Start time: Friday September 14, 2007; 8:51 PM PDT
Here's chapter ten. I thought that I might as well get started on it, since I've just been hit with another creative tangent (see SirJoshizzle(dot)BlogSpot(dot)com(slash)2007(slash)09(slash)uber-creative-tangent(dot)html). And because it's a personal goal of mine that I get this chapter done and up before the end of the weekend.
Because you care and you find my life interesting, my Japanese teacher Hasegawa-sensei keeps telling me to enter our school's team for Japan Bowl. Japan Bowl is a Japanese speech and written competition held every year in Washington, DC if I'm not mistaken, and my school ranks rather highly every year. She keeps saying in her Engrish accent, "Eria-san! You should enter Japan Bowl this year! It is very good experience! Gambatte ne, Eria-san? Bring pride to Moosu Kookoo!" But I'm like, "Ahh, I don't know… Three hundred dollars for the trip is a lot to shell out." So I'm still undecided. But if I don't do it this year, then I promised her I'd go out for Japan Bowl next year.
Anyway, that's it for the life update. Fanfiction wise, check out my new oneshot I'll Be There. It's loosely based on this (though it can pretty much be applied to a lot of other contexts), and it reveals a lot about Zelda's character from Link's point of view. A lot of the lines may be vague, but as AWoL progresses, they'll become clear.
Anyway, here's chapter ten.
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Goron Palace, Master Office. New Goron City, Fire Prefecture.
Date: Saturday June 23, 2007.
Time: 9:47 AM. 35 Hours and 13 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"…Link…"
Huh?
"Link, wake up."
Is that one of the Great Fairies calling me? Am I… dead?
"Wake up, Link… It's me, Zelda…"
Zelda… Is that really you?
I slowly open my eyes, and even though my vision is still blurry, I can recognize those purple eyes anywhere. Sure enough, that's Zelda.
I squint my eyes, trying to filter out as much light out of my eyes as I can before fully opening them. I wipe slight tears away with my wrist, and I feel Zelda's soft fingertips brush my bangs out of my face.
I inhale and exhale huffs of air heavily; the air in the room in which we fought Darunia was just too humid for me to take in… Darunia! What happened!? Did she get him? Where is he now?
"Zelda…" I whisper in a hoarse voice, but she presses her index and middle fingers to my dry, cracked lips.
"Don't worry," she shakes her head. "I… I killed him. I killed Darunia."
I let out a sigh of relief, smiling as I do so. But my inner celebration is cut short when I catch sight of her dark frown. I slowly reach up to her face, wiping away the dirt on her cheek.
"Where is he now?" I ask her quietly.
"I… I rolled him off the side of the platform…" She replies in an equally quiet voice. "Into the lava."
My eyes go wide at her answer. She did what!?
"I had to," she shrugs. "Everyone in the palace plus the guards was expecting us to come over here to meet him. If they found him dead on the floor, guess who they'd point their fingers to."
"Zelda…" I guess she does have a point. But what are we going to say when we leave the palace? Then again, Zelda must have thought about that too.
I slowly lift my head and look down at my body, and I see that a red leather fabric is covering my torso… A fire jacket? Zelda isn't wearing one… Is this hers?
"When Darunia died, the temperature returned to normal," she tells me. "It's as if a battle didn't even take place in here."
I look around, and she's right. Other than the rocks that litter the ground, the room looks like when we first came in here.
"But what about you?" I ask. "You don't have a jacket."
"It's not that hot in here as I thought it would be," she shakes her head. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"How about you?" She asks. "How are you feeling?"
I lift my head off of her lap, and I try to prop myself up, struggling a bit. She helps me a little, and I manage to sit up, stretching my arms and legs a bit.
"I'm okay," I crack my neck slightly. "A little sore… But nothing I can't handle."
"Okay," she nods. She rises to her feet, wiping the dirt off her skirt and arms. She walks over to stand in front of me and extends her hand out. "Here."
I accept her hand and she helps me stand up to my feet and dust off my clothes. We then walk towards the iron door and push it open, making a loud, echoing creaking sound as it moves.
The first things that catch my attention are the fireplaces to the left… They're not lit anymore. Then again, Darunia did say that as long as the Fire Sage was around, all the fire inside the temple would not go out. We walk down the stairs and towards the front door, exiting the palace.
"Where do you think the next statue is?" Zelda asks me.
"It should be near," I reply. "This is the Fire Temple after all."
We continue to walk down the path leading to the palace's front gates, walking past the marble fountain and statue we passed by on our way inside the front foyer… Wait a minute.
I stop walking and I turn around to face the fountain. It really is magnificently detailed. A perfectly round basin with six statuaries modeled after Hylian Loaches on the edges with water squirting out of their mouths and into the fountain. The centerpiece of the fountain is a probably seven-foot model of a woman playing a handheld harp, holding it with her left hand and plucking the strings with her right.
"Link?" I hear Zelda's voice say my name behind me, followed by her footsteps. "What's wrong?"
"This is it," I say. "This is the statue."
