Chapter Seventeen
You Stupid Moron
"What the hell do I do now!?" Linebeck desperately thought, staring wide-eyed in panic at Link and Tetra being held in Bellum's grasp. Next to him, Ciela fluttered in all different directions, mumbling aloud several curse words Linebeck was sure she learned from the sailors she used to hang out with.
The captain glanced to the side, and a crazy plan started forming in his head.
Linebeck dove to the side, snatching up the Phantom Sword that had fallen from Link's hand when he was captured by Bellum. Linebeck whirled back around, holding the sacred sword firmly in his grasp, albeit with a touch of trembling from nerves.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Ciela exclaimed, eyes going wide when she saw the Phantom Sword being held in Linebeck's hands. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"Don't exactly see you coming up with a better plan, Sparkles!" Linebeck shot back, sparing a glare toward the fairy. "So unless you do, let me concentrate on trying to free the kid and snail-top from that creature!" With that, the captain began advancing onto Bellum, watching it's movements.
With a stroke of luck, one of Bellum's tentacles drooped in front of Linebeck. Not wasting this chance or time, Linebeck dashed forward, stabbing the Phantom Sword toward the yellow and orange eye.
The sword slid cleanly in and for a brief moment, Linebeck and Ciela stare on in shock at the image.
Then Bellum let out the most ungodly screech and in his fright, Linebeck yanked the sword from the tentacle. Bellum spun in a circle of pain and rage, shrieking. It lost it's grip on Link and Tetra and the pair went flying. Link landed a few feet behind Linebeck and Ciela, while Tetra landed on a piece of deck a couple of yards away. Leaf and Neri dashed over to the young teen, checking to make sure if she was okay. In front of the captain and Spirit of Courage, Bellum collapses to the deck, tentacles threatenly waving in the air at Linebeck and Ciela.
"Link!" Ciela screeched, yelping when a tentacle nearly batted her out of the air. "Link, WAKE UP!"
Linebeck gritted his teeth, swinging the Phantom Sword at the black appendages to keep them at bay and prevent Bellum from advancing any further on himself, Ciela or the kid.
"Kid! Wake! Up!" Linebeck joined Ciela in waking the young hero, emphasizing each word with a swing from the sword. He gave a grim smile when another screech was heard from Bellum, signaling to the Captain that he landed another hit on the creature. He wasn't sure how the hell he was doing it, but Linebeck figured it had to stem from that strange attunement he had with the blade, along with his prior knowledge from Jolene.
"Sparkles, does it look like Link will be waking up anytime soon?" Linebeck gritted out, glancing at the fairy.
"I-I don't know." Ciela replied helplessly. She darted over to the boy, circling his head in a panic. "Link, please wake up!"
Much to Ciela's relief, Link's eyes blinked open and his head swayed off of the wet wood.
"He's awake!" Ciela called back to Linebeck.
The captain looked over to the pair and gave a nod. He glanced at Bellum, gave a few more swings of his sword, then turned toward the two.
Ciela was the first to see the tentacle waving threateningly through the air behind the captain, snaking it's way toward the man.
"Linebeck!" She yelped, darting up higher into the air.
Linebeck turned, starting to brandish the Phantom Sword. He was too slow however.
With a snap, Bellum's tentacle shot out and wrapped around the sailor's upper arm. A second one quickly followed. Linebeck cried out in fear at the tight, icy-cold feeling on his arm. He tugged at the tentacles, trying to escape. "Sh-Shit." Linebeck gasped out, when he soon found that he couldn't escape.
Linebeck looked over to where Ciela and Link stood in horrified silence. A heavy feeling settled low in his chest as realization started sinking in.
"Kid!" Linebeck yelled, waiting until Link focused on Linebeck. "Catch!" He gave a little ground to Bellum and before the creature could tighten its grip, he swung the Phantom Sword forward, chucking the sword towards the hero.
Link leaped up and grabbed the world's hilt, falling into a roll when he over reached and felt himself go off center. He landed on his feet, swing the sword to be pointing at Linebeck and Bellum. He started to head toward the two, but came to a stop at what was occurring.
Linebeck pulled at Bellum's grip again, grunting in pain when he only nearly succeeded in dislocating his arms. His eyes squeezed shut, trying to block out the pain as he tried again. He nearly fell forward when he feels the tentacles on his arm loosen and shift. Linebeck momentarily wondered if Bellum was going to let him go since he wasn't holding the Phantom Sword anymore.
Then more tentacles wrapped around his torso and Linebeck realized that he is totally and utterly screwed. At that time, Bellum slammed onto the sailor's back, causing the man to let out a terrified scream, eyes flying wide in alarm. Something cold penetrates Linebeck's back and the sailor let out a low moan of horror at the feeling of cold fingers wrapping around his spinal cord and gripping tight.
Ciela and Link watch helplessly on the sidelines as Bellum continued to attach itself onto the sailor's back.
There was feeling akin to a shove in his movements, and Linebeck fell to all fours. Head hanging low, the sailor staggered forward in a fruitless attempt to escape from the horror befalling him. His movements started becoming slow and sluggish as the cold seeps from his spine, creeping down his bones and muscles at a steady pace.
