This one's hella long with lots of dialogue but yay storytime

love forever and always

xoxo

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bedtime Story

They were all sitting in a circle in the center of Link and Damita's apartment, equidistant from one another. Link, Damita, Shad, Raazi, Vukan, Anowaika, and Tingle, sitting in the middle of the night with nothing but a candle to illuminate the darkness. There was a tension in the air, one that Link could feel as if it were actually tangible. He didn't mind the tension so much. It wasn't something that he usually minded. But he could tell that Shad minded, and Anowaika minded—and Tingle seemed completely oblivious to everything. But Link, he didn't mind. (In fact, he understood that he was most likely the source of the tension.)

In the center of their circle was some kind of chart, rolled out and pinned straight with various objects that they had gathered from around the room. It was the chart that Kafei had given Link earlier that day, without any explanation. Link hadn't asked for one because he hadn't found it necessary. He figured simply seeing its contents would explain. Unfortunately, the contents of the chart were impossible to read. Strange illustrations covered the page in a seemingly random order, and phrases (not a language any Hylian, Sheikah, Gerudo, Zora, or Goron could understand) lined the borders of the page like a picture frame. Link was at a complete loss. He sat with his legs crossed and his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his hands, staring with narrowed eyes at this meaningless sheet in front of him.

In the darkness, he liked the way that the shadows played on his comrades' faces. Even while they looked at each other (and at him, their 'fearless leader') for some sense of what was happening.

"...Shad?" Damita began, but he immediately began shaking his head.

"Unfortunately, I can't understand this at all," he sighed. "I've never even seen that language before."

"And none of those illustrations look familiar to any of us, I don't think," Anowaika added. Vukan agreed with a slight nod of his massive head.

"Why would Kafei give you this anyway?" Damita mused, chewing on her nails. Link avoided their eyes and just stared at the paper. He hated admitting that he wasn't sure what to do or where to go. The words of that woman in the dungeon echoed in his ears, but he couldn't understand why she would have led him astray. He couldn't understand why Kafei, who in some shape or form had been expecting to meet Link one day, would give him a chart that he couldn't even understand.

And then, as if he had only been waiting for the right moment, Tingle let out an excited burst of laughter and raised his hand.

"Tingle can read it," he said. "Tingle is very good with maps."

Everyone fell back into silence and looked to each other. Link stared at the strange little man he had dragged with him from the dungeons of Hyrule Castle, recalled the incredible things he knew about maps. For him, it was an art form, it seemed—an entire language in which he was the only fluent speaker.

"It seems that this person in the dungeons," Raazi began slowly, "expected all to happen. She knew about the chart, knew you would not read it, and knew little mapmaker would be able to." When she shifted her position to look more closely at the chart, her mountains of jewelry jingled, breaking the strange silence that hung in the air. It was a familiar sound, comforting to Link.

"Tingle?" Shad said with a nod. "Will you redraw this chart for us? In a way that we can, ahem, understand?"

"Tingle will do this, yes, Tingle will do this for his friends," he nodded vigorously, while wisps of hair stuck up from his peeling scalp. "But he will only do this if his friends give him something in return."

Of course, Link jeered.

"What do you want, runt?" Damita scoffed.

"Not much," he replied with a childish pout. "But...Tingle needs somewhere to sleep and eat and poop while he looks for his fairy friends..."

Link held back his smirk as he saw Damita's face drain of color.

"If you let Tingle stay with you, pretty fairy lady, Tingle will read this map for you. Free of charge! This is a true deal, pretty fairy lady."

"You want to stay here? In my house?" she repeated, as if she hadn't understood.

"Tingle will be no trouble. Tingle promises. Tingle will not steal anymore. Tingle only needs food and a place to sleep and a place to poop."

Damita looked at Link with a desperate glint in her green eyes, but he was in no position to offer advice. After all, within the next few days, he would no longer be her roommate. He would no longer be a resident of Castilia at all—in fact, within the next few days, Link would probably be far, far away. So he did what he thought was the best thing to do and gave her a short nod. And, in response and out of the gaze of the others, he saw her stick up her middle finger at him. He almost burst into laughter.

"Fine, fine, you can stay here," she said. "But not long, all right?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Thank you, pretty fairy lady, thank you!" Tingle cried. His voice was shrill with elation, while he clapped his hands together and bowed his head over and over and over. Link could see that nearly all the members of the group were stifling their own laughter. "Give Tingle some paper and ink and Tingle will draw out map for you."

"Such a strange hobby," Raazi observed softly. "Drawing maps."

