Hero’s Resolve: Part II of III
by Ninten1

The girl often visits her father’s grave in Peaceful Rest Valley with her mother. She stares into her daughter’s eyes with her beautiful, yet distant gaze. It’s as though she’s seeing someone else in her daughter’s eyes. At this, she smiles and turns to the grave; all the while remembering her husband; her hero.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ness awoke, his vision blurry. He tried to rub his eyes, but suddenly felt extreme pain in his arms as he tried lifting them. His entire body was echoing with pain.

As he winced, Ness tried to remember. Where am I? What happened? Aside from the pain, all Ness sensed was a familiar calmness.

He opened his eyes again and tilted his head to his side. In his blurred vision he saw a familiar shade of bluish-green. “Jeff…?” Ness asked after noticing a tuft of shaggy blonde hair. There was no motion from his friend.

Urgency filled Ness’ mind as he struggled to sit up. He noticed a burnt smell in the air as well as a distant rushing sound. Bits of his memory slowly began returning to him. In his mind he recalled a bright flash of red light.

His body feeling as though it was slowly being torn apart, Ness began to lift himself off the ground. His vision slowly cleared all the while, and he noticed another sound. It sounded like a fountain. Water or some other liquid was gently splashing nearby.

Once he was able to stand, Ness rubbed his eyes and focused on his motionless friend. It was Jeff. Ness also saw the source of the splashing sound; Jeff was lying half submerged in Milky Well. The calmness of the Sanctuary was all that kept Ness from gasping at his revelation.

He remembered approaching the vessel in the middle of Saturn Valley. Paula sent them a warning, and Poo leapt forward. The next thing he knew, Poo had been deflected and there was a sudden flash of red light. The last memory Ness had was of staring into Jeff’s horror-stricken face.

Jeff…

Ness stumbled towards his friend for a few steps before stopping. A feeling of apathy suddenly overcame him.

As he stared down at his friend, barely clinging to life, Ness stood emotionless. It’s his fault really Ness thought. If he hadn’t been so weak…

No longer feeling it necessary to attend to his “friend,” Ness turned away. A faint smirk flashed across his face before the world became a violent blur.

Time became unknown to him, and he barely registered what he did over the next few months. Twice he suddenly found himself alone amidst terrible destruction of familiar surroundings. As he stood there breathless, racking his mind for what he was doing there, images of thousands of people entered his mind, all screaming in horror.

The world blurred not long after each brief moment of confusion and was never interrupted until nearly a year after that day in Saturn Valley.

Ness found himself shouting at Poo in the desert. “You have to kill me. It’s the only way.”

Not long after that, the world slowed down and returned to normal. He felt the urge to repent, but he was too tired. Maybe it was all just a dream…a horrible nightmare…
--------------------------------------------------------
Paula’s eyes felt as though they weighed a ton. She had not slept since they returned to Winters with Ness. For two days she sat by his side, watching him sleep.

Although the chaos of Giygas had left him, Ness was not at peace. A complex number of emotions and thoughts filled his mind, and Paula found it hard to discern just what Ness was thinking. She tried not to concentrate on his mind and decided that she would ask him after he had awoken.

Fatigue forced her to blink heavily for seconds at a time. Ness faded in and out of her vision. Finally, she decided to give up. As she closed her eyes and began to drift away, she heard a whisper.

“Paula?”

“Yes, Ness?” she asked without opening her eyes. She suddenly realized she had spoke and recoiled at the surprise. “Ness!”

He wasn’t looking at her. He stared blankly at his feet as he lied against the headboard of his bed.

None of them spoke for several agonizing moments. Then, finally, “I killed them…”

Paula looked away.

“All of them.”

She closed her eyes as she asked, “Who, Ness?”

Ness paused for a moment. “My mom. My dad. Tracy…Jeff.”

