Let me tell you a tale. A tale as old as the gods themselves. A tale that tells of the great power native to our land.

This is another of the stories told by legend.

Legends tell of a land blessed with green fields, happy people, and peace. This land was protected by a golden power sent by the gods. But when a great evil tried to take the golden power for himself, the land was drowned in darkness. When it seemed all hope was lost, a boy garbed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the legendary blade of evil's bane, he sealed the great evil away and peace returned to the land. Because the boy traveled through time to protect the land, the boy was known as "the Hero of Time." For a long time the people had thought that the evil being sealed by the hero was gone forever, but the dark beast had crawled up from the depths, seeking revenge on the Hero. The people pleaded to the gods, praying that the Hero would return to save them. But the Hero did not return. In their final hours, the gods opened a rift in the dimensions to a new world and created a compass leading back to their home land.

What happened to this land? No one knows.

Legend says that the compass in the legends still exists, and will lead anyone of descent back to the land spoken of in the legends.

Our story now begins in a land named Pennsylvania with the young hero unaware of his destiny.

-By nameless-phantom

"Link! Link! Wake up Link! You don't want to miss the adoptions, do you? Come on, wake up Link!" I wake up to find a girl on top of me. "Laurel," I said, "I'm glad that you enjoy waking me up this early, but please, get off of me. And my name is Ben, not Link."

"I know, but I like calling you that."

"You and everyone else in this dump."

"Oh, Linky, you know that this is our dump we live in."

"Yeah, I know. Don't remind me."

"Link; do you even know what today is?"

I thought for a moment, which is hard to do when you're half asleep. "Umm, I'm pretty sure today is Tuesday."

Laurel scoffed. "Today's adoptions."

I was unmoved. "Great, another day of rejection and emotional trauma." I pulled the bedsheet over my head and tried to sleep some more. My quiet time didn't last long because Laurel pulled the bedsheet off my bed. "Link, get out of bed and get ready for the adoptions!" she yelled.

"Fine, I'll get ready, but I wouldn't be too excited."

You're probably getting confused by all of this so I'll explain everything. My name is Ben, and I'm an orphan. Yeah, save your sob stories for someone else, I'm not really into it. I live at the Maple Groves Children's Home and I've been here since I was 5. I'm 17 now. Yeah, that's a long time, I know. Forgive me if I'm a bit cynical. This girl I'm talking about is Laurel. She's been here for as long as I have, but she's as bright and cheerful as a new day, and while that's uplifting, it's pretty annoying. Don't get me wrong though, she's a pretty amazing girl. And pretty, too. She's almost like my sister, even if she's only a year younger. Anyways, I live in the middle of Western Pennsylvania about 50 miles from Pittsburgh. The town I live in isn't exactly a cultural hub. The only thing this town is famous for is being a half-hour drive from that one place where one of the planes from 9/11 went down. Yeah, that bad. We're literally in the middle of scenic nowhere. There's nothing to see here but trees. That and the odd mountain range in the distance. It's not the best sight, but a sight, nonetheless. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, Laurel and I were being lined up for adoptions. Yep, imagine a 17-year-old young man and a 16-year old young woman lined up with a bunch of 3 to 13 year olds and you'll have a basic picture of what we looked like. I wasn't thinking about this at the time because I had my trusty DSi on. I was playing Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. My opinion on the game is that it wasn't half bad, even though a lot of people dissed it for having a train in it. I'll admit, the train parts are a bit boring sometimes, but the game in general was pretty good. I was known around the orphanage as the video game whiz. Give me any Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon game and I'll beat it 100% within three weeks. Four tops. Anyways, it would've ended like every other adoption day I've been in my twelve years here if it weren't for… that guy.

"All right kids, there's going to be a really important man here who wants to adopt one of you little boys and girls, so let's all try to make a good first impression, so set a good example and don't mess this up."

Laurel strangled my arm which made me drop my stylus. "Did you hear that, Link? Someone's here for us! I may finally be in my own family!"

I was unmoved as I paused my game, "Probably not, you've said that the last over 9000 times, and yes, I have been counting and we're still here."

Laurel let go and my left arm regained circulation. "You know, Link, you can be a jerk sometimes. I'll be adopted this time, you'll see."

"You said that every time, too." I said as I retrieved my stylus. "What are the chances that this guy will actually…?"

I was interrupted by a man saying, "What about her? Is she available?" He was pointing toward Laurel.

"Who Laurel? Yes, she can be adopted…" I tuned them out as I took a good look at this guy. He was tall and had brown skin, but red hair. He dressed in all black, which, come to think of it, was a good idea because it was starting to get chilly this time of year. Although, there was this nasty vibe I was getting from this guy and I didn't like it. I really got spooked when they started talking about me. I hate it when people are talking about me; I always think they insult me behind my back. They then told me to come into the back room for an interview. For me, I went ahead and blew the interview like I always do to people I don't like. However, this guy was more interested in me than I thought.

"So, your name's Ben, right?"

"Yep." I was playing my DS the whole time. My plan was to play my DS the whole interview to give off a "distracted and unfocused" tag and they'll go running faster than Sonic the Hedgehog running in a heavy downpour downhill while wearing rocket boosters. It's not a very good analogy, but it works every time. Except this guy seemed more interested in my game playing more than I thought.

"What game is that?"

I hate it when people question me about my game playing. "It's Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks."

"Really? You like those games?"

I was starting to respect this guy a little. "Yeah, I'm also interested in Pokémon and Super Mario Brothers. I can beat any of these games within a month. Everyone here calls me Link, 'cause I'm so good at video games."

