Thank you so much, Vanessa, Vanitas, Chameleon, and Chosen_Hero! It means a lot!
Alright guys, I know it's been quite a while since I posted a chapter, but I hope you enjoy this one all the same! And in answer to your question, Van, Naomi will make an appearance again soon enough. Just you wait.
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Chapter Twenty-Five
The six Zoras pushed our ship through the water with impressive speed. We were just a few leagues behind Zordo’s ship.
“How much longer until we make it to Zora Hall?” I asked Seryph.
“Not much longer now. We’re almost there!” he replied.
I peered ahead, past Zordo’s ship. I couldn’t see anything that looked like a hall, or any kind of town for that matter. I couldn’t see anything but the ocean.
Soon enough, Zordo’s ship stopped in the middle of a large reef. It was kind of like a shoal, and it only enclosed the vessel on three sides.
“We’re here!” Seryph told me.
“But... there’s nothing here.” I said, confused. “Are you sure this is the right spot?”
“Just you wait and see.” Layla said with a grin.
I merely answered “Okay...” and continued to examine the surroundings.
We came to a stop in the center of the reef that surrounded us on three sides. We were side by side with Zordo’s ship. I couldn’t spot anything anywhere around us that looked like a town. Just when I couldn’t get any more confused, the Zoras who pushed our ship here dove underwater.
“What are they doing?” I whispered to myself.
All of a sudden, the water beneath our ship started to bubble. Before I could even blink, darkness enclosed our entire vessel.
“What’s going on?!” I shouted in surprise.
Then, the next thing I knew, the darkness immediately receded , and I found myself staring at unfamiliar surroundings.
I looked around, and found that our ship, along with Zordo’s, were floating in a small pool of water surrounded by deep blue stone on all sides. There was a steel railing, and the walls behind them were colorful, like a deep-sea coral reef. I looked up, and saw what looked like the surface of a bubble, about fifty feet above our heads. It completely covered the opening in the ceiling, as if it were holding back the water above it. The coral walls had various holes in them, like houses. That’s when it hit me. We were inside Zora Hall. But how did it happen?
“Layla, what happened? How did we...” I asked.
“It was the Zora’s guardian deity, Jabun. He brought us down here.” Layla explained. “Jabun is a mystical creature who lives with the Zoras down here, beneath the waves. He lives in the pool of water directly below us, although I’ve never seen him myself.”
I looked over the edge, and tried to see to the bottom of the pool of water. It looked quite shallow at first glance, but looking at it now, I couldn’t tell if there
was a bottom.
“So we’re beneath that reef we were at a second ago?” I asked.
“That’s right.” Layla confirmed.
“The only reason I was able to find this place and get help,” Zelda began, “Is because there were some Zoras standing on top of the reef when I arrived.”
“Wow.” I said quietly.
I once again examined my surroundings. It was really beautiful, but I couldn’t help but question one thing.
“How does that bubble at the top work? Wouldn’t it pop if Jabun goes to the surface to carry us down?”
“That bubble is created through the grand protection of Lord Jabun. It will never break, no matter what passes through it.” a deep voice explained.
I turned to find that Zordo had boarded our ship while Layla and I were talking.
“Now then, I hope you don’t find me rude...” he continued. “... But you all are... quite late. Would you mind hurrying up and unloading your cargo? Considering the circumstances with Tentalus, I won’t charge you for anything that happens to be broken, however I do need you to unload immediately.” Zordo said sternly.
“You heard him. Get that cargo unloaded, you maggots!” Layla shouted.
A simultaneous shout of “Yes Ma’am!” reverberated throughout the walls of Zora Hall as Layla’s crew scrambled below decks. I suddenly felt hands pressing against my back and pushing me toward the stairs leading below deck.
“You too, Alphonse! Move it!” Layla’s voice commanded from behind me as she shoved me forward.
I did as I was told and dashed below decks to help the crew gather the cargo. It was at this point I realized I didn’t even know what we were delivering.
As I reached the cargo hold, I ducked out of the way of Milkovich, who dashed out of the threshold and back above deck, carrying a large barrel. As I entered the cargo hold, I suddenly had a large barrel of my own thrust into my arms.
“You take that one, Alphonse.” Seryph, who had handed it to me rather forcefully, instructed.
Without even replying, I eagerly rushed up the steps and back above deck. I noticed that a plank had been set from the port side of the ship to an opening in the rail on the edge of the stone wall that surrounded Jabun’s pool.
After Layla yelled at me to take the barrel “over there”, I crossed the plank and took my first steps on the cold stone floor. My footsteps echoed throughout the Hall as I rushed over to where Milkovich was setting down his own barrel. After doing the same, I followed him back to the ship and below deck.
