Chapter 4
Rule Breaking
"This is ridiculous!" Sheik snarled, slamming his drawer shut violently and rattling the television that was perched atop it. He shot the lamp a scathing look but managed to stop himself from hurling it out the window. Barely.
"Calm down, Sheik…" his girlfriend muttered absently from her perch on his bed where she'd been messing with her cell phone for the past few minutes, a heavy frown on her face.
"Calm down?! Calm down?! Din, how in light's name am I supposed to calm down, Midna? Link just got arrested, for Farore's sake!"
The room's third occupant, Aryll Hero, gave an unintelligible whimper from her older brother's bed where she was curled up protectively into a ball, her figure mostly obscured by his comforter. She'd been basically silent since she'd come in, trying and failing to not cry into the hotel's fluffy cream colored pillows.
"I'm aware, thank you. I was sitting right next to you when it happened." Midna said dryly, all attention still focused on her phone, and Sheik felt his rage skyrocket to nuclear levels once more.
Spinning on the spot and grabbing fistfuls of his hair to stop himself from snatching something off the desk and lobbing it at the wall to let off steam (Midna hadn't been too happy with him when he did it the first time. Thankfully, they were just hangers; he came this close to chucking the coffee maker instead), Sheik paced the length of the room a couple times breathing erratically through his nose before pausing before the tall standing mirror on the far wall and examining his crazed reflection.
For the most part, he looked normal… except for his mussed hair and haggard expression, and the crease in his brow that made him appear mentally deranged. For the first time, he wasn't irritated to see his blood-red Sheikah irises. They seemed to fit his mood for once, fiery and unyielding, and he absently wondered if the gorgons of legend weren't really based off the Sheikah as well.
What an utterly bizarre twist of fate. Here they were, one year from the anniversary of the blackest moment of Sheik's entire life, the moment that ought to have resulted in his permanent incarceration for the remainder of his sorry, pathetic excuse for an existence, and instead of quietly mourning his past mistakes and humbly celebrating his merciful liberty, his best friend gets arrested under false allegations of robbery. Never let it be said again that the goddesses lacked a sense of humor; they were certainly mocking him now.
What was driving Sheik crazy was how impotent he felt; they were left waiting in their rooms with no information while their best friend was carted away to jail and the 'adults' tried to sort out the problem, and they had absolutely nothing they could possibly to do help. It was maddening!
The worst part of it all was how utterly wrong it all was. He'd never let himself be caught dead saying it aloud, but Link was Sheik's hero. And not for the same reasons that everyone else seemed to revere him either. During the shooting last year, the shooting that Sheik himself had helped orchestrate, after Sheik had already cast off his past and his desire to keep on living, when he'd reached what he'd thought of as his proverbial point of no return, it had been Link who'd been unafraid to reach into that dark void and pull him back out. Sure, it may have seemed like just a stupid brawl between teenage guys to any outsider, but it knocked some much-needed sense into Sheik and helped save him from the prison of despair he had built for himself.
That's not to say that Midna didn't play a role in saving him, or Zelda or Aryll or Colin or any of their friends… but Link had been the turning point, the hero who had inspired heroics in the rest of them, pun not intended. Along with Midna, Link represented the only constant in his life that formed the foundation of his existence. He needed him.
He had lived because of Link. He continued living because of Link. He was out of prison, he had a home, friends, and a future, because of Link… and now his best friend and brother was being held in prison falsely accused of a crime he couldn't possibly have committed?!
Sheik was livid. Completely and utterly beyond pissed off, to the point where the very blood in his veins seemed to be churning and broiling with the desire to break something, to smash a wall, to kick a door in, to… to…
To shoot up a high school?
A sudden urge to vomit welled up inside of him, and he shoved the thought away wildly into the void of his subconscious, terrified, retreating to the relative safety of his rage. To distract himself, he found himself repeating for the umpteenth time that evening the thoughts that had been bouncing around unanswered inside his skull.
"I just don't understand! He got arrested for stealing something from the Museum? When?! How?! He was with us all day! Every person on this field trip can support that! What are the police even thinking?!"
Rather than telling him to chill like she'd been doing for the better part of the last twenty minutes, Midna let out a triumphant shout and said, "I found it! They've released an official statement to the media!"
"What? Who?" Sheik asked quickly, feeling both confused and irritated.
"The police! It says here… huh… well, that's odd."
"What? What's odd? Midna, what does it-?"
"Shush!" she snapped, flapping her hand impatiently at him to shut him up, "Hold on and I'll read it! It just says that someone was arrested for theft of some priceless object from the Museum. It doesn't say who or what, though… that's weird, right?"
"Weird?" Sheik shot back, feeling his anger building again, "You know what's weird? How they're not even telling us why they think Link did it in the first place! It's ludicrous! You can't just arrest someone without evidence!"
"Apparently, they have that." Midna cut in dryly, and Sheik shot her a surprised look.
"Huh? They do?"
"Yup. Says here 'the perpetrator' was identified from security footage by a member of the museum's staff."
Sheik and Midna exchanged blank looks.
"A member of museum…?"
It dawned on them simultaneously.
"Linebeck!" they exclaimed in unison. For some reason, Midna seemed to relax a little.
"Why do you look so calm?" Sheik snapped, scowling, and his girlfriend shrugged lightly, a smug smile tugging at her lips.
"Well, if it was Linebeck, then we probably don't have anything to worry about. I mean… it's Linebeck. Guy can't do anything right. They'll probably end up tossing the whole allegation in the trash before breakfast."
Despite Midna's apparent acceptance that everything was all cheese sticks and applesauce, Sheik felt a whole new plume of rage erupting inside of him. Not towards the police or Midna, but towards Linebeck.
"I can't believe it… that dirty little rat…"
Midna shot him a confused look.
"Link saves his life last year and this is how he repays him?! By accusing him of a crime he didn't commit and tossing him in prison?! I'm gonna catch that dirty, squealing pig and gut him like a… like a… a pig!"
"Sheik, seriously. Calm. Down." Midna demanded, fixing him with her scariest no-nonsense look. "We know Link isn't guilty, which means that the police can't possibly have any convincing evidence against him. They'll probably hold him for a few hours then let him go, and we'll all just laugh about this in the morning, ok? Come on, sit down and help me plan how we can use this to tease him in the future…"
But Sheik was no longer listening to his girlfriend's attempts to reign in his anger. A course of action that could potentially help Link had suddenly occurred to him and he headed towards the window where he'd kicked off his shoes in anger when he first came up.
"Um… babe? What are you doing?" Midna asked hesitantly, sitting up on the edge of the bed with a nervous look on her face.
"Going to help Link." He replied shortly, tugging on his second shoe and standing back up, patting his pockets for his phone and wallet.
"What?!" she shrieked, and Sheik winced, rubbing at his ears. "What are-? There is no way I'm letting you go down to the police station! Stop being an idiot!"
"I'm not going to the police station, Mid." He replied, and she looked momentarily stymied. "…I'm going to the museum."
"What?!" She shrieked again, and despite himself, Sheik chuckled. Placing a fist on his hip, he turned to his girlfriend and shot her a determined look from under his lanky bangs.
"I'm going to go have a little… chat… with Linebeck. Assuming he's still there, I mean. And if not, then I'll find out where he lives and go there instead. If the only thing they have on Link is Linebeck's testimony that it was Link in the video, then getting Linebeck to retract that testimony ought to get Link out of prison faster."
