A/N: Here we are, chapter two! I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Slayers, the Legend of Zelda, or Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech. (Don't ask.)

Chapter 02: On to Hyrule Castle!

Zelgadis steps into the ring of light with Sylphiel, and they appear just in front of Gourry.

"Zelgadis. You have successfully defeated the beast. Now that I have recalled everything, I will tell thou the story of the goddesses.

Many, many years ago, three goddesses came to the earth. One was Din, the goddess of power. Another was Nayru, the goddess of wisdom. The last was Farore, the goddess of courage," Gourry says with a glint in his eye. "Din. With her strong, flaming arms, she built and cultivated the red earth. Nayru. With her strong mind, she brought law to the world. Farore. With her love of nature she created beings to uphold that law. With their work done, the three goddesses departed from our land, leaving behind them a golden triangle. We named it the Triforce and have put it in the hands of the royal family to protect it. Zelgadis, take this. This is the stone that the man of the desert wanted so badly that he laid this curse upon me: the Kokiri's Emerald."

Zelgadis reaches his hands out as an emerald ringed with gold falls from the Deku Tree's tallest branches.

"Go to Hyrule Castle. You will meet the Princess of Destiny there. She will know where to find the next Spiritual Stone."

Sylphiel gasps, and her high, tinkly voice shakes. "Gourry dear...you can't possibly..."

"Zelgadis, although your courageous actions have felled the source of my curse, it was already too late. You must find the princess and present to her the stone. She will tell you the rest. Sylphiel, you are to aid Zelgadis in his quest; help him in any way you can. Zelgadis, be sure to listen to her wise words when she speaks. Farewell..." Gourry's eyes close slowly.

"G-Gourry dear! You can't leave us! Not now!" Sylphiel gasps. "Who will protect the forest?"

"Come on, Sylphiel. We should go," Zelgadis says as he wipes unseen tears from his face.

The fairy reluctantly follows him to the edge of the meadow, where she looks back. "Goodbye...Gourry dear," she barely whispers before she exits the meadow.

Dilgear is blocking the exit. "Hey! No-fairy! What happened back there? Why is the Deku Tree dead? Did you...did you kill him?"

Zelgadis starts to protest in shock, but Dilgear says, "I don't wanna hear you lies, you...you demon! I, Dilgear, leader of the Kokiri, will never accept you as one of us! Get out of here!"

Zelgadis starts to walk past Dilgear, who shoves him a few feet forward, into the water. Soaking wet and slightly bruised, the chimera stands up and continues to walk. He feels a tap and a slight pain, quickly realizing that Dilgear must have thrown a rock at him. He simply flinches and continues walking to the exit into Hyrule Field.

One of the Kokiri girls, who looks slightly scared yet sympathetic, asks, "Where are you going?" When he replies, she asks again, "The castle? Where's the castle? ...What's a castle?"

Zelgadis shrugs and walks to the bridge leading away. He hears footsteps behind him and turns around. Amelia is standing there.

"So you're leaving, huh?" she asks quietly. He nods sadly. Amelia's face mirrors his. "I kinda knew you'd leave someday. You're just...different from the rest of us." She looks him in the eye with a glint of hope, "But...you'll come back, right?"

Zelgadis nods. "I promise."

Amelia smiles at that and places something in his hand. It looks like her ocarina. "I...I want you to have this. It'll help you remember the forest. And your promise."

He nods again, pocketing it. "I won't forget." With that, he gives her a short but memorable hug and leaves the forest, hoping he can come back someday.

After walking past the bridge and into the beginning of Hyrule Field, Zelgadis sees an owl perched upon a tree.

"Ho, Zelgadis! It seems that you quest has begun," it hoots in a rather annoying tone. "I am called Xellos. If you continue along this path, going northwest, you will find the Castle Town. From there, continue towards the castle to find the Princess of Destiny. Did you hear all of that?"

"Yes," Zelgadis replies.

But already the owl is repeating its words: "Ho, Zelgadis! ..."

Sylphiel whispers, "Run," and they both get away as fast as they possibly can.

"Hey, come back here!" Xellos yells. "Did you hear me? Hey, come back here! Hoot hoot!"

The two companions stumble upon what looks to be a ranch. "Why don't we check it out?" Sylphiel suggests.

"Fine, but you're paying for food later."

"I can't carry money. Or anything, for that matter."

"Oh, shoot," Zelgadis grumbles. "Therefore, I always have to pay." He sighs, "We might as well..."

They both enter the ranch as dusk approaches. A middle-aged man is leading the horses into the stables. He has black hair and quite an impressive mustache.

Zelgadis hears the man mumble, "Why does that lazy bum, Rodimus, own Lon Lon Ranch? I, the hardworking Zolf, should be in charge of this ranch! All he ever does is sleep!"

"Excuse me," Sylphiel asks the man, "but does anyone else live here?"

"Of course! Mistress Filia and her lazy father, Rodimus, went to Hyrule Castle Town to deliver some milk to the royal family," Zolf replies. "I doubt they'll be back anytime soon, though. Rodimus could sleep through the end of the world."

Zelgadis slowly backs away with the fairy, exiting the ranch.

After getting to Castle Town, narrowly avoiding some guards, and finding Rodimus, they have to go all the way back to the town in order to find something to wake the man up.

A young woman with long, blonde hair is standing near the fountain. Zelgadis walks up to her, and she immediately says, "Hey, you! Fairy boy! Have you seen my father, Rodimus? He went to the castle to deliver milk to the guards, but he still hasn't come back! I've been waiting here for almost a day now!"

"Actually," the chimera replies, "I need to talk to the princess, and he was blocking a small passageway into the castle, so I couldn't get in."

The girl frowns, "Oh. Could you go wake him up? Here," she gives him an egg. "That's a Cucco egg. When it hatches, you can use it to wake my father up. My name is Filia. What's yours?"

"Zelgadis."

"Oh. Well, fairy boy, go wake my father up! I swear to the goddesses, when that lazy bum gets back here..." Filia begins mumbling to herself, all the while storming out of town in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch.

Zelgadis and Sylphiel go all the way back to the Castle, once again barely avoiding the guards, and wake up Rodimus.

When Zelgadis informs him of what Filia said, Rodimus yelps, "Oh, no! Filia's gonna kill me! I shouldn't have fallen asleep; now I'm really in for it!"

The ranch owner runs off, and Zelgadis gets into the castle and all the way to the Royal Courtyard. There's a girl standing by the window, and she's the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. She has shoulder-length red hair, and she is wearing a subtle yet beautiful pink dress. When she turns to look at him, Zelgadis finds her fierce ruby-eyed gaze utterly petrifying.

Said gaze lights up as she whispers, "Could it be...? Um, did you come from the forest?"

He nods.

"Is that a fairy?" Another nod. "Are you...a chimera?" A sheepish nod. The girl gushes, "Then I have reason to believe that you have the Kokiri's Emerald. Do you? That green and shining stone?"

"I do," Zelgadis says as he pulls it from a pocket and shows it to her.

She beams brightly at him. "Can I tell you something? And you'll believe me?"

"Of course."

The princess clears her throat. "I have a dream," she starts, "that one day my three daughters will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by—wait a second..." She flips through a book labeled, 'Ocarina of Time' and says, "Sorry, wrong lines. And to think I memorized those ones...

"I had a dream where there were shadows plaguing Hyrule, but then a light pushed through them to reveal a chimera holding the Kokiri's Emerald, with a fairy fluttering behind him." She blushes sheepishly, "Y-you believe me, don't you?"

Zelgadis nods, "Of course I believe you."

The princess smiles. Suddenly she gasps, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! My name is Lina, princess of Hyrule. Your name?"

"My name's Zelgadis," he replies formally.

"Zelgadis...Why do I feel like I've heard that name...?" Lina frowns. "Oh, I was spying on someone through this window. Will you look?"

The chimera frowns, "Hey, now, what kind of princess spies on people?"

"Me!" Lina whispers, smacking him upside the head.

"Ow! Okay, I'll look!" Zelgadis glances through the window to see a man with umbrella-like purple hair and brown eyes, bowing to someone out of view. Most likely the king. Guards surround the area. While Zelgadis is still looking, the man glances back at him.

Zelgadis slips to the side as quickly as possible, his heart racing.

Lina asks, "Did he see you?"

The chimera nods, nearly numb because his heart is beating so fast.

"Well, he can't possibly know of our plans just yet," the princess insists. "That man is Rezo. He is the lord of the Gerudo. I believe that he is the shadow from my dream. Let me tell you something. It's a legend that is passed down in the royal family from generation to generation."

The name 'Rezo' sends chills up Zelgadis' spine, but he doesn't know why, so he and Lina sit at the bottom of the stairs.

"After the three goddesses—Din, Nayru, and Farore—created the land, they departed back to the heavens. They left behind the Triforce to protect us. If the Triforce is obtained by someone with a good heart, the land will prosper. If someone with an evil heart is to touch it, the land will be ravaged by monsters. To prevent this, seven sages built the Temple of Time, which protected the Sacred Realm, where the Triforce is held. They put a seal on an area in the Temple so that no one can get in without the three sacred stones. One is the Sacred Stone of Forest. Another is the Sacred Stone of Fire. The last one is the Sacred Stone of Water. The three stones were entrusted to three different races; the Kokiri, where you come from, the Gorons, in Death Mountain, and the Zoras. When these three stones are placed on the Pedestal of Time, and the Song of Time is played, the Door of Time will open."

Zelgadis can't resist asking, "What the heck is up with all the 'of Time'?"

Lina laughs, "I have no idea! But anyway, you also need one last thing..." She rummages around in unseen pockets for a while before withdrawing an ocarina with the symbol of the Triforce on it. "This. This is the Ocarina of Time, passed down from generation to generation in the royal family. This is the final key to opening the Door of Time. You need to play the Song of Time with this ocarina."

"Here we go with the 'of Time' again," Zelgadis mutters. Lina giggles.

"Zelgadis, this is serious. I need you to collect the Spiritual Stones to prevent Rezo from getting to the Triforce," the princess says. She clasps her hands together. "Zelgadis, can you please get the other Spiritual Stones? For me?" she begs adorably.

Oh, no, not the puppy dog eyes, not the puppy dog eyes...Zelgadis risks a glance at her face and thinks, Darn. She's using the puppy dog eyes.

He sighs in defeat, "Okay, Princess, but only because it's you asking, and not some jerk."

"Yay!" Lina exclaims. She hugs him, "I'm so glad you've decided to help! Now, remember, the fate of Hyrule is laying heavily on your shoulders, but no pressure, right?"

This does nothing to prevent Zelgadis from dying inside. Why did I agree to this?

"My assistant, Eris, will guide you out of the castle and into Hyrule Field. She can also point out which way you should go," she says.

He glances back to see a woman with black hair and an impish face staring at him with intense eyes. He gulps, "Um, Lina, are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry; she may look scary, but she's not gonna hurt you. Oh, and before I forget, here," Lina says as she hands him a letter. "Give this letter to the guard at the entrance to Death Mountain. She should let you through."

Zelgadis nods and walks over to Eris.

"So you are the 'hero' that Princess Lina has been talking about," the woman says. "I am one of the Sheikah tribe. We are dedicated to protecting the royal family from harm. My part in the princess' dream was to teach you this song. It will prove you as a messenger of the royal family."

Eris hums a song similar to a lullaby and gestures for Zelgadis to play it on the ocarina he has. It takes a few tries, but he finally masters the song.

"This song has special...powers, you could say. I have hummed this song to Lina ever since she was a baby. It is Lina's Lullaby," the Sheikah woman adds. "Come on."

Zelgadis and Eris now stand in Hyrule Field. The Sheikah points to a tall mountain in the distance, "That is Death Mountain. At the foot of the mountain is Kakariko Village, where I was born and raised. You can restock on supplies there. I wish you luck on your quest."

Eris takes a few steps backwards and throws a Deku Nut at the ground. When the flash goes out, she's gone.

Zelgadis glances at Sylphiel. "Are you ready?" he asks.

The fairy nods, "Come on, Zelgadis! On to another adventure!"

The two start on the long trek to Kakariko Village.