Chapter 10: Explanations

"How do you know my name?" Ciel backed into one of the couches and fell backwards over it, uttering a gasp as her skirt fell to cover her face instead of her legs like it was supposed to. She struggled to her feet and beat the skirt back down, looking at the men with her face burning. They had averted their eyes when she had started to fall, offering her the courtesy of privacy. Still blushing in embarrassment, she went over to the furthest couch and bowed her head to hide her face, clutching at her skirt so hard that her knuckles were white.

Roland took a seat across the table from her and asked Terence if he would go to the kitchens to get some tea and pastries. Terence left with a bow, leaving Ciel alone with the king. "You must be confused, Ciel, and I'll try my best to explain, but I have to admit that there are some things you may not immediately understand. However, I feel that you have many questions and I'll allow you to ask a few before I go into my explanation."

Ciel was silent at first, but he had judged right, for a thousand questions came to her mind. "You're the king?"

"Yes I am. King Roland, born in the original Castle Town. I am thirty-seven years old, and I'm married to the queen, Zelda. I am second in command of the Crimson Tears under Sir Calintz, who is our leader while Sir Link is absent from the castle."

She asked him questions about Ganondorf, and why the castle was moved, and if he knew where Link went. It was shocking, to say the least, to hear that Ganondorf had become an ambassador of the Gerudo people after he had been cleansed of the darkness in his body, and that on a regular basis he would come to the castle and have tea with the king and queen. He then explained that eighteen years before, a man named Gill had joined forces with the bordering country of Ardor to take over Hyrule. The resulting battle had wounded one of the knights, but the enemy forces were unsuccessful in taking over the country.

However, using the last of his strength, Gill brought a rain that did not stop until the land of Hyrule was under the ocean. Up until the present, the land of Hyrule had been flooded and everyone was forced to find mountaintops to live on. The only people who escaped the torrential waters were the Gorons, who sealed all their tunnels except for the ones that were above the water line, and the Zora who had no need to move since their home was in the water.

"Link went off at Zelda's request to find a way to rid the land of the flood waters, and while the flood is gone, Link has not yet returned to us. I would assume that he is dead, but the Knights of the Crimson Tears all wear magical bracelets that let us know when anyone from our order is in trouble. If Link died, we would all know it."

Ciel digested the information slowly, making sure she understood everything he had told her. She had but one question left that she needed answered, but it was hard for her to voice. "This…isn't a dream…is it?" Everything was too real to be a dream. She could feel, hear, smell, taste, and see too much for it all to be false.

Roland slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Ciel. You are very much awake in the land of Hyrule." He waited to see her reaction, knowing that something drastic was about to happen. "By a form of Farore's Wind, you have come to us."

Not…a dream? Ciel felt tears rising and becoming dammed up before they could reach her tear ducts. She started to lose control of her lungs, unable to maintain a steady flow of air. Her nose started to run, but she made no motion to stem the flow. Trying her best to control herself, she asked, "How and why am I here?"

"I do not know what being brought you here, however it was prophesied many years ago that a girl and a boy from another world would come to us. A wind shaman from the village of Zephyr made that prediction, and while he did not fully understand it himself, he explained that Farore's Wind is a living wind that has a mind of its' own. He said that it is possible for one to leave our realm entirely if you can picture a place in another world. It has been done many times to explore the stars, however none have returned and it was deemed too dangerous. It is now taboo to do it."

"And you think…that's what happened to me and Chris?"

Roland nodded. "Yes, I believe so. I don't know how you got here exactly since I doubt you know how to perform that spell, but that is what we believe happened." He leaned forward and gave her a smile. "Your coming is a good sign to my people. The prophecy says that you will aid us to help better our country. I must say I'm rather excited that you have finally arrived."

Ciel could take no more. The tears that had been building up poured down her cheeks like stinging hot waterfalls, blurring her vision. Her sobs echoed off of the stone walls and added to her distress. Falling onto her side, she curled up in the fetal position, telling herself that it was just a dream and that Alouette would wake her up soon. "This is just a dream! This is just a dream! A horrible, horrible dream! Alouette please wake me!"

Roland decided to let the girl grieve by herself and left the room to wait for Terence to return from the kitchens. Ciel cried herself to sleep, feeling strangely exhausted, but she knew as she was drifting off that this was the final confirmation that she was no longer dreaming.

