I woke up cold and sitting in a heavy wooden chair with fluorescent light pouring down on me. The room was almost featureless. The ground was concrete but the walls were untouched, bare rock. There was a single white door in the corner of the room. Bondage tape was wrapped around my torso over the wound I received from the Green Bird. I didn't have my bag, cloak, or my bow for that matter.

There was a brisk rap on the door to reveal Lieutenant Blackwood. He marched up to the chair in front of me with quick execution. He didn't have my things. I had a feeling this 'talk' he wanted to do wasn't as friendly as I hoped it to be.

"How are you feeling?" He asked without cracking any emotion. I honestly didn't think he'd care how I felt. He was watching at me, not as a person but as an interesting object.

"I'm cold. And I want to meet my friends."

He shifted in his chair. "You can have your illegally obtained cloak later."

"I had to hide myself from guards pointing their muskets at me." I dared. I probably shouldn't have, but the lieutenant's unmoving tone bothered me.

The lieutenant's curious gaze tightened into a stare. It was hard not to be nervous with his piercing green eyes fixed onto me. He rarely blinked like a snake staring down on its mouse.

"Your visit caused monsters to enter this Polis. Ten innocent people were killed in the panic. For fair justice, I can keep you and your friends here until the end of time. But I'd much rather you leave." Lieutenant Blackwood deadpanned.

Blood rushed through my head. People were trampled and killed running away from the Green Bird while the guards just stood and "protected" the harbor. The select few who were fighting against the monster didn't have any chance until we came and finished it off. The Green Bird may have destroyed the city if it wasn't for my friends and me.

My chair made a loud creak as I stood up. The lieutenant laced his fingers and regarded me carefully. He's probably anticipating me to start screaming at him with anger, but I won't let him have that satisfaction.

"So... The blame is on me? Did the 'Plasma Creature' decide to come into this city and wait for me? I may as well just passed by here and went on my way. The Green Bird followed me here; I can understand that. But my friends and I knew how to fight against these monsters, and I'm sure I can handle the creature also."

"Are you saying we are inexperienced?"

"I'm offering to help get rid of the monster. If you'd let us go."

Lieutenant Blackwood dipped his head down slightly and chuckled. It was a ridiculous request, at least to him, but I didn't know how to say it better than straightforward.

"Well, you may have your bow back. None of us can even touch it without being rejected and burned anyway. Interesting weapon, it chooses who wields it. ...Come with me."

Outside the white door was a narrow hallway. There were many cubicles similar to the one I was in but all of them were vacant. The tall, stout man stood at the end of the hallway with my things placed neatly on a desk. He placed a tensed hand across his forehead in a salute as the lieutenant nodded on. He paid absolutely no attention to me. Alright, fine then.

My bag was intact, with my notebook and old-fashioned watch Priscilla gave me. It was a little after 8:00pm. The cloak Roy got (stole) for me was folded neatly but I wore it for warmth and to have a sense of security.

"Cosby, lead us to the pen."

"Yes, sir."

I felt Cosby, the metallic guard staring at me when I picked up my bow. He appeared slightly nervous so I twirled the weapon off my palm. He showed some emotion and rolled his eyes so I was satisfied.

I was sandwiched while Cosby took the lead and the lieutenant was closely behind me, as if he was watching and waiting for me do the wrong move. As a matter of fact, I had to hold in the urge to spread out my wings and get some feather up his face.

Cosby opened a locked door to reveal hundreds of shivering citizens huddled together with their families. Many of them scrambled up to their feet to grab at the guard, pleading for something over their cracked, wretched sobs. He took the woman's hand in his and spoke softly. "We will do our utmost. But you need to stay here for your safety."

The woman probably wasn't fulfilled with Cosby's answer, but she nodded anyway, and stumbled back to two other young women, possibly her sisters. Many guards stood at the entrance outside. Only few of them were inside providing consolation for those who were worried about their loved ones. Judging the white columns and official (ish) paperwork, I knew we were in the city hall. Many people sat at the stairs and I could hear commotion coming from the second floor. This place was just big enough to occupy all of the inhabitants in Polis 1.

