Chapter 28:

Breaking the Illusion

As the battle had gone on for twenty minutes, they were exhausted and the wounds of the previous battle, which, of course, hadn't healed yet, put additional strain onto them. But Kaze also felt another kind of pain on his back now, different from the pain the burns caused him, and he strongly suspected this to be the remains of the damage his wings took when he was still in fairy form. Also, Toki's face made it obvious that he wasn't feeling much better.

But they had no chance to use any kind of recovery item on themselves. The little beast they were fighting just wouldn't stop flinging her spells at them and they had to keep evading every single of their attacks. Using their Mirror Shields and their swords, they tried to reflect the spells back at her multiple times, but Wizrova dodged it every single time without fail. In fact, she even seemed to enjoy it and playfully moved around as she was escaping the boys' counter attacks.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Kaze exclaimed when it became apparent that their battle had devolved into a game of cat and mouse, with them playing the role of the mouse.

Toki had apparently been pondering about this for quite a while yet. "If she really is a kind of Wizrobe, we'll have to use an according strategy on her! And the most effective way to defeat Wizrobes is to either attack them while they are preparing their spells, or to shoot them with arrows!"

"But how is this supposed to work when she's still able to dodge every time we tr—" This was when Kaze's eyes suddenly widened. He'd remembered something.

"Toki!" he called out, still evading the witch's attacks. "Remember what I told you about Tetra's and my battle with Ganondorf?"

Toki's first reaction to this line was a rather confused one, but after a few seconds, it became apparent that he understood what Kaze was trying to tell him. He nodded. Kaze nodded back. This had to work…

The boys looked into each other's eyes, trying to give signs. Then Toki ran off right into Wizrova's view. As the witch focused her eyes on him and started to cast her spell, he quickly took his bow and shot a fire arrow. He, however, aimed not for her, but for Kaze, who was standing behind her, holding his Mirror Shield before his body. The arrow hit the shield and charged it with the spell, while Kaze, trying to ignore the arrow's feedback, quickly aimed the shield at Wizrova, just as she was shooting her spell.

"Take this!!" he exclaimed, as he tried to shoot the fire magic his shield had charged at Wizrova. But he was surprised to find her suddenly facing him, rather than Toki, as she had been facing Toki just as split second ago. In glee, she threw her ball of magical energy at him, just as he had redirected the fire arrow's energy. The two spells hit each other and resulted in a small explosion. Wizrova teleported away, while Kaze, who was pretty close to it, was not lucky enough to escape the shockwave and got caught up in it.

"Argh!" He landed on his face in a quite uncomfortable way. As he looked up again, he saw Wizrova grinning at him mischievously… She was apparently really feasting on his misery and her look alone seemed to be making fun of him and the failure of his plan more than any words ever could.

Kaze got up again as quickly as he could. "Darn… it didn't work…" He kept his eyes on Wizrova… she mustn't hit him again.

Toki came to his side. "That plan was nothing either."

Kaze nodded. "What now? Her reflexes are so incredibly fast—"

But Toki interrupted him. "Those are not her reflexes," he said.

"Huh?"

Toki pointed at Wizrova. "Can you see the jewel on that eye-like symbol on her hat? It glowed for a short second when I shot this arrow to you. I guess she can somehow predict our movements with this."

"Ah! I get it!" Kaze nodded. "So, if we destroy the jewel, she can't dodge us that easily anymore! But how do we reach it?"

"It won't be easy…"

As they were still evading the continuous rain of spells, Toki suddenly got an idea. He smiled at Kaze and said a single word:

"Tennis!"

"Huh? But we already tried that!" Kaze reminded him.

Toki winked. "I didn't say, we were going to 'play' it with her…"

A short look into Toki's eyes caused Kaze to understand what he meant. And they smiled at each other in determination.

"Hey, you! Over here!"

Waving his arms in the air, Kaze tried to get Wizrova's attention. Once she had set her eyes on him, he raised his sword and stormed towards her. A wide, pleased grin crossed her face. With a single move of her hand, she prepared an energy ball, which she planned on shooting at the boy. He saw that coming. With a precise strike of his sword, he returned the ball to its source. Wizrova saw that coming. Waiting until the very last second, she teleported out of the way with loud laughter. But she didn't see coming what followed.

Just as she rematerialized two meters away from her original location and tried to turn around so she would face the boys again, she'd already got the magic ball in her back, and she screeched loudly as she lost her balance and fell down to hit the floor.

"YEAH!" Kaze actually jumped. "It worked! We actually got her!!"

Toki quickly got his bow out and prepared an arrow. They had to act while she was still dizzy. "Fire!"

The burning arrow shot down to the little witch as she was still disoriented and somehow trying to get back on her feet. When it hit her hat and spread its flames all over it, she finally regained all her senses and shrieked, "HA?!"

In shock, she noticed what happened, took the hat off, threw it away and extinguished the fire as fast as she could. She picked up her headgear again and stared dumbfounded at the spot where the jewel was supposed to be… but the whole eye symbol had been burnt away.

