"Gangway!" Scervo urged her back. "I'm driving!" He got the bike up and mounted. "Well, climb aboard!" Cleo and Jack climbed on behind the pirate and the bike shot forward. Cleo pulled her hat down tightly so it wouldn't fly off. She could see the gang chasing them. They let loose the ribbon walls, they were planning to cross Scervo's path and cause him to crash up. He wildly swerved out of their way, trying to avoid hitting the walls.
This is inspired from Light-Cycle games in Disney's Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010). The Grid, a computer world with programs as people, looks a bit like the Twilight Realm, so it was an obvious choice to write in the Light-Cycles. An old idea was for Scervo to challenge Cleo to a race, but I changed the idea to the Trojan Horse Gang interfering a duel between them that Cleo chooses not to participate in and the interference lead them to work together. I found that to be more powerful than the old idea.
Eleven fell and now only Dreadfuse was left. He launched out sets of four pikes, planted in squares, all over the area. "What the heck is he doing?" Cleo asked in confusion. "He's not hitting us."
It turned out that they were not designed as ammo. There were flashing lights with a beeping sound on the top of the pikes that went faster and faster until... the pikes sunk down in a jerk and a surge of electricity shot down into the ground. There was a huge CRACK! as loud as the thunder and, as fast as lightning, huge square earthen pillars shot upwards. They were rising up all around them way too fast and Scervo made sharp wild turns to avoid a nasty crash and both Cleo and Jack wailed.
I wanted to include another feature in the Light-Cycles (or some other avoidance game), and I came up with this rather overpowered weapon. I had trouble describing it in minute detail.
"Sparklette... Was that her name?"
I really don't have much to say about the name other than it's a random robot name idea.
Scervo reached into a pocket and pulled out a small stone. "Cleo, ye have earned this." He gave her the rune which read Draconequus.
Draconequus, Discord, Chimera: Equestrian. The Draconequus was invented by Hasbro for MLP: FIM (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic). It is a new mythological creature with "the head of a pony and a body made up of all sorts of things". The only known member is Discord, the master of chaos and disharmony. Lauren Faust created the villain inspired from the character Q from Star Trek: the Next Generation (1987-1994). The people working on the cartoon were originally planning to find a voice actor who sounds like John de Lancie (who played as Q) and ended up, to their thrill, with de Lancie himself. I created the rune's purpose before naming it and couldn't, at first, think of any mythological subject relating to gravity or anti-gravity, until I remembered Discord, who can easily defy the laws of physics with a snap of his claws.
"Ya'll be needing a password if ye are ter revive the tower. The password is BENDROWNED."
This is from a popular creepypasta story involving a cursed MM game. Someone bought a used game pak of MM from a garage sale and brought it home to play it. He found a save file titled Ben, ignored it, and started a new game. It was when things start to get VERY WEIRD. He starts in a random place in the game instead of in the opening cutscene, the NPCs kept calling him Ben, even though it was his own file he's playing, music plays backwards half the time, the creepy Link statue repeatedly appears without the Elegy of Emptiness played. Feeling freaked out, he deleted the "Ben" file, only for it to return on its own later along with a new file "drowned". After that, the freaky glitches became more erratic and scary, the worst being his character randomly bursting into flames following the message "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?". The urban legend suggests that the original owner, a little kid named Ben, had died tragically by drowning and his soul is inhabiting the game pak.
After going through the next opening, she found a chest containing the Rune of Mjolnir, giving the sword an electric surge and creating a clawshot to use on magnetic targets.
Mjolnir: Norse. Mjolnir is a legendary hammer wielded by Thor, the God of Thunder. Mjolnir is pronounced with a y instead of a j as it's from one of those Germanic languages. Ancient Vikings wore stone or metal pendents and amulets in the shape of a hammer, most likely to give them strength and courage. It's almost a religious symbol (looking similar to a cross), its image etched in rocks, shields, and other things in the old countries. Thor isn't just a mythological figure, he also became a superhero in the Marvel Comics, and his character was rewritten by Stan Lee (Dec 28, 1922).
