Chapter 9: Kai, the sage of time.

Everyone stared at the giant crystal in shock.

"Why is it so big!?" Zelda questioned. Medli walked closer to the giant crystal, and looked at it closely. She then gasped, and stood back in shock.

"This is…the banquet hall!" Medli exclaimed. Everyone looked at Medli in shock.

"The banquet hall? So, it disappeared here?" Vaati questioned. Medli hummed in thought.

"But why would the banquet hall be here?" Medli muttered.

"Maybe Kai is inside that thing." Makar presumed. Vaati shrugged.

"I wouldn't be too surprised. Whoever put this here must have gone through a lot of struggle." Vaati stated. Zelda drew an arrow of light.

"Leave this to me!" Zelda exclaimed. She then fired the arrow of light at the crystal, but nothing happened. Zelda looked at the crystal in shock. "What!? Why didn't that work!?" Vaati shook his head.

"This crystal was obviously made to prevent Kai from escaping. If it was like the other crystals, then he would have gotten out long ago. We need more light power than your bow of light." Vaati explained. Zelda groaned.

"Then what do we do?" Zelda questioned. Medli smiled.

"You are a princess with divine blood in you. You already possess powers of light." Medli stated. Zelda looked at her hands, and her eyes widened.

"I do?" Medli nodded.

"Of course you do! You should hand the bow of light to Link, and try using your powers together on that giant crystal." Medli suggested. Zelda nodded,

"Okay, but how do I summon my powers of light?" Zelda questioned.

"Try thinking back to that time when we fought Malladus." Link suggested. Zelda turned to him, and nodded. She then handed him the bow of light, and faced the giant crystal. Link aimed the bow of light towards the giant crystal as Zelda put her hands out in front of her. A golden light then surrounded her, and an orb of light appeared in front of her. They then shot the arrow and orb of light at the crystal. The arrow and the orb hit the crystal. The crystal glowed a golden yellow, and shattered. Everyone covered their heads as shards of the crystal rained down on them. Once the shower of crystals ended, they looked up at the banquet hall. The banquet hall looked damaged with all the windows broken, holes in the roof with vines growing on the walls. The front door was barely standing. Vaati whistled at the state the building was in.

"This place has definitely seen better days." Vaati stated. Zelda walked towards the entrance.

"We should head inside." Zelda stated. Everyone nodded, and followed Zelda into the damaged building. The inside of the hall was even worse than the outside. There were smashed tables, the walls were dented, and some of the beams had been broken. A broken statue could be seen at the end of the hall. A blue crystal could be seen in front of the statue. Link aimed the bow of light at the crystal, and fired. The arrow hit the crystal, causing it to shatter. The figure inside the crystal fell forwards, and landed face first onto the floor. Medli and Makar rushed over to the fallen figure, and crouched down beside him. The figure had long midnight blue hair that reached to his hips, and wore long white robes. His most noticeable feature was the pair of fox ears that adorned his head, and his tail. Medli started to shake the young man.

"Kai, KAI! Wake up!" Medli cried. Makar sniffled. He then gasped.

"Medli, look! He's injured!" Makar stated as he pointed towards Kai's chest. Medli gasped at the sight. Kai's chest looked bloody, and looked as if a sword went through it. Makar then held his hands out in front of him, and started to tend to Kai's wounds. Link and Zelda watched from afar.

"He's the sage of time?" Zelda questioned. Vaati nodded.

"Yeah, it looks like he went through a lot struggle here." Vaati told as he looked at the state of the building. He then looked back at Kai. Kai coughed, and slowly opened his ruby red eyes. Medli and Makar smiled as Kai looked up at them.

"…Medli…? Makar…? What…are you doing here…?" Kai breathed out. Medli hugged Kai as tears poured out of her eyes.

"We woke up here! We don't know how we got here, but we just are!" Medli cried out. Makar nodded. Kai looked at them with wide eyes. He then slowly got up, and groaned in pain as he did. Medli helped him sit up.

"Don't tell me…that you both were victims too." Medli and Makar nodded. Vaati walked over to the three sages.

"It's about time we found you. Exactly what happened 20 years ago?" Vaati questioned. Kai looked over at him. His eyes then widened, and he gripped his head. He then started to shake. Medli and Makar gave Kai sad looks.

"Maybe he should rest first before telling us anything. He's probably seen the worst of it." Medli stated. Vaati sighed, and nodded.

"Fine, but he will tell us everything once he's had some food, drink, and a bath." Vaati stated. Medli nodded, and was about to help Kai up, but he refused.