The lieutenant leaned in, his voice hushed, "You can make everyone here feel 'better', so to speak, with that magic you showed me earlier."

I turned to him. The man had an unreadable expression, but I heard some amusement in his voice. Was that all he wanted? Information about me, information about my friends, information about the "Plasma Creature"? I was starting to think that's why he didn't assist the townspeople when he had the Green Bird on his back.

But as much as I wanted to comfort these people, I needed to know what these guards did to my friends in the pen. I pulled the hood over my face more. The lieutenant chuckled and we went on our way.

A little boy of maybe three or four years old stared at me. He had large, curious blue eyes and pointed at my back. My wings were perked up and bulging from the cloak from holding in all of my frustration. It pained me to turn away from him and run.

"My friends don't belong in a place like this." I said.

Cosby casually stepped over a rusty chain that used to connect prisoners to the wall. "They're in a different place."

"That doesn't mean it's a better place."

The floor underground the city hall was nothing like its milky-white, innocuous appearance. The bricks probably used to be white, but that was smothered with black residue and some odd long scratches with traces of blood. The air was hot and heavy, and the putrid smell of the unsanitary environment only weighed me down even more.

A vigorous hand grabbed at my arm. I tried wriggling away but the grip was tighter than I thought. "Get me out of here! Please, don't leave me!" The prisoner cried.

Lieutenant Blackwood struck the hand with his musket with some elegance like a whip. With a pricked yelp, the prisoner quickly returned to his corner shivering like a kitten left in the rain. He rubbed his hand and stared at me with hungry eyes. I wondered why, but then I noticed he was staring at my back, where a part of my wings were peeking from the cloak. I pulled on the dark blue cloth over me.

"Let's keep going." Cosby said without looking back at us.

I gripped my bow tight inside the cloak. I was dumb to think I could trust the lieutenant and his "guards". Even if these people are criminals, the prison is no better than a sewer, and the people are so thin, their bones were showing and the stomachs were starting to concave in. But the prisoner and the young boy at the city hall were both exclusively interested in my wings. I wondered if they were replacing me with a saving angel, a messenger of the "lord" they believe in. Once I hid my wings, the hungry looking prisoners stared at me for no more than two seconds. Most of them muttered to themselves or curled up in a tight ball in a corner.

We turned a random corner and came across a wooden gate with reinforcements hammered up in a shape of a Z. Fluorescent light seeped through the cracks of the gate and I heard familiar voices.

Or screams, more of.

Before I could shove Cosby aside, behind me, a four-foot long blade flashed once against the dim electric lamp. The lieutenant dipped, but the hallway was too narrow to dodge the next attack. I could only catch a dull blue object smashing into the lieutenant's head before he fell into me. The execution was so quick, even the veteran-like Cosby was stunned. He gripped his musket and stuttered, "L-Lieutenant!"

"Duck!" The wielder shouted. I didn't argue.

The blue object, or the shield, upon closer inspection, nipped at the hairs on my head as it zipped by and it rammed into Cosby's chest. The man let out a small sound before collapsing heavily onto the concrete. I breathed. That took maybe ten seconds to take out a lieutenant and his trusted soldier. When I tried to shove away the lieutenant's unconscious body, the wielder picked his body up easily like a sack of soil. "Help me get the other one in the cell."

I looked up to Link (the bigger one), wrapping one arm around the lieutenant's waist and one hand twirling the jail cell keys. He grinned.

"Oh hey, it's you. I didn't notice you in that cloak."

"Uh, I have my reasons."

After locking the two in a cell, Link handed me the keys for me to stuff it in my bag. He told me he saw my friends being taken against their will and into the city hall.

"Did you hear about the monster in the harbor?" I asked.

Link patted my shoulder. "I just came by to see you defeat it. Sorry I couldn't come sooner. I woke up to the explosion and then this! But come on, we need to hurry."

I nodded. Honestly, I was glad Link saved me from the guards. They could have lied about taking me to my friends and locked me up as well. But now with him, I felt infinitely better.