Cleo input BENDROWNED when it required the password and a Timeshift Orb as big as a large beach ball appeared from the floor. It gave off a field covering one hundred feet in diameter and restoring the power within that field. She heaved it in her arms and an alarm sounded, revealing a Sphere Master (a floating hand that guarded the orb). She had to race against it in a nerve wracking game of keep away. She placed it in a vertical conveyer lift and rode up with it. Then she was forced to leave it on the floor, climb higher, and grab the orb with Mjolnir from the upper floors.
In TP, when entering the Twilight Realm, you have to retrieve the two sols to lift the curse off the Twili citizens. But you have to get it from Zant's Hand and get it out of the Palace of Twilight before the hand grabs it back. It will slowly follow you, even through doors, until you're finally outside. I named this hand in the fanfic the Sphere Master, after the key masters in Spirit Tracks (DS, 2009).
Magnetic Scarab:
Keprai
Again, another fusion. Keprai is from the name Khepri, an Egyptian god symbolizing the scarab and the word rai, which means thunder in Japanese. I didn't bother hiding the fact that the boss is a robot.
The next scene that will display is a deleted scene and didn't make it into the story.
Cleo went to retrieve her shield when the oil suddenly began moving on its own. "What in the world?!" She got her sword ready but the black thing was slithering away. "Where do you think you're going?" She chased after it but tripped over a metal plate. By the time she got back up, the shadowy amoeba disappeared. "What kind of oil was that?" She asked, astonished.
"...That was not oil..."
"Was it Veran?"
"No... this is different... I do not know, but somehow... I know it is something else entirely, something not of this realm. Whatever it is... it is much more sinister and evil than what we are currently facing..."
Cleo was baffled from Jack's words. Was there really something else out there, something even worse than Veran? If it came from within a robot beetle from Veran's army, could that mean the thing was part of her plan, or was it there without her knowledge?
The reason I completely dropped this scene is because it didn't make sense, story-wise. Aku still needed Cleo to gather the Essences of Light, so why put a bit of himself in Keprai to kill her? As much as it didn't work out, it's still fun to read, so I saved it for the bonus chapter.
She got the Sprite Cloud. The power of nature creates a spark of life and surges through the image!
Sprites are a type of lightning that are red in color and are shaped vaguely conical like a jellyfish, carrots or columns and topped with a halo. The aura-like clusters are found way high up above thunderstorms, somewhere in the upper atmosphere (near space) so they are rarely seen.
...sigh...
What's wrong Mr. Jack? Are you okay?
... ...
Here, you can have my ice cream if it will make you feel better.
You are very generous child, but I cannot take it from you.
It's okay. I can get another one.
...Thank you...
I know why you're sad. You lost something didn't you. I know, because I lost something too, all the orphans did.
It is not just something, it is everything. One time I thought for sure I was going to save my homeland and free my people. I fought a battle I thought would be my final one... but that victory was snatched away from me along with everything I held dear... And I let my family down...
...I'm sorry...
There is no need to be sorry. I have not given up hope, nor will I ever. No matter how much this evil has taken hold of this world, there will always be a small bit of light that will never go out. You are living proof of that my friend.
You'll free us all Jack. I know you will... I believe in you...
This is the first memory taking place in the future Jack was flung to. This is the longest memory written besides the last one. Here we read about his past in less-vague detail without giving too much away. I cannot say who the child is, or whether it's a human, alien, or robot.
"Many Scervos before me had done so since the 002S model who built it after his banishment into the Twilight Realm."
He briefly mentions the same Scervo that appeared in Skyward Sword. It revealed he had somehow ended up in the Twilight Realm after his defeat on the Sandship.
