The Legend of Zelda

Chapter Twenty Five: Across the Water

Night had fallen. The rain had finally stopped about an hour before sundown, and Miranda was lighting some candles while Agahnim moved his completely healed arm around to make sure it worked. It had taken a good amount of time, but all of his injuries had been taken care of so well by his magic that it looked like he had never been hurt in the first place, and it was nice to see him walking around the room on his own. Thankfully her father had chosen not to bother them very often, not just because of her romantic interest in the robed wizard, but also because they had a lot to talk about.

First there was the matter of the chest that she had recovered from the old sewers, and after it was discovered that Agahnim had been tasked by Impa to find the others, she revealed the one that she had taken from Eagle Prison. Apparently he, as well as a friend of his, named Link, had recovered a few others as well, although Ganondorf had stolen one of them. Miranda didn't blame him for losing one of them, after all, she had not only recently lost Zelda herself to him, but also broken the recorder that was the only safe way into Spectacle Rock that she knew of. And then there was the matter of her being Blind the Thief, an identity that she needed to both trust him with as well as resume in order to save Zelda.

"Your secret is safe with me… Blind." He promised while kissing her hand. "The last thing I would want, would be for the guards to take you away."

"Thank you, Agahnim." She replied, putting her other hand on his. "Not just for that, but for everything you've done, and suffered through for my cousin. When Zelda is safe, I'll make sure that Uncle Harkinian rewards both you and your friend handsomely."

Agahnim smiled a little as she said this, causing Miranda to smile as well, and they had just started to kiss again, when they had to quickly separate when the door was opened by her father. He hadn't appeared to have seen anything, since the lanterns in the hallway were so much brighter than the few candles in her room, but she still wished that he would knock once in a while. Yes, he was her father, and had given her baths as a baby and all that, but a girl still needed some privacy once in a while.

"Well, young man, you seem to be doing much better." He said as he walked in. "To tell you the truth, when you came in here, I thought you were going to die."

"In that case, Lord Rul, I am happy to disappoint you." The robed wizard replied. "But I owe my recovery to your daughter, she, uh… saved my life."

Her father looked him over for a long time, and then looked at Miranda. She hoped that he would pick up on how much she liked Agahnim, and that would somehow discourage him from saying anything ignorant. Well, ignorant was the wrong word, but fathers tended to be a little too protective of their daughters, which did nothing but drive away the decent ones.

"The carriage will be here for us at sunrise." Rul continued, still looking back and forth at each of them. "But I can travel back to Manji Estate alone… if you wish to stay in Port Hylia for a few more days… I assume you live in this city, uh… Agahnim, was it?"

"Yes, my Lord." The robed wizard replied. "Well… fairly close to it, anyway."

"And I was just going to see him out." Miranda added. "After we finish our conversation, that is. Are you turning in for the night, father?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Rul said with a sudden yawn. "In my youth, I could stay up all night and still tend my daily duties, but Father Time is a cruel master, so I must say good night, my dear. And to you as well, Agahnim."

Agahnim bowed a little, and then Rul was gone after giving Miranda a kiss on the cheek. She hated lying to her father, but anything she could tell him involving the truth, would have only put him in danger. If she told him about trying to save Zelda, he would have tried to stop her, and if she warned him about Ganondorf, he might've accidently said something to one of the Sorcerer's spies, which would put him in even more danger. No, he had to be kept in the dark, and if her father believed that she snuck out every night to see Agahnim, then that was for the best.

"Zelda had eight of these chests." Miranda explained once they were alone. "And if we add up the ones you and Link found, as well as mine, and the one Ganondorf took, then there can only be as many as three left. Now, based on the direction my compass was pointing when we got back to town, I believe that the next one is inside Snake Palace."

"The island next to Eagle Prison?" Agahnim asked when she showed him the compass. "Where the Governor of the Southern Outskirts lives?"

Looking out the window, the island palace in question could be seen in the full moon's light, as well as by all of the torches around the outside. Both the island, as well as the palace were constantly patrolled by guards, and unlike Eagle Prison, there was no convenient bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Granted, the island wasn't too far away, but they would still need a way across. It was too risky to steal a boat, and after everything that happened with the Zoras, Miranda never planned on getting in the water again… too bad they couldn't fly… or could they?

"Agahnim?" She asked a little hesitantly. "When you vanish and reappear like that… if you went up into the air… do you have to touch the ground again… or can you keep reappearing in the air? Like… I don't know… going across water, for instance?"

"What do you mean, staying in the air?" He replied. "Are you talking about… are you talking about using my teleporting abilities to somehow… fly?! Miranda, I know I make it look easy, since I've been teleporting since I was a boy, rapid movements like that take a lot out of you, and that's if I was by myself. Even moving you back and forth out of your father's carriage was tiring."

His answer was disappointing, but Agahnim was the expert on such things, so there wasn't much she had to argue with if he said it was too tiring. If only there was a way to give him a chance to rest, but there were no rafts or other islands along the way, so once he got tired, they would simply fall.

"That's it!" She exclaimed. "You can fall! Take us up into the air as high as you can, and then fall for a couple seconds to catch your breath, and do it again. I imagine it would be a little slower, but do you think you could do it?"

"I don't know." He replied, taking a moment to think. "Maybe."

That was all she wanted to hear. If it was possible, then there was a chance it could be done, and when she said their only other option was to swim, Agahnim reluctantly agreed. Yes, she guilted him about what could happen to her if she were taken by the Zoras again, and made sure to boost his confidence by saying that she was depending on him to protect her from those fish monsters. Next she decided to not give him a chance to argue, by asking him to turn around while she faced away to change into her Blind outfit. She knew that he was sneaking to look as she got dressed, as any man would, and that was fine.

"Are you ready?" She asked, putting on her mask and hood.

"Byrna." He replied, changing the color of his robe with magic. "Ready."

Blowing out the candles, and sneaking out the window as she had done several times before, Agahnim stayed out of sight by vanishing and reappearing, while she crept through the shadows. It was not far to the docks, which was the closest point from the mainland to the island in question, and continuing to stay out of sight, they moved to the very edge of the longest dock. There were no ships incoming, or guards in the immediate vicinity, so this was their best time to attempt flying across the water. So, Agahnim picked her up into his arms, and Miranda put her arms around his neck before they vanished.

Suddenly they were up in the air, high above the water, and Miranda shut her eyes, tightening her grip on him when they started to fall. Then the falling feeling stopped for a second, only to begin again, and this time they fell for a bit longer before it stopped again. Agahnim's breathing was starting to become labored as these efforts continued, and each fall lasted for longer and longer, with Miranda yelping with fright when she heard something that sounded like his boot hitting the water before they went up again.

And then it stopped. Suddenly they were no longer falling, but she was still clinging onto him tightly, with her eyes shut, and face buried into his shoulder. Somehow it took a while for her to realize this, so it wasn't until Agahnim was able to catch his breath, that she opened her eyes and looked around. They were on the island, and the robed wizard was sitting on the rocky ground, against the outer wall of Snake Palace, with Miranda just kind of sitting on his lap.

"We made it?" She asked, still looking around.

"It looks that way." He replied with a big smile on his face. "But do you realize what this means, Miranda? I flew… like a bird… sort of. Who knows, with enough practice, maybe I'll be able to fly even greater distances! I don't think… I don't think any other wizard has ever tried anything like that before!"

It was truly incredible what he had been able to accomplish, since for a while there, Miranda thought that they were going to end up in the water, but there was no time to celebrate, since the approaching light of torches carried by guards was starting to come into view. So Miranda rolled off of him, and together they crept away from the guards, going along the wall in search of an entry point.