Thanks to Guest, Ayako Zetra, and RickGiriamax for their reviews and input. Thanks to them and the all views (more than any of my other stories had this early in development). There might be some grammar and other imperfections that I'll iron out later. I'll answer the reviews in each chapter, as they arrive. I'd like at least one per chapter.
Hylia's Mission
"We gain strength, and courage and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot."-Eleanor Roosevelt
Chapter 2-Beginning
I tossed and turned in my bed, trying to get comfortable: I even punched my pillow a couple of times as my frustration mounted. Nothing worked as my mind was still buzzing with everything I'd just seen and heard. What had happened was supposed to be impossible, yet it had just happened before my very eyes.
The sheer absurdity of it, combined with the fact that had actually happened, all conspired to keep me awake. Slowly the hours crawled by, until I gave up and just laid on my back, waiting for the break of dawn so I could fly, trying to keep hope alive, even as my nerves started to build and doubts threatened to darken my mind.
For years I'd been dreaming about the Surface, and even though Link was missing, I was about to get my chance to see it with my own eyes. But all my daydreams, I'd had about it usually involved me and Link exploring it together, not this. Oh Link, hang on, I'm coming. Just a few more hours...
The Hero, clad in his signature green tunic and with his sword hanging from his waist, strode into the room, and bowed.
"Link arise," said a voice that was so gentle, yet radiated so much power.
Link rose to his feet, and finally could take in his surroundings.
His jaw dropped; he was standing the most beautiful room, he'd ever laid eyes on. It still looked like the Temple of Hylia, but completely redecorated. It's granite walls had been replaced with the finest white marble, plush velvet carpet covered the once bare floors, and ornately colored chairs dotted the structure, each of them letting off a pale blue glow.
In the middle of this stood Hylia, respledent in her white dress, a harp held in her right hand, and a majestic sword in her left. Link wasn't sure how to address such a being. He was still in shock over the events of yesterday; they had expected some help, but to have a Goddess descend from the skies was something he'd never fathomed in his wildest dreams. And he couldn't stop staring at her; she was just so beautiful.
"Link," she said. "You have no need to bow to me. Consider me as one of you. We are all fighting for the same goal; to rid this land of the Demon King and save our people."
"But you're a Goddess," he protested. "The White Goddess to be exact."
"Link," she interrupted. "I'm glad that you think so highly of me."
She looked away and dabbed some tears from her eyes. Link was stunned; why would a Goddess need to cry?
"If you only knew half of what has happened, you might have a different opinion." "What?" Link said, confused and shocked at the same time.
"I've made many mistakes," the Goddess confessed, still not meeting Link's eyes."And my people have paid the price for every one of them."
For once, the her confident facade had dropped. For once Link saw vulnerability, human emotion, a tinge of mortality. It made him more determined than ever to help her beat back the threat trying to destroy their land. She turned to face him again, her tears wiped away, her facade firmly in place.
"But I won't let it happen anymore, without me there to experience it with them. I've come up with a plan, but I need your help to execute it. But, I must share some information that might turn your noble heart black. It might cause you to turn against our people against me. Are you strong enough to bear it? Will you prove worthy enough, as noble as your soul is?"
"Of course Her Grace," he said, his voice full of the unbreakable spirit she so admired. "I'd be honored."
"I'm sorry Link," Hylia said. "But I had to imprison you, to prove yourself worthy of holding this."
Hylia held out a blade that looked similar to the Goddess Sword.
"Only the pure in heart can wield this blade...
Blue light flashed through my eyelids as the vision faded from my eyes. As sleep fled my eyes, it wasn't hard to find the culprit; Fi was standing above me, rotating in mid-air.
"Fi, please don't interrupt me when I'm sleeping."
"Yes my Mistress," Fi said in a voice that didn't contain a hint of remorse. "I suggest you gather heart and stamina potions, water, food, and glass bottles. I calculate a 99% chance this will increase your odds of survival on the Surface."
Moaning, I rubbed my eyes, as my thoughts drifted back to what I had just beheld. These visions had been happening to me for months, cutting deeply into precious hours of sleep, and putting more strain on me than ever before. They'd never made any sense, no matter how much me and Link discussed them.