Midna was making the same expression as that Jackie Chan meme that he liked so much.
"What… you… I… Sheik, do you hear yourself right now? There are so many things in that plan that don't make any sense. And besides, you seem to be forgetting that a certain person in this room has a criminal record. What's it gonna look like when someone calls the cops because you've been skulking around the crime scene in the middle of the night where your best friend was just accused of having stolen something and harassing the informant who told on him?!"
"Like I'm trying to help my best friend."
"Gah!" she exclaimed in frustration, snatching his pillow up and burying her face into its fluffy depths to muffle her scream. "I am surrounded by imbeciles!"
"Midna," he said, kneeling down in front of her and trying to adopt a calm, reasoning tone, "try to understand. I just… I need to feel like I'm doing something. I can't just do nothing when Link needs help. I… I owe him…"
He saw the begrudging understanding pass across her face, but that didn't stop her from one last-ditch attempt to stop him.
"I… Aryll, can you talk some sense into him? Please?"
Sheik stopped himself from scoffing and turned calmly to face Link's little sister, who'd remained almost entirely silent from her position curled up under her brother's covers. The smaller blonde girl was quiet for a second before slowly pushing herself to a sitting position, the covers falling off of her shoulders, and placing her socked feet on the floor. She met Sheik's level gaze with a tear-filled one of her own for a moment before slowly getting to her feet and walking to the door. Sheik thought she was going to leave without saying a word and turned to gloat to Midna before realizing that Aryll was putting her own shoes on.
"Uh…"
"Aryll? What are you…?"
"I'm going with Sheik. I want to help Link too."
Sheik blinked in surprise, and Midna let out a dumbfounded "Huh?!"
"I just… Sheik's right. I owe Link too. He came to find me last year when I was locked up in that closet even though he could've died, and I … I just… I want to help…"
Her voice was trembling slightly, but she met Sheik's stunned expression with a look of surprising determination. After a pause, he nodded.
"Alright then. Let's get this show on the road."
"I… hey!" Midna cried out as Sheik got to his feet and moved to join Aryll. She hopped off the bed and hastily chased them towards the door. "You can't…! But…! This isn't…!"
Ignoring his fluttery girlfriend, Sheik opened the door, cast quick looks down both ends of the hallway, and then ushered the silent Aryll outside. He paused before following to shoot Midna an expectant look.
"…what?" she asked, confused.
"Well? You're coming, aren't you?"
Her jaw worked soundlessly for a moment, hands balled into fists at her sides, before letting out an exasperated growl and snatching her boots up from beside the door.
"This is so stupid. I hope you realize that." She grunted darkly as she tugged her shoes on.
"I do." He pecked her on the temple softly. "Thanks for coming."
She rabbit punched him in the short rib, and he doubled over with a hoarse grunt of pain. "Well someone has to keep you out of jail. Come on, then, before someone catches us."
Clutching his side with a pained grimace, Sheik led the trio down the silent hallway towards the far stairwell. It wasn't that late; maybe just a little past eleven, but all the students had been sent to their rooms right after the cops had hauled Link away. Honestly, Sheik had expected there to be a chaperone or something guarding the hall, but with all the confusion over the arrest they must have been slipping up in their patrols.
Finally feeling like he was doing something seemed to have abated Sheik's anger for the moment; he could still feel it simmering down underneath, spurring him on, but he was keeping it at bay for now. A good thing, because he knew he would need his wits about him for this admittedly stupid plan to work.
Aryll and Midna crept along hurriedly behind him; Aryll looking equal parts scared and determined, the tear tracks drying on her cheeks beneath her fierce cerulean irises. Midna just looked bored.
Sheik was grateful for the fabric beneath his feet; it muffled their not-so-sneaky footsteps. The third floor bore green carpeting with a checkered pattern, showing colors ranging from white to green with varying shades between. The walls had dark green wallpaper, broken intermittently with mahogany doors with golden numbers and black keycard slots near the handles. Small light fixtures filled the hall with soft light between every door. All things considered, it wasn't that bad looking; he'd certainly been in tackier hotels. He knew the girl's floor was red and had a more 'imperial' theme if Malon's nonsensical pattering earlier had meant anything… which, he supposed, it really didn't.
As they reached the stairwell that led down to the back parking lot (not the one that led to the lobby, as it was probable that they'd be stopped by anyone who saw them, be they school staff or hotel faculty), Sheik cracked the door open and peered into the third-floor landing.
His heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
There, standing right in front of them, were Auru and Nabooru in the middle of a conversation.
"…about three hours." Auru was saying, looking frazzled as he hurriedly relayed instructions to the Vice Principal. "Then have the shifts change. Alfonzo said he'd cover for me tonight. I'll call you as soon as I find anything out, alright?"
"Have you called his guardians?" Nabooru asked, calm as a summer evening, as if students were regularly arrested on her shift. She looked to be the veritable antithesis of Auru at the moment; she was completely neat and orderly, as per usual, not a hair out of place, whereas Auru was a nervous wreck. Even his mustache looked like it was sweating.
"Er, well, we've, um… tried. Several times. It would appear Granny Hero is a heavy sleeper. But I'll keep on trying. With any luck, we can get this all sorted out before she wakes up in the morning. I don't think anyone would take too kindly to this news, especially today of all days."
"Mmm," Nabooru grunted noncommittally. "Well. Update me as soon as you get to the police station. You're taking a taxi?"
"Of course." He replied in answer to both statements, "Hopefully I'll see you in a bit."
With that, he turned and darted off down the staircase.
For a terrifying moment, Sheik thought Nabooru was going to walk through the door he was peeking through and catch them. All of his noble plans for rescuing his best friend seemed to be falling apart in front of his eyes… but then she turned and headed up the stairs towards the girl's floor. Sheik let out a relieved breath; one bullet dodged.
"What's up?" Midna whispered, and he jumped slightly, then firmly took ahold of himself, feeling silly.
"Nothing, they're gone. Ready?"
"We're waiting on you, aren't we?"
Nodding, Sheik took one last breath, waiting until he heard the echoing sounds of the upstairs door shutting, signaling that Nabooru had left the stairwell, before pulling the door all the way open and racing in, Midna and Aryll tailing close behind him.
They took the stairs two at a time, rushing as fast and as silently as they dared towards the ground floor, the dirty yellow lighting casting bizarre shadows on the grimy tiled floor and walls. Reaching the ground floor, Sheik paused in his haste and glanced nervously outside to make sure Auru wasn't still hanging around. He wasn't.
The trio walked out into the silent darkness of the parking lot, feeling relieved at having not been caught… and then exchanged blank looks.
"So… now what?" Aryll asked.
"I don't have money for a taxi," Midna stated flatly.
"We can just take a bus to the subway, and go that way," Sheik replied. "It can't be that hard, right?"
"I guess no-"
"Aha!" Cried a voice from behind them, making them all start, "Found you!"
Terrified that a teacher had spotted them and followed them out, Sheik wheeled around to face the door again, but the voice had come from just off to the side in a shadowy corner of the parking lot. From the nebulous depths three figures were now emerging, the first sporting a triumphant grin on his familiar, arrogant face.
"Huh?"
"Is that…?"
"Ralph," Sheik said flatly, his heart still racing frantically in his chest. "What in the…? What are you doing out here?!"
"Why, waiting for you of course!" He replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why?" Sheik asked, impatient. Honestly, someone could come out any second now and catch them! They couldn't just hang around in front of the door!
