Banjo-Kazooie: Our Place in Time

Chapter 7: Pathway of Light

Location: Isle O' Hags

What the bear and bird saw next made the first freeze in his tracks.

As it became a habit, Monday was further ahead of him, only this time it was hard to tell if one did not examine closely. In fact, Banjo was so entranced in what was in front of him that he didn't see Monday look at him before crossing her arms to spectate the view herself.

He didn't think dejavu's of his nightmares would haunt reality, yet that was exactly what he was thinking as he saw the broken buildings and fires that have yet been extinguished. Jinjos were still recovering from whatever terrors that had happened within his absence. That fact alone made the bear choke up in his throat, unable to speak a single word as he watched the tiny birds lamenting and recovering all at the same time - or at least what could be recovered. This brought around both wings over the bear's shoulders in an embrace that Banjo could not see but felt... and perhaps that was the most important part.

Banjo let the reality sink in as his comfort came from his book bag, but in order to keep his composure he was forced to close his eyes. Alas, that didn't stop tiny rivers of salty water from breaking the dams that were his eyes.

Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he was reminded yet again that it could...

And all because of the abominations that entertained Gruntilda's fantasies.

"Take a good, hard look, Banjo..."

He didn't look at her.

"This is what you're going to have to deal with if you want to keep going..."

He had to cut her off there.

"I'm not going to stop... I've... seen worse."

The shaman nodded, a light grunt confirming that she had heard his stubborn reply. Should she have not entered his dreams, perhaps she wouldn't have believed him...

but the fact is she did...

and understood why all of this racked him so.

Turning her eyes to Banjo's direction again, she caught sight of both of the bear's paws resting over the wings of his friend, his eyes giving some indication that Kazooie was telling him something and all of his focus was on those potentially soothing words. Monday guessed at comfort not only from their pre-established friendship but from how the fear washed out his eyes like an easy stain off the cloth of his heart.

Even if it was just the friendship alone, that bird had an influence on him... an influence he cherished...

A kind of influence that relaxed him, almost to a degree prior to any nightmares...

Whatever it was, it made him radiate a peaceful glow that was rare and it made their relationship all the more interesting to a stranger such as herself.

Something Kazzoie said might have been the trigger in his mind that sparked the realization in his eyes, but Monday was too deep in her own thoughts by then, so it surprised her a little when Banjo verbalized his concerns.

"Monday... Is this the place Gruntilda attacked you guys?"

The slight defeated expression on her face was the only "yes" Banjo needed. He may not have been able to read her mind but he didn't need to think too hard to guess she was thinking about her kinsman and not be too far off the mark.

This revelation, however, made Banjo wonder why she wasn't running for dear life towards the last known location of her team. It wasn't until a sphere of light approached her (breaking her from her own sad thoughts) did Banjo realize that she had been one step ahead of him all along.

Taking the sphere into her palms, she became entranced with it, like one receiving news. The news she got must have been good, for she relaxed her shoulders as if a bothersome burden had been lifted from them. However, she was not cured of her lamenting eyes, and one would even dare say they got worse as if there was an important detail missing from the news she received.

"Monday...?"

"Gruntilda isn't there anymore, though some of her magic is... but I can't tell if P.I.L. is there..."

Losing it's size in a matter of seconds, Monday dismissed the ball of light into thin smoke and sighed, drawing out one of her swords.

"Well... we better get going, and check on P.I.L, in person."

"Wait a minute," Kazooie protested, "Why did you send that magic ball in the first place if we were going there anyway?"

"My magic doesn't specialize in projection," Monday replied, "Even if I only see magical auras, it's better to have some information than no information before going into enemy lines..."

Giving each other a look that a point had been made, they proceeded forward to the temple itself. The part about Gruntilda's magic still lingering rang true not from anyone going insane but rather the same fluffs of darkness that aided Klungo when he went mad.

Thankfully, they were easier to beat in relation to Klungo, for all it took to bring them to smithereens was enough force to break their more condensed middle. As long as they didn't take too long with their attacks, no one was wounded from the toxic clouds that made their bodies.

Like the dejavu it was, Banjo and Kazooie, with their new companion, made their way to the temple... or at least what was left of it.

Even though a lot of the temple was still in tact, there was plenty of it still together to indicate it was still in tact. However, Banjo couldn't bring himself to enter the temple itself without first putting out the fires around it. After all, it wasn't like there were any Jinjos nearby to take care of them like the houses they took residence in.

