Disclaimer: The concept of The Legend of Zelda strictly belongs to Nintendo. My ideas regarding this fiction belongs to me :D
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There was something about the light. It was what kept the lands thriving; life grasped its everlasting warmth. It helped the trees in forests grow wise. It dried out the ends of the ocean shores, so buried ground could smile back up once again after hundreds of years. The great sea's spirit cultivated more lush green, and brought back a land that erased its own name. Winds flew across this forgotten land with new motivation, but the same goal. No matter how hard it tried, the winds could never clash with the light on its own. It was the same light that shown from a candle. It was a drop of the sun that lived in your own room. It created a glow in the dark, so one could never be alone, even in one's own deepest fears. The light, however, was full of misery, if it became too close. It was ironic, how the same light, created a devastating glare that covered everything that had once sought for its help.
He couldn't see, for the mixture of bright red and black smoke stung his sight. He couldn't breathe for the light and dark made the air thick and hot. He eventually forgot how to feel. He could only hear the snapping of murder from a source he had once grown to love. He covered his ears, but it wasn't worth it. The crackling grew louder. The heat started to freeze. And he heard her voice screaming his name. And then he heard a huge clash.
"LINK!"
"!!..." Link's bright green eyes shot open to meet blue scared ones. It was dark, and they were both deep in the woods. Her beautiful blond hair and face were soaking in the rushing droplets of water that fell on them both. He didn't know why he couldn't feel the contrast until he looked down to see that both of her hands were through his shoulders. All of the rain washed right through him. He wanted to breathe but he felt like he was drowning. She slowly moved her hands towards her chest.
"Link you need to calm yourself now. Try to take slow deep breaths through your nostrils, and whatever you're thinking of, let the rain wash it away." She said looking straight into the young boys eyes. Link's eyes downcast he tried to breath, but couldn't feel a thing.
"Its not working…I can't breathe…its not working…" Link spoke into her mind.
"Because your not letting yourself, you need to accept who and what you are in order to be in control" She replied. He wanted to say something more, but visions of places and people kept rushing through his mind. He looked up, tried to focus on her pale frame. As he started to feel more alive, he breathed in. Water sprinkled the back of his throat. He started gasping it in, feeling alive again once he could hear his vocal cords producing sound again. He looked down at his hands, and then looked up to her palm facing him. He reached out, and twitched once he felt the warmth and solidness of her presence. Their fingers intertwined. She smiled softly.
"There…that wasn't so hard, now was it?" She spoke breathlessly. Link clung at her waist, burying his head in her chest sobbing helplessly.
"Sheinah…" He whined as he grasped her dress harder. Sheinah looked up at the angry sky, another shattering scream that flashed and made their warm beating hearts vibrate in response.
"Let's get home" She spoke running her fingers through his now drenching hair. Link wasn't sure what Sheinah felt in that moment but he had never felt more alive in his entire life.
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"Every time I close my eyes, I see a place that l have never seen or been. But the scene is so vivid that I can feel and taste its air…it's always dry, and somewhat salty. There are no trees or sign of life at all. Nothing is dead either. It is a place where the sun blinds whom ever invades its golden hills. It is a place where I fear the light, but part of me embraces it. I feel like I've known this place all my life without putting one foot in this forgotten realm. I don't understand Makar, what's wrong with…me?" Link had asked weeks ago. The Great tree seemed to sigh.
"You're just forgetting your past…in fact, it's a good sign. It means maybe you will be able to go on to your next life soon…" The Great Makar replied with all his knowledge. But Link could only squint in protest.
"How could I forget something that wasn't there for me to forget in the first place? I must have been dreaming while I…"
"Ghosts cannot dream…they only regret which is why they can never leave this realm..."Makar stated.
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Link awoke to the smell of fragrant mushrooms and honeysuckle. He rubbed his eyes, a protesting reflex to the morning light and the noises of scurrying people from afar. As his left hand rubbed his nose, a stinging sensation hit the back of his hand. Link winced and studied the back of his hand where he had found a bug bite that started to ooze out some red. His hand was somewhat disfigured on the surface. It was burned at one time, according to what others say, but his hand was always like this ever since he could remember. Link ran his fingers through his dirty blond hair and sighed. He was always thinking back at what that tree had told him. Link plopped back on his back as a feather popped out of his pillow.
"If I'm just a ghost, then why do I feel alive?" He sighed and slid out of his bunk bed. He was about to walk out of his and Sheinah's humble abode when he forgotten something very important. As he climbed the latter again to his bed, he opened the top drawer of his night stand, and took out a small wine colored velvet bag. Inside, he took out a shard of a strange mirror. There were countless times when he believed this shard saved his life. And there were other times where he feared what he might have seen while looking into the shard. Sighing and turning the mirror side to him, all he saw was the face of a boy in his young to mid teens. He didn't know his own age, but he assumed he was around 14 years old. The once bright green eyes were dull and weary. He brushed his parted bangs out of his left eye. His other notable scar was a small slash down his left eye lid, the only scar he remembered getting when he was bullied in his youth. Link put the shard away in his beige pants pocket, and slid on a dark brown t shirt and walked out of the room.
