Not much to say this time. Enjoy!
-Joost

Shattering the Stars
Chapter 18: Our Bonds

Link had been awake for a while, drenched in a foul mood, but it was not because of the events of the night prior. He stood in the doorway, wanting to leave the bedroom, but found it impossible to do so. His head was turned back, staring at the bed, watching over Kirby. A frown donned itself on his face, his eyes a little watery.

Kirby didn't talk about the nightmare he had yet, having only cried until eventually being lulled into another sleep, this time much more peaceful. Mario didn't have much experience in helping another overcome fear, but Luigi did. He spoke of a bit of a personal mission he once had while trying to save his brother from the clutches of King Boo. His words helped Kirby a little, but the tears never truly stopped until Link heard the pink puffball start to softly snore in the wee hours of the morning.

It was almost noon now, Link had discovered, and his stomach felt like it was tightening, wishing for food. Thankfully, that boy, Freddy, had used his own money to buy at least a dozen more of those 'Shwaffle' baskets for Violet's guests. It had cost a lot, and surprisingly, Violet insisted she'd pay him back. Reluctantly, Link left the bedroom in search of a basket to call his own, hunger driving him down the hall.

Things again were quiet, but Link's ears picked up on a faint conversation coming from the living room. Once he entered, he saw those two ladies, Amy and Crystal, sitting together, discussing something unknown to him.

"Oh, hi, Link!" Crystal was the first to notice the Terminian and waved affectionately.

"Good morning," Link greeted the girls as he walked up to the couch. He planned to ask them if they had seen any of those baskets of food, refusing to openly call them 'Shwaffles', as he thought the name sounded a little childish. However, before another word could leave his mouth, Amy reached over to her right and picked up one of the three baskets that had been sitting on the cushion next to her.

"Here, Link. Mario told us that you hadn't really eaten much lately, so he saved you a basket of Super Shwaffles!" Amy held out the basket, smiling at the man in green.

"Thank you," Link said plainly, taking the basket. It felt surprisingly heavy, a sign of a lot of food. Right away he started to eat, having felt starved. His mind quickly went blank, his hands and fingers working on their own to shove the Shwaffles into his mouth without a second thought. All his manners went out the window at that moment.

Amy and Crystal giggled to themselves as they watched the man their friend admired to an almost unhealthy degree eat almost animalistically. They didn't see him as impolite, but also didn't look at him with pity for being so deprived of food. They watched him with a shared sense of understanding, Crystal especially. She knew what it was like to feel starved, without food for days at a time. Thankfully, those days were long since over.

The rain that had long persisted outside had finally let up, allowing the people of Inkopolis Square and beyond to flourish in the brisk air of the late morning. It was just a quarter to noon, but it felt as if the sun had just risen for some. Among those were Amy and Crystal, having both been plagued by a set of off-putting dreams for the past few nights. At least they didn't fuse in their sleep again.

"So Link," Crystal tilted her head, addressing the man sitting beside her on the couch, scarfing down the Shwaffles, "Freddy and Violet told us that something happened with Kirby last night. Do you know what happened?"

"Mm? Oh, Kirby-" Link started speaking with a full mouth, getting a few crumbs onto the floor. His ears picked up on the tapping of food below him and he finally took a moment to swallow and wipe his lips. "Kirby had a nightmare, apparently. He didn't want to talk much about it when he woke up, though…"

"Aw, poor guy," Amy said, feeling bad for the poor, little Star Warrior. "Nightmares suck…" For a split second, Amy thought about the horrible nightmares she used to have, but one look at Crystal easily forced those memories away. "We've been having strange dreams, too, but neither of us would consider them nightmares."

"Our dreams lately have been… odd, to say the least," Link commented, finishing the basket of Super Shwaffles. His stomach felt full for the first time in days, a blanket of comfort pleasantly laying itself down on him.

"Has it been because of… that guy? The one you and your friends are after?" Crystal asked.

