Thanks for helping the following stories pass the following hit marks in the past week: Sensei (23,000), A World of Lies (16,000), and Fourth of July and Walk Me Home (1,000). It looks like When Zelda Met Link is gonna be the next oneshot to pass 1000 (seven other oneshots already have).
September 4, 2008; 2:15 PM
Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture
Castle Town Metropolitan High School, Quad
The quad, which was located in the heart of Castle Town Metro High School, was full of life as the dismissal bell rung across the campus of one of the city's largest schools. Teens poured out of classrooms in waves, filling the open-air halls with the chattering of students conversed with each other on the latest gossip, the pinging and dial tones of cell phones, and the din of all the latest in-style shoes tapping against the concrete as everyone walked all at once.
Being back on the school's campus brought back so many memories to Link. After all, he was an alumnus himself—his graduating class' valedictorian, no less. His past teachers instantly recognized him and talked with him on what he's been up to since his high school days, and the newer ones came up to him, saying they had heard great things about him.
But like at Hyrule University, he garnered the attention of half the student body's females as he walked by their cliques, giggling girlishly and blushing furiously, some even surreptitiously taking pictures of him with their cell phones. He didn't really mind it all that much, as he grew used to it through his college and grad school days, and even as he walked down Hyrule U.'s halls, arrogant as it may sound. He did, however, knit his brow slightly whenever he heard the occasional shutter sound from a cell phone go off.
"Excuse me," Link said, gently pushing his way through the crowds. "Sorry… Pardon me…"
After swimming upstream the endless sea of teenagers, he finally reached the administration building. Before entering, he looked back at the quad behind him. The walls of the buildings were plastered with student-made posters welcoming returning and new students, advertising the school's various clubs and try-outs for the sports, cheer, auxiliary, academic and dance teams, and the back-to-school pep rally that was to take place the next day.
This school hasn't changed one bit, he smiled softly before turning back to enter the admin building.
Link walked up to the front desk, eyeing the cases filled with trophies accumulated by the school's clubs and teams on his way. A wave of nostalgia swept past him; a few of them were earned by the teams he was on.
"Good afternoon," the redheaded woman at the desk smiled at him.
"Hello," Link smiled back as he nodded slightly.
"A parent of one of our students?" She asked. This gained a small chuckle from the blonde.
"Ah, not quite…" Link shook his head. "I'm actually an alumnus here."
She nodded deeply, sighing nostalgically. "Ahh, I see. What class?"
He smirked slightly. "Class of 1993… Way back in the day."
It was then it occurred to him just how old he really was. Damn. Fifteen years since I graduated high school… And girls are still looking at me like I'm fresh out of college.
The receptionist laughed at that. "Indeed it was! So, how may I help you today?"
"I was wondering if I could meet with Principal Darunia Fyrus," he asked with a bit of hopefulness.
"You have a meeting with him?" She asked.
"Something like that," he shrugged.
The woman nodded and said that she was going to get him. But just as she stood up, a Goron walked out of one of the office's many rooms.
"…Avalon!? …That you!?"
Link looked up at the almost bombastic mentioning of his name. Standing in the doorway of one of the offices was none other than Principal Darunia Fyrus. The Hylian broke out into a grin at the sight of the Goron, who was walking over to him. Pushing his way past the swinging door that separated the waiting area from the inside of the office, he took Link's hand into both his large ones for a handshake so hearty Link could have sworn his arm slightly disjointed from it.
"Link, how've you been!?" Darunia's voice boomed, wrapping an arm around Link's neck. "The glasses are gone… You're a little taller… Yer chin could use a good shave, but it's definitely you!"
"I'm doing fine, Darunia," Link laughed. Fifteen years hasn't done a thing to him. "I'm still wearing glasses, but I use contacts more now. How're things doing around here?"
"Good, good!" The principal nodded his head. "Please, come into my office! It's been a while since you've stopped by!"
Darunia led Link into his office, closing the door behind him. Link took in his surroundings, smiling to himself as the memories came back. He's had his share of visits to Darunia Fyrus' office as a student, though most of them not necessarily for disciplinary reasons—if any of them were for that purpose at all.
"Goddesses, Link…" Darunia sighed as he took a seat at his desk and gestured for Link to sit down in front of him. "It's been so long."
"Fifteen years, I believe," Link nodded in agreement, sitting down in the red leather chair.
