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Chapter Text

Ciela always was frustrated by her smaller stature compared to Linebeck. 

The amount of times he simply ended an argument by just… setting a jar on top of her, or walking away and closing the door in her face was simply too infuriating to count. (It was 16 times with the jar and 37 times with the door)

It truly made the little fairy wish that she was the same size as Linebeck. See him try to ignore her arguments then!

But as Ciela flew up, trying to scale the side of the cliff before the chilly rain pelting down on her drove her back down, all the petty reasons why she would want to be big were washed away. 

She nearly screamed in frustration as she scanned the horizon for any kind of sign. A light, maybe a passing yell. Something to know that Link was out there with others, looking for him. 

Or well, looking for both of them now. 

Ciela flew back down the cliff, before the practically torrential deluge of rain overwhelmed her and created a much more unsafe descent. She finally arrived at the bottom, where there was a single scraggly tree, and a similarly scraggly figure curled up at the bottom of it. 

Ciela hesitated for a moment, and for the countless time tonight, she wished that she was big. Not to thwart Linebeck, but instead provide some kind of much needed warmth to the man huddled beneath her. 

Especially since it was Ciela’s fault Linebeck was out here in the first place. 

She metaphorically shook off the thoughts, and physically shook off what extra rainwater she could off of her. She flew closer to Linebeck, who stirred as her glow brightened.

“Anything?” He croaked out. His throat had been ripped up from when he first started screaming for help hours ago, and the cold and rain wasn’t doing anything for him. But even with him having been out here for hours, and Ciela already having checked multiple times before this and finding no sign of anyone yet, there was still a smidgen of hope in his eyes.

Ciela hesitated. For once, she didn’t want to crush that hope. Not with the stakes being what they were. 

But her hesitation was enough, and even that small sliver was finally gone. Linebeck’s head dropped down, a defeated rush of air coming out of him. 

Ciela rushed to Linebeck. “I know Link is out there! We had a plan in place!” 

“Sparkles, you don’t have to lie for my sake.” Linebeck said, words slightly slurred.

Ciela shook her head, fervently trying to deny it. “I promise we did!” 

They actually didn’t. 

Ciela had been so ticked off by being commanded to go hunt down Linebeck, she flew off before anything could have been decided. She had only been mad because sure, she made the man storm off after their latest argument. But it wasn’t her fault he decided to go throw a temper tantrum in the woods! 

Even still, Ciela was certain that Link would still do something. He would have realized something was seriously wrong if she didn’t come back within an hour or so, and recruit others for a search party, or just start looking for himself. 

Ciela had found Linebeck in his current position. Part of the cliff had given way under his feet, the ground having become unstable due to the constant rain on the island. In his fall, one of his legs was broken and his head got bashed by a large rock. There were other small scraps and cuts and he was absolutely covered in mud. 

Ciela still counted him lucky, knowing Linebeck could have just as easily ended up buried when the cliff collapsed. 

A strong shiver suddenly overtook Ciela, causing her to shake so badly that she dropped a couple inches in the air. 

In response, Linebeck gave a low sigh, before opening up one side of his jacket. “Come on, some of those raindrops are bigger than you. A slightly abnormal size of hail would take you out.” 

Ciela tried to give a word of protest, but ultimately at Linebeck’s continuing to keep his jacket open, and another shiver wracking her body, she gave in, quickly darting to the little bit of shelter Linebeck was offering. 

It really wasn’t much dryer, and guilt continued to twist in Ciela’s stomach as she curled up against Linebeck’s wet body, feeling how he really wasn’t that warm either.

“I’m sorry.” Ciela whispered. She again helplessly wished she was big, big to share precious body warmth, to help fix his wounds, to help get him to safety. 

“T’s alright, Sparkles.” Linebeck murmured back, leaning his head back against the tree and closing his eyes. 

As she felt Linebeck give off his own violent shiver, accompanied by a small whimper of pain as it disturbed his injuries, Ciela squeezed her eyes shut and only prayed Link would find them before it was too late. 

Chapter Text

“Well. This is creepy and abnormal.” Linebeck stated, as he walked past the turnstile leading to the park entrance. He looked at the glowing yellow spirit next to him. “You can agree with that, right? Random, dilapidated amusement park in the middle of the sea is creepy and abnormal. You won’t disagree with me for the sake of disagreeing with me, right?” 

“I disagree with you because you’re often wrong and need to be disagreed with.” Ciela retorted. She gestured to the garishly lit set up in front of them. “You are not wrong about this.” 

It looked like the entire island was consumed for the purpose of the park. The walls were thick logs painted white and red that were faded and peeling. They were so tall that only the tallest wooden structures could be seen just peeking over the sharpened tips. The entrance was horseshoe shaped, and translucent curtains hung down, more gray and rather tattered, obscuring the park. Still, bright amber lights and some movement could be seen beyond them.

The entrance was also divided into two by a wooden fence, with large empty glass top boxes on either side. One said entrance, the other was exit. Both looked like the deep red lettering was painted on with a fingertip.

Linebeck shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why are we the ones doing this again? I would have thought the Kid would have been the first one charging off in the boat to look for a creepy disappearing amusement park.” 

Ciela leveled a look at Linebeck. “Because we still needed to gather info about the child lost in this place, and someone decided to tell the father that, and I quote ‘Well, with your taste in employment, maybe your daughter decided to run off and join the circus to be less of a laughingstock’ end quote.” Ciela crossed her arms. “And I can’t drive the boat myself.” 

