Lulu was nervous.
Extremely nervous. Normally, she was very comfortable talking to any of her fellow band members. But this was--different. What she had to say she really didn’t want to say. What will everyone think? What will happen to me?
“Lulu, are you okay?” The bandleader Evan could sense Lulu’s nervous state just by looking at her quivering hands. “What’s going on?” Lulu sighed heavily. There was no backing down now.
“There’s something I need to say . . .”Lulu’s voice was quivering even more than her hands were. This definitely was not easy. “A couple of days ago, I . . .” The words stuck in her throat; no matter how hard Lulu tried, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Evan what had happened. Now Evan was getting curious.
“What is it?” Evan tried to be as gentle as possible. Whatever it was that Lulu was trying to say wasn’t a particularly good thing, he surmised. Instead of speaking, Lulu stood up from where she was sitting and motioned for Evan to follow her. Still curious, Evan followed; the Zora diva led her bandleader into her room and quietly shut the door. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back a small curtain.
“This is what I wanted to tell you about.”
A clutch of seven perfectly spherical Zora eggs were carefully laid in a warm pool of water near Lulu’s dresser. Evan’s eyes widened.
“Are--Are they . . .”
“Yes.” Lulu interrupted. “But please don’t say anything to him, Evan. If Mikau finds out about this, I don’t know what he’d do . . .”
“I promise I won’t tell him.” Evan replied after a few moments of pure silence. “The point is are you okay?”
“I’m all right, I guess. But I’m worried. I’ve got a terrible feeling--“
“Sound check in five minutes!” Called a voice from just outside of Lulu’s door. “All band members to the stage in five minutes!” Evan heaved a sigh.
“I’d better go.” He flatly stated. Lulu smiled a half-smile as Evan walked out of her room. Her gaze drifted downward to her seven eggs; a tear fell from one eye. Evan won’t tell Mikau . . . At least I can trust him to keep his word.
Night fell on the Zora Cape; after another long day of practicing with the band, Lulu was exhausted. She trudged into her room, barely awake, and checked on her eggs. Seeing that they were perfectly fine, she made her way over to her bed and passed out atop the covers.
A loud banging noise awakened her from her slumber a mere hour later.
“You klutz!” A harsh whisper clued Lulu in that something was terribly wrong. She opened one eye and looked over toward her door; three figures dressed in dark clothing were tiptoeing around the room. “If you break those eggs, our leader will have a fit!” At that statement, Lulu practically jumped out of her bed.
“Leave my eggs alone!” She screamed. The three figures didn’t seem too worried about Lulu. They haphazardly tossed the three remaining eggs into a wet satchel and made for the door. Before they got too far, Lulu lunged at them, kicking whoever happened to be closest to her and reaching for the satchel that contained her precious offspring.
“Weakling.” One of the thieves pulled out a large curved blade and thrust it toward Lulu, who barely dodged it. Lulu retaliated by letting out a stream of electric current, stunning her opponents long enough for her to grab the satchel from them. Just when she thought it was over . . .
THWACK
With a small groan, Lulu fell to the ground, unconscious.
“Lulu? Can you hear me?”
No response.
“Please wake up, Lulu.”
Lulu’s eyes fluttered open. Painful light stabbed at her eyes, forcing her to close them again. A few moments later, she tried opening them again. This time, she was able to make out a familiar face in front of her. Lulu tried to speak, but somehow her voice refused to work. Mikau . . .
“Lulu, are you okay?” Mikau wore a look of concern for the young diva. “You have a bump on the back of your head. What happened?” Again Lulu tried to speak, but again her voice refuse to work. A sudden wave of fear washed over her and she stood up; Lulu nearly fell over, but Mikau and was there to catch her. “Take it easy!” Lulu shook her head profusely; she jerked out of Mikau’s grasp and made for her dresser. A horrified gasp escaped her lips as she drew back the curtain. They’re gone! Those thieves took my eggs!
“Something’s wrong.” Mikau pointed out the obvious. Lulu didn’t know what to do. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her throat. She wanted to tell someone what happened. But telling Mikau what happened would be admitting . . .do I really want to do that? The genuine look of concern in his eyes comforted Lulu somewhat, but she was still hesitant. What bothered her even more was the fact that she couldn’t speak.
Finally, Lulu convinced herself that she absolutely had to tell Mikau what had happened. Quickly she grabbed his arm and led him over to her desk. After sitting him down, she picked up her pen and tore a sheet of paper from her journal; without hesitation, she began to write.
“A group of thieves came to my room last night and took something very special from me.”
“Pirates?” Mikau quirked an eyebrow. Lulu nodded in response. “What did they take?” Lulu heaved a sigh and placed the pen to the paper again.
“I never told you this, because I was afraid of what you might do. Four days ago, I laid seven eggs. That’s what the pirates took.”
“Wh-what?” Mikau’s jaw dropped out of pure shock. “You . . . Eggs? Why didn’t you tell me?” The look of shock on his face transformed into an expression of anger. “And now the pirates have them? I’m going out there . . .” The guitarist leapt to his feet and stormed toward the door. Lulu reached to stop him, but Mikau was determined. “No, Lulu. I don’t care what I have to do. Those eggs are precious, and I’m going to get them back. I promise you.” He kissed Lulu lightly on the forehead and quickly left her room. Lulu burst into silent tears and collapsed onto the floor.
Mikau . . .
“He’s come for the eggs! After him!”
“Crap.” Mikau swore under his breath as a trio of pirates came at him, swords drawn and ready. He had snuck into the pirate’s hideout several times before, but this was the first time he had ever gotten caught. Thinking quickly, the Zora guitarist threw himself into the water, diving far underneath the surface in hopes of obscuring himself from their sight. Mikau knew a secret passage out of the hideout, but he couldn’t just flee like a coward. These women had Lulu’s eggs, and he wasn’t about to leave empty-handed.
“He’s gone under the water! Call the archers!” One pirate called out. Mikau heard this; with a mighty kick, he jetted toward the surface. As he reached the open air, he turned on his electric shield and slammed down onto the tiny boat holding the three pirates and Lulu’s seven eggs. The pirates screamed in pain and Mikau grabbed as many of the eggs as he could hold--three of them--and jetted toward the open ocean.
I’ll be back for the other four later.
Little did he realize that the pirates were in close pursuit. The Zora guitarist swam as fast as his fins would carry him. About halfway between the Great Bay Laboratory and the Zora Cape, Mikau suddenly felt an intense stinging sensation in his back. When he turned around to see what it was, he saw an arrow flying straight toward his chest. He ducked underwater just in time to evade the arrow. Mikau reached around to his back and found the offending object--a large dart. He pulled it out with some effort and inspected it.
Poison . . . He surmised after a moment or two. By the time he realized this, the band of pirates had already reached his location. A swift blow to the head with the back of a kitana and Mikau lost his grip on the eggs.
“Foolish Zora.” The leader of the band laughed smugly. “Now your kind will know never to mess with us again. We take what we want, and no one can stop us.” She reached into the water and retrieved the three Zora eggs. “Back to the hideout, ladies!” She ordered to the two pirates holding oars. The boat quickly disappeared into the horizon.
Mikau could barely move; to his horror, the poison on the dart had already begun to take effect. It would be mere hours--maybe a day--before he was dead. The youthful guitarist thought back to the band, more specifically to Lulu.
He had failed her.
I didn’t want it to end this way. I love you, Lulu. I’m so sorry . . .