"And why are they with you?" Midna asked, a scathing note to her voice, and Sheik turned his attention to Ralph's comrades, whom he'd simply ignored at first. To his utter surprise, he found himself looking at the nervous face of Marin, the new girl Link had rescued just the other day from being run over, and the haughty smirk of Groose, the hulking captain of the rugby team.
"Obviously, upon discovering that my arch rival Link was wrongfully imprisoned by mal-intended ne'er-do-wells, I realized that I must at once set out on a quest to right this sinister wrong and save my helpless compatriot, that my glory might raise in greatness higher than his own! Knowing as I did that his companions would soon launch a rescue attempt, I cloaked myself in these shadows that I might await your arrival and invite you to join my party so that our ventures might stand a greater chance at success!"
Sheik's head was starting to hurt.
"Ok…." Said Midna, shooting Aryll a blank look. Aryll merely shook her head flatly, looking irritated. "Well… what about you two?"
"I…" Marin started, then swallowed nervously, casting a fearful glance towards the door to the stairwell as it swung open, but it was just another hotel guest who hardly spared the teenagers a glance. "I just w-wanted to help Link… He's been so nice to me, and he saved my life the other day, and when I heard Ralph talking about how he was going to rescue him, I thought I'd see if I could help…"
"Wait, what?" Sheik cut in, alarmed. "Ralph, you went around telling people you were going to leave the hotel?!"
"But of course!" Ralph replied, matter-of-factly. "How else was I to recruit others to our noble cause? How do you think I got young Groose here?"
"Yeah, Groose, what are you doing here? I thought you hated Link." Midna asked, confused.
"Heh. That sniveling pipsqueak is too below my notice for hatred." Groose scoffed, thumbing his nose with a cocky smirk. "But I figure it'd look good for the Groosinator's image if he was seen bein' all generous and stuff to the nerdy kids. Besides, I'm always for breakin' the rules."
"Farore preserve us…" Midna sighed, rubbing her temples tiredly. "Sheik, please tell me they can't come along?"
"What?!" Marin cut in, looking terrified and outraged. "Why shouldn't we get to come?! Link's our friend too!"
"Whatever. There are too many of us to begin with-"
"I figure I'm worth ten of you, tiny!"
"What did you just call me?!"
"Guys, please, keep it down, you'll attract attention…"
"Ah, sweetest Aryll, whose voice so like a gentle balm to cure our fevered souls…"
Sheik snapped.
"Guys!" He yelled, catching their attention and shutting their mouths simultaneously. "Everyone can come if we leave right now!"
"But-!"
"No buts, Midna! Ralph already told everyone he was leaving, which means that any minute now someone's gonna go check on his room. When they realize he's gone, they'll search for everyone else and find out we're gone too. We need to go now if we want to avoid being caught!"
Midna grumbled but accepted without further comment.
"Now." Sheik continued, realizing he had everyone's attention. "Who knows where the nearest bus stop is? One that's out of view of the hotel?"
"I think we passed one just two streets over on the way back from the grove today..." Marin supplied, and Sheik nodded gratefully.
"Awesome. Alright, hurry up and let's move. Before we get caught, ok?"
"Alright!"
"Yes sir, master navigator!"
Sheik took a deep breath to brace himself, then headed off towards the street, the others following behind. Somehow, he'd become the leader of this merry band of rule-breakers. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, or if he was happy or upset that there were so many of them who wanted to go. He did know one thing, though; whatever it took, he was going to help Link. He had an endless amount of debt that he owed his best friend, and though he could never hope to pay it back, he may as well start trying.
We're on our way, man. Hang tight.
A bell jingled as Zelda pushed her way into the ice cream parlor, the cool wave of air conditioning washing over her. A sniveling Anju and uncomfortable Colin shuffled in awkwardly behind her, shutting the door with a soft snap.
A perky older lady greeted them from behind the counter with a cheerful, "Hey there, kids! Welcome to Anouki's Ice Cream!"
Zelda flashed her a fake smile then immediately returned her attention to her friends. Placing a bracing arm around Anju's shoulder, she whispered soothingly to the trembling older girl, "Alright, let's just go take a seat, ok?"
"O-Ok…" she mumbled, leaning partially against Zelda for support.
"Um," Colin cut in awkwardly, "I think I'll just go get us some ice cream, ok?"
Zelda gave a thankful nod and hurriedly began leading the redhead away as Colin stepped closer to the counter, staring up at the menu boards with a pensive look on his face. Given the strangeness of their current situation he was likely to deliberate as long as possible, both to give Zelda and Anju their much-needed time to talk, and also to avoid having to deal with crying girls. Though she could be wrong; that intense look on his face didn't seem forced… maybe he just took his ice cream selection seriously. Zelda certainly did.
Sitting them at the corner booth furthest from the counter in the empty ice cream shop, Zelda crossed her arms and rested her elbows on the table, examining her friend critically. After telling them in the parking lot of the Stock Pot Inn that her boyfriend Kafei was apparently missing, she'd broken down in hysterics and had been essentially inconsolable, and frankly impossible to understand. After a few minutes of fruitless attempts to calm her, it had been Colin who had suggested they go somewhere to talk. Zelda had driven (Anju was in no shape for much of anything at the moment), and thus they wound up at this family-owned ice cream parlor.
Anju seemed to be doing better now. Her open, body-wracking sobs had reduced themselves to occasional sniffles, and though her eyes were puffy and red they met Zelda's steadily enough. For a moment, there was no sound in the ice cream parlor save for the hum of the air conditioner that was seriously blowing air too cold for this time of year and an old television hanging up on a wall not far from where they were sitting.
Deciding it was now or never, Zelda placed a reassuring hand on Anju's and said, softly, "Hey… you ok?"
Nodding, Anju wiped at her eyes with her free hand and snagged some napkins out of a holder on the table.
"I… Yeah, I'm ok, I…"
"…You wanna tell me what's going on?"
Anju opened her mouth, then hesitated, her eyes glued to the table and an uncharacteristically fragile look on her face. Zelda felt so out of place; this was not the mature, confident girl that had helped her so during the shooting last year. Something had seriously rattled her, but what? And what was all this about Kafei missing?
When she didn't answer, Zelda leaned a little closer and whispered, "Anju, you know I can't help if you don't tell me what's happening."
Sighing, Anju physically steeled herself, squeezing her eyelids shut before meeting Zelda's eyes with her own crystal blue ones.
"Kafei's gone missing."
"Right, you said as much earlier. What do you mean he went missing?"
Detangling her fingers from Zelda's, Anju wiped absently at her nose with a napkin. "I… I don't know where he went. He's been gone for hours and I can't get ahold of him."
Zelda pursed her lips, a concerned look on her face. "Right… well, start from the top. When and why did he leave? How long has it been exactly?"
"He left after… well, we were all at the museum together, you know… you, me, Kafei, and my friend Cremia…. After you all went off to see the Master Sword, the three of us decided to head back to our hotel. We were kinda tired; it was a long drive yesterday, but we were maybe gonna head out and do something later on tonight… But Kafei was acting so weird on the way back and while we were at the hotel, and then… well, he said he had to go do something, but that he'd be back before six, and he left… but he didn't take the car. And then Cremia went to her room to sleep, and… and…"
Tears were welling up in her eyes again, and Zelda braced herself for another crying fit.
"H-he never came back! I've called and called his phone and sent him texts but he hasn't answered any of them! A-and Cremia's gone too! She won't answer her phone, and I've knocked and knocked on her door but she hasn't answered, and I… I just… I don't know what to do!"
