A.N. I have no good excuse. Just life getting in the way and the usual amount of procrastination. I'm so sorry this is so late! But the moment this is posted I am going to start Chapter 15. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER 14

"A what?"

Zelda scrambled further up the rock until she could swing a leg over the opening. The fit was tight, but she easily slid through the gap and dropped into the cave, disappearing from his view.

"Zelda, wait!" He shouted in exasperation as he raced after her. He swore as his fingernails dug hastily into the rough stone. He landed softly on the cave's floor despite his haste. Remaining in a crouched position, he gave the room a suspicious sweep of his eyes. The air there felt stale and still. The goosebumps from the cold autumn night disappeared as unsettling warmth seemed to drape over his shoulders. Link stretched up slowly, his fingers twitching at his side.

Zelda was dancing around the 'shrine,' snapping picture after picture with her phone, all while muttering excitedly to herself.

Glad to find her safe, Link took a moment to look over the structure. It was huge. At least five times his height. It appeared to be made out of thick solid gray stone. In what he assumed was the front was a large semi circular flat piece with a step up to it, almost like a landing. Then the structure rose up in shape similar to a cone with a flat tip. Where the cone met the landing was an arched area with darker stone in what appeared to be slates with runes carved into it. Maybe an opening? Around the arch was raised tan stone that swirled in a random pattern. In the recesses of the tan stone it glowed bright orange.

"It's glowing!" She called over to him excitedly. "Maybe it's a natural bioluminescent organism. But if it is in organism why do they remain in just these areas. Bugs would just fly or crawl away eventually. Maybe it's a stone that naturally gives off the glow. I've never heard of a stone that glow but maybe...I mean there's one that glows under ultraviolet light…" Her eyes trailed up to the ceiling. Link followed her gaze but only saw more stone. She shook her head. "Or maybe there is an internal power source and these are just electronically powered lights—"

"Zel, please, calm down," he cautioned as he watched her dart around the shrine. "We don't even know what this is or where exactly we are." He sighed and quickly followed after her as she disappeared around the back of the shrine. As he rounded the side, she was nowhere to be seen. "Zelda!"

"We do know what it is!" She cheered behind him, causing him to almost jump out of his skin. Another long sigh escaped his lips as he willed his nerves to calm down. He turned to face her, giving her a raised eyebrow.

"It is a shrine!"

He rolled his eyes. His fingers reached up and tugged on his tie, suddenly feeling as though the small piece of silk was strangling him. "How can we assume it's a shrine?" He asked in frustration. "For all we know it's just a statue or someone's really odd art project," he told her as he let the tie hang loose around his neck.

Zelda huffed and dug into her purse, her actions a bit frantic.

Link blinked in surprise as the Sheikah Slate was waved in his face. "We have a matching picture," she shot back at him. Her voice was filled with annoyance. She lowered the tablet and quickly pulled up one of the stored images. Once again the slate filled his vision. "See!"

An image of a lush green forest and a large stone structure that glowed orange lit the screen.

Link gently pressed down on the top of the tablet, forcing her to lower it so that he could look directly into her big blue eyes, which seemed to dance in her excitement. "I agree that they are a similar structure," he said slowly, meeting her gaze directly.

"Like I said! A shrine!"

He chuckled and raised a hand, asking her to wait. "No. We found that part that mentioned the tablet opening a shrine and we have this picture but you are just assuming that this is a shrine. This could be a glorified outhouse! We need to think this through," he cautioned. "It's the middle of the night and we have no idea what this is!"

Zelda nodded but never dropped her grin.

Link watched her grin never falter. "What?" He finally snapped.

"We can easily test this," she said simply. "You said it yourself. If it's a shrine, the tablet can open it."

His brows knit together as he watched her sparkle in delight. "Speaking of which, why do you have the tablet with you right now anyways?" They were at a school dance. Why did she think she would need ancient Sheikah technology at a high school dance?

She laughed as she let her bag drop to the ground. "I've been carrying it with me everywhere since we found it." The look she gave him was almost incredulous. "No way am I letting something like this out of my sight!" She said it like there was no other option, as if leaving it in her room during classes was simply ludicrous.