I didn’t realize it myself, but I found myself getting excited. I started to wonder if this was what it was like to have a job. Had there been no Great War, I would have been able to grow up as a normal boy, and I would have eventually gotten a job. I started to once again feel the sense of normalcy I experienced during my birthday party with Rena, Saria, Naomi and Zelda.
As I continued to help Layla’s crew unload the cargo, I felt this twisting feeling in my stomach. I was beginning to long for that sense of normalcy. For the first time, I truly started to yearn for a normal life.
* * *
About thirty minutes had passed by, and all the cargo was successfully unloaded. I collapsed down, with my back to Seryph’s, panting.
“So... What exactly were we delivering?” I asked through my attempts at catching my breath.
“Steel. The Zoras need steel for various things, like their weapons and armor. We also deliver a bunch of things like silverware. The Zoras trade in things they can’t find in the ocean, and in exchange they pay us in gold. There’s a gold deposit deep down in Jabun’s pool, and since only the Zoras are allowed to go down there, only they can get to it.”
“I see... So this job pays well, huh.”
“Yeah. We make enough to get by.”
Seryph then said softly, in a whisper, “The Zoras are kinda stingy, though, so it’s just barely enough.”
I laughed briefly and said, “Well, you don’t have to worry about my share. I don’t exactly work for you guys, so you don’t need to pay me. I carry plenty of money with me, anyway.”
“... You’re a good kid, Alphonse.” Seryph said as he patted my left shoulder and stood up.
I got up myself, and walked over to Layla, who was leaning on the railing that surrounded Jabun's pool.
“Good work, Alphonse.” Layla said as I leaned on the railing next to her. “Thank you for your help. We got done a lot faster thanks to you.”
“Don’t mention it.” I said with a smile. “So... What now?”
“What do you mean ‘What now’?” she asked.
“Are we... staying here overnight? Or what?”
“Oh. Yes, we are. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. You can stick around if you want, or you can ask the Zoras to give you a ride to your next destination. They do run a ferry service, after all.”
“Okay. But I’m still kinda worn out from the fight with Tentalus. I think I’ll stay here for the night, too. Plus, I’m interested in Zora Hall. A little sight-seeing won’t hurt.” I told her.
“Okay then. Do what you want, Alphonse.” she said as she walked off.
I watched her back as she walked away, and noticed a little apprehension.
“What’s with her all of a sudden...” I said quietly to myself.
I spent the rest of the day wandering around Zora Hall with Zelda. I explored each nook and cranny, and I was thoroughly impressed. I couldn’t imagine how much skill and time it took to carve out all of the various rooms and tunnels throughout the reef without disturbing the natural environment. Zora Hall was truly a wondrous spectacle.
Later that night, the Zoras offered me a meal of fish. When I tried it, I was really impressed with the flavor. The Zora chef would have been a great competitor for Gracia, Saria’s mother, if she were still alive. The fish was definitely not one I’d ever seen before. I guessed that it was a deep-sea fish native to this area. Whatever it was, it was really tasty.
Surprisingly, I didn’t see any of Layla’s crew around while I was eating. I figured they decided to eat in their ship. I was kind of disappointed. I had been looking forward to sharing a meal with them again.
Late that night, I left the room the Zoras had lent me, and walked around. I was unable to sleep. Zelda had been left in my room, seeing as she had already fallen fast asleep.
As I walked around aimlessly, my thoughts returned to Layla. Why did she show apprehension earlier when I was talking with her? I couldn’t figure it out. As my mind raced with these thoughts, I found myself in the area with Jabun’s pool. I walked over to the railing, and looked down.
There was a strange light coming from deep beneath the water, and it illuminated the entire room in a light blue glow. I wondered if this glow had something to do with Jabun. I looked up from the surface of the pool, and raised my head to look at the bubble at the ceiling. It was very dark, so I figured that the light from above the ocean didn’t reach down here. It was night time, so there probably wouldn't be enough light above the water right now, anyway.
I looked around some more, and then I spotted Layla standing at the railing of her ship. I crossed the plank and boarded the ship, and approached her.
She seemed to have heard my footsteps, as she quickly turned around. “... Oh, it’s you.” she said upon seeing me.
“Yeah. What’s up? You don’t look too well.” I said, noticing a sullen expression plastered to her face.
“Well, I couldn’t sleep.” she said while turning back around to lean on the railing.
I walked up next to her and asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Why wouldn’t it be.” she answered without so much as a glance in my direction.
“Because it doesn’t seem like everything’s alright. At least not with you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped, looking back at me.
“You look upset. Did something happen?” I asked, without faltering at her sudden anger.
Layla calmed down, and turned her gaze to the surface of the water. “Nothing’s wrong with me.” she said quietly.
