The Adventures of Alice Mushroomhat The Adventures of Alice Mushroomhat 
04/05/2007 Dear Miffy Iâm currently scribbling this letter against a taxi window. I left kinda last minute this morning so I havenât had time to tell you that I wonât be home for a while. My parents are going away on a business trip and asked my aunt Violet if I could stay with her for the time being. I havenât actually met her before - they say sheâs quite nice but also rather eccentric. To be honest Iâd rather just stay home alone but my parents are having none of that since that one time I set the stove on fire when frying an egg⌠Who knew eggs were that flammable?! Anyways, hopefully I wonât be bored to death - I had a look on google maps and her town is in the middle of nowhere. Iâll keep you posted should anything noteworthy happen. Take care of yourself! Lots of love, Aquilla |
14/05/2007 Hi Miffy! Hope youâre holding up alright. Itâs been a little over a week since I arrived at my aunts town Scalpay and let me tell you - this place is weird. My aunt has been pretty busy walking around, fishing and harvesting fruit for most of the day. Sometimes I see her digging holes for no reason and then suddenly running after insects. Itâs quite the sight. Iâm not entirely sure what sheâs doing with all the junk she keeps picking up, especially all the critters. I think she has a hoarding problem - she even picks up weeds. She mumbles to herself a lot, something about a museum. My aunt takes me diving and fishing daily, so Iâve learned quite a lot about the local wildlife. All of this is nothing compared to the other inhabitants of the village though. There are four more if Iâm not mistaken. Thereâs this neon green duck who I think wears white panties over his head on most days - I believe his name was Scoot? I also met a squirrel named Marshal who thinks heâs some kind of celebrity. Most of the time I canât tell if heâs flirting, joking or just incredibly full of himself. Nobody has the heart to tell him that his acting and writing are mediocre at best. There is also this snobby sheep called Willow and a cranky old wolf, Dobie. Those two mostly keep to themselves. Iâve only interacted with Willow once when she asked me if I only owned that one outfit and then proceeded to make fun of my haircut. Rude. Dobie just occasionally opens the kitchen window to yell at people who pass by while angrily shaking his fist. Not sure if Iâll get along with everyone, but Iâll try my best. Yesterday I was kind of bullied into picking up a part time job by the local shopkeeper. Says I should make myself useful and help aunt Violet pay off her debt instead of moping around town all day. Heâs been keeping me busy - I run all his errands while he looks after the general store. Heâs pretty bossy but Violet says he has a heart of gold. I donât know about that tbh. My lunch break is almost over and I have to deliver this wallpaper - so Iâll end the letter here. Talk to you soon! Aquilla |
03.06.2007 Hey Miffy - itâs been a while! So much has happened recently - I havenât had time to update you. I have been working my shifts at the shop and hanging out with towns folk and Violet the remainder of my time. Against all odds Iâve really grown to like the oddballs who live here. Weâve had some festivities and activities, but what Iâm really dying to tell you about is what happened during the fishing competition a few days ago. You wonât believe it. Everyone in town was excited days before it started because as I told you, fishing is kind of a big deal here. Marshal was especially motivated because he had been waiting for a chance to beat Scoot and Violet at the competition for months. On the day of the event everyone gathered at the town centre and once the countdown went off, everyone walked into different directions. I chose a quiet spot at the beach where I had observed large shadows in the water the previous day. Marshal stood not far from me on a small peninsula. We waited for many hours but there wasnât a fish in sight. I grew impatient so I crafted some clam bait (Violetâs secret recipe) and shared some with Marshal. Soon after scattering it, I heard a loud, surprised yelp and with a pang of anxiety in my stomach I threw my head around and saw Marshal wrestling with his fishing line. His bobber had disappeared underwater with a loud pop and the fishing line violently jerked through the water. The poor little squirrel was struggling to keep balance so I dropped everything I was holding and hurried to where he was standing. Just before I could reach out to help he fell into the water with a loud splash, a gust of wind ripping a yell from his lips. âMARSHAL LET GO OF THE ROD!â I shouted, but it was too late. I saw his little white body being dragged further and further down, small clear bubbles emerging to the waterâs surface. I wildly looked around for Violet - she was a much more experienced diver than I was, but nobody else was in sight. My heart racing I dived into the salty waves, my breath catching from shock of being submerged into the icy water without any preparation. After a few breast strokes I took a look underwater and spotted Marshal. He was still clinging to the fishing rod but his face was very pale and his eyes clutched shut. The creature dragging him was a long and snakelike fish with red fins and pearlescent, shimmery scales. âI caught an oarfish! I hope I catch morefishâ Violetâs terrible pun echoed through my head as I was diving ever deeper, trying to reach Marshal. My lungs were on fire and slight panic started bubbling in my chest because I thought Iâd drown alongside Marshal right then and there. With a last desperate push I finally reached his fuzzy tail and grabbed a tight hold of it. Marshalâs eyes opened slightly but his gaze looked right through me and he seemed very far away. With my remaining free hand I loosened his grip on the fishing rod which he was clutching with all his might. After what seemed like hours I finally held him in my arm while desperately paddling back to the surface. When our heads broke through the surface, my ears were ringing and my vision was swimming with bright spots. Marshal was coughing up mouthfuls of seawater while groaning incomprehensible words. In one last big struggle I dragged us to the shore, my legs weak and wobbly before collapsing on the sand next to the soaked squirrel. In the distance I heard tense voices drawing nearer but the adrenaline rush and the ringing in my ears prevented me from understanding. Soon Violetâs pale and concerned face appeared over my head. I carefully propped myself up on my elbows to look at her properly and noticed that Dobie and Scoot were standing nearby. Violet told me later that Dobie had witnessed the whole ordeal from his kitchen window and had rushed to Violet for help. By the time she had reached the beach, Marshal and I were nowhere to be seen. The sulky squirrel received several big lectures about how his pride almost killed himself if it hadnât been for me and the usually so smug and prideful fella took them all with hanging tail and a guilty look on his little face. We spent the night at a hospital in the next town over just to make sure weâd be okay. Everything slowly went back to normal after a while and Marshal has avoided all bodies of water since. Oh Miffy, can you imagine the excitement? I thought Iâd die that day. My time here has been wonderful in spite of the accident but I am looking forward to coming home. My parents should be back soon so this will probably be the last letter before I return. I can tell you more details and stories once I get back! Canât wait to see you again! Lots of love, Aquilla |
âŚWithout it, corrosion of this world is inevitableâŚOnly friendship will slow corrosionâŚWorking together is key âŚA true hero will know what to do with his heart.â, she could see the heart shape seemed to be cut out. She knew right then what she had to do. She put her hand into her pocket and felt the warm opal heart there. She had no doubt now where it had to have come from and knew exactly what to do with it. She made her way to the dark crystal with newfound purpose and placed the small opal heart into the shape of the crystal. The pulsing of the hourglass stopped and a new light burst through the crystal and all went white for a few seconds. When the light started to recede, she could see the crystal starting to change color into an iridescent pearl-like color. The fracturing beams of light surrounded it going brighter towards all of the lost friends.I am so sorry but I had to edit this just a bit because I didnât realize I made Cephlobot a girl when heâs actually a boy.First off, I want to apologize for the length of this story. I truly had not planned on it becoming this long but as I kept going it just wouldnât stop. The story told me. Thatâs the only way I can even explain it. Many many books, movies, and real life were inspirational to me writing this. There is also an extreme amount of symbolism in parts of this story that I hope you guys get. I will admit I am extremely proud of this little (HUGE) piece of writing and once again Iâm so sorry for the length.
As the sun started to peek through the curtains, Midoriâs eyes started to flutter and then a grimace appeared on her face. The dream she had just had was so very bizarre and led her to feel as if she had been asleep for months. Her body almost had a numb feeling to it as if she had been in a coma and her limbs had atrophied. She did not want to open her eyes. Instead she just stayed very still and tried to concentrate on what it was she had just dreamt about. It wasnât vivid like most of her dreams. She remembered hearing a echo of a muffled voice that seemed excited but concerned and that voice kept repeating that if amiibos werenât found, that that would be the end of Seclusia.
After the dream started to fade from her consciousness she started stretching her extremely sore muscles. The ache was intense as she stretched each limb but the more she stretched, the better she felt. Her brain still seemed foggy though so she knew her first stop for the day would be to Brewsters for some much needed coffee.
After donning her favorite Galaxy hoody and worn out jeans, she went to go fix her hair when there was a knock on her door. Her bestie, Filbert, called her name and let himself in (as her bestie, he knows he can do this). He seemed frazzled as could be and was talking absolute gibberish about some dream heâd had, but when he mentioned the word, Amiibo, she turned so fast that she accidentally knocked into her dresser causing her hourglass to hit the floor and shatter into a bazillion pieces.
Poor Filbert jumped a mile at this, which would have normally made Midori laugh, but she couldnât take her eyes away from the gold sand all over her floor. It seemed to almost have a face shape to it. Once she shook off that crazy feeling, (goodness, seeing faces in the sand), she turned back to Filbert and asked him to repeat what he had just said about his dream. He told her that he could hear voices in his dream. They almost sounded like they were coming from a padded noise canceling room but he could still hear someone, sounding like a female, talking about something called Amiibos and how they could be the key to saving Seclusia from extinction. How in the world had these 2 dreamed about the same thing???
Midori knew then that her coffee would have to wait, so after she gave Filbert a quick hug, she headed off to see Luna, the dream specialist, instead. Praying that Luna wasnât booked solid with appointments, Midori started towards the town rec center still holding onto the foreboding feeling her dream had left her with. Walking into Lunaâs almost always puts Midori into a sleepy state with the heavy incense and thin fabric covered lights. She called out Lunaâs name with such a panicked edge to her voice, that Luna rushed over and almost tripped over her meditation mat. Midori immediately started questioning Luna on the possibility of 2 different beings having such similar dreams and could there possibly be any truth in them and does she have any available appointment times to discuss this further. Well it just so happened that Luna did have 2 cancelations that morning so she could see Midori right then and they could discuss this plaguing dream that seemed to have her so unhinged.