Zelda chewed her lip, mewling over the situation as her friend sobbed into her now sodden napkin. It was a little disconcerting, to be sure. Having your boyfriend just randomly up and leave on a vacation to the big city and then have him gone for hours with no word… yeah, that could cause the worst sorts of worries to pop up in the imagination of just about anyone. Still, she supposed it was possible that he was just stuck in traffic on the subway or something and his phone died… but then again…
"Have you considered going to the police?" She asked, and Anju shook her head.
"N-no. In Castleton, they don't investigate missing persons over the age of eighteen until after twenty-four hours, and as it hasn't even been twelve…"
"Hmm…" Zelda replied. "Well… Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"
"N-no." She said. Zelda frowned; there was something odd about the expression on Anju's face as she said that. Leaning forward, Zelda fixed the older girl with an imploring look.
"Anju… come on, anything could help. You don't have any idea at all?"
"I…" she started, but then cut off as she started sobbing again.
Zelda sighed; this was getting ridiculous. "Come on, Anju, I'm sure he's fine. Do you really think anything could hurt Kafei? If he survived last year, he can survive anything."
"It… it's not…"
"It's not what?"
"It's not… what I'm worried about…"
Zelda frowned. "What do you mean? I don't understand."
Anju was wringing the napkin out now, nearly tearing it to shreds as she fidgeted with her hands. "W-well, I… I mean, it's just… Kafei's gone, and… and Cremia is too, and I… I mean, I…"
Understanding suddenly bloomed in the pit of her stomach, and Zelda grimaced.
"Oh, Anju…"
"Don't say it like that!" She exclaimed suddenly, a wild look in her eye. "She's been our friend since we were little, back when we lived in Termina, and we hadn't seen each other in years until college! Din, you saw her, Zelda! She's so much… more than me! Prettier and wealthier and funnier and friendlier and… Light, how can Kafei not fall for that?! What am I compared to her?!"
"Anju," Zelda said, unable to keep a slightly amused, maternal note from her voice. "Anju, stop. You're being ridiculous, and if either of them were here right now, they'd agree."
"But I-"
"No." she cut off, pointing a finger sternly at the other girl's face, making her blink. "Cremia is pretty. And nice, and friendly, and funny, and probably all the other things you said about her. How could she not be if she's your and Kafei's best friend? You wouldn't hang out in the company of scum. But you are all of those things too and don't you dare try to tell me otherwise. Look, it's normal to feel a little threatened or jealous sometimes, but Anju…"
Zelda sighed, then tilted her head to the side and fixed the sad-faced girl with a warm smile. "Anju, what you and Kafei have is honestly one of the purest, most beautiful things I've ever seen. I've never seen two people more perfect for each other, and everyone sees it. Me, Link, Midna, Sheik, Aryll… Cremia. We talked about it a lot today, how utterly adorable the two of you are and how it makes us want to vomit."
Anju smiled sheepishly but kept her gaze fixed on the table, unable to meet Zelda's eye. "And Kafei? He's crazy about you. As if being your friend for over a year or the events of the shooting weren't enough to cement that, I got all the confirmation I needed again today in the museum. He spent all day with three beautiful ladies, if I do say so myself, and only had eyes for you. So come on… Perk up, Anju. Wallowing in self-pity isn't like you."
"I… I know…" Anju sniffled after a moment, idly stirring through the shreds of napkin that littered the tabletop with a finger. "I guess I'm just… I don't know. Being at college, surrounded by all these older, more attractive women… I guess I just got a little insecure. And maybe I feel like Kafei and I haven't really progressed in our relationship recently… like we've plateaued, but I know there's more there… and maybe I was worried he was getting bored of me."
She finally looked up and met Zelda's warm gaze with a sheepish one of her own. "I'm not super proud of myself… you must think I'm being so silly right now."
"Just a little," Zelda replied, and the two laughed.
"I… thanks, Zelda. I knew you'd be able to help. You always know what to say to make people feel better. How'd you get to be so wise anyway?"
Zelda gave a forced laugh. "Oh, you know… Just lucky."
"Well, thanks. You're a good friend. Though I don't know about all this 'perfect relationship' nonsense you're spewing. You and Link could give us a run for our money any day."
Zelda hid her grimace behind her hand. Yeah, maybe any day but that one…
"Hey guys, everything alright?"
Zelda and Anju glanced up to see Colin had finally arrived at the table, supporting three small cups of ice cream in his hands. Zelda slid over to give him room to sit down beside her and he shot her a grateful smile.
"Yeah. Sorry for that, Colin." Anju said, a bashful smile on her face. "I'm sure you didn't- oh! Did you buy this for me?"
"Well, yeah," Colin said with an absent shrug, digging his pink plastic spoon into his ice cream. "What else was I supposed to do in that line?"
"You have to let me pay you back! I-"
"Anju, don't worry about it." Zelda cut off, popping a spoonful of strawberry ice cream into her mouth, savoring the flavor. There were even bits of real strawberry in it. Colin always knew what she liked, he was considerate like that. Aryll was missing out. "Colin never lets ladies pay. He's a chauvinist."
"And proud of it." He joked, munching happily on his own vanilla ice cream. Poor kid didn't even have any toppings, just pure vanilla. He was so weird…
Anju smiled sweetly, digging into her own chocolate. "Aw, well that's very gentlemanly of you."
"Tell that to Midna…" he grumped, and the two laughed.
"So… is Kafei ok?" Colin asked hesitantly, wincing slightly as though afraid to set off another crying fit.
Anju let out a shaky breath. "We… don't know, exactly. He's been gone for a few hours and isn't answering his phone…"
"He left the hotel in either a taxi or the bus, but we don't know where he went," Zelda added, giving Anju a moment to compose herself. "I think it's a little too early to be panicking; he could just be stuck in traffic or something."
"Definitely." Colin agreed, and Zelda was grateful for the casual confidence in his tone as he added on, "Plus, if he took the subway or something, he could just have no reception. Phone signals are notorious down there. And it's not like traffic's ever good in Castleton. I'm sure you'll hear from him before long."
"Thanks, Colin," Anju said softly.
"However," Colin continued, fixing Anju with a serious look. "It wouldn't hurt to go down to the station and put in a missing person's report. It's probably a little early for that, but a little caution never hurt anyone, and at least they'll have it on record. We can come with you if you like; I know my way around a police station."
"That… would be wonderful. Thank you." Anju replied, sounding a little relieved, and Zelda beamed at the younger boy. Honestly, Aryll really was missing out here. Maybe it was her she needed to be smacking some sense into, and not Colin.
"I dunno…" Zelda mused, idly stirring her ice cream. "It probably wouldn't be such a good idea for us to go to the police station… they'd want to know who we are and where we're from, and I doubt Auru would be too happy to find out we were just randomly there when we ought to be in the hotel…"
"Oh, right…"
"That's ok. Thanks anyway, guys. I'll take you back as soon as we're done eating, ok?"
The sudden fanfare of a news report broke the comfortable silence of the ice cream parlor from the television hung on the wall not too far from them, and the three turned towards the set with mild curiosity. They were met with the smiling face of a middle-aged brunette woman in a sharp pantsuit as she turned to the camera and began, without preamble, "Good evening Castleton, we have two breaking news stories to report to you tonight that are developing even as we speak."