"I should be good." Kai stated. He then stood up, but fell over. Vaati caught him, and rolled his eyes.

"You are obviously not 'good'. We're taking you back to the train." Vaati told. Kai slowly nodded, then passed out. Vaati groaned, and picked him up. "At least use a smaller form if you're going to pass out!" Vaati shouted. He then sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to walk through that forest again." Everyone nodded. They then left the demolished building, and entered the forest. Zelda frowned at the darkness, and fired an arrow of light. Link looked at her in alarm.

"Um, Zelda? Didn't we leave a part of the forest covered in darkness to prevent that beast from awakening?" Link questioned. Zelda gave him a confused look. She then a look of realisation crossed her face.

"Oh! Um, heh heh, my bad." Zelda laughed nervously. A tic mark appeared on Vaati's head, and he scowled at her. Everyone then heard a raw, and saw that the beast had woken up. Everyone paled as the beast turned towards them. Link drew his sword, and looked up at the beast.

"Crap. Now we have to beat that thing. I can't exactly fight while carrying an unconscious person!" Vaati shouted.

"Then we'll have to run!" Medli shouted. Everyone nodded in agreement, and ran away from the raging beast. Zelda fired an arrow of light at it to slow it down. The beast cried out in pain, and swatted at Zelda. Zelda dodged the blow, and felt Link pull on her hand as they ran. The beast roared, and chased after the retreating group. Medli and Makar stopped, and turned around. Link looked at them in shock.

"What are you doing!?" Link questioned. Medli and Makar grinned.

"Doing our jobs!" Medli and Makar both replied. Vaati looked back at Link.

"Don't worry! They'll be fine. They were trained by Kai after all." Vaati stated. Link looked at him, and nodded. He, Zelda and Vaati then continued to run. Medli and Makar used their powers to stop the beast in its tracks. Medli split open the earth, causing the beast to fall in. Makar then summoned vines, and wrapped it around the beast to prevent it from climbing back up. Medli then picked up Makar, and chased after the others by flying. Link sighed in relief when he saw them.

"We've managed to keep that thing at bay for now, but we don't know how long our prison will last." Medli stated. Link nodded, and continued to run.

Meanwhile, the beast was chewing at the vines wrapped around it. The beast then managed to rip through a vine, causing the rest of the vines to go loose. The beast then climbed out of the pit it was in, and roared. Everyone groaned when they heard the beast's roar. They then smiled when they saw the train. Vaati slammed the door open, and rushed in along with everyone else. Link jumped into the conductor's booth, and started the train up. He looked towards the forest, and paled when he saw the beast leave the forest. The other's saw the beast, and paled. Vaati then poked his head out the window.

"Hurry up and start this F***ING TRAIN!" Vaati shouted. Link frowned.

"I'm trying!" Link shouted. Once the train was powered up, he slammed the gears into full movement, and the train drove off. The train got faster and faster as the beast chased after the train. Link frowned, and activated the canon on the train. Link aimed the canon at the beast, and shot it at it. The beast whimpered, and ran back into the forest. Link, and everyone else, sighed in relief at the beast's disappearance. Link drove the train back towards the giant they had met earlier. He then stopped the train when he saw the giant laughing while playing with some animals. The giant saw them, and smiled. The giant then waved at them. Link smiled, and hopped off the train. He then joined everyone else inside the train. "Is everyone okay?" Link questioned. Everyone looked at him, and nodded. Link smiled, then looked over at an unconscious Kai.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. He just passed out." Medli reassured. Link nodded. Zelda sighed.

"I'm glad that we're finally away from that thing." Zelda admitted. Vaati growled at her.

"You're the idiot who woke that thing up!" Vaati yelled. Zelda frowned at him.

"You don't need to be so rude!" Zelda shouted. She and Vaati then glared at each other. Link sweat dropped at them. Kai groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. Everyone looked at him as he sat up. Kai looked around, and covered his mouth.

"Oh god. Where am I?" Kai questioned. He then hurried outside. Link and Zelda looked at him in confusion while Medli, Makar and Vaati sighed.

"He has motion sickness, so he can't handle transportation all that well." Medli stated as she chuckled. Vaati nodded.

"Yeah, just being on a train causes him to get nauseous." Vaati stated. Link and Zelda sweat dropped. Everyone then walked outside, and saw Kai sitting down on the grass. Kai saw everyone looking at him, and smiled. He then waved.

"Hey." Kai greeted. Everyone smiled at him. They then walked towards him, and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" Medli questioned. Kai looked at her.