"Where do you think you're going, you brat?" said a wheezing mechanical voice. Cleo spun round, immediately recognizing that voice but couldn't believe it, even as she stared shocked at the still smoldering form of Dreadfuse.
"You're dead!" she shouted exasperatedly.
"Not yet... Not until you start pushing up daisies first!"
"How is gardening a punishment?" Jack asked.
"Jack, it means he's going to kill us!" Cleo corrected.
"I'm going to enjoy this! Granted, he won't be too pleased when you're gone, but he'll still have the essences nonetheless."
"Wait a minute! Who's 'he'?"
"I'll tell you... after I drag you down to Hell with me!" Dreadfuse opened his coat, revealing bombs tied to his body, they had been lit. Knowing they couldn't outrun the blast in time, the pair dove toward the warp. They heard the loud blast and felt the heat and they both disintegrated... into black particles flying through the warp.
After they reappeared back in Castle Town, Cleo said in a shaky voice "Now I know he's dead!"
This was another idea I had as sudden as Dreadfuse's appearance. And it helped provide certain information telling Cleo there's someone else other than Veran to worry about (an alternative to the deleted scene).
After some wandering around and asking some Twilis, she came to a room Okam was said to be in.
As she approached, she overheard his voice and it sounded irritated. "...I gave you the information needed, just do it!" Cleo went in. She could see Okam talking to a light blue stone she recognized as a gossip stone. For a brief moment she thought she heard Midna's voice coming from the stone, but the tone didn't sound right, it sounded harsh. The elder Twili suddenly realized Cleo was there and he quickly threw it in a drawer which fused into the wall. He turned to her looking aggravated. "Don't you knock?"
"Well... I'm back and I'm just wondering where I can find-"
"Green Flash, Midnight Hollow," he said shortly. "And I'm busy right now."
"What's eating you?"
"Why, does he have fleas?" Jack wondered.
Okam gave them a glare to rival that of a charging bull's. "Both of you, out!"
"Whoa! If you stare at me any harder, your eyebrows will catch on fire again!"
"I SAID GET OUT!" Okam grabbed a vase and both Cleo and Jack ran for it, the pot thrown at her narrowly missed her head.
This is my favorite in between dungeons scene. Although I didn't yet know when it would take place in the fanfic, it's one of the few scenes that was planned ahead, since most of the story was practically written off the top of my head (whereas, MTG and BT had whole plot points made before I even wrote the very first paragraph of the fanfics). Aku's "GREAT FLAMING EYEBROWS" was hinted at again here. Also, the gossip stone was kinda random, I couldn't think of how else Okam was communicating with Veran when Cleo accidentally walked in on their private conversation.
Cleo quickly looked around the corner where she had come from. She lowered her voice. "I'm going to get the next essence. While I'm away, I need you to keep a close eye on Okam."
Midna looked confused. "That's a very odd request. What are you getting at?"
"...I had this suspicion for awhile, but... I wasn't sure at first... Listen, I think... I think it's possible that Okam might be a traitor... and he's secretly working for Veran."
"Cleo, that's a very serious accusation," Midna gasped. "Are you sure?"
"Not entirely... I just have this gut feeling... That's why I'm asking you to spy on him."
After all the clues Cleo managed to pick up, she finally catches on to Okam's suspicious behavior. Knowing she has an enemy in their midst, she turns to the first person she trusts, Midna, for help.
"...All right... I trust your judgment. I'll keep an eye on him for you and send a messenger to let you know first hand if I find anything suspicious."
And that messenger ended up being Finn.
"Allow me to escort you to the last warp."
"...The last? I thought I was going for the second to last Essence of Light."
"The last two destinations are actually on the same floating island. I looked at the scroll myself, it said the Green Flash is in Midnight Hollow and the Eclipse Ring is in the Blue Crater Volcano. Since those places happen to be close to one another, it would be faster to get both of the Essences on the same roundabout trip."