Most of the mail they had always gotten was junk advertising things such as jewelry, potions, and other useless merchandise. One ad seemed to catch his eye for the slightest second.
"Green Legends day is almost here. Come join the celebration in Xeophia's castle town market! Delicious food, amazing shows, lotteries and a fun fair for the kids! And Prince Wallace is looking for the fairest lady of them all to feature in Green ball at night where everyone is invited. As long as you wear green you can participate in any of the events. So don't forget to wear your green!" It read. Down at the bottom of the page it had a picture of multiple people wearing green clothes, some wearing long and short caps.
"You guy's are just getting this flyer today? Wow, postal services suck these days, don't they dip wad?" A cringing familiar voice rung behind him, as a hand yanked the letter out of his hand. Link rolled his eyes and turned around to meet a cocky smirking young man.
"And why are you back again, Damien?" Link questioned. The taller boy shrugged light brown hair covering part of his face. The chain mail he wore didn't even seem to weigh him down.
"Nothing in particular, just checking on my home town and my sister as you may have guessed. She's always wanted to go to Xeophia's town market on Green Legends day, so I'm going to ask her to accompany me to the festival, and the ball. Green Legends day is tomorrow after all." He cocked his head to his side, his hazel eyes looking straight into Link's green ones.
"You look different from the last time I saw you, maybe…a little scrawnier I suppose? Helping your so called 'mommy' with her house hold chores?" Damien grinned showing his teeth, some in which were gold. Link assumed it was a city look that he didn't like. And he thought it suited him.
"You look different yourself. Have you been picking on naughty children in the city with your new so called 'swordsman skills'? Or maybe you've been happily sucking off the Prince's groin like all the other soldiers, while he orders you around in times of war?" Link replied feeling proud. Damien flushed and gritted his teeth.
"Well excuse me Link for being the only one from this tiny little village that actually has a life to live. I don't see you doing anything productive. The only thing you do that doesn't involve Sheinah is run out in the forest like a cry baby and waking everybody up in the middle of the night. You're so predictable and so pathetic that you fear yourself. And you probably still wet that bed at night, which you're so called 'mommy' cleans up in the morning." Damien shot back hand starting to sneak to his back to draw his blade. Now Link was the one to grit his teeth and be mad.
"You leave her out of this" Link growled stepping forward. "And I'm pretty sure you fear me in the exact same way, so don't push it." Damien actually stepped partially back frowning.
"Aren't you supposed to be a mute or something?" Damien finally said gaining back his confidence while drawing his blade and pointing it at Link's throat.
"Because if you aren't soon, I'll help you become one." There was a deathly silence between them as the tension in the air grew.
"Damien and Link, will you two ever grow to your age?!" an older man hollered from afar. Link and Damien both looked to the side and saw a small yet lean and muscular man that seemed to be in his middle fifties. He wore overalls, but no shirt underneath, and had seemed to be holding a bag of freshly dug up potatoes.
"Every time I see you two together, there's nothing but negative tension in the air! Its affecting the people around you as well, so if you two boys don't drop the nonsense, and get along someday, we might just have to throw both of you out!" The old man ranted. Damien tried butting in.
"But Joscow-"
"Damien, don't you have something better to do than pick on Link all the time? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the castle town city or something?" Joscow snapped.
"Calm down, pops, I'm off call duty right now, I just came to see how my sister is doing, I promise!" Damien defended dropping his sword and putting his hands up. Joscow raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
"Well as you can see, your sister isn't here right now, she-"
"And why isn't my sister here?" Damien cut him off. Joscow sighed in frustration.
"You didn't even let me finish! Your sister just went into the Ever Woods with Sheinah to find Isabel, for she has gone missing." Link looked at the gate just beyond those woods he had somewhat memorized.
"Humph…why does she even care about that dumb fairy anyways?" Damien rolled his eyes.
"I overheard something about Sheinah needing fairy dust for one of her potions that she is making for the Green Legends festival tomorrow" Joscow rubbed his chin.
"Oh don't be ridiculous even if she wore the greenest of green, they wouldn't let a witch like her into the festival." Damien chuckled. Link scowled fisting up his hands.
"What did you just say?!" Link shouted.
"Link, knock it off! Well, if I can recall correctly, they have been gone for over an hour…maybe you two should go into the woods and find them together, and learn to appreciate each other", Joscow suggested. Damien picked up his sword, and put it in the sheath.
"Me? Work with Link? Ha…don't be serious. I'll find them myself, thank you very much." He stated before leaving off into the dark woods. Link glared at his back until he couldn't see him anymore.
"He's a handful, isn't he?" Joscow's spirit lifted once Damien had left the conversation. Link was spaced out, eyes locked on the never ending maze of trees until Joscow patted his shoulder. It startled him at first, looking slightly down at Joscow, he smiled slightly.
"Yeah… a royal pain" Link replied frowning. Joscow could only sigh at his response. There was a moment of pause.