Where am I? This doesn't look like home. Stone walls, high windows, this place looks like…crap, where's Ciel when you need her. She could tell me what era this place is. Oh well, I'll just have to figure it out without her. Rising from his bed, Chris walked around the strange room with an air of curiosity. Upon the walls were a few portraits of massive proportions, depicting healers and miracles. Hanging on one of the walls were a series of pictures that Chris went over to inspect.

There were three pictures, and each had something different on them. The first was that of a young boy. His hair was a mess and he was covered with mud, but the smile he had was from ear to ear. Chris thought it looked like one of his pictures that his mom kept on her desk at home.

The second picture was of a strong looking man in his twenties. Dressed in armor, he was clearly a high-ranking individual that commanded respect among his peers. Chris thought that he could possibly be the same boy in the first picture, and was shocked by the change in appearance.

The final picture was of a group of people, a few of which Chris recognized. The man in the second picture was in the middle, laughing so hard that a bigger man with grizzly looking hair on his right had to support him. To the man's left was a timid looking man with little muscle build but a kind smile that warmed Chris inside and out. Continuing to the left was a woman who appeared to be pregnant and quite happy. Holding her hand and half hiding behind her was a small boy around the age of seven. To the right, next to the man with the kind smile was a youth that had a jovial look about him that reflected a great sense of humor to Chris. Standing behind the man in the middle was a man who was smiling, but only halfheartedly. He appeared to be haunted by something that he kept hidden away. Lying below everyone was a muscular man who looked as if he had been forced down, positioned so that he appeared to be trying to get up.

The two people that caught his attention more than anyone else in the picture though, were a blonde couple on the far right. The man had his arms around the girl standing next to him, and they both were looking at each other with such adoration that it was almost painful with how obvious their affection was for each other. Chris reached up to take the picture down so he could get a closer look and realized that he knew who they were.

"My son and the Crimson Tears." Chris turned around to see an elderly woman approaching him from the other side of the room. She had a smile on her face and she walked with an elegance that betrayed her age. Though her face was wrinkled, he could see that she had a haughty look to her.

"Who?"

The woman took the picture from his hands and turned it so they could both see. "Starting from the left, you've got Calintz, Midori, Grogh, Fandarel who's my son and is in the other pictures, behind him is Roland, below is Reeve, then Terence, Brudegan, then Link and Zelda. Together they were the Crimson Tears, a group of knights that were righteous and just. I'm very proud to be the mother of one, however I feel as if I could be the mother to them all, with the exception of young Calintz who would have to be my grandchild. Their leader, Link, disbanded them, but only three of them left. The rest found ways to make themselves useful here and they all await the day when they will be called back to action."

"Are Link and Zelda married?" Chris asked, pointing at the couple on the picture. "I mean, they look so happy together."

The woman shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. I don't know all the details, but Zelda got pregnant, and from there their relationship slowly came to an end. She's married to Roland, and they had a daughter together, but I have my doubts about that fact since the girl looks nothing like the man."

"I see. Is Link around? Could I meet him?"

Throwing back her head, the woman laughed. "Link disappeared quite awhile ago. I don't think I've seen him in nearly ten years."

At that moment, a man entered the room and strode over to the two. "Ah, I see you're awake, Chris. Take a seat, you'll want to be when I tell you why you are here."

"Roland, I don't think this one is as dazed as the other," the woman was saying. "Just look at him. He's not walking around saying that he's in a dream."

Roland shooed the woman away and held out his hand to Chris. "My name is Roland. It's nice to meet you. This woman is Lady Aurora, and she is our healer here at the castle."

Chris surprised the man by bowing. "The pleasure is all mine, your majesty."

"Told him I was king, did you?" He looked at Aurora with slight displeasure. "I was hoping he and I could talk as equals and have rank put behind us." Crossing his arms, he started to get in an argument with Aurora, and neither side was willing to give ground.

"Don't worry, sir. I can talk to you as an equal if you want." Chris sat down on the bed he had awoken in and waited patiently for the king to get situated.

Roland sat and told Chris everything he had told Ciel, astounded by the lack of emotion coming from the boy. "Your coming is a herald to my people. They will feel a sense of hope now that the prophecy has been fulfilled." He wanted to end on a good note just incase Chris was holding his emotions back.

"That's cool." Both Lady Aurora and Roland stared at him, not knowing what to say. When neither could form words, Chris decided to continue. "I always kind of wanted to come here. This is almost a dream come true, but to be honest, I don't really know how to respond to all of this. I don't know why Ciel burst into tears, but I'm not going to. It's probably because of the fact that we can't go back home, which I'll admit is saddening. I'll really miss my mom, but there's no helping it I guess."