After discussing how different this particular dream had been for Midori, and how strange it was that Filbert seemed to have had such a similar dream, Luna suggested they try an experimental hypnosis approach that might help to make sense of this strange new word, Amiibo, and why it seemed to be the key to Seclusiaâs survival to Midori. Luna had to warn Midori though. This particular type of hypnosis could put her in such a deep sleep, that regular awakening triggers might not work making Luna a bit unsure that this kind of risk should be taken over a dream. Hesitantly, Midori had to agree. What the heck had she been about to do! Over a stupid dream for pityâs sake! After thanking Luna for her time, she headed out the door to go finally get some much needed caffeine (while inwardly scolding herself on being such a ninny), when she smacked right into Celeste.
It was a bit odd, seeing Celeste during the daylight hours as she has always been a bit of a night owl. Celeste, however, greeted her warmly while smoothing out her slightly ruffled feathers from their collision and then went on excitedly to explain her daytime wandering. She told Midori that she had been running around town talking to residents all morning and had been about to head her way to to tell her to be sure to watch the sun for a fantastically rare solar eclipse that only happens every 115 years. Celeste, being the dreamer of all things astrological went on to say that this phenomenon would guarantee to open her third eye and reveal gates to a whole new world of possibilities. Midori couldnât help but think that this very strange and rare event might have something to do with these dreams. After considering this for a moment, she high tailed it back to Luna.
Midori burst through the door and called Lunaâs name. Luna had had a gut feeling that Midori would be back sooner rather than later. Midori then explained to her that she just knew something terrible was going to happen if she didnât explore this dream further. If Luna had a way to dive into Midoriâs deep conscious then maybe they could get some answers on what was going on and if these dreams were somehow connected with this strange solar phenomenon about to happen. Luna reiterated to Midori of the risks to a sleep this deep but Midori was adamant. Confident about her decision, Midori went and laid down on the Hypnosis Dream bed ready to get started. Though a little bit hesitant at first, Luna started readying the room for this highly experimental procedure. She dimmed the lights, put on some calming music, and lit some incense (knowing it would calm her own nerves as well) and took a deep breath that centered her to her core. Then she walked over to her small collection of gyroids and tapped on her Dootoid. His sound would give Midori something to concentrate on. She then took out a small handheld light, no bigger than a pen and told Midori to take 10 deep breathâs and focus on the Dootoidâs sound. At breath number 4, Luna turned on her handheld light and lightly shined it near Midoriâs eyes in a pattern that mimicked the Dootoidâs beat. By Midoriâs 7th breath, her breathing slowed. By the 9th breath, her body had relaxed. At the 10th breath a strange new light appeared not only behind Midoriâs eyes but filled the entire room with a strange dark light that Luna couldnât understand. She had to assume it was the solar eclipse that Celeste had been rattling on about earlier but she knew she couldnât break her concentration while doing such an experimental procedure or she may not be able to get Midori back from her deep subconscious trance.
Midori could feel the weight lift as her conscious mind submerged into unconsciousness. As her body started to relax giving her a slight falling feeling, she knew she was heading towards something new. When the falling finally caught up with her, she experienced a weightlessness that she could not explain. She gave herself a moment to feel her surroundings and take in this brief moment of unexplainable peace. She was afraid to open her eyes but not the same way she had been afraid when she woke up that morning. She didnât want to lose the feeling she had in that moment, but she knew she needed answers so she slowly opened her eyes. The magical wonder that appeared before her eyes was heartstopping. She was surrounded by a swirling lilac mist that went on as far as the eyes could see. In front of her was an archway made of beautiful glowing vines with tiny purple flowers that seemed to shimmer. She knew that she needed to walk through that archway but she couldnât help but wonder what else surrounded her and desperately wanted to explore its entirety. She appeared to have a hard time focusing and she couldnât take her eyes off of the beauty she was enveloped in. In the distance she could hear a small noise that seem to have a beat to it and she vaguely remembered that she was supposed to focus on that. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and listened to that light echo of a beat for a moment and after a few seconds, her awareness returned to her. She took one more deep breath and started towards the archway knowing if she looked back one more time that she might lose her purpose again.
As she stepped under the archway, she could see the swirling lilac mist dissipate some, making the area inside the archway a little more clear. Inside the area was a circle of large rocks surrounded by glowing vines, strange looking mushrooms and it almost seemed like things were scurrying around but for some reason she could not see what they were. Behind the large circle of rocks was a gorgeous waterfall. When she focused more she could see a smaller circle of large rocks with some kind of statue in the center. She took a few more steps in so she could get a better look at that statue. It was beautiful. It almost looked like her but different.
