Chapter Four
Link and Erza stood in front of the giant statue that blocked the entrance to Death Mountain Crater. Behind them was Gorgama the sentry, as well as Gorgamit, the goron elder.
Both warriors were fully decked out in their fire themed armor. Link's Goron Tunic and Erza's Fire Empress Armor would highly benefit them in this upcoming battle.
Link, wearing his silver gauntlets, pushed the statue. A small entrance appeared, but it had another boulder blocking it. Erza and Link went inside, while Gorgama pushed the statue back into place.
Navi came out of Link's cap and lit up the room. "Link, I can't believe you're using me as a torch!"
Erza and Linked laughed lightly. Link pushed the boulder outwards and Erza covered his back while they exited. It seemed like none of the monsters had wasted their time by clawing at the boulder.
The strongest female mage in Fairy Tail was now inside of Death Mountain Crater. Like Link had said, it was burning hot. She knew that if it weren't for her armor she would be burning up. She wasn't sure what the skill level of the monsters here in Hyrule was, but she was on full alert. Behind her Link was pushing the boulder back into place.
"You ready?"
"Of course."
The two young warriors walked forward at full alert. Just from their current location they could see beasts across from the broken bridge, as well as a couple mingling at the top entrance.
Erza was confused as to what the beasts were. To her relief however, none of the creatures she saw were the zombie looking things from her short stay at the castle.
Link was confused as well, but for him, it was more of why the things were here. While he could see that there were a couple Lizalfos around, and the annoying Keese hadn't noticed him yet, there was also a Club Moblin at the entrance of the Fire Temple.
"Link! Be careful okay?" The worried voice of Navi brought him back to reality.
"Don't worry Navi, Erza here is my back up."
In a softer voice than before Navi replied, "I wish I could help Link too."
Erza looked at the two and was reminded that these two were really close. From what Link had told her, fairies were like family. They lived with you, ate with you, and fought beside you. To her that meant they were family, like her and her guild.
Link smiled at the fairy, "Navi can be surprisingly cute when she's jealous."
Erza caught that and laughed nonchalantly as she saw the fairy…. Blush? It glowed red, so she assumed it did.
The light flew around Link at fast speeds, "Sh-shut up Link!"
Erza was about to comment when she saw another fairy coming at her. Is there a Kokiri around here? Before she could say anything though, Navi turned towards Erza and flew at full speed towards her face. Erza without thinking, acted on instinct and jumped back allowing Navi to just fly by, but quickly after Navi flew by, that red fairy turned out to be a bat creature… on fire!
"What th-"
"Hyaah!" "Gryaa!"
Before her sentenced had finished, a sword had cleaved the bat in half.
"Good job Navi! As always you're so fast."
The mage realized that she was being attacked by a monster and not being greeted by a fairy.
"Thank you fairy." Erza bowed to Navi quickly.
"I- I didn't do anything great, just taking care of you two." Once again the fairy was getting flustered.
Erza smiled at the fairy while Link blatantly laughed out loud. So she likes getting compliments from Link, and isn't used to being appreciated Titania mused to herself.
Erza turned to Link, "I apologize for not being aware of those creatures."
Link shrugged, "It can't be helped. You're not from here, so I can understand." He walked towards the edge of the cliff, and Erza could see that at the center of the volcano was a pig warrior just walking around, and further down at a broken bridge was another one. Furthermore, a last one was at the entrance deeper into the volcano.
"Erza, those creatures over there are called Moblins. They carry spears and will ram you with them at incredible speed backed with unbelievable force."
Erza nodded at them, but how would Link make it there in the first place?
Link added in, "It's best to dodge first and counterattack soon after."
She had already assumed so, but hearing a confirmation made her feel better.
"I think it'd be easier if you flied over and attacked from there. Meanwhile, I can go clear the top entrance."
"Divide and conquer? Makes sense."
Navi flew near Erza, "I'll go with her, just in case there are any complications, I can help."
Link nodded. Erza was about to ask if he needed a lift, when out of Link's gauntlet a chain flew out and stuck itself to a post and dragged him there.
