Legends of the Halcyon Era – Flashback: Travels & Tribulations, Part 1

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

Flashback: Travels & Tribulations, Part 1

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

After meeting in a ruin and finding a most unusual trove of treasure, Fenix and Nytetrayn went off to spend their earnings, with the latter in particular getting himself some new clothes, armor, and weapons. Following a hearty meal, the two set out to see about getting off the island and on to new adventures.

Our heroes arrive at the airport, with Fenix scaring random passersby as they go. Nytetrayn looked around at the people coming and going, and asked, “So, where are we going, anyway?”

“Hmm, that’s a question,” Fenix replied, as they went into a shop, looking for luggage and other travel goods to make their lives easier. “Well, we need to go somewhere with some relatively large, but easy ruins. Somewhere where we can amass huge sums of cash with little effort…” He flipped through a travel brochure. “Here we go! Lovercraft Island!”

“Lovercraft Island?” Nyte asked, as he took a look. “That’s ‘Lovecraft Island,’ not ‘Lovercraft’.”

“Oh, yeah. Damn dyslexia.”

Nytetrayn took his choice of luggage, a duffel bag, to the counter, and grabbed a few magazines off the rack as well. The clerk told him, “That’ll be 259,541 Zenny, please.”

Fenix bought a suitcase of his own, and a few books as well. “Hmmm, it occurs to me we also need tickets.”

“Right,” Nytetrayn said, as he started to look around before he spotted a ticket counter. “There we go.”

The pair quickly packed their new bags, and went to the counter. As it turned out, Fenix only had enough for coach. “Damn,” he said as he handed over his Zenny. “Just doesn’t go as far as it used to.”

Nytetrayn bought an accompanying ticket for coach as well, and took a look at the brochure Fenix had grabbed to see what this “Lovecraft Island” had in store for them. It was effectively a wasteland, mostly filled with sand and tumbleweeds, with little in the way of civilization.

“What a dump,” he said. “Why are we going here, again?”

“Large dungeons with puny Reaverbots.”

“That works. Doesn’t sound terribly challenging, though.”

“That’s not the point. The point is to get lots and lots of money.”

Nyte mimicked the shrugging gesture he saw Fenix do before. “Okay.”

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I promise that one day, I’ll find you a dungeon so challenging, you’ll hate me for it,” Fenix replied with a wink.

“Yeah, sure…”

Before long, the pair boarded the airship. After taking their seats, Fenix flirted with the stewardesses, while Nyte asked, “Are we allowed to make modifications to our gear while in flight?”

“Can you make this creepy guy shut up?”

Nyte paused, then said, “Um… sure.”

“Alright, I’ll be good,” Fenix grumbled.

“Then go right ahead!” she said, cheerfully.

“Great, thank you!” Nyte said with a smile, as he pulled out his Buster and some parts and began using his dining tray to work on it, once the flight leveled out.

As Fenix scared the little kid in the seat next to him, Nyte looked over at his traveling companion. “You do that a lot, don’t you?”

“Do what?”

“Scare people.”

“It’s fun!” Fenix said joyfully.

“If you say so,” Nyte said, as he went back to his work.

Eventually, the airship landed, and Fenix chased the stewardesses down the stairs and laughed as they ran off screaming.

“More fun?” Nyte asked.

“You betcha!”

“Okay,” Nyte said, as he grabbed his stuff and moved out. “I guess we should find a hotel, or something?”

“Good idea. Any preferences?”

“Preferably one with a roof.”

“That works.” These simple criteria in mind, Fenix found them a relatively nice, but inexpensive motel, and rented a room for the night. Nyte dropped his stuff off next to his bed, while Fenix stretched and yawned loudly.

“So, should we get some sleep before heading out?” Nyte asked.

“What time is it?”

Nyte checked the clock. “About 8-ish.”

“Hmmmm, a good night’s sleep and an early start sounds good to me…”

Nyte did the stretch-and-yawn thing himself. “Alright then, see you in the morning?”

“Works for me,” Fenix said, as he flopped down on his bed.

“Okay. Good night, Fenix,” Nytetrayn said as he pulled back the covers and got himself situated.

“G’night, goat,” Fenix said. After a “hmmph” from Nytetrayn, he added, “Wait, you’re not Adam Sandler. I mean, g’night, Nytetrayn.”

Nytetrayn rolled his eyes, and they drifted off to sleep.

***

The Diggers slept, and soon, a new morning arrived. Hearing a humming sound, Fenix opened his eyes to find a very unusual sight: he found himself less than a centimeter from the barrel of Nytetrayn’s Buster, staring right into its jewel lens.