The wooden gates were locked, but Link was impatient. From his back (I've always wondered how he could keep his things in his back pocket), revealed a pure metal ball with spikes that seemed like they would leave more than a crater when it smashed into something. "Stand back," he said. But he was already swinging the ball from its chains. Wooden chips tore and flew in all directions, some of them successfully cutting into my arms as Link swung the metal ball like a demolition. I hoped my friends inside didn't get too much hurt. Once Link tore down the gates entirely, I winced at the blinding whitewashed walls. The prison turned into a laboratory. Or maybe the prison was a cover and the lab was what needed to be hidden from the public eye. Several of the men in white lab coats lay on the floor, groaning and writhing in pain.

Some of my friends were in a fighting stance, for example Marth (long time no see), had one foot on a researcher's stomach and a blade cutting dangerously close to the man's neck.

"I don't think torturing will be necessary, but that's up to you." Link chuckled.

Marth snapped his head in surprise and a wide smile spread across his face. "I'm glad you two are okay. …Let's relish our reunion later; one of the white coats escaped so it wouldn't be long for the guards to come."

Everyone had their hands tied to their back with ropes. And when I say everyone, I meant everyone I've met so far. Ness and Lucas worked their powers to singe off the ropes, Sheik tended to Roy's odd injury on his arm, and Kirby jumped into my arms. There was Young Link, Captain Falcon, Wario, and Ike making sour faces with their bindings. Before I could enjoy being back with everyone I was with for some time, I joined in with cutting the ropes.

"Wow, this is a lot of us." Young Link managed to smile while rubbing his wrists.

Wario had a rare, serious look on his face. "Let's go get that Lucario guy from the hospital and get out of here."

Everyone nodded in agreement but I raised my voice. "Wait! Wait, everyone! After we get Lucario, I need to investigate what the 'Plasma Creature' is. And this paper that came with the Green Bird bothers me."

There was a beat of silence in the laboratory, until Roy let out a painful whine. Sheik ticked his tongue in irritation. "Let's move now. We'll talk about options later but we need to tend to Roy quick. Wario, where's the hospital?"

Roy met eyes with me. He gripped his left arm as if he was holding it together from falling off. He smiled.

"You don't have to be so sad."

I looked up to Marth, who had his arms crossed and leaning over. His cloak gently billowed as he sat on the ground with me.

Not a lot of people were in the hospital lobby since many of the townspeople found sanctuary at the city hall. A few of us stayed to look after Lucario and Roy, while others took refuge in random alleyways. It's a matter of time before all of those guards come find us so it was better for us to split. Wario paced the hallways back and forth grumbling. Sheik stood by Marth and I staring intently at the room Roy was taken into.

I pulled the hood of my cloak back. My voice was coarse and quiet but it echoed down the empty halls well. "I'm wondering if my light would help Roy and Lucario."

"Did you try it?" Marth asked softly.

I shook my head. "I didn't have time. It just bothers me so much and the doctors said we should stay here… Marth, should I just bust in the room and give my light to him?"

"That might not be a good idea." He chuckled. "But you could give the 'healing light' to Sheik and I, if that helps you feel any better. Well, it's for me to feel a little better actually…" Marth's laugh seemed more nervous than he intended. He told me earlier that since he separated from me, he was alone. I was surprised, even impressed that he hasn't gone mad or injured in someway.

"Come here, give me a hug." I smiled and stretched my arms out.

"Huh?"

Sheik narrowed his eyes in a hidden smile, and squatted in front of me. Sheik (or Zelda) was one of the first people to witness my new power, so he knew to place his head against my chest. I gestured Marth to come closer, and he did reluctantly, just as the light dispersed and filled the corner of the empty lobby.

The light died down, and Marth quickly pulled away and blinked. "…Wow. Th-This is a good feeling."

"And this protects us against the ink?" Sheik asked while he rubbed his arms.

"That's what Ike said. It repels the ink… but you know, I'm never really sure. I've been told my power is hope in a physical form, but that doesn't mean you don't feel despair anymore."