"Submit… to… me…. and everything can end..." An unfamiliar female voice croons in the back of Linebeck's head. With a sick feeling, Linebeck realized that it must be Bellum and with that last thought, the captain lost the fight for his mind and body.
With one last garbled scream to the heavens, a black and purple cloud crackling with lavender energy surrounded the sailor. When it cleared, Linebeck found himself evaluated several feet higher in the air. In his last moments of freedom over his senses, Linebeck can only look at his two companions as his entire body became numb and unresponsive.
"Help… Me…" Linebeck gasped out as his vocal cords were taken away. Then there was an almighty crash and his whole world went black.
Within this, Linebeck felt his naked body floating, with nothing around him except the everlasting blackness. His eyes blink, feeling the oppressive darkness against his eyes as they strained to see anything within the dark. His body gave off a faint glow, but it did nothing to pierce the inkiness around him. Then he heard clanking far off from him and a shiver traveled up his spine.
Without warning, chains rushed out of the black and wrapped around the naked limbs of the captain, causing him to scream once more in terror and at the burning coldness of the chains against his skin. They snap out, immobilizing the captain's mind self, entrapping him within the darkness.
Linebeck strained against the chains, feeling his skin burning and tearing at the points of contact with the chains. The chains roughly jerk him around, causing the pain in increase. Linebeck quickly gave up after that. Head dropping in defeat, Linebeck could only hope that the kid and that oversized ball of light and fluff could fix this mess before it became too late for him.
...
For a few moments, Ciela could only be insensible to the world around her, staring at the armored form of their former captain before her, feeling her gut twist at noticing familiar features on the armored form.
She had just lost Oshus, the man who had taken care of her for the last nine years and became her grandfather in all but name, plus Leaf and Neri seemed unable to leave Tetra's unmoving side. At this point, Ciela just wanted to throw herself to the ground and rage against whatever fate brought her to this point.
Ciela gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists so tight she could feel her fingernails starting to bite into her palm. No. She would not lose another loved one tonight.
"Alright, Link." Ciela spat out in anger. She flew in front of the boy's face, startling him. "We're gonna get through this. It may seem bleak, but we gotta fight Bellum. Bellum is the enemy and we finally got to defeat her for good. And we're gonna do it, because Linebeck is counting on us. And we can save him!"
Link nodded his agreement. He turned and charged toward Bellumbeck. With a loud battle cry, Link raised his sword and brought it down to clash against Bellumbeck's blade.
...
Linebeck's head hung low as the chains tug his limbs every which way. He gritted his teeth against the pain, trying to ignore the fact that his forced movements were closely following battle movements.
In the back if his mind, Linebeck felt something draining away from him. The strange glow around his body had only gotten fainter. Where the chains touched the captain's skin, they cut in and caused him to bleed.
Breathe labored, Linebeck squeezed shut his eyes and continued to fight against the pain. "Come on Link and Ciela, I don't think I have much more in me left."
...
Once again, Link fell to the wooden floor with a grunt, the Phantom Sword still held tightly within his grip.
"Link!" Ciela called out, flying to the boy's side. "You need to stop letting him hit you around like that!"
Link staggered back to his feet, feeling where skin had been rubbed away. "I'm not letting him, Ciela. When Bellum possessed Linebeck, she must have enhanced his strength. Which is making it really hard to believe that it's Linebeck under all that armor."
Ciela nodded her agreement before letting out a sigh of frustration. "Bellum is on the back. If we could only get to him..." She heard clanking behind her, and twisted around to see Bellumbeck beginning to advance once again upon them. "Move, slowly, around the edges of the deck. It's a good that with all the armor on him, Bellum can't force him to move that fast."
Link examined Bellumbeck's sloth-like pace. "Ciela, we could use that slowness to our advantage!" He motioned for Ciela to hover closer to her, all the while still moving on the edges.
"Since he's moving so slowly, if you can distract him somehow, I might be able to sneak around and attack Bellum." Link further explained.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ciela couldn't help but grin at the cleverness of Link, even in stressful and dire fights. She gave a curt nod to the hero to show her understanding, and flew off to the side of Bellumbeck. The armored creature tracked her movements for a few moments and Ciela wondered if it would be easy to distract the monster.
Forcing herself to stare into the almost horribly grinning helmet, Ciela doesn't even bother with trying to make a snappy or witty retort. Instead, she immediately channeled her courage power into three energy blasts, peppering Bellumbeck's chest. Steam rose from circles of singed armor and from within the armor came a ghastly groan. It seemed to be a combination of the captain's voice and some twisted, sick, creature on the verge of death. Upon hearing it, Ciela inwardly winced, praying to Oshus that Linebeck wasn't being harmed by her. If he was, well, the Spirit would apologize to him when he wasn't possessed by a soul-stealing squid.
Ciela saw Link beginning to make his way around the pitching deck, so she steeled herself and continued throwing her energy bolts at the creature to keep him distracted.
However, upon reaching the back of Bellumbeck, Link quickly realized an issue. The open eye of Bellum immediately latched upon the young boy. Link briefly froze, then lunged for the eye with a shout, bringing up the Phantom Sword. The sword only came clanging upon the harden eyelids of the creature, causing a dreadful racket.