As his eyes bulged at the sight, Nytetrayn greeted him from behind the weapon. “Good morning, sleepy-head.”

Fenix tried to grab the weapon and yank Nytetrayn into a headlock. Unfortunately for him, the younger Digger held firmly in place, and used his free hand to pin the older Digger to his head by the neck, though not so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. All the while, Nytetrayn kept the Buster trained on Fenix’s face.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Fenix shouted.

“I’ve decided to kill you, and take your Zenny and gear for myself.”

“Oh, I see.” Fenix then kicked Nytetrayn in the stomach, hard. Though Nyte winced slightly from the blow, he didn’t relinquish his grip, while the humming of the Buster grew louder. Finally, Fenix could hear an audible click from inside the weapon, the same kind one would hear when it was being fired. He gritted his teeth, and…

Nothing happened.

Nyte stood up and laughed a little bit.

“Oh, you think that’s funny do ya?” Fenix said.

“Heh, I can see how scaring people is sort of fun.” Nyte paused for a moment as he thought. “But I don’t know. I just don’t think I find it as much fun as you do, though.”

Fenix’s eyes blazed balefully as he sat up. “Maybe that’s ’cause I’m gonna kick yer ass…”

Nytetrayn looked at him, confused. “I thought you liked that stuff? Like with that kid and the stewardesses?”

After a surprised silence, Fenix told him, “It’s only fun when you do it to other people, you psycho.”

“…oh,” Nyte said, as he scratched his head – a gesture he picked up somewhere along the way.

Following another awkward silence, Fenix said, “You’re really not from around here, are you?”

“No, I’m from the other island.”

Fenix smacked himself in the forehead. “Why did you do that?” Nyte asked.

“It’s a gesture that means, ‘What the hell is going on?’”

“Oh, that’s simple,” Nyte told him.

“It is?”

“I saw you scaring children and stewardesses on the airplane, and you told me that it was fun. So I decided to try it for myself, but I didn’t seem to get as much enjoyment out of it as you had. So I probably won’t be doing that very often if at all anymore.” After a slight pause, Nyte added, “And I also learned it’s not fun for the people being scared. So I guess it’s not exactly a roller-coaster thing.”

“Yes,” Fenix said. “I might add there’s also a bit of a difference between wearing a scary mask and holding a gun to someone’s head!”

“There is?” Nyte asked. “Both achieve the same effect, do they not?”

“Yes, but guns are potentially lethal. For a second there, I thought you were going to kill me.”

“But the people who you scared don’t actually believe you’d hurt them? Then why would they be scared?”

“Let me put it this way: a few more seconds, and I might have hurt you.”

Nyte tilted his head slightly. “Why?” As he rubbed his tender stomach a little, he added, “Actually, you already did, a little.”

“Because I thought you were gonna kill me!”

“But I was just trying to scare you. For fun.”

“It’s not as much fun when the potential for dying is there. Jumping out of a closet at somebody or making your eyes glow and freaking them out is one thing… You ever been shot, kid?”

Nyte thought on this for only a second. “Nope.”

“It’s not fun, trust me on this.”

“Okay,” Nyte said. “I understand not wanting to be shot, but I don’t know if I quite get the rest.”

“Let me put it this way: There’s two kinds of scared. There’s surprise, ‘oh my god that thing’s big and scary’ scared, and then there’s lethal ‘pointing a gun at your head oh my god I’m gonna die’ scared.”

“I wasn’t really going to shoot you. It’s not even ready yet.”

“I didn’t know that!”

“Ahhhhh… I think I get it,” Nyte said, though there was still room for doubt. “So, want some breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure… breakfast shall calm my rapidly beating heart.”

“Okay. I can finish the Nyte-Buster afterwards.”

“You’re naming it after yourself?”

“Why not? It’s mine. Isn’t that what people do?”

Fenix raised an eyebrow. “I… guess.” For a moment, he considered naming his gun arm the “Fenix-Shot,” and shook his head as he immediately decided against it.

“Why don’t you name your stuff?” Nyte asked. “You could call your arm the ‘Fenix-Shot’… or something.”

“Because it would sound idiotic.”

Nyte thought on that. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

Fenix smirked under his mask.

“Pity you don’t have as cool a name as me to name your weapons by.”

Fenix considered arguing this for a moment, but instead found the path of least resistance to be the preferable one right now. “Yes, indeed.”

“Now then, breakfast? Then I can finish it and we can go to the ruins.”

“Sounds good to me. They usually have breakfast downstairs.”

“Okay. Lead the way, then!”