"It's too bad that you three kids grew apart like you did. I remember a time when he helped me pick the vegetables out in the field…ha ha… all he could talk about was his adventures with you and his sister going into the woods playing hide and go seek, and such" Joscow sighed. "But once they found out that their parents had been killed in an ambush, he had nothing left, but anger towards everything outside of their family. He always vowed that he would protect his sister…even from his closest friends."
Link didn't say anything he didn't need to, since he knew more detail than Joscow did. But no matter how much he knew about his own friendships, he couldn't get Joscow's next sentence out of his head.
"As much as you may think that he is just being overly protective of the only family that he's got, I think, overall, he grew jealous of the friendship you and his sister still share and cherish to this day." Link averted his eyes to the ground. Joscow put his hand on Link's left shoulder.
"Come back safe and sound, alright?" Joscow smiled. Link took a good look at Joscows humble expression and nodded silently before vanishing into the woods himself.
The Ever Woods were like home to Link. It was a quiet and peaceful to the eyes of the living if they didn't venture too deep. It was nostalgic to him he thought as the morning sun speckled his cheeks through the leaves of trees that were as old as the soil. He passed by the dozens of places he had once played at as a kid. The tree he stopped at was bigger than any of the trees around it, even in diameter. The branches seemed to go higher than he could see from the ground. It was so far up, that when you reached the top, it was harder to breath, but he could see the kingdom of Xeophia. And carved on its bark was a picture that him, and Sheinah carved together. It was the oldest nostalgic place he could remember. It was a picture of the tree itself, but had Sheinah and link by the tree when it rained. He spread his fingers around it, and focused. And sooner or later, he couldn't feel the surface of the carving anymore. Instead he felt a tingling sensation that traveled from his fingertips to his heart. He looked around him, and noticed the other joy of the forest. It gave him the freedom to do what he couldn't do anywhere else.
Disappear
Everything that was alive seemed to slightly glow, a glow that had to be seen to believe. When he looked up to the once ordinary tree, he saw a giant face grinning back at him.
"Oh Link…what are you up to this time?" Makar asked wrinkling his nose.
"I'm looking for Sheinah, have you seen her?" Link asked cocking his head to the side. The Great tree raised an eyebrow to think.
"I'm not sure, but I did just see a young man in armor pass-"
"Nah, he's not important to me. Uhh… do you remember anyone else passing by here?" Makar looked to his right.
"I did see a small white fairy aimlessly wandering towards my right a while ago. I tried to warn her to not go that way, but she insisted of going anyways. I just hope that imp isn't causing her any trouble." Makar replied. Link started walking towards the given direction.
"So… you're sure she went this way?" Link pointed out.
"I'm more than positive young lad. But be careful… don't get lost, or you may be stuck in there longer than you think." Makar advised as Link ran through the forest.
When he was a spirit, he always felt as if someone was spying on him in the deeper darker area of the woods, and it always gave him a sense of dread. The eyes of other spirits seemed to leer at him from higher branches, especially when the forest had gotten darker and darker, even in the brightest of days. Tunnel after path, the labyrinth was unwelcoming, even to Link. Taking a left may lead you back to the place you were just at. Back tracking could lead to a totally different location. It was no wonder, why they had been searching for Isabel for nearly an hour.
"Please let me go to Saria's Meadow, and leave me alone!" A small voice had cried out. Link stopped in his tracks to listen. Murmurs were all his ears would let him listen.
"Why…this is fun, isn't it?" A child giggled.
"No, I need to talk to someone in the meadow, it's very serious! And I don't have much time either, so please let me go!" Isabel exclaimed. Link hid behind a tree, and spied on a small white fairy stuck in a cramped little bird cage that was held by a small imp with a goofy hat, and no particular face.
"It's been a while since I've had a friend. I'm not letting you go" Skull kid giggled shaking the cage around, making Isabel bounce around the cage uncomfortably. Isabel groaned as Skull kid chuckled off. Then she fluttered her wings excitedly.
"Oh! Link, Link, over here!" She called. Skull kid turned his head. Link steadily showed himself. He forgot, sadly, that Isabel was indeed a fairy spirit, and could see Link, even when he was a ghost to everything else.
"Link, help me! Skull kid has me!" She exclaimed. Skull kid was aware of the fact that there was a strange boy walking towards them. Skull kid scurried up to link.
"You're that witch's friend aren't you?" Skull kid asked. His pupil less glowing eyes scanned the boy from the scar down his eye, to the burn on his hand.
"I've seen you and your friends playing in the forest all the time. It looks like fun. You even seem to be on friendly terms with that deku tree in the edges of this forest" Skull Kid sniffed Link, and looked at Isabel in her cage.
"I need somebody to play with. Will you be by friend?" Skull Kid asked innocently. Link was surprised of how childish this spirit really was. He thought from Makar's words, that the Skull Kid was an evil monster of some sort. But he was just a young child. A very odd looking child, but he didn't qualify as a monster either. If the child wasn't so jittery, he would have thought that the child was a lifeless doll. But nonetheless, he was still a child's spirit, filled with the innocence of one. And he seemed lonely. Was he the last of his kind?