"Without a doubt," Link answered. A quick flash of Shatterhand's wicked snarl came to mind, causing Link to shudder. He was correct to assume that a similar reaction befell his companions when they also thought about the fiend. "Although a part of me thinks that…"

"That what?"

"Nevermind…" Link, going over what he had planned to say in his head again, thought it was a bit of a stretch.

"Heyo…" Luigi abruptly walked in, rubbing his back and yawning. It seemed that he didn't get much sleep as well, Link guessed. There were pronounced bags under his eyes, although such a thing was common among all the travelers.

"Hi Luigi!" Crystal said cheerily, just as she had greeted Link.

Luigi didn't respond, shockingly, simply slumping down on the couch across Link, tired. His presence was seemingly followed by a bout of silence, the only sound being the men in green's ragged, exhausted breath. Amy and Crystal were bewildered by the change compared to previous days, the quietness making them almost wriggle in their seats.

"Did you ever find out what happened with Kirby?" Luigi asked suddenly.

"No, at least not yet," Link answered effortlessly, almost like he was anticipating the question. He tilted his head towards Luigi, giving him a soft side-eye. "What are you thinking about?"

"Heh, what do you think?" Luigi said half-sarcastically, half-jokingly. He started staring off into space for a moment before he explained, "I was just going over something that I remembered when I woke up, a little bit ago. Something that Shatterhand had said to Mario. I didn't care much about it then, but now it's been stuck on my mind for a while…"

"And that is…?"

"When they were fighting, Mario had asked who Shatterhand was, and I think what he said back was something along the lines of, 'Why bother when you won't live to know why', or something like that," Luigi's brow furrowed, and he used his hand to comb his moustache as he thought. Link also dwelled on the statement. "It just made me wonder why he'd word it like that. So specifically and such, y'know?"

"Why would he…" Link trailed off as soon as he started, but he picked his sentence up again after a couple of seconds, "What would we even get out of that? If we knew?"

"That's what I was wondering. It doesn't make sense, especially since I doubt any of us would actually know him…" Luigi leaned forward and stared at the floor.

"Well, my variant, the one I told you about, said he went by the name of 'Alastor'," Link said. He remembered that his variant said that it was clear it was a ruse, and that no one knew Shatterhand's real name, but that, along with Luigi's memory, started to turn some gears inside his head.

As the two men were talking, Amy and Crystal were practically entranced by them and their story. They had been giving the explanation of Shatterhand and the threat he posed earlier, but a part of them were inexplicably drawn to the matter and how these travelers were going to deal with it. They didn't quite know why, but the odd dreams they themselves had been having also acted as bait, luring them towards this mystery.

"This is making my head hurt…" Amy admitted, standing up and rubbing her head. Crystal followed her out of the apartment, leaving Link and Luigi alone for a moment.

All the negative energy sizzling throughout Link's veins over the past few days had finally gotten him to consider taking it easy for a bit. Once he stood up and went for the door, Luigi finally took his eyes off the polished wooden floorboards.

"What're you doing?" Luigi asked calmly.

"Just going for a walk. It's not raining anymore, so might as well enjoy the sunshine. Do you want to go and ask your brother and Kirby if they want to join?" Link asked, opening the door and holding it there.

"Sure, why not," Luigi smiled and left to find the others, "I think it's about time we all had some proper fun."

"So this 'Shatterhand' has been a problem for a while, huh?" Eleven mused aloud as Empyrea and the other Heroes finished recounting the entire odyssey of madness that was their mission.

"Indeed, it is why I, along with your comrades from different ages are all standing before you tonight," Empyrea said, gesturing over to the Heroes and Landia. "Forgive me for the suddenness of this all, but I have taken care in choosing who to enlist in such a task. You four, alongside six other chosen people, are my 'Crusaders'."

"I'm honored," Eleven said humbly, smiling. Even after so many years since his original adventure, he still held that child-like glimmer in his eyes. Empyrea was pleased with the amount of valor in his eyes. "Alright, I guess I'm joining you then. I can't let something like this go without giving my two-sense."