"Now!"

"On my way!"

Wizrova heard the voices and wanted to turn around, but the two boys had already rammed her down and started to attack her with all force before she had even a chance to defend herself. It was only after she already took a rather huge number of hits did she finally managed to teleport away. It only took Toki a short look through the room to spot her again, though. "There!"

Wizrova was hovering in the air, shaking her head as if to dispel the dizziness. Finally, she raised her arms again and focused energy. "AAHHH!"

"Now we'll see if our theory was right!" Toki said, as both of the boys held tightly to their swords' handles. Wizrova had gathered an immense amount of energy now, creating a spell stronger than the ones she had casted before and she shot it towards Toki with all her force. He raised his sword and redirected the ball of energy. "Kaze!"

"Got it!"

Toki "passed" the ball over to Kaze, who then shot it back at Wizrova. And, unlike the previous time they tried this kind of strategy, Wizrova couldn't react. Much too late she just barely realized that her spell was coming back from behind, before it hit her and caused yet another shriek to escape her.

Cheerfully, Kaze jumped and laughed once again, as Toki exclaimed, "We're winning!"

"Don't let your guard down yet…" Eyne said carefully from underneath Kaze's hat.

"Uhh…" Wizrova got up from the hard ground. It was obvious that she was greatly exhausted and surprised. Yet, the shocked expression on her face suddenly faded again... and her childlike, mischievous smile returned.

She giggled, "Ehihihihi…"

Somewhat surprised, the boys backed up a step. What was she going to do now? She rose from the ground and slightly tilted her head to the side. She looked the boys in the eyes… focused completely on them.

"Do you… desire?"

"Huh?!" in surprise, Kaze grabbed his shield, as Toki did the same. "She… She can talk?"

The witch's smile turned into a wide grin and she laughed in realization, "Yes, you do! Heheheheh…"

Eyne peeked out from under Kaze's hat. "Boys! D-Don't look her in the—!" Eyne suddenly told them with a slight hint of panic in her voice, but she stopped as soon as Wizrova threw her a quick glance and she hid under the hat again.

Wizrova completely fixed her eyes on the boys again. What was going on?

They tried to look away… but found themselves unable to do so. No matter how hard they tried.

They couldn't look away anymore from those big, glowing, red eyes.

And then, all of the sudden, a bright light enclosed the area. A light, which felt like—


—Sunrays.

The warm light of the sun was touching his fingers…

The hand those fingers belonged to—it was his left one —was covering his face… He felt sleepy.

Where did those sunrays come from all of the sudden? Wasn't he—? Just now—? Under the fingers of his other hand, he felt wood. Old, slightly decayed wood. He was lying on a ground of wooden logs. There was a cool breeze… The sound of waves hitting the shore…

A seagull's cry…

"Hee hee hee!"

"Huh?"

Somebody was… giggling? This voice…

"There you are, big brother!"

No mistake. This was…

Link let his hand slide away from his face and opened his eyes. He found himself looking right into her eyes. Those cheerful, energetic, big eyes.

And she laughed, "I knew you'd be here!"

"A-Aryll?" Link sat up. Really. That was his little sister, who was standing before him. It was really Aryll… "How—"

"Say, is sleeping up here re~ally that nice? Then again, I can really understand why you'd want to be up here! This is my favorite spot to gaze out at the sea too!"

"Y-Your favorite spot?"

Did this mean he was—? No way…

But as Link looked around, he found it to be true. He was on Outset Island. On top of the little platform his sister liked to call "Aryll's Lookout." The place the two of them had always played with each other. But…

But what was he doing here? "Aryll? How… How did I get here?! And… where are the others?"

"Huh?" Aryll slightly tilted her head to the side and gave him a puzzled look. "The others?"

"The other Link! And Eyne—you know, that little fairy! And Tetra was with us as well!"

"…Another Link? A fairy?... Big Brother, what is a 'Tetra'?"

When Link heard those words, he couldn't believe his ears. Angrily, he shook his head and started gesturing wildly. "Aryll! This is not funny, what if something ha—Huh?"

Link had caught a glimpse of his arm and stopped.

"M-My clothes…?"

Quickly, he looked down himself and was surprised to find himself not wearing his tunic or tights… but a blue shirt and orange pants.

"What…"

"Everyone's already waiting for you, Link!" Aryll told him with an excited tone in her voice. "We want to finally celebrate!"

"Celebrate? Celebrate what?" As Link gave her an absolutely clueless, slightly alarmed look, Aryll answered a little uneasily.

"...You're still half-asleep, aren't you?"

"Uhm?"

Those words… Wasn't that exactly what she said to him, when—No. That couldn't be… Something was wrong here. Deeply wrong…

"Did you forget? Big Brother…"

It couldn't be…

"…it's your birthday!"