"Spirit Maiden," said Fi's voice again, jerking me out of my train of thought.
"What?"
"The Sun has risen," Fi said, floating over me again. "Your Loftwing will now be able to carry you to the hole in the clouds created by the tablet. I also suggest that you take the Harp along with you. It might play a major part in your journey."
She turned into a small blue ball and vanished into the hilt of the sword, which was lying against the wall. Harp, what good will a musical instrument be on a journey like this? Shaking my head in frustration, I pushed all the questions out of my mind and replaced them with a single thought; Zelda, it's time to show what you are made of. I got to my feet and made my way over to my wardrobe. I threw the doors open and picked out a bag me and Link had put together for my fourteenth birthday. It was originally meant for our little escapades, but what made it ideal for a situation like this was that it very large, it was made of fine leather, and had a lot of room to store things in.
Next was the glass bottles. I had three stashed in my room, amongst the books in my bookcase. The two of us had used them over the years, primarily for our devious tricks and sneaking pumpkin juice from the kitchen. We took so much that Henya, when she finally figured out how all her juice kept vanishing, gave us the worse punishment possible; cleaning the kitchens for a month under her supervision. I rummaged through the books on the bookcase, carelessly tossing them aside onto the floor, locating the glass bottles, one by one.
I stuffed them inside the satchel, being careful not to shatter them. I pulled off the torn ceremonial dress that I'd worn for the past twenty four hours, and tossed it carelessly aside on the discarded books. I took the clothes Fi had given me late last night and put them on. When I'd finished, I did a few twirls in front of my vanity mirror, examining my reflection and liking what I was seeing. The dress began high up on my neck, ending well below the knees.
The neckline of the dress was emboidered with golden patterns that looked like the feathers of a Loftwing, and the sleeves were oversized, hanging off my arms. It enabled a wide variety of movement as well, rivaling that of the knight uniform that the Senior Class wore (I tried one on once without my father's permission). The sandals fit snugly to my feet, their straps woven into the form of the Skyloftian Crest. As for my hair, I decided on a simple style, letting my golden blonde hair flow freely down my back, wrapping two strands of my bangs with the blue beads Fi had provided me. When I'd finished, I examined myself one more time in my vanity mirror to see the final result. I look like the Statue of the Goddess.
.Right from the dress to down to my hair, I resembled her in every way. That was when it happened. My image in the mirror changed before my very eyes. It was still my reflection (or was it?), but, different. The girl staring back at me wore a crown or circlet, around her forehead, and she was faintly radiating a white glow, like that of a Goddess. Her sky-blue blue eyes bore back at me, giving me the impression she was staring into my soul.
Sister, look...remember.
The gentle voice warmed over me, reverbating into the pits of my bones, as familiar as the voice of a mother. Probably due to it, or some other factor, everything ceased to exist except for me, the voice, and the image in the mirror. A feeling of familiarity bloomed into my chest, flooding into every fiber of my being. She, the reflection, was me. I moved forward, involuntarily, and reached out to touch the image from my past...
A bang out in the hall snapped me back to reality. I had moved during the trance, my hand extended a mere inch from the mirror. I checked the mirror to see if, what had just happened was actual reality or not. I only saw my own reflection, no circlet, or pale glow, or peaceful voice. What is going on here? All these visions, trances what could they mean? Wait, could they be...impossible...but...I sighed in frustration at all the mysterious happenings; none of this mattered, only finding Link.
I dove under my bed and rummaged through the trash I stockpiled there over the years, pulling out a scarab that I'd received when I graduated to the Junior Class on my fifteenth birthday. I put the sword into it, and was about to strap it to my waist when I heard voices outside in the corridor.
"...I know..." said a voice outside my room.
"We should get some food from Henya," said another voice in response.
"I'll get the blankets, why don't you go get Link while I wake up Zelda?" said Karane's voice.
"Okay," replied Pippit's voice. Karane and Pippit, what in name of...oh no, the picnic!