"Interesting… well, I'll make my decision in a couple days, so keep in touch." They sent me out but I know what he really was thinking. Another successful rejection. They then called for Laurel. "Wish me luck Link, I'll finally be home!"

"Sure Laurel." I said, but then mumbled to myself. "Don't get your hopes up."

I waited an hour for her, and when she finally came out, she was overjoyed. "Link, he said he'll be back in a couple days! This is fantastic! I'm finally going to be part of a family!" Sometimes, I think she acts the same age as the kids around her. Sigh. I guess that's what I like about her… Anyways, I was ignoring her when she was blabbing on about what this guy was like. All I can remember is that his name was Greg or something, he was important in Arizona, or something, and that he searched all across the country for certain children. I told her that he said that he'd come back for me too, but that only added to her enthusiasm. Eventually, I ignored it and then went to bed. The next morning, I overslept, which I usually do, but Laurel wasn't in the room that morning. When I finally got dressed, I saw her with a vacant look on her face.

"Laurel, Laurel," no response. "Laurel, hello?"

Laurel snapped out of it like a trance. "Oh, hey Link."

"Is something the matter?"

"What? Oh, no, nothing." She turned to look at me and quickly turned away. "I'm not hiding anything."

I knew she was lying, but I decided to leave it alone for now. Laurel wasn't in a cheerful mood like she always was; she always looked like she saw a ghost. Whenever I asked her to talk about it, I always got the same response. As the days went by, she got more distressed, but she refused to talk to me about it. She had even stopped talking to me or anyone else, until late in the night before the guy came back.

"Link, Link, wake up. I've got to talk to you."

I wake groggy, but I know it's still dark out. "What? Laurel, why are you waking me up this early? It's 1 'til 2. Can't this wait until morning?"

"No, it can't." She sounded serious, so I started listening. "Well, I don't know how to put this… It's really hard for me to say this…"

"Just say it really fast." I said half interested.

"I don't want to be adopted by that man!"

"What?" I asked. Ever since I met her, all she would talk about was who would adopt her. She would fantasize about what kind of family she would have. She kind of grew out of it though, but still, it was so shocking hearing her contradict everything she said.

"I said, I don't want to be adopted by that guy."

"I don't understand. Ever since I met you, you've been dreaming of being adopted by someone, and you've been passed by for years! Now someone shows up, ready to adopt you, and you don't even want to go?"

"Well,"

"You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"What? No!" She wasn't making eye contact and was twisting her leg back and forth.

"Yeah, you are. You're doing that cute thing with your leg."

"Okay, I have something to confess."

"I'm all ears." I said trying to drift back to sleep.

"Well, I've been having these dreams."

"Dreams? Really?" I said, not really interested.

"Yeah, I was in this beautiful field having a picnic with…" she paused. "…some guy, when the ground opened up and this dark smoke came out and came out to look like that guy, but in different clothes and started choking me. Just when I was about to black out, this guy in green and a funny hat stabbed him and saved me."

"Really, a guy in green?"

"Yeah. He looked like that guy that you always play as, that Zelda guy."

"You mean Link."

"Yeah, that guy, Link."

I was not fooled. "Laurel, last week, you couldn't wait to be adopted, but now, you don't want to go. What do you think the guy is going to do?"

"Don't ask me that, and the guy is just…evil!"

I tried to calm her down. "Laurel, I know there's a lot of jerks and perverts out there, but calling him evil is a bit…"

"I know that, but this guy doesn't have that feeling like an ordinary jerk, this guy doesn't just make my skin crawl, but he has this power about him, like I had to hide in the corner somewhere."

Her argument made sense. "Okay, so you think the guy's evil. Big whoop, what are you going to do about it?"

Laurel stopped to think. "I'll run away."

I was shocked by her decision. "Laurel, no! You can't do this!"

"Don't try to change my mind. I'm already going to leave."

"You can't go! You've never been outside the town! Even if by some miracle, the cops don't catch you after curfew, where do you think you're going to go?"

Laurel gathered her things and supplies in a backpack and turned to me. "I'll go off on my own; maybe find a family of my own. It's just what my parents would have wanted."

"Your parents, huh?" I started warming up when she mentioned her parents. Most people's parents either gave them up or died. Laurel was unlucky enough to have both her parents die while she was young.

"Yeah, my dad died in a freak accident. My mom died of some disease or something… I don't even remember anymore…" She pulled out a necklace from under her shirt collar to reveal a golden V-shaped necklace. "When I was four, and my mom was on her death bed, she told me to protect this with my life. She said it's a priceless family heirloom. Whenever I look at it, all of my problems, they instantly vanish. I always feel calm and my thoughts are clear. I can even feel my mother's warmth when I look into this." We both looked at it deeply. I could feel it too, all of my troubles melted away. I felt warmth that enveloped my whole body. Laurel then took the necklace back and placed it back under her shirt collar. "Don't expect me to wait for you. You don't have to come with me, but if you want to spend the rest of your life in this dump, go right ahead. Good bye, Ben." Laurel then jumped out the window and grabbed a tree branch outside and dropped to the ground a floor down. She then walked out of the light into the night. Laurel's words had stung me hard. The clock read 2:11 and I tried to sleep. But no matter how much I tried to fall asleep, I just couldn't. I couldn't bear to leave Laurel alone in the woods, so I did what I had to do. I grabbed a small bag, put some snacks, a notebook, a bunch of pencils, my wallet, and my DSi in it and jumped out the window after her.