"Only if you let her free…" Link said. "And don't harass anyone else that enters this part of the forest." The Skull Kid thought the offer over thoroughly, glancing at Isabel in the cage until he seemed to finally come to a conclusion.
"Ok, it's a deal" He smiled handing over the cage to Link. Link reached towards the handle, until Skull Kid pulled the cage back.
"BUT! You have to play with me first!" He smiled pulling out his flute, and played a couple of notes. And all of the sudden, the forest became as dark as the night. Link looked all around him quickly, spirits from the higher branches wickedly grinned down at the boy. Link had lost track of the Skull Kid, until he once saw a white fairy in the cage up in one of the trees.
"You have to find me first!" Skull Kid giggled while Isabel moaned.
"Link help!" Isabel cried until he couldn't find them anymore. Link scanned the forest for the glowing fairy, but found nothing but vast trees, and teasing ghosts that started to jump down and dance around him. Link ran through a tunnel, and scanned the area, hearing murmurs and laughter in the back ground. Link groaned and continued to his right…which led to a pond, but no fairy or child. Hearing the laughter becoming louder, he ran straight covering his ears. Only to be lead back where he was when he made the deal with the Skull Kid. One spirit pointed at Link from up high, and giggled, while others followed after. Link covered his ears, and tried a different route.
"Shut up, just shut up!" Link yelled. And for the oddity of it all, the forest became silent. Link opened his eyes and uncovered his ears to hear a flute playing a familiar tune that he had heard from the distance once and a while. He listened carefully. The sound seemed loudest towards behind him. Back tracking to another area, he listened again, and this time went to his left. He kept following the sound of his flute. He felt closer once the catchy tune went louder and louder. Before he knew it, he ended up in an area with a giant boulder. And surely enough, Skull Kid played his flute and danced.
"Link!" Isabel gasped. Link walked up to them.
"Alright, I found you, now please let her go!" Link spoke. Skull Kid cocked his head to his side, and smiled wickedly like all the other spirits in these lost woods.
"No. You have to catch me first!" He jumped up in the air, and all of the sudden, they were surrounded by the other dancing spirits. Shaken up by Skull Kid's broken promise, and twisted sense of humor, Link tried listening to the sound of his flute, but it was no use. Overcome by anger, he scowled and scanned the area. The place was packed, even in the air, they danced. He never saw anything like it. He couldn't find him anywhere. His eyes darted up and saw all, but one spirit dancing. The spirit wasn't the Skull Kid, but he resembled more of a normal looking child. He had curly red hair filled with leaves the color of fall. He nicely smirked down at Link, whom could only give him a blank expression. The child raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Link blinked, and saw that all the spirits were gone, and Skull Kid was frozen mid air. Even the child that seemed to help him was not present. Skull Kid fell with a thud, and his eyes were dark and hollow. The cage that constricted Isabel shattered, and Isabel fluttered away from the Skull Kid that murmured.
"Thanks for playing with me" Skull Kid vanished. The forest lit up, and glittered the ground. Isabel flew like a bullet through the bushes.
"Wait! I need to talk to you!" Isabel hollered. Link followed, not forgetting how pained the Skull Kid had last seen.
When he cleared the shrubs, he had stepped into a clearing, a grove of some sort. The sun was shining again, and the place was flooded with colorful butterflies and flowers that drank from the streams that fed from a waterfall tumbling down from a stone structure. Link heard the giggling of an innocent voice; sitting on a high mossy rock was the other ghostly child. His messy red curly hair glistened in the sunlight. Even the rags he wore suited his cheerful nature. What Isabel spoke to the child became undecipherable words to him. He was fond of the fairy. The child's doe eye's lit up, rosy freckled cheeks perked upwards as his hand went to touch the fairy.
"If you're so afraid of what might happen in the city, then don't go in the first place, silly!" He giggled.
"No! This is serious! Someone is in grave danger, I can sense it! You're the only one I know that could possibly help prevent it!" Isabel pleaded. The child shrugged.
"I'm not sure if I can even help. I'm not the great fairy, you know" He remarked. Isabel growled in frustration.
"Well then, what if I go there myself, and prevent it? Do think that would work?" Isabel semi decided, but the child laughed so hard, he held his hands over his mouth.
"But living beings can see you, can't they? If they saw a 'fairy' flying around their city, they'd catch you, and put you up for auction. You fairies are very rare creatures these days. You're the first fairy I've seen in a very long time." He explained. He frowned once he saw the disappointment in Isabel's posture. The seriousness in Isabel's sobbing tone made Link's soul constrict.
"Please…something really bad is happening…" Once the child was finally able to squeak something out, all three of them heard a voice approaching.
"Isabel! I found you!" A young girl said as she made her way through the bushes.
"Ellia, why did you follow me here! Wait…how did you follow me here?"Isabel questioned while looking in both Link, and Ellia's direction. Link became temporarily paralyzed as he felt his childhood friend pass right through him.
"Hmm?" Ellia spun around, her long dark chest nut hair flowing in the wind. Her bright hazel eyes were locked to Link's own. Link was stock still until he examined her eyes closer, and noticed that they were looking right through him. Ellia spun around again.