When they did enter the temple, darkness was ensnaring the area to such a degree that nothing could be seen... at least from Banjo's perspective.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Kazooie asked.

"Probably because when Gruntilda destroyed this place, she took the light out along with it..." Monday replied, her voice absent-minded for a second before replying further, "Oh, that's right, I didn't know you guys can't see in the dark like I can..."

Giving Monday a look, it hit Banjo that Monday's eyes were glowing a very faint blue, like a black-light. While he had to close his eyes again from the sudden light that she was creating to paint itself over the ceiling, Banjo had to slowly open them again in the name of adjustment. Once his pupils were no longer burning (or at least felt like burning), he noticed two important details... more specifically two people... and that was Master Jiggywiggy and his disciple.

Because the disciple was the closest to them, Banjo went to him first to see if we was still even in tact. However, through levitation, Monday floated over them both to the throne beyond where the Crystal Jiggy used to be and over to what looked to be the lifeless form of the master of the temple.

"Master P.I.L.!" Monday exclaimed, "Master P.I.L.!"

Just as how she was shaking him, Banjo was doing the same for the disciple. No one kept track of the seconds that it took for the changes themselves, but it was the disciple who first came around. His eyes were hazy and not even here completely but even that eventually faded once enough of his energy returned to him to get a word out.

"Master Jiggywiggy!"

Those were the first words that left his lips and he would've gotten up to where Monday was if he had not recoiled on himself on the account of the pain that went through him, likely sourced in his chest due to his hands finding a place there.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Kazooie snapped.

"What happened here?" Banjo inquired.

"Gruntilda... the witch came when D.O.T. came over to the temple to speak with Master Jiggywiggy about some important business... she took D.O.T., the shaman and the Crystal Jiggy as well!"

This made Monday cringe a little, but the distance between them made it hard to see. However, what was far more obvious in her reactions was the pissed look at crossed her face.

If all of the other shaman had been taken... then she was alone in this with a bear that knew more about what was going on than she did... at least in the terms of their enemy.

Thankfully, before Monday could get too deep into her own thoughts, Master Jiggywiggy stirred a little, his eyes slowly starting to open.

"Master P.I.L.!" Monday exclaimed again, helping the temple master to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"While I am... wounded, I will manage nonetheless," he replied, his tone as soft as it was weak, although he was able to crack a smile at the sight of Monday, "So Gruntilda didn't get you... thank goodness for that... but why did you come back?"

"I had to come back," Monday answered, borderline protesting with a plea mixed below the depths of her broken voice, "I needed to know if you were alright... besides... I wasn't sure where to start..."

"I'm sorry to say that I am just as lost as yourself," Master Jiggywiggy replied, "Without the Crystal Jiggy, or any Jiggies for that matter, there is nothing I can do for you except maybe heal you..."

"Master P.I.L., although I don't have the whole Crystal Jiggy, I still have a shard..."

As she spoke, she was getting the very fragment she was talking about, presenting it to a surprised Jiggywiggy.

"...it isn't much, but it's better than none..."

"...Perhaps I might be of some use to you after all... while it wasn't the most ideal course of action, perhaps it was a good thing I shattered the Crystal Jiggy..."

"You mean you were the one who broke it?" Banjo asked, surprised out of himself.

"It was either that or Gruntilda's new magic corrupting it, which would have been a worse fate... but with Monday here, I think we can manage opening at least the first world."

"But how can Monday help?" Kazooie asked.

"You mean Monday didn't tell you?" Master Jiggywiggy replied, "Monday's element is the moon... a kind of light magic... more specifically a purity magic."

"I'm not sure we follow, Mr. Jiggywiggy," Banjo replied sheepishly.

"Do you remember what I said about Jiggies?" Monday asked, approaching Banjo as she spoke.

"Yeah, you said there were only a few things that carried the same light magic that Jiggies do," Banjo recalled.

"Well... to put it plainly, the power that's inside those Jiggies and my magic are roughly in the same..."

"So that's why D.O.T. was so anxious to have you go!" Banjo replied, putting his fist into an open palm, "You must be the best person to use the power of the Jiggies!"

"Maybe... but even with the same kind of magic... we only have a shard," Monday answered solemnly, looking down into her palm, "With the whole Crystal Jiggy, this might be a piece of cake... but..."

"But nothing," Banjo said, putting both of his paws around Monday's open palm containing the shard, "Like I said before, I think Mr. D.O.T. knew what he was doing when he had you flee when it came down to choosing one, and with such last second timing too."