I kinda ran out of ideas for Cleo's interactions with Midna and Okam so I had to have her away for both of the last two essences.
After appearing from the warp, they found themselves in a forest that strongly reminded Cleo of Boggly Woods from another game she had played.
The Boggly Woods was in Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door (GC, 2004).
They soon arrived at some kind of hut village in a wide, hollow. The inhabitants were the most interesting she'd seen so far, they were raptor-like, in shape, but they seemed to be more flora than fauna. Their bodies looked to be made of a wooden pith covered in thin bark, the exterior of them were twigs, leaves, maybe flowers (but they were all sadly drooping).
Midnight Hollow was named after a downloadable world for Sims 3 (PC, 2009) (no, the place in the fanfic looks nothing like the one in the game). The Drabokos are a combination of draco, meaning dragon, and Boko Babas, a plant enemy from WW. Seriously, what's with me and all those name combinations?!
"What are you doing back here?" said an angry voice. The oldest looking one of the village (must be the chief she thought) stepped out of the crowd. "How dare you show your face again!"
"What are you talking about? I wasn't here before!" Cleo explained.
"Don't lie to us! We are not fools, you're the one who brought this terrible plague upon the Drabokos and all of Midnight Hollow!"
"What?! How could you think such a thing?!"
"Because you told us so yourself. When we suddenly fell ill with a sickness that spread and killed so many trees and some of my people, you came and confessed to us of your horrid crime, laughing so cruelly as we were slowly dying! You're a vile monster, dooming us all to rot away just because it amuses you!"
Cleo was at a loss for words. She'd never felt so wrongly accused so unexpectedly.
Since Cleo had never been framed before, I suddenly thought about it and decided to add it the her entire list of predicaments she'd had in all three stories. She's quite a trouble magnet.
"I was about to ask who might have the sorcery to take on your appearance. But I am guessing now that it is Veran again."
"Duh! Of course she can take on someone else's appearance, I saw Midna do that once to amuse herself."
That little scene with Midna is in (where else?) TP. I also later used that idea near the end of the fanfic.
"There be a simple solution. The fertile volcanic soil from Subrosia."
And I threw in a random official Zelda location Cleo must go to out of the blue at the end of a chapter. More on that in the next trivia.
"Subrosia? I'm sorry, but I'm not up to such a long trip and I doubt the Drabokos will last much longer."
"What are ya blatherin' about? Subrosia is just a hop and a skip away."
Cleo's eyes widened. "Oh, really? It's actually in the Twilight Realm?"
"Yes, what cha expect?"
Cleo, having played Oracle of Seasons, felt wrong-footed. She didn't know the place was part of this realm.
The fanfic explains the game Subrosia comes from. A volcanic area being the most difficult environment for Cleo to tackle (in video game terms), I decided to add that official place as a part of the Twilight Realm. Besides Twilis, the Subrosians are the only race I didn't invent.
"But how does volcanic soil help?"
"Because volcanic soil is very valuable for plant life," Jack voluntarily answered. Cleo and Scervo both looked at him. "What? It is. I know because I once lived in a country lined with mostly dormant volcanoes."
Jack's info about his own home gives readers an idea of where he might have come from.
"A stranger!" One said in excitement.
"A very strange stranger, indeed," said another.
"I've never seen a Draboko like that before," said a third.
"I don't think it's a Draboko," replied the second.
"It doesn't look like it came from around here," said a fourth.
"Why is there a floating fire following it? Now I want one! Do you keep them as pets?"
"I think it's some weird looking pale Twili."
"I think I saw another one just like this one, near another mirror portal almost a month ago, except that one was tall, a little more broad, and wore white robes."
In that mess of gossip over Cleo, I slipped in a crucial bit of info that might catch readers attention, telling them there is another Mirror of Twilight and that another human came from it (even the description was major into for anyone who watched SJ). That info would point to Jack.
She reached out and grabbed the new rune, it read Futen.
