[center][color=darkgreen][h3]Linkle[/h3][/color]
[color=darkgreen][b] Level 3[/b][/color] - (24/30) + 2

[color=darkgreen][b]Location:[/b][/color] Peach's Castle – Out Front, Moatside ---> Peach's Castle, 
[color=darkgreen][b]Word Count: 977 [/b][/color][/center]

[@Lugubrious]
[hr]

Linkle's face fell and she jumped back, raising one leg to prepare for a kick as it came back down. There was no way she was managing to screw this up, she was ready to force that heart down his stupidly dense throat if she had to! Luckily for [s]her[/s] him that confrontation never came. The second time the heart bopped him on the head, it took. While it didn't heal the boys slight injuries it did chase the angry crimson from his eyes. "Yes!" she said, leaping the air one fist extended straight up before turning to Minako and opening it for a high five. Only to catch a glimpse of the girls face and slowly lowered it. Minako was transfixed on the newly rescued boy, a mix of emotions Linkle couldn't quite follow playing across her face before she collapsed onto the boy with tear stained eyes. Linkle stepped back, suddenly getting the impression that this was something that should be shared only between them, a just observed the pair for a moment.

[i]Yeah[/i], she thought to herself. [i]That's the way a hero is supposed to make people feel.[/i] Even if she questioned how much of this outcome had been down to her involvement she still nodded in satisfaction at the contribution she'd made to it. She started wondering if she should withdraw coolly at this point, and that thought cut through to mood and reminded her that the job was only half over! She spun around, ready to sprint inside the castle to aide her allies in the terrible sounding battle within only to discover that there weren't any more terrible sounds. The only sounds that reached her ears where Minako's shuttering sentence starts. The castle was silent. Then, all of a sudden, a cloud of spreading darkness erupted from the castle and Linkle braced herself as it spread over them. When it past she quickly looked around in a worried panic, but everyone outside seemed fine. She turned her gaze back to the castle. "I think they just won." she said, the thinnest hint of disappointment creeping into her voice. 

[hr]

Linkle would have found the idea that dark magic could be beneficial a hard sell if she hadn't run into a dark, statuesque beauty in her travels that had helped her rescue Princess Zelda by using dark magic to beat monsters with a whole bridge. Even if she had never met her, however, just walking in the front door of the castle made it obvious enough that the cloud of darkness hadn't hurt their cause. As she pushed open the door, crossbows in hand in case of trouble, she only succeeded in scaring some adorable and totally uncharred mushroom men. She apologized profusely as they crossed the atrium and she pushed open the opposite door.

What appeared before her was a sea of faces, old and new. Some really new. Some that weren't even on the bridge, and she almost mistook Ratchet for a newcomer given his increased height. One of them was even a little dragon! She also caught the gunsliger giving them a [i]look[/i] and felt herself go red with embarrassment for getting here too late to help with the battle. Still, her mood was pretty up. At least until the Master pointed out who wasn't among the crowd.

Linkle wasn't sure she'd even gotten a good look at the girl The Master mentioned, but Zer0 being gone threw her. No way that was true. She looked again, then again, then a third time, but no matter what she couldn't find the strange faceless swordsman anywhere. Gone. Dead. 

Even if she had never really spoken with the man his loss filled her with an almost spiritual unease. She hadn't expected it. She hadn't even considered it since The Master had said he saw them in the future. Zer0 had, in her mind, been a part of some grand design. They all were. Destiny had said they made it through this, and with that in mind she hadn't had to worry. She just had to do her best, like she always did, and everything would be fine. Now, though, nothing was certain. The river of destiny could be carrying any of these people to their ends. 

An intrusive thought slithered its way into her mind. If she had been stronger, if she had been able to get Minako and Junpei in here during the battle, would their powers have saved Zer0 and his friend?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Agoston boldly marched to the spirit glittering on the ground and used it up, transforming an already monster of a man into a literal monster. If Bowser were a man instead of a dragon she imagined that's what he'd probably look like, and the man walked off proclaiming proudly that the Princess had commanded a feast. Linkle was about to follow out of sheer curiosity over what this Princess looked like when a man suddenly charged in through the doorway, rudely shoving past her and kicked Bowser in the back. Even more amazingly, the attack had actually managed to knock Bowser over. She pointed her bow at the stranger, but everyone else beat her to the punch. She instead turned her attention back to the open door, the mushroom boys that she figured were supposed to be guarding it, and the area beyond the castle. Looked like anything out there could just walk in.

Her eyes went wide as she suddenly remembered something, but before she could act on it Tora's mechanical friend walked past them and headed towards it. "Hey." Linkle called out to her. "Tora's friend, wait a minute. There's this really spooky robot we saw out there that likes shooting other robots. It was in that place near the castle with all the metal junk. It might still be creeping around."