CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
To Where the River Flows
After gaining enough sleep, the group set out for the river Styx which would lead them to a mountain where Aphrodite believed Kursed had made her nest. The Cerinians gave Marcus the staff that would open the gateway to the mountain, bade them farewell and begged them to return safely, with Persephone remaining there to watch over them until they returned. They would need her kind of protection. They couldn't fend for themselves after recovering from the kind of shock they were given.
They rode on Telia's back for several miles before Aileen signalled her to stop and jumped down to the ground. By then, they had entered a very misty area of the forest where Marcus could swear there were small tree-dwelling creatures looking at him through the fog. The most outstanding feature, though, was the massive river with a small dock stretching over it, a single small canoe floating beside it. Aileen whispered something into Telia's ear and the grimtiger ran off almost instantly.
"Alright. Mount Tartaros is near the end of this river." Aileen said. "Everyone in the boat."
They didn't question it since there was no bridge built across it and swimming down the river was impossible unless you enjoyed being living driftwood. All four of them climbed into the canoe, with Aileen taking the front paddle and Hephaestus taking the rear one while Marcus and Isaac readied their weapons in case anything came flying out of the trees or jumping out of the water at them.
What certainly didn't help to ease the tense atmosphere was the fact they were moving into the lion's den. Marcus didn't want to admit it to anyone, let alone his newfound comrades, but he was frightened. Frightened of what Kursed might try to do to him here, and frightened of what she might try to do to them.
The canoe shifted through the water quietly and met no sort of resistance, but even with the rushing of the water, it was still too quiet for any of the four to settle into their seats…then they saw what was up ahead.
"Great. The peaceful boat ride turns into a scary funhouse since we're going headlong into a dark tunnel." Marcus groaned.
"No time to turn back now. Let's take this thing head on." Aileen said.
They paddled the boat into the tunnel, enveloping themselves in darkness and even worse silence. The current became strong enough to carry the boat without Aileen and Hephaestus having to use the paddles. Marcus sensed the tunnel very quickly to see if there might be anything that would cause a ruckus, and to his relief, there was nothing…though that didn't help reduce the shock of the boat suddenly being bumped up.
"Whoa, whoa, what was that?!" he exclaimed.
"Just calm down, Marcus." Hephaestus said sternly. "There's no sense in trying to fight something when you're stuck in a dark tunnel."
"I was afraid you'd say that…"
It was then that Marcus could feel his head begin to hurt. Was it just him, or could he hear someone…crying out in pain…Coyote?!
"No…NO! Don't hurt me! Please!"
What followed was Kursed chuckling seductively under her breath. The kind of laugh that made Marcus want to do the most violent things he could possibly imagine to her, and it continued the longer he tried his best to ignore it. He said nothing and merely strained his face in pain and almost horror. It didn't matter to the others since it was too dark to see him, but that didn't change how he felt about the ordeal. He couldn't bear to see Coyote in pain, let alone hear her screaming. Just hearing it made him realize just what Kursed could do to someone as tough as Coyote, and it made him fear what could possibly happen to him. It made him want to run home as fast as he could, but no. He'd come too far. He had to save her…so why wasn't this Goddamn boat going any faster?!
"Dammit…" he cursed. "She knows we're coming, doesn't she?"
"Eh?" Aileen asked.
"Never mind…"
All of a sudden, a loud and demonic roar filled the tunnel, forcing the four to duck down in terror. When it ceased, they sat up again.
"What the hell was that?!" Marcus sputtered.
"If I knew, would I be pulling this face?" Isaac asked.
"Great…except there was one problem with what you said there. What was it, oh yeah! I CAN'T SEE, DUMBASS!"
"There's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going…there's no knowing where we're rowing or which way the river's flowing."
"What?!"
It occurred to Marcus that Isaac was groggily chanting. He sensed the room again and revealed that Isaac was rocking back and forth in his seat as he babbled out whatever was going on in his head.
"What's wrong with him?" Aileen asked.
"He's having some kind of nervous breakdown...she's seeping into his mind!"
"Is it raining, is it snowing? Is a hurricane a' blowing?" Isaac mumbled.
"Isaac!" Marcus said sternly. "You need to calm down."
