A/N: Haha, exams are over! Sorry if they caused any large delay in my usual updating times – there is no schedule I follow by, so I wouldn't know. Anyway, to all young ones who enjoy history, if you're given the choice, don't take history, no matter what country or education system you have. It hurts, oh it hurts.
Chapter 9:
"Se frei beau." Those were Navi's last words before Link ran to find any medicinal plants, and those were Navi's final words when he finally returned. The disease proved to be more fatal than they all thought.
Link stared blankly at the grave they made for her. Stuck in an unknown Planet, she did not have the comforts of resting in home ground. To escape the stranded armies that hunted them, the best they could do was find a small rocky alcove to create it and protect it from desecration.
Life wasn't fair. They used to talk about what they would do when they returned, Saria, Shael, Navi, and Link. They would joke, and laugh, and role play the welcoming party they would receive. It was all doubtful, but there was hope. Now Navi was dead – she would never return. The dreams of success, of celebration, of home, had died with her. Link didn't know what to feel.
Angry? Depressed? Sad? Furious? He was all, and none at the same time. Staring at the stone they used as her tomb, he tried to conjure up some feeling, but failed.
It was raining outside. Shael's health was deteriorating as well, and it was taking all of Saria's expertise to ward off the sickness. A flash of lightning illuminated the epitaph written for Navi, and the thunder echoed through the cave as the heavens cried. Shaking slightly, Link raised his hands to feel the words etched onto the tombstone.
Saria had composed it, a song to mourn the passing of one of his best friends. The Firefly's Grave. Written in the Hylian language as well fey scripture, it was the final tribute they could give to his departed friend. Link had spent hours playing the song on the ocarina, letting the music surround them in a small blanket of comfort.
Link cursed his folly – why, why didn't he play the Song of Time earlier? Before he lost his connection to Hyrule's magic, before it was too late? He could have saved them all, returned them back to the Lost Woods and change the decision to find Termina. He could have, but he didn't. Why?
If not for the sombreness of the situation, he might have laughed. Paradox, that was why. Zelda had warned him about tampering with time, about the dangers it posed. It was necessary to defeat Ganondorf. It wasn't so bad for Termina: three days wouldn't make such a ripple as seven years, but like continuously hitting a blanket with a stick you would rip a hole through it. Eternity would have collapsed upon him if he tried the song one more time. The multitude of branches made when time is repeated will cause the great tree to fall under the weight. No, Zelda's warning was to never play the Song of Time, no matter how dire the situation called for it. Link wished he didn't listen.
Saria was trying to protect Shael from the curtain of rain that slithered across the alcove, huddling close to the sick fairy for shelter and warmth. The torrent of rain drowned out her whispered words, and Link couldn't tell whether she was soothing the fairy or casting some incantation. Slumped on his knees, he returned his gave back to the grave.
An idiot, Navi had called him. You'd be the cause of my death, she once joked. Link wished it just remained a joke. No more battles with her help and advice, no more nights contemplating the constellations together, no more mistakes that she pulled him out of. No more Navi.
Link wanted to punch something, but restrained himself. This place was Navi's final resting ground, and he wouldn't taint it with an act of violence. Gritting back the tears that were sprouting, he sagged against the wall, breathing getting more erratic.
"Link, she'st triqu levalier," /Link, we must go/ Saria called out softly, barely intelligible past the drumming of the rain, "Se plaes steis Shael dost." /I cannot help Shael here./
Link nodded numbly, wiping his face roughly. There was no time to mourn for his friend, for they now had to save the other one. This was one downhill battle, and they had fallen off the cliff.
-S-
A grand clock, the entire labyrinth seemed to be an ironic mockery of the powers Link once possessed. Calendars up to many millennia past their time were etched on the walls, and rustic depictions of the Planet's birth were scrawled across the ceiling. On the floor was a giant clock face, the hands slowly thrumming with each slow tick.
Their soft footfalls were enough to activate the strange glowing moss on the stone surfaces, light humming with each minute vibration. The faint green light was enough to illuminate the steps before them, but not enough to give greater detail about the room surrounding them.
The entrance was at the top, and the clock at the bottom. The goal seemed simple, in just reaching the bottom via the stairs, and dealing with the clock later. But given how the chamber was over a kilometre in radius and went two kilometres down, that was a lot of steps to walk down.