Vukan, with his long arms, reached over to the unkempt desk in the corner and grabbed a blank parchment and quill. Tingle took them anxiously, laid them out in front of them and lay down on his stomach. As if he were a child, preparing to paint the most beautiful picture. Link had truly never met a more fascinating person than this cartographer, imprisoned because of his petty habits of theft.

"Koolooh, limpah," he murmured under his breath. Over, and over, and over, and over again, that same, nonsensical phrase, while he drew out the map. He scribbled furiously, all while they sat in their circle, looking at each other and feeling comfort in each other's company. Raazi and Shad sat back to back, leaning against one another; every couple moments, Anowaika would stretch up to whisper something in Vukan's ear; Link and Damita were taking turns making faces at each other. Somehow, in the midst of what could only be deemed a terrible situation (after a terrible day, in Link's case), they were happy together.

Of course, it was only because for the moment, Link was suppressing the emotions tumbling and turning inside him. After what had happened in the dungeons, everything had changed. Everything had changed significantly—he could feel it in his bones, in his very skin. Something in this chart, something in what the woman in the dungeons had said, was about to reveal something bigger than life itself. Link felt his forgotten history running to catch up with him, felt his mysterious tattoos burning against his skin, felt his way of life beginning to crumble.

Although, if he was being honest with himself, it was a welcome change.

Perhaps he'd finally be able to do something about the terrible state Hyrule was in. About the black-hearted queen and her soul-crushing iron fist—the queen that had looked Link in the eyes and revealed some hidden part of her, a piece of his own identity within her tar soul. It gave him chills thinking that she held the secrets to his life. He had seen hatred in her eyes. It was frightening, he thought, to know that someone so powerful hated you, and not truly knowing why. For he knew it wasn't because of his troublemaking in the capital. The hatred he had seen was too passionate for that.

It's scary when someone you despise probably knows more about you than you do.

After a while sitting there, contemplating everything and staring into space, Tingle let out a cry and held up the piece of paper, making everyone jump.

"Tingle is finished! And Tingle's map is just beautiful," he smiled broadly. He laid it down on top of the original chart and, lo and behold, it was perfectly readable. Just like any other map one might encounter. Link threw Tingle a crooked smile of approval, while Shad scrambled to his knees to get a closer look and Damita scoffed. Anowaika smiled widely, and Vukan, as always, looked stony and unimpressed.

"A true cartographer if there ever was one," Shad nodded, his eyes scanning the map. Link recognized the shape as that of Hyrule, with its four separate parts—the Hylian Cities in the north, Zora Isles to the south, Goron Mountains to the west, and Gerudo Deserts to the east. Once upon a time, in an era that had ended ten years before his birth, each part lived separately, working together in peace. It wasn't like that anymore. Zelda controlled it all. From the north to the south, the east to the west. But it was still nice, he mused, seeing them all drawn so separately like that.

"Yes, Tingle is very good with maps," the strange man nodded. Link then began to notice smaller details of the map. Tingle had drawn in mountain ranges, rivers, valleys, borders, cities, everything. And scattered in different areas of the map were small triangles. Eight in total—two per region. In each corner, Tingle had drawn the Triforce. It was the symbol of the Royal Family, had been for centuries. Link hated the sight of it.

"I don't get it," Damita said. "I mean, I know it's a map of Hyrule, but what do the little triangles mean?"

"I was just wondering the same thing," Ano added, her face like a small child's, lost in thought. Link looked to Raazi, wondering what strange addendum she would have this time. Strange addendums were her talent. But she was silent. She wasn't even looking at the map.

"Look at this." Shad pointed to a phrase written at the very top of the chart. Link looked more closely and realized that it was in Ancient Hylian—a language that he, of course, had never learned.

But he could read it anyway.

"To—" Shad began. He was the only one who knew Ancient Hylian.

But Link interrupted him.

"To scarred, battered, bruised; to pure of heart and strong of body; shattered shards are your birthright; courage makes them one," he murmured. Shad froze, and then looked up at him with his brow furrowed.

"Link," he began quietly, "how did you read that?"

To distract himself from his own questions, Link took the ponytail out of his hair and started to retie it.

"I don't know," he replied. "I just did."

"You never told us that you know Ancient Hylian," Ano smiled. "That's really cool."

"I didn't know that I knew it." Link stretched his arms out and crossed them behind his head. Licorice would have been very nice. Or a pile of hay to sleep on. "Don't know what it means. Sounds like a riddle to me."

"You're not bad with riddles though," Ano smiled. Link smiled his crooked smile back.