“... Layla, you’re scaring me.”
She really was. Even though I’d only known her for two days, I’d never seen her act like this before. She was clearly upset over something, and for her to act like this was unusual for her.
“So what if I am.” she retorted without looking back at me. She kept her gaze focused on the water’s surface.
I sighed before continuing. “Listen, if there’s something bothering you, I want to help. And I’m not just saying that out of a sense of duty as the Hero of Spirits, I’m saying it as your friend. Now please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“... Friend?” Layla said suddenly.
“That’s right.” I said, not seeming to understand why she repeated that word.
Layla’s face became more pained, and I suddenly felt like I crossed a line.
“Uh-um... Wait, was that presumptuous? I-I mean, I consider you my friend, but I didn’t mean to imply that... that you thought of
me as a friend too... So... um...”
As my words clumsily left my mouth, Layla suddenly hugged me.
“Uhm... Uh, L-Layla? What are you...” I stuttered as my face became red.
“I’m sorry...” she said quietly. Her face was buried into my chest.
“It’s just... I knew I would never see you again after this, so I tried to avoid you... I really wanted to be friends with you. You helped me so much... For the first time, I thought ‘I really want to be friends with this guy’... But when I thought about how I’d never see such a good friend again, I got really upset... So I tried to avoid you so it wouldn’t hurt as much when you left... But I just couldn’t... I can’t help feeling sad... I don’t want you to leave my life forever, Alphonse...”
As Layla sobbed into my shirt, I couldn’t help but feel moved. She just wanted to stay friends with me. I couldn’t believe how much of an impact I’d had on her. Was I really capable of making such a huge difference in someone’s life? I couldn’t help but wonder that.
As I thought about it, I remembered Naomi. She’d fallen in love with me in just a few days. And there was also Firo, the Anouki I met in the Snow Realm. He and I became close friends in such a short amount of time, too. As I thought about this, I understood that it really was possible. The amount of time had nothing to do with it. The strength of a person’s bond isn’t affected by how much time was spent, but the quality of the time that was spent.
For Layla, who lost her father at a young age, and only had a crew of men she was supposed to intimidate and command, the idea of having a personal bond with someone must be a new experience for her. It made sense that she would be upset about never seeing the person she made her first real bond with again.
I was about to open my mouth to say something to her, but we were suddenly interrupted.
Several loud splashes echoed throughout the Hall as ten figures burst through the bubble covering the top of the cave. Layla and I jumped apart and watched with serious expressions as the figures glided down and landed gracefully on the railings surrounding Jabun’s pool.
“Who are you people?” Layla asked.
The figure directly across from us grinned wickedly as he stood to his full height. “You can call me Danyel!” he cackled. “Me and my crew here want one thing: all the gold you can give us!”
“Gold?” I asked, surprised.
“That’s right! We know about the gold deposit down here! You’d better give us everything you can, unless you want to get hurt!” he screeched joyfully.
“Alphonse, these guys are pirates.” Layla whispered to me.
“In that case, we can’t let them hurt anyone or take anything.” I said as I drew the Lokomo Sword from its scabbard strapped to my back.
“Damn right.” Layla said as she rushed into her cabin to grab her lance.
“So you want to get hurt after all... In that case, I’ll be happy to oblige you!” Danyel laughed wildly.
The sinister laughter of Danyel and his pirates resounded throughout the room as they all drew their swords. As Layla returned, I said, “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s take these guys down, Alphonse.” Layla nodded.
I was impressed with how well she was able to adapt to the situation, considering her emotional state just before this happened. However, I pushed such thoughts out of my mind. It was time to fight.
“I’ll take Danyel and half the crew.” I said.
“Then I’ll get the other five.” Layla responded.
Layla took off from the ship, dashing across the plank to meet two of the pirates in combat. She swung her lance expertly, and knocked one of the pirate’s weapons from his hands almost immediately. As the shocked pirate doubled back, Layla swung her lance viciously, connecting with the man’s right side. The pirate was instantly knocked through the air and rammed against the coral wall with a loud
thud.
Layla quickly turned around and parried the other pirate’s sword slash with ease. As the pirate attempted to attack again, Layla elegantly dodged the strike and maneuvered behind him. She smacked the lance against the left side of his skull hard, and he was knocked unconscious.
Two more pirates tried to gang up on Layla from both sides, but she spun her lance around like a whirlwind, taking them both down effortlessly. The fifth pirate leapt through the air at Layla, but she swiftly swung her lance towards him. The steel edge of the lance connected with the pirate’s torso in mid-air, forcing the man against the coral wall with a lot of force.
Layla, having finished her battles, turned to watch me fight.