I didn't notice I said something sad, because Marth had the most arched frown I've ever seen. It was as if I was watching a cartoon of him. "Then we better get our hopes up and keep a smile on."

"I'm smiling."

Sheik scoffed behind his mask. "No, you're not."

I was about to make a raspberry or something to Sheik when a doctor walked passed us with his head low and hands in his pockets. His footsteps reverberated in the quiet ward as the three of us kept quiet. Wario, who was still pacing the hallways, talked briefly with the doctor, but the man gave him the cold shoulder and entered the room. During the few seconds the door was open, I winced at Roy's painful groans coming from the room.

I turned to Marth. "What happened to Roy?"

"I don't have a good feeling about this…" He muttered, but then faced me. "The researchers grabbed at Roy and Young Link, as if they already knew who they wanted. One of them injected this weird liquid into Roy's arm… um, the arm he was holding. Young Link fought back and caught the researchers off guard so he's fine…"

There was a heavy feeling in my gut. Something wasn't right. Why were my friends taken to that laboratory? Who in the world are these "researchers"?

"Hey doctor! Doctor, open the damn door!" Wario shouted, banging on the metal door. One of the nurses who just came out of another patient's room came to stop him from making such a commotion.

Sheik was quick to come in between the nurse and Wario. "What did the doctor tell you?"

"He… he was talking, just crap, something about that 'Plasma Creature' the angel boy mentioned. I bet he's accusing Roy as that creature thing!"

The nurse seemed intimidated by Wario's fervor but attempted to calm him down. "Please keep quiet, some patients are resting..."

"Patients? Our friend in this room should be a 'patient' also. What is the doctor going to do to him?" Sheik snapped.

The nurse muttered and shook her head. "I-I'm not sure. I'm not authorized to enter certain rooms, and we are all assigned different patients... But that is strange. None of the rooms are supposed to be locked for health reasons."

"Don't you have a master key or something? Maybe a nurse call to other nurses that tends to this room?" Sheik pressed on.

"Ugh, what's going on! What do you think we should do?" Wario turned to me. Marth glanced at me worryingly also.

I couldn't hear anything from Roy's room. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, the truth was behind that locked door. The nurse went running down the hall, probably retrieving someone. The doorknob wouldn't budge. I called out to Roy multiple times but no one, nothing, would answer. My throat dried and my stomach felt heavy and constricted, as if I scooped up a cup of liquid concrete and drank it. "You'd think a hospital would be safe… It's a hospital. Geez, is everything going to hurt us somehow? Roy please, say something!"

White fluorescent light flickered above us, providing the only light on the floor. Sheik looked up cautiously.

A light bulb burst with a soft 'pop'. At first I thought it was a power shortage or a dying bulb, but consecutive bulbs burst from their glass. The glass cover swung from the nails and shattered into hundreds of pieces as it crashed to the ground around us. Zelda had her arms outstretched, her hands manifesting blue energy with a droning barrier that cupped the four of us in a dome shape. The rest of us were downed on our butts, breathing heavily.

Marth managed to laugh. "D-Did you change back into Zelda and make a barrier for us in… what, half a second?"

"I never knew I could change so quick either." Zelda smiled as she cut her magic off.

We were all careful not to step in the glass as we stepped away from the hot spot. Electricity snaked and whined in between the broken wires, occasionally making the hairs on my arms stand. The bulbs exploded because there was too much energy going on in its circuits.

One of the sprigs of electricity snapped at Marth's chest plate. He jerked, then staggered back on to his haunches.

"That armor will only hurt you against me! Heheheh." A young, sharp voice made my back shiver. A small creature poked its head from the lights and landed softly. He was no bigger than the size of my head, but that didn't make his egg-shaped red eyes any less intimidating. A dark, hissing energy manifested around him like fog or static. That may be it, but the ink that surrounded him seemed to smother and manifest the air around him too, as if there was too much ink to plaster onto the small stature and instead hovered around him.

"Are you the 'Plasma Creature'?" I asked.

