Categories > Games > Zelda > Gatecrash
 Chapter 16: Belief in Fairies
Roll entered the kitchen in a great hurry. It was the closest room with a working phone. The one in the living room was destroyed and the mets and other small bots were busily trying to repair the damage.
She hit the 'call' button and said "Mercy Hospital". The phone emitted a faint crackling as it made the necessary connections throughout the network, only audible to her.
The image of a robot nurse with blue hair and pink eyes came on the screen. "Welcome to Mercy Hospital. Please state your request."
"Please transfer me to Dr. Thomas Xavier Light's room," Roll said.
"One moment, please," the robot cheerfully replied. Roll thought of how Dr. Light once said that, in his younger days, phone systems were automated so you would have to listen to endless menus to get anywhere. He said that one of the greatest things he did was put a stop to that by making robots so intelligent they could do anything you asked.
Dr. Light came on the screen, sitting in his hospital bed wearing a gown, looking jovial. He had his hands placed around the screen, still adjusting the comm device attached to the swing arm in the wall. "Hello, Roll. Confounded comm doesn't seem to want to stay put." He eased his hands away from the device, gently clutching it a few times to try and stick it in one spot. "Well, have you found anything," he said as he sighed and leaned back.
"I haven't been able to find Rock yet. He hasn't teleported out. He hasn't contacted either me or anyone else. I haven't found any trace of him in the mansion. It's as if he just disappeared."
"Disappeared? Oh dear. What could have happened to him. You don't think Wily took him, do you?"
"I don't think so. Mega Man would never allow that to happen, he'd sooner be destroyed than let Dr. Wily know his secrets. And there was no evidence that he was destroyed either."
"What about Rush? Tango?"
"I have not discovered them either. They may be where Mega Man is or they may be hiding below the house. I'll try and find them."
"All right good. They may know where your brother went. I know Rush was probably the last of us to see him. What about the object? Did you find that?"
"I believe so. There was a vase in your bedroom that was missing. I conducted a full intensive scan of the house and could not find any trace of it. Meaning it wasn't broken or hidden."
"A vase? In my bedroom?"
"Yes, it was sitting next to the end table on the dresser on the right side as one would enter. Below the painting."
"Curious. I can't seem to remember that vase," he said as he looked up and away.
"Are you saying it was not supposed to be there?"
"No, no. It's just that sometimes you get so used to what's normal you become desensitized to it, you forget that it's there in the first place."
"I found it in an old picture from thirteen years ago that had the vase in it. I don't know if perhaps it was given away or sold?" Roll asked, suddenly realizing that the vase may not have been what Wily was looking for.
"No, no, I remember it now. It was gray, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"And it had a weird design spiraling around it, a sort of zig-zag."
"Correct," Roll smiled.
"Hmmm, no, I didn't sell it or get rid of it. It's always been there in my room. I can't remember where I got it from though. Thirteen years, you say?"
"Perhaps. Maybe more." For all she knew, he could have gotten it when he was three. She clearly remembered seeing and cleaning the vase in the bedroom when it was there, now that she could find it in her databanks.
"Let's see. Before that time, many people gave me gifts. Trying to get on my good side, investors and whatnot. But that's not where the vase would come from. A vase is more personal."
"Dr. Cossack was the one taking the picture. Maybe if-"
"Dr. Cossack!" Dr. Light yelped with wide eyes. Roll jerked back in surprise. "Of course, why didn't I think of that before. Dr. Cossack was with me for nearly all that time before I created you and Rock, before I partnered with Dr. Wily. He would know where I got the vase from, he has a photographic memory. I'm sure I must have told him the story. Ask him. I'll bet he'll remember." Dr. Light bunched his fingers. "Hopefully, he'll know why it's so important. Otherwise, I have no idea how the vase is significant."
"Understood. I will call him shortly. How is your condition?"
"My condition? Oh..." Dr. Light sat back in his bed, relaxed. "Can't complain. My ribs are somewhat bruised and my left leg is broken. In fact, I'm waiting to go into surgery right now."
"Surgery?" Roll nearly gasped.
"Oh, don't worry about me, it's not serious. They just need to cut away some of the torn ligaments in my leg so that the bone can start healing. It sounds worse than it is. The doctors say that the ceiling landed in such a way that it really didn't put as much pressure on me as it should have, kind of like a little arch."
"How long until you are back on your feet?"