"This place must have been a fairly recent addition," Link said to break the silence, gesturing around, "I can't remember hearing about this place when I was around."
Tifa raised her eyebrow. "So it had to be around seven hundred to four hundred years old. Very recent." Link had the grace to look sheepish.
"I wonder why the Cetra bothered making such a destructive Materia?" Aeris pondered, her hand outstretched to lightly feel the etchings on the wall. "I mean, there has been no recorded moment when they actually used it. It seems like a great risk for nothing."
They fell back into silence, the patter of their steps being the only sounds emitted. It was strangely soothing, the eerie green light, the suffocated steps, the ancient might surrounding and the vast darkness that hid it. At least, it was to Link, although he had his fair share of dank, dark caverns that seemed to lead nowhere. Perhaps it was because of those experiences he could fully appreciate the subliminal beauty of the labyrinth, and the joy of having companionship while exploring the unexplored.
To Barret however, the half hour of walking and getting nowhere was grating at his mind.
"Are we there yet?" he shouted suddenly, startling everyone. Trying not to look like a petulant child, he added, "We've bin goin' on for ages! Are we goin' the right direction, anyways?"
Cloud shrugged. "Maybe not, but last time I checked the only direction there was, was down." He paused in thought – causing a muffled 'oomph' as Yuffie stumbled on his stilled form – and frowned deeply. "I really hope that there wasn't a secret passageway we missed." That would mean half an hour of backtracking, slightly longer since they'll be going up instead of down, and if false another half an hour of going back down.
Yuffie rubbed her face, muttering to herself about giant fat swords needing softer sheaths. "Well, not much we can say about that, can we?" she grumbled aloud, giving Cloud's back a spiteful look, "there isn't much in terms of landmarks we could use."
Maybe it was because of some lost magic, or maybe they managed to walk far enough, but a few seconds after her saying that the passageway branched to a side, revealing a room coated in the glowing moss. Gaining energy from the ground vibrations they sprung the room into light, bathing the place with their glow. Inside sat what Link would have called a dwarf in a purple suit.
To be more accurate, the dwarf was actually sleeping, nestled in some crevice with a mouldy old blanket to protect it from an invisible wind. It blinked blearily when the lights appeared, scratched its beard and adjusted its suit before staring at the newcomers.
Cid stared in horror at the bearded dwarf. "Wha' the 'ell is that thing? It's hideous!" Link would have agreed if not for how rude it would have been. The beard seemed to be growing some mould of its own, and when he squinted he was sure he could see something crawling inside. The squat man had layers of dirt painted across its scalp, and one eye was a dull brown and the other a vibrant blue. Its jaws came off at jagged angles, and overall its entire body seemed to be made of shrivelled slabs of wood nailed by poor craftsmanship. Its skin seemed mottled with a odd blue colour, and to top it off it had to wear a purple tuxedo. It was definitely not the epitome of beauty.
The dwarf looked at Cid, but didn't look like it comprehended what he said. This was good, since it had an array of muskets and rifles next to it and probably wouldn't have been pleased by his words.
"Now, this poor guy must have lived here since this place was made," Aeris chided gently with a look of mild disapproval, "I'm sure people don't look that good when they've spent hundreds of years stuck in some underground cave." Link coughed loudly, and she flicked her glance at him. "Even Link here looked like a famished skeleton with bugging eyes!"
"I didn't have 'bugging eyes'," Link muttered huffily, "and I wasn't that skinny."
Aeris brushed off his comments and said cheerfully, "This must be another Cetra guardian!" Turning around to face the guardian, she knelt down and tried to converse with it. The effort seemed to be a moot point, since it still stared blankly and didn't utter back.
Link sighed and called out to Aeris, "I don't think it understands you. It might have, but the centuries spent in isolation meant that it probably forgot how to speak and listen. The Jemnezmys above at least had those 8-Eyes to talk to, and I was, um, 'suspended' by the molten lava."
Vincent was about to turn around, when a glitter behind the dwarf caught his eye. Striding forward, he was about to pick it up when the dwarf, with some strength still preserved through the ages, slapped his hand aside. It opened its mouth, struggled a bit before closing it. Giving up, it plucked out the ether bottle and holding it with one hand, opened its other with the palm facing up.
