The little voice at her ear says "Hey, look!" and then dissolves into fits of uncontrollable giggles.
The fairy's name is Zee and she perches in the folds of Esmelda's hood as they make their way into town in the early afternoon of a brilliant day.
The fairy was a surprise for Esmelda, and in general for Hyrule, as they are rarely seen outside the glades and grottos of hidden places. There are rumors that fairies can heal any wounds, lead a person to treasure and even extend the span of one's life. But the truth is hard to know as they hate to be captured. However if one gains their loyalty there is no more solid friend in life.
Now they approach the great wall of the town and the arch that is built into it. The blue crest of Hyrule is inset on each side of the entrance and through it can be heard the laughter, the yelling, the haggling, the muted beat of the heart that is the creature called civilization.
"Now straight through the arch," calls Zee in her high pitched sing-song voice.
Esmelda can fell the path under her feet change to cobblestone, but she pauses and puts a hand out on the wall to steady herself. I can do this, she thinks, no one can see my hair, they don't know who I am. But she is still afraid and her heart beats nervously.
"Hey, its okay, Esmelda. Just take it slow. I'll guide you through." "Okay," says Esmelda, so nervous she can hardly speak.
With Zee whispering the details Esmelda enters the town proper.
The humans of Hyrule differ in many aspects from their more exotic counter-parts. The Zora inhabit the glittering-blue world of their underwater caves; they add only carved symbols and things wrought from aquatic life. The Goron keep to the earth and mould and shape the rock into great caverns. They have statues and engraved murals but no true architecture. The elves dream their dreams in the green world of the forest. They have simple huts and dwellings that sit among the canopies of trees that brush the sky and mesh well with the living things of nature.
But the humans? The children of Hyrule had been borne on the grassy plains, at the feet of soaring mountains. These were nomadic people born to dream of wide horizons; of toothy peaks piercing the sky and of rolling hills that stretched forever in undulating grassy waves. They raised homes big and solid, a proclamation of the human soul that other races likened to a raised fist shaking at the sun.
Hyrule town, rebuilt after the Gerudo War, is full of straight lines and solid craftsmanship. There are no fanciful designs save the few artistic decorations, only square buildings and larger, square market places. Every bit built stone by stone, block by block with not a single crack in-between.
Esmelda has no inkling of this, only what her imagination can call up from Zee's descriptions. And what does a fairy know? She spends more time laughing at the colorful dresses and little dogs that run around.
They reach the bustling center of town when it all suddenly grows too much for Esmelda. The expectations of hitting something has made her skin tingle, and what more she misses the quiet and solitude of the castle. "Zee! I…..I need to sit down somewhere."
The fairy giggles a bit, but clutches Esmelda's red locks and peers around. "Ahh you poor girl. There's a bench over there." Together they go to sit down.
They are on the edge of the open plaza, and in the middle of it is a clownishly dressed man surrounded by young children. As Esmelda sits clutching the folds of her robe she listens to the man entertain his young audience.
"And his eyes flashed red! And his hair flamed in orange fire! He had Zelda clutched in one hand and a dark sword in another. His smile was evil. Evil! All was dark then and Hyrule was doomed." The man pauses and there is a collective silence with all the children gazing raptly. "And then the door crashes inward and there's a bright flash and you know who stands there with his great sword and shield in hand?"
The children all gasp and in unison yell "the Hero of Time!"
The story-teller snaps his fingers and says "Yes! Link! The monster-slayer, the kingdom saver! The Evil vanquisher, the maiden rescuer. The Hero of Time!" And he takes a stance with an imaginary sword and shield. "The Hero yells out 'Gannon!' and Gannon snarls and hurls a fireball as big as a house at Link. But Links not afraid and he stands bravely and swings his sword like this." The man makes a big whoosh with his imaginary sword and the kids all yell madly. When the noise dies down he resumes his tale.
"Zee," asks Esmelda, "did you ever meet this hero, Link?"
"The Hero of Time?" Hey, I'm not that old! Besides I heard he hasn't been seen in ten years or more. One of my sisters did long ago and she said that he's kind but rarely smiles. But to tell you the truth I heard he once put his fairy in a bottle so I wouldn't want to personally meet him. Why?"
"Because, Zee, of who I am. This Gannon, he was my king, our king, ex-king. I don't know. I know he's dead and was responsible for a lot of bad things but he's my only connection to the Gerudo. I just would like to talk to Link because I figure, you know, he would know him best being his enemy." But secretly she has no faith that it will ever happen. The legendary hero has been missing so long that some people have forgotten who to thank when the anniversary of Hyrule's liberation comes around. And to Esmelda, Link is like the moon; there but forever out of reach.
Meanwhile Zee has grown bored and starts to get restless. Fairies are naturally curious and Zee is no exception. "You stay here and listen. I'm going to fly around."
"But….but what if you don't come back?" asks Esmelda, starting to panic. "Hey, I'll be back, I promise," counters Zee and flies off.
One of the magical properties of the fairy is the power to exist at the edge of sight. This power works because the longer a person lives the more callous they become to the mundane sights of the world. The busy adults of the market go about their day blanking out the stone walls, rustling trees and the manic traffic of everyone else. The fairies simply float in this background, in plain sight but out of mind.
But not children. Zee buzzes around, playfully touching objects and flittering by the ears of distracted adults. One child, who dances artlessly at the edge of the plaza, notices a bouncing ball of light and runs after it gleefully. The little boy finally catches the thing in his hands. His eyes sparkle with joy as he open his fingers.
There are some pieces of art that grow in beauty the longer you gaze at them. Like how a forest can become a single, branching vein on a sun-drenched leaf. A painting can be an exquisite scene of art, but then you look closer and see the details of the face or the eyes, and you look closer still- and there- the individual strokes of color, each the foundation of unified whole.
So the little boy gazes into his hand at the little ball of light that becomes a tiny girl with a wild blue dress and translucent wings that catch the light and sparkle. But he peers closer and through the mass of tangled, golden hair is a face that is both young and ancient, smiling up at him with a grin of great enjoyment. And he is caught strong so that his gaze goes deeper, falling into the small fairy's eyes. They seem to grow bigger and bigger in his mind until they are great portals of black with dancing irises of purple. And deeper the boy falls until the portals of the fairy's eyes dissolve to reveal a vast sky of night filled with blazing stars and distant planets.
This vastness is too much for the boy and as he stumbles onto his butt the town comes back into focus. The fairy flies away, trailing the fading sound of mischievous laughter. Years later the boy will become a great thinker of philosophies, influenced by this random encounter with an almost infinite expanse of universe; but for now his new toy has gone away and he cries grumpily.
Zee soon loses herself in all the sights and sounds of the town and forgets about Esmelda.
After an hour of waiting Esmelda grows more nervous and calls out "Zee? Zee!" But there is no answer and she can feel the sun getting low in the sky. "Oh, why did I trust that stupid thing? I'll never make it to the landing and the Queen will know I failed."
In despair Esmelda stands up and calls louder "Zee!" A few people turn their heads but soon lose interest.
"What'll I do?" Zee whispers to herself. The noise of the town is like a buffeting blanket and she can't remember which direction she came from.
The noise swells. She takes a few steps and someone bumps into her. "Watch where you're going girl!" says a rough voice. "Sorry" she mumble, head down. Afraid to draw attention, afraid to miss her promise to Zelda, afraid to even move a foot- Esmelda stands still as hundreds of people flow around her- all alone and lost.