"Oh, weeks, at least. To make sure I have no complications. Plus I'll need physical therapy in order to be walking comfortably again. At my age though, I'm lucky to have survived something like this. I've still got some fight left in me," he said as he swung his fist energetically. In the back of his mind, though, he knew this would just be the first in a long series of hospital visits for his deteriorating body. There were fewer days ahead than behind.
"Oh, one last thing, Dr. Light. Dr. Wily destroyed your new type of teleporter."
"Oh, dear, you don't think... you don't think that's where Rock has gone to?"
"I don't know, Dr. Light. I don't know."
"I never got the chance to test it on a live subject before. The transfiguring system. Oh dear. And I'm here in the hospital."
"Don't stress out, Dr. Light. We'll find him soon enough. I believe wherever he is he's safe."
"I hope you're right, dear."
"It seems we were just here, doesn't it?" Link said as he closed the top of his knapsack.
"I hate seeing you go," Zelda said.
"I know. But it's what I do, I guess."
"I'll try and keep him out of trouble for you," Mega Man said as he smiled.
Zelda nodded. "Have you got everything you need?"
"I should," Link said as he patted his bag. "Take care of Buzzy for us," he said, looking down at the green blob wiggling back and forth next to Zelda's train.
"Um, I'll try. I'm not really sure how though."
Link knelt in front of the buzzblob. "Buzzy, take care of Zelda for me."
Buzzy burbled in response. Link laughed quietly.
"Let's go," he said to Mega Man. The two traveled down out of the castle and into the grassy courtyard. Fresh blue air hit them as they strolled down the garden path. Link looked back and saw Zelda, the Seer, and Buzzy were standing on the wall, waving goodbye to them. He smiled and waved back, glad that he had such friends. Mega Man looked where Link was and waved back as well.
The castle gate was already open and they passed under it to the field of trees before them.
"So what is our next destination?" Mega Man asked as they walked across the limestone bridge.
"Well, the last time I had a mushroom," Link said as he pulled out the small fungus from his pocket, "I brought it to the Magic Shop and she gave me a magic powder. But that was with a regular forest mushroom, not one made of copper," he said, cautiously fingering it. "Can't say I know what she'll do with a metal one. If she can do anything with it at all. It may be a dead end. But it's the only place I've got so far."
"Where is the witch's shop located?"
"East, but we're not going there," Link said resolutely. "We need to stop at a fairy fountain first."
"A fairy fountain?" Mega Man hadn't a clue what that could be, but it sounded unnecessary. "Can we afford the time to stop there?"
"We can't afford not to stop there. Fairies are invaluable. If I were struck down in battle, the fairy would release itself and heal me. Fairies have saved my life countless times."
The pair loped down the treaded path and into a valley near swampland. Walking around its border they came to a dark cave in the cliff wall. Link entered and Mega Man followed. As they cantered down the tunnel, Mega Man could hear the faint sounds of harps playing, sounding like angels on high. He could hear the gentle sound of lapping water in the distance. The light near the end grew brighter and he found a pool of water in the overhanging cavern. Lights like big fireflies danced around the pond.
Wait, they weren't fireflies at all. Mega Man adjusted his eyes to accept more light and found they were actually tiny people! With wings! And tiny little dresses! They even had small antenna poking out of their auburn hair. The white aura around them seemed to sparkle like stars. This was extraordinary! This was the first time Mega Man had seen something truly magical, something that only existed in fantasies in his world.
"They... they're fairies!" he said astonishedly. "They're tiny flying people. And they... they..."
"Jeez, you'd think you'd never seen fairies before," Link said as he fetched an empty bottle from his knapsack and uncorked it.
"I haven't! They don't exist." Mega Man exclaimed, almost hypnotized by the fluttering creatures. A whole new species of intelligent life. Almost unconsciously he stepped forward into the pond, his large boot making a ripple in the clear water. The fairies flew about in random patterns, seemingly undisturbed by Mega Man's encroachment. He reached out a hand and tried to touch one, leaning forward slowly. He seemed mesmerized by their pale white light that seemed so peaceful.
"Whoa," Mega Man realized he was losing his balance on an unstable rock and circled his arms to try and stay up. But it was too late. He fell forward with a gigantic splash. Fairies skittered about from the commotion and surprise.
Link threw back his head in boisterous laughter. "Ha ha ha! Hey, while you're down there, think you can catch one for me? Ha ha ha!"