The Opus of the Goddess Nayru.
"Are you sure?"
"It has to be," I shrug. "Unless you see any other statues around here. Any statue that looks nearly as nice as this one."
My eyes wander from her soft facial features to a plaque at the base of her pedestal with the text glowing blue from another backlight.
The Opus of Her Imperial Highness, the Goddess Nayru
Her vast wisdom gave birth to the physical law of this earth
The melody of her Harp of Ages soothes the faithful and transcends time
Wisdom gazes towards our rescue
The sculptor is as cryptic as ever with these little messages, as always.
"…So what do you think, Zelda?" I break the silence between us, glancing over to her. "Any ideas?"
"…The last four statues were somehow related to the temple it pointed to. The Ookami Rinku alluded to light and time, the Ecstasy of Farore talked about wind and the forest, the Flamenco of Din did fire…"
"But?"
"This one doesn't talk about the Water Sage or the Water Temple… I don't think it does, anyway. Only music and time. We were already at the Temple of Time…"
"You think the Water Sage is there too?" I raise an eyebrow. It might be a possibility; Agahnim never said the Sages would be in their respective temples… Just that we had to track them down in the elemental cycle.
"I'm not sure," she shakes her head. "Maybe… We'll keep thinking, but the Temple of Time again is a good backup."
I let out a soft sigh and turn around to sit down on the marble finish of the basin, dipping my right hand into the fountain trailing my fingers in the clear water.
…My eyes widen as I stare at my reflection in the water. How could I have been so stupid? This isn't just a statue…
It's a water fountain.
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Hylia Square, Hylia Station Exit. Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture.
Date: Saturday June 23, 2007.
Time: 10:02 AM. 34 Hours and 58 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"Man, where the hell is Link?"
Sheik and Malon walk up the stairs from the the Hylia Station exit and into the hustle and bustle of the Hylia Square intersection.
"He's probably with Princess Zelda again," Malon shrugs. "Don't worry about him so much."
"I guess…" Sheik sighs as the two join the thousands of others gathering on the sidewalks, waiting for the pedestrian crossing lights to turn green. "What do you think his relationship with Zelda is?"
"That's Princess Zelda," Malon corrects him, to which he just rolls his eyes. "And why do you care about that?"
"As if you don't wonder it yourself," the Sheikah chuckles. Malon giggles at that.
"You got me there… I don't know," she smiles softly.
"Link is a pretty brave guy, but no way does he have in him to pull the moves on a girl like the princess." Sheik chuckles.
"But Link is a pretty good lookin' guy," Malon shrugs. "You think she'll be interested in him?"
The blonde laughs at that. "I doubt it. Princess Zelda likes the renaissance man, from what I've heard. She likes a guy who's cultured, sophisticated, and classy."
"You've pretty much described Link in a nutshell," she giggles.
"Yeah," Sheik draws out sarcastically. "I don't think a guy who freaks out at the sight of a drawing of a naked girl in a biology book could be described as 'classy'."
The green lights transition to red and the crossing lights turn green. In that second, the sea of people pour into the intersection, ignoring the fact that there is still a taxi in the middle of the street.
"…Wow, Castle Town's really going all out for tomorrow," Sheik muses, staring at the side of the TV HYLIA building. There are two giant screens on its side: one displaying a digital countdown to the Festival of Lifelong Happiness, and a second displaying an advertisement for Marin Tarin's latest single.
"What do you expect, though?" Malon raises an eyebrow at him as they walk around a red sedan, watching the countdown.
34:57:46…
34:57:45…
34:57:44…
"Tomorrow is the thousandth anniversary of the King of Evil's death," Malon adds to her comment. "Of course people would get a little festive."
"I've heard rumors that the Sages themselves were coming out to Hylia Square tomorrow night for a surprise," Sheik says.
"The Sages?" Malon laughs. "Get real. Aren't they dead?"
"Sages are immortal, from what I've heard," he responds. "But hey, it's just a rumor."
The two reach the other side of the street, and a few seconds later, the stoplights turn green, and the cars begin moving again.
"…You think we should go to that royal ball thing Link told us about?" Malon asks her fiancé, pulling out the two tickets she got from Link from her purse.
"You want to?"
"I don't know," she shrugs. "We'd get to mingle with the beautiful people," she laughs.
"I'll go if you want to," he wraps his arm around her upper body, placing his hand on her right upper arm.
"Yeah?" She looks up at him with a smile, kissing him softly on the cheek. "Okay, it's a date then."
Malon wraps an arm around Sheik, and the two turn the corner. While they walk in silence, they overhear the conversation of two girls walking in front of them.
"Hey, did you hear about Princess Zelda's new boyfriend?" The blonde girl asks the raven-haired one.
"She's got a boyfriend?" The brunette asks back.
"Some professor from Hyrule U," the blonde shrugs, taking a sip of her strawberry-banana smoothie. "He's, like, twenty-eight or whatever."
"Is he hot?" The brunette looks up from her text message on her Blueberry.