With unexpected speed, Bellumbeck whirled around, bringing his giant sword upon the deck with an almighty force. Link was nearly cleaved in two if not for his hero instincts, honed by the years of fighting creatures easily five times the size of him. The hero flung himself backwards to avoid the blade.
Link fell to the ground and immediately leaped to his feet. Link faced Bellumbeck again, only to find the armored creature in front of him again. He barely has time for his eyes to widen in shock before Bellumbeck brought its arm against Link's chest.
Link let out a cry of pain and flew through the air, landing in the water.
"Link!" Ciela screamed, flying forward. Without realizing, she had flown too close to Bellumbeck. With her distress over the young boy, Ciela didn't notice the tentacle weaving behind her.
Link popped out of the water, gasping for breath. He quickly climbed on top of the wood and shakily got to his feet. His eyes widen at seeing the tentacle nearing the fairy.
"Ciela, behind you!" Link warned too late.
Ciela twisted around and let out a yelp at noticing the tentacle. It encircled the fairy and squeezed tight, making the fairy let out a pained shriek. It slithered back to Bellumbeck and Ciela crashed painfully against the back of Bellumbeck's neck.
Ciela struggled against the appendage, straining to get free. It tightens around her in warning and Ciela cried out, feeling like she was going to snap in two. The fairy gasped for air, seeing her vision becoming blurry. Finally, the Spirit of Courage accepted defeat. She sagged within the appendages grip, closing her eyes.
Almost immediately, the tentacle loosened enough for Ciela to be able to breathe again.
"I'm sorry, Link." Ciela coughed out. "But Bellum has a pretty ,tight grip on me... I can't get free. You're on your own from here."
Her head hanging low, Ciela felt sick to her stomach. She couldn't be sure how they were all going to get through this alive.
They were going to need a miracle to survive this.
...
At first, Linebeck thought that his mind was playing tricks on him, or hallucinating as he died. A way to help ease the captain to his death peacefully. The only thing was, Linebeck wasn't sure why he would hallucinate a single color.
Despite being almost glad for the color breaking up the darkness, Linebeck thought that it only meant worse things were going to occur. He squeezed shut his eyes then opened them back up.
The orchid haze forming in the distance hadn't disappeared… and almost seemed to be becoming more opaque. Also, the haze seemed to be taking on the shape of a ghostly woman, walking toward the imprisoned captain.
She (?) stopped to hover directly in front of the captain, who could only stare dumbly at her. "Uh…." Linebeck eloquently stated.
The young woman giggle and cocked her head to one side, causing her long hair to slip over her shoulders and semi cover her own nude form.
At that moment, one of the chains jerked Linebeck to the side, causing the captain to let out a shout of pain, squeezing shut his eyes. In the echo of silence that followed, a certain voice of the Spirit of Courage rung out from the darkness.
"...Linebeck?..."
Linebeck lifted up his head, to stare into the abyss above him. "Ciela…" He muttered, exhaustion painted on his features. "Have to…. get back… to her…and the kid." His head dropped to his chest and his body's glow diminished alarmingly.
The last syllable of the captain's name hung in the air as the orchid woman's expression instantly sobered upon hearing the voice and name. Her eyes flitted over Linebeck's form, noting his wounds from the chains and the trickles of blood from it. She floated closer and gently placed her hand onto one of Linebeck's forearms. At feeling the sudden warmth, Linebeck re-opened his eyes to look at the orchid woman.
"What…" Linebeck tried to get out before being interrupted by the orchid woman.
Her gazed now focused on the chains, the woman spoke in a low tone. "I cannot break these chains, not without using up the power I have been saving up for the past years. Power that I am saving for someone else, if the situation ever arises. However, I can bring some control back to you." The woman looked back up at the captain and he is suddenly struck with the fact that he should know this woman from somewhere. That the courage shining in her eyes is so damn familiar.
However, he doesn't get a chance to speak before the orchid woman moved her hands to Linebeck's chest.
From her hands, the orchid aura surrounding her began to spread across Linebeck's chest. As it did so, the woman's body turned from her corporeal form back into mist. As is enveloped the captain's body, the aura seeps under the chain's and the chain cuff's, shielding the captain from their icy touch.
The chains were still yanking him around, but now the pulls no longer sent shots of pain throughout the captain's body. The wounds still remained, but they were no longer weeping the shiny blood his mind self seemed to have.
All of a sudden, there was this blinding pain at the base of Linebeck's neck, causing the captain to let out a yelp, closing his eyes in pain.
When he opened them, a grim sight was what his eyesight returned to. Link stood in front of him, battered and bleeding, looking like he could barely stand. The Phantom Sword quivered in his hands from exhaustion. With a sinking feeling, Linebeck has no doubt that what he was the cause behind Link's state of being. Ciela was no where to be seen and a shot of worry overcame Linebeck that he had permanently harmed the fairy. The sound of the sea pounding aggressively against the broken and battered pieces of the ship assaulted his ears and very nearly drowned out the words being spoken in a hush, defeated tone.
"... don't know if you heard a single damn thing I've been saying. So all that I know is my words are falling upon deaf ears and Bellum's cackling at what I've been saying. But Linebeck, please… if you can hear this. Fucking fight back, you coward. Steel up your manhood and regain control of your stupid body. Convince me that you're not some pansy ass man and take. Back. What is. Fucking. Yours."
