Author's Note- So yeah, funny story, I had just finished chapter 22, and as I went back to see who I needed to thank for reviews, I noticed there were none for chapter 21 because I had forgotten to publish. Whoops. Sorry guys, I goofed on this one. Thanks to miano53, InkWoven, sippurp123, and Lady Fai for their reviews, and indirectly letting me know I need to keep better tabs on my publishing times! And now, chapter twenty one of Monster! Enjoy!
Monster: Chapter Twenty-One
Link and Zelda found themselves back in the guardian's chamber, hit immediately by the humidity and stink of the temple. Mark glanced from one to the other. "Are you two all right? You both look like you've seen a ghost."
After a moment, Zelda responded. "Yes, we're fine, Mark." She looked over to Link. "I think we've found what we're looking for."
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Link sat back in the same chair in the library he had occupied for a good bit of his past time. As he rubbed his eyes he thought back to the past few days:
They had retraced their steps to exit the temple, thankfully able to avoid the strange room where he had battled the Zhikyha. They had exited the cave to find the sun had risen during their adventure. Under light of day they were able to find a route out of the icy canyon. Another day had passed as they made their way back to Castletown, and all had breathed a collective sigh of relief when the castle had come into sight.
Mark had gone back to his regular duties as a Castle Guard, and Zelda had returned to her responsibilities as the ruler of a kingdom after war. Link, having no real duties to bury himself in, had his thoughts bury him, which translated to a return to the library.
Most of what the Hero had given them had been irrelevant in their current time, but the general knowledge had been interesting. He had spent the first day of their return looking into the two temples they had discovered, which according to what he had found were called the Temple of Spirit and the Temple of Water. They had been sacred places dedicated to the sages of the time until something had corrupted them. The fables and tomes he had found had all referenced some terrible happening that tainted the temples and their energies, but none had said what the event was. Link was able to guess though based on his own knowledge: Ganondorf had enslaved Hyrule, overthrowing the government at the time, and had used his considerable power to weaken and turn the temples into a breeding ground for evil and darkness. By doing this, he had taken the sages out of the picture, as they seemed to draw a good portion of their power from these shrines.
According to what he had learned, the Temple of Spirit had once been in a grand desert on the very edge of Hyrule. The desert and surrounding area had been controlled by a race of female pirates known as the Gerudos, and they had regarded the temple and desert as cursed, never approaching or looting it. Their worries seemed to be warranted unlike most superstitions however, as accounts told of those who pursued the temple and braved the desert were either lost and returned to where they had started, half-starved and insane with thirst or never coming back at all.
The Temple of Water was one of the oddest of the temples, perhaps given its nature and location. Apparently the premonition he and Zelda had was accurate; the lore told it was sealed underneath the great lake, impenetrable to everyone except the Zoras who guarded the region's water. Nothing else was known about it, except that it was thought to have an effect on the water around it.
The others- the Temples of Forest, Fire, Shadow, and Light- were just as elusive. He knew where they had been- deep in a forest maze, in the heart of a deadly volcano, above a quiet graveyard, and on the edge of Old Castletown, respectively- but none of that would help him in his current situation. After pursuing that dead end for the rest of the day, he had awoken today and decided to investigate more general history.
He had been looking into an incredible volume of information- the sages, Old Hyrule, the legend of the Hero- for the entire day. By the position of the sun he judged it to be a little before noon. He pushed back from the table and walked out of the library. He needed some physical stimulation.
An hour later he was sitting on the wall amidst mutilated practice dummies, weapon care tools, and a nice lunch that had been sent to him. As he cared for his sword and his stomach he considered the targets around his seat. His battle with the Zhikyha had reminded him how different real combat was from practicing on these straw-stuffed mannequins.
Actual battle couldn't be learned by parrying and countering a make-believe opponent's attacks, no matter how developed one's imagination. It was grueling, both physically and mentally. It challenged every fiber of your being to the breaking point, where the punishment for a single misstep was death. It demanded excruciating physical performance as well as taxing mental effort to adapt to an enemy's tactics. If he had trained only on the dummies he used to as a herding boy in Ordon and faced the unnatural creature in the Temple of Water he most certainly would have been cut down. Even with all his experience, training, and physical and mental fitness he had almost been overcome.
He snorted. Maybe he was just overanalyzing, his bad attitude projecting a more negative attitude than what was necessary. He could hardly use the encounter with the Zhikyha as a good example of a proper fight. He doubted any of the guards would face an enemy half as exotic as that. If they did, it would probably be too late. He stood back up, sheathing his sword and cleaning his mess. It was time to go back to school.
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Zelda stood and stretched at her desk. She had been stuck in here for the better part of the day; it seemed that the officials were determined to keep her locked away ever since her escapade. It didn't matter that they were only gone for three days, and they had all told the same story- they were out, had hit a bit of a detour, and had to circle around which accounted for the delay, nothing special, alarming, or otherwise out of the ordinary. It didn't matter to those people though.
