Sorry for taking so long, if you minded. It's finals week and I just finished my worst final yesterday so I finally have a little time to post! It took me so long to get through this chapter. ;_;
Later that day, I was really embarrassed for myself. He hadn't exactly reciprocated the movement I made, linking our arms. He had just kinda held it there, as though he was afraid to touch me. What was I thinking? What did he think about me? I felt like an idiot. But I did wonder what he was thinking at that point.
Fuzzy.
I felt fuzzy. These weird fuzzy feelings. And I didn't know what to do. I was surprised. And then my brain became fuzzy. I hope she doesn't think that I was opposed to her actions…
Meghan and Link walked silently out of the clearing. Meghan let go of his arm once in view of the rest of the forest. She was embarrassed. Oh well.
"We need to tell Saria again," Meghan said, clearing the tension she thought she'd felt.
"I'll contact her." They went through the whole procedure again.
When the sages had let her into the alternate dimension Temple of Time again, Saria came in yet again.
"Meghan." She said very calmly.
"Yes?"
"I saw you."
"You saw me? Doing what?"
"I saw what you did to Link."
"What did I do?" She grew scared, seeing Saria's completely serious face.
"Clouding the Hero's thoughts, shame on you!" Saria had spoke in such a serious tone that Meghan was scared. Have I done something wrong? Are they going to hate me now? Meghan thought very worriedly, until she realized that Saria was suppressing a giggle.
"OK, what did I do this time?"
"Don't hide it, Meghan. You know you like him!"
"HIM? …what…? …no, I don't! What are you talking about?" There was no way. She hadn't even been here that long! He was a great friend, of course. Holding his arm? That was nothing she didn't do with with a guy friend before.
"The sages watch Link when he is supposed to be doing his job. Which I noticed he wasn't. You're lucky I was on watch duty."
"You guys are such perverts! He needs privacy too!"
"Calm down…it's just…" she started laughing.
"OK, but I still don't know what you're talking about." She said, even though now she knew perfectly well.
"Yes, you do." Meghan gave up and gave Saria a begging face.
"Please don't tell anyone! I regret it and won't do it ever again."
"Tell? Why not…I mean, why would I tell?"
"Saria!"
"OK, I was just kidding. What do you regret? It's not anything to regret. It's not like you k—"
"Saria! Please!"
"There's nothing wrong with it, Meghan. Believe me, I really understand."
Meghan frowned at her, the thoughts swirling in her head. "It's just…" she started hesitantly, trying to organize her crazy thoughts into understandable sentences, "I really don't think that he…wants me to do those things. He didn't really react when I held his arm…" She'd seen signs…but the world just was going in typical cycles. She was probably fooling herself, like every time before.
"Meghan, I don't even think you should be worrying about that. I see things—things that I believe are true, I have a certain foresight—so don't fret. You just do what you think is necessary."
Saria didn't answer Meghan's plea and instead said, "This conversation has gone on long enough. The others are probably worrying."
"Just…promise not to tell, OK?"
"Of course I would never tell. Just couldn't resist taking the chance to tease you."
Meghan gave her a fake glare. Then they laughed.
In the end, she really enjoyed Saria's company.
When she returned to Link, he was sitting along the edge of the steps leading to the Pedestal.
"Hi!" She skipped cheerfully to him, despite what just happened. "Oh COOL! NEW GOODIES!" Link was sporting a brand new pair of gauntlets. "These ones add pizzazz to everything!" Meghan said, giggling.
"What? Pizzazz? Should I ask?"
"Hmmm…it means…style, a flourish," she said in an exaggerated tone, emphasizing each word.
"OK…"
"Oh, and what is this?" she asked facetiously, looking behind him. "Master Sword wasn't good enough for you, was it?"
He had a different sword on. It was the Biggoron sword.
"Shh!"
"What?"
"The Master Sword might get jealous."
She giggled even more. "When did you get that?"
"I had enough time after I came back, when I was waiting for you."
"I was gone that long? SORRY!"
"Yeah, hours! That's OK. Epona and I had a nice trip. We had to go from Gerudo Valley, to Death Mountain, then to Zora's Domain, then to Lake Hylia, then all the way back to Death Mountain. And then when I tried to teleport the medicine got bad, so I had to do it all over again…"
"Hey, through your troubles, at least you got something in return."
"Yes, I suppose. And, I got something for you," he said taking a small backpack from…somewhere. It was made of cloth and colored black, and despite the fact that she was in Hyrule, it sort of looked like something from home. It reminded her of home.
"Thank you!" she cried, "but you didn't have to!"
"I just thought it would be good to carry things in." He forced it into her hands. She examined it, admiring his generosity. Then, she put it on over the sheath of her sword so she could reach the sword and it without problem. But she did not know until a bit later that there was something in it… "We should go."
As they walked, she asked, "So what happened in the past?"
He gave her a strained look "It was horrible…Nabooru, you know the woman in charge of the Gerudo? She was…taken prisoner because she opposed Ganondorf. Two witches, Koume and Kotake, put a spell on her. I can't imagine that she'd even been saved by now. It's horrible, just to think if she's been prisoner all this time. I can only hope that someone else freed her before I could."
"Oh…that's terrible…" she said. God, why did all this terrible stuff happen here?
He pulled out the ocarina and played the Requiem of Spirit. Wow, I love that song. Meghan thought as he played the beautiful melody.
"Whoo! Very hot here."
"Yes…are you OK?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Even though she actually didn't enjoy hot very much.
"We should get inside. It was cooler in there. But I want to take a small detour quickly."