"Everywhere?"

"Everywhere!"

"You're ridiculous," he pointed out with a shake of his head.

"I prefer dedicated or attentive," she chuckled. She reached down and grabbed his hand. "Come on!" She dragged him across the cave and led him up the steps of the structure. They stopped in the center of an engraved circle with an intricate pattern. "Get your phone. We need to document this!" Ever the perfect historian. He rolled his eyes.

Link took a moment to unbutton his cuffs and roll up his sleeves. He also undid the top two buttons of his dress shirt, but left the tie hanging loosely. As instructed he pulled out his phone and opened the camera. "Ready."

Zelda held up the tablet dramatically. Her finger hovered over the screen. Link glanced around and back to her as she held her pose for a few seconds.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked curiously.

She glanced over her shoulder sheepishly. "Well...I don't really know how to open it. It's not like there's an 'open shrine' button."

Link chuckled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He stepped up and looked over her shoulder at the tablet in her hands. With only a couple of inches between his chest and her back, he watched as his breath moved a strand of hair near her neck. He shook his head and looked back to the tablet.

"Did it do anything as you walked up?"

She quietly shook her head.

"Hmm...maybe…"

She turned slowly to look up at him. She leaned away slightly, a soft pink rising to her cheeks. "What?"

"Can I see it?" He stepped around her and held out a hand. Uncharacteristically she quietly handed over the tablet. He glanced up and found her actively avoiding his gaze. Confused, Link looked down at the tablet before looking up at the structure again.

This time he noticed what looked like a pedestal in front of what he was assuming was an entrance. He walked up to it, noting the angled top with another orange glowing etching around the edges and circle about the size of his palm in the center that also glowed. The tablet buzzed in his hand as he got within two feet.

"Zelda!"

She was at his side before he blinked, her eyes wide as she watched the tablet vibrate again. She reached out slowly and placed her hand on the tablet. Her eyes widened further as she felt the buzz.

"Hold on a second!" She quickly opened the camera app on her phone, hit record, and gave him a nod.

Acting on instinct, Link stepped up to the pedestal. The vibration grew more insistent. He lowered the tablet to the surface. A soft chime filled the air around them as the orange etchings on the pedestal flashed and began to glow blue. He heard Zelda gasp behind him and turned to find the large circular pattern on the floor of the landing also change to blue.

At a groaning sound and the shake of the shrine beneath their feet, the two spun to face the entrance. Each slate split in the center and as if it was on hinges they spun one at a time inwards, leaving the large archway open, revealing a small space behind it.

"Look!" Zelda spun with her phone, watching in awe as all of the orange on the sides of the shrine began to change to blue. Over the archway a large Sheikah symbol began to glow orange.

The silence that followed was deafening. They continued to watch the shrine in silence, each waiting for something else to happen. Finally, Zelda lowered her phone and hit the stop button.

"Incredible," she muttered in awe. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight before her. "The tablet actually opened it! It has to be a shrine! You have to admit it's a shrine now" She yelled in excitement. She clapped her hands together. "Let's go in!"

That was enough to make him tear his gaze away. "What? No way!"

"We have to!" She grinned at him, her eyes flashing in mischief. "For science!" Her brow furrowed. "Or rather for history!" She chuckled with a raised fist.

Everything within him was screaming that this was a horrible idea—that they needed to stay away, far away. But he did not have a good reason why. He just felt it in his gut. But when he watched her grinning and clapping her hands the uneasy feeling began to drain away, like a bucket that sprung a leak.

Before he could get out another word, Zelda was stepping forward in her high heels right through the archway into the small room. The floor inside was also decorated with a glowing blue pattern. It was a circle that was set into the floor with a glowing blue edge and a glowing Sheikah symbol sat at the center. Zelda stepped right onto the symbol.

Link blinked in surprise as another chime rang out and the blue edge raised blue fumes of smoke around her. Zelda staggered slightly as the circle shook and suddenly began to lower, taking her with it.

"Link!"

He heard the sudden fear in her voice. The tablet slipped out of his hands and clattered across the landing.