Trying to back off in shock, Link tripped over his own feet and fell back onto the floor. But he got back up immediately afterwards. And his reaction to those words ended up being by far more intense than it had been when he had heard them back then for the first time. "But… But I… This can't be my… my—"

Seeing the shock in Link's eyes, Aryll herself started to look a little worried. "Ah? But, Big Brother, everybody has been talking about it for weeks! Because it's your special birthday, you know… Are you feeling well?"

This birthday… This one birthday…

All the scenes came flashing back to him. Aryll's smile, his reaction at the tunic, the Helmaroc King, Tetra, the kidnapping, him trying to jump after the bird to free Aryll…

Why was he here? How was go back to this one day? This was not possible… He could not have gone… back in time… could he? What did happen to the others then?

…This was when he got an idea.

"Link? Can we go down to Grandma now? She wanted to give you something…"

There was still worry in Aryll's voice. Link however, had other plans. "Aryll! Please give me your telescope!"

"Heh? Aww…" She looked at him in an upset manner. "How did you know? This was supposed to be a surprise!"

"Please!"

"Ahh… OK… But then we're going down to the others, alright?" Aryll handed her older brother the telescope, who took it without any words and used it to peer out to the sea. Aryll came to his side and gave him a curious look. "What are you searching for, Big Brother?" she asked.

"The ship…"

"What ship?"

"The pirate ship that should come any minute now!" Link answered. He then started talking more to himself than to Aryll, "If I make sure that you stay down here and that I still get to Tetra before Gonzo comes to pick her up, maybe I can persuade her that we know each other! With her powers… she might even remember me, if I'm lucky! Then we could find out what happened!"

"Uhm…" Aryll slightly tapped her brother on the back. "Link… there is no ship."

"But it has to be there! It was there back then!"

"You dreamt, Link."

"No, I didn't! It happened, it really happened… and now, I am…somehow…back to…"

"Link… come on…"

Hearing the sad tone in his sister's voice, Link let the telescope sink in surprise. He turned towards her.

Aryll was looking him right into the eyes. "Everybody is waiting for you to come and celebrate with us. Don't you want to celebrate?"

"Aryll…"

"Today is your special day. Everyone is looking forward to seeing you smile and laugh. We thought you'd be happy if we all together celebrated with you that you're an adult now. But now you're just standing up here and staring out to the ocean. I think it would be very sad if this whole day was lost just like this… don't you think so too?"

Link bit his lip. What was he supposed to do now? There was no way he could make Aryll sad. Just no way...On the other hand, he had to do something, or—

He looked into Aryll's eyes… her big, adorable eyes. He couldn't look away.

"Link… Mama and Papa are waiting too."

Link's breath stopped.

They... But…

No.

They were dead. His parents were dead. They couldn't be here… Link's eyes were getting wet as he looked at his sister.

Aryll… Why are you… saying this?

…She, of all people? Why was Aryll lying? This was not… not funny in the slightest… This couldn't be real. Aryll would never say something as hurting as this… Lie to him like this… But…

Of course he wished that this was true. If Mama and Papa were really there… If Mama and Papa were really there to see him, to talk to him, to hold him…

But they were dead. They had been dead for 7 years now—6 by this day. And nothing was going to bring them back. Nothing was going to change this—

—A voice broke through Link's flow of thoughts.

"Link! Aren't you coming down, honey?"

This voice—

His heart skipped a beat. This voice was… he remembered it. It was just a weak memory… more like a feeling. He hadn't heard this voice ever since he had been small. But still, he knew who this voice was. No matter how faint and distant the memory had gotten by now. This voice was something he would not ever be able to truly forget. Nobody could.

This voice was his mother.

But how…?

Link found himself unable to move. Unable to even strain a single muscle. So he just stayed frozen in place as more words reached his ears.

"You're doing it all wrong, Marian! That's not how you get a big boy to come join his own party!"

"Well, what would you suggest then?"

"Well… Ah! Com'on, Link! Present time!!"

"What? You are messing up his values, Conis!"

"No, I am not. Pff… women…"

"Oh… Honey! Please come down! We would like to see your face~!"

Finally, Link found the strength to turn around, look behind him, down to the shore.

They were there.

They were just… there. Looking up to him, smiling, waving, calling his name. Link felt the tears gathering in his eyes… He trembled. What had he said just a few days back? 'I can't even remember anymore what my parents actually looked like'? Yet he knew that it was them. His mother and his father… He just felt it.

This wasn't true, right? Why was he seeing this? Link stared at them for a few moments, but they wouldn't disappear. Finally he wanted to shake his head, as if to tell them, 'Go away, you are not real,' but he couldn't move it. And it didn't take him long to realize that this was, because he…he wanted this to be… real.

He wanted to go down. Fall into their arms and tell them about everything what happened. He wanted to say "Mama, Papa, I love you and I missed you," but he couldn't do that either. Because he knew that they were dead. They couldn't be real. This was the truth he grew up accepting.

What should he do? What could he do?

"Link…"

Aryll—

He turned around to face her again. "Are you… mad at us for something?" she asked carefully.