From across the table, Zelda heard Anju let out a soft breath. Oh Nayru, Zelda thought worriedly, please don't let there have been an accident or something. It wouldn't be good if they found out that Kafei hadn't been answering because he was in the hospital… or worse.
"First, seven children were reported missing from a local orphanage in western Castleton tonight, officials state…."
"Whoa!" Colin cried out as the images of the missing kids flashed across the screen. Zelda felt her stomach drop out as the visage of a scowling blonde no older than seven or eight appeared, only to be replaced by a chubby four-year-old boy with dark purple, almost black hair who was unmistakably her brother.
"Oh, how horrible!" Anju gasped, ever the compassionate one. Colin, however, met Zelda's gaze with an incredulous look of his own.
"Aren't those…?"
"Yeah." She replied, a sad feeling sinking into her heart.
"What?" Anju asked confused.
"Those kids… we met them this morning at the museum. Some smelly homeless man was chasing after two of them, but then Link stepped in and saved them. Oh, this is so sad… I hope they're ok."
"You don't think that homeless man attacked them, do you?" Anju asked, her tone guarded.
"Dunno. But we can add that to the list of things you need to tell them at the police station tonight." Colin added matter-of-factly.
"Sounds good." Zelda hummed, slipping another spoonful of strawberry ice cream into her mouth. Mmm, delicious…
"In other news," the TV continued, "today marks the one year anniversary of the Ordon High Massacre that shocked the nation when over forty people lost their lives in a vicious surprise assault on a high school in southern Hyrule."
"Oh man, I don't need to hear this," Zelda grumbled, pushing her cup away and turning to Colin. "You guys ready to go?"
"Yeah." He muttered distastefully, scowling at the screen as he began clambering to his feet.
"We have recently learned from sources at a police station that the hero of the Ordon High Massacre, Link Hero, was arrested here tonight in Castleton for theft of a priceless artifact from the Museum of National History."
Zelda, who'd been about to shove the last spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, whipped her head toward the television in shock at hearing the announcement, smearing ice cream all over her cheek.
"What?!"
"Did she just-?!"
"Shh!" she hushed, cutting the other teens off and staring in disbelieving horror at the screen.
"We have been unable to verify exactly what artifact was stolen or whether it was reclaimed. We were able to receive no further comments at this time."
Something akin to dread was welling up inside Zelda's chest as the news anchor began exchanging idle banter with her fake-tanned co-host. It was a nasty feeling, gnawing at her insides, a sort of slow-burning anxiety… the kind she hadn't felt in a long, long time. About a year, in fact. Fighting down the panic, Zelda turned to face a stunned Colin and Anju, and said, in a steady voice that surprised even her,
"…We need to go. Now."
"Where?" Colin asked as they raced towards the door, their empty ice cream cups lying forgotten on the table, ignoring the cheerful farewell of the shop owner as they burst out the front door, the bell chiming at their departure.
"What do you mean, where?! The police station of course!" Zelda blurted out.
"Zel, wait! We can't!"
"What do you mean, we can't?!" Zelda exclaimed breathlessly as they arrived at Anju's car. "Colin, I don't think you heard correctly, but Link just got arrested!"
"Yeah, I did." He panted, leaning against the car. "But we just talked about this- we can't go to the police station, we'd just get in even more trouble. We need to get back to the hotel now before they realize we're gone and report us missing too. Zelda, what would the police think upon hearing that their suspect's girlfriend snuck out just before he got arrested? They'll probably think you're involved. We need to get back to the hotel ASAP."
"But-!"
"Zelda, he's right." Anju cut in, looking apologetic. "Look, don't worry; I'm going to the police station about Kafei. I'll tell them about the kids and the hobo, and I'll text you about Link, ok?"
"I…" Zelda mumbled, feeling defeated and frustrated at her own defeat. "…ok, fine! So then how are we going to get back?"
"We'll take a taxi," Colin said, catching Zelda's arm and leading her away. "Don't worry, I'll put it on my dad's card and explain it all when we get home."
"But I…" Zelda started, but Colin had a firm grip and was steering her toward the street.
"Don't worry, Zelda! I'll call you as soon as I get there, ok?" Anju called, already getting into her car.
Grimacing, Zelda shook her hand from Colin's grip and turned her attention to the matter at hand. Dislike it as she did, Colin was right. First things first; getting back to the hotel without getting caught, then she could worry about Link.
Nayru, but this was bad. Kafeigone, seven missing orphans, and to top it off, her boyfriend got arrested while she was breaking curfew by sneaking out of the hotel in the dead of night. Well. Wasn't this turning into a lovely field trip?
"Look, I said it wasn't me!"
"Yeah yeah, we've heard it all before kid, you'll have to do better than that."
"But it wasn't me! Light, I didn't- I don't even know what you're talking about!"
The older officer with the dark aviators and the too-small uniform snorted derisively and tossed his head, but the younger, with the silly mustache who was sitting across from Link at the table in the interrogation room, leaned forward with an intent look on his face and said fervently, "Link, we want to believe you, we do. But you've got to give us something to go on here."
Link mentally scoffed. The good cop/bad cop routine? Seriously? They actually did that? Wow. Maybe TV wasn't totally useless after all… but now wasn't really the time to be thinking about that.
"I did give you something." Link grated through his teeth, a murderous look in his eye. "And I'll say it again if that's what it takes to get it through your thick skulls. I spent all day in the museum with my class. I spent all evening in the hotel, with my class. There have got to be at least sixty people who can testify that I was chilling in the lobby tonight if you need them to. And hasn't the hotel got security cameras or something?"
Honestly, this was ridiculous. There was that small, rational part of Link that was terrified because oh-my-Din-I-just-got-arrested, but for the most part, he was just frustrated. Like, seriously… It was so obviously not him that it made his head hurt. He lifted his left hand to rub his temples, but his wrist was handcuffed to the table and stopped short with a jerk. He had to stop himself from growling at them; acting like a feral animal wasn't going to help the situation any, but good Farore he wanted to.
The two officers didn't say anything, simply examining him silently through guarded eyes.
Sighing, Link leaned back against the uncomfortable metal chair, stretching his legs out under the table and placing his forearms on the dark grey table top. The yellow light from the solitary light bulb above him reflected off the opaque glass that made up most of the wall to his right. A lifetime of avid film watching had drilled into his head that this was the one-way window that led toward the room where the other detectives and a quirky psychological expert were more than likely debating over the way he composed himself and making plans on how to get him to confess. He wondered if it actually worked that way in reality; somehow, he doubted it. Judging by the shoddy state of things, the grime on the floor and the tacky 70's wallpaper, this station wasn't well funded. They probably couldn't even afford a quirky psychological expert. A shame, that.
"Ok, listen." Link said after a moment, trying to hide his impatience and sound reasonable. "Maybe it would help if you told me what was even stolen. Or maybe why you think I'm the guy who did it. Isn't there some law that says you can't hold somebody in jail without probable cause or something? There's gotta be some reason for why you think it's me, right?"
The two fallible upholders of the law that stood before him didn't exactly have a good track history of listening when Link spoke (unless it was to tell him in the police car every time he opened his mouth that he had the right to remain silent and yadda yadda all that junk; he'd actually considered maybe calling a lawyer, or calling Zelda or Kafei, whose parents would maybe actually know how to go about calling lawyers until he decided it'd just make him look guilty), so it startled him when they both reacted to his request by grinning manically.
