[Mari]

TartoonHand94

Zelda is approached by a young woman who ... didn't seem to find a need for pants, weirdly enough. With what looked like a skintight bodysuit on, perhaps she didn't ...need them? Regardless, Ashe brought with her not just her 'incredible' fashion sense but a single ornately labeled letter. "Afternoon! Are you Zelda? Not the 'princess' Zelda, right? ...Awesome~! I've got a delivery for you. Princess Peach asked me to give you this letter on my way across town. Apparently, someone's been asking for you~" Ashe explained in a very light-hearted if not pleasant tone. She then moved to hand Zelda the letter, which was a bit fancier than you'd expect to find in the middle of an apocalypse. Pastel, almost salmon pink paper with a thin flower print top and bottom margin awaited her. The scent of peach perfume could be detected rising from it but, more importantly, a hand-printed text awaited.

Dear Zelda, I hope this letter finds you well. It's been a busy week for all of us here and none moreso than our heroine Arle. Arle's been through a lot in these past few days, which I regret being unable to write of in more detail, and isn't feeling very well. She needs someone to watch over her and help her with things while her body recovers from a condition that our Doctor Ciel referred to as 'Ressurection Sickness', and while I would love to stay home and take care of her every day until she's feeling all better I simply cannot neglect my duty to he rest of my sisters and the other misfortunate in the life sphere. Miss Raffina did not return last night and I need to make sure she's alright, a trip that I worry may last me the better part of a day. Miss Arle has been asking for you this morning, and I feel that it would mean a lot to her if you would pay us a visit. It would be most appreciated by myself as well, as I would dread to think that Arle would be lonely at such a vulnerable time for her. She needs to exercise a little every day, but she can't handle very much and shouldn't push herself very much. She's already had her exercise today though and should be taking it easy. Her favorite drink is 'Seltzer Water' if you could find some, and her favorite food is beef or dragon curry. You're welcome to take her out if you can, but please be careful with her, alright? It may be a quiet day today, but a lot of us care deeply for Arle and would hate to see her condition worsen. You're welcome to help yourself to the food, and when I get back, I'd love to thank you personally for helping out in our time of need. Cordially, Princess Peach Toadstool

...Meanwhile, at the Magical Girl's Society Lodge, Arle was napping. Trying to push her body in her current state was an exhausting and somewhat painful endeavor to which rest was the only relief.

[TartoonHand94]

“And to thank that I have heard people say Skyloftian pants looked odd…” Zelda thought to herself, doing her best to politely keep her eyes off of Ashe’s pants. Had she seen pants that tight before? Actually, she hadn’t. And perhaps if she were rude enough to stare, she might never again. Had she taken the time to look, however she might’ve understood those weren’t pants at all, but a bodysuit. The likes of which she might’ve seen elsewhere before.

“Good afternoon.” Zelda greeted as properly as a princess would. “No, I am afraid I am not a princess. I have barely qualified to be knight, in fact.” She humbly responded to the mention of a princess title.

“A letter for me? From Princess Peach? Why thank you… Have a nice day!” Zelda waved after curiously accepting the letter. What would the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom want with her? And who had been asking for her? She could only wonder as she inspected the envelope. It seemed to lack a sense of formality in its presentation one would expect from royal correspondence. Perhaps it was an invitation to a party. In the middle of an apocalypse? One could never quite tell with royals.
Deciding it was the only conclusive course of action, Zelda opened the envelope and read the letter inside.

No sooner than the second sentence did Zelda find a critical point of interest in the letter. A name beginning with A. Her eyes combed through the rest of the letter with confirmed concern. Concern breed of worry. ‘Resurrection Sickness?’ What sort of sickness is that? Resurrection from what? What happened to Arle? There was one way to get any answers to these questions, and furthermore do anything about them.

Thus, upon completing the letter, without so much as missing a beat, Zelda single-mindedly dashed ahead off a cliff and whistled for her Loftwing. From out of her field of vision, her lavender Loftwing swooped down and caught her on its back, ferrying her into the air. She set an urgent course to the Magical Girl Society Lounge.

High in the skies above the Magical Girl Society Lounge, Zelda dove off her Loftwing. With the skill and dexterity of a professional stunt diver, Zelda whipped out her Sailcloth and parachuted, gracefully slowing her fall into a dainty descend, safely landing at the front door.