Linebeck internally snorted. Give it to Ciela to have her words of encouragement for him be filled with curses and insults.
The captain's snort didn't seem to be so internal, however, and Ciela stilled within the confines of the inky tentacle.
"Linebeck…?" She breathed out, hope sparking within her chest.
The captain noted her sudden change in tone, and with sudden trepidation, he also noted the strained voice of the fairy, like she was fighting for each breath.
Something twitched at the base of Linebeck's neck and Ciela let out a tiny, pained, breathless squeak.
Ciela frantically struggled against the tentacle, mind drowning in panic as her air supply was cut off. "L-Link…. L-Linebeck…." She choked out, as black spots danced on the edge of her vision and a buzzing entered her ears, deafening her to the world. She felt wetness underneath her nose and a copper taste invaded her mouth. She tried to give another helpless struggle against the tentacle around her. When her muscles only weakly responded, the small bit of hope within her chest sputtered and died at the realization of her imminent demise. She rasped out one last plea, "h-h-help…." then her world went silent, and so did she as the blackness consumed her vision.
Hearing her voice being no louder than a whisper, and Link being advanced upon once more, Linebeck felt helpless. They weren't going to make it… at least, not all of them. For the second time, a crazy plan was forming in the captain's head… And this time, Linebeck was certain he wasn't going to survive.
"But Link and Ciela will… and they can finally finish Bellum off for good…" As Linebeck thought this, he began summoning up what remain of his mental will just as he started to swing Bellumbeck's sword down upon the exhausted hero. "After all… She can't very well use a dead host body…"
Linebeck pulled back his right arm, straining against the downward swing of the sword. His mind self screamed bloody murder as the chains none the less slowly dragged down the sword with jerky resistance from Linebeck.
This resistance was not lost on the young hero and hope sparks within his chest as well.
"Stop…. manipulating me…." Linebeck gritted out, feeling the cold ebbing away from his throat. Bellumbeck tried to take a step forward. Linebeck internally growled and yanked his chained foot back, trembling as the chain cut into his skin, even with the orchid aura surrounding him. "Stop this!"
Due to Bellum's increased concentration on bringing the captain back under her control, the focus on the unmoving fairy let up, causing the tentacle to greatly loosen. Within seconds, eyelids fluttered open to reveal dazed golden eyes.
Ciela gulped in greedy breaths, body trembling. She took note of Bellumbeck's halting movements and gave a weary grin. "Looks like there's some courage in that heart of yours after all."
"Sorry, Kid…" Linebeck began, keeping his gaze focused on Link, feeling the chains still trying to painfully drag his limbs around in stuttering movements due to the Captain's resistance. "I don't…. want to do this… to you." Bellum tried to yank him forward, but the captain only cursed and pulled back. "I'm trying to make my body listen!"
Ciela twisted her body around as much as she could within Bellum's grip. She squashed the twinges of pain flashing through her body. "Come on, Linebeck. Bellum is losing his hold! You can do this!"
Linebeck felt his will falter at hearing Ciela's yearning for him to free himself from the possession. Then her tiny squeal of pain echoed in his head and Linebeck steeled himself for what he was about to do.
Grinding his teeth together, Linebeck forced his right arm up, dragging it against the pull of the chain. Swallowing hard, Linebeck tilted his head to the side and bent his arm.
The soft 'tck' of the sword coming to rest the sliver of space between Bellumbeck's armor and helmet was barely heard over the roar of the crashing waves and racing wind around them. With a bit more angling, and a less that six inch push, the sword would penetrate the captain's neck, killing him instantly.
"You fool… What do you think you're achieving with this?!" Bellum's voice hissed from the darkness of his mind.
"You moron, you will only hurt those you love with this stunt!" For a moment, Linebeck thought it was Bellum again, but noticed a kinder tone to the voice. For a moment, he briefly wondered if he wasn't the only one being possessed. The orchid colored woman had to have come from somewhere after all.
Linebeck banished the thoughts. They weren't exactly something you ponder about before you kill yourself.
Linebeck closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look of hope on Link's face he created by stopping Bellumbeck's movements melt to desolation as the hero realized what Linebeck was going to do.
Ciela couldn't properly see the exact sword's placement, but she saw how Linebeck's arm was positioned, and heard the sound of the sword settling on the armor. Her blood chilled at realizing Linebeck's plan.
"No…" She breathed, focusing on nothing. Emotions warred within her; shock, desperation, grief, anger, hopelessness. However, anger won, as it always did whenever the spirit spoke with the captain. "Don't you fucking dare…" Ciela growled, eyes narrowing.
Linebeck blocked Ciela out of his head, knowing her words wouldn't help any. He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. "Link, since I had traveled alone for so long, I had no idea how it was going to be sailing with two complete strangers, all for some girl I never even met. But, I had forgotten how nice it was, having people around that actually wanted me around.
"While it did feel crowded in the beginning with five people plus one statue on a boat… after awhile… it started feeling like… home. It made traveling with you all… actually pretty fun. Even in the beginning, when we couldn't really stand each other… and it was just you, me, and Ciela… We made a pretty good team." Linebeck had tried to keep his voice steady, but was steadily losing that battle, his voice had cracked on the word home.