“Oh come on!” Linebeck threw his hands into the air. “The guy is trying to train monsters to create paintings. How is that supposed to be taken seriously!” 

Ciela scoffed. “He’s a man who’s already a nervous wreck because his daughter is missing, and you left him with an existential crisis about it at the same time!” 

“Look, if we can leave now, I’ll personally apologize and even buy one of his so-called paintings.” Linebeck said. He eyed the entrance of the park, where faint noises of merriment and rides running could be heard emanating. It was somehow too quiet considering the obvious movement of things seen just beyond the entrance, but also too loud considering no one could actually be seen. 

Ciela rolled her eyes. “Yes, we can go. There was never any plan to actually try and find the child yet. Ocean King knows that we’re gonna need Link’s help with that. You certainly wouldn't be of any use.” 

The pair turned, and started making their way back to the turnstile. However, when Linebeck tried to push on it, it wouldn’t budge. 

“The hell?” Linebeck muttered, roughly shaking the mechanism as if that would get it to work. 

There was a cackle behind them, and Linebeck and Ciela turned back around to the main entrance. 

There were now two clowns inside the boxes, both with unnaturally big grins on their faces. Their outfits and appearance mirrored each other, where one was blue, the other was yellow and vice versa. They still matched the same air of abandonment the rest of the park had, colors not as bright or clothing not well maintained. 

“Looks like someone is already getting cold feet!” The entrance side blue clown said. 

“Sorry fellas, no escaping that way!” The exit side yellow clown continued. 

“You’ll have to go all the way through the park first!”

“Then you can shuffle on and off!” 

Linebeck visibly wilted at that. He and Ciela looked at each other, but seeing no other option, especially under the too wide stares of the clowns, they slowly slipped past the curtain and into the park itself. 

It didn’t get better. 

It was suddenly so much louder and yet still had no people to put them to. The carnival games would occasionally blare loudly, someone exclaiming about a new winner with no one at the booth. Rides were endlessly running, music disjointed with one another, the wooden beams shaking with the effort of not falling apart. 

“I hate it here. I’m never insulting someone’s line of work to their face again.” Linebeck whimpered. He gave a furtive glance back, as if checking if the clowns were going to suddenly pop up again. “Seriously, have I ever told you how much I hate places like this? You can’t trust anyone or anything. It’s a worse line of work than the painter dude.” 

“Shush, alright? All we have to do is just turn around and go through the exit.” Ciela said. 

But when she did so, she found that the fence dividing the entryway had continued, until it hit one of the game stands. 

It looked like a normal enough fence. A plain, wooden, split rail fence. Only came up to about waist high on Linebeck. Something one could easily jump over.

It just looked… too innocent.

Ciela glanced at the entryway, and the clowns were still there, heads tilted the exact same way, smiles still stretched too far, and eyes that looked like they were screaming 'try it.'

“No matter, we’ll just find our way through.” Ciela stated, taking a deep breath, and plowing ahead along the pathway. 

“Yaaay…” Linebeck bemoaned behind her, but quickly jogged to not be left behind. 

There was definitely a path that the amusement park was forcing them to go along. Taking them by countless of the unmanned but still operating games. Every so often they would end up having to hop onto one of the rides, circling along until it opened up the exit. Lots of life size puppet people standing along their path, ready with some message that must have been recorded in some way. 

Ciela and Linebeck tried to stick close. But as Linebeck was following Ciela around a bend, he felt something grab at his coat. He screamed as he whirled around to see what it was.

It was a little girl puppet, stuck in a booth with stacks of paper and practically every color imaginable surrounding her. 

“Please help me.” The puppet girl whispered. Her glass eyes (the same color as the ones the father Linebeck insulted had, Linebeck’s brain decided to supply) seemed to shine with unnatural life behind them. 

Before Linebeck could even fully process it all, the puppet girl released his coat as a curtain suddenly dropped from the top of the box. A sign soon followed stating Puppet Closed For Maintenance.

A chill of unease shot down Linebeck’s spine. He turned back around to continue the path, and with a sense of foreboding, realized that Ciela kept going ahead of him and was no longer in sight. 

Linebeck quickly picked up his pace. 

But as he rounded the corner, he saw that instead awaited him was a large building with a large entrance. Over top of it was a sign that proclaimed it as The Puppet Manor .

 As Linebeck approached the structure, an ornate stagecoach, with no horse carting it along, slowly rolled out of the darkness of one side, before gently rolling to a stop in the middle of the large entrance. 

But there was still no Ciela. 

Linebeck gulped, looking around for some kind of alternate path, but found none. He stared at the stagecoach, before ultimately giving in, and hopping aboard, heart hammering in his chest. 

It jerked to life, and Linebeck was brought into the darkness of the tunnel and into the ride. 

The first thing he noticed was that it felt… off. And not off like the rest of the park felt, but like it wasn’t supposed to be seen this way. 

As the stagecoach was pulled along, areas along the side would light up, revealing gruesome scenes of someone apparently putting a puppet together. Starting from wooden boards being shaved down, with blood splattered over the carving tools. Then another area lit up with the body parts being put together, the string shiny and bright red. Next stop was the clothes, once again splattered with blood, strung up on a clothesline while a sewing machine endlessly hammered away at a piece of cloth. 

