Ferio, the Mysterious (and Handsome) Swordsman!
It had been a few hours, and the four Magic Knights were now deep within the Forest of Silence, running after Mokona, who had been hopping away from them, chirping happily. The creature would only turn back every now and again to make sure that the Magic Knights were still following. They would weave through trees and down crossroads with the only opposition being the various monsters of the Forest of Silence. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Mokona finally stopped, and all four Magic Knights fell to their knees in exhaustion.
"Oh, come on! This isn't a track meet!" Umi groaned, looking around at yet another fork in the road. "Which way do you think we should go?"
Mokona simply made more of his noises, as if to tell them to stop and rest. Which they were about to when another monster appeared. This one was far taller than the four Knights combined and had a single eye in the middle of its head. While Fuu and Umi stepped back screaming in terror, Logan and Hikaru stepped up to face it. The former, while he would originally let his fear show, had begun trying to bury it. Now he only wore a determined glare with a few beads of sweat. Hikaru, meanwhile, just had the glare.
The monster struck, slamming its claws into the floor where the duo had been a moment prior. However, they had jumped around to the side and gotten behind it. The monster seemed to be trying to decide who it wanted to kill first, and swung again at Hikaru, who slid underneath it and ended up next to Logan, who had managed to climb up a nearby tree. He let out a yell as he leapt from the branch and slashed the monster right down the middle, destroying it.
"Whew!" Logan sighed, taking multiple deep breaths while Mokona hopped back over to the four teens. It leapt back into Hikaru's arms, it seemed to like her.
"Ugh! Why do you keep running into monsters all the time!?" Umi demanded, and Mokona just chirped in defense.
"Oh, I think it's just a coincidence, Umi!" Hikaru theorized.
"Well I'm gonna get upset if it isn't!" Umi threatened. "If it goofs up just once more..." She trailed as the four kept walking on.
"I believe these events are not strictly coincidental." Fuu muttered. "Maybe the path to Eterna is full of monsters."
"Can you stop saying spooky shit like that?!" Logan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This forest is already creepy enough. I feel like we're being watched..." He shuddered, glancing at the thick trees surrounding the group.
"Great, now you're scaring me!" Umi whined.
"Sorry, sorry..."
"In any case, it might be a good idea for us to have our weapons in hand as well. We cannot be certain when the next monster may strike." Fuu suggested, which was just on time, too. The ground started raising beneath Hikaru's feet. She was thrown off the rising pile of dirt as a giant praying mantis-like creature burst forth.
"Umi! Fuu! Get your weapons out, hurry!" Hikaru demanded as she slid to a halt, facing the giant insect. She and Logan both ran towards the insect, with the latter distracting it by blocking its attacks with his shield while Hikaru attempted to genuinely harm the beast.
As Umi and Fuu went to summon their own weapons, they felt a tap on their shoulder, turning to find a one-eyed creature resembling a rose towering behind them. As the two girls ran in panic, the monster's thorny vines wrapped around them, pulling them off the ground and closer to the monster.
"Umi! Fuu!" Hikaru called as she and Logan destroyed the mantis creature. The two girls were struggling to break free of the thorny monster's grip, but before the two Magic Knights in any condition to fight could act, the rose monster was split in half, where it vanished in a puff of darkness. A human figure with green hair appeared behind the creature's body, and he hefted what appeared to be a large scimitar over his shoulder. Mokona hopped back into Hikaru's arms at the same time.
The green-haired boy turned around, revealing golden-brown eyes, and small scars across his nose and on his cheek. He didn't look like one of Zagato's minions, but nobody could be sure of that just yet. He wore a cream-colored tunic over a black turtleneck, topped with a white shoulder guard. White gloves hid his hands, and he donned light green pants, which were abruptly cut off by black leg warmers and white boots.
"You mind tellin' me who the four of you are?" The boy asked as he approached.
"My name is Hikaru Shidou!"
"I am Fuu Hououji."
"I'm Umi Ryuuzaki."
"Logan Handley." The fourth Magic Knight said, stretching and yawning.