"What?" Meghan asked, wondering why he'd delay.
"There is a Great Fairy. I would love to see her. She may provide something useful. She's over there," he said, pointing.
So, they rushed to that little place, found a way inside, (Which included a loud explosion) and stepped inside.
Link immediately knew what to do, having done so before. He played Zelda's Lullaby.
"Hahaha! I am the Great Fairy of…" But Meghan was not paying attention. She was in awe of the fairy's beauty, her scantily clad and curvaceous body appearing from nowhere. Her hair was bright pink flowed as she floated.
"…I will grant you a magic spell. Receive it now!" A light with a bluish tint shone around Link, giving him the magical abilities of Nayru's Love. "I see that the girl is here," said the pinkish-haired fairy, looking at Meghan under darkly shaded eyelashes. "This spell may work around two people, as long as you have twice the magic strength. You merely have to be in contact, just as your noble little fairy does." Navi, at this point, gasped and started to fly around Link's head.
"Oh, Your Grace is too kind!" The little voice said. "Thank you! You flatter me!" The great fairy chuckled at the comment.
"Come here, O noble Fairy Navi."
The Great Fairy lifted her delicate looking hands to under her mouth, palms under her chin, and blew a soft breeze at the little fairy. Navi began to glow, then became very sparkly.
"These bits of Hylian stars from our skies will change colors as you do." At her present color, color, they were silver sparkles. Navi turned herself green, the stars following her lead.
"Wooow!" Navi let out this exaggerated word. Meghan smiled. Navi was soo cute!
"Navi, may I see your great beauty?" Meghan asked. The fairy flew towards Meghan, and as she got there, she modeled her sparkly stars to Meghan, flying in little circles at eye level. "Navi, you're beautiful!" Meghan complimented, holding her hand out for the fairy to land in, as the little fairy turned an even brighter white. Her way of smiling. Meghan carefully noted her tiny face, which was round and childish but absolutely beautiful. Her wings sparkled as she absently moved them around and Meghan reached out to touch the sparkles on her wings gently. Navi giggled.
"That tickles!" she squeaked, falling onto her behind in Meghan's palm in laughter.
Link liked the sparkles, but he didn't see how it made the girls so excited. But the way Meghan was carefully studying Navi, his own fairy, made him notice the wonder she still had with such creatures. He thought she still might be fascinated by these things, since as she said, they didn't exist in her world. Most Hyrulens would probably even be fascinated.
The great fairy smiled in all her glory and continued, "Now, as I was saying, providing you have the proper amount of Magic, you may perform this spell. Also…" She looked at Meghan, who wasn't really paying attention because she was watching the little fairy show off her new looks, laughing with her. "Come closer." Link stepped to the edge of the fountain, and the Great Fairy came close to his face. He was surprised by her proximity. As she spoke, she did not expel air, rather she expelled energy and life. He felt light and entranced, and her large eyes stared straight through him.
"Protect this human. She will be very important, to Hyrule's future, and to yours." She whispered in his ear. "The gods have decided!" She moved back to her normal position. "Whenever you are battle weary, come back to see me! Hahahahahaha!"
The fairy shrank then disappeared. Link stood still, trying to comprehend what she had meant.
"Link, we should go."
Navi no longer wanted to return to her usual spot, tucked safely in Link's tunic. She flew around his head and flew everywhere else too. When she had flown so far she could not hear what Link and Meghan were saying, Meghan said to Link, "Link, she needs to calm down. If she's like that in the temple, you're going to have a hard time."
"Yes. Navi!" Link called, gently.
"Yeah?" She zoomed back to Link and stopped right in his face.
"Ah," he said, her brightness blinding him for a moment in fairly dark cave.
"Oh, right." Navi backed up.
"Anyway, Navi, can you calm down? We're going to need your help in the temple."
"Sorry, Linky-winky-"
"Navi!" he said, turning red.
"Oh come on. You never used to mind me calling you that." She put her hands on her hips and winked, her wing fluttering as she hovered in the air.
"Navi!" Link reached out and circle his fingers gently about her waist.
"AHHH! I'm being eaten by a Hylian, Meghan! Help me! Ah!" She prentended to struggle in his grip, but he wasn't actually holding her. "Meghan help!"
"Guys! Stop!"
They stopped struggling and looked at Meghan, who was suddenly serious. "We have business to attend to!" With that, Meghan stepped outside the cave, beckoning for the pair to follow her. All those stupid little monsters bombarded her, but she dodged them, clumsily drawing her sword.
She suddenly felt very homesick All these strange creatures, magical powers…theywere too much to take in sometimes. Link was following her, wondering what had her so serious suddenly. She was walking away in her own world. He drew his sword and deflected the monsters that came at her lazily.
"Navi, what happened to her?"
"I didn't do it. You did it."
"What? I didn't even say anything."
"Never mind, you wouldn't understand."
"Hey! Meghan!" She didn't turn. He jogged to catch up with her, swiping at a baddie on the way. "Meghan." She turned her head so suddenly he almost jumped back.
"What?" she asked, almost sharply.
"What's the matter?" He stood dumbfounded at her sudden change in mood. She was being curt. "You seem…" he started, but he didn't know what to say to not offend her.
"I…miss home. Seeing you and Navi, being all childhood-buddy like makes me sad. I miss my friends and the things we used to do. And things are so weird here…" she shook her head. "Never mind, it's not important."
"Oh…Meghan, I'm sorry. I know we've been busy with all these temples, but I'm still looking for ways to get you back. I'm always thinking. I really want to help you get back."
