"What in the worlds is going on?"
The sudden break in silence caught Link off-guard.
Still in a state of alertness, Link snapped his head up with a warning glare, ready to fight anything that came too close, only to stop himself when he saw it was only Hilda and Ravio. No doubt they were coming from the study because they heard the commotion, or so Link guessed.
As Hilda and Ravio approached, Link stood up reluctantly. Yuga attempted to rise to his feet, only to collapse back onto the ground with a frustrated grunt.
Upon nearing, Hilda stumbled to a halt, clasping her hands over her mouth in shock. A look of horror crossed Ravio's features.
"Yuga!" Hilda cried, running over to his side, "What happened? Oh, goddesses, is everything alright?"
"Y-Your Grace, I- I'm fine." Yuga stuttered not-so-convincingly.
"No, you are not!" Hilda insisted, "You've become so weak you can barely stand! And you're shivering so much!" she murmured under the breath, "Ravio was right. Something is wrong with you. And a doctor won't do."
"He needs to rest." Ravio said, suddenly by Hilda's side, "I sense something sinister, but I don't know how or why."
Hilda nodded, then turned to Link, and snapped, more-so out of worry than anger, "Link. You must tell me what happened at once. And help me bring Yuga to my chambers. They are not far from here."
"O-of course!" Link fumbled, stepping closer to help Hilda carry Yuga to his feet.
"This is...not necessary." Yuga tried to protest.
"I want not another word from you." Hilda retorted.
Yuga grunted in disagreement.
"I must inform you-"
"Inconsequential." Hilda said, "Link will tell me anything I need to know."
And it was only then that Yuga stayed begrudgingly silent, allowing himself to be led to Hilda's room by Link and Hilda as Ravio trailed behind them nervously.
o/o/o
Sleeping, Yuga was in a state calmer than Link had ever seen him. It relieved him a lot, like the dark cloud the hung over his head after that incident was finally beginning to the thin. Still, Link found himself oddly reluctant to leave Yuga's side. After what had happened, Link didn't know if he could afford to.
Link sat on a stool beside the bed Yuga laid on. The room was silent—Ravio and Hilda had gone to fetch some supplies. Link stared at Yuga as he rested on the bed. For the first time since Link's arrival, Yuga's hair was undone and splayed on the contrasting purple silk bedding like waves.
Slowly, Link reached to hold Yuga's twitching hand. Though doing so felt strange, it felt right. Under the pad of his thumb, Yuga's skin was soft and without the mark of a Triforce. Link sighed.
When Ravio and Hilda came back into the room, Link jolted his hand away, dropping it back onto his lap as if nothing had happened.
Hilda walked to the bed with several small cups filled with water on a silver tray and place it onto the side table. Ravio followed her in, clutching a small towel and a small bowl of water, and placed it beside the tray. Hilda grabbed the towel, dabbing it gently into the water and then onto Yuga's forehead. Hilda sighed, hanging the towel over the side of the bowl.
"Link, you were there." Hilda said softly, breaking the silence at last, "What happened?"
"I don't know." Link admitted. Even as he replayed the scene in his head, he couldn't explain...anything. "I wish I knew. If I did, I'd tell you."
"I believe you." Hilda said glumly, looking to Yuga, "Ever since he woke up, something has been wrong with him. I sensed it. Ravio senses it more."
"This was different. It was like he was possessed." Link said, "One moment, he was Yuga, and then the next, he...wasn't."
"Possessed?" Ravio squeaked, and Sheerow chirped anxiously.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Hilda asked, "I thought he had only fainted!"
Link shook his head, "No. Out of nowhere, he just started to attack me, wishing for my demise."
"The commotion! That's what we heard!" Hilda said, sharing a worried expression with Ravio. She looked back to Link, "And then what else?"
"The way he moved was...not right." Link said, then paused as he considered his next choice of words, "And I...saw something."
"What?"
Link tapped the back of his own left hand, "I saw a Triforce on the back of his hand."
"What?" Hilda gasped, taking a step back, "But that's- It can't be! That's impossible!"
"Is it?" Link questioned, and he sighed, shaking his head, "Yuga told me about a dream he had when he was in a coma about the Triforce splitting into three, just like your visions. If I know anything at all, I assume he acquired a piece of the Triforce then. But the bottom line is that I know I saw the Triforce on the back of his hand."
There was a moment of tense silence, and neither of the three spoke, perhaps out of shock. Until Ravio spoke in a voice so soft, Link almost missed it.
"I've had a reoccurring dream recently. And it might have something to do with all...this."
Two pairs of eyes turned to Ravio.
"What are you talking about?" Link asked, standing out of uneasiness.
Ravio inhaled nervously, fumbling with his hands, "I'm not sure exactly how it started. I kept on getting these...dreams where I went somewhere...weird. It was like the Sacred Realm, and in the place of the cracked plaque was a piece of the Triforce just...eerily floating there. And I didn't do anything except look at it." Ravio said, and then he sighed shakily, "Well, until several days ago—the same night Yuga woke up."
"What happened?" Link asked, on edge.
"It was...calling out to me, so I...I touched it. Ever since, I've been having these...visions of unexplainable things—things I can't know about, but do." Ravio said, and then looked at his hand nervously.
There was silence again and Link considered Ravio's words carefully.
There must be a way to connect all of this somehow. The visions, Ravio's dreams, Yuga... Link thought to himself.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think I...I may have a piece of the Triforce." Ravio mumbled, "It's the only thing that makes sense. I-I...I don't usually get these dreams or visions."
"I believe you." Link said, because it did, in fact, make sense, "But the question is why. And who has the Triforce of Power, the last piece?"