“Ness, that wasn’t you. It was Giygas.” Paula tried to reason, but she knew what he meant. Flashes of his memory entered Paula’s mind; horrible images of Ness destroying Onett while his mother and sister huddled in fear, wishing Ness were there to protect them; and of him in Fourside staring into his father’s eyes as he leveled the building they stood in.

But there was no memory of him killing Jeff.

“Ness,” Paula said. “You didn’t kill Jeff.”

“I left him for dead!” he shouted. His gaze was suddenly broken as he looked up at the door. There Dr. Andonuts stood looking heartbroken.

The sadness of his heart began to fill Paula’s, bringing a tear to her eye.

“I’m so sorry…” Ness said. He too was crying. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to.”

“Where…?” Dr. Andonuts asked silently before breaking off.

“Milky Well.” Ness answered just as softly. At that, the Dr. turned and slowly walked out of the room. Paula stared hard at the floor as she sensed Poo enter.

He was different; the guilt had dissolved. It remained, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been.

“Ness, please forgive me.” He said rushing over to Ness’ side. Ness just stared at him, confused, Paula sensed.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Poo. It was a mistake.” It appeared as though Poo was hesitant to receive forgiveness so easily. The two filled the room with a number of complex emotions. Again, Paula was beginning to feel overwhelmed. There was another silence as each searched for words to explain themselves.

“But Ness, I…” Poo stopped as Paula suddenly stood and gasped.

She sensed a sudden overwhelming feeling of elation; sheer joy and surprise. “Dr…” she whispered a second before Dr. Andonuts came stumbling into the room.

A smile crossed his face. He glanced at each of them.

“He’s alive…”
--------------------------------------------------------
Saturn Valley; Paula, Poo, and to both their surprise, Ness, had returned to the center of Giygas’ influence. Filled with hope and anxiety, Ness ran Dr. Andonuts’ words continuously through his head:

“He’s alive. Jeff’s alive!”

Not willing to believe it so easily, Ness painfully got out of bed, and followed the Dr. to his lab where a monitor registered a life form with Jeff’s signature resonating from Milky Well.

“But how?” Poo asked. “It’s been nearly a year.”

“The Sanctuary has preserved his health. Jeff is being kept in stasis by the Sanctuary’s power; I’m almost sure of it!”

Poo and Paula instantly prepared to go. When Ness approached them, prepared as well, they were hesitant, but knew that this meant everything to him.

Ness stopped, bat drawn, at the sight of the vessel. It was just as they had left it, jutting out of the center of the Valley at a slight angle. He turned to Paula to see a stern expression on her face. “Is he in there?” He asked. She nodded.

The three traversed the bottom of the Valley as far from the vessel as they could, all the while never letting it leave their sight. The silence kept them on edge.

The Valley had previously been filled with the tiny, lighthearted Mr. Saturns. The grave and somber atmosphere of the Valley seemed to reflect the heartless nature of Giygas. Paula could hear their frightened cries among the eerie silence of the once carefree Valley.

They had reached the cave that led to the Sanctuary after several minutes of anxious anticipation. With one last glance at the vessel, Ness turned to follow his friends.

The calmness of the Sanctuary slowly rid his mind of the apprehension he had in the Valley. When they finally reached the Well, Ness saw Jeff’s tattered jacket and ruffled hair, just where he had left him for dead nearly a year ago and rushed over towards him.

Paula raised her hands to her mouth and fought back tears as Poo followed Ness who was already crouching down beside Jeff. He gripped Jeff by his shoulders and raised him out of the Well. “Jeff!” he exclaimed. Poo removed his glasses and examined his eyes. They were closed but gently moving. Jeff was stirring.

Ness gave an exasperated laugh as his vision became watery. “He is alive!” he exclaimed. At that, Paula ran over to see him.

“Oh, Jeff…” was all she could manage.

Dr. Andonuts had mentioned that Jeff would not be brought back to consciousness very quickly; that he would be in a coma-like state for an undeterminable amount of time. Still, the three rejoiced that their friend was still alive.