Link raced across the stone. As her head disappeared below the level of the floor, he caught sight of her eyes wide in worry. Like a baseball player skidding into homebase, he slid across the small space and dropped through the hole, landing painfully on the descending platform next to her. He groaned as he quickly came to his feet. Zelda instantly latched onto his arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he grabbed onto her upper arms. .

"Yes, thank you. I didn't think you were going to make it."

Link gave her a reassuring smile. "No way was I going to let you come down here alone...wherever here is…" His voice trailed off when the tight tunnel dark stone around them disappeared and revealed a large illuminated room with high ceilings. They held onto each tightly as they descended through the ceiling.

The platform landed gently onto a small raised dais. Link and Zelda held very still as they looked out into the room. The floor was made from large gray slabs of stone, but dark decorative tiles stretched out before them in a strip, leading to an open doorway that showed them a much larger room beyond. The walls were darker stone and were adorned by large sconces that held glowing blue lights.

But what drew his attention were the two large chests that were set on either side of the dark tiled path. They appeared to be made from dark wood with stone edges on the sides. Around the center of the chest wrapped a stripe of glowing orange symbols and a bright glowing circle on the front.

Link looked down as Zelda's fingers finally released his arm. As she took a step forward he reached out and grabbed her hand. "Wait."

She looked back at him, her gaze questioning.

"Just wait, please," he said softly.

Link released her hand and stepped past her. He looked behind the dais they had landed on and then walked the edges of the room, looking up and down as he went, taking note of anything that seemed suspicious. But for all his looking, nothing appeared to worry him. It seemed as though they had landed in an empty room, barring the two large treasure chests.

In the open doorway he looked through into the large room. The other room had even higher ceilings than the room they had entered through. They had to be underground, he figured, based on the size of the rooms and how far the platform had seemed to carry them.

The room had eight large stone pillars, but otherwise appeared to be empty. He turned and quickly made his way back to Zelda. "I think it's safe."

Zelda smiled up at him before taking her phone out again. He waited patiently as she walked the room herself, taking picture after picture. She rattled off more questions than he could count, each seemingly rhetorical, but he did his best to offer suggestions. How did the platform move? Would it also take them back up? Hopefully, his mind screamed at the thought of being trapped underground. How was the room so bright when only two lights were visible? How long had the shrine been there? On and on, she asked and documented her findings.

Eventually she stopped and stood still, staring down at one of the chests. "Should we open them?" She asked him.

Link stepped up to the other chest. "I feel like we have to."

She chuckled. "Me too. I'm glad you agree." She knelt in front of the box, looking horribly out of place in her white dress that was now marred with streaks of dirt. He even saw a couple of leaves sticking to her hem.

Link followed suit in front of the other chest.

"Same time?" She asked him.

He nodded. At the end of her countdown he pushed on the large glowing circle. He heard a soft chime and the sound of gears clanking as the orange disappeared and the engravings began to glow blue, just like the outside of the shrine. The lid popped open. A quick glance to the side revealed Zelda's doing the same.

Link leaned forward to see what was inside. Settled at the bottom of the chest was what he thought of as a rod. It was only about a foot long at the most, with a diameter of about an inch. Like everything in the shrine there were small Sheikah symbols carved into it that glowed orange. As he picked it up he was surprised by the hefty weight of it. About halfway down the rod was a small piece that stuck out the side.

Holding it straight up and down, Link adjusted his grip to wrap his hand around it just below the piece that jutted out. He yelped in surprise as a glowing blue blade with a serrated edge appeared above the rod. He dropped what he now knew to be a hilt in surprise. The blade disappeared as the hilt clattered against the stone floor.

He looked over and found Zelda staring at him in surprise, her mouth hanging open.

"What the hell was that?" She asked in shock as she pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

He shook his head. "I have no idea." Carefully he picked up the hilt with both hands on each end. Moving slowly, he adjusted his grip to grab the same spot as before. The blue blade appeared just as before. Link raised his other hand and hesitantly reached out and touched the blade. He was almost shocked that the blade didn't shock or burn his fingertips. It was cold like metal. Hard to the touch. And as his fingertip began to bleed, very sharp.

