Chereads / We all are animals anyway / Chapter 37 - Just get me out of here

Chapter 37 - Just get me out of here

Link looks at Wolf and takes the papers from him; Wolf knew that Link was purposely avoiding to answer his question, so he didn't press on the matter and allowed Link reopens the laptop to read through the info on Bardick, he appears to have several misdemeanor crimes on him, but it has never escalated to a felony status. That alone protects him from SWORD agents knocking on his door... 

But he DID come close to committing a felony once when he started inviting women for sex. He quickly read that on the extra sheet of paper that Claudio handed him along with Bardick's address. Turns out, one of the females invited managed to conceal her age from the group of men participating in the orgy. Luckily one of those men had the common sense to ask her age before starting, sparing the whole group form a mayor felony.

Link memorized Bardick's face and his current address, after a sigh he ripped the papers with a smirk on his face, then turned to face Wolf and raised a finger to his lips, Wolf released a sigh and nodded understanding that he was to remain quiet about everything.

 

LINK POV

I loathe men like Bardick, I was hoping to find a man that reinvented himself. A remorseful dad that feels ashamed for leaving his family behind in debt. But that was NOT THE CASE, I will refrain from disclosing anything to the Princess, she would not believe me… she ADORES her bio dad. Zelda needs to witness what her father IS first hand, she needs to feel disappointed, ashamed… even hatred towards the man. At the end, I will be there to pick up the pieces and Daphnes will help fill the holes in her soul.

"Is this attire good enough?" Zelda enters Wolf's cubicle asking both of them.

The Princess was wearing skinny jeans, a pair of white tennis shoes that combined with the blouse, which was white with a big blue flower printed in front. Wolf smiles and raises a thumb; Link looks at her up and down.

"Are you comfortable wearing that?" Link sincerely asks her.

Zelda looks down at herself "well yeah… kind of. You said I should mimic you, these clothes where the closest thing that matches what you are wearing, the jeans fit too tight, making them uncomfortable to use but I think I look cute. I ask because there was a small yellow dress but… you dress like this for a reason, right? both of you do, so I should dress like that too for safety" Zelda states with conviction "yet I will use the dress if you tell me that I got it completely wrong"

Is this how a parent feel like when the child chooses to be like you? I don't have the right to feel like this, she is not my child.

*but you are her guardian, isn't that kind of the same? *

Wolf start laughing loudly "Damn girl, you absolutely hit the nail in the head, I don't hate you anymore"

"The attire is good, and I am sure Carla was displeased when you neglected the sundress, that only makes it even more PERFECT" Link says with a malevolent grin "Ready to go?" he says walking out.

Zelda smiles and claps her hands a little before following Link. Wolf looks at her with a sad smile and secretly hopes for the best outcome, he never really hated her, he respects the Princess and does not want her hurt in anyway, but he doesn't think that is possible anymore given Bardick's record. He only prays it won't hurt her as much. 

Outside crossing the parking lot Zelda starts to speak.

"It's still kind of early, could we go visit my dad first and do the shopping tomorrow? Maybe he would want to go help me choose my clothes, that way I won't force you to do something you hate"

*Hehe, she is using YOUR words against you… I like her. *

"First, ALL men hate shopping. Second, how do you know he is close by?" He asked Zelda but kind of suspected who told her.

This IS the reason why I insist that women are dangerous, they act as a collective reservoir of information, and they gather to discuss it dismembering and reorganizing the info in a way they can benefit from it… and then they have the gall to call it harmless gossip.

"Carla told me he can't be that far from SWORD's quarters, the General won't allow it since they need to keep him under surveillance" Zelda chimes in.

Link sighs "Yes, we could do that… are you sure you prefer it like this?" he asks tired.

Zelda nods smiling, as they approached the street heading to a taxi, she notices a bus full of people passing by, the sight amazes her.

She looks intrigued by the bus… we must board one.

*HAHA. Good luck with the sharks*

Link deviates from the taxi and steps on the road raising his index finger, another bus stops in front of him, he ushers Zelda to board it and pays for both of them. Zelda sees there are no seats available, but there where people standing holding on the handgrips the bus provided. Then bus starts to move continuing its route, she almost fell with the sudden movement but Link pulled her by the edges of her blouse stabilizing her.

"What do I do? I am not seated and its already moving" Zelda asks puzzled.