As much as she felt the urge to blast through the front door in frantic search for Arle’s bedside, this was a classy lady’s lodge. At least the part Zelda was visiting. Who knew who else lived in this large housing complex, but it was best not to disturb them and find out.
Once inside, Zelda promptly speed-walked to the room Arle was in. How did she know? Was the maternal bond so strong? Or was it the curry scent that was strong? Either way Zelda inexplicably found Arle’s room and slowly opened the door as not to wake her up.

This turned out to have been the right way, as Arle was indeed sleeping. Zelda tiptoed inside over to her and gazed down upon the sleeping mage. Zelda was equal parts relieved that Arle was here in one piece, one peaceful peace, but also distressed about the state Arle was in.
Are the implications of ‘Resurrection Sickness’ true? Had Arle really just been resurrected? Did Arle really just slip through Zelda’s fingers just like that without her so much as finding out about it until well after the fact? Tears began to well up in Zelda’s eyes as all these thoughts induced internal panic.

All of this was just too much for Zelda, especially considering on the other hand, Arle was right there on the bed, alive and presumably well. She could believe her own eyes, right? This was enough proof that Arle was okay, right? Zelda pre-empted a collapse onto her knees by kneeling down on her own. While not wanting to disturb Arle’s sleep, she could at least afford to lean in and leave a little kiss on her forehead.

Whatever happened from here on out, however Arle’s condition progressed, Zelda knew she was going to be alright. Because Zelda was going to make sure of it, and she wasn’t going anywhere until Arle could come with her, healthy and on her feet again.

[Mari]

Luckily for Zelda, finding Arle had been easier than expected. The exhausted mage was actually sitting on what appeared to be a puyo themed beanbag chair, wrapped up in a mushroom print blanket like a magical girl burrito. She wasn't even in a bed, mostly because there weren't enough beds for everyone. The puyo actually looked pretty comfy, caressing her form like a big squishy pillow. ...Say, what was it made of anyway? It looked like a completely normal puyo, transluscent and jelly like. It even had... eyes? The eyes of the giant green puyo shifted to look at Zelda, but perhaps the other was a bit too pre-occupied to notice, as the puyo was oddly enough otherwise behaving without complaint. They weren't very intelligent creatures, which probably had something to do with how no one seemed to have any qualms about sacrificing them en masse in return for mysterious and dangerous power. By the shape of her burrito, it looked like she was curled up into a ball inside her blanket. She looked pretty peaceful, if not somewhat uneasy. It looked like she might be having a bad dream. The poor thing had been through a great deal, from her untimely death to her stay in the deepest circle of hell at the mercy of a terrible man and his sheer contempt for her right to say no to his advances. One might not be able to blame her for being unable to get such an experience off of her mind, even in her sleep.

...She... was asleep, right?

At the kiss, Arle's golden eyes would abruptly flutter open. For a moment she was quite flustered because someone she liked had just kissed her, but something far less pleasantly surprising quickly distracted her from that thought. Wiggle wiggle, wiggle wiggle... Arle attempted to squirm free of her blanket to sit up and address Zelda in a more dignified manner, but found that someone had made the mistake of wrapping her up too tightly! She couldn't move. Her blush only intensified in embarrassment as she realized she was somewhat helpless--Well, unless she wanted to set herself on fire and wait anyway. That seemed like a pretty unreasonable reaction, though. "H-Hi Zelda~" the mage softly greeted, offering the other a rather goofy, awkward smile from her comfy prison. She seemed pretty inviting in spite of her apparent bashfulness, perhaps needing the company if nothing else.

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda hesitated for a second at the sight of Arle’s sentient puyo bed looking up at her. Looking back down at it, the big jelly didn’t seem to mind her, so she didn’t mind it either. It was actually pretty cute.
Speaking of cute, smol mage burrito wrapped up like a baby was finally waking up.
As much as Zelda regretted disturbing her slumber, it was far outweighed by how relieved and happy she was that Arle was okay enough to be waking up at all. All her fear, all her dead, all her panic, even the tears she held in the back of her head were wiped away by the sight of Arle moving again.