"This one's a bit out of my league."

"Tingle cannot help with riddles," Tingle added, frazzled and anxious. "Tingle can only help with maps."

"Shad? Any ideas?" Ano asked. Shad finally ripped his incredulous gaze from Link's face and directed it back to the chart. He stared for a few minutes, silently. Only then did Raazi move from her position and glance over his shoulder at the chart. At that point, it seemed that Damita had grown restless, so she stood from the circle and began to pace. Link liked watching her pace. It helped calm him, too.

"You're all going to think me daft, but I do have an idea," Shad sighed.

"I do as well," Raazi said. "Perhaps you will begin, little cat?"

"Very well then. Let's begin with the symbol—the Triforce. Do you all know exactly what it means?"

"I always thought it was just a symbol of the Hylian Royal Family," Anowaika said.

"It is, yes, but it is much more than a mere symbol. Legend has it that the Triforce was left by the three goddesses—Din, Nayru, and Farore—after they created Hyrule and ascended back into the sky."

"All right, but what is it, exactly?" Damita asked.

"It is a sacred relic, a container for the balance of the world. It is the world's source of power and harmony. It is made of three stacked triangles, each containing an essence of a goddess. The top represents power, the left wisdom, and the right courage. So if anyone were to obtain this Triforce—"

"They would be all powerful?" she finished. She was standing with her hands on her hips, head tilted skeptically.

"So to speak. Obtaining the Triforce essentially means omnipotence for the person that obtains it. But according to Sheikah legends, if someone with an unbalanced heart tries to obtain it—for example, has a heart full of more power than wisdom or courage—then the Triforce will split into its three components. The one who tried to take it will only obtain the part that they believe in the most. For example, if I were to try and obtain the Triforce, I would most likely only obtain the Triforce of Wisdom, since that is what I believe in most of the three."

"What happens to the Triforce of Courage and Power?" Ano asked. Her eyes were wide and her voice was low, glistening with intrigue in the story. Link could not feel the same elation. In fact, he felt sick to his stomach.

"Well, according to these same legends, the other two parts will be bestowed upon individuals chosen by the goddesses to protect them. Furthermore, these individual Triforces have potencies of their own. The one with the Triforce of Power, for example, will have unimaginable power; the same concept applies to wisdom and courage."

"All right, what does that all mean, though?" Damita pressed. Patience was not one of her virtues, and she had started pacing again.

"I'm almost finished, darling. These legends contain one more vital piece of information. Long ago, they say an evil thief did, in fact, try to obtain the Triforce from its hiding place in the Sacred Realm—heaven, if you will. But his heart was terribly unbalanced, so while he took the Triforce of Power for his own, the other two shards were sent to two individuals chosen by the goddesses themselves. One, the holder of the Triforce of Courage, was destined to become the Hero that would vanquish the evil thief who threatened the very balance of the world."

"So the evil thief had power, the hero had courage...where did wisdom go?" Ano asked.

Shad swallowed and dabbed at the beads of sweat on his forehead.

"There is no way to prove this, of course, but I've heard rumors and legend dictates it, as well. The Triforce of Wisdom, it is said, was bestowed upon a matriarch of the Royal Family centuries ago, when the interloper attempted to the take the Triforce."

"Queen Zelda's ancestors, you mean?" Damita finished. Shad nodded. "What happens when the person with the Triforce dies?"

"Legend says that their soul is reincarnated in the next generation, and their Triforce is transferred to this reincarnation."

"So Princess Zelda the First or whatever has her Triforce and dies—and then Princess Zelda the Second has her Triforce and dies—and it just goes on like that down the line?"

"Yes. Either that, or the person with the Triforce willingly gives their Triforce to another soul willing to receive it. There is also the possibility that the bearer of the Triforce doesn't even know that they bear it."

"What a cool legend," Ano gushed.

"Well, it is a legend," Shad said. "There is no way to prove that it's true—"

"Make no mistakes," Raazi interrupted. All eyes were on her. "The legend is true."

"H-how do you know, Raaz?" Ano said. Link did not want to hear her answer. He knew where this story was going. The Triforces drawn on the chart were laughing at him now. Staring up from the page and taunting him.

"Our Gerudo King, centuries ago, was this...thief. The one who took the Triforce of Power, as little cat said."

"He was a Gerudo king?"

"Yes. We have many stories of him. The name, of course, has been lost. But his story remains. Like what you Hylians call a bedtime story."

"Will you tell us?" Ano asked. She blinked, smiled. "Please?" The candle made the shadows dance on Raazi's face incessantly, made her eyes look dark and her smile even more mysterious than usual.