The small animal quickly turned his attention to me and tilted his head curiously. He chattered amusingly, "I've heard people call me that, but that's not my name. I'm okay with it. It sounds more manly and mysterious than 'Pichu'!"

I felt my lungs shrink to a pulp when the phantom ignited into a blue brilliance. Energy twisted and turned but none of it reached to attack us. Besides, the currents ran across the walls of the ward and burst all of the computers and monitors. The door to the room Roy was taken into cracked from the doorknob and metal hinges. All of the hairs on my scalp and arms perked up. All of my organs seemed to lift and shudder from the pulsating energy around us. Zelda, Marth, and Wario were on their knees, their groans mostly erased from the snapping noise of electricity.

"Look at my power! Look at it! You'll be like this if you get in my way!"

The phantom cackled, cupping its stomach and wiggling its small, rodent-like feet. He was no different from Young Link's phantom: childlike, but sadistic and very powerful.

"Phantom, let our friend go!" Zelda made her best efforts to shout above the deafening whirring.

One of the currents bit at my hand, immediately sending a shuddering sensation through my body. My bow glowed red from the heat the electricity was making and I dropped my weapon. The phantom licked his nose and dragged my bow using its currents like a rope. The bow hovered above his head, occasionally twitching from the sparks it reflected.

"How about no. We can all play tag. The boundaries are the whole city!" The phantom snickered.

"My bow!"I shouted. Black feathers fluttered and blocked my vision; several of them went in my mouth and I coughed. They weren't mine. Before the phantom evaporated with a blinding flash of lightning, I caught a glimpse of large pair (compared to the miniature body) of wings flapping gracefully like a bird of prey just about to take flight. He was gone within seconds, and he took my bow with him.

The phantom's presence completely disappeared, but he left behind sprigs of static that snapped and nipped at our fingertips. I gasped. My lungs felt like they inflated back to its original shape. We all fell onto the floor, using our shoulders to breathe.

"…O-Okay. Alright. The 'Plasma Creature' was stronger than it looked." Wario rolled on his back and coughed. "I mean, that guy was tiny."

"Is your hand okay?" Zelda took my hand and turned it over. It was pink but it didn't sting as much. But the fact that the phantom took the holy bow away from me was infuriating.

Marth wheezed and threw off his metal chest plate. The armor hit the floor hard and still twitched even without the phantom. "Ow. Ugh, I hope Roy and the other patients aren't injured. We better go check on them."

Zelda and Wario agreed to go down the hallway to check on the other patients. The nurse that went to fetch someone was oddly quiet during the phantom's unexpected visit, but I hope she is all right. Marth and I opened Roy's room without much effort thanks to the phantom and his electricity, which busted the lock open. The only effort needed was tolerance because the door still stored remnants of electricity.

The inside of the room was surprisingly unharmed. Roy was fine and was placed on a white bed while the doctor was tending to his arm. The doctor had his back turned to us but he noticed us when he turned to his desk to reach for something. He was somewhat familiar. But his name didn't come to my mind immediately.

Instead, Marth sighed with relief and walked up to him with a grin, "Dr. Mario. Thank goodness it's you." Dr. Mario. That's his name.

Dr. Mario's moustache stretched a mile wide. "Marth! Oh and…" He stared at me and then frowned apologetically.

"It's okay. I can't remember my name either."

"I'm sorry. Your name is right here on the tip of my tongue but it's not coming out." He scratched his head and reached for a bottle. I couldn't understand what it was, but seeing him dab the liquid onto a cloth and wipe Roy's arm professionally, I knew we were in good hands.

"We'll explain everything later. But um, didn't you hear the… commotion outside?" Marth asked. But Dr. Mario gave us a blank expression until he took a look out in the lobby.

"Mamma mia! What happened out here?"

Zelda and Wario came back with a flustered look on their faces. They said their greetings to Dr. Mario, but Wario stiffened to meet him.

"Nobody's here. This place is deserted."

"What? But then where is the nurse? Didn't she say she was tending a patient?" I asked.