"Always full of surprises huh?" Erza commented.
Link approached the Lizalfos as stealthily as possible. Without making a sound, his Master Sword came at the back of the first monster.
"Raaaa!"
The other three Lizalfos quickly reacted to their comrade's cry. The four of them had already split up and circled Link.
Surprisingly Lizalfos tended to not all attack at once. Instead they took turns attacking him, but still they switched on and off. Link neared his opponent, the first Lizalfo he had attacked and waited for it to lunge at him.
The Lizalfo jumped over him, and Link quickly pulled his shield to the side to block the incoming attack. As soon as the clash was heard though, the next Lizalfo was already lunging at him.
Link jumped to the side, not blocking, but evading and lunging with his own sword forward. The Lizalfo felt the stab, but jumped away.
The next Lizalfo was swinging at Link. The Hylian warrior jumped away and spun with his sword parrying the Lizalfo, but also attacking the other beasts.
Despite agreeing that they made a good team, Link and Erza were fighting separately. Although Link was fighting, Erza felt like she was just taking advantage of these creatures. They were strong, that was for sure, just from the way they walked, she could see the pebbles shake at their feet.
However, with her flying capabilities, they didn't stand a chance.
She saw their spears, and while they were a great counter to Link's swords, they were completely inefficient to any form of ranged weapon. Although she had no magic fire to spit out, she still had a couple weapons.
As she was looking through her inventory to think of something to choose Navi yelled out.
"Watch out!"
A bat creature came at her again. Instead of dodging this time though, Erza simply sliced it in half without much effort. Link wasn't the only one with incredible strength.
She flew away from the Moblins, with Navi in tow.
"Where are you going? The Moblins are down there."
"Yeah, but those bat things will keep getting in the way of my aim, and I don't want to risk any of my javelin's missing."
If her attack missed, her weapon, would get stuck there and to retrieve it she would have to risk being within range of the pig's spear.
Navi was surprised at Erza's speed. The red head could fly, and fast. She followed behind, not wanting to get to close to the Keese.
The fairy stared at her as she wiped through the creatures with ease. She really is on Link's level. Are all people from Fairy Tail this powerful? Navi was wondering just what kind of world was Fiore. One of the reasons the fairy had gone with Erza was to gauge her strength. Of course her primary objective was to aid Erza with knowledge and warnings in any way possible, but Link could have done that too. She had taught him well. No, when she volunteered to help the red head, it was to see her proficiency with weapons, magical arsenal and overall capabilities. Not just anyone was allowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Hero of Time.
Link was a humble man. However, Navi was well aware of his achievements. If someone wanted to travel with him, they had to be able to take care of themselves and not burden the warrior.
Fairies were real. That thought really threw the strongest female in Fairy Tail off. Her guild had the saying, "Do fairies have tails?" It wasn't a literal question. It was more of a critical question. One that pushed people to think, and to realize that there are mysteries in the world that have no antecedents and one is suppose to go on adventures to discover such events.
The way Link and his fairy interacted was very odd. The fairy seem to be really protective of him, even now she could feel how the fairy's eyes were on her. Still, she had no ill feelings towards the fairy, she was sure that her friends would be wary of Link if he just started hanging out with them. Especially with his strength and no doubt if they found out he's slain a dragon before.
Truly, Link was something else. She could literally not even say that he was human.
Finally clearing the skies of all the bat monsters, she flew above the pig creatures. She closed her eyes and searched her armory.
Normally she would just summon whatever she wanted to her hand; however, since the Spirit King had sealed most of her weapons and armors, she currently had to search through her armory that was for the most part sealed. It was like going through a store, but with most the items on reserve. She had them, but she couldn't access them and therefore had to browse over them.
What was a regular occurrence now became harder than normal. It wasn't enough to cause her danger in battle, but it was a small burden.
Finally finding a suitable heavy javelin, she flew near the first pig creature and throwing it with tremendous strength simply plowing through its head.
According to Link these things were extremely strong; however, they were susceptible to long range attacks.
She flew in fast and recovered her weapon, to repeat the process.