Mega Man, water dripping down his face, glowered at Link.
Link's laughter faded down to aftermath chuckles. "Ahh, that was good." He clutched the bottle in one hand and the cork in the other. After being so delighted, he tried to switch to focusing on being stealthy and capturing one. "Come here," he mumbled to himself.
Link set his sights on one of the closer bright lights flickering around. It flew back and forth, just out of his reach. Link crept closer and sprung out, using his entire body to pull the fairy into the jar in a flash. Quickly, he corked the bottle.
Link raised it up in the air triumphantly. "All right, I caught a fairy!" He looked down at Mega Man. "Ahem, sorry."
Suddenly, one of the fairies flew close to Link and started circling him. "Whoops," he uttered. The little white light flew around and around Link at fast speeds, leaving a trail of stardust drifting down.
"What was that?" Mega Man asked as he stood up, water sloughing off his metal hide.
"It healed me. Or it would have if I was hurt. If they get close to you, they'll spin around you and cure your wounds to a certain level."
Mega Man thought back to his power level, partially drained from their first encounter with a buzzblob. Would it really work? Would the fairy's magic heal him too? Mega Man briefly wondered whether he was compromising his own beliefs by trying it. But if he was going to live here, how long until his power winked out permanently. Mega Man trudged deeper into the pond, trying to inspect one of the sprites up close. They darted back and forth around him, until he was knee deep in the center of the pool. They seemed to be ignoring him. He tried running through the pond trying to catch one, sloshing water up and down, looking like a juvenile trying to catch a butterfly. The fairies didn't circle him. In fact, they treated him like he wasn't there, floating right across his nose. Mega Man checked his power level and found it unchanged from where it was before - half-power.
"I don't understand. You're clearly close enough to them," Link said as he scratched his head under his cap.
"Perhaps it doesn't work for me because I'm not organic," he said. "Or perhaps I'm not a creature of magic?"
"Maybe. I guess you'll just have to watch yourself from now on," Link said. Once they arrived at the Magic Shop, he would see if a red potion had any effect. At the back of his mind, he worried. Fairies and potions were about the only two manners of healing in Hyrule. If they didn't work, what would happen if they met something that his armor wouldn't hold up against.
Next Chapter: The Sword of Storms
Roll entered the kitchen in a great hurry. It was the closest room with a working phone. The one in the living room was destroyed and the mets and other small bots were busily trying to repair the damage.
She hit the 'call' button and said "Mercy Hospital". The phone emitted a faint crackling as it made the necessary connections throughout the network, only audible to her.
The image of a robot nurse with blue hair and pink eyes came on the screen. "Welcome to Mercy Hospital. Please state your request."
"Please transfer me to Dr. Thomas Xavier Light's room," Roll said.
"One moment, please," the robot cheerfully replied. Roll thought of how Dr. Light once said that, in his younger days, phone systems were automated so you would have to listen to endless menus to get anywhere. He said that one of the greatest things he did was put a stop to that by making robots so intelligent they could do anything you asked.
Dr. Light came on the screen, sitting in his hospital bed wearing a gown, looking jovial. He had his hands placed around the screen, still adjusting the comm device attached to the swing arm in the wall. "Hello, Roll. Confounded comm doesn't seem to want to stay put." He eased his hands away from the device, gently clutching it a few times to try and stick it in one spot. "Well, have you found anything," he said as he sighed and leaned back.
"I haven't been able to find Rock yet. He hasn't teleported out. He hasn't contacted either me or anyone else. I haven't found any trace of him in the mansion. It's as if he just disappeared."
"Disappeared? Oh dear. What could have happened to him. You don't think Wily took him, do you?"
"I don't think so. Mega Man would never allow that to happen, he'd sooner be destroyed than let Dr. Wily know his secrets. And there was no evidence that he was destroyed either."
"What about Rush? Tango?"
"I have not discovered them either. They may be where Mega Man is or they may be hiding below the house. I'll try and find them."
"All right good. They may know where your brother went. I know Rush was probably the last of us to see him. What about the object? Did you find that?"
"I believe so. There was a vase in your bedroom that was missing. I conducted a full intensive scan of the house and could not find any trace of it. Meaning it wasn't broken or hidden."
"A vase? In my bedroom?"
"Yes, it was sitting next to the end table on the dresser on the right side as one would enter. Below the painting."
"Curious. I can't seem to remember that vase," he said as he looked up and away.