"Wait, who has the Triforce of Wisdom? And what about the Triforce of Courage?" Hilda asked, her face whiter than usual.
"Ah." Link said, "That reminds me. I forgot to tell you what we found out in the library. Something Yuga wanted to tell you."
"Go on."
"He found out that the bearer of the Triforce of Courage is the reigning monarch of Lorule. And that the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom is the goddess descent. That would make you the wielder of the Triforce of Courage and leave Ravio with the Triforce of Wisdom."
"B-but I'm not the goddess descent! Hilda is, isn't she?"
Link shook his head, "No. The only people known to be able to open to portal to go to the Sacred Realm are the goddess descent and the seven sages. Since you, Ravio, have gone to the Sacred Realm and touched the piece of the Triforce, then you must have opened the portal, and so you are the goddess descent."
Ravio took a step back, eyes wide with fear, "Oh."
"I see..." Hilda murmured, "Then who does have the Triforce of Power?"
Link looked to Yuga.
"Oh." Hilda uttered, "But then...how...?"
"I don't know." Link sighed.
For a moment, all the three did was look to the slumbering Yuga, who was completely still covered by the silken sheets.
"So, I must have the Triforce of Courage. Or rather, I will have it." Hilda mumbled to herself as she rubbed her chin in thought. She looked up to Link, "Link, I am in need of your assistance."
"O-Oh, uh...go on."
"Tomorrow morning, I would like for you to accompany me to the Skull Woods. There is something I must do there."
"Of course, but," Link looked to Yuga, a feeling of worry stirring in his stomach, "what about Yuga?"
"Hmm," Hilda hummed, "Ravio...would you be alright looking over Yuga tomorrow?"
"I think so." Ravio said.
"Excellent." Hilda clapped her hands together, "Well, then. Let's not mull over this for too long. I'm sure everything will be known to us very soon. I suggest, for now, we go for supper."
"Yeah. That sounds good." Ravio agreed.
"I...can't." Link said, sitting back down on the stool, "I want to stay here with Yuga. Just in case he wakes up."
"Very well. I'll have a maid deliver something so you do not starve." Hilda said, "And do not worry about vacating the room before nightfall. Ravio and I will be taking to a guest bedroom for the night."
"Thank you."
"No, Link." Hilda smiled, her cherry eyes gentle, "Thank you."
o/o/o
It was a time passed midnight. The moon shone brightly through the window panes and lit up the room like a soothing candle. The wind outside howled its lonely song gently in harmony with the chirping crickets. The room was completely still, entirely soothed in the night's trance.
Link was incredibly tired. Despite this, he refused to let himself fall asleep—he needed to stay awake, even if his eyes were half-lidded and his head was nodding.
In the bed, Yuga began to stir, groaning softly as he shifted his body in the rustling sheets. Link blinked, waking up from the sleep that fogged the room.
Yuga sat up slowly, like a redead rising from its coffin. His hair fell over his slouched shoulders, and Yuga breathed steadily from his mouth, sitting still as if he hadn't realized he had woken up. For a moment, Yuga didn't do anything, and then he sighed, tiredly rubbing his eyes from the cloud of sleep.
"Link?" he croaked, looking around the room attentively in order to find what he was looking for.
And before Link could even say anything, Yuga had found him seated on the stood beside the bed. Yuga froze, as if seeing Link was something of his imagination.
"Yuga?" Link responded, a worried look on his brow.
"You're here." Yuga said, relief clear in his tone, "I mean, of course, I expected that you would. It's just that I...am glad for your company, to say the least. Your presence calms me."
Link tittered, combing back a lock of his hair away from his eyes, "So, um...are you feeling okay?"
"I feel as if this is a dream." Yuga stated, and paused before adding, "So, I suppose, yes."
Link, for an unexplainable reason, grinned—perhaps it was because he felt oddly relieved. Link slumped back into the stool with a sigh.
"I'm glad." he said, "I've been doing nothing but worrying."
"Ah." Yuga said, "And we do have plenty of reasons to do so. With the future so uncertain...and daunting. Her Grace was right: knowledge is the strongest defense against the unknown. Our knowledge, however, is limited to aged textbooks and visions." Yuga paused for a moment, and then he added softly, "I must admit I am not feeling optimistic. Especially concerning my own unexplainable happenstances."
"Yeah." was all Link managed to say.
"But all this must mean something." Yuga said, "If only I had enough of a clue to piece it together. I suppose that, until we uncover the answers before it's too late, there is nothing more we can do. At least not for now."
"You're right." Link said. And at least Hilda and Ravio know, Link thought to himself.
"Shifting from the subject, I have something I want to say that's been on my mind for a while."
"Go on."
"I know may not have made my appreciation towards you the most obvious, if at all." Yuga started, averting his eyes from Link's stare. Slowly, he continued, "But I would like for you to know that—a-and I may be being curt—that I, at least, do not...dislike you." Yuga said. There was another pause. He continued, fumbling for words, "Y-you're certainly noble, that I can give you without fuss."
Link was sure he had the dumbest smile on his face, and it was maybe because he was tired—no, Link was certain it was because he was tired.
"Thank you." Link said, "I'm...glad. I think."
Yuga looked back to Link, the corners of his mouth perking a little. To Link, it was the happiest Yuga seemed in a long time.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I actually had most of this chapter written out for a while, so I told myself to just finish it and post it instead of letting it sit and gather dust. So, here you go! Again, thank you so so so much for all the comments and reviews I am getting on this fic (especially the long ones)! I am extremely happy that some of you decided to stick for the ride! As usual, have a wonderful day/night, and until the next update!