She had desperately wanted to see Link again, to be able to discuss what they had learned on their journey, to search together for more, to share this exciting, epic journey. If this is what Link had experienced in his quest, then she envied him- the rush, the thrill, the grand adventure of searching and finding something beyond themselves.
But as she thought more she started to remember who she was thinking about. Link, who she had heard moan in his sleep. Link, who had both an entirely other spirit and a monster raging inside him. Link, who had lost some of his closest friends and his life, both figuratively and sometimes literally to save a land that most of its sworn guardians would've balked and ran. Link, who was one of the most broken people she knew. Link, her closest friend.
She had never stopped before and considered the full effect of his baggage and adventures. She had known it was there, but never before had she stopped and thought of what it meant. How could she have forgotten the distress in his eyes when he first told her of his inner beast? He had left for three months and she hadn't once looked for him, not once looked for a way to help him herself. Why?
The Hero had mentioned Link's monster. He had said that completing this quest might provide a way to heal Link, to rid him of the beast? How could that be true? It must be, unless the Hero was lying to them, which seemed highly unlikely. If that was true then it was all the more important that they see this through, or at least she would, for him. She owed it to him, and he beyond a shadow of a doubt deserved it.
As she entered her room she saw a note of paper had been left on her desk amidst the other documents and books. A small, ornamental knife had speared the paper to the desk, drawing clear attention to it; under closer observation a piece of wood rested underneath the other end of the blade, presumably to not damage the desk. The thoughtful gesture brought a smile to her lips and told her the author of the message before she even glanced at the words.
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Link heard the footsteps before the door opened so it was no surprise when a knife was slapped down on his table, mildly upsetting a few papers under them. He glanced up at the perpetrator who was trying to maintain a disdainful expression. "I got your message. Was the knife really necessary?"
He put on his best innocent face, playing along with her act. "Excuse me, princess, I didn't want you to miss it over that mess of documents you have in there." She grinned, finally giving up the performance.
"Do you have anything new?" she picked up a book at random, looking at the depiction of a large cave-like entrance which allegedly led to a deep, cursed forest. The pages told of a population of children who would never grow up, and all adults who delved into the forest became evil, twisted skeletons of their former selves.
"Just theories and hunches, nothing concrete yet. I've pinpointed a few locations where a few locations might be, and I wanted to show you them, see if you had anything to say about them. A fresh pair of eyes is always helpful." The map pinned to a wall by similar methods he had used with his message depicted the country; circles painted the areas where they knew something rested whereas several red X's dotted the cartography where possible locations might be.
Her hand brushed against a bold X superimposed on the Faron Woods. "What is this supposed to be? Wasn't there a Forest Temple?"
Link looked to the map. "Yes, and although the Faron Woods are the most logical place for them to be, I doubt if that's the case. We thought the Water Temple was under Lake Hylia, the most logical place for it and we were wrong. When I made these assumptions I decided to just throw logic out the window. These temples don't seem to follow rules of deduction. I just put that there for the possibility."
She continued to look at the marks until one finally caught her eye. Right on top of the Bridge of Eldin was an X. "Why do you think there's one here? There isn't anything under the Bridge, I've been there."
He glanced up and stopped, coming up beside her, unable to look away from the spot. "There has to be something under it, right? I was wondering why no one knows, and apparently because no one ever looked. So then the question became why did no one look? Then I remembered always noticing how it was unusually warm over the bridge, but the heat never continued past it. Whenever the bridge broke then it became even more conspicuous, a wave of heat and pressure, barely noticeable but still there." He finally made eye contact with Zelda. "The more I thought about it, the more I really believed something was there. In fact, I don't believe it anymore, I know it."
She watched as he explained his theory and reasoning. His eyes said he knew, or thought he knew, but she wondered how he could possibly know something so obscure, so anonymous. Could the beast's instincts be giving him perception she didn't have, or was it something else, something hidden she didn't know about?
As much as she wanted to solve these mysteries, she knew she couldn't. "Link, if you go on this adventure any time soon, I can't join you." She saw the questioning look in his features and she rushed to get it out before he could say anything. "The officials have kept me under lockdown all day, and they would never let me go out on another long journey." She took a breath, steadying herself. "And frankly, I have to agree with them. Believe me I would love to go out on these adventures with you but I have a responsibility to my kingdom that won't allow me to." Her eyes pleaded to him. "You understand, right?"
He nodded. "Of course I do. It's good that you have such dedication to your country, and I'm proud." He smiled, before turning rather suddenly away so she wouldn't see his blush, preventing him from seeing the blush that also tinted Zelda's cheeks. After a moment he turned back. "But it won't upset you if I go in my own?"
After a moment, she nodded. "Just please Link," she caught his arm and turned him gently to look her straight in the eye. "Please be careful. I know this means a thought to you, it means a lot to me, but it's not worth losing you." He took note of her words and nodded.
"Of course Zelda. I promise."