All these areas of the puppet being constructed felt like there was supposed to be someone working at those areas. But they were all empty. 

Finally, the stagecoach jerked to a halt in the darkness. Linebeck felt his breath get shaky again, wondering what was supposed to happen now. 

Light flooded the place, causing Linebeck to flinch and squint at what was being shown. However, the light was only illuminating a pair of empty wooden chairs. One was knocked over.

Linebeck held his breath, waiting for something else to happen… but nothing did. The spotlight remained on the pair of empty chairs that sat in front of the stagecoach. 

Which also apparently wasn’t going to move again, so at a loss of what to do, Linebeck carefully picked his way off of it. He looked around, trying to find anything else in the darkness around him, or even better, see if he could find Ciela’s bright yellow glow. 

No glow of Ciela, but he did spy a small sliver of light. He walked toward it, and eventually felt thick curtains under his hand. Pushing them open, Linebeck finally found himself on the other side of the entryway fence, the exit sign glowing above him. 

The clowns were gone. Linebeck wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse.

Regardless, he hurried to the exit, wondering if Ciela had just decided to leave him behind in this spooky place. Give him even more trust issues. 

During his approach, Linebeck caught sight of the entrance box, which, while devoid of one of the clowns, did have something within it. 

Linebeck recoiled in shock, as he saw what looked like a puppet version of himself . It was slumped against the back of the box with the strings holding it up falling around it. One eye was fully open while the other was half closed. It looked vastly different to the others around, lacking whatever the others had to keep them upright and moving. 

As he rushed past the box on the exit side, desperate to escape this place, a voice suddenly called out, a cheerful chirp that sounded like it was being wrung out of an abandoned piano. 

Linebeck froze, and slowly turned around. 

The exit box also had a new puppet. One hand was propped up in a mocking goodbye wave, the golden fairy puppet’s sparkly glass eyes staring at Linebeck, who could only start backing away in horror.  

“Come… Back… Please…”

Chapter Text

The day was so sunny and bright. A perfect day even. 

Ciela curled up on the wooden beam. Some people mumumered words of pity to her, and others spit at her feet, snapping out ‘good riddance’. But most people just strolled by her. The morning show was finished, no need to worry about it anymore. Justice had been served.

Ciela could only think about how it all went to shit so quickly.

She and Link had returned from their exploration of the new island, sensing that Bellum was going to put its sights on this place soon, and trying to figure out how to stop that. But upon returning to the boat, they were confused when Linebeck was not in his usual spot by the gangway. Nor was he anywhere on the ship. 

They did hear quite the commotion coming from the center of town. Ciela remembered how she heaved such a big sigh. 

“Ugh, that must be Linebeck’s doing. Come on, let’s go see what mess we’re gonna have to bail him out of this time.” 

If she knew what was going to happen, maybe she would have been nicer about it. Especially since this was the few cases where Linebeck wasn’t the cause of his own misery and problems. 

Ciela’s annoyance was soon replaced by her concern when she and Link found Linebeck chained to the railing of the gallows, looking terrified as the townspeople jeered and screamed at him. 

“Murderer!” 

“Thought you got away with it, eh?”

“ Murderer!” 

“Foolish coming back here!” 

“ Murderer !” 

Exchanging looks of panic, Ciela and Link quickly pushed their way to the front, where it looked like the sheriff was standing, getting ready to address the crowd. 

“For too long, this monster got away with his crime, absconding to the sea where we could not chase.” The sheriff cried, gesturing wildly with one hand toward Linebeck. “Too long the good people of this town laid terrified in their beds, wondering if he would return to gut them in their own beds like poor young Setrie.”

“But no longer do you fine, good folks have to worry, for today, this man will hang for his crimes!” Spittle was flying from the sheriff’s mouth with how zealous he was getting. 

“Wait!!” Ciela cried, as finally she and Link escaped to the front. “What is going on here? We know him, he’s foolish, yeah, but certainly no murderer!”

The sheriff narrowed his beady eyes at Ciela. “You calling me a liar, bug ? ” He leaned way over, getting his face right up against Ciela’s.

Ciela matched his glare, crossing her arm. “I’m telling you that you have the. Wrong. Man.” 

The sheriff spit at her, causing Ciela to have to jerk to the side to avoid getting covered in his saliva. “No way, bug, I know that man’s smarmy face. He was hanging around, poking at any rumor of treasure on this island. He was gone the next morning, and I thought good riddance. Until poor ole Setrie’s mother came screaming out in the street about how she found her child in a pool of his own blood.” 

The sheriff pointed behind him. “And I know that monster back here did the deed. No one clears out of this good town that fast. Not unless he’s got a reason too.” 

Ciela stared at the man incredulously. “That’s your only evidence? Only that?” 

“Don’t need anything else.” The sheriff resolutely stated. 

Link at this point interjected, which was probably a good thing as Ciela’s next words were probably gonna be along the lines of ‘Well, you’re a fucking idiot.’

“Look, just give us some time to find the person that actually did this.” Link said. He gestured to Linebeck as well, in a much more gentle manner than the accusing finger the sheriff gave. “My friend is correct that Linebeck is no murderer. I’ve been sailing with him for months now, and believe me. I know monsters.” A small edge of steel entered his voice at his last sentence and one hand came to rest on his blade. 

