Prologue
***Disclaimer*** Lets see here….I do not own Zelda. It is property of Nintendo. I do own the made-up characters (Jacob, Eliza, Ann, Ryan, Nicole…). This goes for the entire fic.
"Jacob! Aisle 12!"
"All right." The tall 23-year-old man replied to his manager and left to get the cart of merchandise to stock. His mind started to wander as he mad his way to the depleted aisle to his family and friends half way across the country in Illinois and he wondered if he'd catch his 17-year-old cousin, Ann, or any of his friends on-line that night. Since his new job at the warehouse store, he'd had little time to instant message with anyone. Jacob looked up at the clock. 4:45. Deducting the hour from South Carolina's time to get Central Time he decided she was just getting our of school.
"I wonder what she's been up to…?"
*~@~*
Ann stood around in the Hickory Grove High School band room waiting for some of her friends to finish collecting their books for the weekend. Nicole was the first to emerge from the band room's closet; Most of the fourth hour band students stored their books there. Nicole stood at about 5 foot 3 inches as did all of Ann's girl friends, give or take an inch or two. Nicole had light brown hair that was naturally in tight spirals hanging just past her shoulders. Her skin was pale as were her green eyes.
"Took ya long enough!" Ann exclaimed. The Native American/German mix had dark brown-black hair that she forced straight every morning and eyes that seemed to change colors with her mood. Ann appeared to be more solid compared to Nicole's thin body.
"Eliza held me up." She complained in response.
"Can't prove it!" Eliza stepped out of the small room with her books and Alto Saxophone. Eliza had straight brown hair that hung past her shoulder though no one could tell since it was always in a ponytail. Her nearsighted eyes were also brown with hints of gold riming the bottom of her irises. Her skin was a shade darker than Ann's yellow-toned skin despite all the time Eliza spent inside on her computer.
"Whatever, Eliza! You're always aggravating me!"
"Oh come on now! If I were always aggravating you when would I have time to aggravate anyone else?" she retorted with a grin.
"You make time…" Nicole grumbled back.
"So what are you two idiots up to this weekend?" Ann asked.
"I'm going to my dad's house this weekend with my brother." Replied Nicole.
'She's always is going to her dad's house anymore.' Ann thought, annoyed with her friend.
"I've got nothin' going on. Movie night?" Eliza asked.
"Sure. I'll talk to ya on-line tonight."
"Cool. Well, I've gotta get going! Seez ya, peoples!"
"Bye, Eliza!" Ann and Nicole said in unison.
"Have fun at work!" Nicole shouted after her with false enthusiasm.
"Have fun at home, Slacker!" Eliza responded with equal enthusiasm.
Eliza walked out the backdoor of the band room towards her dad's house thru the Senior Parking Lot just as Rae walked in.
Rae was a quiet, thin girl with reddish-brown curly hair and big brown eyes.
"Hey." Rae said.
"Hi, honey! What's up?" Ann.
"Not a lot."
"That's cool. You two ready to go?"
"Sure." Nicole responded. Rae just stood there waiting for the first person to move toward the door.
Ann was that person. With her keys ready, they headed out the back door and piled in Ann's car. The radio started with the car.
"Hands on the…"
*~@~*
"…Bible! God holds you liable!…"
Ryan and his little sister, Emma, were on their way home. It wasn't a far drive, but it was much too far to walk. They rode in silence. It wasn't that the siblings hated each other, they just didn't get along. At all. Nor did they try to. Ryan was short for a 17-year-old. Only about 3 or 4 inches taller than Ann. He had straight black hair and hazel eyes. With his dark skin tone, he was often accused of being Arab when he was actually Norwegian.
'I have piano lessons tonight, don't I? Well, fuck. I wonder how well I can sight-read my lesson?' He drove a little faster. 'Maybe I can get a quick practice in before I go.'
"…If I were a lawyer…"
*~@~*
"…I would argue for the right to kiss you passionately…"
It was 5 o'clock. Jacob's shift was finally over. 'What a retarded song,' he thought as he left through the back room of the store. The 6-foot tall African-American man hopped in his car and headed home.
*~@~*
Ryan ran through his lesson. He soon decided practice was futile and to check his e-mail instead.
Dragon_Lord is logged on.
You have 3 new mail messages.
Evil_Eliza is logged on.
'Eliza's on?'
DRAGON_LORD : Don't you have work?
EVIL_ELIZA : Don't you have some kind of practice?
DRAGON_LORD : …touché…wait, how did you know I had piano lessons?
EVIL_ELIZA : you always have some kind of practice going on
DRAGON_LORD : (:P) I got to go. Be on later?
EVIL_ELIZA : (:P) me too…I'll try to get on after work…bye!
DRAGON_LORD : bye!
Evil_Eliza is now logged off'Damn her!' Ryan thought. 'Now I don't have time for my e-mail.' "Emma! I'm going to lessons! Could you at least try to tell Mom this week?" shouted Ryan to his sister. She shouted some muffled reply that he assumed was a "whatever". He rolled his eyes and left.
*~@~*
Ann and Nicole were continuing home after stopping at Rae's house. They were both chatting up a storm on various things that had happened that day.
"Can you believe Mr. B?!" Ann ranted about her English teacher. No reply.
"Nicole?" She glanced over to her seat. It was empty. Ann started to panic.
"Nicole?!" She pulled over quickly and frantically searched for her friend.
"Nicole!" Still no answer….
*~@~*
Eliza was speeding as usual and coming upon a busy intersection. "Dam-" She started to curse. She was unable to finish. Like Nicole, she, too, had vanished with a flash of light. Her car, though, did not. It continued on into the intersection and only stopped after it had been hit from both directions…
*~@~*
"FUCK!!!" Ryan screamed. He slammed on his breaks in a futile attempt to keep from hitting the car that refused to yield. The impact probably would have killed him had he still been there…
*~@~*
Nickelback was playing on Jacob's radio as he pulled into his driveway. Once inside he headed for the computer via the kitchen for a soda. He took about one drink before he was gone.
*~@~*
"HELP!! HELP!!" Ann screamed as she beat on a stranger's door. After finding no signs of Nicole, she took off at a run to the nearest house which was a ways away on the country highway she was on. She stopped screaming just long enough to cough and catch her breath. Where were these people, anyway? She heard footsteps coming at last but she didn't stop her pounding. She was still too freaked out.
A large older man opened the door. "What's the…trouble?" He looked around. No one was there.
"Damn kids these days…"
*~@~*
The Hylian stood waiting patiently for the Chosen Ones to arrive. The stars and planets were aligned just perfect and if his calculations were right they wouldn't be like this again for centuries. He felt some guilt plucking these five without any warning or choice but it was for the greater good. Where were they? Could he, Kaepora Gaebora, the Sage of Light, have been wrong in his calculations? Wait, what was that? Aha! The Forest Medallion was charging! The Goddesses were smiling on him and Hyrule today! A curly-haired girl appeared looking confused and frightened. Next was the Fire Medallion where another girl with hair in the style of a Gerudo appeared looking just as confused as the first. The two girls looked at each other and both looked a little relieved. Next was the Water Medallion where a short, heavyset man appeared. Then came Spirit where another girl appeared and Shadow where a tall, dark-skinned man appeared. Kaepora looked from person to person. Their physical appearance disappointed him; he was hoping they'd be stronger. But what they lacked physically, they made up for in spirit. He smiled and nodded is approval.
"Welcome to the Chamber of Sages!"