"That's very wise, young Chris," Roland said with a nod. "Well, I'll allow you to ponder what you want to do while I return to see how your sister is doing."

Lady Aurora gave him a sweet smile and asked, "Are you hungry? I can bring you some food if you'd like."

Chris declined the offer saying that he would rather walk to wherever there was food to be eaten since it would stretch out his legs. Together they walked down to the kitchens and Chris thoroughly enjoyed getting a good look at the castle.

"How is she, Terence?" Roland asked as he rounded a corner. The man was sitting on the floor outside the door, the front of his tunic soaked. "What happened to you?"

Terence smiled timidly and chuckled. "Well, I tried to comfort her by saying that she could always start anew and become successful here, but she didn't take it the way I had hoped and she threw a cup of water in my face."

Roland frowned. "That was uncalled for."

"It's quite alright. I understand that she is very distraught, and I hold nothing against her." He stood up and pressed his ear to the door. "It would seem that her crying has ceased, but if we go in there we must proceed cautiously. She has in her possession great knowledge of self defense and that could prove quite painful if we are not careful."

Roland ignored the statement and strode into the room, hoping that his authority as king would prevent the girl from getting violent with him. "Ciel? How are you feeling?"

Ciel was hugging her knees, still seated on the same couch. She had made a mess of his office much to his dismay. The bookshelves on the walls were empty of their contents, a cushion had been torn apart, and a pictograph frame had been smashed, but this one thing she seemed to regret, because she was staring at it with a hopeless look. It looked like she had tried to repair it, but too many pieces had been broken and it just lay on his table with the pictograph facing her.

He walked over and took a seat next to her, wondering which pictograph she had used to vent her anger on. It was one of Zelda, Zeke, Faye, and himself when they had gone to a vacation spot a few years before. He liked the picture because it had at least half of the family smiling, but Zeke had been sulking that day and was unwilling to smile for the pictograph.

"I tried to fix it, but I couldn't find any glue or any other adhesive to put it back together," Ciel said quietly, her voice still under the affects of her loss of control.

Roland took the pictograph off the table and smiled. "Isn't my daughter cute?" He pointed at the laughing Faye and shook his head, amused. "She's a little on the obnoxious side, but she's a good kid. A little more outgoing than her brother."

"Your son?"

"No, Zeke's not mine. He was born outside of wedlock, and it's for that reason that he's always so unhappy." Roland sighed. "His mother doesn't treat him very well, thus his sullen attitude in the pictograph. They had a row that day because Zeke wanted to return home, but Zelda very rarely gets a chance to leave the castle so she was not about to let him ruin her vacation. When he got home, Zeke locked his door and didn't come out for two weeks, and the only reason he did was because he couldn't go another day without food."

"I'm sorry," Ciel apologized, more about the room than anything.

Roland gave her a pat on the back and tried to give her a warm smile. "Would you like to meet my daughter?"

"Actually, I think I should go to Chris to see how he's doing."

"Chris is fine. I spoke with him after I left here, and he's doing quite well."

Terence, who had been standing by the door, approached the two and gave a quick bow. "Should I find the little princess?"

Roland chuckled. "I don't think finding her is going to be the problem. I know exactly where she is. It's getting her to change clothes that's going to be an issue."

Both men laughed, obviously enjoying a personal joke among them. Ciel started to feel better knowing that there were people who cared that she was distressed. However, she was far from being fine. As they were about to leave, the white haired man approached the king saying that he had been sought after by the "rancher girl" and was told that she and her father would very much like to return to the land they had occupied before the flood.

Ciel's face turned red and she jumped at Calintz with a snarl. "YOU! YOU ARE THE REASON THAT I'M STUCK HERE IN THIS WORLD!" The force of her collision with him knocked him down to his back, and Ciel took the opportunity to pummel as much of him as she could.

Roland and Terence were too shocked to rush to the knight's aid, appalled by the girl's actions. Calintz himself seemed to be having trouble, unable to predict where Ciel was going to strike him next.

"'TO REACH THE LAND OF LEGEND, YOU MUST USE THE WIND OF THE GODDESS' YOU SAID! ALL IT DID WAS RUIN OUR TV AND TAKE ME AWAY FROM MY HOME!"

Finally tossing aside their shock, Terence and Roland jumped forward and pulled Ciel off of Calintz, her legs kicking out viciously, still trying to maim the man. "Ciel control yourself! Calintz is not the reason you are here!"

Holding his head, Calintz sat up and groaned. "I take it this is one of the two from the prophecy?"