The statue seemed to be a male villager wearing a red shirt with a # 1 on it. The whole statue had an almost gold iridescent gleam to it and Midori recognized the face immediately. It was the face she saw in the gold sand on her floor when her hourglass broke. She wanted a closer look so she stepped forward a few steps and peered into the face of the statue. Knowing it was just a statue she felt silly but she had to ask; who are you? All the sudden the scurrying around her got quicker but she still could not pinpoint what it was on the ground that was moving. She seemed to only get a glimpse of what seemed to be pointed almost triangles of different colors that quickly disappeared behind trees. As she focused into the center of the rock formation, the gold iridescence of the statue all the sudden got a little brighter; almost pulsating. A whispering sound that seem to surround her on all sides said âI am the first. My name is Villager and I am the first Amiibo.â Midori knew then she had made the right choice to come here. She knew in her heart that she was going to get the answers that she desperately needed.
She asked if Seclusia was in danger and Villager answered yes. Then she asked the question. The question that made her come here. What is an Amiibo. What does it have to do with Seclusia. Villager then told her that long ago he came to a new leaf town called Birdsong. He came when it was close to extinction as well and because of him the town survived. Because of him, new faces were able to be seen and if they liked it they could come live there. The town which had previously been choked by weeds with empty houses where happy neighbors used to live, now abandoned, began to thrive. Midori then asked if such a thing could happen to her beloved Seclusia and how could she stop it. He told her the only way to keep that from happening is to find 2 new faces to live there and bring back the joy so the island would not fall into slumber. It just so happens he said he knew of 16 friends who were thinking of traveling that had the ability to become an Amiibo like him. Villager told Midori that it would not be an easy quest to find just the right two and there would be many obstacles to face and she might even find some help along the way, but if she truly believed in herself, she might be able to save Seclusia.
He asked if she was ready for such a quest and if so, she needed to know one last thing. He told her she would need a very specific map and this very special hourglass. This hourglass would turn itself every time she reached a marked destination on the map. The hourglass would let her know how much time she had to find what she was looking for every place she went. Midori took another deep breath and accepted Villagerâs Quest. The Villager then turned a bright gold and 2 things appeared at his feet. Midori bent down to pick them up and opened the two gifts that he had left to her. One was indeed the map that she would need for this journey. The other gift, what she thought would be an hourglass similar to the one in her house that had broken, turned out to be a tiny thing. The hourglass, no bigger than a thimble, was attached to a fine gold chain, that Midori immediately put around her neck for safe keeping. She took one more look around so she could keep the beauty of this place etched in her memory forever and then walked back out the archway, map in hand.
As Midori stepped out of the archway, head down looking at her map, she didnât notice that where she stepped out was not where she was earlier before she stepped into the archway. The lilac purple mist was gone, and there was a shimmering brick path in front of her. She did not see this at first, because she was intently looking at the map in her hands. It was definitely no ordinary nap. The regular signs were there; the compass at the top, the lines indicating the roads, and small symbols representing her destinations, but there were also footsteps. Footsteps that seem to appear when she was walking. They would slightly fade after a couple of steps. It was mesmerizing. When she finally lifted her head expecting to see the lilac swirling mist around her, the scene before her made her turn around so quickly that she practically got whiplash. What she was looking for was the archway, but it was already starting to fade. She knew she would not be able to go back in and ask where she had just been transported to. The area around her seemed brighter, almost sparkly the way that the flowers in the grass shimmered. The trees almost had a glowing quality to them and in front of her was a road that looked like it was made of opal. By her map, she knew this was the road she would need to take to the first destination. The first destination on the map showed two red circles, one larger one with a smaller one inside of it. She took a deep breath, and said to herself that she could do this, and then she started listening for that tiny beat that seem to be in perfect rhythm with her heart.
She put 1 foot in front of her, seeing the step on the map and started on her way. The beautiful land that surrounded her filled her was such a peaceful joy, that she honestly thought of giving up this quest and just staying put. She knew she couldnât do this, but oh my word, to live in a land this beautiful seemed like a dream come true. After walking a bit, she came upon a small clearing to her right. There were glowing mushrooms surrounding a small pond and there was a hippo, soaked to the bone, throwing a tantrum about some thing. She knew she needed to keep moving but sheâs always been one to help someone in need. She quickly checked the hourglass around her neck, and it didnât seem any different than when she put it on, So at least she knew she wasnât racing against some timer. She slowly walked towards the hippo, cautiously, as she didnât want to startle him. When she got close enough, but not too close, she called out asking if he needed some help? He quickly turned to her with surprise and let out a huge sigh. He told her that he had been looking for some herbs for a potion he was making and he had been out for a long time so when he saw the pond, he knew he wanted to jump in. What he didnât think about was everything in his satchel that he had been carrying and he just jumped on in with everything. He lost his grimoire with all of his spells and herbology identifiers to drenching. Everything was soaked. Midori then introduced herself and told him she would be more than happy to help him dry the pages and see if any of them could be salvaged. He told her his name was Harry and that he would be eternally grateful for her help. It took them a bit, but they managed to separate everything and got them drying by placing them on a couple of boulders with rocks on top of them to keep them weighted down. She knew she needed to keep on her quest so she told Harry that it was time for her to go but that she hoped everything would be OK. When she showed Harry her map, he told her that he knew the area she was heading into next and to watch out for pikipeks, which are small birds that like to swoop down and peck at shiny things. He then thanked her profusely and told her he had to give her a gift for helping him. He told her to take off her shoes, which she did and he put these mushroom liners inside. He told her they were his own invention and they would keep her feet cushy for her long quest ahead. Midori had to laugh a little and thanked him for such a unique gift. As she headed out of the clearing, she could already feel a huge difference in comfort.