“Alright,” Poo said, “let’s get him out of here. Everyone hold on.”

Poo and Paula turned to Ness as they waited for him to make contact with Poo. It appeared that his attention was diverted. Ness scanned the skies for a moment before turning back to his friends. “My dad’s here…”

“What? But I thought…” Paula stopped as Ness began heading back towards the Valley.

“Ness! Get back here!” Poo shouted. It was no use. Ness was running now, back to Giygas’ vessel. “Come on.” Poo said to Paula. “I’ll take you and Jeff back to the lab. Tell Dr. Andonuts what happened, and I’ll come back for Ness.”

Paula nodded as they disappeared.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ness paused at the center of the valley as he concentrated on the silent ship. It was faint, but he sensed that his father was nearby. He wasn’t nearly as talented as Paula, but he could sense familiar presences fairly well. There was no mistaking that his father was on board Giygas’ ship.

He approached slowly, but was too infatuated with his father’s presence that he failed to raise his bat. There was a sudden metallic noise from the ship’s porthole suddenly and Ness froze. Still, he failed to raise his bat. A few seconds later, he continued his approach.

When he finally reached the porthole, which was elevated only slightly above the ground, Ness reached out and placed his hand flat on the solid, metal door. He jumped as the porthole suddenly opened. He had barely applied any pressure. It was as though someone was waiting for him to arrive.

There was a faint red light in the very back of the compartment that the porthole revealed. Dread suddenly filled Ness’ heart. He took a step back as a cold sweat began dripping down his neck. No sound could be heard from within the chamber, but Ness could swear someone or something was in the room.

Working up his courage, Ness stepped forward. He kept one hand cautiously placed on the outside of the vessel as he leaned forward to peer into the chamber. All he saw were black shadows outlined by the soft, red light. Suddenly there was a muffled shuffle from several feet ahead. A shadow had moved ever so slightly. Ness observed it trying to grasp what the shadow was. He gasped as the shadow shuffled again.

It was a person.

The shadow stood, halfway hunched over, its arms lax at its side. The presence of Ness’ father still filled his mind, but it slowly began to fade. In its place, a new presence arose. A familiar feeling overcame Ness as he began to recall the brief moments of clarity that he experienced while under Giygas’ possession.

Is this Giygas? Ness’ eyes widened in horrific surprise as the shadow’s arm rose, its hand reaching towards Ness. It gave a low hissing breath before speaking,

“…Nessss…”

“No! You can’t be!” Ness shouted as he turned to run, but tripped. Something had wrapped around his ankle. He looked down but found nothing there. Still, he felt something applying pressure all around his ankle. It grew painful and began to drag Ness into the vessel. Telekinesis Ness thought as he observed the shadow’s outstretched arm. It was pulling him in.

Ness turned over onto his back and placed his hands together. He shouted as a burst of light that glowed with all the colors of the spectrum erupted from his hands. It struck the shadow hard forcing it against the back wall of the dark chamber. Ness’ leg was free and he rushed to his feet. Before turning to run he noticed a wall of blank monitors to the left of the room from the porthole. In front of the monitors stood a single-legged chair. In the chair rested what appeared to be a large man. His fat face rested upon a clenched fist supported by his elbow on the armrest. Who…?

Ness shielded his eyes from the sun as he rushed out of the vessel and into the open air of the Valley. He looked back into the chamber, the shadow no longer in view. He turned back to find Poo standing before him, Sword of Kings in hand. “What are you doing!?” He shouted.

