Chapter 9: Prophecies and Symbols
Relief and sorrow flooded through Link as he realized he had fulfilled one of the Great Deku Tree's last wishes: that he find the Princess of Destiny. In remembering the Tree's words, the thrill of exploration that had protected him from his grief over the Tree's death melted away.
The princess's smile faded as hot tears splashed down Link's face. Immediately, she took his hands again as if they had been friends for a long time.
"What is it?"
He shook his head. "Nothing." He tried to back away, but something about her held him in place.
"You've lost someone, haven't you?"
Freeing his hands, he wiped his face with his tunic and took several breaths before he could look at her again. He said nothing, but to her that said everything.
"I'm so sorry." She glanced down at the ground, brushing the front of her dress as if embarrassed.
Navi spoke for the two of them. "How did you know?"
Zelda clasped her hands at her waist. "I know what sadness looks like. I see it every time I look in a glass. You've lost someone who was close to you."
The understanding in her voice and expression reminded him of Saria. Link answered her in a whisper. "You lost someone, too?"
"The Queen, my mother, died almost a year ago." Zelda closed her eyes. "Nothing in the castle has been the same since then."
"That's terrible," said Navi. "How can you be so calm about it?"
The princess opened her eyes and smiled. "The face a person wears on the outside rarely reveals the depth of their feelings. I wear this face because I am the Princess of Hyrule. Those who would bow their knee to the Royal Family find it difficult to imagine that we have the very same feelings they do."
"I feel…" Link searched for the right words. "Like I've lost two friends. The Great Deku Tree, our guardian, he was killed. And when I left the forest, I ran without saying goodbye to someone. She was my best friend."
"And you feel you've lost her because of that."
"Yes."
"I don't think you have. If she was a true friend, she will not be so easily lost as that."
For the first time since the evening before, Link laughed. "You're probably right."
Zelda lifted her hands, still folded, to her chin. "Link, there is something I need to ask you."
"What?"
She hesitated. "Do you have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest?"
He blinked in surprise, but it was Navi, once again, who asked how Zelda could have known about it.
"One reason is that my attendant saw it when she brought you here," Zelda said. "She spoke to you about it, I think. The other reason is…"
"What?" said Navi.
"I had a dream of dark storm clouds billowing over Hyrule."
The mention of dreams made Link feel queasy. "Did you see anything else?"
"At first, nothing. Then a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds, and lit up the ground." Lowering her arms to her sides, Zelda fixed her gaze on his. "The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy. I believed it was a prophecy that someone would come from the forest."
"So you sent someone to wait for us in the city in case we showed up!" said Navi.
Link nodded. "It makes sense."
"Yes," said Zelda. "Impa has been my attendant from birth. She is the only person I could have trusted with such a request."
Both of them looked away. A bird flew over the courtyard, and some of the butterflies landed on the stairway. Link saw a frog hop from the flowerbed to a patch of clover.
"I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing," he said. "The Great Deku Tree told me to find you and guard the Stone of the Forest. I don't know much other than that."
"Perhaps," said the princess, "I may be able to help. How much do you know of the Sacred Realm?"
An emblem on her dress caught his eye: three triangles in one, sewn in gold thread. "It's where the Triforce is."
"Yes. Do you know it is said that the Triforce grants the wish of any mortal who finds it?"
"The Great Deku Tree only told me part of the story before he died."
"It is said that when someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity."
"What's wrong with that?" said Navi.
"Nothing," said Zelda, "but it is also said that if someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil."
Unbidden, the desert man from Link's nightmares returned to mind. He coughed. "Can the evil be stopped once the person touches the Triforce?"
"I don't know. The best thing to do is to prevent them from entering the Sacred Realm in the first place."
Navi fluttered by Zelda's left shoulder. "How do we do that?"
"First, we need all three Spiritual Stones."
Link's eyes widened. "Three Spiritual Stones?"
"What do you mean 'we'?" said Navi.
"Din, Nayru, and Farore, the three goddesses who created Hyrule," Zelda said. "Each of them entrusted a Spiritual Stone to one of the races of Hyrule. Each stone contains a teardrop from the goddess, and that is what causes it to shine so brightly. The first one, Farore's stone, you are already aware of. The second, Din's stone, belongs to the Gorons, and the third is guarded by the Zoras."
Link shook his head. "What do the stones have to do with the Sacred Realm?"
Zelda lowered her voice to a whisper. "Although few know it, the gate to the Sacred Realm is at the heart of Hyrule Castle Town, just outside the market square. That is where you will find the Temple of Time."
"I'm confused," said Navi.
"It's quite simple. To enter the Sacred Realm, a person has to bring the three Spiritual Stones to the temple."
"And that's it?" Link frowned.
"Not quite. There is an altar in the Temple of Time with three holes for the three Spiritual Stones. When the Stones are in place, only one more thing is needed to open the door that leads to the Sacred Realm."
"I know, I know," said Navi. "It's fairy's breath!"
Link grimaced. "That would probably melt the door."
Zelda withdrew something from a pocket hidden at the side of her dress. It was almost identical to the Fairy Ocarina Saria had given him, except it was blue and slightly larger. Link also noticed a tiny Triforce chiseled onto the mouthpiece.