Zelda could barely stifle a giggle at the way Arle wiggled awake.
“Good morning, sleepy head.” Zelda smiled warmly at Arle, finding new strength to hide her worry behind a brave friendly face.
“Did you sleep well?” She asked, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, to help her keep balance and not fall over. S

he had an exam’s worth of questions to ask her. Where she’d been what happened to her; how did she come back, Resurrection Sickness, Resurrection from what? Zelda wanted to know the whole story. She'd never have peace of mind again without knowing every last detail. That and how to keep it from every happening again. And yet, all of a sudden, in the key change of the moment, It did not seem right to press. Doing so so soon would only sabotage this moment of recovery. Perhaps she’d hold off on the interrogation for now... Maybe build back to the subject when it became more stable? It was urgent...but was it that urgent? For now she decided just to savor Arle being in her arms again.

[Mari]

The Arle burrito eyed the hands on her shoulders for a moment before giving Zelda a smile that seemed somewhat ... off? There was frustration in those eyes, but if one really took a moment to pay attention to the way she was looking at Zelda they'd find that this wasn't just frustration, but rather there was a certain desire mixed in there--the source of her frustration. Now what could Arle want?--Hugs. She really wanted to give Zelda a hug after her death turned undeath situation, but was trapped in this silly blanket. Who tucked her in this snugly anyway?? "Hehe, yeah~ I was hoping you might come over." Arle softly replied, resisting the urge to squirm now that she was being handled.

[TartoonHand94]

“I came as soon as I received Princess Peach’s letter.” Zelda panted, scooping Arle with her other hand. “How are you feeling now? Can I get you anything?” She asked, caressing a hand to Arle’s forehead to check her temperature. Inspecting the Arle burrito further she finally noticed the look in her eye. Was she being overbearing?
“Am... I being too much?” Zelda asked as she withdrew her hand.
“I’m sorry Arle. It’s just…Given what the letter said, I couldn’t help but fear the worst...” She confessed, holding back a sniffle and tear and pulling Arle in for a tight hugging embrace.

[Mari]

Arle drew a sharp breath but was decidedly content with getting hugs instead of giving them. It was good enough, anyway. She leaned into the hug, about the best she could do given her current predicament. "I-I'm alright... A little tired." Arle softly replied, not really wanting to admit that she couldn't even walk properly on her own right now. What Zelda didn't know wouldn't bother her, right? Just then though, Zelda arrived at a conclusion that left Arle bewildered. Too ... much? How could she think such a thing at a time like this? "N-No! Never! It's just... I can't move my body at all in this thing." Arle bashfully replied. "Honestly, whatever you read is probably true. I've been to some really weird places lately... I still have trouble believing I came back from the dead." Arle awkwardly continued on to admit. Her gaze shifted about rather anxiously as she recalled the events leading up to her being bedridden at the lounge.

[TartoonHand94]

“Huh?... Oh right of course.”
Zelda’s tight embrace finally loosened as she figured out what Arle meant. Setting her back down on the puyo bed, Zelda began to undo her bindings. It was like opening a present. At least, she wished she could look at it that way. She did so slowly, hesitant out of anxious anticipation of what she might find underneath. Bruises? Scars? Other injuries?
Zelda had managed to get her hands free when she froze as the words hit her.
“…Back… from the…” her jaw trembled at the next word. “...Dead?”
She wanted to dance around the subject of Resurrection Sickness for as long as she could, but here it was now, the elephant bird was let loose in the room and she could deny it no longer.

“What ever do you mean… Back from the Dead?”

[Mari]

Arle's arms! They were..!! ...Perfectly fine actually, albeit lacking any strength at the moment. The mage, now not quite so restrained, fussed with the blankets a bit on her own to loosen them up a bit before leaning back into a more relaxed pose. She looked as healthy as could be! ...If you ignored the very overt weakness with which she held herself. The mage averted her eyes momentarily, not quite sure how exactly she was supposed to address the issue of her death. "...There was a terrorist attack on the life sphere. A bunch of people died. I... was one of them." Arle softly replied. It didn't seem to be a pleasant subject for her. Being vaporized by an unfathomable magic force was a pretty quick way to go, but that didn't make it all that pleasant either.

Oh hey look, a zombie!

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda’s arms went limp, releasing Arle and her bedding as she slowly began to withdraw, getting all of Arle into her field of vision. She could only stare as if she had just found out she had been talking to a ghost the entire time. Zelda was definitely fighting a losing battle to keep a straight face now. It cracked and crumbled into a nerved mess, tears leaking from her eyes with the shape of her trembling lips distorting into expressions of anguish. A hand raised up to cover her mouth, followed by a backup hand to take care of her tears.