"…N-No…"

"Why don't you want to be with us then?"Her eyes already starting to get wet, Aryll lowered her head for a second, before she asked, "Don't you want to stay with us anymore? Will you leave us, now that you are a grown up?"

"Aryll…"

"All of us… Grandma, me, Mama and Papa? Everybody?"

"I… I don't…"

"Then… Let's go and celebrate now! Please!" She looked at him in worry and despair as she said this.

Aryll was his sister. He couldn't have said 'No' to her, even if he wanted and… he didn't want to. Yet, how was he supposed to—how could this all be—

But as Link looked into Aryll's eyes, those thoughts started to slip… And suddenly, completely different thoughts entered his mind. Maybe… Maybe Aryll was…

Maybe she was right…?

Maybe he really should just go down… celebrate… enjoy himself… What was keeping him from just doing this?

"And afterwards, we can play together. Of course only, if you want to… But I'd let you choose the game this time! Really! ... You like playing with me, don't you?"

"O…of course… I like.. playing with you… Aryll…!"

Yes… probably Aryll was right.

He dreamt. Of course, that how it had to be. He just dreamt everything. Of course, given how unrealistic it all had been…

A pirate girl… A princess?.... How hilarious. As if someone like him would ever meet a princess…

Him? A Hero?... No way…

Of course he'd just dreamt it. It seemed all so distant now anyway. And everybody… here was waiting… for him… Aryll… Grandma… his parents…

"I like you the best, Link," Aryll said.

"I… like you the best too… Aryll…"

"Don't you wish we could forever stay together here? With everybody? And you will never have to leave…"

And he slowly nodded… he knew nothing anymore, except that what Aryll said was true.

And she… smiled.

This had to be good then… right?


—Sunrays.

The warm light of the sun was touching his fingers…

The hand those fingers belonged to—it was his left one—was covering his face… He felt sleepy.

Where did those sunrays come from all of the sudden? Wasn't he—? Just now—? Under the fingers of his other hand, he felt linen… He was lying in a bed. There was the sound of a bell faintly ringing… No, listened closer, those were… fairy wings?

"Hello! Wake up! ... Come on, get up!"

This voice… that couldn't be… was it? But how could he be mistaken? He knew this voice… just all to well… Yet, it… couldn't be…

Link let his hand slide away from his face and opened his eyes...

"Uhm…"

...And saw a small person with long, blue hair was hovering above him, smiling in bliss.

"You finally woke up!"

"Na-Navi?!"

As soon as the word had left his lips, Link opened his eyes wide and the surprise caused his upper body to fling up from the bed. "Navi!" he repeated. "Is that really you?!"

"Huh?"

Navi approached him a little more, slightly tapping her lips with her fingers when she heard his words. "Yes… my name is Navi. How did you—"

"NAVI! You don't know how worried I was for you!!"

"Huh!"

Much too fast, he took the little fairy and cuddled her like a doll. "Ah! Navi! Navi, Navi, Navi, Navi….Just where were you?!"

"Ungh… you…are… crushing… me…"

"—Oh! Sorry!"

Quickly, Link let go of the little, blue fairy, who then took a deep breath and sighed. She regained her smile rather soon though.

"Well, as for your question: The Great Deku Tree sent me," she said. "But why did you—"

"The Great Deku Tree… why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Uhm… pardon?"

"Why didn't you tell me where you went, I mean!" He gave her a disappointed look. "You could have left at least some kind of message. I already thought—"

"Ah… excuse me, but… what are you talking about?" Navi slightly tilted her head, as the already puzzled expression on her face started to become even more apparent. "Link, I am very glad that you, uhm… seem to like me already, but I can't really follow what you are saying… How did you know my name? And how did you know that I'd come? Did one of the other Kokiri tell you?"

"The… The Kokiri?"

Just now, Link realized where he was. In his treehome in the Kokiri forest. And everything was neat and tidy… not a hint of decay or destruction.

"What…"

In surprise, Link jumped out of his bed and ran to the window. He pulled the curtain beside and opened it...

He looked down and saw the lively, beautiful village of the ever-young Kokiri children. The place he spent his childhood.

A girl noticed him by the window and waved. "Hey! Good morning, Link!"

"Up before noon for once, sleepyhead? Haha!"

"'Morning, Link!"

"How are ya?"

Dumbstruck, Link raised his hand and, after some hesitation, waved down at the children under his window…

The village… The Kokiri… It was all still there…

How?

"Hey!"

Navi approached from behind. "Hey, come on, tell me! How did you know my name? Who told you that you'd get your fairy today? The Great Deku Tree?"

"T-Today?!"

Link quickly turned to Navi and shook his head. "But Navi, we were together! Don't you remember? We were partners and…"

"Wait, don't tell me… you have the ability to foresee things to come?" Sheer awe took over all of Navi's expression as she excitedly started to circle his head. "This is amazing! Really amazing! My first time doing this job, and I'm already getting the Kokiri with the special abilities! I must be, like, the luckiest fairy ever!"