"This isn't time to start using my name, Linebeck!" Link yelled, losing his fighting stance. The Phantom Sword was held tightly in his grip, blade trembling within the tense hand.
"I know, Link… I know…" Linebeck agreed in his head. Aloud, "Promise me one thing, Link. Don't ever, ever become a jaded and selfish adult like me. I hope I don't hurt you anymore than… than this…. But if I do, I will never be able forgive myself."
"If you go through with this, I won't be able to forgive you!" Ciela hissed out, tears starting to unwillingly fill in her eyes.
"Sparkles…" Linebeck sighed.
"It's Ciela, dammit!" The spirit choked out, squeezing her eyes shut, shifting herself so she wasn't twisted around anymore.
"I need you to promise me something."
"No."
"Promise me that… that you'll find my sister for me…. Please find her for me… and tell her I'm sorry that I won't be coming home… Just do that for me, Ciela. "
Ciela gritted her teeth together, feeling utterly horrible but letting her anger lead her. "Find her yourself, Asshole!"
Linebeck only gave a grim chuckle. "I'll take that as a yes…"
Link was still standing a few feet in front of Bellumbeck, frozen in shock. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions, much like Ciela, along with trying to figure a way out of this situation. Then he saw Linebeck's arm shift. His eyes widen and he lunged forward. "NO! LINEBECK, STOP!"
Ciela heard Link's cry and her eyes fly open wide. "If I could just make…" Ciela strained against the tentacle once more, having enough wiggle room to get her arms up to push the tentacle completely away from her. Unbeknownst to both her and Link, the golden hourglass containing the sands of time began glowing on the Phantom Swords hilt.
"TIME STOP!" Ciela bellowed in anger and anguish, forcing the black appendage away from her body.
The glowing Phantom Hourglass flashed brightly, blinding everyone with a flash of white. When it faded away, Ciela and Link found themselves within a monochromatic world.
For a moment, or for an eternity, Ciela and Link didn't move. Ciela flew up out of the tentacle and saw that Link was the only other speck of color within the world. They stare at each other, eyes questioning what is happening.
Then Ciela felt a sudden spike of pain in the back of her head, signaling that more memories were incoming. Her eyes squeezed shut as memories assaulted her within moments. When they pass, Ciela let out a strangled laugh.
"Link! Link! I remember!" She cried, flying up to the boy. "I knew there was something missing from my memories. I'm not just the Spirit of Courage... I'm the Spirit of Courage and Time."
Ciela gestured around the monochromatic world. "I've... stopped... time. Other than myself, of course, and the bearer of the Phantom Sword. You." She pointed to Link. "No one and nothing can move unless I command it." Ciela changed her finger to be pointing at Bellumbeck. "Bellum is defenseless."
"It's time to finish this."
Link nodded his agreement. He spinned the Phantom Sword in his hand, then ran behind Bellumbeck, readying the blade.
Ciela finally looked at Bellumbeck, flying next to him. Her heart stopped when she saw the blade just piercing Linebeck's neck, showing how close they were to losing the captain.
With grim satisfaction, Link side-sliced the Phantom Blade against Bellum's eye. There was a second white flash, as Bellum screamed in pain and anger.
Color and sound return to the world around Link and Ciela, overwhelming them for a brief moment.
The armor of Bellumbeck splintered. , Bellum fled, struggling to gain air. Her body convulsed and twitched with pain as the Phantom Sword placed a seal upon her. When the seal was complete, Belum froze, tentacles frozen every which way. The monster squid turned to sand within moments, before the sand shattered into tiny of millions of particles. Deep within the crumbled bowels of the Ocean King Temple, a symbol flashed. A circle with eight tiny circles placed around evenly on the circle and within, an eyeball looking symbol flashed in the still purple goop.
Back at the remains of the Ghost Ship, Link stared at where Bellum exploded. Ciela fluttered over, feeling the after effects of nearly dying by strangulation. She looked down and shuddered at seeing purple mottling already covering her arms. She didn't bother swiping at the blood underneath her nose, knowing that at this point she would only make it look worse.
Link looked to Ciela, eyes shining with the knowledge that their quest was finally over.
"Hey you!"
Link gave a start, eyes widening at hearing a voice he hadn't heard for almost a year. He whirled around to where Tetra had landed. He let out a laugh of relief at seeing Tetra standing tall and proud and waved back.
Link turned and walked forward, lifting up the Phantom Sword. The sand flew into the blade, and Link saw that the Phantom Hourglass was filled to the top.
"Link... the sky..." Ciela muttered, looking up. Link joined her, watching as the sky returned to a bright blue sky and the seas calmed significantly, stopping the pitching of the deck.
Ciela started to allow herself to relax, taking the calm air as a sign of peace returning to the seas. Then her thoughts returned to the formerly possessed captain. "Linebeck?!" She cried, twisting around. She spotted the unmoving navy clad captain lying face down on the deck were Bellumbeck had been vanquished. "No... don't let us have been too late..." She thought, flying to the captain's side, quickly followed by Link.
Just as they reached him, Linebeck shifted and let out a groan. He propped up a shaky arm, struggling to sit up. "What the hell happened...?" He muttered out. Link dropped the Phantom Sword, gripping Linebeck's arm to help him sit up. Linebeck looked at Link with an unfocused gaze. "I'm... alive?"