The sheriff scoffed. “Hell no, son. No can do. We don’t have a jail here, and I am not gonna risk this bastard slipping away from justice again.” 

“How do you not have a jail?!” Ciela snapped, a red glow beginning to tinge the edges of her yellow. 

“Don’t need one.” The sheriff shrugged. “We know the law here. Like I said, we’re good people here.” 

“A day, just give us a day!” Link demanded. “I promise you, Linebeck won’t escape while we investigate.” 

“And I promise you, son, this man is going to hang before the day’s even half done.” The sheriff spat, turning his back on Ciela and Link. 

Before he could even get one boot on the gallow steps, Link sprang up to the top, sword unsheathed and standing protectively in front of Linebeck, who, at this, gave a small sound of shock and warning. 

Ciela was right behind Link, hovering close to Linebeck. 

“Son-” The sheriff started to say in a warning tone. 

“I’m not your son ,” Link spat, eyes flashing. “And I will not let you kill him.” 

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, boy .” The sheriff said, his hand going to his own sword. “You’re not gonna like the outcome of this.”

Link only gritted his teeth, falling into stance to be ready for a fight.

Looking at the group below, Ciela suddenly felt a twinge of nervousness break through her anger. It wasn’t just the sheriff gearing up for a fight. It honestly looked like the whole town was ready for murder. 

Link was a fierce fighter… but not against these specific types of monsters. 

The sheriff slowly unsheathed his own blade. “You commit to this, you’ll be swinging right beside him at the end of it, boy.” His eyes flickered to Ciela. “And I’ll squash you like the bug you are.” 

At this threat, Linebeck finally joined the conversation. “Don’t do this.” He pleaded and for a moment, Ciela thought he was begging the sheriff. Her heart sank when this was quickly disproven. 

“Ciela, stop him. Don’t let Link do this.” The desperation in his voice, along with the usage of their actual names… “Not over me.”

Ciela felt her breathing get shaky, realizing the gravity of it all. There was no way out of this. Not with all of them.

“Ciela, please. ” 

Ciela clenched her fists, daring to turn her head and look at Linebeck. 

Gone was the fear for his own life. Instead it was replaced with terror for Link. He gripped the chains, begging Ciela. 

“You stupid foolish man.” Ciela bit out, hating herself for being unable to do anything about this. 

Then with every fiber of her being, she flew in front of Link. She knew there was very little she could actually do to stop the teen if he decided to go through with it. But she prayed that her words would be enough. 

“Link. Please put down your sword.” Ciela pleaded. 

Link jerked back in shock. “Ciela, what-”

“Please. I know. I hate asking you this. But please. We can’t-” Ciela swallowed, feeling her throat lock up. “We can’t- We can’t save him.” 

Link shook his head in denial, and Ciela felt her heart breaking more. 

“Link, please don’t make me ask you a third time.” 

Linebeck spoke this time. “Link, you know Ciela is the sensible one here, she, she always is.” He begged. “I’m not worth this. I’m not gonna have you die over me.” 

Link squeezed his eyes shut, grip tightening on the sword. Then, much to the relief and heartbreak of Ciela, he placed it back within its sheath. 

“Smart choice.” The sheriff said.

Ciela’s wings twitched in anger, but held her tongue. She didn’t trust this man to not change his mind. 

She flew to Link, gently pushing on his shoulder. “Come on.” 

But as they descended the steps, the deputy, who had been silently standing to the side all throughout this, suddenly stepped forward, roughly grabbing Link by the collar of his tunic. Ciela and Linebeck cried out.

“I want the boy to watch.” The sheriff declared. “Want him to see justice being done here today.” 

At that, he released the chain keeping Linebeck attached to the railing, wrenching the condemned man to his feet. 

Ciela never thought she’d find herself crying over Linebeck. But as she watched the noose be wrapped around his neck, tears welled up in her eyes. 

They didn’t even put a bag over his head, so Ciela had to watch as Linebeck, trembling all the while as the fear began to bleed back in, accepted his fate. She spared a single glance, and saw Link staring right at Linebeck, tears in his own eyes, and thought no. You will not watch him die.

She listened closely to the sheriff, if only for one thing. As the sheriff declared “May the Ocean King and the Spirits of the Sea have no mercy on your soul” Ciela dashed in front of Link’s face, flashing her glow so brightly Link could do nothing but squeeze his eyes shut in response. 

It did nothing to prevent the sickening crack that echoed, nor keep Link from seeing the aftermath, but she kept the sight of Linebeck dropping as her own burden to bear.

The sheriff only gave a soft ‘teh’ at Ciela’s actions, but nothing more. 

The crowd began to disperse, and the deputy released Link, who was still blinking away the starbursts caused by Ciela. Both he and the sheriff began walking away then as well. 

“Aren’t you going to let him down?” Ciela hissed at their backs. 

The sheriff tossed a casual dismissive wave. “No. He’s gonna stay there until his bones are bleached white in the sun.” 

Fury erupted within Ciela, but the men disappeared into one of the buildings, and she was forced to temper it down. 

“Fuck that.” Link whispered, glaring at the direction the men went. “I sailed with pirates, I’ll steal his- him back. Fuck them, they don’t get to keep him.” 

So they made their plan in hushed whispers, looking all for the world as a grieving pair. Then Link slipped back to the ship, to make sure no one had any thoughts of ransacking a dead man’s ship, and Ciela remained behind, settling down on the top wooden beam to watch over Linebeck’s body, like a bright golden crow. 