He was lying. He knew why he was lying, and the lie was easy to hear in his voice. She heard the lie, and it was really obvious. She thought it was insincerity, that he was just saying that to make her feel better. She should have known better. He probably knew he couldn't send her back. Or maybe it was just a bother for him to be looking for a way.
But the reason why he was lying was that he realized he didn't want her to leave. How could he just let her go?
"It's OK," she said, pained. She would never get home. She switched herself around, refusing to worry anyone, if they cared enough to worry.
Meghan started smiling and skipping as she tried killing the passing monsters. Link stared. Is she OK? Navi was flying at Meghan's side.
Meghan and Navi entered the Spirit temple first, with Link right behind. He quickly rushed ahead of them, Navi flying to his side. Meghan looked over his shoulder to a place where they had been once before.
Link using his new sword on the monsters ahead, dispatching them in record time. Meghan was impressed. And she was, as always, glad she was on his side.
"OK," he said. "See you soon. Stay safe, all right?"
She nodded.
He looked at her for a second more, then let out a slow breath. He went up the few steps, hesitantly. She crossed her arms, looking around. She walked up to one of the snake-signs, looking upon its tons of Hylian characters. They meant nothing to her. She had no idea what it said. She turned her head toward Link.
He had walked up to a giant stone block seemingly set into the wall, and looked at it for a moment. Then he set his palms on it.
"No way," she said, shock running through her as she realized what he was about to do. She took a few steps closer, watching as he started pushing, the muscles in his arms stretching his clothes taught, and the block started moving. "Oh my god," she said.
Had his strength no limit?
He just kept going. He changed his position, using his shoulder to lean into the block. He just kept going, until the block fell out of nowhere, into a hole, opening a path for him. He stopped, breathing hard. He knew she was watching.
She had walked up the stairs to see where he was going. He turned back, still breathing hard.
Then he smiled. "I cheated," he said, holding up his arms, showing her his gauntlets. They glinted in the light.
"What?" she asked, not understanding how he could cheat.
He just laughed.
"What do you mean!"
"These gauntlets give me extra strength."
Wut.
"What! I totally though you were doing that on your own! I was standing here in awe of your magnificent strength, and it wasn't even you? Oh my god, you're such a little liar!" she yelled, jokingly. She was smiling, and he laughed hard.
"I can't believe you fell for that joke," he said, still laughing.
She marched right up to him, in the semi-dark tunnel he'd just cleared. She grabbed his gauntleted wrist. "What is this? How can this just happen? This doesn't even make any sense!"
"I don't know," he said, smiling. She let go of his arm, moving back, and threw her arms up.
"I do not get this world." She marched back to the entrance of the tunnel. "I'll be here when you get back."
He smiled at her again. "All right, I'll try to be quick."
She smiled. "Yeah, hurry, Mr. Strong Hylian."
He turned and continued around the corner cautiously. She saw him toss a bomb, ducking behind his shield, but he soon disappeared.
She sighed, sat on the sandy steps, and waited.
She was on the other side of the front room, looking at the designs on the columns on the walls. She ran her fingers over the designs. She wondered just how long this temple had been here, who had built it, and what it was really used for. It seemed abandoned now, full of sand and neglect.
Then she heard a noise behind her. It was a slight buzzing noise, and it seemed to be coming closer, but she wasn't sure from where.
She freaked, pulling out the Kokiri sword, her heart beating and her stomach flipping over. She realized it was coming from above. She moved back against the wall, watching something descend…a block…
And riding atop it was none other than Link. He had a grin from ear to ear on his face as he hopped off the small platform, and it levitated back up into the ceiling.
"Hi," he said.
She just stared with her mouth open for a second, before saying, "You scared me."
"Sorry!" he said, frowning.
"Where did you come from?"
"The ceiling, apparently," he said. The platform came back down for a second, then went back up. "There's something I would like to show you."
"What is it?"
"Well, if you'll just step onto this, I'll bring you there."
She looked at the lowering platform with skepticism, but followed him onto it. She looked up, pulling her arms in close to herself as they floated upward. She jumped onto solid ground as soon as she found it. They were in a small room, but he immediately went around a corner to a door, lifted it, and her eyes were allowed to see what he'd wanted her to see.
It was that room, with the giant statue of the Goddess of the Sand at the front, the one he'd told her about. She stood, feeling miniscule, at its base, level with the goddess's knees. She stared up, several stories, to the pristinely decorated idol, complete with jewels that sparkled in the dim candlelight. She sat with palms outstretched, as though to welcome them. The walls behind and around her were inundated with more characters, completely covered.
"Come this way," he said, leading her to the side of the room. He indicated to a wall that had blocks sticking out here and there, perfect to climb. For him, anyway. She struggled up.
It was worth it. They jogged up some stairs to a platform at the top, level with the goddess's hands. She looked at it in all its glory, and it was amazing. She felt like she was visiting one of the ancient pyramids of Egypt. Or something.
"Meghan, stay safe here. I have to go," he said, standing behind her.
"What? You still have more to do?"
"Yes, I do. I'll be back to get you, I promise."
"OK…" she said nervously, looking around.
"This room is safe," he said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll just investigate everything."
"All right, I'll be back soon."
He turned and left through another door. She sighed, putting her hands on the railing of the landing.
They had just rocketed into the face of the statue, or at least what used to be the face. It was kinda ruined now, but oh well. She looked at the door with a heavy lock in front of her.
"You shouldn't come in," he said.
"But…what if Nabooru is there? If she's there, we have to get her out, while you take care of those Koume and Kotake people."