"But…"

Finally she stopped right in front of his face and stretched her hand out, as if she wanted him to shake it. "Excuse me, I guess I got carried away a little… OK, once again! I am the fairy Navi. The Great Deku Tree sent me to be your guardian fairy from now on! Nice to meet you!"

"The Great Deku Tree sent you to…" Link couldn't believe what he was hearing. "This means I'm… I'm back to… that day! I'm at that day again!"

"Huh?" Navi seemed confused. "What day?"

"T-The day I first left!" he exclaimed excitedly. "The day I met you, and then the Great Deku Tree—the Great Deku Tree!!"

As the realization of what he was just about to say struck Link, he pushed himself away from the wall, dashed over to the other side of the room, grabbed his pack and rushed out of the door. "Quickly…"

"Hey!" Navi followed him. "Where are you going, Link?"

"To the Great Deku Tree!!" he shouted. "If I get going right now, I may be able to save him this time!!"

"What? Oh—Wait a second!" Navi hovered before his face, as if to stop him from just running off. "Listen, I don't know how you got the idea, but the Great Dekutree is fine! He sent me to protect and lead you and be a good compa—"

"No, Navi, the Deku Tree will die, if I don't… Let me through!"

He ran past the fairy, who right away started following him again. "Link!"

But Link was already sliding down the ladder and about to run to the Deku Tree's part of the forest, when somebody came his way and greeted him. "Yahoo! Hi, Link!"

Link stopped. "S-Saria…" A sudden smile crossed his face, as he jumped and hugged her. "Saria! You're alright! And I already thought…"

"W-What?" Absolutely dumbfounded by her dear friend's reaction, Saria jumped back a little. "Link…? Errm… Are you alright?"

"Oh—Yes, of course, that never happened now…" He remembered and then blushed in embarrassment. "Uhm…sorry! Forget I just did that!"

"Forgotten," she said with an agreeing, quick nod.

"Saria… Saria!" He looked at her seriously. "Please! I am going to tell you something very important now and you have to believe me! The Deku Tree is about to die! If we want to save him, we have to act quickly and you—of course, you are the future sage! You might be able to help him!"

"Uhm… Uhm…"

With a shocked look in her eyes, Saria first backed off... but then, she approached him again and put her hand to his forehead. "Do you have a fever…"

"I'm not sick!" Link exclaimed. "I'm saying the truth, really! The Dekutree is going to—"

"Hey! He~y!!" a voice shouted from behind, "At least wait for me, Link!!"

Navi came, looking exhausted and slightly nervous. "Link, why are you just running of like this? We have to stay together now that I am your partner, you know?"

"Wow!"Saria looked up with a big smile. "A fairy! Finally a fairy came to you, Link! That's great news! I'm so happy for you! Now you are a true Kokiri."

"Oh… Oh yes! Saria, that's Navi!" he quickly introduced them.

Navi politely bowed. "Pleased to meet you!" Saria and her own fairy bowed as well, but more out of fun than politeness.

"Navi!" Link got his fairy's attention again. "Look, I'm sorry I almost left you behind, but we have no time to lose! I mean… Wait... Actually, you should know how serious it is!"

He gave her an accusing look, but all Navi could return was a look of utter confusion. "Uhm… no… actually, I do not know how serious it is… What is so serious?"

"Argh!!" This was a waste of time. "Excuse me!!" Passing by Saria, Link just ran on the way he had intended to go, through the whole village, ignoring the Kokiri's greetings and crossing the river in merely two jumps. When he found the exit that led to the Great Dekutree, Mido was standing there in the way… just like back on that day.

He raised his hand in the air. "Heya, Li—"

"Yes, yes, I know, I am a non-Kokiri loser with no sword or shield, but could you please, please just let me through here?! The fate of the forest depends on it!"

"Heh?" Mido didn't look any less confused than Saria before him. "Why should I not let you through, Link? Also, if you're worrying for the Great Deku Tree, you're worrying for nothing. He's fine. I just saw him five minutes ago."

"What?!" Link himself didn't know if he had said 'What' at Mido apparently being nice to him or the claim that the Great Dekutree was alright. "But… But…"

"He's right, Link!" Navi just managed to catch up with him again. "I just came from the Great Dekutree! There is absolutely no need to worry about him, really!"

"But… But why did he send you then?!" Link asked in disbelief.

This all made… no sense. Why was everything different all of the sudden?

Navi just smiled at him calmly. "Because you were in need of a fairy! All Kokiri need one! Oh, yes, I was also supposed to deliver the Great Deku Tree's apologies to you because you had been left out for such a long time. It's just that you happen to get the short end of the stick when there were no fairies left to be assigned. But it had nothing to do with you in personal, really! So…"

She bowed deeply. "In the name of the Great Deku Tree, I apologize for every inconvenience we have caused you!"

Link remained silent. He didn't know what to answer. Or what to think. Why…

"Wow!" Mido looked up to Navi in awe. "I can't believe it. Link's got a fairy now?"