"People call me Ferio." The green-haired boy revealed.
"Mario?" Logan asked, having genuinely misheard Ferio.
"Ferio."
"I'm calling you Mario."
Ferio just sighed. "Well, I'm assuming you guys are pretty dumb, walkin' around the Forest of Silence with no weapons? That's like begging for monsters to come out and eat ya."
"That's... A fair point." Umi conceded.
"Yeah. The Forest of Silence is home to all sorts of monsters. There's probably hundreds and thousands of 'em here."
"Hundreds and thousands!?" The Magic Knights all repeated in shock.
"So, you guys wanna hire me as an escort?" Ferio asked, not elaborating further on the monster count. "You don't have a prayer gettin' outta here by yourselves. I work in this forest as a hunter, and you've seen what I can do. I'm fairly certain I'd come in handy to ya."
"We'd love to, but..." Logan trailed. "We're not exactly from around here, and don't have any money used in this country. Actually, we don't even know what the currency is."
"Gee, no wonder you're dressed all strange-like." Ferio commented. "Well, just to get you up to speed, Cephiro's currency is the rupee." He explained, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a tiny green gem. "These green ones are worth just one. The blues are worth five, red is twenty, purple is fifty, silver is a hundred, and gold is three hundred. Got that down?"
"Green one, blue five... Yeah, sounds simple enough."
"Alright, but I'm guessin' you still don't got any rupees."
All four Magic Knights shook their heads dejectedly.
"Aw, it's alright. Food'll work just fine, too."
"I'm sorry, did you say you wanted Fuu?" Logan said without hesitation, making the other four people just stare at him. "I'm kidding! The look on your faces, haha!"
"In any case... We don't have any food, either. And we don't know where to get any." Hikaru revealed, only for Mokona to start chirping, and the gem on its forehead started glowing. In a flash of light, Ferio was practically buried in a mountain of food.
"Well goddamn."
"It's amazing!" Hikaru said in wonder.
"It's fantastic!" Umi exclaimed
"It's a wonderful talent, Mokona!" Fuu concluded.
"Yeah, not bad, fluffball." Logan remarked, aggressively rubbing the sides of Mokona's head while Ferio dove into the mountain of food, eating it all insanely quickly and letting out a small burp.
"I guess this means we have a deal then!"
"Oh, right..." Hikaru trailed, only to feel a tap on her shoulder. It was Logan, who was waving her and the other two girls back a bit, so they could whisper without Ferio overhearing, explaining it was a 'group meeting'.
"Okay. I don't think we should trust this guy." He said plainly.
"Yes." Fuu agreed. "What if this man is somehow related to Zagato?"
"But he saved our lives earlier..." Hikaru countered.
Now it was Umi's turn to come up with an argument. "But that could just be a tactic to catch us off guard?" She stated, then turned to face Ferio. "Thank you, but we do not require the service of an escort. The food is yours to keep, so please leave us alone."
Ferio sighed as he stood up. "To think that one so good looking walks around unescorted."
"Did you say good looking!?" Umi asked, her eyes sparkling.
"It's dangerous to go alone." Ferio said. "Take this-"
TAKE 2
"It's dangerous for someone so beautiful to walk around this forest without a bodyguard." Ferio stated.
"He said beautiful!" Umi cheered. "That's complete and total honesty! Fuu, can we hire this guy?!" Umi requested.
'Ugh, women.' Logan thought to himself as Hikaru giggled.
"Sir Ferio." Fuu said, clearing her throat. "You claim to be a hunter in this forest. But if that were true, would it not be strange for you to hunt in a monster-infested place such as this?"
Ferio sighed. "Alright, you got me. I'm not really a hunter. I'm a swordsman. If you wanna know the truth, I tried to cause some trouble for the one called Zagato. But I almost got caught. Luckily, I managed to escape into this forest. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the way back out."
Fuu studied Ferio closely, clearly still skeptical.
"Girls, I think Fuu might be Batman..." Logan muttered.
"That makes for an interesting story." Fuu continued. "Your previous tale was a lie, and this one is the truth. Or do you have another?"