"Long ago, on a cold desert night, a Gerudo king was born. He was raised to believe in the goodness of people and peace. But as he grew older, he saw unfairness. His people were left in the deserts to...what is this phrase...defend themselves. Not very much food or water, you see. It was a difficult life. Too much death, he thought. But he looked to the lands to the west, to Hyrule and its people. He saw...how you say...prosperity. Once he heard about the Triforce, he wanted it, to gain power and wisdom and courage to help his people. But the thought of it drove him insane, for he became greedy. So greedy that when he tried to take Triforce, it split into three parts. The Gerudo king fought to take the other two parts for seven long years...but finally, the Hero and the Princess vanquished him. He passed his Triforce of Power on, again and again, to Gerudo kings that came after."

"Raazi, how do you know that all of that is true? Like you said, it was a bedtime story for you," Shad asked. Raazi raised her eyebrows at him.

"The history of Gerudos would be much different if this story were not true, little cat," she said. And she left it at that.

"So, assuming this legend is true, there are people in Hyrule right now who have these pieces of the Triforce." Damita stopped pacing and bit her nails for a few moments before continuing. "The current Gerudo king has power, the queen has wisdom, and this mysterious hero has courage. Right?"

"Well, yes. The reincarnation of this hero," Shad corrected.

"Right, right, whatever. We get the story now, but what's the point? What does it have to do with this map?"

"I was getting to that," Shad said quietly. But he looked very nervous. And when he turned his attention to Link, his own heart dropped. He clenched his fists, as discreetly as possible.

Nobody but Damita knows about the scar, he comforted. Nobody but Damita and the gray-skinned woman in the dungeon.

"Even though the Triforce is split into three separate parts, each part can be split even further. A bearer of the Triforce, in order to protect it, could split it into various shards, making it nearly impossible for it to fall into the wrong hands."

And then, without Shad having to say anything else, they all understood. Looking at the small triangles drawn on the chart, they knew what Shad was suggesting. But Raazi was the brave soul who decided to say it out loud.

"One of the Triforces has been split. This chart shows where each piece is."

"Precisely, my dear," Shad said softly. "Precisely."

"Why did Kafei give this to Link?" Damita said. She was speaking through clenched teeth.

"Focus, little bird, focus," Raazi said. "Look at the phrase at the top again. Say it again, Link."

He hoped his voice wouldn't crack.

"To scarred, battered, bruised; to pure of heart and strong of body; shattered shards are your birthright; courage makes them one."

"And what did you say to the Masked One?"

"I told him I was the Scarred One."

More silence, except for the ramblings of a now nonsensical Tingle. The world was spinning a little bit.

"Shad, you forgot one part of the story," Raazi said. But her eyes were glued to Link's. Unflinching, striking to his very core. The flame of the candle flickered. "The mark of the Triforce can be seen on the hands of those who hold them."

"Ah, yes. Apologies."

"Little wolf, give me your left hand," she said.

"No."

"Link."

"Holy shit," Damita gasped, finally understanding. "You don't mean..."

"Give me your hand." Raazi held out her arm, waiting. From the look on her face, Link concluded that she would wait forever, so he spared her and put his left hand into hers. Swiftly, she took off the glove that was there—always there—and ran her fingers along the skin of the back of his hand. Everybody had brought their head closer and was staring at his skin. Where the triangle-shaped scar was (and had always been, as far as he could remember).

"Oh my goddesses," Shad breathed. He sat back on his heels and Anowaika, afraid that he might pass out, put her fins on his shoulders to steady him.

"You understand, yes?" Raazi said. "Link once held a Triforce. The Triforce of Courage. But he split it into eight different...shards? Yes, that is the word, shards. Eight different shards. This map is his key to regaining the shards and regaining the Triforce."

"But if Link is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage...doesn't that mean he's the reincarnation of the hero?" Anowaika said, cautiously.

Raazi's smile at that moment made Link's blood run cold, and he remembered what had happened in the dungeons with Queen Zelda. The way her fury had risen up when she had seen his hand, the way she'd said, "I wanted to see the look in your eyes when I ripped it from your soul." He hadn't known what "it" meant. He hadn't had the slightest idea.

"Yes," she whispered, "that is exactly what it means."

A hero?

Not the word I would use to describe myself.

"I don't remember having the Triforce," he said. "And I don't remember splitting it up, or whatever."

"You do not have to. The evidence is here on your skin. And in those tattoos. They are spiritual tattoos."