When night finally fell, Link returned. Swiftly, and as quietly as they could, they released Linebeck from the noose. Ciela’s heart ached with the fact that Link had to be the one to handle Linebeck’s now cold and stiff body, but she could do nothing else after sawing him free from the noose. 

Given that most of the residents of this town were asleep, they managed to get all the way to the ship with Linebeck’s body. 

Link was walking up the gangway, Ciela following him when the sheriff made his unwelcomed reappearance. 

“I’ll be needing that back, mind you.” The sheriff nodded to Linebeck’s body. Like he was nothing more than some object they were borrowing. 

At this point, Ciela couldn’t handle it. Every ember of fury that had been building within her that she kept stamping down finally flared to life within her. 

“No. You don’t get to keep him .” Ciela vowed, and her holy nature within her finally rose up. She flew to the center of the dock, wisps of spirit energy growing stronger until her tiny spirit form was bigger than the sheriff, barricading the way. 

Ciela drank in the fear that finally appeared on the sheriff’s face, and felt good about being the reason for it there. 

“You asked for the Ocean King and the Spirits of this Sea to give no mercy to his soul.” 

“I, Ciela, the Spirit of Courage, deny your request.” 

The sheriff collapsed to his knees, face going pure white. Ciela thought he was trying to make an apology, but she didn’t care. 

“The Ghost Ship comes tonight to this island. We had come to save you. Now, no man, woman, child, or being will be spared. Every drop of his innocent blood lost will be wrung double from yours.” Ciela snarled, her energy crackling around her as she made her final decree. 

“ I have no mercy for your souls .”

Her fury finally satiated, Ciela let her power fade from her, returning to her small form. 

She ignored the babbled pleas from the sheriff, flying up to the ship deck. During her moment of righteous fury, Link had been able to ready the ship for departure. 

They locked eyes. Ciela wondered if she had gone too far, but Link only nodded, and brought the ship to life. The wind picked up as they sailed away from the island, and on it, Ciela could just smell the scent of decay and death that herald the Ghost Ship. 

Maybe it wasn’t very heroic of them, but fuck it. 

They deserved it.

Chapter Text

“That’s still a dumb way of organizing things, you know that right?”

Linebeck gritted his teeth, trying his best to ignore the chirpy little voice.

“Ignoring me isn’t going to change my mind or change the fact that your system is dumb.”

“Yeah, so you’ve told me.” Linebeck mumbled out. He continued to set out his latest batch of treasures shipped to him from Link in the same manner.

“For the last seventeen years.” Linebeck finished, her voice echoing him at the same time.

Usually, that would be it. Just a few sentences traded back and forth here and there. Just enough to remind Linebeck that she was still hanging around.

“Sooo…” and Linebeck gave a soft sigh. He should have realized, she was always a little more chatty around this time.

“Yeah?” He finally said, after a long moment of silence.

“How are things?”

“You know how things are, Sparkles, you’re here all the time, much to my annoyance about that.”

“Aw, you know you’re only hearing me because you refuse to kick me out.”

Linebeck groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Goddesses know I’ve tried.”

There were a few more minutes of silence, enough to where Linebeck thought she might be actually gone this time.

A soft breeze kicked up, shimmers of pink and gold decorating the room.

Linebeck watched the sparkles of light shine around him. He tapped at the wood shelf, before letting out a sigh.

“So who do you want to hear about first? The Kid or my kid?”

When she finally speaks again, her voice has a touch of shock to it, like she didn’t expect Linebeck to start the conversation first. “Oh, uh, well, how about your son? Still amazes me you managed to spawn an exact copy of you.”

Linebeck rolled his eyes. “Hardy har, that’s still just as funny as the countless times you said that before. Ever thought about trying to make new material?”

“I dunno, when are you?”

“Ugh.” Linebeck shuffled to another set of shelves, grabbing a rag from his back pocket to start wiping away dust.

“Junior’s doing alright. He and Clara are off at Castletown. Getting an early start on what options the Academy has for him.”

“Wow, this early huh? Guess while the poor kid got saddled with looking identical to you, he luckily got his brains from his mother. Yours being so addled by the sea and sun and all.”

“Hah, much to your disbelief I’m sure, he’s actually looking at options that’ll better the shop!” Linebeck said, a proud smile gracing his lips. “Junior will have a better business sense than his old man, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, as the man who decided to set up shop at like the bum fuck end of the map, he doesn’t have to go far for that. Seriously, I bet Link wonders why you hate his kingdom so much to perch at the farthest end of it.”

“Because I get the best shipment travel from both the land and sea side of things. For Oshus’s sake, you’ve been here since I put the plans into place, you would think you’d know everything a million times over.”

“Yeah, I do. Still fun to rag on you about it.”

“Ugh, you’re annoying.”

“And you love me enough to keep me despite it.” She giggled. “Speaking of him though, how is Link? Seemed like his letter had a lot this time.”

Linebeck nodded, thinking back at the few pieces of paper the Kid- well, actually a man at this point- had sent alongside the shipment of treasure. “He’s doing alright. Little Zelda is growing into her princess duties quite well. In fact, she’s getting so big that part of Link’s letter was explaining that he’s gonna be more of a hermit. Be staying in the castle more. All that usual nonsense when you hit your thirties.”