"Got me again! I might as well just give up." Ferio conceded.
"That's a wise decision." Fuu agreed, and then waved the other three Magic Knights along as she continued into the forest.
"So, if Fuu's Batman, who would the Joker of our group be?" Logan asked.
"You." All three of the girls said immediately.
"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect that..."
"He's still following us." Logan remarked, looking back at Ferio (who was following behind at a distance it was hard to see him, but he also couldn't sneak-attack them) for what was probably the tenth time.
"Maybe he really doesn't know how to get out of this place." Umi guessed.
"Or perhaps he has something else on his agenda. Such as abducting the resourceful Mokona."
"Well if that's the case, I say we cut out the risk and ditch him." Logan suggested.
"Hm, that may be a good idea. So long as we keep Mokona with us, we can find our way to our destination just fine." Fuu agreed, and the four Magic Knights ran off. Ferio took a bite out of an apple that had somehow survived his onslaught on the mountain of food earlier, and realized that his companions were missing. He hummed in mild surprise, then continued on.
Meanwhile, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu could all be seen trying to peek out from behind trees to see if they'd really lost Ferio, however, he eventually discovered them and cut them off when they tried to make a run for it.
"What are you guys up to? Hide 'n Seek? Although I coulda sworn there were four of ya..."
Just then, Logan revealed himself by jabbing two fingers into each of Ferio's sides, catching him off-guard and making him crumble to the ground like he'd been tazed.
"Ha ha! Finally, I get to return the favor!" He laughed, wiping his hands off.
One SpongeBob title card later, and the sun had gone down. All four Magic Knights were pretty tired from basically nonstop walking all day, and it came time to set up camp. Only problem...
"Sleep? How are we supposed to do that in the middle of the wilderness?" Umi wondered.
"On the floor." Logan calmly said without missing a beat.
"Oh, please." Umi groaned. "Like you'd be able to sleep at all. Did you even get any hours last night?"
"Hey, I got to sleep... Eventually."
"'Eventually' meaning?"
"...Four in the morning." Logan revealed sheepishly as Umi groaned in frustration. "Don't give me that look! It isn't my fault Fuu kept me up by saying spooky shit!"
"Alright, settle down..." Hikaru muttered, trying to diffuse the situation as Mokona started making more of its weird noises, the gem on its forehead glowing. Then, boom, a large, egg-shaped structure that seemed almost like a house. The four Magic Knights simply glanced at each other, and then Fuu took the first steps, walking in to find a lavish living space with a bed for three, some couches, a vanity, and some bowls of fruit.
"You know what? After all the shit I've seen these past few days, I'm not even surprised it's bigger on the inside..." Logan muttered as something on the bed caught his eye. Walking over, he grabbed one of them and held it up, revealing it to be a blue nightgown likely fit for Umi. "Huh, they even got pajamas..."
"Hey! Don't you know not to touch a woman's things?!" Umi demanded, quickly snatching the nightgown away.
"Umi..." Hikaru sighed. "He was just looking at them."
"Yeah, and probably imaging how we'd look in them, the pervert!"
"For Christ's sake, Umi..." Logan muttered. "I'm too tired to deal with this shit..."
"Well, it looks like you've got your own room." Hikaru informed him, opening a door in the back, which, sure enough, led to its own room. It was smaller, but still had a bed, table, and bowl of fruit, and on the bed was a black pajama shirt and matching pants. Logan, upon seeing this, clapped his hands together once, and then pumped his fist.
"You look happy." Umi remarked.
"I finally don't have to sleep in the same room as Fuu!"
"I'm sorry?" Fuu asked, looking a bit offended. "Do you perhaps not enjoy my presence?"
"No, it's not that-"
"Then what is it?"
"You're not just pessimistic, you're realistic. Which is arguably worse. You say scary stuff that already would make it hard to sleep, but then add on the fact that you're right every friggin' time-"
"Well, I'm sorry that I'm simply stating the truth. We may have gotten lucky so far, but we're not invincible. We need to be careful as to not end up getting killed by monsters or Zagato's minions."