Cloud stared incredulously. "A… merchant?" Almost curiously he passed a few silver pieces to the dwarf, who took them and scrutinised them. Dropping them on the floor it slapped its open palm against its suit and stretched out its hand again.
Red XIII laughed. "It looks like it doesn't like being short-changed. How much does an ether cost?" With a flick of his nose he passed over a thousand silver pieces. The dwarf took its time sorting through the money, before handing them the ether and two hundred change.
"A mouldy ol' merchant in de middle of a Temple," Cid muttered, "Now Ah've seen everythin'." The dwarf didn't pay attention to him, instead turning around to pull out its stocks from the mud it sank in. Even though it cared little about its own grimey state, it brushed its wares in an attempt to make them look more presentable.
Link looked at the dwarf strangely. "What would he need with money? I don't think he can spend it here."
Cloud shrugged. "Who cares?" With that he promptly started the exchange of goods for gold, replenishing their stocks of healing potions. Waving farewell, they left, returning back to the large, spiralling staircase to descend in its hollow emptiness.
Barret's stomach rumbled, amazingly echoing off the far walls. "I wish that thing had something ta eat."
Vincent smiled. "If he did, it would be incredibly stale. Be thankful you haven't toppled to indigestion yet." Cait Sith fished around the bag for a while before tossing to Barret a tuna sandwich.
Back walking in what appeared to be endless navigation, they fell back into the silence that occupied them earlier on. Yuffie was trying to entertain herself by bouncing a stick against the wall, and Barret caught on and was creating a rhythm of his own by rapping it with his metal arm instead. The silence swallowed the sounds greedily, drinking any wasted energy on their part, and soon the tapping grew half-hearted.
"This is getting real borin', real fast." Cid grumbled to himself as Yuffie gave up and stabbed the stick into some soft clay section of the wall. "We've walked for too long, it's getting' dull. Do we even look closer to the bloody clock thing? No!" He muttered a few curses under his breath, grabbing a loose stone and throwing it off the walkway. A low whistling sound came from its accelerated descent, but just when they were expecting it to land… it didn't.
"Well, that tells us a lot." Red XIII sighed, shaking his head in bemusement. Rolling his shoulders, he frowned distastefully at the steps they were going down. "We definitely have a lot more to cover before we reach the bottom."
They fell back to the companionship of their steps, trudging on in unhappy boredom. Aeris had to pass her staff over to Tifa for a moment so she could replenish her magic before taking back the mantle of warding off the overwhelming gravity of the place, but that was the most excitement they had for another two hours, if you excluded Vincent accidentally tripping over a worn away step twice.
Yuffie had returned back to the wall, and was drumming her fingers lightly against it as they passed. Suddenly she stopped, an almost desperate look on her face. "Guys," she said slowly when they realised she wasn't moving, "we have a problem."
Taking her hand off the wall, she exposed the stick she had plunged in earlier.
Link laughed. "Amazing," he said through his chuckles, "simply amazing."
Cloud was clasping his head in his palm, and seemed on the verge of tearing some hair out. "Circles. We've been going in blasted circles."
Cid passed the verge, and a few freed hairs floated down to the ground. "There're expletives the Gods wished never existed, and sum'o them come ta mind."
Link looked at the falling hairs curiously, and without explanation moved to the side of the walkway. Extending his hand out blindly, he waved it around for a few seconds before pulling it back in. Returning to the group, he tossed a small stone to Cid. "I believe you dropped this," he said as a smile tugged his lips, soaking in their disbelieving expressions.
"This. Isn't. Funny." Vincent growled. Link could only smile deeper. "I've come free of my eternal punishment only to fall back into eternal punishment? No wonder we went nowhere."
Tifa looked at Link curiously. "How'd you know?" she asked, gesturing to the rock.
Link shrugged. "Call it a hunch. I'm sure that those Jemnezmys earlier on were asking us questions on time for a reason." Breaking out into laughter again, he waited for it to subside before continuing, "It appears they were more relevant than we thought. Eternity colliding with infinity – we're probably bouncing backwards and forwards in space whilst time takes its sweet time. Heh. We're going nowhere, and nowhen. I wonder how Sephiroth got through this," Link added with a bit of thought.