The final Lizalfo fell and his body disintegrated leaving behind rupees. Link walked over and picked them up. Not for any reason in particular, but just out of habit. He looked from his high vantage position that Erza was also clearing the moblins. Only one Moblin was left standing, and he was simply guarding the entrance to the Fire Temple with his powerful club.
Why is it protecting the Fire Temple and not helping out its fellow beasts? Link had been thinking this from the very beginning. A Club Moblin was rare, and they were more like guardians. They fended off intruders. Obviously something important was behind him: the entrance to the Fire Temple.
Seeing as how Erza was almost done, he pulled out his Ocarina and started playing the Bolero of Fire. His body was enveloped in magic and soon he was standing in the center of the crater with Erza and Navi flying above him.
The red headed mage was landing next to him, when he pulled out his fairy bow and let out three quick arrows one after the other, leaving only marginal time between them. Erza was impressed. She noticed that after shooting an arrow, he used his Re-Equip magic to have the next arrow ready to fire.
"You're an archer too?"
Link smiled sheepishly at her. "Yeah, I've been training a couple of the trainees back in Kakariko Village."
"You're Clare's master?"
Link's face grew red with embarrassment.
"Link doesn't like being called master. Helping out others shouldn't require a title. Right Link?"
Erza smiled at learning one more fact about her elven looking friend. "Does that make all of them Navi?"
The fairy was surprised at being addressed, noticeable by how she flew back a couple inches, but quickly answered. "Yes, now we should head to the entrance to meet Biggoron and let him know of the good news."
Link nodded his head. He turned to look at the distance from the center of the crater, to the entrance where he was just at two minutes ago.
Erza saw the sigh he let out, and an idea struck her. Flapping her wings for flight, she flew behind Link and lifted him up by his armpits, clearly freaking out the Hylian.
"Gah!"
A melancholic feeling overcame Navi as she wished she could carry Link around too. She quickly ignored it and instead laughed. The blonde hero of time always reacted the same way when Kaepora the owl lifted him in the air.
Erza finally having reached the entrance, dropped Link, and he graciously landed on his boots.
The Hylian gave Erza a pointed look, "I could have made it you know."
She smirked, "This was faster."
He laughed, "Yeah yeah. Let's just get out and talk to Biggoron, we need to get the boulder down to Kakariko Village soon."
Erza didn't reply, but her grin spoke for her. She followed behind as Link exited the crater, and his outfit changed from his red tunic, to his green one.
She closed her eyes and focused on returning her armor back and replacing it with her usual breast plate and skirt.
The inside of that crater was definitely hot, and she was glad that the Celestial King had only sealed most of her armors instead of plain out all of them.
Link finally stepped out and saw the giant goron. He heard a small gasp from behind. Of course no one expected the goron to be so huge. Even he was surprised that a goron could grow so big. Still, he walked up to the giant goron and spoke up, "Hello Biggoron!"
The giant turned and grinned. "Brother Link!" The voice almost shook the walls. "I'm so glad you're here! Us gorons are in desperate need of your help once more."
"It's already been taken care of brother." Link replied. "I will be needing a favor from you old friend. Actually two."
"Anything you need Link."
Erza was listening, when she realized that the fairy Navi was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. She wondered where the fairy could be. She was walked up to Link who was giving a sword to his goron friend. "Link, where did Navi go?"
The giant goron looked at the woman. "Who is this Link?"
"Ahh, sorry. This is my friend Erza."
Erza was glad to be considered his friend, "Hello sir."
The giant expected her briefly and nodded. "Hello warrior, please take good care of my brother."
A slight blush came across her face. Take care of? "Uhh…"
"No teasing brother."
The giant laughed. "Sorry Link."
Link turned back to Erza. "Hmmm.. I can feel Navi's energy nearby. I think she's visiting the great fairy."
It still surprised Erza how little she knew of this world. What's a great fairy?
Seeing the questioning look, Link walked away. With little choice, the mage followed behind, leaving the giant goron and sword behind.