"See? There you go again!"
At this point, Hikaru and Umi were fed up. "Alright, you two. That's enough." Hikaru declared, getting between them. "Fuu, why don't you go bring some food out to Ferio? He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. And Logan... Just, go to bed. You're clearly tired."
"But-"
"Come on!" Hikaru said impatiently, as she grabbed Logan by the hood (her Kendo training made it easy to pull him off his feet) and basically dragged him to his room, dropping him off inside and shutting the door on him. "And good night!"
Meanwhile, Ferio was outside the structure, leaning against a tree a respectable distance away. He was unaware of Fuu approaching with a basket of fruits until she spoke out.
"I have brought you something to eat. I shall leave it here, so help yourself." Was all she said before turning to leave.
"Hold on a second." Ferio requested.
"Do you need something else?" Fuu inquired.
"Yeah... Can ya hang out with me for a while?"
"What do you mean by that?" Fuu asked, turning back to face him.
"I really just don't wanna eat alone." Ferio revealed, making Fuu gasp quietly with shock, a bit of red on her cheeks. "You don't have to stay for a long time. It'll be great just to have some company for a change."
"Ferio..."
"Even someone who looks upset all the time, like you, is better than nothing."
Fuu let out another breath, her face feeling a bit hot, and she immediately turned and ran back towards the structure that she and the others were staying in, leaving Ferio to just chuckle to himself.
The next morning, it was go-mode once again. The four Magic Knights ran along, keeping Mokona in their sights as it bounced along to the Spring of Eterna, Ferio followed at a leisurely stroll. The group would only stop every now and again to defeat whatever monsters came in their path.
"Mokona!" Umi shouted after another encounter. "What the heck are you trying to do!? Every path you take leads us to another monster!" Mokona just kept puuing happily, bouncing off again. "Please make it a path with no monsters this time..." Umi sighed as she and the others began following it. Her prayers were answered, and then quickly squashed once they came to a wide open dirt clearing. In the center of the area was a large, black rock floating just off the ground, and a giant horde of monsters, far more than reasonable for the five of them, stood around it.
And yet, Mokona hopped on, only stopping once Logan dove forward and caught it, holding the wriggling creature close to himself.
"Hold on just one god damn second! You don't really expect us to go through all that, do you!?" He demanded as Mokona hummed a response, nodding. "No way! Even with our weapons, we'll just get torn to shreds out there!"
"What are we gonna do?" Hikaru asked, leaning against a tree as Logan came back, still struggling to hold onto Mokona.
"Looks like we'll have to go back the way we came." Fuu said.
"Maybe we could ask Ferio." Hikaru suggested.
"Hikaru." Logan stated abruptly.
"Clef told us about how Cephiro has become a terrible place where monsters are free to roam. But I can tell that this forest is something else all together."
"It is much too dangerous to trust that boy..." Fuu admitted, her cheeks tinged red. "He has not spoken one word of truth."
"Clef and Presea aren't here now." Hikaru argued. "Ferio is the only one who knows the Forest of Silence."
"You got that right." Ferio interjected from a tree branch above. "Looks like I'm finally gonna be useful." He muttered, jumping down. "If you're interested, I'll answer any questions ya got."
"Well, do you know what's going on here?" Hikaru questioned. "Was this place a normal forest before Zagato took over?"
"Nope." Ferio revealed. "I doubt these old woods have changed one bit since the beginning of time. Magic never worked here and monsters always roamed about. I bet that's why even Zagato couldn't do anything with this place. And I bet that rock there is the cause of all this."
Hikaru sat in silence for a moment, and then spoke up. "Maybe all the monsters will go away if we can destroy that rock!"
"And y'all call me the fuckin' Joker!" Logan said with a laugh. "Hikaru, that is completely and utterly insane. Do you see how many monsters there are!?"
"All we have to do is split up into two groups. One group distracts the monsters, the other breaks the rock."
"There's only four of us, and two against that many monsters? That's absurd!"
"Let me be the one to distract the monsters." Ferio offered.
"Nuh-uh. If we can't do this alone, we'll never have a chance to save Cephiro."
