Shattering the Stars

The World We Knew

Ugh, I do NOT know why this chapter took me so long, and I apologize. Life has been tiring, with school ramping up and yesterday I had prom, but I guess it gave me some motivation! Anyways, enjoy!
-Jooostan

Shattering the Stars
Chapter 20: The World We Knew

The morning was greeted by a stunned silence for the crusaders. Each of them got out of bed, sighed, and gathered in the living room without any words. For a couple of seconds, they all exchanged bewildered glances before Amy finally decided to break the ice.

"So... Uh..." Amy struggled to address what was on everybody's mind. It seemed to loom over her consciousness like a raincloud, something both she and her friends dreaded.

"Yeah..." Mario mumbled, looking at his brother. Luigi shared the same look of concern as they swapped their stare over to Amy and Crystal. Link did the same, as the men simply thought that the Inkling and Octoling shouldn't join them on this kind of perilous crusade.

"I guess we've got a lot of work to do, huh?" Amy smiled weakly, trying to retain some of her natural confidence as she inwardly pleaded for something to save her. Crystal, despite sitting right beside Amy, didn't look at her as she usually did. In fact, she barely moved a muscle. She instead just stared blankly at the floor, something dwelling on her mind that she hoped no one would ask about.

"I'm not the kind of guy to dismiss what a god says, but uh... I think she got the wrong teens..." Mario scratched the back of his head, trying to appear dismissive of Amy and Crystal. His ruse was only seen through by Luigi, who knew when his brother was unsure of anything.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Amy sprang up and pointed at Mario furiously. "Who says that... whoever that was, got it wrong?"

"Sorry, just..." Mario gestured to Amy and by extension, Crystal, grimacing, "You guys are kids, y'know?"

Amy felt insulted. She greatly despised whenever somebody judged her not based on her defined skills, but her appearance and age. A brief flashback to her last battle with Scyther took over for a second as she marched up to face the red plumber, but Link's stronger voice commanded more authority.

"Not to be rude, but-" Link started, his tone bold. Everybody looked at him. "We don't even know how old you guys are, and I don't think many of us are comfortable with putting your lives in danger all to stop the man we're after." The man in green then sighed, thinking about home. "In a few months, I'm going to be a parent, but I can already sense the instincts that come with it."

Amy was dumbfounded. Unseen rage consumed her original views of the travelers before her, and she balled her fists, wanting to throw a punch at something, anything. However, she couldn't bring herself to. Then, Crystal finally broke out of her own trance, got up, and tapped Amy on the shoulder.

"A-Amy? Can we go for a walk?" Crystal asked, her voice barely audible to the very person she was talking to.

Amy's eyes widened as her angered face morphed into worry, taking Crystal's hand and holding it gently. "O-Of course," she said, forcing a smile. She turned to walk out, but Mario sprang up from the couch and decided to join them.

"I'll- uh... I'll go with them to make sure they're okay," Mario said.

"Want me to come with, bro?" Luigi asked, about to get up.

"Nah, don't trouble yourself, Weege. I shouldn't be long," Mario was a bit dismissive of his brother, leaving without looking back. Another awkward bout of nothingness came until Link remembered something.

"Luigi, we need to get moving, soon. Didn't that Freddy boy say that he had our gear? Like the Ultra Sword and my things?" Link, secretly, was a little glad that Freddy took his sword and shield. He needed a break from them, seeing them and such. Even though he had balanced his life out, using his weapons so suddenly again made him uneasy.