"I'm feeling fine. It's thanks to Makar that I feel better. But I could use a bath." Kai admitted. Medli laughed. Kai then looked at Link and Zelda, and smiled a sad smile. "So, you both are the new princess and hero?" Link and Zelda nodded. Kai looked down. He then sighed, and stood up. "I'm going to go wash off." Makar stood up.

"I'll go with you!" Makar offered, but Kai shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I need to be alone for a while." Kai then walked off. Makar sighed, and sat down. Vaati sighed.

"Geez, that idiot can really be a party pooper sometimes." Vaati told. He then stood up. "I'm hungry. We need to get started on dinner." Everyone nodded. Link stood up, and went off to go grab some fire wood while Zelda went inside the train to grab some food to cook with. As Link was collecting the firewood, he started to wonder. 'We've finally gathered the three sages. Now what? Do we go and find somebody else? Do we have to fight somebody? Sigh, this is getting complicated. Just when I thought that all the fighting was over too.' Link sighed. He then noticed a lake, and walked over to it. He then saw Kai bathing in the lake. Kai sighed.

"You really do look like him, you know?" Kai stated. Link jumped. He then looked down. "Even though you look like him, you're both nothing alike. He was so loud, and confident. You, you're shy, and quiet." Kai then turned towards Link. "Tell me, how is everyone back on the surface?" Link darted his eyes from Kai to the ground. Kai smiled. "You don't have to force yourself. I was just wondering." Kai then got out of the water, and grabbed used his magic to create a white tunic. He then dried himself, and wore the tunic. "We should get back to the others. I'm sure that they are waiting for that fire wood." Kai stated as he pointed to the wood in Link's arms. Link looked down at the wood, and nodded. Kai smiled, and ruffled his hair. Link's eyes widened at Kai's gesture, and he watched as Kai walked back towards the others. Link then followed behind.

Zelda looked up, and smiled when she saw Link and Kai. She stood up, and waved.

"Hey!" Zelda called out. Link smiled, and ran over to her. Link then crouched down, and put the fire wood down. "About time, what took you so long?" Link looked at her.

"I was listening to Kai." Link muttered. Zelda looked at him, then giggled.

"You're so shy!" Zelda stated as she prodded Link's cheek. Link blushed in embarrassment, and frowned. He then grinned at Zelda. Kai watched them with interest.

"They're pretty close, aren't they?" Kai questioned. Medli walked over to him, and nodded. She then looked over at Kai.

"Are you sure you're doing okay?" Medli questioned. Kai sighed, and looked down.

"Losing those close to you can hurt a lot. But losing them twice, is something that you can never get over." Kai stated. Medli frowned. She then smiled.

"If it makes you feel any better, Niko is still alive." Kai looked at Medli in shock.

"No way, really!?" Medli smiled, and nodded. She then grabbed his hand, and walked over to the fire where Zelda was cooking some fish and some carrots, and mushrooms.

"You can tell us what happened 20 years ago when you're ready." Medli told. Kai looked away, and nodded.

"I'll tell you after dinner." Kai and Medli then sat down with the others. Kai looked at Vaati, and frowned. "Where's Shadow?" Vaati looked over at him.

"He's still up on the surface. He was helping me on my research on finding you guys." Vaati told. Kai nodded. Zelda flipped over the fish, and stirred the carrots and mushrooms. She then nodded in satisfaction, and plated the food. She then handed everyone a plate each of food. She then held a plate out for Kai. Kai looked down at the plate.

"You must be hungry, right?" Zelda questioned. Kai looked at the plate, and grabbed it. "You've been asleep for twenty years, so you must be hungry." Kai nodded, and started to eat the food on his plate. Zelda sighed, and started to eat her own food. Link rested his hand on her shoulder, and smiled. Zelda smiled back. Once everyone was finished, Zelda gathered the plates, and put them to the side. Everyone then looked at Kai expectantly. Kai sighed, and clenched his hands together.

"Well? You going to tell us what happened 20 years ago?" Vaati questioned. Medli hit him.

"Don't rush him! I'm pretty sure he's had the worst of it." Medli scolded. She then looked towards Kai. "You don't need to rush. Take your time." Kai nodded. He then sighed.

"It all started with a feeling…"

AN: Cliff hanger! Ha ha ha! I know that was mean of me, but the truth about 20 years ago is about to be revealed! I can't just throw it out there! You'll have to wait for the next chapter (Which won't be that long) Anyway, stay tuned! See ya!