"Are you saying it was not supposed to be there?"
"No, no. It's just that sometimes you get so used to what's normal you become desensitized to it, you forget that it's there in the first place."
"I found it in an old picture from thirteen years ago that had the vase in it. I don't know if perhaps it was given away or sold?" Roll asked, suddenly realizing that the vase may not have been what Wily was looking for.
"No, no, I remember it now. It was gray, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"And it had a weird design spiraling around it, a sort of zig-zag."
"Correct," Roll smiled.
"Hmmm, no, I didn't sell it or get rid of it. It's always been there in my room. I can't remember where I got it from though. Thirteen years, you say?"
"Perhaps. Maybe more." For all she knew, he could have gotten it when he was three. She clearly remembered seeing and cleaning the vase in the bedroom when it was there, now that she could find it in her databanks.
"Let's see. Before that time, many people gave me gifts. Trying to get on my good side, investors and whatnot. But that's not where the vase would come from. A vase is more personal."
"Dr. Cossack was the one taking the picture. Maybe if-"
"Dr. Cossack!" Dr. Light yelped with wide eyes. Roll jerked back in surprise. "Of course, why didn't I think of that before. Dr. Cossack was with me for nearly all that time before I created you and Rock, before I partnered with Dr. Wily. He would know where I got the vase from, he has a photographic memory. I'm sure I must have told him the story. Ask him. I'll bet he'll remember." Dr. Light bunched his fingers. "Hopefully, he'll know why it's so important. Otherwise, I have no idea how the vase is significant."
"Understood. I will call him shortly. How is your condition?"
"My condition? Oh..." Dr. Light sat back in his bed, relaxed. "Can't complain. My ribs are somewhat bruised and my left leg is broken. In fact, I'm waiting to go into surgery right now."
"Surgery?" Roll nearly gasped.
"Oh, don't worry about me, it's not serious. They just need to cut away some of the torn ligaments in my leg so that the bone can start healing. It sounds worse than it is. The doctors say that the ceiling landed in such a way that it really didn't put as much pressure on me as it should have, kind of like a little arch."
"How long until you are back on your feet?"
"Oh, weeks, at least. To make sure I have no complications. Plus I'll need physical therapy in order to be walking comfortably again. At my age though, I'm lucky to have survived something like this. I've still got some fight left in me," he said as he swung his fist energetically. In the back of his mind, though, he knew this would just be the first in a long series of hospital visits for his deteriorating body. There were fewer days ahead than behind.
"Oh, one last thing, Dr. Light. Dr. Wily destroyed your new type of teleporter."
"Oh, dear, you don't think... you don't think that's where Rock has gone to?"
"I don't know, Dr. Light. I don't know."
"I never got the chance to test it on a live subject before. The transfiguring system. Oh dear. And I'm here in the hospital."
"Don't stress out, Dr. Light. We'll find him soon enough. I believe wherever he is he's safe."
"I hope you're right, dear."
"It seems we were just here, doesn't it?" Link said as he closed the top of his knapsack.
"I hate seeing you go," Zelda said.
"I know. But it's what I do, I guess."
"I'll try and keep him out of trouble for you," Mega Man said as he smiled.
Zelda nodded. "Have you got everything you need?"
"I should," Link said as he patted his bag. "Take care of Buzzy for us," he said, looking down at the green blob wiggling back and forth next to Zelda's train.
"Um, I'll try. I'm not really sure how though."
Link knelt in front of the buzzblob. "Buzzy, take care of Zelda for me."
Buzzy burbled in response. Link laughed quietly.
"Let's go," he said to Mega Man. The two traveled down out of the castle and into the grassy courtyard. Fresh blue air hit them as they strolled down the garden path. Link looked back and saw Zelda, the Seer, and Buzzy were standing on the wall, waving goodbye to them. He smiled and waved back, glad that he had such friends. Mega Man looked where Link was and waved back as well.
The castle gate was already open and they passed under it to the field of trees before them.
"So what is our next destination?" Mega Man asked as they walked across the limestone bridge.
"Well, the last time I had a mushroom," Link said as he pulled out the small fungus from his pocket, "I brought it to the Magic Shop and she gave me a magic powder. But that was with a regular forest mushroom, not one made of copper," he said, cautiously fingering it. "Can't say I know what she'll do with a metal one. If she can do anything with it at all. It may be a dead end. But it's the only place I've got so far."