They came upon a wall. Wondering what was going on, she saw as Link walked up to it and pull out a bomb from his pouch. He quickly jumped back and the explosion opened a crack in the mountain.
"Are we going back into the crater?"
She was ready to switch out to her Fire Empress Armor, but Link waved her worries away. "That won't be necessary."
She wasn't sure what to say, but followed him as he walked in. The odd tunnel soon changed and then there was a beautiful room inside. She looked astonished and could literally feel the magic power that just roamed the room. Up ahead at a fountain was a half nude magenta haired woman speaking with Navi.
"Link!" The fairy quickly turned and saw them both.
"Navi, why did you leave!"
"I'm sorry Link, but I felt the Great Fairy of Power calling me."
Erza looked at the half nude woman again. Apparently a Great Fairy was humanoid, while a regular fairy was like Navi.
"Ohh. And who might this be?" The Great Fairy of Power looked at Erza, and smiled.
Erza felt odd. It wasn't a malevolent look, but it was definitely not a simple once over. The Great Fairy of Power was holding her captive with a glance.
She walked forward, not wanting Link to introduce her. "I'm Erza Scarlet, mage of Magnolia." Her breast plate had a shine to it as her bust puffed forward, and her sword jingled in its sheath.
The Great Fairy kept looking at her. "I see. I'm glad to see Link has found a new friend." And with those words the tense air broke and she looked towards Link.
The young Hero of Time wasn't sure what that was about, but he didn't fear that the great fairy would cause harm. If anything, he was proud to see his friend stand firm.
"Yes, she's been of great help."
"That's great. Unfortunately, the reason I have called you isn't pleasant."
Link stiffened at that. "What's going on?"
The Great Fairy crossed her legs in the air. "I am the Great Fairy of Power, and while powerful I may be, I am no goddess." She took a moment and then continued, "However, I can feel it in the air. Hyrule is destined for a great tribulation."
Link couldn't comprehend what was being said. He had stopped Ganondorf, this shouldn't be happening.
"Whatever it may be, you must consult the Goddess' soon Link. As the Hero of Time you may be the only one who can stop this."
Erza looked at her friend, and could see his crestfallen face.
"I have no idea what predicaments you may find yourself in, but I can aid you if only a little in your journey."
Link looked up at her confused. The Great Fairy clapped her hands together, and when she was pulling them apart a sword was manifesting itself.
"This is the ultimate sword, blessed by myself the Great Fairy of Power. Wield it to discover its true power!"
The weapon floated towards Link's outstretched hands. His hand reached and grabbed the blessed blade.
Slowly he felt power course through him, and the few wounds he had from his scrimmage with the Lizalfos start to heal.
Erza stared wide eyed at the blade. A sword that could heal? She was amazed. Swords were weapons, meant to maim or kill, but before her was a blessed blade with the power to mend.
Navi flew towards the Great Fairy and bowed, or at least floated up and down. "Thank you Great Fairy. We will take great care of it."
The Great Fairy of Power however gave her a sullen look, "Do no thank me child, for this is the least I can do. I wish you the best of luck on this plight."
Link nodded still deep in thought.
Erza wasn't sure what to say. Being around Link the last two days had been fun, but she had failed to realize that Link had just been through hell and back before this. She walked up to him and smiled, "We should head back, they're waiting for us."
Link looked up and nodded. He followed slowly behind her as she exited the cavern with Navi taking the lead soon after.
The giant boulder that Link carried over his shoulders the whole way from the top of Death Mountain was more than enough to fortify Kakariko Village.
As Erza, along with Link, walked through the village no one looked surprised to see Link carry the boulder. She was once again reminded that Link was considered The Hero of Time. A couple kids seemed to want to run up to him, but their parents kept them at bay. Erza was relieved, she did not want to have to keep them away from Link, although she had full trust in Link, she wasn't sure if she could endanger the lives of others.
Full trust.
It was odd. Erza wasn't the kind to trust others easily. She trusted her guild mates, even Laxus had won her over at Tenrou Island. Other than that though, people seemed to betray her. Intentions aside, Jellal and even the others from the Tower of Heaven had betrayed her. She lived inside a shell for so long; it was only recently that she came out.