"Yes, and as you can see she's a little distraught," Terence said, struggling to hold Ciel. "Are you alright, Calintz?"

The man nodded and stood to his feet. "It'll take more than that to hurt me, Terence. However, I can't have her attacking me every time she sees me, so perhaps I should take her with me and do some explaining while you go take care of that redhead for me."

Roland and Terence exchanged worried looks. "I don't know, Calintz," Roland said. "Are you sure you can handle her?"

"As long as she doesn't gouge my eyes out, I'll be fine, but I would rather make sure she agrees to be cooperative before you let her go." He stood just out of range of her legs and looked directly into her eyes. "What say you, girl? Will you behave while I explain to you why you are here?"

Ciel thought about saying no, but she wanted to know how this man came to be in the videogame that led her to Hyrule. "I'll be good," she mumbled so quietly that they made her repeat herself.

Reluctantly, Terence and Roland let go of her arms and waited, ready to grab her again incase she decided to go back on her word. When she did nothing but glared at Calintz, they started to relax a little bit. Roland placed a hand on Ciel's shoulder and bent down so he could whisper into her ear. "Be respectful, or he may punish you in whatever way he sees fit. While he's a good soul, he has little patience and I'd rather not hear that he hurt you."

Calintz stared right back at the girl, his grey eyes as sharp as the blade at his side. "Follow me, girl." He started to walk down the hall in quick strides, making Ciel jog to keep up with him. Roland had spoken truthfully, for his patience was already gone, but he felt obligated to dismiss the girl's actions on account of his part in bringing her to Hyrule. When they had gone quite a distance from the other two men, Calintz spoke again. "If you are going to assault me, do it verbally, and do it quickly. I don't want to you screaming at me while I'm trying to explain things to you." He stopped and turned to look at her.

Ciel took a deep breath braced herself, feeling her rage surface again. Something told her that nothing she could possibly say would hurt the man, so she felt no qualms about using the most colorful words she could think of. "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! BECAUSE OF YOU I'M STUCK IN THIS WORLD WITH NO WAY OF RETURING HOME! I PLACE A CURSE ON YOUR NAME AND WISH UPON YOU THE MOST HORRIBLE DEATH IMAGINABLE!" As she continued, she became further enraged as Calintz started to smile wickedly, mocking her. "FURTHER MORE, YOU'RE AN UGLY BASTARD!!"

The smile was gone. Ciel covered her mouth, appalled that she dared swear at the man, and started to mentally berate herself for her crudeness. Calintz reached for his hip, and Ciel recoiled, afraid that she had found something that had hurt him and that he was about to punish her. When nothing struck her, she dared open her eyes to see Calintz with his arms crossed. "You done?" His voice was edgy, and his dark eyebrows were forming a solid V.

Ciel looked away and nodded. "I'm sorry I swore at you."

This came as a surprise to the man, for the V disappeared. "I suppose I deserved it, and I can't really fault you for calling me what I am." He continued walking, his stride slower and more graceful than before. Ciel rushed to match step with him and waited patiently for him to speak. "I was born to a girl who was much too young to have a child, and in her desperation she hid the pregnancy. When I was born she attempted to leave me in the forest surrounding my home, but I was found by an elderly man from my village and it was he who raised me. It wasn't until I had turned twenty that my mother sought me out to tell me what happened and asked me if I would forgive her."

"Did you?" Ciel asked, afraid that the response he was about to give her would be a gruesome tale of how he slaughtered her for her treachery.

"Of course I did. I'm not heartless, you know," he responded, sounding affronted. "Even though she left me for dead, she's still my mother. She told me that everyday she would set down whatever it was she was doing to watch me for a little bit to see that I was being raised properly." He paused before saying, "Because of my origins, I have been able to connect with the prince on occasion for he is like me, with the exception that he wasn't left for dead."

Ciel had no words to say. She kept berating herself for the way she had treated this man just because she saw someone who resembled him in a videogame right before she found herself in Hyrule.

"It is not a coincidence that you recognized me, Ciel." Calintz made no effort to look at her, but he could still feel that she was staring at him without end. "It was I who brought you here, but the fault is not mine.

"I am from the lost village of Zephyr. It was there that the prophecy was made, and it was there that I played my part in bringing you and your brother here. You see, in order for the prophecy to come true, it was necessary to influence certain events. We cast a spell so that a message would reach you after the flood waters had disappeared from the land. I had been chosen to relay that message, and just like you said, I spoke the words "To reach the land of legend, you must use the Wind of the Goddess". It was an imprecise spell, due to the fact that we had no idea when the flood waters would recede and it risked bringing you here prematurely, but it was necessary so it was a risk we were willing to take."