Isaac didn't calm down. He stood up and looked at Marcus, horrifying the young McCloud when he saw that his eyes were flashing bright red and his mouth was stretched into a huge smile that was somehow visible in the darkness.
"Not a speck of light is showing, so the danger must be growing." Isaac said, his voice cracking on the last word and steadily getting louder. "Are the fire of Hell a' glowing? Is the grizzly reaper mowing?"
He was now on his knees with his face only inches from Marcus'.
"Yes! The danger must be growing for the rowers keep on rowing!"
Isaac grabbed Marcus' collar and pulled him towards his face, screaming the last words.
"AND THEY'RE CERTAINLY NOT SHOWING ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE…"
A metallic clang ran out and Isaac released his grip. With a quick sense, Marcus found him unconscious as Hephaestus repositioned his blade after hitting Isaac with the hilt of it.
"That should shut him up." he grumbled. "Now, then, Marcus. You seem have some idea of what that was all about, so would you care to explain it to us?"
He did. He told them of how Kursed could seep into your mind and psychologically turn you from a bodyguard for Hell's Angels to a crying infant in a matter of seconds, and how she had done exactly that to his closest friends. Both Aileen and Hephaestus were enraptured by the story, listening to every possible detail.
"And that's pretty much the biggest reason why she has to be stopped." Marcus concluded.
"And did Persephone really try to make THAT seem sympathetic?" Aileen asked. "Like she tried to make a certain other person seem sympathetic?"
"I said it once and I'll say it again." Hephaestus spoke up. "I'm not going to kill my sister."
"And you're not going to stop Marcus from killing his mother?"
Marcus slammed his fist down so hard that the boat rocked slightly in the water.
"She is NOT my mother!" he growled.
"Calm down!" Aileen replied sternly. "Whether she's your mother or not doesn't matter. If she's going to do some unparalleled damage if she isn't kept in check, then I say kill her."
"Good. Nothing anyone says will stop me."
He scared himself with that line since he had just made himself sound like some kind of super villain, but it was the truth. He had to kill her before she did anything worse.
What brought his thoughts back to reality was the canoe steadily increasing in speed.
"Uhh…anyone care to tell me why we're going faster?" he asked.
"That's not right…people used to travel down this river all the time and this never happened…" Hephaestus murmured.
"Then what's going on?"
The canoe steadily picked up speed until it was speeding along, eventually shooting out the other side of the tunnel. What the group saw made them instantly regret not trying to simply find a bridge. Hephaestus had been down this river many times before he had been turned to stone, and before it had just been another section of the river leading to Tartaros. In its place was a massive waterfall that dropped off into what seemed to be a sinkhole, and they were headed right for it!
"Oh shit!" Aileen exclaimed. "What do we do now?!"
His eyes roaming all about in search of an escape route, Marcus set his sights on a tree branch hanging low enough for them to jump up and grab. There were, however, two problems. The first was that it would require them to jump at just the right time, and the second was that it was mere inches away from the waterfall. But really, what was worse: accepting your "fate" and plummeting down a waterfall, or at least trying to escape your "fate" though epically failing and still end up plummeting down a waterfall…real large span of options, eh?
"This is risky, but we'll have to take a jump for that branch!" Marcus yelled over the roar of the falls.
"Got it…Isaac, wake up!"
There was yet another problem: Isaac was still unconscious after Hephaestus had hit him over the head, and none of them could wake him up no matter how much they shook him.
"Goddammit…" Marcus grumbled.
"Tie him to my back!" Hephaestus barked. "I can carry him!"
"Taking responsibility for your actions. I like it."
"Do I have any other choice in the matter?"
"Nope."
Thinking this was the most insane thing he could have requested, Marcus nonetheless preformed the same trick he had performed on Peter on Lylat and tied Isaac to Hephaestus' back. The three that were still conscious stood up and bent their knees, preparing to jump.
"On my mark." Marcus said. "One…"
The three bit their lips and could feel beads of sweat running down their faces as the roaring grew louder.
"Two…"
The boat began to quake under their feet and was beginning to tilt up out of the water in the direction the falls were going. Finally, when the boat was just about to go over…
"THREE!"
They jumped and all successfully grabbed the branch as the boat fell away into a watery oblivion. The pure adrenaline the situation was giving them nearly made their hands slip, especially the tension of having their legs dangling who knew how many feet off the ground. Using whatever amount of strength they had, they pulled themselves up.
"Well, THAT was fun." Aileen panted.
"You're telling me OH SHIT!"
At that moment, Hephaestus' hand had slipped and Marcus had vaulted himself over to grab his hand just in time. Unfortunately, Hephaestus must have weighed somewhere between 160 and 200 pounds thanks to his sword, nearly snapping Marcus' arm from the pressure of all the weight. He let out a sharp cry of pain that turned into severe groaning as the strain grew steadily worse the longer he held onto Hephaestus. By that time, Isaac was stirring awake, and once he saw what was going on, he let out a yelp and started bucking around.
"Stop moving, you idiot!" Aileen yelled at him.
Marcus took in several deep breathes and shut his eyes, letting out a loud battle cry before summoning all his strength and hauling his two comrades up and away from danger. With it said and done, the four began edging their way along the branch to reach solid ground, dropping once they were within range of it.
"Marcus…I owe you my life." Hephaestus sighed.
"Everyone has at some point." Marcus replied. "Don't worry about it. It's just what I do."
"Tartaros isn't far." Aileen spoke up. "Let's move."
Several minutes later…
"God, my feet hurt…" Isaac groaned.
"Do you ever stop whining?" Aileen asked with a roll of her eyes. "I thought vigilantes had to be good at running to be good at anything else."
"Actually we use star fighters."
"Exactly, and…wait, what's a star fighter?"
"You'll know when you see one."
The group was closing in on Tartaros, staying wary of anything that might occur on their way there. The silence wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when they were in the tunnel, but it was still enough to make them become startled when a rustling rang out from the bushes a dozen feet away.
"Shh…" Aileen whispered. "Marcus, give us a sense real quick."
Marcus obeyed.
"Yeah, there's something there…a few inches taller than me."
"Alright." Aileen replied. "I'll go first. Back me up if something goes wrong."
She got down on all fours and crawled very carefully towards the bushes, and once she was close enough, she stood up, unsheathed one of her blades and leapt through them with a loud cry. What replaced after a mere nanosecond was a loud grunt of pain escaping from Aileen's throat and what sounded much like a struggle before another voice started barking demands at her.
"Okay, lady, you've got ten seconds to tell me where Marcus is! And don't you dare give me any bullshit!"
"Hey, t-take it easy!" Aileen stammered. "You're twisting my arm!"
"Tell me where Mark is or the arm comes off!"
"W-what?! You wouldn't do that!"
The situation itself wasn't what caught Marcus off-guard. It was the voice threatening Aileen. It carried a loud accent that came across as a punk from Brooklyn, and it not only stood out, but it sounded familiar.
"No way…it can't be."
Marcus and the others ran through the bushes to find Aileen pinned to the ground with someone pointing a gun right at her head, and that someone was…
"Falco!" Marcus and Isaac both said in a bewildered tone.
Falco looked up from his hostage and saw the two. Right away, he released Aileen with a smile.
"Mark! You're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay! What are you doing here?!"
"The team came back to Corneria after they lost track of you and called for backup. Katt and I came as soon as we heard."
"You and Katt?"
As if on cue, Katt walked from the bushes with a bundle of blankets in the crook of her arm.
"It's been a while, Mark." she said with a smirk, though this smirk turned into a look of surprise when she turned her attention to her brother. "Isaac?!"
Isaac smirked and walked in to embrace his sister.
"It's good to see you, sis." he said happily before turning to Falco. "Could have invited me to your wedding, buddy."
"I get the feeling you would have been too cool to show up." Falco shot back.
"Sounds like you're describing yourself."
They gave each other irritated looks before smiling and giving one another a brotherly hug.
"Good to see you, bud." Falco said.
Falco turned to the Cerinians and crossed his arms.
"So they're with you, then?"
"You couldn't tell by the way we were walking with Marcus?" Aileen grumbled, rubbing her sore arm.
Marcus stepped forward and was about to explain, but Falco held up his hand.
"Don't bother. The team told me about the whole Kursed thing."
"Great…so where are they?"
"They're on their way now. They're bringin' backup, and lots of it."
"Good…I don't think we'll need that much, but it's still good. What's Katt got there?"
The two smiled.
"Why don't you come see for yourself?" said Katt.
Marcus stepped forward and looked into the little opening. To his surprise, there were two small blue eyes blinking back at him. What was wrapped up in the blankets was a baby girl with light violet fur with some blue trailing down her arms. She reached out at Marcus' face, to which he responded by leaning closer in. The baby gently touched Marcus' cheek and cooed.
"She's wonderful…" he said in mesmerisation. "What's her name?"
"Casey." Falco said with a grin. "It was my mom's name."
"Casey Lombardi…"
Isaac looked at Casey with astonishment and grew a huge grin.
"Holy crap, I'm an uncle!" he beamed. "…I better get married and have kids so the little devil's got someone to play with, huh?"
Everyone laughed heartily, and then Katt bit her lip nervously.
"And, umm…Marcus, if it's alright with you…we'd like you to be her godfather."
What washed into Marcus' heart was nothing short of surprise and awe. The thought of being a father had been lingering in his mind for quite some time after his parents had discussed his future with him, though this was thankfully slightly more condensed than the discussions most teenagers would have with their parents on the subject since he already had a well-paying job. He wasn't sure that he could even babysit a child, let alone raise one, yet here were Falco and Katt, two of his closest friends, asking him to take care of their child if something ever happened to them.
He smiled. How could he resist?
"I will. Any family of a fellow Star Fox member is a family of mine."
Aileen and Hephaestus now gathered around Katt to get a good look at Casey, marveling at just how different she looked from other children while Falco took Marcus off to the side.
"Speaking of Star Fox, Mark…there's something I need to say that might make you a little upset."
"I'd rather not hear it. I've had enough upsetting news for one lifetime."
"Sorry. It's gotta be said…once this little scuffle's over, I'm out."
"Out? What do you mean out?"
"I mean I'm retiring as a member of Star Fox."
To hear that someone was leaving the time permanently was shocking enough, but to hear it coming from Falco Lombardi was one of the most insane things Marcus had ever heard, though it gradually became less insane once Falco had gotten a chance to explain his motivation for doing so.
"I kinda had second thoughts about saying this for a while, but there's really no denying that I'm not in a position to do this anymore. I mean, I've got a family now. Yeah, we just appointed you as Casey's godfather, but I want to spend as much time as I can with my kid before I start losing the opportunities."
"I guess that's understandable. That's exactly how my dad felt about it before I was born."
"And he was right. The only reason I really joined up with you guys in the first place was to keep an eye on you, Chase, and Annie since you were all so young. But look at you now. Nineteen years old and nowhere to go but up."
Marcus smirked.
"I'm not alone on that one."
"Certainly not…and that just brings me back to what Fox said all those years ago. Piloting for this team is a young man's game, Mark, and facts are facts. I'm turning fifty real soon…I'm too old for this shit."
Marcus stood emotionless for a moment, but finally smiled and clapped a hand down on Falco's shoulder.
"Okay. Even though I disagree with your decision, I accept it."
"Thanks. Mind you, that doesn't mean I ain't gonna help for this one last skirmish. In fact…"
Marcus suddenly found a pistol slipped into his hand. He smirked at the thought of having some more firepower, but then something else came to his mind. It was the vision that had occurred when he had defeated Lolita Ferdinand. Would that vision come true within the next few hours? No…he also remembered that he didn't believe in a set fate. If it was the future, he could change it. With that in mind, he secured the pistol onto his belt before turning to the rest of the group.
"Everybody, let's go. Tartaros isn't too far away from here."
They nodded.
"I'll stay here with Katt." Aileen said. "She and Casey need protection."
"Okay. Take this." Falco replied.
He handed her a flare gun.
"We'll have back up flying in soon enough. You'll hear them long before you see them, so when you do, shoot a flare up. They'll be there as fast as they can."
"Understood. Now go."
Marcus, Isaac, Falco and Hephaestus set off down the craggy path that steadily grew narrower the further they went. Every one of them kept up their guards, ready to strike at anything that would lash out at them. The sky was beginning to turn an increasingly darker shade than it had already been, and the ground began to look rather gray and lifeless.
"Jeez, this place is givin' me the creeps." Falco grumbled. "Your surrogate mother or whatever the hell she is certainly made her hideout conspicuous."
"Yeah…really, I'm just hoping we get there before we all go completely insane." Marcus said in a monotone voice.
"Ditto." Isaac replied, shuddering after thinking about what had happened to him in the tunnel. "She can really do that kind of shit to a guy?"
"Yeah. That and tear you limb from limb if she wants."
Finally, they arrived at a giant stone wall with a notch in a small area of it. Not thinking twice, Marcus slammed the tip of Aphrodite's staff into it. The staff slid out of his grasp and into the hole, and with a low rumbling, the section of the wall that had been struck slid out of sight, revealing the ominous-looking mountain he had seen when he first arrived here.
"Well, this doesn't seem the least bit malevolent." Hephaestus said.
"Yeah, but I don't know about this…" Isaac questioned. "I mean, it seems like someone with the kind of power Kursed has would create some pretty heavy defenses and we just kinda…hiked here."
"You know, it's that kind of questioning that completely ruins the somewhat triumphant mood. Stop talking."
"In any case," Falco spoke up. "No sense standing around here debating it. "Let's get that bitch!"
The four ran forward with Marcus being the first to go through the opening…as well as the only one. When the other three tried to run in after him, they were suddenly hit with a searing pain before being launched backwards.
"What the…" Marcus sputtered upon looking behind him. "What just happened?!"
"This is a ritualistic Cerinian hex." Hephaestus grumbled. "Only those belonging to a certain bloodline can enter through this gate. The only other way would be to come from above, and not only is that too risky, it's damn near impossible."
"So what you're saying is…"
"It seems like it." Falco sighed. "Sorry, Mark. You're on your own."
Marcus had never been so unnerved to hear those words in his entire life, but as the other three turned and started trekking back to where they had been before, he realized he had no other choice. They didn't want to leave him behind but he was running out of time. Kursed could do something horrible to Coyote with the time it would take to try and come in from the top. He turned toward the mountain and began walking towards, knowing for certain that this would be the most nerve-wracking mission he ever took on.
Not only was he up against his worst nightmare, but he was up against her by himself. He kept moving, though not being able to shake the thought that for the first time in his life, he was truly and undeniably alone.
Yeah, sorry for the lack of action this chapter, but don't worry. A certain rival of Marcus' from the last story is making a reappearance next chapter. Who is it? Well, take a guess.
SOUNDTRACK SO FAR
Krystal's nightmare- "Parabola" by Mer (Originally by Tool)
Marcus versus Coyote (friendly)- "Name of the Game" by the Crystal Method
F-Zero race- "F-Zero Medley" by Entertainment System
Space pirate attack- Space pirate theme from Metroid Prime
Ridley- Ridley's theme from Metroid: Other M
Falcon takes down Ridley- "The Meaning of truth" by Hiro-X
The date- Ilia's theme from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Coyote versus the shadows- "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson
The star Lylat- Magmoor Caverns theme from Metroid Prime
Marcus and Fox/Marcus and Chase- "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Fox versus Kursed- "Du Hast" by Rammstein
Marcus and Coyote versus Nightmare- Nightmare's theme from Metroid Fusion (ArcX version)
The Nightstriker- "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath
The death of Commander Dane- "Mad World" by Gary Jules
The prisoners of Kew- Byelomorye Dam from Goldeneye 64
Escape from Sargasso- "Hard to See" by Five Finger Death Punch
Marcus and Wolf versus Master Hand and Crazy Hand- Final Destination from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
To Cerinia- "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence" by Dethklok
Aileen- "Working Class Hero" by Green Day (Originally by John Lennon)
The slaves- "Forgotten Children" by Tokio Hotel
Aileen's sorrow- "Narcissistic Cannibal" by EarlyRise (Originally by Korn and Skrillex)
Marcus and Aileen- "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls
Aileen versus Aphrodite- "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage (suggested by ianagainstcliffhangers. Thanks, man!)
The river Styx- "Where the River Flows" by Collective Soul (see what I did there?)