Cloud wasn't as impressed with the levity of the situation. "That's great to know. Now, any ideas on how to get out of this fix?"
Red XIII looked contemplatively at the edge of the walkway. "I'd be tempted to say we jump off the walkway, and see what happens. My only fear with that is that we'll end up like the stone – always falling."
Link shrugged. "Alas, I used to know some of Farore's magic – the spell Quelst Farore involved something about bouncing through space and shrinking down time – pretty much a teleportation spell, or a speed-up thing. It could even be inverted to slow things down. A pity I forgot – maybe dabbling with time magic might help here."
Aeris looked speculative at the prospect. "The Cetra also had some magic that could do the same things you mentioned." Glancing at Tifa, she asked, "Do you have the Time Materia? Maybe we could try something."
Tifa nodded, pulling the requested Materia out of the mail shirt she wore underneath. While Materia was connected to armour and weapons for quick calling, you could pull out more results if you actually held it and concentrated looking at it. Looking at Link, she inquired what he suggested they do – after all, he was the one that came up with the idea, and he was the oldest, so some time magic must have been protecting him, despite no one being able to see it.
Link shrugged again. "I have no idea, on that. Maybe you can do what Aeris is doing, and cast your 'haste' spell on the ground or us while we're walking. Or maybe 'stop', it really gets confusing here. Just do anything, it can't hurt to try."
Tifa flicked her gaze back down to the green Materia, pooling her thoughts through her arms and into the gem. It glowed so softly that only Link with his lifestream attuned vision could see, and she could almost here unspoken voices, asking of her wish, and granting.
It was nearly imperceptible, but everyone else could feel a slightly different stir in the air: something like the warning you'd get when someone was about to cast a time spell on you, but much dampened. They looked at Tifa expectantly as her magic swirled into a cohesive order, throbbing with her pulse through the air that surrounded them. Cloud, at the front, was about to take the first step in the time fired mass of space…
… When Tifa suddenly fell down with a barely contained cry of pain, the Materia bouncing around the stone floor and off the walkway.
"'It can't hurt to try', you say?" she wheezed as Cait Sith and Cloud helped her back to her feet, the former handing her a tonic, "If I wasn't about to fall back to the ground, I'd strangle you for that comment. In fact, come here so I can grab your neck."
"Sorry about that, I really wasn't expecting that to happen." He apologised sincerely, looking a bit disappointed. "I almost thought it was going to work."
Vincent rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, it makes a bit of sense now – how else could this Temple store so much space in so little area without its discovery? It managed to warp the space around it to contain its gravitational field. This might explain why the dwarf cannot talk, but the others can: it may have been a few hundred years for the Jemnezmys, but maybe millennia for the dwarf."
"So now what?" Yuffie asked, gesturing around. Link went back to the side again, stuck his hand out and caught the time Materia that fell. "There must be something we should be able to do. There has to be a way to get out of this fix: all puzzles are made to be solved!"
The breaking of physics, the pompous disregard of the laws that governed the world: that was this place. Link had to give credit to the Cetra who made it, for if it was made after Jenova it meant after the Golden Age and with a dwindling population. Then again, he was the one who taught the remaining few bits of time magic, as well as shield magic. They already had Din's Fire, or a variation of it, long before he arrived. What did they call it here? Flare, Firaga? In his humble opinion, it was not a very creative name.
Breaking out of his considerations of magic, Link saw that Yuffie was sitting on the edge of the walkway, watching a twig drop away from view and then return from above, contemplating what it might suggest. Barret was filling the silence with occasional gun cracks, as he tried to see whether the time/space effect was just held in by the rocks. Red XIII was conversing with Aeris on possible answers, and Cid was taking the time – all eternal moments of it – to enjoy a cigarette.
"You really shouldn't smoke, you know," Tifa said to Cid, "it's really not helping your reflexes. You're going to die from tarred lungs before anything else." Cid's reply was a ring of smoke her direction.
Waving the offending creation away, Tifa looked dissatisfied at Cid. "Ah, it's hopeless. What do you find so fun about such a smelly activity? I mean, if I was to do it, which I won't, I'd prefer it to smell something like lavender than… that stuff."