"Oh, you wanna see the evidence, Mr. Hero?" Said the surly one, barely managing to hold on to his glee. "It's a real doozy, kiddo. You sure you're ready for it?"
Link frowned; this guy acted more like a school ground bully than a police officer. He had a nagging feeling that he wasn't exactly dealing with Castleton's 'best and brightest' here. He'd more than likely been delegated to two of the station's reject cops because they realized that they really didn't have a case and would just have to let Link go. That was a comforting thought, though he almost felt bad for the two officers; this was probably the most exciting thing the two of them had ever done.
After a moment, Link shrugged as if to say 'why not?', and the chubbier officer grinned.
"Alright then. Officer Poe, if you would…?"
Eyebrows lifted in an 'oooh, you're gonna get it!' kinda way, the self-entitled 'good cop' got to his feet and headed to the door. He was gone for maybe a few seconds before walking back into the room, dragging a television on a cart behind him, the wheels squeaking on the linoleum floor.
"Officer Station, would you be so kind?" Poe asked, smirking evilly.
"Why, I don't mind if I do!" Station replied, and with one last haughty glance at Link, he plucked up the remote and pointed it at the tv, turning it on.
Link yawned. Well, this ought to be interesting enough.
The screen fizzled for a second, in traditional bad 70s technology style, then focused on a slightly blurry black and white nighttime image of a room. The clock on the corner read 7:14 PM.
"Um…?" Link asked, confused, and one of the officers shushed him, enraptured with the staticky image.
Annoyed, Link decided not to ask what he was supposed to be looking at and just try to figure it out for himself. There appeared to be several roundish objects on the walls, and a few shelves in the middle of the room, which wasn't very large. It was long and narrow and seemed to have very tall walls to showcase whatever it was that was hanging on them, but Link couldn't quite make it out yet. Pictures? Were there any rooms in the museum that showed a bunch of little pictures? Link couldn't remember exactly, but he didn't think so. Not any he had been in, at least.
Wait… no, those weren't shelves, those were display cases. Glass display cases. He could see little lights reflecting off of them, presumably from out in the hallway. Now, where had he seen glass display cases…?
And then he remembered: he had been in a room with glass display cases. He'd tried on fake masks there with Medli, Makar, and Marin. And that meant that the things hanging from the walls weren't pictures, they were masks.
Well, I guess that means I can't even deny having ever been in that part of the museum, Link thought bitterly, but that doesn't mean that I stole anything…
At that moment, a figure stepped into the room.
Link squinted, trying to make out what the person looked like, but the image was too blurry to see clearly. With calm purpose, the person strode down the short walkway between the glass cases and the masks displayed on the wall, not paying attention to anything save for the case he was approaching, the one located just in front of the security camera.
It was close enough for Link to make out that it was a young male, about his age, with dark clothing and messy hair, but that was about it; not enough to point fingers at Link, surely. The figure, whoever he was, pulled what looked to be a crowbar from his pant leg and jammed it into the part of the case where the top surface met the side and began prying. Link waited for a siren to go off, but nothing happened. In a matter of moments, the case was open and the figure discarded the implement with obvious indifference, freeing up his hands to reach into the case and pluck out the mask that had been held within.
Link recognized it immediately; vaguely heart-shaped and with odd spikes coming out of the top and sides, the mask bore the image of freakishly huge yellowed eyes and a creepy assortment of tribal tattoos. Link remembered reading over the description earlier that day but hadn't been invested enough to commit any of it to memory. Honestly, all he remembered about it was that it was the star attraction in the imported mask display from Termina, and that its name started with an 'M'.
Um… Marsha? Mammary? Marmalade? …Muhammad Ali?
Forgetting himself for a moment and just knowing that this was going to bother him for the rest of the night, Link opened his mouth to ask one of the officers what the stupid mask was called, when the image on the screen unexpectedly cleared and Link got his first real look at the thief right as he turned toward the camera and grinned.
Link felt his stomach drop out.
It… it was him!
Everything, the grin, the hair, the jawline, the ears, everything… was exactly the same as Link. Were it not for the fact that Link knew that he hadn't been anywhere near the museum that night, he would have believed it was him himself.
But… how?! How was this even possible?! How could he be on camera robbing the museum if he hadn't done it?! What sort of voodoo witch magic was this?!
The Link doppelganger on the screen was still grinning as the image froze in place, his eyes seeming to glow in the poor lighting of the mask room, his smirk practically reaching through time and space to taunt Link in his temporary prison cell.
Link probably should have schooled his features, but he couldn't seem to wipe the look of pure shock off of his face as the officers turned to face him, triumph obvious in their eyes.
Station, who was holding the remote that had paused the footage, shot a cocky glance at his comrade and said, with palpable snark, "Heh, not so smug anymore, is he?"
"Mmm." The second replied, smoothing out his mustache.
Link said nothing, still staring at his reflection on the screen.
"Well, why don't we give Mr. Hero here a few minutes to consider his situation, eh Poe?"
"Sounds good, Station."
Chuckling, the two men turned and strode from the room, letting the door swing shut behind them with a shuddering crash and leaving Link alone with his thoughts and the mocking image on the television screen.
Working moisture back into his mouth, Link swallowed painfully and ran his free hand through his hair, taking several deep breaths through his mouth. Oh light, this isn't good… That guy in the video, he looked just like me! But what…? I didn't do it! I was with my friends the whole night! They have to know that, right?! The hotel surely had cameras that could validate his statement, and his friends would back him up! This wasn't over! He was not going to jail!
But… who was that person? Why did he look just like him? What did this mean…?
His mysterious evil twin shows up on the anniversary of the Ordon High Massacre and frames him for the robbery of a museum based on the exploits of the Hero of Time? This was no coincidence. Something was going on, something that had to do with the Hero of Time… But what? And how? Ganondorf was dead. Link had beaten him. It was over… wasn't it?
Link turned his hand over and gently tugged at his black glove, revealing the glowing golden Triforce mark on the back of his fist. The gentle light was like a calm reminder that no matter what happened, he could face it. The Goddesses were with him. He was their champion. He would see things right.
…He just needed to figure out what was going on first.
He tugged fitfully at the handcuff for a moment with a discomfited frown on his face; dang thing was chaffing. If only he could get them to take it off, it's not like he was dangerous…
Maybe he should have called a lawyer.
A soft weight pressed itself down on Link's shoulder.
"Well, now isn't this simply delicious?" a soft, effeminate voice whispered silkily into his ear, the breath tickling his hair.
With a yelp, Link jerked forward in his seat and whirled around, wildly searching for the source of the voice, bringing up his right hand defensively. Nobody was there. The room was empty.
Link's heart was pounding erratically in his chest. Clenching his jaw, Link forced himself to turn around and face the TV. The stress must be getting to him, that was all. He needed to focus. Fidgeting nervously like a guilty person wasn't going to get him out of here any faster-
When his eyes landed on the person leaning up against the television screen, Link let out another hoarse shout, jerking as far back in his chair as he could before his cuff restrained him.
The man, if that was indeed what he was, smirked at Link devilishly, a disturbingly coy look in his eyes. Link gaped at the man like a fish. Who…? How…? What in the world was he wearing?!