Not only was the fear of something bad happening to Arle without her being there to protect her all too real… But it already happened? It already happened and Arle Died? And further more Zelda hadn’t even found out about it until after Arle had already been saved and revived by someone else?
This was a lot to take in. Too much to take in. It took everything Zelda had left in her not to throw up all over herself.

She raised both hands to rub her eyes and grip her forehead, barely hanging on to process the traumatic incident she plain and simply missed. And in due process, the information didn’t compute.

“…B-but… but that’s not how death works on Li. Here, w-when you die… All that happens is… You only…” Zelda began to stabilize herself with this counterargument. “…Become a trophy! And… and that happens any time you fall in battle, doesn’t it?”
Whether or not this was a legitimate point she made to question the legitimacy of Arle’s claim or a coping mechanism for her own sake was unclear. But she did have a point. This was how death was supposed to work on Li. If the fate Arle suffered was beyond that, something much worse was very wrong.
“…Are… are you sure that is not what happened to you?”
This was a vicious question to ask the victim at this point. This time Zelda was sure she only asked that one for her own sake. And she felt disgusted in herself as soon as the question left her lips. Evident in that she covered them up immediately. Zelda couldn’t stomach much more of this, she could barely look at her precious Arle now. But she had to. She had to stay strong and get to the bottom of understanding what happened to her.

[Mari]

The expression on Arle's face was one of confusion. Why was Zelda looking at her as if she were some kind of monster? She withered a bit under that gaze, but shoved those feelings to the side. She really wanted Zelda's familiar kindness right about now. She didn't want to accept that she was being spurned at a time like this. It was probably just... not real. She just had to be patient and things would go back to normal. At the other's final question, though, her eyes became a bit distant. She stared straight through Zelda for a moment in awful memory. The way Satan had abused her and tried to force her into marrying him. How trapped and helpless she'd felt. To say there was some trauma there wasn't inaccurate, if to nothing else than her self-esteem.

Arle shook her head in denial. No. Trophification had not saved her. She'd been murdered. "...A lot of other people were lost forever." Arle softly replied. Life Sphere citizens, a couple that had been about to be married, dozens had been killed in the attack. It had been a tragedy that shook the sphere. Perhaps Zelda had heard of it. "I'm still not really sure how I came back... I remember being in Hell. Satan was keeping me locked up for himself. He wanted to make me marry him, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. He... controlled me. I couldn't do much unless he let me. He made me dress up for him and wait at the altar..." Arle softly explained. She let that hang in the air for a moment. The way she spoke of that, it was so casual! It really wasn't an appropriate tone when discussing the dark prince of Hell, let alone a man attempting to force her to marry him. Goodness only knew what Satan intended after they were married. Arle's tone hinted at an unhealthy acceptance of being treated this way, that it was simply normal for people not to respect her right to say no. It was truly horrifying when one thought about it. Of course, it was also normal for her to set them on fire in response--but y'know. That wasn't what happened this time.

It took Arle a long moment, but she eventually continued. "Something... saved me though. I just remember suddenly being alive. I was surrounded by my friends. Satan never came back for me. Apparently Princess Peach organized a rescue party as soon as she heard what happened." Arle went on to explain, a smile creeping its way onto her face at the memory. It was short lived, however. "...I didn't think anyone was coming for me. I thought it was all over, that I'd never get to see any of you again." Arle continued in an almost whisperlike tone. That memory in particular hurt the most. Dying had been pretty awful sure, but the thought of living forever, locked away in some miserable room with a man she hated forcing her to learn to love him, never to see her friends or family again--that was the most horrific in hindsight. "...I--... I don't want to be alone. I don't want die again... Can you stay with me?" Arle quietly added, pleading with her eyes for Zelda to comfort her and soothe her seperation anxiety. She then shifted to slowly stand up, wincing as her muscles cried out in pain. Everything hurt, but her heart ached for something and it was a small price to pay.

...Arle reached out to Zelda, awkwardly lurching forward in an effort to hug her. Careful Zelda. If you let her push herself, she might start to cry.

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda could read the mistakes she was making in Arle’s eyes. All at once she wanted to take back what she had just asked. She just wanted to reach out and hold onto her tightly and never let go. So why was that so hard to do now? How could she handle this on top of hearing so many more innocents were lost the same way, and didn’t come back? What sense could she make of all this when there was so little material to be made sense of?