Cid just glanced at her. "Female thinking. Ha, you'd be surprised how many women breathe this stuff. It's bad, it's good." Smirking at her frown, he blew another smoke shape at her, but this time in the shape of a waving streamer. Tifa coughed, made a disgruntled sound, and left.
Link wasn't the only one watching the exchange. When he looked back at the walkway, in the darkness and barely visible, another dwarf was watching with what appeared to be fascination at Cid's smoke rings. Unlike its previous counterpart, this one was a lot cleaner, and seemed a bit more youthful, despite still having a grey beard.
Link nudged Cait Sith, who happened to be the closest being, and pointed at the dwarf who hadn't noticed them watching. Thankfully the dwarf was too enraptured in Cid's exhalations to notice Cait Sith squint its direction. Discretion was probably the best thing, given that nothing will hide unless it didn't want to be seen.
Alas, Cait Sith didn't see it that way. Raising a furry arm, he called out loudly, "Hello there! Would you mind helping us?" His shout was a good thing, and a bad thing. It managed to alert everyone of the dwarf's presence, but also scared the thing off. Glancing one more time at Cid's puffs of smoke it started to scuttle away.
"Our way out and I'm not losing it!" Cloud shouted, slinging his sword back and running after the fleeing form. Cid stumbled back to his feet and tossed his cigarette aside and after stamping out the fire created on the moss ran after them.
If anyone had noticed, which no one did, too intent on the purple dwarf, they would have seen walls slide out of view, creating tunnels, steps materialising in gaps in space and darkness dissolving away to reveal a new portal. As it were, only Vincent noticed that they were sprinting on mid-air at one point, and Red XIII managing to flick his glance to see the scenery flash faster than it should have been at that speed.
After a few minutes of sprinting, Cloud came close enough to have been able to pick up the dwarf by the scruff of its neck. It managed to do some fancy cartwheel, jumping away from his grasp and attached to the ceiling, started running on it. With a flip it was back onto normal ground, and with a final glance at them, it pulled on a large brass switch.
"Well," Barret panted, leaning against the wall, "Ah'm definitely outta shape. Blasted thing moves too fast fer stumpy legs." Now that they stopped, everyone was taking the time to show signs of their exertion, minus Yuffie, Red XIII and Tifa.
"Ah'm still hungry too," Barret continued, "Ah can hear me belly afta all that runnin'."
Vincent rolled his eyes. "So can I. Please, find something to eat: it's very distracting."
Link took the time to lie down, dropping his body to the ground and splaying it to allow the maximum surface area for cooling. The ground shook slightly, vibrating with the sounds of Barret's stomach.
"I don't think it's your stomach," Link muttered, eyes narrowing to concentrate on the vibrations. "What did that dwarf do? Run on the ceiling and hit a switch…"
Cloud inhaled deeply to break down the lactic acid. "Yeah, so what? What does that have to do with Barret's stomach?"
From their position in the corridor, the sounds and vibrations got larger, and Cid managed to peek down the passageway.
"Oh &£$!" He swore heavily, and pulled back just in time to avoid a giant boulder from grinding down his face. Link however hadn't moved yet, and to the horror of everyone watching, stayed in his lying position as the boulder ran over him.
"LINK!" Aeris screamed, expecting a flattened form of the oldest being alive. But as the group rushed closer, they were surprised to find him merely confused, but unharmed.
"Wow," Yuffie stated, poking Link's chest in disbelief, "I didn't know you came with stone skin. That thing looked heavy enough to churn you into paste!"
"I don't," Link mumbled back, "there's a rivet in the boulder, large enough to fit a standing person. The boulder never touched me."
As an experiment, he stood up and waited, ushering the others back. As expected another boulder rolled along, and his predictions were right. Returning unscathed from the operation, he explained his findings to the group.
"These boulders are U-shaped things," he told them, gesturing with his arms, "and they all fall in the same pattern. I saw the dwarf guy on the other side too – he seemed to be waiting for us. I think that if one person can get across, that person can deactivate these boulders."
Given that it was Link who discovered it, believed he knew the pattern and managed to survive what looked like being squished, he was the one chosen to run across. He had to leave his sword with Aeris, since with distance her anti-gravity spell will weaken and he couldn't afford to be slowed down.