"Yes!" Saria jumped across the river. She had apparently followed Link. "Isn't that great? She was suddenly with him when he left his house today!"

"So, you're a man now, huh?"

"Uhm…"

Link looked rather dumbfounded when Mido actually offered him his hand. "Congratulations! Well, we should tell the happy news everybody else quickly, shouldn't we?"

"Oh, yes, we could celebrate with a little party!" Saria suggested joyfully. "And Link gets to pick the games we play! We'll all enjoy ourselves and have nice day! What do you say, Link?" She smiled at him in pure bliss.

"Saria…" Link felt a heavy lump in his throat. He hesitated for a few seconds, before he finally said, "I am sorry, but… I have to confess something to all of you. I actually don't belong here. I am not really a Kokiri!"

"Hm?" Saria tilted her head a little, as she examined him from head to toe and declared, "But you look like us, are dressed like us, and now, you've even got a fairy, Link. Why are saying such weird stuff? Did you have some kind of nightmare today?"

"Saria, please, you have to be-"

But Saria looked him right into the eyes. Focused her eyes on his.

"Or… is it just that you don't want to stay here anymore? Are you planning on… leaving us?"

Link wanted to answer, but—when he saw Saria's eyes… just her eyes… He forgot what he had wanted to say.

Why… why was he even worried? The Great Deku Tree was fine, so… Why had he even been worried about him in the first place? Oh yes… there was something about him… that he was going to leave the forest and find out that he was… not a Kokiri?

But… there was absolutely no difference between him and the others… How did he get such a weird idea? Who told him? … Probably he just dreamt it.

Yes, of course, he dreamt. That's how it had to be. He had a nightmare. A horrible, long nightmare… Thankfully, the memory was slipping now…

"Link, why are you saying those things?" Navi asked sadly. "Do you really want to leave? But the outside world is dangerous! We just became partners… I wanted to be your partner for all the years to come so badly… Or… do you want to get rid of me again? Is it because of me that you want to leave all of the sudden? If it's because of me… I'll… I'll just leave again, alright?"

"N-No!" he said. "Navi… don't go again…I want you to be my partner… I… really do…"

Leaving… Why did everybody think he would want to leave? He had no reason to leave… and he didn't want to. He wanted to stay… With Saria, with Navi… with everybody…

Had he said that he would leave? If so, why did he? He couldn't recall it… Had he been worried for something maybe? But for what? The forest was safe… safe and beautiful… If he stayed here, nothing could happen. He was safe. Along with everybody else.

"Come Link, we'll all celebrate together!" Saria said. "Isn't that what you want to do?"

"Yes… I really… want to…"

"You know… we can celebrate and play every day, if we want to. We are Kokiri, there is nothing we have to worry about. Nothing we have to fear. Nobody can harm any one of us here and there is never a reason to cry. And we've got all the time of the world. You can stay forever, if you just want. And you'll never have to leave…"

And he slowly nodded… he knew nothing anymore, except that what Saria said was true.

And she… smiled.

This had to be good then… right?


Isn't that wonderful?

You don't have to worry.

You don't have to fight anymore.

No more blood will be shed.

We can play. You can play with us forever.

Don't worry… we're there.

Everybody is with you.

You don't have to be a hero.

You don't have to change.

You don't have to leave your home.

Everybody is here with you, smiling.

You won't have to leave anyone behind.

No one.

No one…?

But… wasn't there somebody… missing?...

A name… a name wanted to come through, but it couldn't reach through the sea of thoughts…

You can stay forever.

And do what you want.

Nobody can force you to do things you don't want to do here.

Nobody can hurt you here.

This is your freedom.

Freedom? This sounded great…

No!

What?

Link, this is no freedom!

Link!

Whose voice was this? Who…?

Link, you have to stay free!

You can only stay you if you keep part of your freedom!

Forever trapped in a fantasy of wishes and desires…

Where you neither think nor really feel…

This is no freedom!

Link, if you stay here, you'll lose yourself!

Who… Who was this girl?

Who could it be?

Not Aryll…

Not Saria or Navi…

Don't let this happen, please!

Everyone needs you, Link!

Please don't let us alone!

You… You promised to come back!

Her… Her name…

Her name was…

I still believe that you will one day come and truly save me, Link!

"ZELDA!"

They opened their eyes.

The boys found themselves in the middle of an incredibly thick mist…

"Where are we…?" Kaze asked. He felt that Toki was standing by his back.

And it was Toki who answered, "An illusion…" He paused. "Wizrova tried to trap us in our own desires… but, in order to erase our memory of our herohood, she also had to erase one important person… and this is where she failed."

"Yes," Kaze nodded. "I could never forget her, even if I tried. I promised her, I'd…"

"Me too," Toki agreed. "I will never forget her…"

"Hee hee hee…"

When they heard the laughter, the boys turned around alarmed. They wanted to draw their swords, but found them missing. Kaze was still wearing casual clothes… They were just the way they had been when they awoke in the illusion. They heard steps…

"Big Brother…?"