"What have you been up to all this time?" The blue-eyed Goron asked him. "You wanted to be a lawyer, didn't you? I remember you applying for all these colleges with law as yer major."
The blonde smiled slightly. "Yeah… But I'm a teacher now."
Darunia's brow shot up at that. "That so, huh? …Wow… How's that workin' out? Where're ya teachin'?"
"I'm a history professor at Hyrule University," Link replied. Kinda surprised he doesn't know that…
"Well good for you," Darunia grinned. "I always knew you'd make something out of yourself… But what happened to bein' an attorney? Change your mind or something?"
"Oh…" Link paused for a moment. "I, ah… I double-majored. I took teaching with emphasis on Hylian history, and law."
It's not the truth… But then again, it's not a lie, either.
"Ambitious as always, aren't you?" The Goron chuckled. "...Got yourself a family?"
That made Link laugh. "No, I don't... Bet you thought that I would by now though, huh?"
"Actually, I did," he replied. "You always did have a way with the girls when you were here... Or are you still playing the field? If I remember, you always did have more girls hanging around you than guys."
Link chuckled softly. I guess... Girls always outnumbered the guys in my circle of friends... Not that I have a problem with that... Maybe I should find a girl to settle down with.
Darunia sighed after a moment. "Glad to see you so doing so well, Link... So now we're caught up, what can I do for you?"
Link didn't know how to tell him. How was he going to ask? Just tell him directly, he needed access to the school's archives? How was he going to explain himself if he was asked why it was needed? It wasn't so much that he didn't want to tell him why… It was that the case was all too much of a personal matter. It was just too long of a story to explain over and over.
"I was wondering…" Link trailed off slowly. "How do I ask this…? Do you think you can let me into the school's academic archives?"
Darunia gave him an odd look for a second. "Need it for something?"
The blonde rubbed the back of his neck shortly. "For school… For one of my students, I mean. She needs me to look into a transcript."
Hey, that wasn't a whole lie either. Damn, I'm good.
"…Well," the principal started. "I… suppose so. If it's that kind of matter…" He turned to his computer and typed something on the keyboard, moving the mouse against the pad here and here. "Here you go, Link."
Link's eyebrows went up in questioning as he slightly got up from his chair to peer into what was on the monitor.
"Here, you can come over," Darunia motioned for him to move behind his desk next to him, and Link silently obeyed. "Here are the school's academic records. Every graduating class we've had is in here… Doubt you'll need to go so far back though, right?"
Link chuckled at that. "Yeah, I suppose."
Darunia got up from his seat and gestured for Link to sit in it. "Go ahead."
"Oh," the blonde looked up at him. "You're going somewhere?"
"I have a teacher's meeting," Darunia replied, dusting off his suit. "The printer's over there if you need it," he pointed his thumb behind him, "and make sure you log out when you're finished, okay?
"Alright," Link nodded. "Thank you, Darunia."
"Sure thing," the Goron grinned. He took out a business card from the breast pocket of his blazer and handed it to Link. "Here's my number, so we can stay in touch later on."
"Thank you." He smiled. Darunia returned the gesture, and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Link stared at the monitor. Everything was organized in a table of three columns: on the left was the graduating class, in the middle was the number of students in the respective class, and the year's first and last day of school. The first on the list was the school's first graduating class, Class of 1964, and it all went down from there.
Okay… Link said to himself, mentally rubbing his palms together. Class of 2000… Although it couldn't hurt…
Curiosity getting the better of him, Link scrolled down, running his index finger over the trackball of the mouse, until he reached his year, Class of 1993. He double-clicked on it, and in a second the table reorganized itself as the content of the columns changed: student name, student ID number, birth date, and cumulative GPA respectively. He organized it so that the GPA numbers descended, and there was his name at the top of the list.
Link smiled softly at the list of the 750 people in his class. Most of them he recognized instantly—his best friends, the girls he went out with, and the popular people. But he frowned to himself slightly; it was a shame he never regularly kept in touch with his classmates except for a few people, and even then he rarely talked with them. He never attended his class reunions; looking through the list of all too familiar names, he felt compelled to go to the next one.
But then he remembered the reason he came here; to get information of Ruto's sister, Lulu Rutela. Clicking the back button, he scrolled down a little bit more until he got to the Class of 2000. He double-clicked the link, and there it was.
