[June 13] [Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?/Legend of Zelda] Centennial Lady, chapter 6

[rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com]

Title: Centennial Lady; Chapter 6
Day/Theme: June 13; Despair has no wings
Series: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?/The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Character: The Dying Informant (and company), Veran
Rating: PG13

Will be cross-posted to my journal


The Techie hugged the Informant close; he could just hear the young agent’s under-his-breath murmurings of how what had just happened to the Rookie was all his fault.

“No…” the brunet whispered, his hatred for Veran growing by the minute. “It’s her fault; not yours… Never yours!”

“This is what she did to another one of our friends, as well as a couple of our enemies!” the Messenger said, angrily turning to the mages. “Can’t you do something!?”

“If, and only if, your friend manages to cast the stone into the dungeon’s pit, will there be the slightest possibility that all of the damage will be reversed,” said van Ghoul.

“You don’t know for certain?” asked the Inspector, frowning.

The warlock could not guarantee that it would happen. But there was no other alternative; it was a long shot, but they had to believe.

“Here…” said Mr. Chan, handing a large violet seed to the Techie. “I have protected this mystery seed with a Chi spell; Veran cannot stand mystery seeds. The seed with the chi spell will protect you from her wrath.”

The Techie looked at the seed, and then at the Informant and his other friends.

“You can’t give them one…?” he asked. “What will protect them?”

“I only have one mystery seed,” said Mr. Chan. “Veran will not harm the boy; she needs him alive for her plan to work. And out of you three, she sees you as the biggest threat, so you must have the seed.”

The Techie gave a glum nod, placing the charm in his pocket, wishing there was some way he could use it to prevent the rest of his friends from being encased. And the Informant… the poor Informant looked terrible.

He helped the young man up, and he took note of how the blond seemed very reluctant to look him in the eye.

“Listen to me…” he said, holding him close. “I know you’re probably thinking of wanting to go to Labrynna alone… But I can’t let you do that.”

“None of us can, Infy…” said the Messenger, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We all want to help the others—and you.”

The Informant looked up at him, and then at the Techie. There was a particularly fierce fire in the brunet’s eyes—one that the boy could not read.

“Techie…?” asked the Inspector, as the brunet began to lead the Informant out the door.

The Techie looked back at him.

“I won’t let her succeed,” he vowed. “I won’t let that vision come to pass!”

The Messenger and the Inspector just exchanged glances, wondering what on earth this “vision” was to make the Informant so despondent, but make the Techie so determined at the same time. Unable to come up with an answer, they, between the two of them, picked up the Rookie and carried him back to the plane.

Once there, they realized that keeping him there would be a problem, so out of desperation, they used luggage ropes to secure him to a seat.

“I am so sorry about this…” the Messenger said to the statue, as he secured the knots. He glanced at the Informant, who was still trembling in the Techie’s embrace. “Though nowhere near as sorry as Infy is for what happened. Listen, Rookie… If… When you get out of that rock, you’re going to have to help him realize that it wasn’t his fault, okay…?” He patted the statue on the shoulder.

The Inspector didn’t really have much to say. He had a feeling that Veran wasn’t done tormenting the Informant yet; in fact, he was sure that she was trying to drag out his suffering by encasing them one by one. He had no doubts that he and the Messenger would probably end up the same way. It would be up to the Techie to keep the Informant together.

The older agent glanced at the brunet. The Techie would certainly devote himself to making sure the Informant was alright. And, hopefully, that Chi spell would shield the Techie from Veran’s magic as long as necessary. Because if the Techie was encased, too… the Informant would probably lose the drive to keep going with his quest. And yet… something told him that Veran had more in store for the Techie than just an encasing…

“Techie…?” he asked.

The brunet looked up, still holding onto his poor friend.

“Don’t leave him,” the Inspector said. In retrospect, it seemed needless to say that to him, but the Techie knew exactly what he meant by it.

“I won’t,” he vowed. Even if something did happen to him, he would find a way to keep helping the Informant on his quest.

The boy looked up at the Techie, silently, his eyes red.

“You’re going to be alright…” the Techie whispered to him.

“I’m not worried about me,” the Informant said, in such a voice that the Techie felt his heart twist even more.

“I know…” he said. “You always say that I put myself last, but I think that describes you a lot, too. And I guess that’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re all here—to help each other, because each of us puts himself last.”