With a grin he tapped his foot three times before dashing forward, taking the time to admire the well chiselled shape of the boulder. Link wondered whether this place would ever run out of them. Speeding up slightly he curled into a roll, managing to fit through the gap just in time. His momentum resulted in him accidentally smashing his nose into the receding rock wall, but that was the only injury he received from his dash across the passageway.
The dwarf hadn't moved, and even conveniently turned off the trap as Link approached him. It stayed as the group arrived, displaying none of its frightened demeanour earlier.
"Strange, this guy's not 'fraid no more," Barret mumbled, attempting to discreetly glance at the dwarf. Given their stature differences, it ended up being pretty blatant with him hunching slightly and twisting so that his shoulder didn't obstruct his view.
"Maybe he wasn't frightened in the first place," Red XIII mused, "maybe he was there to show us the way out. A guide, if you will."
Without fear of falling boulders, everyone could now appreciate the room more appropriately. The ground, walls and ceiling were surprisingly smooth, as if a thousand men had spent centuries rubbing down the rock until no edge remained. No moss grew, but lighting was provided courtesy of a glowing fountain.
Aeris was the first to reach it, looking at the pristine reflection it returned. Curiously she tried gazing at it from different angles, but no matter where she looked she couldn't find the source of light beneath the water. Gravity Materia held in one hand, she used the other to touch the surface.
And the surface touched back.
With a gasp she withdrew her hand, the ripples from her disturbances rolling across the water's tension. Two delicate hands slowly formed, and between them coalesced what could only be described as a glowing disc, a rotating sheet of water.
"What on Earth is that?" Tifa asked as she approached. Reacting to her presence, or maybe her words, the disc expanded into a globe, and the light streaming through it refracted off its curved surface, releasing a pattern of colours.
It only took a few moments for everyone to realise it was showing a room with inscribed walls, but more importantly the two Turks inside. The pool in which the globe originated from thrummed like a liquid amplifier, releasing sound from its vibrating tremors.
"The Temple of the Ancients," Tseng breathed, passing his hand across the wall writings, "who could believe it would be so complex? Truly, we have underestimated the Cetra."
Elena crouched down to examine closer the lower inscriptions, humming in agreement. "Yes, well, we managed to get through. Things are good."
"Yes, we've nearly achieved our goal. Perhaps when it has been completed, we should adjourn without the others some place else."
"You're asking me out?" Elena asked, blinking owlishly.
Tseng raised his eyebrow. "Perhaps, but for now we must crack this wall puzzle."
"Alas, it will probably crack you." A deeper voice responded. The Turks twirled around, and the globe shuddered as Sephiroth seemed to dissolve into view.
He chuckled darkly at their startled expressions, splitting into two impressions of himself. One stood to the side, blankly watching the wall, while the other floated around the two, talking almost amicably.
"The Planet's a beautiful thing, no?" He commented, drawing a circle in the air, "it is the sustenance of life, the embodiment of the greatest power there can ever be. That power… energy… it's only worthy of one with the Planet." Smirking he floated back to his counterpart, observing the wall. "I shall become one with the Planet."
Laughing forbiddingly the clone disappeared, only to reappear right next to Tseng. With a jump the Turk stumbled back, warily watching both forms. "My strength is great, far greater than you can comprehend," Sephiroth sneered, "but it's only the touch of the living. For greater might, I need to wield the energies from death… the Planet must consume me, for me to consume it. In great harmony, I will be all powerful, omnipotent. A god."
"Hardly," Tseng scoffed, his eyes flicking in between both clones, "you'll just be a forgotten patch of soil."
Sephiroth smiled, both clones flashing as they seemed to slither through the air. As fast as Tseng was, he was no match for two of Sephiroth, and with a choked gurgle was thrown to the side, a giant sword sticking through his abdomen. From the distance of watching, Link wondered if that was how they found Tseng in the beginning.
"The Promised Land," Sephiroth chuckled softly, "is a dream of once was. The Promised Land, is the future in my fist. Heaven is through Purgatory." With a mocking bow to the shocked Elena, Sephiroth faded away.
No one spoke for a moment as the globe and supporting hands collapsed, falling back into the fountain without a splash. For a moment the light from it intensified, before dropping down to its previous levels.