She walked for a couple of miles while periodically checking her map and could see she was approaching the area with the 2 red circles. The opalescent path appeared to be heading into a wooded area. As she entered what could only be a forest, she felt a slight humming vibration on her chest, and when she looked, she could see gold dust shimmering at the top of her hourglass. With her being so close to her first destination, she had to assume the hourglass timer was beginning. She didnât want to take up too much time watching it but she knew she needed to see how fast the sand was descending. It seem to only be a slight trickle so hopefully that would give her enough time to reach her destination. She then looked at where she was and realized it was quite dark, but there were glowing mushrooms sprinkled around the path that she was on and in between the trees, lighting her way. As she walked she could hear rustling in the trees. After a couple of minutes, something swooped down and pecked her right in the middle of her chest. Luckily, it did not hurt that much. The culprit seemed to be the little bird, pikipek, that Harry had told her about. She knew then she would have to move her hourglass out of sight so she put it under her hoodie for a better safekeeping knowing she would have to pull it out occasionally to check the time left on it. Once she got back to walking she felt a small pulse at her chest so she pulled the hourglass back out for a moment and it seemed to be at half full. By her map, it seemed she was almost to her destination with the two red circles.
She kept a steady pace and as she got closer to the 2 red circles on her map, she could see that further out, the trees become more sparse and through them a range of cliffs and boulders in the distance surrounded by water could be seen. Once again, she felt a little pulse in her chest so she checked the hour glass once more and seemed to only have one quarter of her time left. Trying not to panic, she quickened her pace some and started closing in on the area with the 2 red circles on her map. Just up ahead, and a little to the left, she could see something; something that definitely looked like it didnât belong where she was. What she could see was a round silver head with six legs and two arms and it appeared to be chopping wood. She took a few steps closer, though a little afraid of what she was seeing, it sparked her interest. This being looked a lot like one of the villagers on her friendâs island. Her friend had a villager named Marina and she was an octopus. This being that she spied could only be an octopus but it seemed to be made of metal! She walked a little bit closer and the being seemed to sense her presence and called out in a strange raspy voice that could only be male, âIs that you, Faith?â Midori answered that she was not Faith, and that her name was Midori and she was on a quest. As she approached, the metal octopusâs eyes lit up in what could only be smile. âOh!!!!, he cried, I just knew we would get a special visitor today! My friend, Azalea told me last night that she wished upon a star, that we would meet someone new today!!! My name is Cephlobot! How can I help you?â The pulsing starting ticking faster on her chest so she kept walking to this new welcoming stranger and right as she stepped in front of her she could see it. There on the tree behind Cephlobot were 2 red circles. Midori cried out, âThatâs it!â, and reached out to touch them. Cephlobot, gave her a quizzical look as he could not quite comprehend what in the world Midori was doing. As Midori touched the 2 circles, the hourglass stopped vibrating.
Cephlobot, chuckled under his breath and said, âI see you are familiar with our Targâet Tree?â Midori replied back âWhat is a âTarshjayâ Tree?â Cephlobot, than went to explain that the Targâet Tree was where they all met each other. He and his other villager friends all woke up one morning under that tree and had to build a life out there from scratch. They all work together doing different jobs to guarantee each otherâs survival. He went on to explain that they each had such very different personalities but that she was the heart. âAfter all, Cephlobot said, itâs an Amiiboâs job to bring joy to the world theyâre in!â Midoriâs eyes grew as big as sand dollars. âYouâre an Amiibo?!?!â Cephlobot told her absolutely. They all were. Midori then had to ask the question. The reason SHE was there. Would Cephlobot like to come live with her on Seclusia and help save her island. Cephlobot then had to explain that while he was honored by Midoriâs request, his place was here. When she had woken up by the Targâet Tree, he had felt empty, but after meeting all of the other Amiibos that he showed up with, she sort of became their caring leader. He could never leave them behind and the ones that still remained there would never ever leave either. Cephlobot, with a sad faraway look, told Midori, that a few had left on a mission but they had never come back. They had been heading to another area to check the habitat and had never returned. The ones that remained had sworn never to go there. He then pointed to the cliffs and told Midori, that that was where they had gone.