"Why me?"

Calintz shrugged, saying, "I do not have the answer to that question. Your path will be shown to you when you are ready."

"Well that's a crappy answer," Ciel mumbled. She stopped walking as they were about to leave the castle, eyeing the ground nervously.

"What is wrong?" Calintz asked.

"I don't have any shoes, and the ground looks like it's full of rocks."

Without asking if it was okay, Calintz picked her up in his arms and carried her. "Stupid girl. Why didn't you ask Terence if you could borrow a pair of boots?"

Ciel glowered at him. "I wasn't thinking about it."

"A great help to Hyrule you're going to be." They stared at each other with contempt, but a whoop from someone down the dirt road got their attention.

The person who was approaching them was dressed in a similar fashion to both Calintz and Terence, and he appeared to be well acquainted with the man. "So, you finally found yourself a woman, eh Calintz?"

"Shut up, Reeve. She doesn't have any boots and you know as well as anyone that this road will rip up the bottom of your feet if you go through it bare foot." Calintz kicked at the man as he attempted to walk with him. "The day I take a woman is the same day I put down my sword."

Reeve rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Calintz." He made no attempt to return to his original path, and from what Ciel could see, this bothered Calintz. "Anyway, I was just on my way back from the Archives, and I saw Raikkus heading up that way."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"Nothing, but you know as well as I that Kenji, the archivist boy, hates Raikkus with a passion. I'm just warning you that there might be trouble."

"I'll keep my eyes open," Calintz assured Reeve, wondering why he was neglecting his duties by informing someone else of this when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. "Is there any other reason why you are walking along side me, or can you leave now?"

Reeve turned his attention to Ciel, frowning. "When you and this guy settle down for the night, make sure you help him release some of that energy of his. Maybe he'll be more pleasant if he gets a little something."

Both Ciel and Calintz kicked him, Calintz catching him in the knee, and Ciel hitting him in the face. Reeve dropped like a sack of tubers. "Nice shot," Calintz said as he quickened his pace to be rid of the man.

"He's vulgar and can't take a hint. He deserved it."

Calintz laughed. "He wasn't always like that. Back when the Crimson Tears were first formed, he was very quiet. Even Terence had more backbone then Reeve, and that was saying a lot since Terence was a wimp to say the least. It wasn't until after he had spent a lot of time around the other knights that Reeve began to speak more freely, although Roland is still the worst when it comes to that." Ciel looked around and asked him where he was taking her. "I'm taking you to speak to someone who will tell us where you should go while you're waiting to play your part in the future."

The road they were traveling opened up into an outdoor market that bustled with people. Fruit stalls and other such goods were being sold at bargain prices, and even below a bargain for those that could haggle well. Calintz ignored all the people and walked into a dark alleyway where he made a couple turns and approached a dead end.

"Uh, this looks like a deserted alley," Ciel said, looking at Calintz.

"Is it?" a voice said from behind them. A man in a cloak dropped in front of them, startling Ciel. He was completely hidden underneath the hooded cloak, and Ciel wondered who could possibly be underneath it. "Thank you for coming, Calintz. This must be the girl from the prophecy."

"Hai, sir," Calintz said, setting Ciel down and saluting. "Just as you requested."

The cloaked man reached out and, with gloved hands, gently gripped Ciel's chin, turning her head this way and that. "She's pretty. How old are you, girl?"

"I'm…eighteen."

"Young too. Very well. Send her with Malon and Talon when they return to their ranch. Enlist the help of Kenji as well. He'll be good at informing her of our politics and other things she'll need to know about Hyrule."

"Sir, Kenji works for the Archives, and you know as well as I that they do not allow their employees to take time off without good reason."

The man's hood turned to the direction where Ciel had seen a large building on their way there, and he said, "Kenji has a temper. He'll be speaking with Idarolan soon. In the mean time, make sure this girl gets a good meal inside of her and find a room for her to sleep in for the night." The cloaked man turned, but Ciel cried for him to wait.

"What about my brother, Chris?" she asked. For the longest time she thought that the man was going to leave without answering, but he eventually made use of his voice again.

"The same will go for him." He then disappeared in a flurry of leaves and wind, leaving no trace behind.

"Who was that?" Ciel asked, confused by how he was able to disappear like that.

"He'll be revealed to you in time, Ciel."