"I see my impressive visage has once again left you speechless, Hero." The figure tittered, lifting one spangled, gloved hand up to flick his snow-white hair out of his face. "Do not feel ashamed; the mere sight of my exquisite physique has brought greater beings than you to their knees in adoration…"
Well… Link didn't know about 'exquisite physique', but the person, whoever they were, was certainly attention-grabbing. He wore what looked like a full-body sleeveless spandex unitard that was strikingly white with diamond shapes cut out all over the legs and torso, showing off his disturbingly pale yet oddly muscular body underneath. His gloves, which extended to the elbows where they tapered off in points also had diamond patterns cut out of them, and he had cinched about his waist a golden sash with a blood-red jewel that was, you guessed it, diamond shaped. Link wondered for a moment if it was real.
The strange man also had on a dark red velvet cape that looked shredded near the end, and the inside was patterned with golden diamonds, giving the man the look of an oddly regal circus performer. Weirdest of all was his hair; white as the driven snow, his bangs hung down, completely obscuring the left half of his face, leaving only one ruby iris and half of his demonic smirk showing.
Link swallowed dryly, searching for his voice.
"Uh… Who the heck are you supposed to be?"
The figure's eyebrow rose in surprise.
"What? You forgot? What a boorishly simplistic memory you have. It is I… Lord Ghirahim."
There was a beat as if the man expected Link to react to this new information, but when Link made no comment he 'tsked' in a dissatisfied manner and flicked his hair out his face again.
"Well. Never mind that then. I see you're in quite the predicament, Hero."
Link gave the handcuff another tug and scowled up at the man. "Yeah. Wanna tell me what you have to do with it?"
A grin crept across Ghirahim's face and he placed a hand on his hip, examining Link with interest. "Well, now we do have some spark, don't we? Peace, Hero. No need to bite. I'm merely here playing messenger boy, as it were."
"Do what now?"
"Pay attention. I haven't time to repeat this twice." Strutting away from the table, Ghirahim, whoever he was, paced the length of the one-way window, examining it with interest. Or rather, examining his reflection. "I offer you a choice. You must decide now. Your answer may affect the fate of the world… You must be feeling so very important."
"What are you talking about?" Link asked, turning in his chair to follow his pacing, not wanting to take his eyes off of the mysterious figure. "And mind telling me who 'Lord Ghirahim' is and how in the Goddesses' name you got in here?"
Link gasped as Ghirahim's hand grasped his hair from behind and slammed his head back against the table. What? But- how?! He was right there in front of him a second ago! How'd he get behind him?!
"Not by their name, Hero." Ghirahim seethed venomously, their cheeks centimeters apart. "Never their name." For a terrifying moment, Link thought he was going to lick his ear, sharp pain arching through Link's neck and spine, but then he was gone again.
Panting, Link jerked upright, casting his eyes about for the psychopath. He found him leaning up against the furthest wall in the interrogation room opposite the door, his arms crossed across his chest, glaring up at Link through his bangs.
"I'll forgive your indiscretion this time. Take care that it does not happen again."
"I… but… what…?!"
"Now, as I was saying, I offer you a choice. Tonight, you'll be receiving a long-awaited visit from an old foe. He comes to seek his revenge on one who once thwarted him. He comes for you, Hero."
"Great." Link muttered, subconsciously straining against his handcuffs again, desperately wishing he was free of his shackles. "Thanks for the heads up."
Din, where did those police officers get to?! Was nobody paying attention to this?!
"Mmm," Ghirahim replied, though he clearly wasn't done. "Your choice: you may choose to face this threat, endangering yourself in one more futile battle against the endless march of fate, or you may choose to wait it out here in the relative safety of this squalid prison cell. Choose wisely… oh, but do remember: choosing to fight means accepting my help in getting out of here, but choosing to remain… means putting all your little loved ones in harm's way."
Ghirahim sneered dementedly and examined Link much in the same way a cat examines a cornered rat. Link felt a cold sweat break out over his body; accept this freak's help?! What in Farore's name did that mean? Was choosing this… thing any better than choosing death itself? But then… if he didn't choose… what of his friends? Aryll? Zelda? Granny?
Why?! Link raged at the heavens, suddenly irritated, Why is this happening again?! I did your dirty work! I've been through Hell, I saved the world! What more can you possibly ask of me?!
Before he could blink, the world went white, and Link remembered…
An ethereal forest… golden light… a little girl with a reed flute…
And a warning from the Goddess Farore herself.
"…Your destiny is not yet over, Hero. There is a great and ancient evil in the land, one whose memory has all but been wiped from the world, and it is rising once more… when the time comes for you to take up your heroic mantle once more, you must seek out your other half, for without it you cannot hope to win. She is the key to your victory."
Link blinked, confused. He had had… a vision? No… No, a memory… a memory of a dream, that had been hidden from him until the time was right… Until he needed to act…
Find his other half… He hadn't understood her then, but he did now. He knew what he had to do. Well… part of it.
"Do try not to doze off, Hero. This is really quite serious." Came Ghirahim's dry voice from beside the TV. He had moved again.
"I… What do you mean, accepting your help? How can you get me out of here?"
He grinned savagely. "I take it you're agreeing to my offer?"
"I want to hear your plan first."
"It's simple," Ghirahim instructed, waving his hand through the air. A jet black stone materialized over the table, slowly setting itself down into the scratched metal. It sported several jagged edges, though seemed to be made up of three segments, and the edges almost seemed to glow a faint orange. The pigment of the rock was so dark it seemed to suck in the surrounding light.
"All you must do… is touch the stone."
Link drew back, feeling a sense of foreboding coming from the object Ghirahim had somehow magically summoned into thin air… but then, that must have been how; he used magic. That was also how he was teleporting. This shouldn't be news; he'd seen Zelda do it, and so had Ganondorf there at the end in Sahasralah's office. But somehow, Ghirahim using magic seemed all the more foreboding. Bizarre and eccentric to the max though he be, he gave off the aura of one who was terribly capable.
Seeing the look of discomfort on Link's face, Ghirahim sighed impatiently and said, slowly walking towards the door, "If I were you, Hero, I'd act soon. Those foolish mortal guards ought to be back any moment now, and it would be a shame for them to see you trying to escape."
"Huh?" Link asked, confused.
With an amused laugh, Ghirahim raised a solitary hand and snapped his fingers. One of the links on his handcuffs suddenly snapped, leaving him with one of the cuffs still attached to his wrist and a few dangling links that jingled as he moved.
Link stared in shock, and with his attention occupied, Ghirahim vanished, his mocking cackle echoing off the walls of the tiny room. Before Link could wrap his mind around what happened, the doorknob began to rattle.
"I- huh?! Who's the dimwit who locked the door? Hey Poe, grab those keys!"
Link blanched. If those cops walked in and saw that his handcuffs were broken…!
Casting aside his fears and better judgment, Link lunged forward and grasped the stone in his hand.
The world went black.
Wrapping her arms nervously around her midsection, Anju Potts entered the Central Castleton Police Station, feeling terribly out of place. She'd never actually been inside of a police station, and though she'd seen them loads of times on those TV drama's Kafei teased her so much for watching, she'd never given much thought to what one looked like in reality.
If she was being honest, it was a little underwhelming. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but the lobby felt a great deal like the DMV; a lot of grumpy people being forced to wait for long periods of time on uncomfortable chairs. There weren't even any heavily tattooed scary looking biker dudes. She felt betrayed. Turning to vent her disappointment out on her boyfriend, she felt her heart plummet when she remembered nobody was there. Hence why she'd come to the Police Station in the first place. Or one of the reasons at least.