"The bear has a point," Master Jiggywiggy replied, "Don't forget, it was Dyamio himself who came here in the first place to warn us of the future he had seen in the Father Clock... he must have seen that you were the only one who could do anything about it."

She turned her head back down at the shard, then at the bear in front of her, but the encouraging smile that he gave and the nod from Jiggywiggy's disciple was the push she needed to give her master the benefit of the doubt.

"...Time has a funny way of changing based on the decisions we make..." Monday finally answered, closing her hand over the shard, "But not making a decision isn't the reason I decided to take this journey... and I've made up my mind that if we have to do this together, let's give it our best shot."

"That's the spirit!" Banjo cheered.

With that, Monday faced Master Jiggywiggy again, though he was off the throne this time and she put the shard of the Crystal Jiggy in between them in midair. Taking each other's hands, both closed their eyes to concentrate on the glowing Jiggy piece before them.

As a mix of golden sunlight and silver moonlight swirled around the shard, the bright light that once indicated the opening of worlds from a previous adventure poured out once again, this time into a single beam: the beam that hit the wall that would have been Master Jiggywiggy's right since he was in front of his throne and Monday's left over to the nearest wall. Once it actually touched the wall, it poured in opposing directions, taking the shape of the popular Jiggy except it's golden exterior was filled with an astronomical interior, almost as if space and time itself had all been compressed in that new portal.

However, that new portal looked easier to make than what had been done, for it zapped enough energy from both parties to succumb them both to the force of gravity. Thankfully, the disciple had enough of his own strength back to catch Master Jiggywiggy and Banjo was just close in enough range to break Monday's fall. Moreover, Kazooie offered her own strength under his arms to lay Monday's body to the ground.

Much to the relief of both rescuers, they didn't stay on the ground too long. Even though they were both dizzy from the affects of the spell, both had been able to at least sit up and look at their work with some level of wonder... well... at least from Monday.

"What in the world happened?" she asked.

"Fate is giving us a chance to write our own outcome," Master Jiggywiggy replied, getting up with the help of his disciple to take a closer look at their new creation, "Gruntilda was smart you know - coming after those who have power to move in time while at the same time tainting anything that could get in the way of that... even the Jiggies themselves."

He laid a hand on the edge of the gate.

"Even though I was the one who shattered the Crystal Jiggy to begin with, I know that if all the pieces are restored to their rightful place, this temple can return to its glory days..."

A sad look still lingered in his eyes.

"However, because Gruntilda put a curse on us to prevent us from ever touching the Jiggies, I must ask for your help again, brave bear and bird..."

By now, he had turned to the duo in question.

"Gruntilda might have set other... limitations as well from being able to move from world to world, but with this new gate, you should be able to access any worlds you have visited before."

He then turned to look at Monday, who had since returned to getting on her own feet again.

"Child of time... if you wish to be successful on this journey, you might have to do things that seem... unorthodox to you... to open your heart... and to trust even when it's hard..."

Jiggywiggy now had put a firm hand on her shoulder for any reassurance he had to give.

"Especially when it's hard... don't shrink back..."

Monday said nothing, but grunted in the sense of any verbal response. Aside from the nod that she gave, she had nothing else to say. It was an odd answer at best, but Jiggywiggy accepted it anyway for he smiled at her before lifting his hand. Giving Banjo a nod of his own, he turned to the throne that was in front of where the Crystal Jiggy used to be.

"Dear friends... go fourth and embrace your destiny for the sake of your place in time... and call upon me if I can be of any further help to you...

If this gate is merely a connection between the worlds, then know that it will be here...

Before you leave..."

The trio looked up at him.

"...I would suggest that you speak to the Jinjos in this world and their king: perhaps they may help you more than I can right now."

Giving each other a look, Banjo nodded in thanks to the temple master, while Monday faced him with a short bow of forty-five degrees, her left fist over her right side of the chest. After the bow, she turned to Banjo before they walked out of the temple together.

If Jinjos were the best lead, then that was the best place to start.

To Jinjos they go.

Artist's Comments

Thanks for reaching the end of another chapter, much appreciated.

Another minor detail about Monday's powers: she can send some of her magic to spy out an area. Like stated, she isn't a master in projection, so she can only see magical auras, like a near-sighted person without glasses on. In speaking of vision, Monday is one of the few shaman that can see in the dark... it's a night thing.

I haven't been getting a lot of feedback on this fiction, so I what to write next is more based on whatever idea comes to me at the time.

If you have any ideas that would be cool for the next chapter, please let me know.