I clapped my hand to my forehead in despair. Link and I had promised to have a picnic with them the day after the Wing Ceremony! But now that was impossible; Link was gone and I needed to go rescue him, as soon as possible. I couldn't see how I was going to get out of this one. As quick as I could, I stuffed the sword as best as I could into the satchel, and tossed them under the bed. Karane's footsteps slowly grew louder as she drew closer to my room. I tried to tidy up as much as possible, and sat down on my bed to make it look like nothing was happening. She burst in, without knocking as usual. She was wearing her tan knight uniform, and her hair was in it's signature two-braid hair style.
"Zelda, good..."
She looked me over, taking in every inch of my newly acquired dress, sandals, and my destroyed room.
"Zelda...wow. Where did you get that outfit? It's gorgeous. And why is your bedroom a mess? And where is Link, I haven't seen him all morning?"
"Well, I, I...I made this...along with my ceremonial clothes," I said, trying to sound like my usual happy, bubbly-self. "I just haven't tidied up yet this morning and I haven't seen Link yet."
"I see," she said, a suspicious look on her face. "You do remember that we have the picnic later today? Do you need some help cleaning up?"
"Yes I do," I said.
"Sure," Karane said.
Working together, it didn't take long to tidy up. I was hoping to avail myself of an opportunity to escape, but none presented itself. I was careful to keep her away from my bed; if she saw what I had been packing, that would prove to be a disaster. Pippit walked after about five minutes of cleaning.
"Link's not in his room," he said. "It doesn't even look like his bed has been slept in.
"What?" Karane said. "Are you sure? Link almost never gets up early."
"Positive," Pippit said. "Karane..."
I'm in serious trouble.
"Zelda, have you seen Link?" Karane queried, her brown eyes latching onto me.
"No," I said, half-truthfully. "I haven't seen him since last night."
They have no idea how big of a wound those words tore at my heart.
"Well, should we go look for him?" Karane said. "If something has happened to him..."
"You didn't hear did you?" Pippit said.
"Hear what?"
"A tornado hit him and Zelda as they were out flying together."
What?
"How...how...how do you know?" I asked, trying to keep my voice normal. "The Headmaster told me."
"Zelda...what's wrong?" Karane said.
Unbidden, tears had worked their way out of the corner of my eyes, despite my best efforts. I grabbed my bag out from under my bed, hoping that Karane and Pippit wouldn't notice the sword stuffed inside of it. I pushed past them and out into the corridor, trying to avoid looking at them, wiping the tears off of my blotchy red cheeks.
"Zelda, where are you going?" Karane asked.
"Karane, I can't tell you," I said. "Please, trust me when I say that it's for your own good that you don't know."
My refusal traced back to Father had told not long after we had both witnessed the events in the chamber under the Statue of the Goddess.
"Zelda, it would be best if the people of Skyloft knew nothing of the events that are transpiring on the Surface," my father told me before leaving my room for the last time that night.
"Are you sure?" I queried, confused.
"Yes Zelda," he said. "Rumor travels faster than fact, and often is the basis for hasty decisions that cause disastrous consequences."
"But Zelda..."
"Please Karane, when I say I can't tell you, I can't. Please, just leave me alone. I'm going to look for Link."
Karane looked at Pippit for support; he only shrugged his shoulders. She then gave him a mutinous look that would make most boys cringe. Seizing the opportunity, I ran down the stairs, leaving them standing near my room. I walked towards the kitchen, anxious to get going as soon as possible. To my pleasant surprise, Henya was standing near the door, with a platter of dried-out fruit, bread, and a couple flasks of pumpkin juice.
"The Headmaster told me about your mission," she said. "I got up early this morning and made this for you."
I put what she had prepared into my bag and gave her hug.
"Thank you," I whispered into her ear.
"No problem dear," she whispered back.
We broke apart and I threw the doors of the Knight Academy open, running outside. I headed for the Bazaar, intent on procuring the last of what I would need before I would finally make the plunge to the Surface. I squeezed inside one of the entrances and into Skyloft's central marketplace. It was busy today; people from all over the sky islands were present, going in and out of the shops, bartering with stall owners, and buying and trading everything from pumpkins to arrows.
I squeezed my way through the crowd, taking special care not to run into anyone that I and Link know. I did see Cawlin and Stritch visiting what appeared to be a bug shop. Normally it would've interested me, but Link's disappearance had changed all that. Nothing else mattered except getting him back home safely. I headed for the stall that Luv and her husband ran.
"Hi Luv," I said in my usual cheery voice, slipping behind the counter and giving her a hug.
"Good morning Zelda," Luv replied as we broke our embrace.
"That's quite the outfit dear."
"Thanks Luv, I made it myself along with my Ceremonail Dress."
"Well, you are quite the tailor. How may I help you today?"
"A Heart and a Stamina Potion please," I said, handing over two glass bottles.
Luv ladled some red and green potion into them and handed them back to me. "That'll be Twenty Rupees dear," she said. "What might they for?"
"Uh, just training," I invented. "You know how hard they drive us at the Knight Academy."
"Of course I do," she replied with a smile, buying the story.
I handed over a red rupee and stuffed the bottles into my bag. Almost ready, just a few more things.
"Thanks Luv."
"Take care Zelda."
I obtained some water from a fountain in the Bazaar, and then I headed for the stall ran by Pippit's mother. She sold all sorts of dried-out food and survival trinkets, some of which I couldn't find at the Knight Academy kitchen.
"Hello Zelda," she said in her sweet voice. "Nice outfit. What will it be today?"
"Some of your dried-out food please. And could you throw in some of your energy snacks while you are at it."
"Sure," she said, turning around to get what I had requested. She started pulling down various items from her shelves and piling them on the counter in front of me. After a few minutes of this, I heard a voice, the last that I wanted to hear in a situation like this. "Zelda."
I turned on my heel to see my least favorite person in the world at this moment, Groose running towards me, his ugly arms extended.
"Thanks goodness you're alright," he said. "I heard what happened. I can't believe you weren't taken too."
He heard what had happened? Is Dad insane...wait, unless the redhead overheard Karane and Pippit talking about it. He tried to hug me, but I resisted. It became a confused strangling match for a few minutes, with me squirming with all my might in his crushing embrace. before I finally succeeded in extricating myself from his suffocating (I mean literally) grasp.
"Enough!" I shouted at him. "I asked you not to do that."
A sheepish grin crept across his face. Did he even register what I just said?
"You weren't being serious, were you?"
"I was deadly serious," I said in the most dangerious voice I could muster. "Now move."
"Zelda, why did you go flying with a coward that can't even endure a little gust of wind?"
He'd officially pushed me over the edge. Raw fury erupted in me like a rapidly spreading firestorm; how dare he provoke me in my current emotional state.
"That wasn't a little gust of wind," I shouted at him. "And at least he's not a cheater, and a freak like you are."
I started to storm off when Groose grabbed me by the shoulders forcefully turned me around to face him.
"Let me go!" I screamed.
"Don't worry Zelda," he said, switching to his 'sweet talk'. "I'll always be there for you. I'd would have saved you from that tornado."
I stopped struggling; did he really just say that? My fury broke.
Slap!
I slapped him across the face with all my might, so hard, he toppled to the ground, landing face-first on my feet. He didn't seem to believe it, looking up at me with shock and hurt burning in his eyes.
"Don't you dare talk to me like that, especailly after all you've done to Link," I snarled, fury coursing through my veins. "Leave us alone, you filthy, arrogant toerag."
I stormed off, running towards the nearest diving platform. As much as I hated to admit it, he'd upset me. I out of the Bazaar where me and Link had gone shopping together, ran past the house where we used to play as kids, past the Knight Academy, where the greatest events of our lives were about to take place, through the Plaza, where the two of us had sparred for our Knight Exams, past the hiding place we'd taken refuge and cried together when my mother and his entire family died, and to the wooden diving platform from which we'd taken our first flight together.
All these memories racing through my head drove me to the point of tears again. I stopped at the edge of the platform, pausing for a moment to compose myself. Now was not the time; Link needed me. I was about to jump when I heard a voice that I cherished, that I'd last heard in the middle of a dark tornado.
"Zelda..." said a voice that I cherish, that I'd thought I'd never hear again. I froze in mid-stride, not daring to believe it. Could it be? I slowly turned around, all my sorrows vanishing when I laid eyes on who had said my name.
"Link?"