In yet, just looking in Arle’s eyes, on that poor vulnerable face, how she got there didn’t matter as much. What mattered now was that she needed Zelda’s love and support, as she always has, but now more than ever. Now more than ever as she recited her memories of the experience. As much as Zelda needed to listen to it, she didn’t want to hear anymore of this horror story. But Arle needed to get it off her chest, so she listened. And listened, hoping that some stray mentioned detail will rationalize it all.

But something was off about this. To be fair nothing was On about it, but Zelda’s expectations were thrown for another loop… in Arle’s tone of voice. How could she be nonchalant about it? Shouldn’t it be a traumatic experience? Zelda’s had her share of them so it sure sounded like it to her.

Soon enough, for all her patience, the good side of the story finally came around. To say Zelda owed a debt to Princess Peach now was an understatement. But now raised the question why she wasn’t invited to the rescue party. She decided that was a question to ask later on. For now,

Zelda lunged out and scooped Arle up in both her arms, hugging her warm and closely. Go figure that they decided to hug at the same time.
“Of course I’ll stay with you Arle.” Zelda promised her new daughter, tears streaming down her face.

“Forever.”

[Mari]

There was a lot to catch up on, but Arle needed her sleep. Soon she'd be right back where she started, drifting in and out of rest as her body slowly recovered. Eventually, Princess Peach would return with a plate of chicken curry, drawing aa tired but awake Arle's interest. She definitely wanted some of that. While Arle was enjoying her treat though, Zelda had Peach all to herself. She could ask questions, or do mom talk. "You have my utmost thanks for watching Arle this afternoon, Zelda." Peach would remark in greeting, unable to keep her eyes off of the hungry mage for very long.

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda immediately noticed the symptoms of a weary Arle. She recognized them from not long ago when she was still a toddler. It didn’t feel that long ago, because it really wasn’t. At all.
Zelda loosened her grip and nestled Arle down on her puyo bed, sitting on the puyo too and allowing Arle to rest her head in her lap like a pillow. She stroked her brunette hair, softly humming a lullaby as she snoozed.
Perhaps it was because it was such a short time ago, even if that wasn’t the natural progression of time, Zelda could still see that same scared helpless little infant in Arle’s eyes. The child she swore to protect.
Unfortunately, that came in direct odds to the girl Arle really was. She was a heroine with a destiny just like Zelda’s own and perhaps more relevant now than in her time. The Goddess Sword chose her and Hylia’s divine wisdom did not choose blind. The goddess reincarnate knew this to be true, and yet… the mortal girl she reincarnated into didn’t want it to be.

Sooner than Zelda could be any further lost in thought, the familiar smell of chicken curry graced both their noses. It smelled like Arle, but stronger. Go figure. Zelda got up and allowed Arle to help herself. The temptation to feed her was there, but it would be overkill. Arle’s a big girl now after all.
Besides, Zelda did mean to see Peach while she was here anyway. Stepping into the privacy of the hallway, Zelda tried her best to leave her emotions back in the room with Arle.

“No, please, Princess Peach. It is I who owe you my utmost thanks. For what you have done for Li and what you’re doing for Arle.” Zelda humbly insisted, in poise and posture befitting of addressing royalty.
“Thank you for aiding and abetting Arle when I couldn’t, and even more so for sending me the letter. I would not have known about… any of this.” She lamented grimly. She desperately wanted to ask Peach what this “resurrection sickness” was all about and what did doctor Ciel say about it, and how she could protect Arle from it happening ever again. But her experience with discussing this with Arle prior pointed all signs to going through this again with such a busy princess not being a good idea.
So Zelda took a different approach.

“Princess Peach, would you mind if I were to ask you… a personal question?” Zelda began, not yet decided how she was going to phrase the question.
“How did you cope?” She finally asked. “…with… Mario coming to save you all the time. Back before... all This happened. I mean, did you ever worry about him? That he might get hurt on his way to save you?”

[Mari]

Peach bashfully squirmed a bit where she stood. Aww, you were embarrassing her Zelda! "You're certainly welcome~!" Peach replied, glad to let the other pick at her brain--or her heart as it might be. She often thought with the latter, to be fair. That question gave her pause, though. Worry, about Mario? She hesitated for a moment, considering her words carefully before responding. "Of course. Especially the first few times... I always had faith though, because he's a great hero. It's what he does, you know? Just like Arle~" Peach replied rather softly, eliciting an embarrassed groan from Arle. I'm just a spicy mage mom, stop embarrassing me in front of other mom!