"To find you, duh! And…Sheinah told me the way here" Ellia explained. Link didn't miss how the child Isabel once talked to seem to light up again. And he certainly didn't miss a particular jealous tick that seemed to make Link frown at the child. Just who was this child anyways, and why did he seem to light up about Shienah?
"Me, Sheinah, and probably Link have been worried sick about you! You didn't leave without any warning, so we had to go and find you!" Ellia said.
"But where is Sheinah now?" Isabel asked.
"She's waiting for us. On the outer side of the forest" Ellia smiled. Isabel's wings dropped in an expression of sadness.
"Isabel…she really needs your help. You're the only fairy we know. Please do this one thing for us. I'll make your favorite treat" She offered. Isabel moaned inwardly, and turned around to find that the child she had once spoke to was gone. Isabel sighed.
"Alright…let's go" She decided. Eliia smiled, and offered a gesture that welcomed Isabel in her heart. She glanced at Link and nodded, who nodded in return. Even if Link knew Ellia and Sheinah longer than she did, her feelings towards them were the same. While Link had looked up to Sheinah for all his life, Isabel looked up to Ellia like a sister. And like Ellia's brother, she would do anything for her. Isabel took one last glance behind her before descending into the woods back to their home village, Medatine. As Link started to depart back himself, he couldn't shake off the feeling of someone watching him.
After making sure that both Ellia and Isabel made it out of the forest alive, Link made one last trip before going back himself.
"Something…bad you say?"
"That's what she said" Link shrugged sitting on a nearby stump supporting his chin. "I dunno… she's always been dreaming up weird things, ever since she started living with us in Medatine." Makar was silent for quite some time.
"That maybe true. But as long as there is an evil up foot, there will be something that can stop it. At least that is what has been destined so far…" Makar finally breathed.
"But what if destiny chooses evil? What would happen then?"
"Link…thou not been in the belief of destiny…" Both were silent again. Most of their conversations were like this; thinking more than discussing. Makar finally concluded.
"All I can say is to keep watch, even on you." Link snorted while fiddling with his mirror shard, squinting at his reflection as he slowly became part of the living environment.
"I wish you'd tell me more valuable info" He frowned marching away from the silent tree.
It was around noon that Link had returned to check on the two that he encountered in the forest. Ellia and Damien's house was on the opposite side of the village, but the place was small enough that it didn't matter. As he approached the structure, he noticed Ellia was already engaged in an intense conversation with Damien.
"You honestly think that everything will be ok if you take me to the Green Legends festival tomorrow? You really think things will be alright?!" Ellia raised her voice.
"Ellia, just give me a chance, alright?! If I could just make it up to you somehow, maybe you'll forgive me!" Damien shot back. Link could see the fear in Isabel's structure as she timidly hid behind Ellia's head. However, he could see the anger in the creases of Ellia's face, and how she crunched up squeezing her hands into fists.
"Forgiveness? Why should I even trust you anymore? Even though you serve good for that damn kingdom out there and everyone praising you, they will never see what I have…" Ellia's voice faltered. Link could see the pain in Damien's eyes, blankly staring at her. Both eyes were locked onto each other neither making a move.
"Please…you're the only family I have left. It's the least I can do…" Damien stuttered. Ellia turned around, sighed and put her hand to her forehead.
"Just…give me some time to think" Ellia mumbled. Damien silently nodded and walked away. Link quickly hid behind a nearby bush and watch as Damien depressingly marched off. Ellia walked into her house, Isabel following close behind her. As soon as Link saw that the coast was clear, Link made his way to Ellia's front door until Ellia walked out again this time holding a bucket. Link immediately stopped in his tracks. Ellia looked up.
"Oh…hey Link" Ellia frowned voice faltering again. "Umm…did you hear all that?" She asked.
"Huh? Hear what, the wind? Nah, I was just talking to Joscow and decided to come and see how you were doing…" Link lied.
"Ya…so did he…" Ellia barely murmured.
"Did something bad happen?" Link asked. Ellia immediately shrugged it off and put her hands up defensively.
"Oh no, it's nothing, nothing at all! Just a…couple of birds fighting over a piece of bread on the ground that's all!" Ellia smiled. But Link could see through it.
"By they way, do you know where Sheinah went? I haven't seen her since when we entered the forest. She wasn't at your home when I came back." Ellia mentioned. Link mentally slapped himself for forgetting all about Sheinah.
"Wh-where was the very last spot you saw her?" Link's voice cracked. Ellia averted her eyes to her lower left.
"I think…right around the big tree." Ellia replied. Link nodded and took off to the forest again.
"Alright thanks, I'll be back!" Link hollered back racing off. Ellia's mouth curved up slightly.
"Always thinking about others…"
Speeding through some busy areas, a man yelled at him to watch where he was going. Link could only offer a quick apology before continuing and entering the forest. His heart was racing. What if something bad was happening and it involved Sheinah? His head started spinning winding around trees, looking thoroughly. When he reached Makar the tree, he stopped at the sight he saw and panted. Sheinah was knelt down humming a familiar song, and picking up the small mushrooms that grew around the great tree. Her golden French braid seemed to glow when the sun was able to reach it and made a strong contrast with the dark plum cloak she always wore around her neck. She turned her head to reveal her icy, but friendly blue eyes that always seemed to both excite and scare Link. He felt a growing weight suddenly shed off of his shoulders.