“Yeah, I guess we do, don’t we…?” the Messenger asked, reflecting on the Techie’s words. “Maybe that’s why we get along so well without hardly any fights…”

The Informant was going to say something about the fight he and the Messenger had concerning Patty. But that seemed so long ago… and so unimportant compared to what was happening now. Now it was another woman tearing him away from his friends. And what he couldn’t grasp was why the others were still standing by him, even though they knew that they were in danger, and it was directly his fault. And the Techie… The Techie even knew that his fate would be far worse than an encasing, and yet he was refusing to give up. Several times, the Informant tried to open his mouth and ask him why he was doing this, but nothing came out; he was finding it very difficult to speak, let alone speak about something as terrible as losing him.

And besides the Techie’s quiet vows that the Informant would be alright, the flight was spent in silence as they headed in towards Labrynna, the pilot following the directions that van Ghoul had given them. He clearly didn’t think too much of flying to some uncharted, forgotten land, but as he was under ACME employment, he realized that he had no choice.

Every once in a while, the Informant would tremble as Veran tried to speak to him, trying to plead with him to not go to Labrynna, and that she would gladly restore the Rookie and the Recruiting Officer, if only he agreed to help her with her plan. But the Techie was sharp; he seemed to be able to sense exactly when Veran was speaking, at which point, he would hold his surrogate brother close and softly talk to him, which would successfully bring him back to reality. Veran was frustrated and livid with the Techie, but, sensing the mystery seed and the Chi spell, she knew she could do nothing to him.

And the Messenger was feeling frustrated, too, but obviously for a different reason. He was upset that he could do nothing to make the Informant feel better about the whole ordeal. There was a time when the young agent used to always come to him for help and advice… No… No, what was he thinking? He couldn’t be jealous of the Techie because of that! The Informant was clearly traumatized by what was going on; and he had seen something that the techie had, too. And that, for some reason, was why the Techie was able to be of better help.

Yes… It made sense. But it still didn’t stop the Messenger from wishing he could do something to help. With a sigh, he glanced at the Inspector, who was still deep in thought.

“What’s up…?” he asked the older agent.

“Just thinking…” the Inspector said. Noticing that the Informant was still in a poor state, he lowered his voice so that only the Messenger could hear. “If she needs him, and can’t hurt Techie… I’m thinking that we’re going to have to watch our backs. If that’s even any use with Veran around, of course…”

The Messenger stared at him, realizing the full impact of his words. And then he knew… Perhaps that was the way he would have to help the Informant. And that was why the techie was the one who had to shoulder the responsibility of making sure she doesn’t get to him.

“I hope we won’t have to be in those rocks for too long…” the Messenger murmured, trying to make light of what he knew was a terribly dark situation.

“We won’t, hopefully, if that’s what it comes to…” the Inspector said. “Not if they have anything to say about it.”

The Messenger gave a wan smile. Those two had seemed to bond ever since they crossed paths with the Informant that fateful December day in Central Park. Of course, it had taken the Informant a lot longer to warm up to the Messenger. But, in the end, it had made their bond stronger. Perhaps that was why it hurt so much that there wasn’t anything he could do to help the young agent now.

“I know they’ll pull it off,” the Messenger agreed. They would be in good hands, he knew.

After some more time, the Informant finally found his voice.

“When… when we get there… I want you guys to wait here in the plane while I go throw the stone into the pit…”

“There is no way I’m letting you do anything alone,” said the Techie, retorting immediately. “It’s not that I don’t trust you; please understand that… I don’t trust her. You saw what I saw, right? I can’t let her turn you into that!” He hugged the boy close and prayed that it would not come to pass.

“I wish… I wish I was stronger…” the Informant said, wistfully.

The messenger could not pretend to ignore him now.

“What on earth are you talking about, Infy?” he asked. “Of course you’re strong. You wouldn’t have been able to come this far otherwise.”

“Veran would’ve completely gained control over you if you were weak,” the Inspector agreed.

The Techie nodded fervently.

“What you’ve been through in your life—not just today—would’ve been too much for a lesser man,” he said. “But you’re still here, aren’t you?”

“Just barely…” he muttered. “I always mess up… All of those solo missions… That fiasco with Patty… I couldn’t even help the Messenger when Dr. Vulsor was after him; he ended up saving me.”