"You. Stupid. MORON!" Ciela screamed, flying into the captain's face. "Don't you ever dare do something like that again!" She balled her hands into fists, trying to keep her tears at bay. She failed, and she finished with a trembling voice. "I- I was so worried... and scared. Scared that I was going to lose someone else tonight." She gulped, a tiny sob escaping her.
Linebeck looked at the fairy, giving a soft smile. "Glad to know you truly do care for my behind."
Ciela rubbed her wrists into her eyes, letting out a shaky laugh. "You annoy the crap out of me, but what you did... that was pretty brave, Linebeck. I'm honestly wondering what had gotten into you."
Linebeck let out a rush of air, pushing himself onto two unsteady feet, with slight help from Link. "Please, that was nothing, Sparkles. My ship had just taken a little... damaged-" Linebeck suddenly froze, eyes widening in remembrance and shock. "The ship..."
Ciela felt sick and she floated down onto Linebeck's shoulder in a daze. "Grandpa..." She breathed, eyes filling with tears again. Her legs buckled and she collapsed in the Captain's hand. Linebeck looked down at Ciela, lips drawn into a grim frown.
Link's head hung low, reaching down for the Phantom Sword and sliding it into its scabbard. Just as he did, a strange, pinging noise entered the air. His head popped back up, spotting as Tetra leaped from deck piece to deck piece, followed by Leaf and Neri. Ciela felt the pinging noise trigger a sense of familiarity within her and she rose back off of Linebeck's hand.
They all looked at each other for a few moments in confusion. Then, a crackling sound joined the pinging and the smell of lighting about to strike pervaded the air. All members of the party immediately snapped their gaze to the Phantom Blade as the source of the crackling. Golden lightning sparked around the blade, bringing no harm to the boy. After a few moments, a golden beam of light shot up into the air, making it seem like a star just shot out of the blade. The group shielded their eyes from the light as it nearly blinded them.
The ball of golden energy exploded into million of particles, much like the Sands of Time, and floated down to land on the sea water, disappearing into the waves.
The group of six look to each other, still confused. Then they all nearly kneeled over in fright as something huge and white breached the sea surface and fell back into the sea, causing a mini-tidal wave.
Link and Tetra braced themselves against the rush of water, the action familiar with the months spent in stormy weather. Linebeck, used to being shielded by his engine room and still weak from his possession, was not prepared and was subsequently knocked off his feet and washed a few feet away, with Ciela following him, giggling.
Link straightened and let out a sound of shock. Ciela turned at his voice and echoed Link.
"Grandpa…" She whispered, tears beginning to shine in her eyes. She abandoned Linebeck's side to fly up to the whale's side. "Oh, Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa! You're alive!" Ciela circled and darted haphazardly around the whale's eye that was turned toward the group.
Oshus chuckled, the black eyes glittering with mirth. "Yes, Ciela, I am back and well. You, Linebeck, and Link have defeated the seal that kept my true form in Bellum's hold. For that, I thank you. " His voice seemed to echo around the group, the whale's mouth unmoving.
Linebeck started opened mouth at the white whale, sitting frozen on the deck, sea water dripping from his hair and clothes. Ciela smirked and flew over to push close his jaw with both of her hands.
"Better close that or a keese will fly in." Ciela said, patting the side of Linebeck's nose, her golden eyes sparkling.
Linebeck shot a glare at the golden orb. "Oh, put a sock in it, Sparkles!" He vaulted himself off the deck, crossing his arms. "I just never would have expected the Old Man to have a form like that." He took note of his soaked state and grimaced, grabbing up his coat to begin squeezing out sea water from the fabric. "Besides, I never even heard a whisper that the Ocean King's natural form is a whale."
"If not for your strength, wisdom, and courage, my true form and powers would have remained within evil forever and the King's Ocean would have fallen into ruin and desolation. Again, I thank you."
The group looked around at each other, relief and pride filling them. Bellum's reign was over, and the ocean could return to normal, with trade and even more, now with the new lands opened up to the islands.
"Linebeck."
The captain froze while in the middle of wringing out his hair. He blinked and pointed to himself. "What, me?"
"Are there any other Linebecks he should know about?" Ciela deadpanned, flying back to Linebeck's side.
Linebeck narrowed his eyes at the fairy, opening his mouth to retort. However, Oshus's voice cut in before Linebeck could do so.
"Linebeck, I need to make good on a promise I made you." Oshus said, moving forward to be aligned with Linebeck. "I grant you one wish."
The captain stared at the god. With all the excitement of being possessed and nearly thinking that the god had been killed, the offer of a wish had completely slipped from Linebeck's mind.
Linebeck angled his head down, quickly sinking into thought. The god had already told him that he couldn't save Linette… and truth be told, the captain couldn't really see how he could transport bags of treasure without….
Linebeck's head snapped up, a smirk asserting on his face, certain of his wish.
Ciela noticed the smirk and heaved a sigh. "Let me guess, mounds and mounds of gold and/or treasure." Her mouth twisted into an unpleasant frown. "Come on, just say it!"