"Well…" Sheinah chuckled. "Good afternoon, Link." Link felt his mouth spread across his face, it was unpreventable. Something about the crystal chime in her voice soothed all of Link's aching problems. However, neither of them said a word to each other as they strolled back to Medatine Village. Along the way, he could have sworn he saw a child in the corner of his eye.
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After Link helped carry all of the necessities that Sheinah gathered in the forest, Link went back to Ellia's house to somehow cheer her up. In the meanwhile, Sheinah stayed at their abode, making a potion that she won't talk about to anyone, not even Isabel, whom had a very important ingredient in the scheme.
"But you can't go, Sheinah! Please, don't go to the Green Legend's festival by yourself! Why isn't Link going along?" Isabel whined. Sheinah sighed, and reached for an ingredient in a nearby shelf in her clustered working area.
"I've already told you Isabel. Link has to look after the house while I'm gone." Sheinah smiled up at Isabel, whom could only flutter her wings madly back at her.
"Then take me instead! I can hel-"
"There's no need for that, Isabel." Sheinah raised a finger to shush her. "I only need myself. I would love to bring either you Link, or all of you along with me, but it's not necessary this time." Sheinah stirred the potion she created while sprinkling crushed baba seeds.
"Well…when are you coming back home?" Sheinah paused at what she was doing.
"I don't know…when I'll be coming back" Sheinah stated in her serious tone. "But I will." Isabel was speechless and could only watch as Sheinah put her ingredients together until she could choke out another word.
"Link! He's always worrying about you, you know that! What do you think would happen to him if you didn't come back?!" Isabel questioned. Sheinah's eyes shown sorrow. Her long golden French braid slid passed her left shoulder.
"He knows me well enough to trust that I'll be fine. And if I don't return…" Sheinah looked up and smiled.
"Then there will be no stopping him from finding me on his own."
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"What is this?" Link questioned holding up a ragged doll with needles pinned through its head.
"Ehhh… oh, I remember that! I used it when I got really mad at my brother when I was younger" Ellia laughed it off quickly snatching the doll out of his hands.
"Probably against me as well, eh?" Link commented while rummaging through Ellia's old belongings in her attic. "So, why did you want me, and not your brother to help you in the attic again? Gonna have a yard sale or something? In fact…where is he anyways?" After Ellia tossed the doll in a rather dusty corner, she blew dust off an old box and whipped it off.
"No, I'm just trying to find something important to me. And Damien? He's probably showing off and blowing hot air" Ellia snorted. Link sighed. After a couple of minutes Ellia finally said,
"Isabel has been acting kind of strange lately. She keeps saying that something bad is going to happen soon. And she keeps telling me about all her nightmares of a looming shadow hanging over Xeophia. She claims that she dreams about it every night. I dunno if she's going through a stage like…" Ellia trailed off.
"Like what?" Link asked curiously.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have compared her dreams with some of yours… I just don't know if there are any similarities or not…there probably isn't" She frowned.
"It's true that I've had some very bizarre dreams of my own. Some that I really don't want to bring up, even with myself. She maybe just worried about you going to the Green Legends Festival with your…" Link realized a big mistake he just made when he saw Ellia's whole frame slump lower.
"So…you did hear us arguing didn't you?" Ellia looked Link straight into his eyes, never fraying. Link looked away however. He could have told her part of the truth with the encounter with Damien when he first walked out of his house this morning, or he could have told her what she needed to hear.
"Yes… I did. And…I shouldn't have lied…I'm sorry" He admitted.
"Huh, at least you have the decency to apologize. My brother just wants me to forgive him. He such a selfish child, I can't stand it anymore…" She stammered slamming a box on the floor. Link flinched from the rage seeping from her veins. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't say anything. Even he didn't know the true happenings between the two. Rubbing her tears away, she asked. "Did you find Sheinah?"
"Yah…I did. Thanks…by the way" Link said. He wasn't very good at cheering people up, so thanking them was the best he could do.
"She's making something for the festival tomorrow. She needed some of Isabel's fairy dust to finish the project. She seemed content about leaving tonight, even though Isabel's probably going to warn her otherwise." Link frowned. He forgot how early she had to leave to even get to Xeophia's town market. There was a moment of silence.
"Ah! I was wondering where this went!" Ellia spoke enlightened. Link crossed over to Ellia and sat down next to her. She held a rather dusty picture book in her hand that she blew off, and whipped up. On the cover it had a picture of a dark castle in the back ground with a trail leading to it. There were tall trees surrounding the trail, and in the distance there were tall looming mountains. And walking on the trail Link assumed heading towards the castle was a small boy in green holding a blade in his left hand and a shield in his right. The book was entitled 'The Legend of Zelda'.
"Wait…wasn't this the story you always referred to when we were kids playing in the forest?" Link asked. Ellia hummed.