Aryll approached them through the mist. "Are you leaving? But you said you wouldn't. This isn't fair!"

"I…"

"Don't listen to her!" Toki shouted. "It's not the real Aryll, don't let her deceive you!"

"But, Link…"

Saria stepped out of the mist. "I thought we were friends… if you are leaving now, how long won't you return? One year? Seven years? Forever?"

Toki backed off… He covered his ears with his hand. Not listen… he just had to not listen to her… But another voice reached him.

"Link, I wanted to be your guardianfairy so badly… Why aren't you staying? Everybody wants you to."

"Even Mido," Saria added. "Nobody will laugh at you. You're not different."

"Everybody is waiting for you, big brother. Mama and Papa too." Aryll took a step forward.

Saria did the same. "Everybody wants to play with you and laugh with you. Everybody is glad to have you around."

"Nobody is expecting anything from you, Link," Navi said. "And if you stay, you can do whatever you want."

"Link!"

"Link!"

"Link!"

"W-What should I do?..." Kaze shouted, as he was holding his head with his hands. "I… I can't just send Aryll away… I can't… I…"

"Saria… Navi…" Toki couldn't take much more either. "Stop this!! I don't want to fight with you! No…"

"Heheh…"

The girls approached slowly and reached their hands out to the boys.

"Then come back with us. This what you want to do, right?"

The… friendly… warm… eyes of the girls…

…But what would become of Zelda?

But they couldn't resist the eyes…

Their bodies stopped obeying them as they reached out their hands and…


"…I can't hear anything anymore…"

Tetra had listened the battle in the sealed chamber for all the time, when everything suddenly fell silent. "W-What is going on?" She gulped. "Why did the noise stop? If they defeated the monster, the door would open, so… No… No, they can't be…"

Tetra took a short step back, staring at the solid stone wall that separated her from the room the boys were in. She trembled for a second, before she started to shout from the top of her lungs.

"Link!!" she screamed. "Link, what is going on in there?! Answer me!! Link! LINK!!"

But she got no answer. Tetra starred at the door in shock. No… no, he couldn't be. Not now. Not here…

"Open…" she whispered… "Open… you… you damn…"

She glared at the door. Glared like it was her worst enemy. And in that very moment, she felt like it was. This door made her helpless. Caused her yet again to be unable to act. She hated this door. She hated it with all passion.

"OPEN!" she screamed and started to hit her fists against the door. "Let me through! LET ME THROUGH!"

As Tetra delivered one last, powerful punch against the door, she suddenly felt a sensation she did not remember ever feeling before. Her hand touched the door and… lit up in a bright light. And so did the cold stone beneath her fingers. Tetra watched in surprise and awe, while the huge stone plate suddenly started to rise again, revealing the room behind it... Slow and steady, until the doorway was completely open again.

But how? Tetra starred at her hands for a second… Did she… do this?

…There was no time to worry about that now!

"Link!!"

Tetra drew her cutlass and rushed into the room. When she entered it, she saw why the boys hadn't answered her calls: Motionless and staring blankly into the air, they stood there, before this little...

…this must have been the monster. Completely focused and with closed eyes, the weird girl was holding a shining crystal between her hands. She may have looked like a girl, but it was clearly her doing this to the boys… the one who put them into this state. Tetra gritted her teeth in anger. She would show this beast. And she exactly knew how.

She took her bow. Picked an arrow. Drew the bow.

"This will show you…" she whispered, as she locked on the target: The shining crystal in the monster's hands. "LIGHT!"

She let go and was surprised by the enormous feedback she got. It was a lot stronger than usual. And the arrow was so bright, she had to shield her eyes once it shot away. But she was rewarded with a loud scream that echoed through the whole room just a second later:

"KYAAA!"


A loud, ear shattering scream reached the boys the last second before their hands were about to touch the girl's.

Aryll faded.

Saria faded.

Navi faded.

And the mist around them shattered like glass.


They opened their eyes. This time for real.

They saw Wizrova before them in the floor, screaming and writhing with pain. Around them were the stone walls and the stone floor of the Water Temple again. As Kaze looked down at his body to find himself dressed in tunic and tights, Toki touched behind him and found his sword and shield, much to his relief.

"What…What happened?" he asked. "How did we…"

"Look!" Kaze pointed at the arrow that was stuck in the little witch's crystal. This could only mean…

The boys turned around. Once again, the archer revealed herself to be Tetra, who looked at them with slightly slanted eyes.

"As I said…" she told them. "Not even two minutes. I can't leave you out of sight for two minutes."

"T-Tetra?" Kaze was rather surprised. "How did you open the door?"

"Ha. Ask me something I know," she answered. "Anyway, I just made it in time… again… What kind of heroes are you anyway?!" She shook her head in disbelief as Kaze was seemingly searching for words of defense but couldn't find any. Tetra was right and he couldn't deny it. She'd saved their lives. Again.