Zelda shook her head solemnly. "I don't know. Either she disappeared, or maybe…"

We all turned to the doctor without even thinking. His eyes wandered from all the sudden attention but he calmly replied, "This hospital is abandoned. Only I'm here. I was surprised to find Roy in my room when I came back, but he needed attention so I did what I had to do. But um… I do hear some voices every once in a while."

I met eyes with Zelda. "We seem to find a lot of ghosts, don't we?"

Wario still seemed unconvinced. "Hey, but I'm not a ghost! Didn't you hear me shouting at you or knocking at your door?"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't… This place is an odd place. The last thing I remember was lying on this bed inside this hospital. I'm confused too." Dr. Mario looked down.

We all fell silent. I felt bad for the doctor as much as I was confused with him also. Wario groaned from the heavy atmosphere and waved his hand.

"…Alright alright. This place is pretty damn confusing. Well then, where did Lucario go?"

"Right here."

I almost jumped out of my skin as a soft paw patted my back. Lucario, fresh and healthy, chuckled and bowed lightly to everyone. There was bondage tape wrapped around his thigh and chest, but otherwise he looked well.

Wario finally looked relieved. "Aw man, I was so worried about you."

"Ah yes, I was surprised to find him in my room also. Patients just seem to pop out of nowhere. Are any of you injured?"

Dr. Mario looked lively to check up on us. He looked at my burnt hand (although it didn't hurt as much) and Marth's chest where the phantom zapped him. While we all had our wounds taken care of, Roy didn't open his eyes, but he seemed to be in peace.

According to Dr. Mario's story, the hospital was abandoned. The nurse seemed too alive to be a ghost, but I was the one that thought the girl in Polis 3, Priscilla, was alive when she was dead all this time. It may be that the nurses and patients here still hold a memory in this hospital. Could there be another hospital nearby with nurses and doctors that are alive?

I backed Dr. Mario briefly with my experiences, especially about the new phantom, the "Plasma Creature", and how he acquired my bow. Since Dr. Mario said he never left the hospital, I told him about the shady Lieutenant Blackwood and the researchers that hurt Roy and the others.

Dr. Mario cut off the bondage and finished wrapping my hand. "Are there more of us nearby? I'd like to join you on this… hmm, 'searching for the truth' journey."

"Oh, now that we know this place is empty, we could make this our hideout." Marth suggested. He had an excited glint in his eyes.

Zelda clapped her hands together. "A hideout! How lovely, it has a mysterious sound to it."

I laughed, but honestly, a hideout in this Polis 1 was a good idea. The guards are probably searching all over the city for all of us, and we certainly can't split up and hide in alleyways all the time. We needed time to brainstorm and gather our ideas together, along with some resting time from all the horror everyone has been through.

After a good hour or so of ducking through the eyes of the guards and signaling our friends to the abandoned hospital, we gathered everyone together.

The hospital was in a dark corner from the city, away from the noise and crowd. The townspeople still sought refuge in the city hall but some of them were beginning to go back to their homes. I had to hold in the urge to warn them about the lurking "Plasma Creature", since I wanted to avoid all attention possible.

I looked around. Everybody sat or lay down in a tired matter. Some of us went through fighting the last of the monstrous Green Bird, and most of us were held captive by the mysterious researchers. We all needed rest.

Young Link scooted closer to Ness and Lucas as they lay down on their backs. Wario, Kirby, and Captain Falcon slept noisily on the hospital beds. Link and Ike were pointing at Marth's sword and talking amongst themselves. Zelda and Lucario stayed with Dr. Mario and I as we waited for Roy to wake up.

Everyone I met so far is here. Not lost, but here with me, and I can't be more grateful than that. (But I'd be more grateful if I had my bow, but for now.)

Author's Note: I hope everyone had (or is having) a good spring break. I took my time to write this, I apologize for that. The next chapter will feature the massive game of tag in Polis 1 with the phantom and everyone, plus the guards.

Pandamonium (I'm so sorry for the late reply)- Yes, the beginning of Ch.20 Firebird is a dream of some past times.

Mystical- Wario did come out more helpful than I intended. But I'd like to make everyone helpful since they all need to work together.