"It used to be my mother's book. My parents used to read this book to me all this time when I was little…ever since I could remember. It was my favorite story." She smiled savoring the memories as she opened the book. Link stammered a little.
"Can…can I read it?" Link asked. Ellia looked up at Link, looked back down at the book, some of her brown hair drifting down her shoulders.
"Here…I'll read it to you." Ellia flipped to the beginning of the story.
"A long, long time ago…there were three goddesses that cultivated and created the land. The goddess Din, carved the red earth with all her strength and might. Nayru created the spirit of law, and brought order. And Farore created life, and the spirits that would uphold the law. This Kingdom was blessed the name of Hyrule. When they departed this land, they left the sacred relic, known as the Triforce, which would keep the kingdom in balance. However, there were still those out there who would seek its power." The picture showed three laden's descending a planet leaving behind what looked like three golden triangles making one. The next page…
"One day, many years later, a wicked man from the desert came to seek this ancient relic. He lied to the king, and swore loyalty to the royal family that ruled the Kingdom of Hyrule. The King's daughter, Princess Zelda, predicted this man's evil intentions, and tried to warn the King. But in return, he did not believe her." There was a picture of a shady man bowing to the King, with the small princess behind the King tugging at his robe.
"It wasn't too much longer that she dreamt of a boy dressed in green would bring hope to the people. So she waited and waited for the boy to come" The picture showed the princess in the window of a tall tower looking up in the sky.
"And sure enough, the boy in her slumbers appeared before her on her steps after bravely sneaking his way past the castle guards. She told the boy all about her predictions of the land, and warned him that the Kingdom would fall into an everlasting nightmare if the man touched the ancient relic, which had rested in a sacred realm. The boy held out a green and shining stone that would be certain that two other stones had to be retrieved in order to keep the man away from this sacred place. The princess and the boy swore to keep their plan a secret from everyone" The picture showed the boy kneeling and holding a green stone in front of the princess.
"The boy traveled far and wide. Climbing a tall, red deathly mountain, he exterminated the evil monsters inside a temple, and brought peace to the people that resided there. They granted him a red and shining stone. Swimming through rapid rivers and storming waterfalls, he reached a giant fish that swallowed him whole! He defeated the evil parasites inside of his belly, and retrieved a blue shining stone after saving a lost girl and curing the giant fish." The picture showed the boy running through multiple obstacles.
"Gathering the three stones, he traveled back to the castle. However, he seemed to be too late…" The picture showed the boy approaching a dark castle, similar to the picture on the front cover.
"Please! Hurry to the temple of time! You're Hyrules only hope!" Zelda cried as she rode away with her attendant, fleeing the crisis in the kingdom. As the boy hurried to the gates, he was stopped by the wicked man. He demanded the boy where the princess had departed to. Refusing to reply to the man, he drew out his blade. However, the man could only laugh, and claim that he was the new king of Hyrule. Using dark magic, he forced the boy off his feet, and rode away after the princess." The picture showed Zelda in the distance fleeing while the man rode after her the boy lay lifeless on the ground.
"With the three shining stones in his presence, the boy woke up once more, and was able to head to the Temple of Time. Placing the three stones in their rightful places, the gates to the sacred realm opened. Inside the room was unexpectedly a great, sparkling sword in a stone. The boy was tentative, but he took the blade in his glowing hand, and lifted the sword out of the stone. The gates to the sacred realm opened, but he had to sleep for seven years until he could pass through." The boy held the sword over his head, and the room glowed blue.
"When he awoke once more, he was greeted by a man dressed in yellow robes. He told the now older boy that the realm was tainted by the evil man's magic. He gave him his medallion, and asked him to find five other medallions and awaken the five other sages." The boy held a yellow medallion over his head.
"The boy adventured again but in the darker Hyrule. The places he once loved were shrouded in an evil reality. Fighting through the forests and a temple, then climbing even higher up an even more deathly mountain, and diving deep beneath a vast lake, he gathered three more medallions, and awakened three sages, all were folks he had once grown to love." Picture shows the boy going through more obstacles.
"The fifth medallion was hidden underneath the graves of the dead. After overcoming his fears, he retrieved the fifth medallion and awakened the sage whom was the princess's assistant. She smiled at him, and told him that the princess was alive, and was waiting for him, and told this hero to hurry before time was wasted." Picture shows him fighting through mummies and ghosts, and talking to the attendant.
"The last medallion was somewhat tricky. The boy ventured to the wicked man's land, and had to prove his worth to his own people that he betrayed. They told him the way to the last temple was through a haunted wasteland. After fighting blistering winds that tore his skin, he walked into the temple, only to find that he was at a dead end. Leaving the temple to try to find another way in, a mysterious figure had told him that the only way to venture through was to travel back in time, and return as a child. So heading back to the temple of time, he stuck the sword back into the stone, and became a child once more." Picture shows the boy in the desert, and then in the temple growing down to a child.
