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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/Zn05qZPF/Jiggy-Final.png[/img]

[color=fed428]Level:[/color] 6 (21 -> 24/60)
[color=fed428]Location:[/color] Dead Zone - Final Atrium/Library Ruins -> ???
[color=fed428]Word Count:[/color] 1936 (+3 EXP)
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After the fragmented masses of the library ruin settled back to the Earth following Marie’s defeat, Banjo and Kazooie drifted down gently onto solid ground, having Sprang from their footing beforehand, carried on Kazooie’s wings to slow their descent. The final root, having been irrevocably bound to Marie (unbeknownst to her, and much to her misfortune), fell to ash with her destruction. The duo observed as much when looking about as Banjo’s feet gently met terra firma once more, but with further observation, they could see that they weren’t finished here. Banjo began walking towards Nadia and the Skull Heart she had sought, halting at her gestured command, then watched and waited patiently, cautiously, while she underwent her moment of repeat character development.

She ultimately refused the Heart, even now that it and all that it promised were finally within her reach, after fighting so hard for so long to find it. The Heart, of course, insisted she reconsider, whilst extending its tempting proposal to the rest of the women present, emphasizing the stipulation of gender exclusion. Even Dante, by pure technicality, wasn’t ruled out as a candidate, for to the Heart, it surely made little to no difference. If one had considered this standard of ‘good enough’ that it evidently worked by, it would doubtlessly come across as yet another bad sign.

[color=f60000]“Hmm… [i]any[/i] wish?”[/color] Even knowing better, Kazooie still acted to consider for a second the opportunity presented to her. The conceptual examples of “perennial excitement and adventure” and “returning what was lost” in particular struck a chord with her, as they were one and the same in her mind. Besides that, the specifics of her ponderings were a matter of curiosity that would remain unresolved.

[color=0aaaff]“Don’t even think about it,”[/color] Banjo bluntly interjected almost admonishingly, shutting down any such prospects or considerations of corrupted wish fulfillment his partner might have had, be they serious or not, to which she silently conceded.

The bear and bird’s eyes affixed to the imposing, enigmatic new entrant just as he passed close by them, having somehow escaped their notice up to that point. He walked slowly amongst them with singular purpose, and apparent disregard for the presence of any others, moving for the Skull Heart even as Bowser began barking threats at it. All attention swiftly moved away from either of them when a seemingly unlikely taker took hold of the Skull Heart, and began pleading her case.

More than a respectable number of eyes went wide, hands went out, and voices were raised in urgency when Linkle voiced serious intentions of wishing upon the Heart, insisting that if it was for the greater good, any suffering incurred on her part would be worth it.

[color=0aaaff]“W-wait! Miss… err…”[/color] Banjo began, stumbling over his thoughts and words as he tried to recall the girl’s name, having not actually spent much time around or interacted with in any capacity up until now.

[color=f60000]“We should do something, right?[/color] Kazooie suggested, a rare sense of alarm faintly present in her voice.

Shaking his head, Banjo said no more and started beelining for the Hylian and the artifact she held. Recognizing resistance, she bounded away from the group to higher ground, but the duo persisted still, switching from Banjo’s feet to Kazooie’s. They could and would still try to reach her, even if no one else could, by propelling themselves her way with a running Shock Spring Jump. Banjo turned and flailed mid-flight to reach for the Heart, but came nowhere close to touching it by the time Linkle made her wish. They were repelled by the wave of invisible energy, knocking them back down to ground level to tumble away. They stood up from where they stopped and could do nothing but watch helplessly at what transpired next.

The Skull Heart was quick as one might expect to betray its new beneficiary (if she could truly be called that), honing in on the one personal flaw it could find in her otherwise altruistic request. Admirably, Linkle tried as she could to not succumb to the corruptive power she had already submitted herself to, but resist as she might, the wish could not be undone; the Skull Heart would have its way. Just as her transformation hit its peak, nearing completion, time and all were suddenly brought to a standstill… all except for the one who made it so. The same robed figure from before warped in for seemingly no other reason than to remind the party of their mission, providing them with a suspicious sum of incentive to prioritize it, before absconding with their teammate through the dark rift that brought him there.

The temporal anomaly ceased, and time resumed for the party, though none knew in the moment what to do with it besides take some to process what had just transpired. It was disturbing and tragic just how easily even a noble soul such as her could, not so much be convinced, but convince herself that any amount of good could come of it. Perhaps she related it in her heart and mind to [url=https://zelda.gamepedia.com/Triforce]the more divine wish granting artifact of her world[/url] she knew tale of; that none of them would understand, or maybe she simply thought her good will would be enough to override the whims of the infernal Heart. Sadly, this single misstep on the hero’s path, which she believed herself destined for, sent her falling headlong into a dark ravine of ill fate.