"We are eternally grateful," Empyrea said, glancing over at Landia. He was distracted by the stars, and the Godbird tapped the dragon with her wing, forcing his attention to her and her final recruit. "I'm shocked that you managed to come to that decision so quickly."

"Well, I do have one request, ma'am," The Hero in purple began, a small blush accompanying his slight change in tone. Again, Empyrea was surprised with how different this man was compared to the others. "May we…? Hah, look at me," Eleven started mumbling, the sight making Eight and Erdrick smile, "May we set off the day after tomorrow? I'll need to say farewell to my family, and… my wife…"

Solo immediately looked at Eleven but didn't say a word.

"Absolutely," Empyrea replied with a smile.

"Th-Thank you, and besides, from the looks of it, you all are quite tired. Rest wherever you please," Eleven immediately got a few sour faces, "I insist." He didn't want the people who had traveled all this way to find him again to be without their energy. This was the second time the three men had visited him, the first occasion being to assist him. He felt like he owed them much more than he could ever give.

"That's very kind of you," Empyrea inwardly applauded the man before her.

The group then started to walk towards the village of the Luminary, taking care to keep quiet. The people wouldn't be very keen to spot a four-headed dragon and a god-like phoenix in the middle of the night.

"Hey, thanks, pal," Erdrick said to Eleven as they walked down the hill.

"What for?" Eleven asked.

"For giving us a place to rest. I don't know about the others, but I-" Erdrick held his tongue, ashamed to admit that he was in such bad shape. "I'm in desperate need of some good sleep…"

"Oh, don't worry, it's the least I can do," Eleven explained with a grin. He snapped his fingers to display some of his enhanced magic that he gained after their meeting within his own memories all those years ago. "I owe a lot of my victory to you three."

"I didn't think we were that much of a help," Eight said, having overheard the conversation. "All we did was just… you know, give you a pep talk." Eleven chuckled at Eight's pun.

"Well, I don't think I would've been able to get past my own grief if it weren't for your stories," Eleven made sure to include Solo. Deep down, even he noticed Solo's strange silence while they were catching up in the field. The man stopped as to let all four of his companions be in arms reach and wrapped his arms around their shoulders.

"Thank you all, again. I don't think I ever got to give you my gratitude," Eleven said.

"Aw, it was nothing," Erdrick beamed with pride.

"No problem," Solo said, a weak but noticeable smile on his own face.

"Anything for a friend," Eight finished.

The group made it to Cobblestone. The lamps lining the meager streets were out for the night, but the Heroes were able to see well in the bright moonlight. Empyrea and Landia made themselves comfortable in an isolated cave just behind the waterfall, perfectly out of view of the villagers once it became morning. The four friends were offered a place at the inn that had been built after the raging fire that consumed the entire area, some moons ago.

Their rest was amazingly uninterrupted. Calmness had descended down on the group thanks to Empyrea, subtly using her own heavenly abilities to ease each of her crusader's thoughts. At least, the present ones. For a while she waited, knowing that her moment of opportunity was constantly dwindling. It was afternoon, dusk, for the others across the realms. She could sense it.

As the stars twinkled, she waited for all of her companions to drift off into their shared slumber. The godly mystic from another world had waited long enough, after all. Her plans for the selection of people she had chosen needed to be seen through, as fate would hopefully dictate.

While Empyrea waited, she started to think about what little she knew of fate. Even as omnipotent as she was, fate was still a mystery. Was she a crafter of fate, or simply a follower? She wondered for a couple of minutes, nearly dozing off herself. She regained her composure and resumed waiting.

Link, Mario, and Luigi rushed back to the apartment and hid behind the door, allowing for Amy and Crystal to follow before they slammed it shut and locked it. Freddy, Violet, Kirby, and Tael were sitting on the floor, watching the TV, having nothing better to do with their time.

"Where were you guys?" Violet asked.