“Ah yes, when being a king and father is being a hermit now.”

“I didn’t become one with Junior, now did I? Took him on plenty of adventures, like a growing child should have.”

“Yeah, adventures that would send Clara into a murderous rage if she ever found out what actually happened on them.”

“Not like she’ll ever find out.” Linebeck said, waving a hand in the air.

“Yeah, not like I can say anything about it.”

Linebeck paused for a moment, before continuing to clean the shelf. “But Link was taking the time to assure me that he’s gonna have a dedicated knight to keep my stock levels up. Didn’t want me worrying that I was gonna be losing the best part of my business.”

“Ah yes, genuine articles of treasure, sourced by the King himself! You know everyone thought that was a load of shit, right?”

“And yet they still would buy them from me.” Linebeck pointed out. He was running out of shelves to clean. “But I guess sourced by a knight of the kingdom will be fine enough.”

“... It still won’t be Link.”

“Yeah…”

“Everything’s changing. Junior’s growing up. Link’s focusing on his family. That’s why you’ve been letting me hang around a lot more.”

“I’m not going to change. Not ever.”

“You can’t.” Linebeck whispered. “How can you?”

“You’re dead.”

A long moment of silence.

“It’s time to turn around, Linebeck.”

Linebeck gave a soft sigh. She was right. Slowly, he slid his boots to the side, letting his body twist to follow them, until his back was to the shelves, and all he could see was an empty room, devoid of any other soul.

He looked at the yellow and pink suncatcher in the window.

Another gentle breeze picked up, coming in through the open window that looked over the sea, sending the delicate glass figurine of a small pink and yellow fairy spinning.

Sparkles danced around Linebeck.

Chapter Text

“Thank Ocean King, finally I get a reason to burn that stupid coat.” 

“Ah, excellent decision. Then when we get to the Isle of Frost, he can get hypothermia.” 

“You know his jacket would do jack shit against that kind of temps. He’d end up with it anyway. If I burn his coat now, he’ll be forced to get a new one that’ll actually be useful.” 

“Aw, Ciela, you do care about the man.” 

Ciela paused in the middle of dropping a rag into a bucket of water to give Link the most disgusted look possible. “Let me make this very clear. I do not. Care. About that man. The only thing he’s been good for is letting us borrow his boat.” 

Link only raised one eyebrow at her, before shaking his head. “Whatever you want to believe.” He lifted another bucket out of the water onto the deck, testing it with one hand once it was settled. He grimaced. “Still feeling too warm. We’re miles away from Goron Island, I would have thought that by now the water would be cool enough on its own.” 

Ciela pursed her lips, flying down to balance herself on the edge of the bucket of water she just dropped her rag into. She leaned over to give the water a test. “Well, this one is at least room temperature now, so hopefully it’ll be enough until we finally start hitting some cooler ocean temperatures.” 

Link nodded, before picking up both buckets. He dropped his off in a shaded spot out on the deck, before carrying Ciela’s further in. “Let’s go see how he’s doing.” 

Link descended into the lower decks of the ship, eventually reaching the head of the ship. Ciela still kinda thought the size was a touch unnecessary, but in this case, she begrudgingly thanked Linebeck for being so vain about his appearance. 

Especially since the tub was kinda saving his ass from dying at the moment. 

Stripped down to his undergarments, Linebeck was currently hunched over the side of said tub, dry heaving into a bucket. Ciela and Link both grimaced at the sour smell in the room. 

Linebeck groaned as his body finally figured out there was nothing left in him, collapsing back into the tub to sink further into the water. He flicked his green eyes over to the pair but said nothing. 

Link stepped forward, setting the water bucket down, but quickly grabbed the used one. “I’m gonna take this outside, but after that, I’ll be at the helm, see if I can get this ship to cooler waters any faster.” As he spoke, he opened up a porthole, letting in fresh sea air to help freshen the smell of the room. 

“Don’t break my ship.” Came a slurred response from the direction of the tub. “I’ll make you treasure hunt for days to pay for her repairs.” 

Ciela rolled her eyes. Not like Link already makes sure he pays for any damage the ship gains from sea monster encounters. She started to follow Link back out, but stopped when he held up a hand in front of her. 

“I’m gonna need you to hang out with Linebeck, keep an eye on him.” Link gave a bit of an apologetic look. “I know it’s not what you want, but it's the most ideal way to get him the fastest help if I’m actively sailing the ship, rather than it’s autopilot.” 

Ciela pursed her lips. She wanted to argue, especially since it was about Linebeck. But even she had to admit right now it made the most sense. She couldn’t drive the boat afterall.  

She heaved out a long sigh. “Ugh, fine. I’ll hold the rag to his stupid face and make sure he doesn’t die from his own stupidity.” She flew to the bucket, returning to her perch from earlier. “Go on, get this ship moving so I don’t have to do it any longer than I should!” 

Link gave a snort, but disappeared. Soon, Ciela felt the ship shudder, and heard the waves splashing against the sides pick up speed. 

Tapping the side of the bucket, Ciela looked up at the side of the tub. From her vantage point, she could only just see Linebeck’s forehead, which still looked alarmingly flushed. She looked down at the rag floating in the bucket, looked back up, back down, and then gave another sigh. 

She didn’t bother trying to squeeze the extra water out. She knew whatever excess water would help cool Linebeck down anyway.