Therein lay the true tragedy; that the Skull Heart wasn’t entirely wrong. Generally, all wishes were born of some inherent, often selfish desire or self-serving cause; even wishes for others seldom excluded the wisher. Moreover, one could not altogether dictate or circumvent cause and effect with a forced miracle, even if worded carefully. No grand benefit was or could ever be given for free, and the bill always came due. The problem was that the Skull Heart looked specifically for the crack in her morale to exploit, no matter how infinitesimal, so it may inflict its curse, making no honest account for the intent. In the end, that was all that mattered to it; all it needed; all it cared about, and it got what it wanted.

As for the Nobody, was he lying in wait the whole time waiting for this exact thing to happen, and if so, what nefarious ends did he aim to meet? That much, they were due to find out. The question was, when? Would they defeat the Qliphoth first, or find him along the way? Only time would tell.

“A cryin’ shame, isn’t it?” Mr. Bones chimed in, with a certain somberness in his voice. “That there are always people--or things--in this world lookin’ to take advantage of the good nature of others. If only she knew...” His guitar materialized in his hands once more, and he began improvising lines of a slow, reverberant, melancholic riff between sentences. “There’s no such thing as a pure wish; just good intentions… and you know what they say about those… and if there’s no rest for the wicked, then what’s that say about the righteous? Still, if she wanted to do some good--to be a hero--why not let her? To help others who can’t help themselves isn’t the worst thing a person could want. So what if she wanted her own story to be told? Ain’t those the stories most worth tellin’? I know it doesn’t always work out that way sometimes, but every now and then, one’s good deeds deserve to be rewarded, not punished. Besides, to be-”

Bones’ piece--music and speech--came to a halt as he was drowned out by a resounding, furious roar from the Koopa King unlike any they had heard from him thus far, belted out ahead of him decking the newcomer across the length of what was left of the library. Those among them who knew how things worked here knew they were now in for a fight… which was brought to a swift, unceremonious end when everyone present with a firearm lit up the returning attacker simultaneously. From there, Bowser himself elected to clear him with a Friend Heart, expecting somehow that the man would be more reasonable going forward, and gave him an abridged rundown on the overall situation at hand.

[color=f60000]“Well, [i]that[/i] was easy.”[/color]

“Well, [i]that[/i] was easy.”

Mr. Bones and Kazooie declared in unison, then exchanged looks to one another. “Now, where was I?” Bones cleared his throat (out of theatricality rather than need), found his last place on the fretboard, and flipped a switch on his demeanor to pick right back up where he left off.

“To be a hero, you could say, is already its own punishment; in no need of more. Heroes don’t live happily ever after, they make sacrifices so that the rest of us can. That was her choice to make… and she made it hoping no one else would have to. If you can’t call [i]that[/i] heroic, heh... then I don’t know what you [i]can[/i] call it.”

[color=f60000]“Don’t you have an empty grave somewhere to occupy?”[/color] Kazooie rebuked, as her way of expressing that she grew tired of the skeleton’s threnodic waxing philosophical.

[color=0aaaff]“Don’t mind her, Mr. Bones.”[/color] Banjo interjected, foregoing his usual scolding of Kazooie in lieu of a consoling pat on the shoulder. [color=0aaaff]“I’m sure we’re all just a little upset about what happened.”[/color]

“Can’t say I blame you. Poor girl deserved better,” Bones sympathized, keeping the musical accompaniment going by second motion as he continued. “I once dealt with a man who believed good could only manifest where evil thrived, and sought to make that happen. Didn’t care what it cost, or who it would affect, or how; just the result. But your friend… she didn’t want [i]anyone[/i] to suffer for it. She just wanted to do what she thought was right. But then again, I’m sure [i]he[/i] thought the same.” He paused thoughtfully at the realization, trying not to linger too hard on any of the implications. “Right about now, I almost wish he was right. Almost. But I think we’ve all had about enough of [b]‘wishes’[/b] for one day.”

Banjo nodded along with Bones’ monologue as it reached its conclusion, the melody fading out in kind. [color=0aaaff]“We should probably get out of here,”[/color] Banjo echoed the going recommendation, acknowledging no further the outgoing subject matter for lack of anything more of value to contribute to the discussion around it at present.

Bones concurred with a nod. “Any idea where we’re goin’?”

[color=0aaaff]“Nope, but safe guess is it’s better than here.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“I hate to play devil’s advocate by pointing out the obvious here, but isn’t there still a main boss who’s butt we have to whoop? I’m no more eager than anyone else to stick around here to race a time limit myself, but…”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“Well, if this place is going up, then it’ll just take care of itself.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“You sure about that? Because this doesn’t strike me as something skippable, and it might even be harder to get to when we inevitably come back for it later. Just a feeling.”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]*sigh* “You’re probably right, but I’d rather do it when we’re better prepared and have more time, like we’re used to. It’s not like it’d be our first time backtracking anyway.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“Fair enough.”[/color]

With that, Mr. Bones dismissed his guitar and followed everyone’s lead in-line with Banjo and Kazooie behind everyone else. Unless anyone of sound mind within the group had any reasonable objections or better ideas (whatever [i]that[/i] might be), that would be through the teleporter leading out.