After leaving Zelda and Colin to flag down a taxi, Anju had peeled out in the direction of the police station (praise Nayru for the invention of smartphones and portable GPS!). She'd given Kafei and Cremia's phones one last call, just to be sure, but no dice. Zelda's pep talk had helped clear her head a bit, and while there was still that nasty little voice in her head telling her that Cremia was twenty times the woman she would ever be, she could now at least recognize it as a silly irrational fear and do her best to ignore it. It was hard, though.
It had taken her maybe twenty minutes to drive there from Anouki's Ice Cream, to her relief, and she'd taken that time to calm herself and drudge up what she was going to tell the police. About Kafei, in order to make her claim seem serious and not the ravings of a possessive teenage girl (she was still nineteen, thank-you-very-much) whose boyfriend had simply gone out for drinks with his buds. Also about the kids, though she couldn't give them much to go on. The tip about the hobo still might help though; she hoped it would. She felt so terrible for them… they must be so scared…
And about Link… Light, how was she supposed to find anything out to send to Zelda?
As she walked into the center of the lobby, nervously trying to decide what to do (did she just walk right up to the receptionist and ask? Was there some sort of number-pulling system? Why didn't television dramas show you important things like this?!), she noticed a tall, broad-shouldered gentleman with graying hair and a frazzled disposition talking in hushed tones with an officer, who didn't seem to be too happy with him. There was something oddly familiar about the man…
The officer made a curt statement and left the older man standing alone near the reception desk, a despondent slump to his shoulders. As he turned to face Anju, running a tired hand through his thinning hair, a lost look on his face, she felt her heart leap. She knew that man! It was Mr. Auru!
"Auru!" she called out, delighted, hurrying forward. There was something about finding somebody you knew that made strange, intimidating places seem less frightening.
He glanced toward her, curious, and she could see the blank look on his face as he took her in without recognizing her.
"Um… yes? Can I-?"
"Mr. Auru, it's me- Anju."
He still looked confused. She sighed, unable to feel anything but affection for Ordon's most popular teacher. "I graduated last year… Kafei Dotour's girlfriend?"
Recognition bloomed in his eyes, and he grinned broadly, delight casting away the gloom that had shadowed his face a moment before. "Why- Miss Potts! I hardly recognized you! I… what are you doing here at this ungodly hour?"
Anju grimaced. "Well… I… Kafei's gone missing."
Genuine sorrow flashed across his weathered features, and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Light... I'm sorry to hear that. It seems it's a bad night for Ordon High Alumni all around…"
"Yeah, what's going on with Link?" She asked, hoping he might give her some details that she could feed to Zelda. The poor girl must be outside of her mind with worry; she knew the feeling.
Auru quirked a quizzical eyebrow, looking surprised. "How did you hear about Mr. Hero?"
Panic gripped Anju's heart for a moment, and she felt like a complete and utter idiot for mentioning Link to Auru before realizing that her coming to hear of Link's arrest actually had nothing to do with her convincing Colin and Zelda to sneak out of the hotel in the dead of night to eat ice cream, even if they were with her when she'd found out.
"I, uh… i-it was on the news…" She stuttered nervously, hoping he didn't notice the way her whole face flushed red. Din, but it was hot in here! How did criminals get away with lying so much?! It was terrifying… and she wasn't even really lying!
Her old teacher groaned, massaging his face with his hands. His exhaustion was evident. The poor man must be going through a lot of stress right now.
"Great… I should have realized they would… but I had so hoped to have this cleared up before…"
"Is… Is Link in serious trouble?" Anju asked hesitantly. She hadn't actually given any thought to the 'why' behind Link's arrest; she'd had her mind occupied with other things, like Kafei, for one thing. But at the same time, the thought that Link would ever commit a crime serious enough to get him arrested was laughable. He was Link, for crying out loud! He was the second most reliable, trustworthy and genuine guy she knew, behind only her boyfriend.
At her question, Auru scowled darkly. "As to that, I don't know. These... these blasted police officers won't tell me anything! They keep saying I'm not his legal guardian! As if I wasn't granted temporary guardianship by his grandmother as per the school policy on field trips, but apparently that isn't worth anything here! I've just been sitting here like a stump, growing moss and getting nothing done! It's infuriating!"
Anju wasn't really sure what to say to that. She wasn't used to seeing Auru lose his cool. All she could think of was how she had nothing to report to Zelda.
"And it's not as though I haven't tried!" Auru continued, ranting more to himself than to her. "I've done about all I can short of calling up Rusl, but that's a last-ditch effort that I'm not willing to take right now-"
From somewhere within the police station, a woman let out a blood-curdling scream.
The sound was so sudden and unexpected, it made Anju jump and let out a small screech of her own. She and Auru whirled simultaneously to face the rest of the police station that extended beyond the front desk. Most of it was obscured behind walls or doors or blinded windows, the deeper confines held down hallways and the like, and Anju couldn't see what the source of the commotion was, but it seemed to be getting everyone's attention.
From somewhere towards the back, down a hallway she couldn't see but assumed was there, came the sound of frantic shouts and angry screams, smashing, banging, breaking glass, and every other kind of cacophony you could think of. Also, scratching. There was definitely something scratching against the dirty tiled flooring… But what? There was something familiar about the sound… she was sure she'd heard that sound somewhere before, but where?
Other officers and workers had moved to see what all the noise was about, and several of them let out gasps of surprise or bewildered exclamations. There was another shout and a crash down the hall, and the small crowd that had gathered to see what was going on began desperately tripping over each other to get out of the way.
A large grey blur burst from the hallway, bumping into a woman who let out a terrified shriek that nearly split Anju's ears, tossing a manila folder into the air and scattering papers like snow. The thing that had emerged from the hallway had slammed into a desk with a whimper, upsetting a wastebasket, and ambled in slow circles, seemingly disoriented.
"Somebody, catch that thing!" an angry voice bellowed from within the station, and the animal, which looked to Anju to be the largest dog she had ever seen, started as if frightened and began scrambling to get away. Well, she could finally put a name to the scratching sound; it was the dog's claws scratching on the tile, vying for traction.
But what was such a large dog doing running loose in the police station? Was it a drug dog? But then why was everyone shouting and scrambling like they were afraid? And that dog… it really was too large to be a dog…
A man made a swipe for the creature and it let out a savage snarl, teeth glistening dangerously under the electric lighting, snapping its jaws and forcing the man to yelp and jump back.
It's a wolf… Anju realized, her blood turning to frost in her veins. There was a wolf, a real-life, bear-sized wolf trapped with her in the police station… and it looked feral.
There was a loud bang, and the tile behind the wolf chipped, eliciting more screams and a shrill whine from the creature, and a voice yelled from within the building, "Don't shoot, you idiot! You could hit somebody!"
In the confusion and chaos, the wolf's gaze turned and locked on hers, and her breath caught. They were a startlingly clear cobalt blue. She felt her legs turn to jelly as its ears perked up and it began running… towards her.
She felt Auru seize her by the arms and pull her to the ground with a hoarse shout right as the massive animal reached the secretaries desk. In a single bound it leaped atop the wooden piece of furniture and launched itself clear over Anju and Auru's heads, landing on the floor behind them with a heavy thud and bolting towards the glass doors. With a crash of tinkling glass, the wolf plowed straight through the window pane and vanished out into the night.
Panting heavily, Auru scrambled to his feet and said, in a dazed sort of way, "What in Farore's name was that?"
Anju didn't know how to answer. It wasn't until later that she remembered that the wolf had been wearing a handcuff on his foreleg.