He looked at her. He was glistening, not only with sweat but with the shining silver that adorned his new shield and gauntlets. The dark red of his tunic brought out the shocking blue of his eyes. There were tears in his clothes where he'd been attacked, and slight burns too. He hadn't looked so bad when he first brought her to the room with the statue, but when he came back, he looked like he'd gone through hell. His demeanor was still calm, though.
"I have a feeling…that is not what will happen."
"Then what?"
He looked at her, then stepped forward, opening the door with a large key.
"Let's be careful," he said, cryptically. Not objecting to her presence.
"Stay back," he said.
She nodded. She did not want to deal with one of those things if it was not necessary, anyway. A fierce growl-like sound filled the room. The Iron Knuckles found its target, and walked forward. Once the monster was within striking distance, it struck with a grunt.
Link quickly evaded the blow with a swift backhand spring. ("How does he do that?" Meghan had always wondered.) Once he was upright again, he took a blind stab at the Iron Knuckles, slashing it in its armor. The Iron Knuckles barely realized this and struck again. Link once again jumped out of the way and stabbed it in different spots. This made it angry. It started going faster towards Link, each time only succeeding in getting hit itself. It knocked down a column in the room. Meghan shook, thinking of the force of its blows.
God he's good. I wish I was that good. I don't think I'll ever be that good. Especially not with this little sword! She remembered the sword. She remembered that she should always have it out in enemy territory. But Link often had to remind her to draw it.
She concentrated on the battle, and Link's strategies and maneuvers. It struck, and just when Meghan thought Link would evade…
He didn't move in time.
It had struck him, knocking him completely back. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh oh my gosh! She thought as she started towards him.
"No, stay back!" he yelled, seeing her come into the monster's line of fire. "It's OK, it didn't hurt that much." He quickly stood, but with a certain extent of pain. He was breathing very heavily from the battle. But he had barely enough time to recover until the stupid monster came again. Meghan backed up as he hit it with one more blow…
Suddenly, the armor fell off. There Nabooru stood, shakily in its dust, woken up from command of the sisters. Her golden eyes were wide. She leaned sideways and Link rushed to catch her, her eyes closing. She said something to Link that Meghan couldn't hear from across the room. He let her go, and she stood weakly on her own. Nabooru took a step back, looking at the room around her.
Meghan was about to talk towards Link, but just then, Kotake and Koume appeared. They said something to Link, and then their hands filled with orbs of magic. They were aiming for Nabooru…
"Nabooru! Watch out!" Meghan screamed. She ran forward, trying to get past Link to get Nabooru out of the way. They fired. Meghan was almost there…
Then a hand gripped her arm, another wrapped around her waist, stopping her just before she got to Nabooru. Their magic hit the young Gerudo, and Meghan struggled against Link's grip as she watched Nabooru fall to her knees in pain, then she disappeared into thin air.
"No!" Meghan screamed. She tried to break free; she wanted to kill those…those bitches!
"Meghan, no!" he said. He held onto her still, pulling her close to himself so that her back touched his chest.
"A feisty one you got there!" Kotake said.
"Yes!" Koume agreed. Link shoved her behind himself, but still gripped her wrist in case she tried to go anywhere.
"If you want to save Nabooru, come fight us!"
"And don't let that little girl interfere!"
They were fading away. "Get back here!" Meghan yelled. Meghan let out an exasperated cry.
"Meghan, calm down! There's nothing we can do. I don't even know what that did to Nabooru. You could have been hurt!" She stopped pulling, looking at him, a tad belligerent. Then she sighed, looking upset. He pulled her into a gentle, brief hug. The way she gave him motivation to go on…
She looked up at him, and he let her go. She walked a few steps away, towards the door.
"We must now go to save Nabooru."
"Let's go, then."
"Meghan, they could be dangerous."
"Come on…" she said from the door.
"I think you should stay here. They won't show…any mercy."
"And why would we want them to? Tires them out more," she said, drawing the sword she used and inspecting it as though she didn't care what he said, but was really doing it to hide her face as she waited for her eyes to stop dripping. The way he'd held her…
"Meghan…really."
"You're not my boss. I am coming. I'm not weak." Lielielie.
"Meghan, please just listen to me. You'll stay outside the room, like last time."
"Why? Do you really think I'm that weak?" Link looked at her. The answer was a definite yes, but he couldn't say that. What delusions did she suffer? Truly?
"No. I just worry." She replaced the sword. She looked at him. He seemed sincere enough. It was true, he did worry. But she really had a tiny fraction of the power most of the other people in his universe had.
"I want to help you," she said, her tone of voice convincing and unwavering.
"I don't want you to."
"Then let me cheer you on." Meghan looked up at him with one of those 'please' smiles.
He sighed. This was, against everything in his conscience, the reason why he'd brought her so far into the temple. When he felt like giving up, leaving, taking a break, he just had to look at her face and remember that this was what he was trying to save. He wasn't saving her if he was putting her in danger. But the temptation was too great. "You may come in, but you are not to enter anywhere near the battle. Understood?" He stared very determinedly at her.
"Yes, sir!" she said enthusiastically.
He stared at her with a curious look on his face, almost smiling.
"You gave me so many orders, I mistook you for, you know, an army guy. Sorry."
"OK…" he dismissed her words. "Are you ready now?"
"Yeah."
"Come on." Meghan drew her sword.
"I told you that you won't be needing that."
"I don't recall you ever saying those exact words."
"Fine. But you won't be needing that. So please don't get the idea that you will."