"From what I've heard," the other shrugs. "Blonde-brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin… Like, they ran away from Hyrule Castle together last night or something."
Malon and Sheik look at each other, grinning widely.
The two girls turn and walk into a designer handbag boutique, leaving Sheik and Malon to start laughing at what they just heard.
"You think they went to a hotel?" Malon asks through giggles.
Sheik just grins slyly, shaking his head.
"What are you smiling about?" Malon tilts her head to the side.
"Link totally got himself laid."
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Unknown.
Date: Saturday June 23, 2007.
Time: 10:13 AM. 34 Hours and 47 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"Has Veran reached Hyrule Castle yet?"
The servant flips his cell phone closed and places it on the table next to him. "I just got off the phone with her. She arrived at Rinku International Airport at 11:45 last night. She stayed at the Three Goddess Hotel in Hylia Square overnight, and is currently in a taxi on her way to Hyrule Castle."
"Excellent…" The master picks up his bookmark and places it in between the pages of his novel, closing the hardback covers and placing it on the side table next to his cognac.
The servant makes for his master, but stumbles after feeling a sharp pain in his back. He breaks his fall by grabbing onto the mantle of the fireplace, and reaches for his staff resting next to the fire poker.
"Goddesses…" He seethes through his teeth, rubbing his lower spine.
"Are you alright?" His master raises a concerned eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.
"I'm alright…" He shakes his head in reply, doing his best to give his master an assuring smile. "Please don't worry."
His master just stares at him for a moment, but he smiles slightly and nods in understanding, taking his goblet of cognac in his hand and sipping the contents quietly.
- - - - - - - - -
Location: Hyrule Castle, Front Foyer. Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture
Date: Saturday June 23, 2007.
Time: 10:15 AM. 35 Hours and 45 Minutes until the Festival of Lifelong Happiness.
"It's so nice that you could make it on such short notice!"
Daphnes' face lights up into a jovial grin as he politely shakes her hand.
"As I was ordered to," she smiles courteously. "May I ask, Your Majesty, is anything troubling you?" She and Daphnes turn down the left hall from the grand staircase. "You seemed rather… distraught when I met you at the door."
He looks over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm? …Oh, it was just my daughter, Zelda… I went to check on her this morning, but she was gone. I only found a note saying she had to go off to prepare for the festival tomorrow… It isn't like her to just go off like that unannounced. Of course, she does have a history of running away at times, but—"
"I'm sure it is nothing," she shakes her head. "Princess Zelda is a very capable woman… She has the wisdom of a goddess, as I have heard from many of your people. She knows better than to involve herself in heavy situations."
Daphnes chuckles softly and nods. "Yes, I'm sure she is alright… I've been contacted by the pilot of the Royal Family's private jet, and she is safe and sound according to his report. Plus, she has the company of a very responsible young man, he's told me."
"A suitor?" She asks.
"I wish," he shakes his head. "Link is his name. Quite the brain, he is. The youngest professor at Hyrule University. It doesn't hurt that he's quite a good looking lad… And they are in the same age range… I'm sure he'd make a fine husband for Zelda."
"He sounds very impressive," she nods.
"…Well, down to business," Daphnes claps his hands together, and the resulting sound echoes down the halls. "The ballroom is this way…"
She hastens her pace to keep up with His Highness, clutching tightly to her purse.
"…Miss Onox."
The Blueberry the brunette girl uses in the scene at Hylia Square is a play on the Blackberry. Obviously. Like, duh!
See? I TOLD you I'd get this chapter up! Of course, not as fast as I wanted it to be up, but at least it's here!
HEY! You know what! I published my first Bleach fanfic!!! It was bound to happen, guys. AND it's Ichihime! That's Ichigo/Orihime for the unfamiliar… For shame there isn't enough Ichihime and more Ichiruki. In my opinion, Ichigo/Orihime and Renji/Rukia is how it's supposed to be. I mean, COME ON! Did you NOT see episode 141!??! Anyway, the oneshot is called Walk Me Home. No prior knowledge of Bleach is needed. It's based on a picture of the same name that I drew, and here's the link: SirJoshizzle(dot)deviantART(dot)com(slash)art(slash)Ichihime-Walk-Me-Home-64995652
Speaking of art… I put up a new AWoL related deviation! It's my rendition of the cover of an AWoL novel, assuming that AWoL is published into one… It's pretty cool, but the line art looked much better. The color job is pretty messy, though I like the sky much more than I like the one in The Hot Spring. Go check it out: SirJoshizzle(dot)deviantART(dot)com(slash)art(slash)A-World-of-Lies-Cover-65398109
Ahh… Oh yeah, remember to check out I'll be There also.
Closing notes: Just keep checking the Blogger regularly… Umm, chapters will probably be coming out at this pace, what with schoolwork taking up a lot of my time… Oh yeah, and I've decided not to do Japan Bowl this year. S'ok, there's next year. And Sensei thinks that I'm awesome. But then again, who doesn't:D
Enjoy Life and Smile.
End time: Friday September 21, 2007; 10:12 PM PDT