Erza walked along with Link, but realized that it wasn't just her who trusted Link. All these people, the villagers, the knights, the gorons, and whatever other races were out there, they all counted on Link. She turned to Link and saw him with the boulder on his back, carrying it, taking one step after another with his golden gauntlets holding the boulder over his shoulders. As Erza thought about all the hopes the people had in him, she felt like the boulder was heavier. She saw Link move on, but every step he took looked intense
She was considered by her guild mates "The Queen of the Fairies." Titania, they called her. But she realized that all that pressure she was under: the pressure of being an S-Class mage, the pressure of being the strongest female, the pressure of being of use around the guild, it was small compared to the pressure of an entire world. She wondered how Link could deal with it.
"Master!" Erza and Link turned to see Clare Grant walk out of a tent, followed by the knight Cody Rhodes. She blushed slightly, having read enough smut books to know what was going on.
Link looked to the side, boulder still on his shoulders and smiled slightly.
"Hello, Master Link." Sir Cody spoke up from behind Clare.
Erza saw both of them were outfitted in their gear. Clare even had her own bow on her back along with her quiver.
"We were just headed towards the front lines, we'll tag along." Clare followed in pace with Erza.
"So how was your trip Erza?" Clare spoke up.
Erza was surprised at the woman. She seemed a lot livelier than that night at the bar. "It was eventful. We've brought back the boulder to put in front of the town gates."
Clare pouted. "Boo. Boring."
Next to her Cody giggled. "Now, now Clare, don't try to embarrass the young master."
Erza flushed a bit. What were they expecting a young man and woman to do on an overnight trip?
Link spoke after taking a step. "Clare. You. Are. Going. To." Every step he took another word was said, "Have. A. Hard. Training. Session. Soon."
Clare paled, and Cody burst out in laughter.
Erza and the others walked along heading towards the front gate and saw two knights she wasn't familiar with.
They both seemed to be discussing something, and had their helmets off at their side. One of them looked different though, and it wasn't that one of them was older or that the younger one had a beard. It was what that they wore the traditional armor that Hylian soldiers wore, but with a major difference.
She noticed they had chain mail armor around their bodies and on top of that they proudly displayed the emblem of the Hyrule on a uniform shirt. To her, the emblem was the same eagle and three triangles in the center that was on Link's shield.
The difference between the soldiers however, was that the older male a cape as well. The cape was green in color and had the same emblem on the back in a golden color.
When the steps of Link were heard, the older knight with the cape announced in a thundering voice, "Master Link has arrived! Open the gates!" Then he turned to the other knight and spoke up, loud enough for others to hear but not as loud as before, "Get your men ready."
Next to Erza, Cody grabbed his own helmet and kissed Clare before heading off in the same direction as the young bearded knight. Clare smiled at Erza, "Showtime!" She grabbed her bow off of her back and headed towards one of the towers that stood at the sides of the gates.
Kakariko Village was protected at the entrance by mountains; therefore, it only had a narrow passageway as the entry.
Unbeknownst to Erza, the village formerly belonged to the Sheikah tribe; however, Impa had opened the village up to villagers and citizens alike. When hell on earth begun, Kakariko Village had a definite fighting chance of surviving if no one panicked. This was because the mountains protected the village. They weren't the types of mountains one could climb without specific equipment. The narrow entrance was the only way of getting in, aside from teleporting, and was heavily protected by dozens of knights as well as fortified.
Erza watched as a troop of soldiers decked in full armor, with lances, guided by the previous man she had seen, rushed ahead of Link and were waiting for the gates to open.
The other man, the one with the cape, walked up to Erza. "Hello young ma'am." He greeted politely. "My name is Sir Williams."
Erza smiled at him and shook his hand. "I am Erza Scarlet." As she finished saying this, the dozen men who had been opening the gates to the village were instantly followed by another two dozen men charging forward and attacking.
There were fierce cries and dreadful roars from the other side of the gates.
Erza pulled on her sword ready to join them, but the knight in front of her stopped her. "Please, everything is under control."