"Poyo?" Kirby chirped, seeming a lot happier than he had when Link or the Brothers had last seen him.

"We- uh," Mario stammered, out of breath. The reason was beyond the unaware, but the plumber paused to wave at Kirby, who was happy to see the others. "There were a lot of… y'know," He fumbled with his words, getting practically nothing across to the inklings.

"People wouldn't really leave them be," Amy explained, filling in the wide gaps that Mario's lackluster explanation left behind. "Constant questions and stuff. I don't really know what they expected to happen when going out in public."

"Well why didn't we see any people the other day, huh?" Mario asked somewhat annoyedly.

Luigi leaned in, tapped his brother's shoulder, and whispered into his ear, "Psst, bro, it was raining, remember?"

"Oh… right," Mario felt a little stupid now.

"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby said.

"Are you feeling better, Kirby?" Link asked.

Kirby nodded happily, having put the nightmare behind him. Dreams usually meant more to him, but currently, he thought it was just his tired, worried mind playing tricks on him. It wasn't impossible, either, since he had never been under such stress since he had been dealing with Dark Matter. Link smiled at Kirby's confidence, and then took off his boots.

"Man, we were out there for a while," Crystal looked at the clock on the wall. The sun was already setting, which was bizarre. It definitely didn't feel like they were moseying around Inkopolis for hours.

"Sorry, we did wanna see the sights," Luigi scratched the back of his neck, "It was nice to get a feel for the city we've been in but barely seen."

"Yeah, especially since it wasn't raining," Link added. "Though the stares…" He was reluctant to say that it made him uncomfortable. A notion like that made him feel silly. He hadn't felt uncomfortable by the sense of prying, inquisitive eyes since his youth.

"I'm very sorry that we couldn't really stop all the people from staring," Crystal could relate to the nervousness she felt when so many eyes were on her. "We didn't really want to get into any fights."

"Speaking of which, I think I saw Sketchy somewhere in that crowd, near the back," Amy said.

"Ugh!" Violet quickly stood up and left the room at the name of 'Sketchy'.

"What's her problem?" Mario asked, "And who's 'Sketchy'?" The plumber thought the word was meant to describe someone Amy had seen, not literally be someone's name.

"He's this guy that… Uh…" Amy had trouble remembering how to describe a person like Sketchy. "Well, it's best to just say he's this brute that confessed to Violet a little while ago. It was really, really strange, but he's not really on our radar. I think."

"It's a guy?" Mario needed to remind himself that he was in a different world, no matter how hard it might be to forget. People had all kinds of names.

Link didn't join the conversation, but he listened. Violet still seemed to be nervous around him, but now more was becoming clear. This girl who most likely was attracted to him, despite his marital status, intrigued him. He wanted to talk to her sometime, one on one, and hopefully help her with the apparent love problems she had. He didn't want to assume, but he felt like it was his responsibility.

Then, without warning, Luigi yawned. Amy and Crystal, closest to Luigi, then yawned in unison. Mario yawned next. Their tiredness was infectious, as it was for so many other people. It was a weird phenomenon, but once Link and Tael yawned, it was clear to all of them that some sleep was in order, even if it was relatively early.

"Honestly, I'm game to get some good sleep for once," Mario easily read the room and stated what he knew the others were thinking. Luigi just chuckled at how punctual his big brother could be at times. It clashed well with his bluntness in other fields.

"Me too, gosh…" Tael's wings fluttered a little weakly, and he sat down on Link's shoulder.

"Poy poyo!" Kirby leapt up and puffed out, floating through the air. One look at Link was enough to explain that he wanted to be held, just like last night. Link put out his arms, allowing Kirby to drift right into them.

"Yeah, me and Kirby will hit the hay. I want to make sure he doesn't have another nightmare," Link said, beaming from ear to ear.

"Eh, I'll do the same. Not like I'll get anything out of staying up," Luigi said, already heading off to his room. Mario sighed and chose to join his brother, wanting to rest as much as possible. There were still a few lingering injuries from his fight with Shatterhand that hadn't fully healed yet.