"You're the one who always tells me to have it out, just in case."
"I know! Just…." He took in a deep breath. "Don't interfere, please." He gave her an absolutely pleading look.
"Yes sir!" she said, saluting him. He walked forward towards the door. "Don't worry Nabooru, the Hero of Time is coming!"
"Hero of Time?" he asked, looking back at her. No one ever called him that. He was surprised.
"Yes. That's what you are. The Hero of Time." She smiled gently.
"I know that, but I'm just not used to being called it," he spoke almost absentmindedly as he walked towards the door. Don't you remember? He thought, thinking back to that time when they sat on the top of Impa's was in front of the door. Meghan ran to catch up with him. It opened, and they entered.
As they walked slowly inside, the door closed loudly behind them, and Meghan let out a squeak of surprise and fear. Link, who was walking ahead of her, stopped and turned around.
"What?" he whispered.
She shook her head, trying to show she was fine.
"OK…" Meghan looked at him, and he looked back at her. Although it was time for him to do his duty, he desperately wanted to stay here. He didn't want to leave her here. He wanted her to know that she was important. "Meghan, I can tell this is going to be dangerous."
"How? No more dangerous than other things you've done, right?" She got a weird feeling from him.
"I don't know. But the outcome of this is unclear…usually I'm very confident when I fight near the end of a temple. Today…I'm not so sure."
"You can do this," she encouraged, smiling at him. "I know you can." And he smiled that sad, sad smile at her again.
"Thank you. But, just in case—"
Before he could finish what he was going to do, Meghan interrupted.
"In case? What do you think is going to happen? Are your thoughts that bad?"
"No, but I don't trust myself." And then he wondered what had caused him to say that. It wasn't something she should know. It wasn't something anyone should know…that the so-called "Hero of Time" was so insecure. Yet he also knew that somewhere in her mind, she knew this already.
"How do you not trust yourself? How can you possibly not? Do you have any idea how powerful you are? I trust you more than I trust anyone else I've ever met, because of who you are. And that's pathetic because I've known you for all of two weeks and you've known yourself for your whole life, except maybe seven years, and you can't even trust yourself! That's so crazy it's practically irrelevant! Not possible."
He sighed. "Well, I think it is because of those seven years. I don't know who I am. I'm glad you do, but I'm still trying to find out. Nevertheless, you're right Meghan. I have no idea what I was saying." But the truth was, even if he did trust himself, he still doubted himself and he had to make sure everything was right if anything did go wrong. And he still wanted her to know she was important…(and maybe a reason to stay out of the way).
"But," he began in a more serious tone, "I want you to keep this for now, until the battle is over." He took her hand and deposited something in it. He closed her fingers around it. She looked down into her hand. A bit of blue showed from the side of her hand, and a mouthpiece with a Triforce engraved on it stuck out near her wrist.
"But…this is not mine! I'll lose it, I'll break it, and I'll do something to it!" Had he really just handed her this holy instrument? What? Why?
"No you won't, because I trust you." He smiled.
"Nobody really trusts me!" What the heck was he doing? Was this just some huge symbolic act, or did he really foresee that much failure?
"Then I guess I'm nobody."
She smiled at him, unable to ignore his corny play on her words. OK then. He paused for a second. "But if anything happens to me,"
"Goddesses forbid."
"I want you to play one of the temple songs, Minuet of Forest, Serenade of Water, anything, and get out of here as soon as possible. Find Saria—find any sage—and give it to them."
"That's not going to happen. But I'll take care of it for now." She winked, trying to give him confidence. Just go already, she thought. You're making me nervous."Good. Now, go kill some witches!" Rhymes with...
"Right." He walked away, towards the tall platform in the center of the room. He climbed it. And Meghan watched the whole way from the floor, squeezing the Ocarina of Time in her hand.
A cackling laughter filled the room.
"Look at that stupid kid!" Kotake said.
"He came to offer himself as a sacrifice to the great Ganondorf!" Koume added.
"I will do no such thing," Link said maliciously, turning into his all-business self. They ignored him.
"But…" they started, turning their attention to Meghan on the ground. "We said she was not to interfere. Should we sacrifice her first?"
"You won't."
"You can never trust little Hylian girls these days."
They prepared to fire at her, just as they did to Nabooru.
"Meghan, watch out!" he yelled. The magic balls were heading towards her in slow motion.
They're coming oh my god what do I do? She jumped to the side, fell on the floor, and rolled awkwardly. They exploded, just missing Meghan. She was sitting on the floor, breathing hard. Man, that was close! She sat there, and looked up at Link. He seemed really angry. She stumbled over towards the platform, out of the twin witches' view. Why had she decided to come? This was too crazy for her liking.
"Your fight is here, with me Leave her out of this!" It was scary to Meghan. He had never yelled like that…just the way his voice echoed throughout the room made it seem full of power. It was confident. He could do this.
He positioned himself, his shiny Mirror Shield on his arm and Master Sword in his left hand.
"I won't fail," he whispered, determined to keep her out of harm's way. This battle was different because the people he was fighting were just that—people. Not monsters with no humanoid qualities. But these witches were more dangerous. "I promised."
Their cackling began again as they attacked. Link reflected Kotake's attack at Koume. He fought them with such ferocity that Meghan became scared of his pugnacious side, the side with the sword and the fighting skills. He seemed to be doing well, giving the witches a good beating for all they had done. They grew angrier and angrier until they fused into a huger, more ugly monster, Twinrova.
He swung the sword in a circle. The first attack it fired was fire, so he charged that one on his shield. The next one was fire as well. But the third was ice. He jumped to the side, all the way on the edge of the platform.