"Sephiroth…" Cloud muttered shaking his head, "has to be stopped. I am tired of dealing with him, and its best if we put a stop to him now." Flexing his hands in anticipation, he glanced once more at the still waters before turning around. "Come on guys, he shouldn't have left yet, and the sooner this is over, the better."
Everyone followed Cloud's example and followed behind him. Before they could leave, the dwarf tugged at Link's trouser leg. Confused, he turned and squatted to meet the dwarf face to face. This one faced the same speaking impairments of the first one, shaking its head before gesticulating. Cupping its hands, it raised it to its lips and leaned back and then pointed to the pool everyone was standing around earlier.
"Drink?" Link muttered, copying the dwarf's action to make certain he got what the dwarf was saying. It nodded, and repeated the motions again. It seemed impatient with Link just standing there, and started pulling him over.
"What about the others?" Link asked, pointing to the departing group. He could still see Cait Sith's back, but the increasing weight of his sword proved they were still moving further away. The dwarf shook its head, and insistently tugged Link towards the pool.
Sensing his incomprehension, it sipped a bit of the water before pointing for Link to follow. Wary, he cupped a small amount in his hands and raised the water to his mouth.
Flash
Water. The country was under water. People called for their Hero, but he did not come. He could not come. The Goddesses had answered their prayers, and drowned the lands.
The skies cried for what happened, for what was to come. But they would not let this new evil conquer the land. Tears of sorrow, tears of bitterness, and tears of resilience… the country will survive. The Hero will be born again.
Flash
A little island. A little boy. A shield, placed on the living room wall as decoration. An old lady reciting the tales of the Hero. Heroes come and go, born mighty and born low. The last one left, a new one is in need. The people cry for help, so the Goddesses plant the seed. Let the tree grow, under the care of life. End this war, end this fight, end this strife. Bearer of Courage, you are gone. The world shall wait, eyes weary and forlorn.
Flash
"The past, is past," Zelda sighed, rocking her twelve year old frame gently on the banister she sat on. "The power to change it is one desired, but should never be deserved." Smiling at my incomprehension, she laughed lightly and patted his head. "You'll understand, don't worry: you've been given the power."
"I'm no child," I replied in mock irritation, ruffling the hair she touched, "you don't have to treat me like I'm one."
She raises her eyebrow, and her lips twitch, restraining against a larger smile. I paused to consider what I said, and smile ruefully with her.
I don't know why she always lets me visit. My job was my job. It was done, and that's it. Whatever her reasons, I'm glad for the company, and I guess she is too.
Flash
One thousand years. I've searched for one thousand years, and could never find you.
Who are you? How do you know me?
A bitter laugh. The feminine voice chokes back what could have been a sob. Yes, I forgotten you forsaken us, as we forsaken you. You will remember me in Time: it is of no importance.
What do you want with me?
A sigh, accompanied by a faint tingling. The lady shook her head, and small bells rang. Want… I have no right to want anything from you. Not now, not evermore. I'm glad you're alive. If I am to want anything, is for you to come home.
What… what's going on?
A vision swirls, twirling and flowing to reveal green. People flash in his mind. Zelda. Malon. Darunia. Ruto. Rauru. Nabooru. Impa. Mido. Anju. Navi. Shael. We all wait for you, although many have undergone death and rebirth while you were away. Mido, Navi and Shael miss Saria too. Come home to them, to us, to me. Come home.
Who are you?
Thank the Faermin for me. He heard of my search, and has aided me reach you. Listen to the voices of the Cetra, those that lost the ability to speak. Who would have expected? One thousand years, and galaxies away… Come home, if you can. Come home.
… Farore?
Flash
Link stumbled back, almost choking as the water flowed down his gullet. The dwarf… Faermin looked at him silently as he staggered around, the hail of images in so little time pressing harshly on his mind.
'You alright kid?' The Faermin's lips didn't move, but Link knew no one else who might have spoken.
"Yeah, I think so. I'm slightly over a millennium old, you know," Link replied, dazedly shaking his head. What had happened?
The Faermin snorted. 'Whatever you say then, gramps. I wish I aged as well as you. Twice my age and four times the looks: some people just have all the luck. Hope you had a good chat.'