Fenix revealed to Nytetrayn a paradise of orange juice, donuts, and tiny boxes of cereal adorned with cartoon mascots. Nyte enjoyed partaking in the spread, and was now eating in a more correct manner than before, based on a hybrid of what he’d witnessed and what he read in that book, after taking a break from working on his Buster. Fenix died laughing when Nytetrayn drank his juice with his pinky extended.

Nyte stopped in mid-drink. “What?” he asked, as he decided amidst Fenix’s giggling that maybe he shouldn’t do that any more. “…hick.”

“Wanker.”

“Priss.”

“Jerk.”

They shrugged, and went back to eating.

“So, any idea where to find some ruins here?” Nyte asked.

“Well, according to the brochure, there should be some just north of town,” Fenix replied. “All we have to do is request a Digging license from the mayor.”

“A license?”

“Yep. On some islands, you need a license.”

“Oh, right. I remember reading something about those. I guess Oxford Island didn’t require them.”

“Oxford Island kind of pretended they weren’t there.”

Once the pair finished their breakfast, they headed for town hall, where just the mere sight of Fenix in all his regalia was enough to freak out the receptionist there. Nyte just shook his head at what transpired before him. Despite this and some heavy breathing afterwards, she accommodated Fenix with an appointment with the mayor.

They didn’t have to wait long before they were invited up to the mayor’s office. Inside, they learned that the mayor looked like Cher, but less plastic.

“Hello,” Nyte said.

“Howdy, boys. I hear you’re needing a Digger’s license.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Fenix.

“That is correct,” added Nyte.

“Well, I’m afraid the paperwork’ll take a little while,” she said, as she sauntered up to Nytetrayn and used her finger to trace circles on his breastplate. “You see, there’s an awful lot of paperwork… that is, unless one of you wants to help me with it…”

“Sure, I can help with that,” Nytetrayn said, alarming Fenix. “Can’t do much else until I get my license, anyw– GUH!”

Fenix hurriedly pushed Nytetrayn out of the way, and said, “I don’t think he has quite the kind of expertise you’re looking for, ma’am.”

Nyte looked confused. “But I can do paperwork. Forms, word processing, spreadshee–”

“Oh. Sorry, kiddo,” the mayor said, waving as she and Fenix hurried into the closet. Fenix poked his head back out, and explained, “This is a special kind of paperwork! We’ll be done in a few hours; go talk to the nice secretary!”

Nyte just stared at the closet for a moment after the door slammed shut, then shrugged and went downstairs to do just that.

Time passed, and eventually, Fenix came down the stairs, adjusting his armor. “Ahh, best paperwork I’ve done in my life.” Nyte looked up from their conversation, and Fenix flashed the licenses. “Did it!”

“I didn’t know you were an office-type, Fenix.”

“Oh, yeah, I can just sweep all the paperwork off a desk in seconds.”

“Wow. I guess you were the better one, after all, if that’s true.”

“Yes. Why, the poor woman was gasping for breath, I worked so hard. Then I polished the desk, yeah. It got a little, um, stained.”

Nyte raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. “Don’t you mean you were gasping for breath? If you were doing all the hard work?”

The secretary turned beet red, and rushed off, to Nytetrayn’s bewilderment. “I wonder what got into her?”

“I’ll tell you later. Right now, let’s go make some money.”

Nytetrayn and Fenix head back to their hotel room, where Fenix locked and loaded his guns, and Nytetrayn finished the final touches on his Nyte-Buster. He gave it a quick test, with the side prongs unfolding and sliding in a few different combinations. “Looks like it’s ready,” he said. “Guess I’ll find out for sure at the ruins.”

Nytetrayn armored up, put some food in his backpack, and he and Fenix set out for the ruin Fenix had selected.

To be continued…

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Legends of the Halcyon Era is a work of fan fiction set in the world of Mega Man Legends. It is largely adapted from a series of freeform RPG sessions, combining ideas from several contributors, and further fleshed out here in a prose format.

David Oxford, also known as LBD “Nytetrayn,” is a lifelong Mega Man fan who, along with his wife Nadia, has co-written the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide and Mega Man X Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide from UDON Entertainment, and runs The Mega Man Network (themmnetwork dot com). You can also find him on Twitter @LBD_Nytetrayn and @themmnetwork, and on Twitch and YouTube under the name “Nyteworks.”

You can also find Legends of the Halcyon Era as it updates at Archive of Our Own.

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. Character art by Victor Campan. Logos by Tabby Ramsey. Arrangement by LBD “Nytetrayn”.

Thanks for reading!