Midori made the decision then and there that that was where she was going to go. She was going to go rescue Cephlobotâs amiibo friends and bring them back and told him her plan. She knew it was the right thing to do. Cephlobot couldnât believe how selfless Midori turned out to be. She had been here on another quest and was giving it up just to help them! What a kind soul. He then told Midori to hold out her hand. In it, he placed his most prized possession; his heart shaped opal. He told her, one of his missing buddies had found it in a cave and and brought it to him knowing Cephlobot was the groupâs heart. That buddy was one of the missing. Tears came to Midoriâs eyes and she promised she would do her best to find them. After giving Cephlobot a quick hug, she turned around and headed towards the cliffs. Interestingly enough, even though she had decided to give up her quest for the moment to help Cephlobot, the pulsing started again around her neck and she knew that her hourglass and turned back on. She went ahead and brought out her map, and appeared to be walking in the direction of the next destination.
As the cliffs became larger in her view, she could see a large crack in the middle that had to be the cave that Cephlobotâs friends had been going to. Midori realized the water surrounding them might be a problem. She knew how to swim well, but the water looked extremely choppy as she watched it constantly hit the cliffs. How in the world would she be able to reach it??? At that moment, she felt the pulse of the hourglass and once again checked her time. She seemed to have around three quarters of her time left. She knew she would have to try to swim out to the cave. Midori tentatively put one foot in the water and got the strangest feeling. Her foot almost felt like it was floating. It kind of gave her an off balanced feeling and instinctively put her other foot in. The result was so completely unexpected. As both feet found their âfootingâ they were not on the water bed. She was standing on top of the water!!! Not completely on top, as the soles of her shoes seemed to be an inch or 2 below the top of the water line, but she was standing ON the water. It almost felt squishy. As she was wondering how in the world this could be possible, she remembered the mushroom insoles that Harry had given her. She could not believe her luck that they let her stand in the water like this. She decided to test that luck and took a couple of steps and it almost felt like she was walking on marshmallows. Wow, what an unbelievably cool feeling! She started heading towards the cave with a new feeling of confidence while inwardly thanking Harry for such an amazing gift. The water was still choppy and the closer she got to the cave, the harder it was to keep her footing. Her muscles started to ache from the strain to keep her balanced. She could see the large crack opening into the cave the closer she got to approaching the cliffs. At the top of the largest part of crack, she could see an almost shimmering, the way a geode looks when opened. The closer she got to the opening, the more the water seem to slap around almost like it was trying to fight her. One wave actually knocked into her, soaking her back and pushed her onto a hard surface in the water at the base of the cliffs in front of her. As the water receded she looked at her feet and could see she was on a small landing. Directly in front of her was the entrance to the cave. Once again, the hourglass pulsated on her chest so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and listened for the small beat that was in perfect rhythm with her heart and then opened her eyes with determination and kept going.
When she got to the entrance she could almost feel and hear a slight ringing hum. It gave her a feeling of almost a shining melody that she couldnât even hear that filled her with a longing to go closer. With each step that longing grew. As she passed under the entrance she got a feeling of peace but it didnât feel ârightâ. She knew she needed to focus on the beat again so she closed her eyes and found it and started tapping her fingers on the side of her leg with the beat so she could keep her focus in tact as the strange feeling kept trying to mist over her body.
Surrounding her in the cave were thousands of crystal like structures embedded into the walls. They were absolutely stunning. So many colors glistened and shimmered around her made by crystals of opal, citrine, and rose quartz. Even the ground seemed to be embedded with iridescent fractures. The further Midori walked, the darker it became but the crystals still shimmered some, lighting her way a bit. Up ahead she could hear what had to be a source of water so she followed the tell tell sound until she came upon brighter area. The brighter area turned out to be a waterfall. Had she reached a dead end already???
Midori walked the length of the waterfall searching for some kind of sign of where to go next. The hourglass made the strange little pulse reminding her of her other quest but she knew finding Cephlobotâs friends had to come first. Right in the middle of the waterfall there seemed to be almost a glowing arch-like structure behind the wall of water. Well what is a quest without a little bit of risk, Midori thought to herself. Harnessing all of her strength she plunged in fearlessly. She could feel the pounding of water all over her body as she went through, though it was strangely warmer than she had anticipated. Once she reached the other side and started to get her bearings again, she noticed how warm it was when she had come out. It almost felt like the sauna at Lunaâs.
In front of her was the glowing crystal like arch structure. All the colors that she had seen when she had entered the cave were embedded into the arch. She could not see what was through the archway though as the entire middle almost looked glass-like with a kind of mirror quality to it. Midori reached out to touch it and the hourglass pulsed once more so she pulled back. She decided to see if her map was still intact after all the water figuring it had been destroyed but as she pulled it out of her pocket it was surprisingly OK. She could see the other destination was quite literally almost right where she was standing. The destination on her map looked like a large shard of crystal. Once again renewing her confidence she figured she had to be heading in the right direction of not only her original quest but also her side quest of finding Cephlobotâs friends. She reached out once more to touch the center of the archway and instead of hitting a hard substance the way it looked, it felt strangely fluid but when she looked at her hand, it wasnât wet. With all her fingers in tact, she had to figure it was safe enough to walk through, so without further hesitation she did just that. As she walked through she felt a slight warm sensation at the top of her right leg. She put her hand in her pocket and could feel the small opal heart that Cephlobot had given her. It was unexplainably warm to the touch, just adding more strangeness to this day.