Link blinked, trying to clear his mind. "Thanks, I guess. Sorry, but I must go now."
'Wait.' When Link turned back, the Faermin placed a small stone in Link's palm. 'You might need this. The strange guy with white hair dropped this earlier.' With a wave, it shooed Link away.
Link smiled. "Thanks then, and… whoever I talked to, thanks you as well. You're a nice guy." Jogging back to where the group were – they stopped, he could tell since his sword didn't get any heavier – he waved apologetically at them.
"What took you so long?" Tifa demanded, arms placed at her waist. "We thought you were doing an ancient ritual among Ancients, and were about to come down as well. What's that you're holding?"
"Sorry," he apologised, "the thing just wanted to say a few things to me." Opening his hand, it held a green Materia, and from the swirling of life energy he saw inside, it dealt with physical form.
"A morph Materia," Cloud remarked, "aren't they getting more generous. Well, now that you're here, let's go."
As they walked, Link's mind was buzzing with questions. Was the person talking to him really Farore? What was the part about the island for? He could vaguely remember getting a dream some centuries earlier that said something about a flood… maybe those two were connected? And the people… people he once knew, people he nearly forgot… their faces were now branded in his mind, and he fixed a name to each of them, trying to make sure he'll never forget. What was that about Saria, Jenova? What was that about coming home? How?
Before he could assimilate any answers the group stopped, and laid out before them was the giant clock face they saw before from above. From the distance the second hand looked like it moved slowly, but up close it seemed to swing across the surface, completing each gigantic revolution under a minute.
Now that they were closer, they could see that all the hours were linked to gates of their own. Perfectly identical in appearance, they all had the same stone arch above and etched detailed pillars supporting. It was only due to roman numerals printed at their base that allowed the group to see one from the other. Aeris peered at their own gate, and saw it was no exception to the rule.
"Well, proposed taken action?" Vincent asked as everyone tried to read the time the clock read. One fifty.
Cait Sith mewled in thought before shrugging. "Well, let's just visit that gate for hour one. It's the best I can come up with." Some of the group sent him apprehensive looks, but ended up agreeing.
It was a real acrobatic stunt to move to the gate with the number one. The first had to run across the minute hand that pointed to the ten they stood on, jump over the second hand as it approached and brace themselves each time as the minute hand moved slightly. Cid nearly fell off, but was luckily saved by Yuffie tripping over a stumbling Barret and so kindly giving her ankle for him to grasp onto. After much cursing and swearing, they had to run across the hour hand and dived off the hands onto the ground just before the arm moved.
"This better have bin worth it," Cid snarled, wiping the sweat sheen on his brow and rubbing his hand against his trousers. "Way too much pain for my liking."
"Pain? Ha! You might want to hear my definition of pain!" Yuffie retorted, rubbing her sore foot. "I'd like to see what you'd do if a sixty kilo slug held onto your leg."
"Well, that's nothin' to a drop down nowhere!" Cid growled, pointing at the bottomless chasm he might have fallen in. "If yer so inclined, I'd happily throw you down and you tell me what yer think!"
The two sniped back and forth as they progressed down the passageway, with occasional attempts by Aeris to break up their fight. The room ended with a dead end, but here a Jemnezmy stood curled in foetus position against the wall and two 8-Eyes rolled. Their bantering alerted the three to their presence, and her mouth moved in silent words.
The others couldn't hear her – she was another one who lost her ability to speak in the distortion of time. But Link could.
'Trespassers must die!'
-S-
A/N: Well, wasn't that fun? Slightly longer than I wanted it to be, but then again I think I ended it decently enough.
I really didn't like the part with the boulder… didn't create enough hype or suspense as our main character gets squished. Alas, that's a fault I'll correct in the future. Maybe some of you can give me a few pointers? And while you're at it, you could correct Vincent's attitude as well – I know he's meant to act slightly weird (at least I think he should), but I never got him until late into the game, so I don't really know.
Well, as always, comment, criticise, commend and all other stuff you can do with the review button. I'll be trying to crank out my other story's chapter if possible – must get it done before I move again (me, the auguring shadow, me, the whispering tale, me, the herald of existence)! If had a 'donate' button, I'd ask you to do that as well, but as it is a well rounded critique or comment is all that I hope for. Thank you.