Let's see… Castle Town Metro Keatons Class of 2000… Graduating student count, 653… Promotion ceremony held at the HCT Metrodome, Emerald Ward…
"Ruto said this morning she graduated at the top of her class," Link said aloud. "Her family prides on perfection and academic excellence, so her sister should have been valedictorian as well… Let's just organize by GPA…"
He clicked the heading of the GPA column to reorganize the list in descending order, but what he found was that Lulu Rutela was not her class' top student; she finished the year as salutatorian. But that wasn't what made Link's blood turn cold and the hairs on his arms stand on end.
Class of 2000 valedictorian: Marin Harkinian.
Link suddenly felt a rush of vertigo as the name at the top of the list stared him straight in the eye. His contacts weren't failing on him. He was sure it wasn't a goof up in a name. That's what it said: Marin Harkinian. And third on the list beneath Marin and Lulu's names was none other than Zelda Harkinian.
This… This can't be… Link swallowed deeply, hurting his Adam's apple slightly. Marin… and Zelda…
He clicked on the three names, opening them up in tabs. He looked first at Marin's profile, and make no mistake, there was her class picture—and she looked exactly like Zelda and Marin Tarin.
She graduated with a perfect 5.0—she took all Advanced Placement classes and passed all of them. She was accepted into Hyrule University's journalism department as a sophomore, so she was a junior by the time Zelda was applying for sophomore registration when Kafei Kaminogi was killed.
It all comes together now, Link said to himself. Lulu was obviously striving to be her class' valedictorian, but Marin beat her to it… This is what Ruto meant when she said Marin ruined her sister's life... And this Marin Harkinian… This is Marin Tarin! I knew it! I knew that she was lying to me when she said she wasn't related to her!
But solving that mystery led to yet another: why did Marin change her last name, and why did she repeatedly deny any relations to Zelda Harkinian?
He clicked on the tab with Zelda's profile, and once again, his thinking was right. She graduated with the same GPA as Lulu, but she was selected against for salutatorian because of her lacking in extracurricular activities and community service in comparison to her. She was accepted into Hyrule University's history department… That was Zelda, alright. The pictures of Zelda and Marin were exactly the same; Link thought for a second that they just used the picture of one of the Harkinian sisters twice for both of them.
I have all the information I need now… I'll just print these bad boys out and—
The door swung open, and a soft female's voice followed.
"Mr. Fyrus, before you leave for the meeting—"
Link jumped up startled, and his head shot up, and who he saw completely shocked him senseless.
It was a woman. A redheaded woman with deep brown eyes, and a face that brought back one too many memories.
"Malon…" He stuttered. "…Malon Romani?"
She stared at him for the longest time, her mouth slightly open and her eyes bugging out. She didn't say anything. And without warning, ran out of the room.
"Ms. Romani!" Link called after her. He got up from the swivel chair, almost knocking it over in the process, and ran towards the door. "Ms. Romani!"
He stopped at the doorway, whirling around to search for the woman. To the left, running out of the admin building's door, was the woman he just saw, Malon Romani. He watched her run across the quad with surprising speed, her wearing rather high heels.
Ms. Romani… Memories from the trial six years ago came flooding back into his mind. Was that really you?
But his train of thought was interrupted by the pinging of the printer. He looked back into the room at the printer, which was on a chest behind Darunia's desk. The profiles for Marin, Ruto and Zelda just finished printing.
Link sighed softly, and taking one last look at Malon, who disappeared between the 400 and 500 buildings, walked back into the office to retrieve his papers.
This is crazy… Link shook his head as he pulled the papers out of the tray. He turned around to close the window on the monitor before taking one last look at Zelda's picture. And I hate to say it… I think I really do owe Ms. Rutela a deal of thanks for leading me to all this.
You know what website you should go to? Hyrule(dot)net. It's way better than The Hylia. For what reason? Well, I'm a staff member there, after all! Yep, more than half the news articles you find on the front page are all by me, suckaa! When you register, put in "4296" under "Referral ID number" so they know that I sent you. So after Circles is completed and I take my leave from fanfiction (no, I have not changed my mind, unfortunately), you'll most likely be using HyruleNet as your best bet to communicate with me (alongside email, AIM, Myspace, Facebook, deviantART, Wii messaging, and private messaging). Everyone there loves me. Especially Dustin, the website owner. :D
So that's it for now. Hopefully I'll have the next up on Friday in time for my birthday (hint, hint... All I want for my birthday is a review :p).
Cool people review. Cooler people click favorite and story alert. :)
Enjoy Life and Smile.