Futen, Fujin: Japanese. The rune was originally named Oroshi which is a Japanese term for a strong wind. I was stupid to think it had anything to do with mythology, so I changed it to Futen after the god of the wind. Futen is not very well known (considering the Wiki article didn't have much to say about Fujin) other than he is the brother to Raijin, the god of storms.
"My name's Squurall and I own all these windmills."
Squurall is from the word squall which is a sudden violent gust of wind. I can't exactly remember (I was on a short vacation while I was writing this part on my notebook), but I think the other word I used for the name is Ura, the original Japanese name for Subrosian.
Cleo went right to work, using Futen to summon the wind and get each of the ten windmills moving. It wasn't as easy as it looked as she had to twirl her sword at just the right speed (not too fast or too slow) so the sails would move, and properly.
Can't exactly make it as easy as you'd think.
"Why are we doing this?" one of them asked his partner. "The tree is dying, what is the point of this? We're all going to die."
"We need to have more faith in our sacred tree. It hasn't failed us yet, we have always depended on it for its life giving protection," the second sighed with a wheeze. "If we can only hold onto the hope that it will pull through, it gives us enough reason to protect it."
Here we see that the Drabokos possess a religion they depend a little too much on. This adds to the complication to Cleo's problem even after she manages to cure the Tree of Dusk. The tree is sentient in a way, true, but it's not a god, no different from the Great Deku Tree in OoT (and we know what happens to it).
They ran down the path that led to their destination until they were standing before a trunk so massive, you could fit an entire dungeon inside it. And she had a feeling that was exactly what it was going to be.
Half the time, I misnamed it the Tree of Dawn instead of Tree of Dusk like it's supposed to be called (and I had already planned to name the final dungeon the Altar of Dawn, making things even more confusing). I had to comb through all the chapters involving the last two destinations for the mistakes and correct them, in every copy, online, main computer, notebook, which is a hassle.
After reappearing in the hall, she looked both ways to see where he'd gone and saw a shadow disappearing around a corner to her left. She quietly followed it. Okam looked around him and continued his nighttime stroll. Midna followed him carefully, trying not to get caught, turning into a shadow whenever he looked back. He was looking over his shoulder more often than necessary, which seemed suspicious. He clearly didn't want to be observed.
But the weirdest thing she noticed was not his strange behavior, it was his shadow. It... didn't look right, it didn't even look like him, it looked like something else, something tall and angular, with rows of chevron shaped extensions on the head, pointing upwards. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but Midna felt goose-bumps when she saw it.
The shadow is showing his real shape. A little insight to who Okam really is or, to anyone who didn't watch SJ, what he might look like.
"You know full well she cannot survive without that lost spirit."
"Yes, that's the problem. Jack is the reason she's still alive, which is why you should've taken him out first. He is a danger to my plan... as he always has been."
"...Are you saying you actually know him?"
"Let's just say Jack and I go way back."
And here we learn that Okam and Jack are connected, both of them sharing the same past, and showing that Okam was somehow responsible for what happened to Jack.
He suddenly whipped around and shot lasers right out of his eyes, smashing the pot. Midna was thrown from the shadow, now exposed.
I don't know if Twilis can shoot lasers from their eyes, most likely not. Aku seems to favor using his powers with his eyes, but since TP fans cannot know whether or not Twilis can do that, it's not much of a hint for his identity.
"Did you really think you were the one in charge, Sparkling Vampire Princess?"
I know, I know! The first thing you most likely thought when you read this is "I see what you did there!"
"Haven't you figured it out by now? I have been the one in control all along... I have already won." Then he let out a terrible, demonic, echoing cackle that was unlike his own elderly voice. His appearance began to change before her very eyes and she looked horrified.
The whole interlude had a few small plot twists involving Okam. This is the biggest one. Turns out Veran isn't the big bad after all.
She found a chest containing the Rune of Viridi.
