Another chapter so soon? Well, yes, but this one is shorter. It's actually the shortest chapter yet for the story. However, I hope you all like it just the same. Enjoy!
-Joost

Shattering the Stars
Chapter 19: Wave Energy

Link, Mario, and Luigi all stared at Empyrea with wild confusion. The four, of course, had no clue who she was.

"You may want to wake up the others," Empyrea said, beckoning the four over to a pile of dark blue vines that made up the ground. The plants ruffled and parted, revealing a sleeping Amy and Crystal, lying on the ground. The Godbird opened her beak and exhaled, a cloud of glittering dust flying over to the sleeping pair and causing them to awaken.

"Mmm… Huh? Wha?" Crystal sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning groggily. "Is it morning already?"

Crystal glanced at the others and her eyes suddenly widened. For a moment, fear reached across her face and made it contort, her thoughts running to the worst possible scenario. She quickly looked around and saw Amy rested beside her, and she put her arms out and began shaking the yellow Inkling wildly.

"AMY! Wake up! We fused in our sleep again!" Crystal cried.

Amy shot up in an instant, her eyes just as wide as Crystal's.

"WHAT?! H-How?!" Amy was as alert and distraught as her girlfriend, frantically looking around to examine the dream they were in. After a couple of once-overs, her distress faded away. "H-Hang on, Crystal, look!" She pointed to Link, Mario, Luigi, and Kirby, "How can they be here if we fused again? It was just us last time, remember?"

"But you know that our friends can appear here too! Freddy and Violet did!" Crystal thought, balling her fists up and closing her eyes, hoping to open them again and have everything be normal.

"Wha-?" Amy was dumbfounded. A small smirk grew along her lips, and then she snickered. "Crystal, that wasn't actually them. They said that they were just the cephalopods taking their shape, silly!" Amy walked over to Link and inspected him. "Tell me something, anything, you hear me?"

"Uh… What?" Link asked.

"There, see! Those little cephalopods spoke all robotically, and they knew a LOT more than we did!" Amy concluded her argument, satisfied with the results. She went back to Crystal and smiled broadly, leaving Link confused, as were the others. "Though, I will say," Amy looked back at the being that woke her and Crystal up, "She's definitely new, and NOT one of our friends."

"That is certainly one way of describing me, but I can assure you, we are not strangers," Empyrea began, extending her wing to lead her riders, a squad of men unknown to the group, get off. It was Erdrick, Eight, Solo, and Eleven. "I do commend you for realizing so quickly that this was not a normal dream, you two. Your aptness is unmatched."

"Okay, okay, I think it's time I ask the big question on all of our minds," Mario casually walked in front of his brother, Link, and Kirby, holding his arms out. He was quiet for a second before swerving around and pointing to Empyrea with the most ghastly, overwhelmed expression ever seen. "Who are you?!" Then he pointed to the four men at Empyrea's side, "Who are they?!" Finally he gestured to the entire expanse of mystery, yelling, "What the hell is going on?!"

"Hey, bro, calm down," Luigi put his hand on Mario's shoulder and brought him aside. His voice was surprisingly calm for how nervous he normally was, but to be clear, he was also flabbergasted. "I'm positive that she'll explain… I hope."

"Alright… Alright," Mario huffed, scratching his forehead. He was developing a killer headache already.

"See, I knew this'd be a bit much for them at once," A voice familiar to Kirby then came about. The Star Warrior looked up and saw Landia flying above them.

"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby was excited to see the red dragon again after what felt like an eternity. Link was surprised that Landia had a voice, but this was a dream, after all.

"Hey Kirby," Landia said softly when he touched down across from the entire group. The Star Warrior ran over to him and did his best to embrace him, although his little nubs couldn't hug much. Landia appreciated it regardless. "And yes, Link, I can technically talk. It's weird, isn't it?" Landia said.

"Quite," Link replied. With everything that had been going on up to this point, he started to grow numb to such developments as talking dragons. He'd already seen a lot in his life, so what more could it throw at him?

"It's best to explain it as…" Erdrick said loudly, catching everyone's attention. Once he had the full audience, he said, "We've all been chosen."