"Neither are they" Link says referring to the passengers that were standing "since there are no seats available, they ride standing, and what do we do?" he asks adjusting his hold on a handgrip.

"We do what we see, got it" she sees the only other available hand grip was too far from her, but then notices a girl holding on the upper arm of her dad, said arm was holding a handgrip, effectively stabilizing both of them. She chooses to mimic her and holds on Link's bicep too, Links glares at her but she proudly smiles before asking "what happens if people keep boarding and we don't fit?"

"If there is no more space the driver will cease boarding people. Before you ask, this is a BUS, its used for public transportation, lots of people don't have the means or the age to own a vehicle" Zelda looks at him kind of lost, so he clarifies "a motorized carriage of their own"

"I see, this is going to takes us to my dad?" Zelda asks.

"Not exactly, but close enough, we walk the rest of the way"

After 15 more stops they finally got off the bus, Link exhales loudly and rolls his neck, it was a tiring ride for him, he kept giving death glares and growls at men who tried to position themselves WAY to close to his Princess's buttocks.

Link looked up at the nomenclature plates to verify the street's names and reassumed walking, as they were reaching their destination Link started walking slower until he stopped. When Zelda noticed, she stopped too and approached him.

I need to tell her not to reveal she is a royal. The LAST thing we need is for Tudor to move back to Hyrule because his daughter is the Princess, he has never attempted to obtain a job in all these years. Hence, his means to obtain money for expenses are unclear, that is enough for me believe he is a parasite. I don't want THAT in my homeland.

"I need to tell you something, your father does not stay in a place for more than a month, there is a possibility we may not find him, if he is there and you meet him, don't tell Mr. Tudor who you are" Link tells his Princess in a somber tone.

 

ZELDA POV

Zelda smiled "I don't think I need to; I am sure he will recognize me in a second, I am the spitting image of my mother" she answers smiling.

Link shakes his head sadly "What I meant is; do not tell him you are the Princess of Hyrule"

WHY THE FUCK NOT? It's something I can use to impress him, make him proud of me for it, even though I didn't really work for it any of it.

"Why?"

"For his and your safety, the less he knows about you, the less likelihood of Hyrule and this world to collapse. Both worlds depend on NOT interacting much with each other, to sustain the balance required for their continuity"

"But… many people in Hyrule already KN0W of this world how is it different?" Zelda asks already doubting Link's reason to hide such an important part of her.

"Mental stability plays a part on the balance equation in this circumstance. Mental stability is lacking in this world, knowing about us could disrupt people's mentality here, over time creating a shift on overall energy waves destabilizing the balance necessary for both realms to exist."

Zelda seems to be pondering about this when Link continues "Hyrule's people are more stable mentally, they can comfortably accept the existence of this world with all their technological advances… but their open mildness only goes so far. Making interaction with SHIELD dangerous... SHIELD's power is too overwhelming, their presence in Hyrule will cause panic and destabilize everything. That means the implosion of both worlds. Reason why even here in their home world, SHIELD agents remain hidden from the public. The people don't know about them, they think of them as part of a comic or an entertaining children story"

THAT explains part of the interaction with Dr. Strange. Good since I had not found a way to casually ask him about all this.

"If Bardick is really interested in knowing more about you, he should travel back to Hyrule and find out himself" Link states in a bitter tone.

Not sure I completely understand how all this works, but I understand that is dangerous to mix both worlds too much, so I am not going to fight him over this, I won't tell my dad.

Link points to the second floor of the apartment building in front of them.

"208, knock on the door that has that number, I will wait right here"

"But… you are not coming with me?" Zelda asks a little sad about it.

"No, I don't want to intrude on a family moment, but if you need me just scream, I will be right here" Link promises.

Zelda smiles and nods at him, then goes up the stairs with happiness. Once she arrives at the designated door, she doubts about knocking, but garters enough courage and finally does. She hears nothing at the beginning but then clearly hears someone approaching, and the door slightly opens. Bardick looks out with caution but once he sees Zelda his eyes go wide and he closes the door again. Zelda waits a little before knocking again.

He is just scared and in shock, hehehe silly dad.

This time Bardick opens the door wide and looks at her in disgust.

"Why are you here?" Bardick asks harshly pulling her inside.