I kicked off the ship’s railing hard, and as I did, I focused the Spirits’ magic in the soles of my feet. This power propelled me across the distance with lightning-fast speed. As I soared across the gap, I swung my sword. It came in contact with another pirate’s blade, who had just barely managed to get into a guarding position as I leapt at him. The force from my impact sent him crashing into the coral wall, and he fell to the floor in an unconscious state.
The other pirates stared at me in amazement, but soon recovered and leapt at me. The first one I took down while he was still in the air. I jumped and struck him with a half-spinning blow. He was sent reeling into the wall. As I landed, the next pirate was upon me. He took advantage of the fact that I couldn’t immediately react while landing to tried and attack me. However, as soon as I landed, I kicked down on the ground hard, and the magic concentrated in my feet propelled me to the right faster than the blink of an eye.
I seemed to have overshot it, as I nearly hit the far wall. As I was grumbling to myself about how I still needed more practice with this new technique, the pirates all stared at me in shock. I took advantage of their confused state and kicked off the ground again. My sudden high-speed attack caught them off-guard, and I took down two of them at once with a deftly delivered sword strike. Now, all that’s left was their leader, Danyel.
“You move quite well, kid. I’m impressed, really I am. You should come work for me.” he rasped.
“Piss off.” I spat.
“Heh... Didn’t think so. How unfortunate for you...” he replied coldly.
Danyel lunged at me with his longsword, swinging wildly but precisely. I was able to read his movements, ducking and dodging past each slice. I kicked the ground hard, and found myself on the other side of my attacker. Just as Danyel noticed I was no longer in front of him, he turned around to look for me. But I was way ahead of him.
The second my feet touched the ground, I kicked down again, and I shot towards my foe with an unbelievable speed. As I swung my sword with an incredible amount of force and momentum, Danyel somehow managed to guard. However, what happened next truly shocked me.
Despite all of the force and momentum my strike had been carrying, the impact barely caused Danyel to budge.
He stared at me over his blade, grinning menacingly. He suddenly shoved forward, and I was pushed back surprisingly easily. I didn’t expect Danyel to have so much physical strength. I was caught off-guard, and was knocked back. I slipped on a small puddle on the stone floor and fell. Danyel didn’t miss a beat as he mercilessly swung his longsword down through the air.
As his blade closed in on me, it was intercepted by another weapon. Standing between me and Danyel was Layla, who was desperately trying to hold him back. However, Danyel’s overwhelming physical prowess was taking its toll on Layla, who could barely remain standing under such weight. I quickly made the most of this opportunity. While neither Danyel nor Layla could move, I quickly wrapped my left arm around Layla’s waist and kicked off the ground.
As Danyel’s longsword smashed into the stone floor, splitting the ground with a loud
boom, I successfully managed to get Layla out of the way unharmed. We ended up back on the deck of her ship.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“Y-Yeah... Thanks, Alphonse...” she said in a shaky voice. “That guy’s strength is phenomenal...” she muttered.
I found myself feeling the same way. Danyel was definitely in command of a lot of physical power. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Without waiting for Layla, I quickly leapt back across the gap to meet Danyel in combat again. As I did this, I filled the Lokomo Sword with magic power. As the sword’s blade glowed a brilliant azure blue, Danyel stopped in his tracks.
I took advantage of his confusion and swung my sword with all my might, letting loose the pent-up magic power. My blade connected with Danyel’s in a brilliant array of sparks as the aura ripped through the air at Danyel’s body. Once all had settled, however, I once again wound up being shocked.
Danyel, who had taken the brunt of my strike, was only pushed back a few feet.
“What the...” I let out in surprise. I stood gaping at Danyel, who didn’t seem to be in much pain.
“That light...” he said suddenly. “You must be Alphonse, the Hero of Spirits.” As Danyel grinned wickedly, a few gold teeth flashed in his jaw. “I’ve heard many things about you. To think I’d actually get the honor of fighting you myself! Now I can finally test out this sword’s true potential!” he cackled.
“What do you mean ‘this sword’s true potential’?” I asked warily.
Continuing to grin, he said, “I bought this sword from a black market broker. This was forged in the Mystic Realm, the world of the Demons! It has a special property that
negates all magic power, including that of the Spirits of Light!”
I gasped in pure astonishment. “Negates all magic power? Is that even possible?!”
“It is! It’s made from a metal that naturally has anti-magic properties! It only exists in the Mystic Realm, so I paid a pretty penny for this baby. Looks like it was worth the coin!” Danyel yelled in excitement. As he laid the end of the blade in the palm of his left hand, he said with a wicked laugh,
“This sword is your bane, Hero of Spirits!”
Well doen azure! I loved how you described the bosses of Zelda and how Layla and Alphone are so alike in their faith
Whoa Danyell is tricky!