"Chosen?" Mario snapped, looking at the spikey-haired, caped man our of the corner of his eye.

"Chosen by Empyrea to stop Shatterhand," Eight added, coming forward.

Everything became quiet. Mario, Luigi, and Link peered at Empyrea with a stonelike gaze that could only be described as fear. Fear of the name and the fact that this grand, majestic creature knew of it. For several nights they'd been unable to sleep, kept awake by thoughts of what fiend that was hunting them could be doing, what he could be planning, or what he had already done. Haunted was a good word.

"Wait, even us?" Crystal spoke for herself and Amy.

"Yes, young ones, even you. It's a great deal to explain, but I promise there are answers for all of your questions," Empyrea's tone remained gentle as she addressed the group. "I have been watching over you all for a while now, taking note of certain events of your past adventures. Eyeing them carefully was at first not my business, but once I became aware of Shatterhand and the threat he posed to the lives of heroes across the realms, I knew I had to do something."

"You've been watching us? For how long?" Link asked, feeling a little bit intruded by the revelation.

"Well, I've been watching you, Link, ever since you chose to stay in Termina after defeating Majora," Empyrea faced the hero in green. "Very, very few of your variants ever made such a decision and seeing how you set the souls of not one, but three god-like beings free at the age of twelve made you my first candidate."

Link stepped backwards, his legs almost becoming jelly. He didn't collapse, but the wind was taken from his chest, and he felt weakened. Majora, the Fierce Deity, and Gomess, were those the ones she spoke of? Without a doubt. After all this time, it had slipped his mind that he had actually accomplished such a feat.

"Kirby, my eyes were not on you as much as Link, at least for a while," Empyrea turned to the little, pink Star Warrior. "You followed a path much like many others, but when I reevaluated you, I discovered something… distressing."

"Poyo?" Kirby asked.

"I will reveal that to you in time. The knowledge I know is not your burden to carry yet," Empyrea's words were saddened, but why, Kirby couldn't begin to guess. The closest thing he thought of was that it had something to do with Dark Matter, but it was a stretch.

"As for you, Mario Brothers, Amy, and Crystal, you all showed true excellence when I watched over you. Your sheer potential, your strong auras, your Wave Energy, it was magnificent, on par with the four men I have here with me," The Godbird gestured back towards the Heroes.

"Now what's this 'Wave Energy'? You still haven't told us why, or who you are yet!" Mario was beyond frustrated by now. That aspect of the plumber was another reason why he was chosen. His bluntness and desire to be in the know of things was one of his few weaknesses.

"Heh, they ought to get a kick out of this," Landia held back a laugh. It had taken him a while to understand what the phenomenon of Wave Energy was or even what the vague term even meant, but he had taken the liberty of giving the phoenix a revised explanation.

"Oh, please forgive me," The phoenix said, "I go by many names, but you may call me Empyrea." She raised her wings in the air and emitted a caw, allowing the group to bask in her splendor. "Now tell me," Empyrea continued, "How well are you versed in your various powers and abilities? All of you. Give me a rough estimate."

Mario cocked an eyebrow, but thought nothing of the question, "I can jump real high and use items to fight. Like the Fire Flowers and such. Weege can as well," The plumber crossed his arms.

"Poy… Poyo poyo!" Kirby mentioned his constant hunger and Copy Abilities.

"I'm just a swordsman…" Link said, thinking that his skills were as impressive as his companions. Funnily enough, he forgot about another aspect of his fighting prowess.

Empyrea then looked to Amy and Crystal, expecting them to answer. The two girls stuttered, not thinking they had any special attributes to mention. For a moment they gawked, thinking of something to say, until the same thought popped into both of their minds.

"We're good with weapons?" The Inkling and Octoling said.

"Indeed. All of that is a result of your Wave Energy," Empyrea told the group.

"WHAT?!" They shouted all at once.

"This is insane… So you're tell me that everything that makes us special is just because of this Wave Energy?!" Everybody had taken a bit to process what Empyrea had said, and Mario was the first to speak. He, of course, was livid. It all sounded silly, stupid, and like it was just a big joke.