She stopped and looked ahead. Sure enough, everything was handled with precision. From her vantage point, she could see that the gates were at a higher elevation than the rest of the entrance to the village. There were monsters she had not encountered at Castle Town or inside of Death Mountain there.
She saw the two dozen soldiers rush forward with lances, each of them thrusting forward to push off any beast that got near them.
Behind the soldiers was Link, taking one step at a time with a boulder the size of the entrance on his back. It seemed his efforts were noted, because one of the soldiers yelled out, "Come on pussies. Don't look weak in front of Master Link."
Erza was calmly observing them when in her vision she saw them: the monsters from Castle Town that could freeze one with fear. She almost ran off again, when Sir Williams raised his hand and made her stop. She was about to protest when she heard a sound:
Thwosh. Thwosh.
The sound of air being split came to Erza's ears. As she followed the sound, she could see arrows flying from the towers. On each side two or three arrows pierced the winds. She followed their trajectory and saw the heads and bodies of the ReDeads being penetrated with them. Erza was satisfied that those creatures didn't get close enough. From her time in Castle Town, she knew that even if they were particularly weak, they were not to be taken lightly.
Everything seemed like a controlled exercise. Erza noted that while the beasts were repelled, Link would walk towards the front of the gates and drop the boulder to fortify the entrance. Not only were the soldiers staying in formation, they seemed to be working in perfect unison. She was sure that if this were Fairy Tail fighting off a horde, at least one of them would try to hog the glory and push forward on his own. She idly wondered if that was speaking ill of her friends, but decided that if it were Natsu or Laxus who did so, they would both be able to take care of themselves. With the hordes being fended off, the ReDeads being taken care of on sight, and Link carrying the boulder, it seemed like this was the perfect plan.
"!" Erza looked up at Sir Williams, who was actually quite tall and heavily built, "If Link drops the boulder, then how will the soldiers get back!"
The knight looked at her oddly. She wasn't sure how to read his eyes, but they seemed understanding and grateful? She kept waiting for an answer, but he turned to look at the small skirmish going on.
She turned to look at the soldiers and it looked like Link was getting ready to drop the boulder, and sure enough the soldiers were in front of him. She almost doubted Link, and thought he would leave them out there, but quickly chided herself. Link wouldn't sacrifice these men to protect the village… There was a pause, even in her head, because protecting the village was the first priority, but the lives of these men weren't unimportant.
"I believe that I have one life, and that I will give my life to help others…"
"He's a knight of Hyrule … the knights were all ready to lay down their lives…"
Those words rang in her ears. It was true that these men would give their lives for others, but she didn't want to accept the fact that they would do so.
This whole conflict in her was all for naught though. Once again arrows came flying from the towers. The knights all raised their shields in formation, and a huge flash of light came in front. Erza had to shield her vision, for even from this distance the light was powerful.
She heard the march of men, and could see the outline of the shields and spears. They were marching back in retreat, and ahead of them the beasts were all paralyzed and dazed. Quickly the men were safe behind Link, and then the sound of the huge boulder landing rang.
There was a moment of silence after the boulder landed, but then it was broken by an uproar of applause.
Erza turned around and saw that at least a hundred villagers had stood behind her. Of course they were at a safe distance, but they were all cheering and applauding. She turned to see Clare was halfway down the ladder of the tower, and then a knight ran up to the ladder. Erza saw the knight take off his helmet, and his brown locks came into view, next Clare jumped off and Cody caught her.
Erza smiled as did Link and Sir Williams the older knight.
Link and Sir Williams both exchanged pleasantries, and then the young bearded knight along with Scott the Innkeeper showed up behind. Cody carried Clare over, and finally Sir Williams spoke. "I see we're all here. I would like you all to follow me; it's time for our first official meeting."
Erza wasn't sure if she was included, but upon Link's encouraging smile, followed along with Navi.
It had been a long day for Erza. Fighting strange creatures, hearing an ominous prophecy from a Great Fairy, and finally a skirmish she had expected to end in death, was all pretty draining. A meeting should calm things down.