Linebeck rolled his eyes. "That's not it at all, Sparkles. Come on, we lived together for over a year and you can't tell I changed? Treasure? I don't really want that anymore." Linebeck shoved his hands into his pockets, looking at the god. "Oshus, can you bring back my…" Linebeck briefly trailed off, then took a breath. "My ship? The one that sank?"
A small part deep within Linebeck twisted at not being able to use his wish for his sister, but he trusted the god. Besides, he was glad to be able to have back the ship that his family had gotten him.
"You know, if you ask for treasure later, that's it!" Ciela started, flying up to the captain's face. "No take backs if you want to change it later!"
"Especially since you'll be leaving us…" The fairy thought to herself. She squashed down the sorrowful feelings with anger, as she always did with the captain. It was the only way she knew how to deal with feelings concerning the captain. She didn't want to try and open up to him. Especially not now, not with him so close to leaving forever.
Linebeck twisted up his face in disgust. "Didn't I just tell you this?! You lived with me for almost a year, and you should have damn well finally learn that I have changed, Sparkles!" Linebeck reached for Ciela and snatched her by the wings. "Course not, your head is so thick skulled with all that damn courage you can't learn anything else!"
"Asshole!" Ciela spat, struggling to get free, her anger distracting her from the pain of her wings getting tugged. She wasn't really worried. Her wings would take much more than being pulled down by her quite light body weight to be pulled off.
Oshus swiveled his one eye around the group, the glitter in his eyes dimmed by what must pass.
"The Sand of Hours has been returned. Peace has fallen over the lands once more and the Ghost Ship can no longer haunt your world." Oshus said, voice melecony.
All three hylians turn to look at Oshus, confusion written in their faces. Ciela, Leaf, and Neri stilled, Ciela silencing herself in Linebeck's hands.
"Our… World?" Tetra echoed. "Are you saying that this is a different world?" Tetra put her hands on her hips, squinting her eyes at the whale. "I've only heard of one other world in the texts of Hyrule Castle that I was able to save before it flooded. A land called Termina that the Hero of Time had saved from a falling moon."
Oshus chuckled. "And that land lies beneath the waters of my ocean. When the goddesses flooded Hyrule, the waves also entered this domain." Oshus explained.
"But the Hero had to leave Termina…" Link recalled, a growing suspicion entering his stomach.
Ciela closed her eyes and called forth the doors that would open into the land of Hyrule. As the fog began rolling in, a sick feeling rolled into her. She found that she couldn't look anyone in the eye.
"The time for you to return to your world is nigh. You have done your duty here, and must return to your world."
"But… We can see you again… Right?" Link looked helplessly around at the three spirits and Oshus.
Neri sighed, flying up to the boy. "I'm sorry but… you cannot." She gestured for Leaf to join her.
"Leaving the door open would dangerous for all of us. Because of- Oof!" The male spirit was cut off by Neri swiftly elbowing him in the stomach.
"Because of past events that were instigated by people before us." Neri explained. "The Goddesses don't take kindly to us nor inhabitants of our world."
"And as such, the same kind of reception would happened here." Leaf continued. "One or two people was fine, especially since you were saving the Ocean. But continuous traffic would only mean war between our people's lands."
"And so this is where we must say farewell and part." Neri finished, clasping her hands.
"Do not fear, however, that you will be forgotten. You and Linebeck's courage will be recorded in our history and will forever be woven in our future."
Link looked between the blue and red spirits and nodded once to each of them, giving a soft smile.
Ciela took advantage of Linebeck shock and gave one final yank, freeing herself from his fingers. She remained close, however, still refusing to look the man in the eye.
"It will become a clean break… That will be the best." Ciela insisted to herself. Aloud, the Spirit of Time and Courage let out a haughty sniff. "Well, thank goodness for that fact. After a year, I was getting tired of having to see your face every single day!"
Linebeck scoffed, feeling a stab of unexpected hurt enter in his stomach. "Fine then, if that's how you're gonna be, Sparkles!" Linebeck snarled, hurt entering his voice and making the words sharper. "Get the hell out of here, and good riddance to you!"
Ciela felt like she had gotten punched in the gut at Linebeck's words. She briefly drew her limbs into herself, as if to shield herself from the words that had already lodged in her heart. She drew in a shaky breath, blinking away tears. She uncurled herself, eyes downcast. She started to fly away. "Well… I'm leaving now…"
The silence hurt more than any other words the Captain could have returned. Ciela bowed her head and turned away, swallowing hard. "Thanks for everything, Linebeck. Guess Astrid was right after all…" The golden spirit slowly floated away from Linebeck, feeling bitter that she couldn't stop saying hateful things to the man. Even in their goodbyes, she still snarked at Linebeck.
Linebeck heard her words and spun around just in time to see Ciela disappear into the fog. His mouth opened up to call her back, heart skipping when he realized that he really wasn't going to see her again-
Then the fog consumed his vision and soon all Linebeck knew was white.
The next thing Linebeck knew what he was doing, he was blinking away the last few remnants of white in his vision away, staring up at the sky.
"The hell just happen…?" Linebeck wondered aloud. He brought up one hand to block out the sun. Either side of the captain's hand shot out in rays that somewhat resembled wings. Linebeck narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out why that seemed so important.
"Sparkles…" The name sprang unbidden to the forefront of Linebeck's mind and everything came rushing back.