Viridi: Nintendo. Like the Draconequus, Viridi is a very recent Mythological invention. She is the Goddess of Nature from the game Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS, 2012). She has an animosity toward the human race, believing them to be selfish, greedy, and disrespectful to the Earth. She at first, hates Pit for stopping her reset bombs from wiping out humanity, but when greater evil threatens the whole world, she decided to help him out. She may even have a secret crush on Pit.
She went through another maze with shadow babas in her way, requesting certain tree fruits to let her pass. After delivering the right fruit to each of them, she found the big key. Now that she was at the top, way above the web covered hole, she took a brave leap and fell hard and fast, breaking through the web and landing in strangely purple water.
The first part is from MM, where underneath the Ikana Canyon Well, you have to wear a gibdo's mask to talk with the gibdos (mummies) and give them consumable items to get past them in the maze-like caverns. The second part is from OoT where you make the same leap through the web inside the Deku Tree.
Necro Arachnid:
Staltula
*Sigh* Yet again another fusion. This time a stalfos and a skulltulla. As I'm pretty sure you noticed, the battle that took place was inspired by the popular game Plants vs. Zombies (Various platforms, starting from 2009). There used to be baby staltulas attacking both in main dungeon and boss battle, but I completely changed them to zombies to make the fight even more like the game. I did notice that Cleo didn't seem to be afraid of them, redeads and gibdos are her greatest fears. Maybe this is because she's specifically scared of only those two kinds of undead and the zombies in the Twilight Realm aren't either of them. Because of its popularity and how there are so many cameos and easter eggs in other games, I'm surprised there isn't a PvZ movie coming (I so wish there would be).
She got the Green Flash. The first glimpse of verdant light shines upon the lost and awakens their soul!
The green flash is from another rare phenomenon, happening while the sun is on the horizon. When the sky shows the very first ray of sunlight in the morning or the very last ray in the evening, that light flashes green for only a couple of seconds. You can only see it when the horizon isn't obscured by trees and such, so a beach with an ocean or over cloud tops on a mountain peak are the best places to see it (although I recommend an ocean, as mountain climbing isn't as safe as walking on a beach).
So you are from the distant past, I see?
Yes... I was told that you alone know the secret location of a hidden portal through time.
You were told correctly.
I am in desperate need of it... The entire world is depending on me. I must get right back to that very battle I fought all those eons ago and finally finish what I started. Once I do, all the evil he has caused will vanish and history will change for the greater good.
I have been waiting my whole life for the warrior who had been lost through time. I warn you Jack, the path ahead will be dangerous.
I know... I am used to that...
Very well, I will point the way... it is time to fulfill your destiny.
This is to reveal to readers that Jack was flung from his own time into the future just as the story in the cartoon series told. I wonder if SJ fans are starting to catch on to the surprise crossover plot twist by now?
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!"
It just goes to show you how blind religion can make people. Even Christianity is no exception, God is never what we imagined him to be, because we can't know what he's really like (and the Bible is not proof of anything about him). He could be a she for all we know, it's possible. This scene reflects the people who relied on only religion for explanations and the results are not always good.
"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!"
I knew I had to have Squurall come to the rescue and it redeemed him from his earlier cowardice.
"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."
I did justify the Drabokos' reasons for their defiance, not because they believe it would save them, but because they're trying to save it.
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.
Shenlong, Shen-lung, Shenron: Chinese. Its name meaning "spirit dragon", it is said to be the master of storms and bringer of rain. Unlike the European dragons that were considered evil and dangerous, especially in the medieval era, the Asian dragons (or Lungs) were revered as sacred and holy. Although they need to be respected, because offending them could bring bad weather, from droughts to great floods. Shenlong was a symbol of royalty in the imperial dynasty, embroidering architecture, decor, clothing and so on. It also became the inspiration for the wish granting Eternal Dragon from the Dragon Ball series (1984-2009 overall versions).