As Ciela did her best to dab the cool rag against Linebeck’s still alarmingly flushed face, the man stirred again, dazedly blinking up at her. 

“You know. ‘M surprised you’d even do this for me.”

The words were soft, and apparently weren't meant to be spoken aloud, judging by Linebeck immediately looking away and trying to sink lower afterwards.

Ciela paused for a moment, honestly taken aback by the comment. She wasn’t that bad, was she?

Several of her past conversations suddenly rose to the forefront of her mind, and Ciela pursed her lips in acquiescence. 

She was silent for a moment, flying back down to the bucket to refresh it. She could let it go, act like Linebeck did keep that thought to himself, or what probably wouldn’t help at all, say something in nasty agreement. That she was only stuck babying his ridiculous self because she couldn’t operate his ship. 

But as she looked back at the man, whose eyes were again closed and breathing rapid and shallow and looking all for the world as a miserable, sick, man, Ciela really couldn’t find it in her. 

“Look.” Ciela started, bringing the rag up to his face, and Linebeck opened his eyes in confusion. “I may not enjoy your presence, and there are many things about you that I will never like.” She gave a sigh, doing her best to fold the cloth up on Linebeck’s forehead. “But. I don’t get any pleasure seeing you like this, alright?” 

Linebeck gave a soft chuckle. “Who knew a little bit of heart actually managed to get squeezed into that tiny body of yours?” 

Ciela rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.” She pointed a finger at him, hovering directly in front of Linebeck. “You say anything about this to Link, and I’ll let you drown.”

“How heartwarming, Sparkles.” Linebeck grimaced as he shifted in the water. “Any chance of getting some cooler water here?” 

Ciela gave her own frown as she tested the bathwater with her hand. “...Hopefully soon. The current is really carrying the warmer waters from Goron Island a lot farther than we thought.” 

Linebeck only gave a disappointed hum, before letting himself drift off again, leaving Ciela as a silent guardian over him.

Chapter Text

Ciela itched at her neck, craning it back and forth. 

Linebeck watched her, giving a suspicious look. “You good there, Sparkles? You’re itching worse than a group of kids at a cuckoo pox party.” 

Rolling her shoulders, Ciela grunted in frustration as she tried to chase away the feeling. “I don’t know why, but the idea of those always weirded me out.” She rubbed at her arms. “Why let your kid purposely get sick?” 

“Hell if I knew. With me always being out on the boat with ma and pa, never was around for them when the latest batch would come through.” 

Ciela gave a small hum of interest that quickly grew to a whine as she continued to scratch at her skin. 

Linebeck tsked, absentmindedly reaching over to try and get Ciela to stop. “Stop that! You’ll make yourself bleed eventually. I’ll find tiny mitts to strap to your hands, I swear.” 

“And you say you’re only hanging around for a wish.” Ciela grinned at Linebeck, before figuring out while trying to bat him away that the calluses on his hand actually did wonders for a full body itch. 

Seeing this, Linebeck quickly jerked his hand away with an indignant “hey!”, scowling at displeasure at Ciela. “Seriously, figure yourself out. You’re making me itch watching you.” 

Ciela growled in displeasure. “Don’t you think I’ve tried ?!” She huffed as she tried to keep her hands still for once. “I don’t know what’s happening! I’ve rubbed every kind of lotion on myself that Link can find, any kind of medicine for this, tried oatmeal baths, tried salt baths, tried just regular lukewarm water, I’ve tried everything and it just won’t. Go. Away!” Ciela said. “It started when I got my soul mended back into one. Just a little itchy and weirdness here and there, but now it’s never ending. I can’t sleep, I can’t think about anything else except how Ocean King damn itchy I am!”

Linebeck was silent for a moment at the end of Ciela’s hysterical rant. 

“Think that Crayk thing gave your other self some kind of, I dunno, evil version of crabs?” 

Ciela felt her eye twitch, before giving in and letting out a frustrated screech.

Linebeck really did have no idea how insane Ciela really was feeling over all of this. 

It wasn’t just itchy skin, but it felt like something far reaching inside of her. Something that pulled with every moment she made, rippling, rolling inside of her.

She didn’t feel right in her body anymore. She didn’t feel like it belonged to her anymore. There was someone else inside her.

And whoever, or whatever wanted out. 

Ciela swore and gave back in, beginning to scratch at herself even more furiously than she had before. She ran her hands all over her body, scratching and scratching.

Her scalp until tufts of golden hair fell out. 

Her face and neck, leaving long streaks of red skin behind.

Along her body, both over and then eventually under her clothes, nearly tearing them off of herself as they all felt so constricting against her skin. 

But it wasn’t helping, and even as nearly lost in her frenzy, Ciela saw genuine concern on Linebeck’s face. 

“Seriously, Ciela, the moment we get back to Mercay, I’m taking you to Oshus myself. Whatever this is, means there is something seriously wrong- Fuck!!” Linebeck cut himself off, face paling. 

Ciela had returned to scratching her arms, digging harder and harder into her skin with her nails. She dug and dug and dug, ignoring the strange feeling of wetness until finally, she finally achieved relief.

Staring down at her arm, Ciela could only give out a long, giddy laugh as she finally began achieving peace of mind. She stared at the patch of pale white skin that could somehow be seen beyond the dripping blood and muscles that stretched around it.

Soon, she would be free again.