The captain shot up sharply, eyes wide. He felt a twinge of pain shoot up his back, but he ignored it, desperately getting to his feet. He looked at all the different components of his ship, wondering if everything was a bad dream, since everything looked untouched, like it was before the whole crazy quest started. He walked into the engine room and spotted the crate he would hide it whenever Jolene came around.
Linebeck flipped up the lid and felt along one side, feeling his breath catch when he felt the lines he had scratched into the wood. Jolene was finding them so many times, the sailor had began keeping track of how many times she went after them. They had gotten up to eleven fights, including the final showdown.
Linebeck continued on his way, and entered the map room, halfway expecting to see Link mapping out their next route, while Ciela would start up her nagging on the captain as soon as she would see Linebeck.
He only found an empty table, and scattered maps of the King's Ocean spread out. The captain leaned against the doorframe, staring at the room with his arms crossed.
The room was eerily quiet with no one it it, dimmer to, without three or so different colored spirits lighting up the room. In fact, and Linebeck felt another twinge on his back when he realized this, the whole ship was too quiet. No boots running down the decks, no shifting of crates being pushed together. Linebeck had gotten used to the sounds, because they meant someone else was there, and they were living together. And sooner or later, the simple fact of them living together became the fact that the five of them had become a family.
Linebeck shot upright when the thought invaded his mind, but he didn't banish it. With a half smirk, Linebeck realized that it was true. It was a truly weird family, but it was Linebeck's. Forged together with the trials they all went through.
But as Linebeck wandered back up to the engine room, the smirk fell away as his footsteps and the crashing of the waves against the ship being the only sounds, reminded him that they were gone.
Linebeck's lips thinned and let out a tch. He fared perfectly okay for 5 or so years without other people living with him. He didn't need a kid to cheerfully call out directions to their next destination, nor did he want that nagging fairy on his shoulder.
Linebeck started up the ship, intending to sail back to the island he had sailed from, before the whole nonsense with the Phantom Quest started up.
"LINEBECK!"
The shout came unexpectedly, causing said captain to jump and swear when he hit his hand against a part of the engine. He glanced out the porthole and grinned when he saw a familiar spot of green waving at him from the deck of a pirate ship.
"Can't seem to get rid of yah, Kid." Linebeck muttered to himself, shaking his head. He reached up and blew the steamships horn, signaling to the kid that Linebeck saw him.
Linebeck spun the helm so the S.S. Linebeck was heading towards the pirate ship. Link disappeared from the railing, presumably to tell the other pirates to get ready for Linebeck to board the ship.
"Oh good, you can help convince these morons that Link had saved a different world and not that we were stuck on a ship, circling through fog for three months." Tetra called down, noticing Linebeck pulling up besides the ship.
Linebeck raised one eyebrow up at the pirate captain. "Now, I know there are some issues of keeping time on sea, but we docked at plenty of islands to know that it had been a year since the quest had started."
Tetra threw her hands into the air. "That's what I had told them!"
Link grinned down at the captain, arms wrapped around a bunch up rope ladder, one end already tied to the ship's railing. "Here, Linebeck! Climb up onto the ship using this!" He tossed down the ladder, letting it clatter against the hull of Hyrule's Dragon.
Linebeck immediately reached for the ladder, wondering just how in the Goddesses names, did these pirates think only three months passed. Well, it was good that they had him to set the record straight.
He was halfway up the ladder when his back exploded in pain. His grunted in pain, clinging tight to the rope. Was this what the back spasms were leading up to? What the hell was happening to him anyway?!
A horrible thought entered Linebeck's mind. Perhaps this was a parting gift from Bellum…
Distantly, Linebeck heard Link calling to the other pirates, yelling at them to pull the ladder up. Another wave of pain shook the captain and he cried out in agony. As blackness consumed his vision, Linebeck felt his grip on the rough rope loosen.
He slipped from the rope, falling towards the sea water. The last thing Linebeck saw was Link leaning over the deck with a horror struck expression. Then the waves washed over Linebeck, and he sunk within his mind again.
…
Whoop, whoop! Another chapter done! Because apparently, I need to have five months in between each update. But, I did have a lot going on in between the time of my last update to now. Like getting ready for college, dance classes, last minute after school work and of course, Graduation. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a free woman from High School. *jazz hands* This summer, I finally plan to finish SARF within the summer, which should be easy with nothing truly weighing me down. But I do hope to get a summer job (college ain't cheap) so that will cut into writing time. But, there are only six chapters left to go!
Speaking of which, this is the second to last flashback chapter, so after chapter 19, we will return to the present and remain there. But next chapter, we finally find out why Jolon has been going after the Brante family for so long, and keeping Linette captive.
Thoughts, comments, constructive criticism on this chapter? If you were with me when I first started this series, (back when I didn't even know it was going to grow to this), you might slightly recognized that this time period was were IIRY? originally started, way back when I was a itty-bitty 8th grader and not really great at writing( BTW, don't bother with going back and checking out the first chapter, I have long since updated those chapters and that original chapter one does not exist anymore. Probably for the better). I had more fun with the dialogue this time around and really focused on the emotions of the characters, making sure they were not OOC like that first time around *shudder*
Leave a review below and I'll see you all next chapter!
~Roses