Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda series do not, repeat, not belong to me. They rightfully belong to Miyamoto. (May he continue to make excellent games for the rest of his days.) What does belong to me are Cleo, Finn, Syrilla and Okam (sorta).
Chapter 18
Just one more essence to find. One more and they would be able to save the Twilight Realm from Veran and her horde of insects. It was almost over.
Cleo and Jack exited the Tree of Dusk and the moment they did, they ran into another near-disaster. The whole village was there waiting for Cleo and it didn't seemed that their attitude had improved. "This has gone far enough!" It was the chief who shouted. "First you plague us, then you enter the tree without permission! What have you done this time?!"
"I just saved all your lives!" Cleo still couldn't believe that they were all still falsely accusing her. "I cleared the spring, damn it! It's filled with medicine now, you just need to drink it!"
No one appeared convinced, however. "Where's your proof? Your words alone can't trick us into trusting you!"
"Can't you see what's in front of you, the tree is healed now! Just look at it!"
"The Tree of Dusk is special!" one of the Drabokos spoke up. "It has always protected us, it has never failed us before! We have always believed it will find a way to heal itself, you have no involvement in this! The Tree of Dusk has defied you!" Many of the others nodded and murmured in agreement.
"Will you please use your common sense!" Cleo shouted in exasperation. "No living thing can adapt against a foreign disease this fast, not even this one! IT'S JUST A TREE!"
"Cleo, that is not wise!" Jack warned, urgently.
"I say we drown her in the river if she thinks it's safe!" They were all closing in on her. Cleo couldn't find a way out, even if she ran back inside the tree, she'd eventually be cornered.
"WAAAAAAIIIIIIT!" Suddenly, a Subrosian pushed his way through the crowd until he managed to stand between Cleo and all of Midnight Hollow. "You have to listen to her! Cleo is innocent, she's telling the truth!" Cleo realized it was Squurall.
"Get out of the way, Subrosian! This is none of your concern!"
"But it's true! She did use a special herbal medicine on the spring! I know because I'm the one who gave it to her." The Drabokos now looked confused, they started whispering to each other. "I make the medicine with the windmills in Subrosia. The moment Cleo learned about what happened here, she came to me asking for help. She was trying like crazy to find you all a cure!"
The chief was now staring at Cleo, moderately unsure. After a long, intense moment of thinking, he finally spoke. "We will drink the water only once, but only if you swear to leave this forest... and never return. Never again show your face here!"
Cleo didn't argue. Although she was still unwelcome at Midnight Hollow, at least she got to go free. She, Jack and Squurall left the woods. They were silent while they walked back to Subrosia. "I'm sorry about all this... at least they'll recover," Squurall assured her. She smiled in response, some of the trees she'd noticed on the way back were returning to full bloom.
"I'm gonna be heading to the Blue Crater Volcano and get the last essence now."
"Yes, let us hurry before something else-" Jack was suddenly interrupted with a violently shaking RRRRRRRRRRRRR-KABOOOOOOOM! "...happens."
Cleo and Squurall turned toward the source of the noise and watched in alarm as the volcano erupted, spewing tons of lava over the side. "Don't worry!" Squurall shouted over the explosion. "We Subrosians can survive this! There's nothing you need to-"
"THE LAVA'S HEADING TOWARD THE FOREST!" Without a second thought, Cleo ran back the way she came.
"But the chief told you-" Squurall couldn't finish his sentence before Cleo was out of earshot. She didn't care if the Drabokos hated her or might attack her again should she set foot back in Midnight Hollow, she had to do something before they were utterly destroyed.
Many of the villagers were startled by her return. "Why are you back?!" the chief asked perturbed.
"Lava is erupting and heading your way! You've all got to get out of the forest right now!"
"I don't have anymore time for your nonsense!" he sighed angrily. But the Drabokos suddenly began shouting and gathering as they noticed a harsh red glow slowly lighting up the horizon beyond the trees. They were beginning to panic. "Please everyone, stay calm!"
"Chief, you have to get everyone mobilized and evacuate!"
"Even if you are telling the truth, we cannot abandon the Tree of Dusk. We just can't!"
"You don't have a choice! You'll all die if you stay put."
But the chief shook his head. "You simply don't understand. It may be just a tree to you, but it's far more precious to us than that. We won't abandon it."
Squurall and Jack caught up with Cleo. She turned to her partner. "They still won't listen. I don't know what to do!"
"We saw the lava. It is flowing in through a deep gorge with a fork in the path. If we can somehow manage to block the pathway that leads to the forest with some sort of dam, it will divert the flow the other way."
Cleo nodded and turned back to the chief. "Please, I beg you! Leave the forest for your own safety. I will try to protect the tree. Just go!" He hesitated a second longer, then finally gave the order to his people to run.