"This is the Ocarina of Time, the final key to the Sacred Realm. When the Spiritual Stones are placed in the altar, the person who wishes to pass beyond the Door of Time to the Sacred Realm must play a song on the instrument."
"Any song?" said Navi.
"Only one song is accepted by the three goddesses: the Song of Time."
"Song of Time, Door of Time, Temple of Time, Ocarina of Time." Link raised both eyebrows. "Why is Time so important?"
"It was the ancient Sages who built the Temple to protect the Triforce from evil," Zelda said. "They knew that Time was a force everything in this world is subject to. They saw it as a creator, a healer, a protector, and a judge of men and nature, much like the three goddesses."
"So…" Link sat down on the topmost of the three steps, his elbows propped on his knees. "We find the other two Spiritual Stones, we go to the Temple of Time, you play the song on the Ocarina of Time, and we get the Triforce before someone else does?"
"It will be a difficult task," Zelda said, joining him on the steps with a sigh, "and unfortunately, you will have the most difficult part of it. Another disadvantage to being the Princess of Hyrule is that I am rarely allowed to leave the castle. With my father conducting negotiations with the Gerudos, the consequences of my leaving to help you find the Spiritual Stones would be even worse. The Gerudos would be blamed for my absence, and peace would be more unlikely than ever."
Link scratched his ear. "The people in the city don't seem to like the Gerudos, and the Gerudos certainly don't like them." He shuddered at the memory of the girl and her dog that had almost been crushed under the hooves of Gerudo horses. "If they're so bad, why is your father trying so hard to be nice to them?"
The princess smiled sadly. "That would not have been the case a year ago. When my mother was alive, my father had little interest in relations with the Gerudos. It was my mother who would travel to their home in the desert, visit with their queens, and attempt to understand their culture."
"What happened?" said Navi, resting on the steps between the other two.
"When she died, my father's attitude changed. Since then, he has carried on her mission of peace between our two peoples, in spite of warnings from his advisors, his people…and from me."
"You?" Link lowered his arms and looked over at her. "You don't want peace?"
"Of course I do!" Zelda scowled. "But not at the cost of our safety. There are many, including myself, who do not believe the Gerudos can be trusted to keep their word, at least while Ganondorf is their king."
"Ganondorf?" The name sounded strange on Link's tongue.
Once more, Zelda took his hand and led him to the centermost of the courtyard's three windows. "This window looks in on the throne room. Through here, I have watched many of the negotiations between Ganondorf and my father. They are expected to reach an agreement soon." She hung her head, placing a hand on the windowsill. "I have told my father about my dream, but he refused to believe it was a prophecy. However, I believe the dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream symbolize that man." She pointed through the window.
Link followed her direction, but he already knew what he would see. The man from his dreams, the man with the broad shoulders and the red cape and the eyes full of death, sat across from the King of Hyrule.
"Ganondorf," he said.
Zelda nodded. "He swears allegiance to my father, but I am sure he is not sincere. Last night, someone came to my room hoping I would remain asleep. I believe it was Ganondorf, and I believe he was searching for the Ocarina of Time."
Link's face went white as he remembered other details from his dream besides the black horse and its rider. There had been another horse, hadn't there? A horse with two riders, one an older woman who held the reins, the other a girl no older than himself clinging to her guardian's back. Since the night before the Great Deku Tree died, he had been so busy thinking about the man that he had never thought to identify the other riders. Now he knew.
Before he could open his mouth to tell her, Link sucked in a ragged breath as Ganondorf stood, bowed to the King, and swept out of the throne room, passing by less than twelve feet from the window. His head never turned completely, but Link saw the man's eyes flicker to the side as if he had noticed their spying on him.
"Don't worry," Zelda said. "He may be searching for the Triforce, but he cannot know what we are planning…yet. It is better, in a way, that I will keep the Ocarina of Time here while you are gone. He would have to capture us both before he could enter the Sacred Realm."
Link touched the hilt of the sword at his back. "Then…we're the only ones who can save Hyrule."
"It would be dangerous to bring anyone else into our confidence. My father might have helped us, but as I said…" She bit her lip to fight off a sudden rush of tears.
"I believe you, even if he doesn't," Link said, glancing at Navi. "We believe you."
Zelda smiled and turned away from the window. "Thank you."
Link rubbed a hand against his cheek. "You really think we have a chance?"
Returning the Ocarina of Time to her pocket, Zelda exchanged it for other objects that she slipped into Link's hands. "We have every chance."
"What is this?"
Two of the objects were scraps of parchment covered with a flowing script in dark ink. The other object was round and soft and protected by a thin cloth.
"Please take them," she said. "They will help you as you look for the Spiritual Stones."
Once again, Link bowed and felt the thrill of exploration, of finding places and meeting people he had only heard about from the Tree. "It was…great to finally meet you."
The princess curtsied. "My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Don't be afraid to talk to her."
Link glanced up at the wider courtyard. Standing next to the milk crate like a gargoyle, the woman from the square returned his gaze in silence. Hesitating, he stepped into the grass and shuffled towards her.
"Oh, and Link?"
He looked back at Zelda.
She bowed her head. "May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce."