actual haunted house," Kirby said.
Claude sighed. "I thought the haunted houses here would be better than the ones back home, but nope!"
Yoshi perked up, his mind finally off of the dress. There was an opening and he had to strike. "Why don't you prove it then, Claude?"
"What are you talkin' about?"
"If the haunted houses on Earth are so much better than the ones here, why don't you take us there and prove it?" He challenged in an oh-so-snobbish manner.
Claude wore an incredulous grin. "Take you to Earth?" His grin grew broader. "Me, take all of you to my home world?" He repeated in skeptical amusement.
"Is there a problem?"
"We went over this before. Ain't no way in he...wait. Wait a minute." Claude grinned again. This one was a hopeful, mischievous grin all in one.
"Spill it," Fox said quickly.
"Halloween is in two weeks back home," Claude told them. "With all the people in costumes, maybe everybody can blend right in."
Samus couldn't believe it. "You're not seriously considering it? We're not exactly misbehaved, but a lot can go wrong in that scenario."
"I think if we all work really hard to keep our true identities a secret, this will be an immeasurable experience," Zelda said. She didn't show it, but deep down inside she was quite excited by the idea. She liked visiting new worlds, and hearing so much about Earth over time but never visiting it made this the perfect opportunity.
"I agree!" Iris yelled, her excitement not quite as contained as the princess's. She always made a point of learning about Earth from Claude, but actually going there was something she wasn't going to let slip by.
Marth kept a straight face, "I must confess that my curiosity is piqued."
"I think we can pull this off," Claude said. "Spread the word. But not to too many people; this ain't no field trip."
"Will do!" Kirby replied with a salute.
"So guys, wanna to make one more round of the festivities before we call it a night?" Iris asked, moving James' stroller away from the bench.
"Sure!" Kirby and Young Link cried in unison.
As they headed back towards the booths, Samus found herself suddenly annoyed. "There's just one thing I have to take care of first," she said. She snatched the folded white dress from under Yoshi's arm and tossed it on the ground. Without warning, she opened fire – a searing beam of plasma set the dress ablaze. Patrons of the festival looked on, wondering if it was a show.
Yoshi dropped to his knees before the embers and let out a wretched, wretched scream. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!!"
~END
Well, it's over. My baby is gone. I promised I wouldn't cry. There are a couple of things I have to get off my chest first.
It's not stated in the story, but Petri, the Worthington family dog, didn't die with the family. He died from grief after they were murdered and that turned him into the twisted spirit that guards the lawn of the manor.
Alana and Raymour plotted together to take the Worthington fortune. Obviously, someone despicable enough to kill for money isn't going to be too keen on sharing that money with someone as equally despicable. Raymour happened to strike first and was eventually mauled to death by demon Petri. If the tables had turned, Alana would have been the one Petri would have enacted revenge upon.
And as I promised, details on the sequel:
I said there would be 'hints' at the sequel in the epilogue, but I think the set up is pretty apparent from the last quarter onward. The sequel will be called Kirby's Insane Halloween II: The Cursed Word. It follows up on what was proposed at the end of this story – the Smash Brothers go to Earth to experience a real Halloween, and I think you can imagine all sorts of complications that will create. On top of that, one character's antics gets a certain word cursed and the consequences of that will just add to the chaos. It will feature more characters and will most likely be longer than this story.
My plan is to repeat what I did here and put it up on the first of October and finish it on Halloween. But anyone familiar with my posting habits know that this is just wishful thinking; I'll probably have to start writing it now to have anything ready by then and still make my self-imposed deadlines for each chapter. So it's planned for October 2010, but will most likely surface October 2014. Hahahaha...(I laugh on the outside but I cry on the inside because it's true).
Until then, I'll be working on my other stories, including my main SSB series.