All that was left in the living room was Amy, Crystal, and Freddy. They watched as their guests left for their rooms, and once they were gone, the blue inkling boy smiled at his friends.

"I still can't really get over that they're really here! With us! Staying here!" Freddy exclaimed, almost hopping up with joy. A few 'teehees' left his lips, causing Amy and Crystal to roll their eyes. "Welp, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Freddy patted his friends on the shoulders and left the apartment, heading down to his own.

"Can't get much weirder, huh?" Amy asked rhetorically. "C'mon, let's go home."

Amy and Crystal left just a minute later, heading back down to their place. For a little while, they watched television together before drifting off to bed on the couch. It was funnily enough becoming their favorite place to sleep.

Link's bedroom clock struck nine, but the soft ring was overpowered by the sound of two voices snoring. The Hero of Termina and the Star Warrior were comfortably sharing a bed, Kirby on the left side and Link on the right. They didn't need to, but an instinct Link had made him keep Kirby close.

Behind his closed eyelids, Link found himself floating again. A deep, dark abyss of nothing surrounding him. He huffed, figuring this was his mind's way of telling him that he was to go another night with a dreamless sleep. It didn't matter much, but just the repetition of such an occurrence was becoming bothersome.

But then, there was a small speck of light in the distance. Link at first didn't even notice it, but once it flashed a couple more times, his eyes caught it.

"What?" Link's voice echoed across infinity, until the light suddenly gave off a distinct 'whooshing' sound, and suddenly engulfed everything. The blinding aura settled after a minute, and everything became clear. He was now standing in the middle of a light purple landscape, seemingly alone.

"Link?" A certain plumber's voice was heard.

Link turned around to see Mario from just a couple of meters away. The plumber appeared to be just as confused as he was, and they slowly approached each other, wondering what bewildering trickery this could be.

"Is this…? Are you real?" Link tensed up once he got just a yard away from Mario, fearing that Shatterhand might be somehow messing with him inside of his dreams. His thoughts raced. Perhaps the nightmare Kirby had was Shatterhands' doing as well?

"Bro!" Another voice rang out. Just across from Link and Mario was Luigi. He was already jogging over, positively elated to see his brother.

"Weege?" Mario asked, but he didn't have time to question anything. Luigi pulled him into an embrace. From what the red-capped hero could determine, his brother was really before him. The pair had a knack for being able to sense each other. It was why King Boo had to go to such lengths to separate them during the whole mansion ordeal.

"Wait a second, what's going on?!" Mario parted from his brother and walked towards Link. He reached his arm out and tapped the Terminian on the nose. He too was real, or at least as real as Luigi was. Link didn't even bother to react, as the touch was proof enough for him as well.

"What is this?" Link asked, the urge to reach for the sword and shield he didn't have on him almost overwhelming.

"Pooyoooo!" Kirby's voice came from… somewhere. The three looked around for a moment before Kirby eventually appeared, from above. He had been falling for a couple of seconds, and he landed conveniently on Mario's head. "Ooo, poyo!"

"H-Hey, Kirby!" Mario's words were muffled by his cap tipping to cover his face, Kirby's body basically replacing the item.

The four took a moment to reorient themselves. It was obvious that something was afoot. Something had guided them all into the same dream by some unknown means. Luigi was about to say something when he had what felt like a snake slithering between his boots.

"WAAH!" Luigi yelped, slipping on the things on the ground. When he landed on his behind, he saw that instead of snakes, it was a set of vines, moving on their own. "What in the-? Alright, what in the WORLD is going on here?! This is weird even for us! And it feels… eeuugh…" Luigi shuddered.

"My apologies, my friends," A new, unknown voice echoed throughout the vast expanse of light purple color. The four were quickly drawn to the source, that being something just beyond their own view.

Shades of color vibrated, almost like they were alive, until it all faded away, revealing Empyrea.