Chapter Text

“You know, I think I would have preferred Jolene to have been the one to skewer me. At least she would have gotten some credit as a result.” 

“Will you stop talking and maybe start focusing on the Ocean King damn trident that’s been jabbed into your gut?!” 

“Can you say it was Jolene? You can tell her I gave permission for her to be the result of my death. It’s what she always wanted, you know?” 

Ciela could only give Linebeck a withering glare. She still was trying to grapple with how the day’s events led up to this. 

They had been sailing to Mercay Island after completing their latest leg in their quest. When the ship first sailed out from behind the island where they were hiding, Linebeck immediately started panicking that it was Jolene. (The last time they had been boarded by her, Linebeck swore she had been very close to discovering his hiding spot, and that she would only need one more time to finally discover him and take her revenge.)

But the ship only turned out to be a group of the pirate miniblins. Not really a danger for Link at this point, really mostly annoying. 

Linebeck still hid in his crate, stating that he would only be a distraction for Link if he stayed out. Ciela said some choice words about that, but it was really out of habit at this point. Link dispatched the miniblins that boarded. Linebeck popped out, giving a couple extra rupees to Link for keeping the ship safe once again. They all knew the drill. 

At least, until Linebeck turned around to go up the steps to start the process of unhooking and sinking the pirate miniblins ship and instead suddenly found a trident in his gut. 

Turns out, there was one miniblin late to the boarding party.

The monster started squeaking in celebration, until Linebeck collapsed down to his knees and revealed a very angry Link. 

The miniblin squeaked out something that sounded like “ uh-oh” and immediately turned tail and ran back up the steps. Link took chase, a furious bellow emanating from his small frame.

This left Ciela alone with Linebeck, who was now propped up against his crate, and a pool of red growing around him at an alarming rate. 

Linebeck gave Ciela a surprisingly somber look. “Look, Ciela.” He hissed as he tried to adjust himself. A bad start, he never used her name properly. “There’s nothing that can be done. This?” He gave a shaky hand wave over his stomach. “Bad. The kid’s outta potions, and we’re fucking miles away from any kind of help.” He gave a weak smirk. “Best I can do is focus on giving myself a better fucking death than being shish-kebabed by a fucking miniblin .” With a groan, Linebeck’s head falls back, too weak now to even keep it up. 

“There’s one thing.” Ciela said it so quietly, she wasn’t even sure if Linebeck heard her until she saw his eyes flick up at her. 

“Unless you got a gold potion stashed away somewhere, I really don’t-”

“Me.” Ciela cut Linebeck off before he could keep going and wasted more time bleeding out with his unnecessary babbling. “I may be called a spirit, but my physiology is a fairy. And fairies can heal. ” 

Linebeck furrowed his brows at her. “So like, with being a spirit, it is a more…” He squeezed his eyes shut, as thinking was getting pretty hard at this point. “With being a spirit, that you won’t… die from it?” 

Ciela remained silent. 

Linebeck struggled to open his eyes, and oh that was another bad sign wasn’t it, trying to focus on the golden spirit above him. “You’re not trading… your life.. For mine… right?” He tried to summon up just a bit more energy. “ Right ?” 

Ciela continued to be silent, only starting to float downward. 

“Sparkles, don’t you fucking dare. ” Linebeck tried to swat her away, but his arms weren’t working fast enough. “ Ciela -!”

There was a flash of golden light.

When Link returned below decks, mind now clear of the angry haze he had suddenly found himself enveloped by, he braced himself for what he might find. 

He did find Linebeck, sitting motionless in blood, and for a moment, Link’s heart stopped. But then he looked closer, and saw the trident was gone from Linebeck’s body, and there was smooth, unbroken skin under the bloody and tattered holes in his clothes. Linebeck was breathing normally even. 

A chill ran down Link’s spine when he realized that Ciela was missing. 

“Linebeck…?” Link cautiously asked, taking small steps toward Linebeck, reaching out one hand.

“Thought she would have just sat idly by.” Linebeck muttered, one hand raising up to his chest, where a slight golden shimmer was. “Always gotta prove me wrong, huh, Sparkles?” 

When informed of the events when the now duo reached Mercay, Oshus only gave a somber nod when informed of Ciela’s choice, stating that he felt it happen. Leaf and Neri decided they would share Ciela’s space as Link’s guide within the temples, rather than biding their time with Oshus. And like before, Linebeck kept to the ship.

And life continued on like before.

Until Linebeck woke up one morning and found a slight shimmer of gold in his green eyes

Until he found himself following Link around the towns to lend a hand

Until more gold was appearing in his eyes, and streaks of blond highlights growing in his hair

Until Bellum actually bested Link and Linebeck found himself raising Link’s lost blade against it because there was a hauntingly familiar voice in the back of his head telling him to move

Until his eyes are almost completely gold and hair more yellow and there’s a golden stain on his chest that never went away after she sacrificed herself for him

And there’s a God in front of Linebeck and Link and Tetra and he’s saying that this world is not their world That they cannot stay and Linebeck thinks that means him too until the White Whale’s eye is on him and says

No this was not your world before but it is now

Because her sacrifice left an emptiness within the world and the world found a way to fill that hole by using the last little bit of her left within it and stretching it out within the person she decided was worth saving so much that she gave up her own life for it until his body was no longer his own

Certain magics have a cost. And sometimes, it’s not apparent what the full tally will end up being until it's carved out