When she lifted her head, to take in her new surroundings, her heart nearly burst out of her chest. There they were!!!! All 7 Cephlobotâs friends were here!!! She immediately cried out, âOh my God, I found you!â, but no one seemed to hear her. As she walked closer to them, she could see that they were all standing in a circle around a very large greenish yellow crystal in the center. The crystal was at least 6 feet tall, and it almost seemed to be corroding like a caustic chemical. All of the lost friends seem to be in a trance as they were all facing this dark crystal. Their eyes were glazed over and there was a strange ray of light that followed their eyes to the center of the crystal. This was definitely no ordinary crystal.
Midori cautiously walked a little closer to it and could see parts of the crystal were etched with script. The largest words read âPower to the Playersâ. Circling around the strange dark crystal were more words. Not wanting to get too close, Midori carefully circled around to read them at what she could only hope was a safe distance. The etchings read, âHere lies the
Well that seemed a lot like what Villager had told her. It seemed so long ago now and Midori started feeling the weight of her tiredness. Right on cue, the hourglass once again started pulsating. She was running out of time. She looked again at the strange dark crystal and the words etched there. Where it read here lies the
When the lights dimmed, the glazed look in the lost friendsâ eyes went away. Midori could see them slightly shaking their heads as they crept back into awareness. She asked them if they were OK and the little blue squirrel looked around at the rest and answered that she thought so. Midori then introduced herself and told them why she came. The little squirrel said her name was Ione, and then introduced her friends. There was a funny looking monkey named Tiansheng, a regal looking eagle named Quinn, a spiffy little hamster named Marlo, a scientific type mouse named Petri, a beautiful goat named Shino, and lastly an adorable bunny named Sasha. Everyone started talking at once trying to tell Midori the story of how they ended up there. Sasha came up and immediately hugged her thanking her for helping them. Midori felt an immediate connection with him for some reason and told him that it was her pleasure. He then explained that he and Ione had come across this cave while exploring a while back and wanted to bring back a group to see if they thought they could inhabit there, thinking it would keep them a little safer from the weather elements. When they had found it the first time, Ione had been reading the large pearl-like crystal and when she touched the heart, it had come out in her hands. Sasha had told her, he thought she should put it back, but Ione insisted that she just knew the reason it fell out was because she was supposed to give it to Cephlobot. When they got back to camp she to gave it to Cephlobot because she was the heart of their group. She had no idea, that taking the heart from the crystal would turn it so badly. When they came back with a larger group, Ione took them all the way in so they could see the fantastic crystal there. When they got there the crystal had changed to that greenish color And when she went to touch where the heart had been, something happened and they all went into the trance that Midori had found them in.
As the group all got together to make their way back home to their camp, Midori could see how relieved they all seemed to get back to their friends. Once again, they went through the archway and under the waterfall. When the waterfall was behind them, they could see they were no longer in the cave. They were now in someplace new. It wasnât new to Midori. She had been here before. She could see the rock like structures in the circle with Villager in the middle. Her new friends were all crying out exclamations of the same type of worry. Where in the world were they. Midori told them she had been there before and went ahead and grabbed her map because she could once again feel the pulse of the hourglass starting up. Without even knowing, she had been on a new path to the last destination. On the map the last destination looked like a tiny outline of Villager.
Even though Midori knew she was on a timer, she needed to explain to her new lost friends the reason she had come in the first place. That she had been on a quest to save her island. She told them that the statue in front of them had told her she needed to find two new friends to take back with her to her island to keep it from going into an endless slumber. He is the one that sent her on this quest but when she met Cephlobot, she knew she had to veer from that quest to get them back home. Sasha walked over to Midori and told her he would be honored to come live on her island with her. He explained that from the very first moment they spoke, he felt an instant connection with her and honestly really just did not want to leave her side. Tears came to Midoriâs eyes as she wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. After, everyone started talking at once, offering to come with her as well. While Midori would love for them all to come with her, she had to explain that Villager had told her she could only bring two. She also explained that she couldnât just take all of Cephlobotâs friends from her without her knowing what had happened as she knew their other friends had been so worried after they had disappeared. Ione then stepped forward and told the group that it had to be her. She had been the reason they had all become lost and she knew she needed to be the one to go with Midori.