"Hey, I almost forgot. I found another rune." Squurall gave one marked Shenlong to Cleo. "I don't know what it does, might want to save it for later." Cleo then took off toward the gorge.
She ran as fast as she could, until she arrived at a forest fire. She found the flow of lava coming out of a gap in the rocky wall. It had hit a river, causing it to solidify and creating thick, blinding steam. The deep water was slowing it down, but it wouldn't last. It would eventually overflow and burn the entire forest. Only a few trees were burning, but the fire would spread unless she could stop the lava. Cleo used Will-o-wisp to light her way through the steam and Viridi to grow vines to climb up the the cliff face. She raced to the fork in the path and, looking closely at the rocky walls for a weak point, then used Mars to draw bombs.
Boulders blew off the walls and fell, crashing down, onto the lava, cutting it off from the forest. The lava got thicker, rising higher in the now limited space, but thankfully, the dam held. "You did it Cleo!"
"We're not out of the woods yet, Jack!"
"Actually, we are several yards outside the woods and we need to go back in to stop that fire."
"That's what I meant!" Cleo snapped.
"Oh!" They ran back to the forest fire. Cleo equipped the Rune of Futen and was about to use it. "NO WAIT! THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!" As Jack shouted, she was already creating a strong wind blowing through the flames. The fire, to her great shock, didn't die down, instead it immediately rose into an inferno. The sound of the flames and falling trees was deafening.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! That always worked on birthday candles!"
"Fire feeds on air as well as wood! The wind is only making it stronger!"
"AW CRAP!" She tried to wrack her brains for any other rune she had that might stop the fire. Nothing came up. Then she remembered the Rune of Shenlong. "God please, let this help!" She slapped it on the Skribal Sword and activated it. The sword pointed to the river and drew a line to the fire. A large stream of water flew through the air and dowsed some of the flames.
She began blasting away at the fire, trying to put it all out. But because of her blunder, it was proving difficult. The fire was spreading as fast as Cleo was fighting it, if not faster. She was beginning to think that this was a lost battle when all of the Drabokos suddenly appeared. With buckets in hand, they joined the fight, they were helping her out. With everyone working together, they were able to put an end to the forest fire. A third of the woods were burned to the ground, but the Village of Midnight Hollow and the Tree of Dusk was untouched.
Cleo looked a mess, covered in soot and sweat, with a few small burn marks on her costume. Once again, she was facing the entire village. Then the chief stepped forward, Cleo was dreading this, she was about to be punished for breaking her ban from the forest for sure. Unexpectedly, he fell on his hands and knees. At first she thought he was succumbing to the sickness that might still be lingering inside him, but a second later, she realized that he was actually bowing to her.
"...Thank you... ...thank you greatly for saving us... And... ...we are truly... very sorry... for the falseness of our actions." He looked up at her. "Can you find it in your heart to forgive us?"
Cleo smiled. "You helped me out when I couldn't handle the situation on my own, it's you I have to thank. You don't have to apologize."
"Regardless of what happened before, you're welcome at Midnight Hollow." Many other Drabokos gave a subtle bow to her.
"Ahoy Cleo!" She looked up at the top of a cliff where Scervo stood. "Ya better come up smartly lass! There's something ya need ter see!"
Cleo looked at Jack. "What is it, this time?" he asked a little tiredly. They quickly went back up on the cliff and followed the pirate to where they could see a new area below.
"Feast yer eyes on this!" Scervo pointed with his hook and Cleo gaped at what she saw. There was another Mirror of Twilight, opened and surrounded by the giant insects. Then a beetle was spat out of the mirror. It stood up and joined its fellows.
"So that's where they're coming from! I knew they couldn't be from the Twilight Realm!"
"But that portal... Where does that portal lead?" asked Jack.
"I doubt it goes to Hyrule, there's no way they came from there. It's got to be some other world."
"I say we blast that mirror ter kingdom come!" Scervo suggested.
Cleo shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about! Only the true ruler of the Twilight Realm can utterly destroy it and that's Midna. But we don't have time to fetch her!"
"It is strange... I think I have seen this portal before... ...but I thought it was..." Jack trailed off.
"Are you alright, Jack?"
"... ...It is nothing... not important now."
"If ye be heading to the Blue Crater, ya gonna have to get past them."
"How, Scervo? I can't fight that many!" Cleo complained.
"Ya don't have ter. Just let me have the fun." And before she could even say a word, he had already jumped down... and crashed through the roof of a supply shack. Cleo stared on dubiously (along with the surprised bugs) as he charged out with a "YAAARRR!". "Come and get me ye devil spawned weevils!" He ran off and most of the army began their chase.
"Let's go!" Both Cleo and Jack slid down a slope and ran toward the volcano (slashing down any bugs left in their way).