Meghan was surprised that he figured out what to do so quickly. But it didn't seem too challenging, for someone of his strength. They didn't attempt to knock him away when he was charging up his shield. They basically let him do what he wanted, and as long as he avoided being hit, he was pretty golden. She wondered how he could ever doubt himself.
The fourth thrown was another fire. His shield, which was shining with the power it had absorbed, reflected the attack back at Twinrova. It fell with a shriek onto a side platform opposite Meghan. He charged at it, sword in his hand. He jumped over the gap and stabbed it, then slashed it twice more before it was able to get up.
"Yeah!" Meghan cheered, jumping up and clapping while walking around, trying to see what he was doing. He jumped back to the center, once more targeting with the help of Navi. He charged up on fire again. Twinrova fell again, this time he became even fiercer. He slashed the monster. He slashed again. Then again. Meghan winced. She did not ever want to be on the receiving end of that sword.
Twinrova recovered again. He hit his shield with an ice this time. It started shining again. Twinrova fired a fire attack. He went to evade. The thing grew a brain.
Just as it was about to fire, Twinrova redirected the attack where Link had jumped. He stepped in the burning flames. He let out a cry in agony. Meghan watched in horror as he stepped out of the fire, smoke rising to the sky far above. He looked to be in pain. He wavered, weakened, his legs taking most of the burns.
"Link!"
He tried to recover from the burning. He stood, but only to greet yet another attack. This one was ice. He froze, half standing. "Link!" She screamed again, a hoarse cry tearing from her throat, tears forming in her eyes. He had been doing so well until this moment. Battle is so dangerous. One wrong move and…
I have to help him! But…he had kept his promise until now, as best he could, so I must keep mine. He'll be fine. I know he will…
He finally broke free, after what seemed like an eternity to Meghan. He shivered. He stood for a second, unstable and wobbly, but standing squarely toward Twinrova, his shield held up. His body was not taking the extreme weather conditions well. Twinrova rushed forward, knocking him with her staff. He cried out, falling to the floor.
"Link!" She screamed with all her might. "Get up!" He seemed to be conscious, but unable to move. He was near the edge of the platform, so Meghan could see him even though he was on the ground. He was twitching, trying to get up. She could see his hands moving to push himself upward, but he seemed to not have enough strength to get up.
"Get up Link! Come on! I know you can!" Tears once again formed in her eyes. He must have heard her. Adrenaline rushed enough for him to get up, just enough. Twinrova rushed to him again, ready to attack.
Twinrova seemed to enjoy his suffering. Before he had time to get his shield in place, it fired another fire attack. He let out a sort of cry in surprise and pain.
This can't go on any longer. There's got to be something I can do! They'll keep doing that; they won't give him a chance to even stand if they are allowed to. Where is the fairy he has in a bottle? Isn't that supposed to help?
Link was again on the floor. He had fallen…
"Link! You're not supposed to fall!" she screamed. She kept screaming, whether it was registering in is head or not. She ran forward, climbing…
"Meghan! Link told you to go away if anything happened!" Navi squeaked, from her spot on Link's head. Meghan ignored her protests.
"Link, get up!" But then she heard a faint voice.
"No. Stay back, I'm OK," Link said as he pushed himself up with shaking arms. He saw him stand.
"Just one more hit!" Twinrova roared. "Then Ganondorf will be very happy!"
"Touch him and you'll have to go through me!" Meghan yelled as she drew her sword. She climbed up so she could just see over the top of the platform.
"Oh, we're terribly scared!"
"You don't have time to be scared!" Link yelled as he charged at it, his sword in both hands. It had made a very foolish mistake of hovering too close to the ground.
He slashed it, and before Meghan realized what he had done, a head was rolling on the floor.
"Wow, that was anticlimactic." Meghan said, becoming nauseous. She finished climbing the rest of the way up. Link stood in front of her.
Twinrova defused into Kotake and Koume again.
"Aaah! What happened to us?"
"I don't know!"
"This stinks…"
"Yeah…hey, Kotake, what's that over your head?"
"Huh? I don't know…you have one too!"
"We're not dead, are we?"
"I'm afraid so…" They floated up…hey wait, why are they going up?
"That doesn't make sense..." Meghan said as she observed the direction they were floating. "In a way. Hey, are you OK?" she asked, walking around him to see his face. His head was bowed, looking down at the ground.
"I…almost failed," he whispered. He looked up.
"No you did not. Just because there was a minor glitch in your fighting does not mean you ever were going to fail. It was your destiny to beat them, your destiny to not fail." She was playing on his whole conviction that everything is destiny…she wasn't sure if she believed it, but it seemed to work for him.
"If you had not been here…"
"I didn't do anything. Well, actually I did everything. If it hadn't been for me, you would not have been fighting the way you were."
"But I…"
"Shh," she said, putting her finger to the level of his lips, a smile on her face. "You did not fail. You did not. What happened happened. And you didn't. It does not matter what happened in the past, but the future." She removed her hand, a revelation growing inside her. She stared thoughtfully at him as he gave her a questioning look. Her voice grew quiet. "And I just contradicted myself by saying that. I am not homesick anymore. I will not…you know, mourn for the past, or whatever. Only remember."
She looked into his eyes. They looked more relaxed now, not troubled because of what almost happened.
"Now we have more import things to do. Are you all right?" She inspected him. He seemed to be OK. There was a large rip where the Iron Knuckles had hit him in his tunic, a small cut on his left ear, and various burn marks around his knees and clothes, but he was hanging in there. "Does it hurt?"