The hourglass started pulsing faster so Midori looked up and touched Villager and said she found her two. Nothing happened, but the pulsing quickened. She looked at the lost friends questioningly and told them she didnât know what else to do. Sasha then placed his hand on villager and said he wanted to be the Amiibo to go live with Midori. The statue then started to glow, so Ione did the same. Villager grew brighter still so Midori placed her hand on him as well and once again said she had found her 2 new amiibo friends. A bright light filled the area blinding all that was there and when it dimmed, Midori could see that everyone except Sasha and Ione were gone. Well that put her in a complete panic until villager started whispering around her once again, telling her that they were sent back to the Targâet Tree to be with Cephlobot and the rest.
She then asked what would happen to her, Sasha and Ione and he explained that all they had to do was go back through the archway to go home. Midori then thanked Villager for all his help and for sending her on this quest to save Seclusia. She learned so much on her journey about helping others and putting others before herself. He then told her, that she was the key to bringing joy to her island and he hoped that she would always remember that. Midori then took Sashaâs and Ioneâs hand and together, they stepped through the arch.
As Midori stepped through the arch, she could once again hear the same muffled voice from her dream. âI found them!â, it said. It was so quick and then it was gone. She could also hear a small beat from the Dootoid and she could feel herself returning to her regular feeling self. She could hear Luna in the background calling her name. As she opened her eyes, she could no longer feel Sashaâs or Ioneâs hands. Sadness filled her as she realized they werenât with her anymore. Tears streamed down her face as she asked Luna if she knew where they were. Luna, having not been with her, had no idea what she was talking about. Midori was in such a state of panic that Luna didnât know what to do. She kept telling her that it was all in her subconscious mind. Midori insisted that it had been real. She helped Midori up out of the bed and led her out of the room. She figured maybe Tom Nook would know what to do to help calm Midori down and maybe once she could see that they were out of the hypnotic dream that she would be ok again. When they went into Tomâs office, Tom let out a sigh of relief. He told Midori that she had been getting calls all morning about two new villagers that wanted to come live there but there was no space. He needed to know if anybody had been wanting to move, but he had been so busy this morning that he had no idea who to even ask. Luna then chimed in that 2 of their residents, Chelsea and Cyd, had just told her this morning that they had the itch to go wander and had canceled their appointments with her. As Midori tuned in to what Tom and Luna were saying, she realized that this may be a key to the locked place where she had just been. She asked him if he got their names, and he said yes, their names were Sasha and Ione. Midori exclaimed, âYES! We need them to come here as soon as possible!!! They are going to save our island!â Tom Nook just kind of chuckled and told Midori to stop being so dramatic. He told her he would call them back at once. Midori realized then that nobody really knew how close Seclusia had come to going into an endless slumber. She knew she would never be able to explain it to Tom and have him understand fully without thinking she was crazy. She then turned to Luna and told her that they definitely needed to discuss where she had just been in her subconscious journey but that there were a few things she needed to take care of first and could they make an appointment for the next morning. Luna said of course, as she wanted to hear all about the subconscious journey Midori went on. Midori then told Tom to please bring their new residents to Lunaâs when they got there.
Midori set out to go visit Chelsea first. When she got to her house, the door was open and Chelsea was surrounded by boxes. Midori walked in and went to give Chelsea a big hug and told her she would miss her. Chelsea then told her that she had had a dream that she needed to go find a group of new friends and help them make a new town. When she had been on her way to Lunaâs to talk about this dream, she had run into Cyd, and he had told her he had had the same dream. They didnât know where they were going, but they knew they had to go together. Midori knew she didnât need to explain where she had been as Chelsea probably would think she was nutzoid, but she knew where they were going to end up. She told Chelsea then, to tell her new friends that she said hello. (She would let them explain it to her.) After another quick hug, she said goodbye and went to go visit Cyd. Cyd was still packing up his drum set, when Midori walked through his door. She ran over to give him a huge hug as he had always been one of her favorites and told him she would miss him terribly, but she knew he was going to end up in a very awesome place and she wished him luck. She also told him that she was very very glad that he and Chelsea were going to be traveling together.
Midori ran into Filbert on her way back to her house and told him that she loved him and she would talk to him tomorrow, but she really needed to sleep. She was so exhausted. She fell into an absolute dreamless slumber that night and slept for a solid 12 hours.
When she got up the next day she headed straight to Lunaâs. Luna was so excited to hear all about her journey. It took two solid hours for Midori to explain the entire thing, leaving Luna completely speechless. Luna then explained to Midori how hard it was to get her back. She had been trying for hours because once they had started she was very afraid that Midori was going to get stuck in that subconscious state, so when Midori had finally opened her eyes, she had felt overwhelming relief. Midori also told her that her Dootoidâs beat is what kept her grounded. Right then, there was a knock on the door. Tom nook walked in with their two new villagers. Sasha and Ione looked around with slight fear in their eyes until they saw Midori. Recognition then lit up on their faces. Midori went over reached out for their hands and asked them if they knew who she was and they both replied of course. She was the reason they were there.
I have an idea, but it's more a matter of compressing it down so it isn't 50 pages long hahah. I will try my best to get this done between assignments though!