"That reminds me, you guys mentioned a 'Clef' guy earlier. Do you mean Master Mage Clef?"
"That's right. In order to save us, Master Mage Clef was forced to-" Hikaru began.
"It may be best if we do not trust him completely yet." Fuu advised.
"I see." Ferio muttered. "You guys are thinkin' about rescuing Princess Emeraude and saving Cephiro, aren't ya?" He said, making the jaws of all four Magic Knights drop. "You see, I'm on the same mission. All I wanna do is rescue the Princess. I was raised as a traveling minstrel. I don't know who my parents were. My earliest memories are of my master teaching me tricks to perform. But one day, I was invited to the castle. I decided to take a walk on my own, and while I didn't steal anything, I was soon accused of being a thief."
Ferio thought back to the moment he was referring to with a forlorn expression, and then he continued. "Princess Emeraude saved my life! I'll do whatever it takes to save her!" He called with determination, and then his joking attitude returned. "Hey, I really had you guys going, didn't I?"
"Mario, you son of a bitch!" Logan groaned. "That was all one big lie, wasn't it?"
"Fine, I wanna get out of this forest, but I don't know the way. So I got no choice but to tag along with you guys."
"Alright, let's let him help us." Hikaru declared, turning to Umi. "You and I will go attract the monsters' attention. Then Fuu, Ferio, and Logan can go destroy the rock when it's clear!"
"Uh, okay-" Umi hestitantly agreed, following after Hikaru. Meanwhile, Ferio knelt down and made a few warm-up swings with his sword.
"So, uh, was I right to call you out for the whole story about Princess Emeraude?" Logan asked. "Was it, y'know, the truth?"
"Heh, what is a truth?" Ferio countered. "Pick the story you want to believe."
While that was going on, Hikaru and Umi had lured away the monsters, each and every one of them, leaving the rock wide open.
"Alright! Let's go!" Ferio confirmed, getting up and running towards the rock, followed by the two Magic Knights assigned to him. "I'll handle this! You two stay back where it's safe!"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that!" Fuu told him as they neared the rock. However, eventually, Ferio stopped and began making noises as if he was in pain.
"W- What is this force!?" He questioned, and his sword flew out of his hand, planting itself in the ground between him and the rock.
"Ferio!?" Both Magic Knights questioned with concern.
"D- don't come any closer!" Ferio demanded as he was picked right up off the ground by whatever force was pulling on him, and half his body instantly turned to jagged stone.
"Ferio!" Fuu called out.
"This is some kinda crazy rock!" Ferio guessed. "It doesn't just attract monsters, it also turns things into monsters!" He continued, barely managing to grab his sword to use as an anchor as he flew past, but it didn't last long as his blade turned in the dirt and began being dragged towards the rock.
Logan put a shaky hand on Fuu's shoulder. "Fuu, you have to try to break the rock with one of your arrows." He suggested. "I know it sounds crazy, but you're the only one who can do it!"
"I- I can't! That rock is easily a hundred yards away! How can I break it with an arrow?!"
"Listen!" Ferio called out. "In Cephiro, the greatest power of all is will! If you believe, the arrow will fly, and the rock will break!"
'If I believe, the arrow will fly, and the rock will break...' Fuu repeated in her mind, drawing her bowstring back, only to put it back down. "I just can't!"
"You just have to believe in yourself!" Ferio shouted, his body almost completely stone now. Fuu drew her bowstring back again, her hands shaking. But then the bow steadied itself just slightly, and she saw another hand beneath hers, and felt one on her right hand, steadying her as best as possible.
"C'mon. We can do this." Logan encouraged, smiling despite his fear. "Three... Two..."
And they released the string.
The arrow flew through the air and straight towards the rock, hitting it with a solid thunk, and silence echoed throughout the clearing. The rock stopped glowing, and descended to the ground, cracking and breaking. It buried itself about halfway in the ground, and what was visible of it shattered, leaving a jet-black spot where the rock had once stood. But it was clearly regenerating. But there was something that caught Fuu's eyes.