Shocked by his aggressive attitude she says "I… wanted to see you, I missed you, did you miss me too?"

"Hahahah, I don't have time for that, do you see where we are? I can't get a good job here without previous education and I am too old for school, I have to scavenge or cheat people out of their money every day to survive, I don't have time to be thinking about you or anyone else sweetie" he tells her bluntly.

This isn't real, it cannot be happening… he is my dad, of course he cares and misses me, right?

"Don't lie to me, you cannot be that bad off if you have a house to live in" Zelda counters.

[your father does not stay in a place for more than a month] This isn't his house, is it?

"HAHAHA, don't be naïve, this house is not mine, my current girl rents the place"

A voluptuous lady comes out of a room naked; she is surprised when she sees Zelda.

"You told me she was working… wait, this one seems too young… are you replacing me already?" asks the naked female.

Bardick approaches the lady and surrounds her with his arms "No sane man would replace you my love, the girl is just a visitor, I love you and will move in with you in 2 days if you still want me"

He is cheating on his girlfriend, on the woman who believed in him and placed a roof over his head, when did he became like this? This world must have changed him somehow and…

[Claire on her knees in the kitchen's floor, her hands hiding her sobbing face, her arms full of bruises]

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!! Did I just remember that?

[Claire yelling at Bardick for coming home so late and drunk, he shut her up with a hard punch at her face, little Zelda turned back to her bed and hid under the covers]

No this is not real, it can't be real.

[Little Zelda came running to show her mom a necklace she found, Clare closed her eyes as tears begun to drip recognizing who it may belong to. But she smiled and told Zelda to put it back where she found it, maybe it was a present, they didn't want to ruin the surprise]

The world begun to spiral around Zelda, she placed her head between her hands as memories came rushing back.

[Claire being pushed inside a room, Bardick entered the room behind her and closed it on little Zelda's face. Soon she was hearing her mother screaming in pain, and the sound clothes being ripped accompanied of slaps] she could not take it anymore.

"LINK!!!" she yelled loudly, scaring even Bardick. 

FUCK, I need to get out of here ASAP, if I let Link get here, he will most certainly HURT my dad, not that Bardick doesn't deserve it, but Raziel could kill him, I don't want his death on my conscience.

Zelda turns and runs to open the door for herself, Bardick quickly reaches for her arm stopping her.

"I am going back to my mother in Hyrule" Zelda states in anger.

Bardick nods and releases his hold on her chuckling "Good call"

Zelda opens the door and runs out willing herself not to shed tears. As she approaches the stairs, she finds Link already up the stairs and running towards her FAST. She closes her eyes expecting Link to ram on her by accident but he doesn't. Link grabs her by the upper arms and looks at her from head to toe, he then lifts her face with his finger and turns it from side to side.

"You seem to be ok, are you ok?" Link asks with worry.

"NO. take me home please" Zelda begs him.

Link widens his eyes and frowns "I can't do that" tells her in sorrow.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T? I am not asking for Nayru's sapphire or… damn, that one is on me, my bad.

"Not to Hyrule, what I meant is your place, or wherever I was going to stay in… just get me out of here please"

Link grabs her hand and begins to walk guiding her. Before climbing down the starts, he hears Bardick's door open making him instinctively turn. He sees a young woman exiting the room, she was giggling and sending kisses to the man inside before leaving. Link glares at both of them with venom before going down the stars himself. Once down, he approached a taxi that was leaving the apartment building, and they boarded it.

[Don't tell Mr. Tudor who you are] Link knew about my father, and he didn't tell me.

During the ride Zelda remained stoic and did not shed a single tear, but her glare was slowly becoming somber. Link avoided speaking to her at all, he really wanted to know what happened, but was not willing to risk upsetting her any further, so he chooses to wait until she wanted to speak about it.

The taxi left them in front of a hotel close by. Entering the reception, Link asks for a room and pays for it. Once he receives the room's key, he turns to Zelda and notices the glare she was directing at him, but he chooses to dismiss it for the time being and guides her to the room they were going to use. Inside the room Zelda turns to Link, a sorrowful expression on her face, but fire in her eyes.

"YOU FUCKING KNEW!!!" The Princess yells as she grabbed a decorative vase from the dining table and threw it at Link, who evaded it ending causing the base to smash on the door. Zelda picked up a piece of the broken vase from the floor and charged Link.