And, of course, the Messenger had to wonder if that was why the Informant was now turning to the Techie for help. Was it because he thought he couldn’t help him in return?

“Oh, Infy…” he sighed, softly. Hopefully, there’d be a way to convince the young agent that he was a lot more helpful than he realized.

“You helped me get my memory back…” the Techie said, softly. “When I thought I was one of the Phantom Riders, remember?”

“No, I didn’t…” the Informant muttered. “You got your memory back on your own; I gave up on you after my double convinced me that you were beyond help.”

“You still stuck with me, though,” the Techie replied, softly. “Even though you were mad at me for leaving.” He shuddered as he recalled the injuries that the Informant had sustained trying in the long process of trying to bring his aforementioned lost memory back. And the Techie knew he had not been easy to convince that the Informant was worthy of his trust. The Techie had behaved very coldly towards his younger surrogate brother, even, at one point, considering to let him be carried away by a creek when the boy had been knocked out.

“If it weren’t for you, I’d still be with those Riders…” he said. “I probably would be like them—a part of their world. All transparent and everything…”

The Informant just shook his head; he was certain that the Techie would’ve found his way out of that predicament. The Techie always used his head, and in his right mind, never lost his temper. He always thought before he acted, and that was something that the Informant (and, perhaps, the Messenger, too) wished that they could copy.

The Messenger was certainly reflecting on how the Techie never seemed to put his foot in his mouth like he sometimes did. The Messenger had been the one who had lost it upon finding out that the Informant and Patty were seeing each other. The Techie was willing to try to approach it calmly, trying to arrive at a calm solution, but the Messenger had gone and accused the Informant of betraying them, the boy, in turn, feeling hurt and angry, throwing them into a bitter fight.

If I had listened to Techie and gone with his compassionate approach, that whole disaster wouldn’t have happened, he realized. No wonder Techie seems to be better at helping Infy than I am… He actually takes the trouble to understand his problems... I mean, look at me… When the Recruiting Officer got encased, I yelled at him, while Techie was there to try to calm him down… Why can’t I ever act understanding like that…?

And the Messenger had to admit that there was much about this new problem with Veran that he did not understand, mainly concerning those visions that the Informant and the Techie were talking about. Part of him wanted to throw all politeness aside and ask what on earth they were talking about, but he had enough sense to know that would just be him putting his foot in his mouth again. He had the gist of it… Veran having her way with the Informant, and him doing something terrible to the Techie… But the Messenger felt left out, and though he knew he had no right to do so, he felt slightly hurt.

“That must be Labrynna now…” the Inspector intoned.

The Messenger glanced out the window, looking at the forgotten land. But just as they seemed to be crossing into the airspace above Labrynna, their plane suddenly began to rapidly descend—far too quickly.

“Hey!” he yelped, looking back to make sure the Rookie was tightly secured. “What’s going on!?”

“Has Veran cursed the place…!?” the Inspector wondered aloud, grabbing the seat in front of him to brace for what was going to be a most unpleasant landing.

The Techie grabbed onto the Informant, holding him close. No matter what, the boy would have to be alright; he had to complete the task assigned to him. If he failed, those cruel mages would kill him for certain. And the Techie would not be able to live with himself if he ever allowed that to happen.

And for the Informant to succeed, the Techie knew that he himself would have to be alright, helping him. And the others… The Informant would not be able to go on if anything happened to them!

Please… he prayed. Get us all through this…

“Techie…!?” the Informant cried.

“We’re going to be alright!” the Techie vowed. Somehow, we are…

The Messenger now grabbed the seat in front of him, his faith wavering as the plane rapidly descended. Within moments, it was over; they landed with a massive bump in a darkened area of the land.

“Everyone alright!?” he asked, looking back. The Rookie was fine… well, as fine as a statue could be, he supposed. The Inspector was shaking off the landing, and the Techie was checking on the Informant.

“We’re fine…” said the Techie, as the boy trembled. “But what was up with that landing?”

The Messenger looked towards the cockpit and froze. The entire front part of the plane was encased.

“Oh, no…” he said. “Can this get any worse…?”

The Inspector opened the door of the plane, glanced at their surroundings, and replied, “Yes, it can.”

They had landed in the Yoll Graveyard.