"Where is the witch's shop located?"
"East, but we're not going there," Link said resolutely. "We need to stop at a fairy fountain first."
"A fairy fountain?" Mega Man hadn't a clue what that could be, but it sounded unnecessary. "Can we afford the time to stop there?"
"We can't afford not to stop there. Fairies are invaluable. If I were struck down in battle, the fairy would release itself and heal me. Fairies have saved my life countless times."
The pair loped down the treaded path and into a valley near swampland. Walking around its border they came to a dark cave in the cliff wall. Link entered and Mega Man followed. As they cantered down the tunnel, Mega Man could hear the faint sounds of harps playing, sounding like angels on high. He could hear the gentle sound of lapping water in the distance. The light near the end grew brighter and he found a pool of water in the overhanging cavern. Lights like big fireflies danced around the pond.
Wait, they weren't fireflies at all. Mega Man adjusted his eyes to accept more light and found they were actually tiny people! With wings! And tiny little dresses! They even had small antenna poking out of their auburn hair. The white aura around them seemed to sparkle like stars. This was extraordinary! This was the first time Mega Man had seen something truly magical, something that only existed in fantasies in his world.
"They... they're fairies!" he said astonishedly. "They're tiny flying people. And they... they..."
"Jeez, you'd think you'd never seen fairies before," Link said as he fetched an empty bottle from his knapsack and uncorked it.
"I haven't! They don't exist." Mega Man exclaimed, almost hypnotized by the fluttering creatures. A whole new species of intelligent life. Almost unconsciously he stepped forward into the pond, his large boot making a ripple in the clear water. The fairies flew about in random patterns, seemingly undisturbed by Mega Man's encroachment. He reached out a hand and tried to touch one, leaning forward slowly. He seemed mesmerized by their pale white light that seemed so peaceful.
"Whoa," Mega Man realized he was losing his balance on an unstable rock and circled his arms to try and stay up. But it was too late. He fell forward with a gigantic splash. Fairies skittered about from the commotion and surprise.
Link threw back his head in boisterous laughter. "Ha ha ha! Hey, while you're down there, think you can catch one for me? Ha ha ha!"
Mega Man, water dripping down his face, glowered at Link.
Link's laughter faded down to aftermath chuckles. "Ahh, that was good." He clutched the bottle in one hand and the cork in the other. After being so delighted, he tried to switch to focusing on being stealthy and capturing one. "Come here," he mumbled to himself.
Link set his sights on one of the closer bright lights flickering around. It flew back and forth, just out of his reach. Link crept closer and sprung out, using his entire body to pull the fairy into the jar in a flash. Quickly, he corked the bottle.
Link raised it up in the air triumphantly. "All right, I caught a fairy!" He looked down at Mega Man. "Ahem, sorry."
Suddenly, one of the fairies flew close to Link and started circling him. "Whoops," he uttered. The little white light flew around and around Link at fast speeds, leaving a trail of stardust drifting down.
"What was that?" Mega Man asked as he stood up, water sloughing off his metal hide.
"It healed me. Or it would have if I was hurt. If they get close to you, they'll spin around you and cure your wounds to a certain level."
Mega Man thought back to his power level, partially drained from their first encounter with a buzzblob. Would it really work? Would the fairy's magic heal him too? Mega Man briefly wondered whether he was compromising his own beliefs by trying it. But if he was going to live here, how long until his power winked out permanently. Mega Man trudged deeper into the pond, trying to inspect one of the sprites up close. They darted back and forth around him, until he was knee deep in the center of the pool. They seemed to be ignoring him. He tried running through the pond trying to catch one, sloshing water up and down, looking like a juvenile trying to catch a butterfly. The fairies didn't circle him. In fact, they treated him like he wasn't there, floating right across his nose. Mega Man checked his power level and found it unchanged from where it was before - half-power.
"I don't understand. You're clearly close enough to them," Link said as he scratched his head under his cap.
"Perhaps it doesn't work for me because I'm not organic," he said. "Or perhaps I'm not a creature of magic?"
"Maybe. I guess you'll just have to watch yourself from now on," Link said. Once they arrived at the Magic Shop, he would see if a red potion had any effect. At the back of his mind, he worried. Fairies and potions were about the only two manners of healing in Hyrule. If they didn't work, what would happen if they met something that his armor wouldn't hold up against.
Next Chapter: The Sword of Storms
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