"Goodness no. You all tap into and use Wave Energy to amplify our own skills. It's not the cause, merely a component," Empyrea sounded almost like a wise hermit, telling them that things were indeed intertwined. It wasn't far from the truth, her role, but it was also not entirely present, either. "Some of you, like these men I have with me, Link, and even Kirby, can harness the Wave Energy directly."

"How?" Link asked.

"We've been told you can use magic, at least to a degree, right?" Eleven answered Link's question with one of his own. It dawned on the Terminian that he could use magic, whether it was to charge his sword for a spin attack, or to see the unseen with the Lens of Truth. "It's how we use it," The Luminary looked back to his friends.

"You, brave Inkling and Octoling, you can use it not openly, but instead, it guides you," Eleven spoke to Amy and Crystal. "Have you ever wondered why you were 'called' to your weapons of choice, or how you've managed to use them to the extent you've so far achieved?"

"Woah…" The two ladies gasped.

"That's… Actually pretty awesome!" Amy then cheered for herself, glad that her choice of Dualies wasn't completely up to chance.

"Poyo?" Kirby wondered how he could use this 'Wave Energy' directly.

"That's simple, my friend," Empyrea closed her eyes and looked into Kirby's soul. There, tied to his life force, was a line connected to the concentrated power of his Warp Star. "That device you use, that is almost entirely made of Wave Energy. Though, it also harbors physical matter to allow you to see and ride it."

"I've seen the Warp Star in action," Link interjected, thinking back to Shatterhand's attack on the Mushroom Kingdom. The image of Kirby, soaring through the air and almost supersonic speed wasn't something he'd easily forget. "You're saying that's an example of almost pure Wave Energy?"

"Well, pure Wave Energy is all around us," Empyrea eyed the ground, pointing out the blue vines that lined her and the other's feet. "These things that you perceive as plants, that is it. The power in its purest form, appearing to you all as something from nature! They're vines of fate, in a way. They are…"

Empyrea closed her eyes again, and suddenly the vines came to life. They shimmered with their own blue grow, slinking around before gathering by each of the crusaders' feet. In that moment, every one of the heroes, even the ones Empyrea brought with her, remembered that dream. Each of them, floating in a dark void, the vines approaching. Link recalled the figures he didn't recognize. It was Amy, Crystal, and those four men! They all had the vivid image of the vines coiling around their bodies and resting on their arms.

"The potential of Wave Energy," Empyrea finished. The vines gave off a pitched hum, like when one took their finger against the rim of a wineglass and made it sing. It was heavenly.

The symphony of sound akin to a glass harp soon ceased when the vines crawled up each of the heroes' bodies and rested once more on their arms. After another second, the vines disappeared.

"You all are the ones I have chosen to finally put an end to Shatterhand!" Empyrea's tone changed to one of triumphant determination. She flew up and clenched her talon, her beak almost forming a smirk. "In three days' time, I plan for us all to meet. There, I can give you a gift, something that will be the key to defeating the Archfiend of Reality!"

"Three days?" Eleven asked, a little surprised. He had only asked for one, planning to set off the day after tomorrow.

"Yes, three days. I know it will not be easy to pinpoint where to rendezvous, and with Shatterhand still lurking…" The Godbird paused, a small sliver of her confidence withering away, now replaced with worry. "He may find you," She looked to Link, Mario, Luigi, Kirby, Amy, and Crystal, "Or us," She then looked to Erdrick, Eight, Solo, Eleven, and Landia.

Everyone gulped.

"This is all a great responsibility, but I have my faith in each and every one of you," The phoenix looked gladly at her chosen warriors. It had been so long since she felt gratitude towards such a varied group this passionately.

"Wait a sec! There's still some things we need answered!" Crystal called out, climbing onto Amy in an attempt to reach higher. It was largely pointless, but she tried.

"I know, but time is still moving, even as we all speak here. The sun is rising, people are awakening, and…" Empyrea calmed herself. She sensed her dream projection was getting hazy. Alarm clocks were going off for some. "I believe it's time to wake up. Good luck, my crusaders…"

Then, the purple realm the crusaders found themselves in brightened, soon being engulfed.