"What... What is that?" She asked, squinting to get a better look. Inside, stuck in a slightly elevated spot, was a pristine white sword with a blue handle with green bands covering it in a sort of cross shape. Nestled within the wing-shaped crossguard was a golden, decorative gem.
"I'll go check it out!" Logan offered, not even waiting for Fuu's response as he sprinted straight past Ferio and to the ruins of the rock, examining the sword stuck in the ground. Right away, he could tell it wasn't an ordinary sword. Was this what gave the rock its power? But, no, this power didn't feel evil. It felt like an overwhelming force of righteousness. And it was calling to him.
Wisps of cyan energy surrounded the blade and curled up to Logan's hand as he grasped the handle with both hands.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Fuu shouted as she approached, stopping next to Ferio to make sure he was alright. He had dropped to the ground, and the stone on his body had vanished, returning him to normal.
"You just... Have to believe..." Logan muttered as if he was in a trance, and began to pull upwards with all his might. Sweat glistened on his body, and his muscles screamed with agony as he tried to pull the sword up, the energy getting stronger. "Just... Believe..." He reminded himself, and there was a jolt, some movement. More pulling, more jolting. Logan's vision was fluttering, and he felt like passing out. But then...
SHING!
Hikaru and Umi had been in a bad situation before all the monsters abruptly stopped as if their power had been taken. They all began to glow, and soon shifted from hideous beasts into a bunch of innocent, cute, and even downright magical creatures.
"What's... What's going on?" Umi wondered.
"Haha! The others must've done it!" Hikaru guessed. "Let's get back to them and tell them we're alright!"
And they did just that, returning to where the rock once was, finding Fuu kneeling by Ferio, looking at Logan with a look of shock and wonder. And when they turned, it wasn't hard to see why.
Logan turned the blade upwards and held it in front of his eyes. Now that the sword had been freed from its prison, his strength returned immediately. In fact, he felt better than ever. The sword was the perfect length, and was perfectly balanced. Not to mention it was razor sharp.
Now Playing: Master Sword Demo - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
"Holy..." He heard Hikaru mutter.
"Did he actually...?" Umi pondered, as he closed his eyes and brought the sword a little lower, but then he opened his eyes and raised the blade to the heavens, the dust and all evil energy dispersing in the wind. It had finally occurred to him, to all of them, what this was. This was the legendary blade Presea had informed them of. The Blade of Evil's Bane. The Master Sword.
Logan brought his new weapon back down to him, and then suddenly made a few precise and elaborate swings, still in a trance-like state. He mock-sheathed the sword on his back, and it disappeared into his gauntlets. And then he finally snapped out of it, shaking his head. "Woah..."
"How... How do you feel?" Fuu simply had to ask, having been there when this all began.
"I... I've never been better!"
Hours later, the sun was beginning to set. But, the five of them had all escape the Forest of Silence with their lives. But this was also goodbye.
"I thought Ferio would be going with us to the Legendary Spring of Eterna..." Hikaru muttered.
"I told you, I was only looking for the way outta here." Ferio explained. "It should be obvious we go our separate ways from here." He said, getting up from the tree root he was standing on, walking over to Fuu, and the two smiled at each other. "I want you to have this." He told her, holding out a small, ornate, egg-shaped object. "Use it to make a wish, and I'm pretty sure it'll be granted."
"Hey, why is Fuu the only one who gets a gift!" Umi demanded.
"Well, that's the difference in how much I care!" Ferio shot back, turning Fuu red as a tomato as he turned, picked up his sword, and ran off.
"So." Logan muttered. "It looks like my joke about Ferio wanting Fuu wasn't that far off!"
Hikaru and Umi simply laughed at that, leaving poor Fuu a blushing mess.
But the fun times can't last forever, as we return to Zagato's lair.
"My lord. The Forest of Silence has appeared in the Water Mirror." Inouva explained. "I wonder how this could've happened..."
Zagato stared blankly at the four Magic Knights, looking at one in particular, more specifically, his sword.
"Those children are still alive..." Zagato muttered. "And they have the Master Sword."
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