“I,” Ness paused, “Let’s just get out of here.” He pleaded grasping his knees to catch his breath. Poo nodded as they faded away.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ness stared into his father’s eyes with nothing but great malice. He gave a half grin as he raised a fist into the air. As a spectrum of light began to form, the building began to tremble. “Ness,” his father began, “don’t do this.” He was stern, but very calm. This seemed to enrage Ness.
“You won’t stop me.” Ness said. He sounded confident but appeared worried.
The light continued to grow stronger, and the building began to rattle more and more violently.
“They’ll find a way.” Ness’ father said, again, very calm.
“He’s the only one who can stop me.” Ness said. Oddly, he gestured to himself when he said “he.”
“He’ll beat you, again.” At this, Ness’ father smiled.
“Ha!” Ness laughed. “He’s mine. They don’t stand a chance.”
“The Apple of Enlightenment is never wrong.”
Ness’ smile left him as he assumed a look of surprise; almost shock. For a moment, the light appeared to dim, but just for a second.
“What…What do you know!?” He shouted. All of his confidence was gone. His bewilderment turned to fury. The light grew brighter and brighter until it’s radiance was all that could be seen. The intense trembling also grew stronger until sounds of the building crumbling below filled the hallway with screams.

“Maybe it wasn’t my father then…” Ness could barely recall the memory that Paula had just revealed to him, but he somehow knew it was true.

“Who was it then?” Paula asked.

“I don’t know.” Ness answered gazing into the snowy distance. “But I could have sworn he was there, somewhere nearby…” From the balcony surrounding the second floor of Dr. Andonuts’ lab, Ness could see Stone Henge, Rainy Circle, and Lake Tess. It reminded him of their original journey. He recalled how anxious he had felt back then, but also how confident he was. Things were so much simpler back then he thought. There was always so much hope…

Paula approached the guardrail of the balcony that Ness leaned against, her hand landing ever so close to his. For the first time in a year, Ness recalled what it was like back when things were simple. He turned from the frozen view and looked at Paula. Her brilliant blue eyes were studying the landmarks in the distance. All the weight on Ness’ mind slowly dissolved away.

“I missed you, Ness.” Paula said without breaking her gaze. Ness recoiled. At a loss for words he took his eyes off of Paula’s.

“I…I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He said softly. His cheeks began to flush.

Paula took one last glance at the white landscape before taking in a deep breath. She turned to Ness who looked slightly pale. His eyes were darting back and forth. Twice they met with Paula’s gaze before finally staying there. She gave a faint but genuine smile that Ness returned. I missed you…so much…

Paula opened her eyes to find herself held in a warm embrace. Again she took in a deep breath. The world grew silent and, for a moment, Paula was at peace.
--------------------------------------------------------
Everything blurred into blinding light. There was no sensation. He was totally numb. He tried to speak, but words didn’t come. Ness, what’s happening?
--------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Andonuts’ beamed, but said nothing. Ness looked from the doctor, to Poo, then to Paula. They appeared to be at a loss for words so Ness stepped towards the bed. “Welcome back, Jeff.” He said breaking into a silent laugh. Ness felt that he was getting choked up but tried not to let it show in his voice.

“Ness, what’s happening?” Jeff asked. His eyes were squinted. Not only did he require his glasses but he also hadn’t used his eyes in over a year. His voice was very faint.

“Everything’s fine, Jeff.” Ness assured him. “We’re in Winters. You’ve… been gone for a while.”

“But…Saturn Valley. What about Giygas?”

Ness turned to the others. He began to search for a way to begin his explanation, but luckily for him, Dr. Andonuts stepped forward pushing a wheelchair. “Let’s get you something to eat, Jeff. I bet you’re just starved.” His glasses hid the feelings that his eyes would have revealed, but Ness knew that the doctor was overwhelmed with joy.

“Dad…” Jeff managed. The doctor struggled for a few moments, easing Jeff into the wheelchair, then headed out of the room in a hurry. Poo watched them leave then turned to Ness and Paula. Still at a loss for words, he smiled and exited as well.

Ness and Paula shared an intimate gaze for a few moments. Paula leaned in and kissed Ness on the cheek before leaving. Ness smiled as he watched her go.

Together again, just like before…back when things were simple.

There was so much hope.

End Part II