"I don't believe in the goddesses. So how could I be their divine hero?" he spat.

"Maybe you did believe in them once," she offered. "I cannot speak for them. They are the goddesses, and will choose as they choose. But I can tell you what I know. And what I know is that your time has come to reclaim what is yours."

What is mine...

"Your time has come to reclaim the Triforce of Courage."

Link was about to open his mouth and reject it. To say that he didn't want to be some kind of hero, that he didn't want this Triforce of Courage, that, maybe, he didn't care about reclaiming his lost memories. Didn't care about who he was before. Only cared about who he was at that moment—a mercenary fighting by the skin of his teeth to do what he believed was right. A rebel, a murderer. Not a hero.

But then he remembered the woman in the dungeon who had stolen his memories.

And he remembered the determination in Zelda's eyes.

"Zelda is looking for it," he said. "That's why she wanted me."

"What?" Raazi, Shad, Ano, and Damita said in unison.

"She's going to go looking for it." They all looked at each other. (Surely wondering if Link had, in fact, gone insane in those dungeons.) He ran his hands along his face and rubbed his eyes, hoping that perhaps he would wake up from a dream. "I'm not saying I believe in all this...I'm not saying I want to be those goddesses' hero. But if it means keeping whatever it is out of Zelda's hands, then I have to do it."

"If I am understanding you correctly, you're saying that you want to find these shards?" Shad said. Link nodded wordlessly.

"It was fate that you met gray-skinned woman in the dungeons, yes?" Raazi winked.

"I don't believe in fate."

"Ah yes," she laughed. "I almost forgot."

"I have to move fast."

Shad descended into his mind for about a minute, eyes closed, and then he opened them and stared down at the map again. When he spoke, his voice was deep and smooth, focused in a way that meant he was as serious as serious could be.

"Give me tomorrow. I can have a plan for you by tomorrow night. Let me have the map—I will tell you where to go, who to see, what to do to get to these shards, if they exist. If you are determined, that is. I know people all over Hyrule who are doing their own work to rebel. I have a network of allies I can tap into. And I know someone in Ikana that can get you fake papers by tomorrow, as well. Just give me until then. You can leave tomorrow night."

He nodded to Shad with a grateful little smile. The most he could manage at that point.

"Wait, you're actually going through with this?" Damita cried. "You've gotta be kidding me, Link."

He looked up at her and shook his head.

"There's no way I can stay in Castilia, anyway. And I have to know if it's true or not. 'Cuz if it is, and we let Zelda have the Triforce..." He decided not to finish his sentence. He figured they could all imagine the terror on their own.

"Well, you're definitely not doing it alone," Anowaika said. She stood up then, hands on her hips. Vukan accordingly stood up, as well. "We're coming with you."

"What?" he replied, completely taken aback.

"C'mon, you didn't think we'd let you travel all around Hyrule by yourself, did you? We deserve to have some fun, too," she winked. "I've never been outside Castilia, you know. And besides, two of those shards are in the Zora Isles. I've always dreamed of going back home and seeing it for myself."

"Not to mention, it will be nearly impossible alone," Raazi added. "You know nothing about Gerudo Deserts or Zora Isles or Goron Mountains. You will need help, no?"

"No."

"They do have a point. It would be reckless alone," Shad said.

"You'll need your friends there," Ano smiled.

"I don't—"

"If you're worried about holding down the fort here, don't be," Damita said. When he looked at her, he saw resignation, acceptance, some twisted kind of support in her eyes. "Shad and I can handle things. Neither of us is a fighter, so we'll stay here and keep the fire going. All right?"

He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure how to say it. All he could think was how bizarre it was that his entire life had changed so much in the span of one hour. Suddenly he was going to be travelling across Hyrule in search of things he wasn't even sure existed.

Maybe it's time I figured out who I really am.

"All right," he finally conceded. "The four of us will go."

"Very well. Will you all be ready by tomorrow, midnight, to depart?" Shad asked. At that point, he was all business. Vukan, Anowaika, and Raazi nodded. "Tie up any loose ends. You'll surely be gone for a long time. Let us meet tomorrow...where?"

"The stables outside the city," Link said without hesitation.

"Very well then, the stables. I will come by here to give you the fake papers before then, give you the game plan, and...well, say goodbye, I suppose."

Goodbye.

"Why don't you all go get some sleep?" Shad suggested. "Tomorrow is bound to be a long day."

All Link could hear now were Raazi's words, echoing in his mind.

"Your time has come to reclaim the Triforce of Courage."

My time has come.