"Amazing," he whispered. He moved his hand and the blade disappeared. When he replaced it the blade returned. But how? The blade was solid when it was there. How could it just disappear?

"Link! Check this out!" He turned and found Zelda holding up what appeared to be a large round shield. The center was circular and solid, like the hilt, but the majority of the shield resembled the blade, glowing bright blue and having an odd pattern to it. "It does the same thing as that sword."

She shifted her grip behind the shield and the blue disappeared. A moment later it returned. "When I put my arm through the strap and grab the handle it appears! It's incredible."

"Just like the sword," he murmured in confusion. What were these? Why were they just sitting here in chests? How did they work? What were they for? His head began to hurt as questions flooded his mind. This was all simply too much.

He watched as she raised the shield and took a fighting pose. "Take a picture! I'm like an ancient Sheikah warrior!" She laughed, before schooling her features into a sharp glare, trying to look intimidating behind the shield. He thought she looked ridiculous, standing there in her high heels and white cocktail dress, holding up a shield.

Link shook his head, set the sword down, and pulled out his phone. He snapped a quick picture. "Don't warriors need a weapon?" He asked pointedly.

Zelda nodded. "Fine, hand over the sword."
"Not a chance," he told her as he picked it up again. The blade flashed to life. He lowered his hand to his side, the blade pointing down and out. "It's really sharp." He stepped back and turned to face the wall. With all his strength he raised the sword and swept down quickly at the stone. A large gash appeared and stone crumbled to his feet. He raised the sword again and found that it looked quite unaffected by the abuse.

"Incredible!" She cheered.

"Dangerous," he muttered to himself. The blade disappeared and he dropped the hilt into his pant's pocket. "Come on. Let's check out this other room and get out of here. It's pretty late," he said as he checked his cellphone's time. 12:46am.

Zelda nodded and the shield blinked out. Link led the way as they stepped into the large room. Zelda looked around in awe.

"This room is huge." She snapped a couple pictures before depositing her phone back in her bag. Looking straight ahead, she said, "It looks like the center of the room is a large hole and there may be another room on the other side too." Link followed her gaze and found another doorway of similar size on the opposite wall.

"Come on then."

Suddenly the room shuddered and they watched as large bars fell into place, moving to block the doorway in front of them. They clattered to the floor with a loud bang. At the sound of another rumble, Link and Zelda spun around and found bars falling into place in the doorway they had just come through.

Zelda raced back to the original doorway and grabbed the bars. She tried to shake them, but they didn't budge. She spun back to Link, her eyes glistening with anxiety. "Link."

He looked over her head at the bars. They were made thick steel. He pushed on them with a hand. No movement. "Step back," he told her. As she stepped away, he pulled out the sword. The blade flashed to life. Just as he had done to the wall in the first room, he slashed out at the bars with all his strength. But this time, rather than damaging the bars the sword simply skidded to the side on contact, sparks flying around him. He stared at the bars in surprise. Not even a scratch. The stone wall had crumbled like a stale cookie, but the bars were completely unaffected.

"Link." Her voice was small as she muttered his name. Without looking at her he could tell that she was truly afraid now. They appeared to be trapped in this room, deep underground, in the middle of the forest, where no one knew where they were, in the middle of the night. Link shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady his own nerves.

The floor began to shake violently, forcing his eyes open and making him grab onto the bars for balance.

"Link!" Zelda grabbed onto his arm tightly as the room shook around them. "What's going on?!"

Link looked around and found a platform rising from the hole in the center of the room. But what truly drew his eyes was what stood in the center of the platform.

"Is that—is that a robot?!" He whispered tightly down to her.

The thing was twice his height and stood on three curved metal legs with clawed feet. Its head was domed and appeared to have one glowing eye. The rest was made of dark metal and had the same orange and blue glowing characters and patterns as everything else in the shrine.

As the platform shuddered to a stop, two hinged arms emerged from the sides of the robot. A blue sword and what looked like an axe sprang to life.

"Link?" Zelda whispered nervously. "What do we do?"

They watched in fear as the domed head turned at the sound of her voice. The single glowing eye seemed to focus right on them.

"Run!"