He shook his head. "I am all right. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine of course! A bit grossed out, but nothing too serious." She smirked, reaching out to pat the side of his arm. "I'm glad you're OK."
They looked at each other for a second. He suddenly had a moment to think about the day. The way she depended on him, but still had her independent ways. He thought of the way he had wrapped his arm around her waist earlier to hold her back, and remembering the feel of her body made butterflies fly into his stomach. Really, he'd never touched a girl like that before. Her face was so innocent as she looked at him. Sometimes, he didn't really think of her as a girl. She was just that quirky person who came out of nowhere, his really good friend. But sometimes…it was so blaringly obvious. He had to stop thinking about her, though, or else he was sure he would turn red.
"Uh, Nabooru is waiting. We should go," he said, breaking the staring and the silence.
"Of course." They walked toward the blue gem-shaped thing on the side platform.
"That feels better," he said as they entered the blue thing, the healing magic Twinrova left behind helping him to be even stronger.
In the Sacred Realm
"…Take this, the Spirit Medallion!" Nabooru raised her hands above her head, and a shimmering bronze-colored Medallion came from the sky, floating to Link's hands. Link took it, but from there, what he did with it was a mystery…because within a few seconds they were bathed in white lights, covering everything they saw. They only heard Nabooru say:
"If only I had known how handsome you would become…" (Gag from Link)
"That was wrong…" Meghan said as soon as they were back from the Sacred Realm, trying to relieve the embarrassment. She walked a few steps, making it look like she was going to throw up, holding her stomach and making gagging sounds. Link chuckled.
"Oh, wait, don't step off the…too late." A bunch of monsters appeared. Meghan giggled insanely as she swatted at the monsters very lightly. You know when you laugh too hard and you can't do things properly? Yeah... She ended up giving up and jumping back to the platform, skipping over them.
"Dude, I am so wiped out," she said after giggling for a while. With one last sigh, she stopped.
"There's someone waiting at the Temple of Time for you," Navi said.
"Really?" Link asked. "How do you know?"
"Rauru told us just before we came back here."
"We were too busy barfing," Meghan said.
"We should go and see them…who is it…?"
"I don't know!
"Come on Link," Meghan said, giving him a hard pat (More like a hit) on the back that sent him lurching forward. "I wonder who it is."
They both had a feeling though. He'd awakened all the sages. There was that one person who always appeared before and after.
"Maybe it's a monkey!" Meghan yelled, hopping around Link on the platform.
"Meghan, did you like…you're crazy today." Mood swings he thought. "… But I don't know."
"I'm curious, let's go!"
"OK, OK. But you have my ocarina."
She held out the ocarina. She played the Prelude of Light. Within seconds, they were at the Temple. They stood for just a second, absorbing the usual two-second shock after teleporting.
"Nobody's here." Then, as if to answer his call, a figure appeared suddenly before them.
"Hero." Sheik was before them, standing in their way of the exit of the Temple. She paused for a few seconds. "Through all the legends, through all the prophecies, never has this been foretold."
"What would that be?" Link inquired as Navi and Meghan listened carefully.
"The hero never had a human helper," she said, indicating with her palm facing up towards Meghan. "Only a fairy helper. The gods of our worlds collided, in an argument that may have ended up saving Hyrule."
"Where is that from?" Meghan thought aloud. Where had she heard that same thing…the gods had a fight…where? Then suddenly she remembered hearing that godly voice…
"I am sorry for the trouble caused…let it be known that the gods will never fight again." …
"I will take back the trouble caused for you…the girl…" …
"It was foolish of me to think that a human girl could cause trouble in your world. You have such great heroes…though, mine at the moment has none." …
"Fine. I shall allow her to stay, providing she does not show you any trouble. Then, and only then, she must leave. Thank you, Goddesses of Hyrule, Nayru, Din, and Farore…"
"That was…from my dream that day I came here…Dude, I didn't even remember that until now."
"You had the same dream?" Sheik asked. Link looked at her. Zelda mentally slapped herself for asking that out loud.
"You have dreams that foretell things?" Meghan asked to cover for her. Sheik was quick to respond.
"The Sheikah have long been favored by the gods. There is an old Sheikah legend that tells of the ancient tribe and how the gods helped them…but while on the subject of ancient Sheikah legends…" Sheik paused for a second, then continued. "Yes, I must share with you the legend…" Sheik shared the legend of the Triforce and its keepers. She told of what would happen if evil took the Triforce, and what would happen if a pure person took it.
"The holder of the Triforce of Power is obviously Ganondorf. Because he is evil, the other pieces went to others. The holder of the Triforce of Courage is…you! Link, you are the one destined to hold it."
He stepped, back, surprised, his mouth open. He…he had a part of the Triforce? Link's hand shone with a golden triangle, the lower right triangle glowing. He stared in surprise and wonder, his mouth hanging open. "And the Triforce of Wisdom…"
"Of course…" Link said, realizing who. But he didn't expect what came next. Sheik crossed her hands, left on top and a Triforce showed. With a small 'hah!' sound, a screen of light came around Sheik as she transformed.
Standing before Link was Princess Zelda. She stood, head bowed down and hand held up delicately so he could see the Triforce clearly on her hand. She looked up slowly, and then curtsied. It was the first time Meghan had seen her in person, and she was beyond breathtaking. In fact, every girl she came across in Hyrule was beautiful, but Zelda had a very special glow about her. Her features were angular and her eyes were large and wise. Her eyebrows were curved just so she looked very analytical, but everything about her screamed polite, sweet, and special. A woman certainly chosen by the goddesses (or descended from one).