"After returning with the pure heart of a child, he met the last sage. She asked him to go through, and find something very important. Venturing though the traps the temple had to offer, he returned, item in hand, only to find the sage sealed away by two wicked witches using the same magic as the wicked man. And owl hooted 'return as an adult with the power of silver" Picture shows the young boy with the owl, and the two witches flying through the full moon.
"Returning older, wiser, and with the power of silver, the boy challenged the two witches when he reached them. Turning their own magic against them, he had slain them once and for all, therefore releasing the last sage, and receiving the last medallion." Picture shows the boy reflecting fire and ice with a certain shield while in the lower corner receiving the last medallion.
"The boy hurried to the temple of time once more, where the sages spoke of. Upon entering, he met up with the same mysterious figure that advised him to become a child again. With a blinding flash, the mysterious person transformed into an older, beautiful maiden, none other that the Princess, Zelda. But not long after, the wicked man's laughter echoed in the temple, and with his powers, he stole the princess, and told the boy that he had to face him in order to save her and the Kingdom." Picture showed Zelda being abducted in a crystal.
"Climbing countless stairs, and bravely fighting the wicked king's men, the boy reached the top of the tower. All three by that time had held one piece of the Triforce, Zelda wielding the Triforce representing Wisdom, The Wicked man yielding the Triforce of Power, and the boy in green, possessed the Triforce of Courage." Picture shows all three of them forming a triangle.
"Bravely, the boy fought the King that seemed to haunt everyone's nightmares. Using his method with the witches, he slashed the evil king's magic back and forth between each other, until the king got hit. With one swift move, the boy shot a golden shining arrow that pierced through the King, and made him weak, and gasp for air. The boy took one daring leap and slashed the man finishing him once and for all." Picture shows the boy stabbing the man through the chest, the princess floating in the cracking crystal above them both.
The King made one last attempt and made the castle shook angrily before collapsing. Once Zelda broke free, both had to escape the castle before it crashed down onto them. After fighting though the flames and crumbling ceilings, the boy and princess evacuated the castle just in time before the castle fell to the ground" Picture shows the castle crumbling, and burning.
"The princess and the boy sighed in relief. It had seemed that peace would finally rein over Hyrule. But then…a loud bang was heard from afar. Telling the princess to stay put, the boy went to investigate. Sure enough, the Evil King broke loose from the rubble on the ground! With one final attempt, the King slowly revealed his true beastly form. Becoming untamable, the beast knocked the boy's sword out of his hand while surrounding them in a ring of fire." Picture shows the shaded beast fighting with the sword less boy in green in the ring of fire. Link noticed that his head starting to ache.
"Using what the boy could, he fought the beast, feeling weaker. The beast's large blades knocked the boy back. Gathering all his strength, the boy returned to his feet, and shot a light arrow into his face. The beast was weakened, and the fire barrier was low. 'Quick! Use the blade of evil's bane!' Zelda cried." Picture shows the boy holding up the sword. Link's migraine grew.
"Gathering his sword, he dueled with the beast one last time before he sent the beast on its knee's one last time with the sword. 'Hurry sages, now!' Zelda cried. With the sage's magic, they sealed the Evil King away once and for all, the King shouting 'I will return to claim what is rightfully mine!'" Picture shows the boy and Zelda saying their goodbyes to the Evil King. Link winced holding his forehead as best as he could without her noticing.
"Saying their goodbyes, the princess played a song, and sent the boy back to his child hood, feeling dread as she saw the hero of time leave her once and for all. When the boy was young again, he left the sword behind, and closed the gates so that no one else would seek the ancient relic. Feeling lonely once more, he ventured through Hyrule castle again to reach those steps. And surely when he reached those steps, there was a young princess there, waiting for him…" Link's head was pounding.
"This time, there was nothing to fear, for the Kindom was safe for all time, and lived happily ever after… the end!" Ellia finished closing the book. Link shook his head violently, squeezing his eyes shut. There was something…something weird was happening to him. He felt it in his soul.
"Did you…what? You didn't hate the book did you?" Ellia asked suspiciously.
"Hah…oh no, not at all! It's just the dust got to my nose, and my head hurts. So…this was why you always wanted to play games like that when we were young…they were all inspired from this book." Link smiled. Ellia smiled back at him, and caught him by surprise when she reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Link could feel a certain flush on his left cheek. Ellia let go.
"…I believe…this tale is part of what the Green Legend's day is about…its celebrating the past, and the new spring at the same time…" She held the book to her chest, cradling it like it was a long forgotten memory that she had just discovered after thousands of years.
"You're…gonna go with him, aren't you?" Link asked. Ellia looked over to him and nodded.
"Maybe we can work things out again…make things the way they were supposed to be. And like he said…he's the only family I have left…" She frowned. Link frowned in response.
"You know that's not true…me, and Sheinah have always been here for you, even if it didn't seem like it." Link spoke earnestly and stood up.
"Was that book the thing you were looking for?"
"Actually…no, but it's alright. You look very flustered. You should get home, and get a little rest." Ellia suggested. Link smiled down at her and nodded, reaching down to ruffle her hair.
"And Link?"
"Hmm?'
"…Thanks" Link waved bye to her and headed home.