Link gasped. He looked from her to Meghan, then back to Zelda. "Princess…Zelda? Meghan, did you know?"
"Nooooo…" Meghan smiled and looked up into the sky, the picture of fake innocence. Zelda suppressed a chuckle, putting her Triforce-engraved hand to her mouth.
"It seems as if everyone was plotting against you and your fairy, Link. However, with seriousness, there is work yet to be done! A terrible power is about us."
"I know…" Link said.
"But we mustn't despair, for although a great evil walks the earth at the time, it shall soon be gone! Link, with that sword, and one other thing, you will be able defeat him!"
"What else is there?" Link asked. Zelda stepped forward. She used her magic, and some arrows appeared above their heads. They lowered into Link's hands.
"These are the Light Arrows! They, along with your sword, are weapons of evil's bane," she said, looking over towards Meghan. "Yes—"
Then Zelda froze and gasped.
"Heh, heh…heh…" An evil laugh sounded. "I knew if I let this kid run around for long enough, he would lead me to you, Princess Zelda!" Link looked around, drawing his sword, unable to find where the voice was coming from. "Looks like I underestimated the strength of this kid. No, the Triforce of Courage. This kid has no power."
"No!" Meghan yelled. She had been watching Zelda as Link looked around. "Princess Zelda, watch out!" Meghan said, noticing a strange wave of color in front of Zelda. But she was too late. A pink bubble formed around Zelda. "Zelda!" Meghan cried. Link ran up to it and banged on it, then punched it with all of his might. Zelda, with a scared look on her face, looked at him, and shook her head.
"If you want your princess, come to my castle."
Zelda made a small sound, a gasp, then fell limp in the bubble.
"No!" Meghan yelled, distraught, running a few steps to the door. "No, I can't believe myself…" she ran back to Link. "I saw that thing around her…"
"I should have done something. It's ok, Meghan, we can save her."
"Let's go, oh my god, he's going to hurt her!" There were tears in her eyes. "Link, what is he going to do? He could kill her!"
"No, Meghan, don't worry. He wouldn't kill her. He wants her Triforce."
Meghan and Link ran out of the Temple to Ganondorf's castle. They ignored the redeads, who Meghan was no longer afraid of. Well, a bit. They reached the castle, and even almost entered it. The sages called from above, putting their power together to make a bridge across the deadly lava for them, but then Link remembered.
"Meghan, we just returned from a Temple. I have no arrows, and other supplies either. We won't get far without them. I need to get some very quickly."
"We can get them in there," Meghan said, walking a few steps onto the bridge. She couldn't let Zelda wait…she was scared to death of what could happen.
"But we might not be able to find everything…" He knew rushing into battle unprepared would be worse than showing a bit late.
"I'm sure you can…"
"Please, let's hurry." Link played the Nocturne of Shadow, teleporting to the graveyard. They jumped down from where they were and ran fast past all the Poes. They hurriedly went to one of the potion shops, and taking the back door got to the second one. They got two bottles of blue potion, one for Meghan, and one for Link. When Meghan went to put the Potion in her backpack, she noticed something shining on the bottom.
"Link, what's this?" She said, pulling out a small knife, the blade no bigger than her hand. Its hilt was red, like the stone on the Kokiri sword. It had a small sheath even.
"A knife."
"OK…thank you." She tucked it in between her hip and her pants, where she could draw it easily, but the sheath would not come out.
"Now we have to find arrows, and some bombs might help…"
"Where can we get them really fast?"
"They sell some at the bazaar…"
"That will take way too long!"
"We don't have any choice," he said with a slight snap, getting annoyed. How could she question him? It wouldn't even take that long.
She was genuinely frustrated with him. She felt nervous about Zelda, a terrible sinking feeling in her gut. He's so stupid! Zelda's in trouble!
"Do we have time?" She could tell that he too wanted to hurry, but he was not exactly rich at the moment (Especially when they needed it) and they needed these things to fight. They were already halfway out of Kakariko.
"Meghan, it doesn't even matter. I don't want you coming with me. This is one battle you absolutely cannot be near, do you understand that? You should just stay here. Let me do what I need to do, alone."
"I know!" Meghan said as they ran out of the village. She could feel tension mounting between herself and Link. She was so mad…if he was just not so picky, and careless, this would not have happened. But he was just ignoring her. He bought his things. When they reached the field, Link was going to call Epona. But he remembered that Meghan still had the Ocarina…
"Meghan, I need the Ocarina."
"Are you going to go to Zelda?"
"I need Epona."
"No you don't!" Meghan snapped.
"Yes I do!"
"Zelda is in trouble, and I'm not going to stand here and wait!"She felt angry with him at that moment, and for some reason didn't care if she was hurting him by yelling at him, by basically accusing him of not caring enough to save Zelda.
"Meghan, we need to get the supplies before we can just barge in and fight him! I cannot go into battle with nothing. That will not help anyone!"
"I'm going, whether you come or not!"
And with that, Meghan played the Prelude of Light and warped to the Temple of Time, taking his Ocarina with her.
"Heh heh heh…" Meghan chuckled. How foolish she once was. She could never be angry with him! And his thinking had, again, saved their lives. He wasn't impatient and didn't rush into things, thought before he acted. Sometimes that was the opposite of herself, she thought.
So much reminiscing gave her so many laughs. So many times…it was hard to believe it could be almost over.
She moved herself into a comfortable position, and relaxed into a deep sleep.