"Uhm…"

In the meantime, Wizrova had managed to get rid of the arrow stuck in her red crystal and get back on her feet. Using some of her remaining power (which was few, but still there), she healed the damage the arrow had caused… and listened to Tetra's insulting words to the boys. Her smile reappeared. As the Links and Tetra were still talking and distracted, she rose up into the air again and prepared to attack…

Eyne came out from under Kaze's hat. "Huh! Caution!!"

She got the boy's attention this way and they turned around. As they noticed the witch wasn't quite dead yet, they drew their swords and went into their battle stance.

"You again…" Kaze declared loudly, as he made a fist, which started to tremble right away: "I am always fighting fair… but you… Aryll… you dared to use Aryll against me… you..." He glared at her "No matter what happens now, you are dead!! That's what I promise to you!"

"Leave a piece of her for me!", Toki shouted "Abusing my memory of the Kokiri like this… and Navi…I can and will not forgive this!!"

Wizrova, however, was paying no attention to them. Instead, her eyes rested somewhere completely different…

On Eyne.

"Clinging, hm?"

"W-What?..."

Eyne backed off a little when she heard this. Wizrova then started to say in a singsong voice:

"Clinging, wavering, faltering~,

"Attaching and doubting and halting~,

"But you still know that red is the color of death,

"Do you, do you? Hm, hm, hm?"

For a short moment there, Eyne seemed very startled, but this shock rapidly changed into anger. "S… Shut up!!" she shouted and clenched her fists. "I… know exactly what I have to do! You hear me?!"

"Hm?...Heheh…"

Interested, Wizrova watched Eyne flying back over to the Links and telling them, "Boys!! She has got three jewels focusing her powers! One focuses her defensive abilities, one focuses her offensive abilities… and the third one focuses her energy! If you hit that one, she's done for!"

"Where is it?" Kaze asked and Eyne pointed at the spot.

"On her forehead! It's rather small, but I'm sure you can hit it! I believe in you!"

"Got it!"Tetra and the Links exchanged glances and nods, before all three of them took their bows and drew. They locked on the target and exclaimed, "LIGHT!"

Three shining arrows shot away, right towards the hovering witch and the group had to cover their eyes as they hit their goal… Or so they thought. Reality looked a bit different when they opened their eyes again and saw their arrows stuck in the wall on the other side of the room… No trace of Wizrova.

"She escaped?" Kaze asked.

"Teleported," was Toki's explanation. "We took too long and gave her too much time to prepare… darn…"

"Heheheh…"

"Huh?"The boys looked around, but they failed to spot the little witch anywhere as her voice went on.

"You can't kill a shadow, you know." she said. "If you do, the owner will cast a new one. But then again, without an owner, who is supposed to cast it, hm? Heheh…"

The voice paused a second.

"This was fun! Will you play with me again soon? Tee hee hee!"

As the laughter faded, something suddenly fell down from the ceiling and landed on the floor. Surprised, the Links and Tetra rushed over to examine it. It was three blue, round stones.

"Those must be the keys to the sage!" Tetra realized and picked them up. "Now we just need the altar… Boys?"

She turned around to them with slight worry in her eyes. "Are you alright?" She had noticed that both of them were holding their head, as if they head a headache. Which they actually had.

"…Yeah… Yes, it's alright again now…" Kaze nodded slowly.

Toki sighed, "I'm just glad that this is over..."

Over.

Kaze looked up. That's right! They had the key now and only needed the altar to free Ruto. This meant... This was his last chance. He had to think. Fast…

"The altar has to be somewhere around here!" Eyne exclaimed. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

What was it that made him want to tell this other boy that he was looking up to him? What was the reason? Maybe…

"Huh?!"

Tetra had grabbed Eyne by the wings. "What is your problem? Don't stress us! The world is not gonna end right now!"

"B-But it's about to in minutes!!" she claimed.

Maybe…

"Minutes, huh?" Toki looked angrily into Eyne's eyes. "As if."

"Ah—?"

"OK. What is the true reason you are in such a hurry to find the altar? And don't lie. I can tell."

"…"

"I finally got it!"

And with this, all attention suddenly belonged to Kaze, who had a big smile on his face.

"What?" Tetra asked. "Did you find the altar?"

"No… I…Toki!" He approached Toki a little and looked him into the eyes. He smiled.

"I wanted to tell you something."

Surprised, the other boy just looked at his friend, as he closed his eyes and said calmly, "You know… All the time you claimed that you still felt like a kid. And you also acted a lot like I would… for some time, I really felt like I suddenly had a twin brother! And it was fun. But… every now and then, you acted in a way I would never be able to act… so controlled, aware of everything and yet you were able to keep cool…this… this "other side" you showed… this was the adult 'you,' right?"

Toki said nothing, but just listened as Kaze went on.

"You and me… We are supposed to be the same, right? But you know what the difference between us is? I am still a kid; you are a kid right now too, but you are not just that. You have an adult side to you as well, that shows whenever it is needed the most. That side of you is so much stronger than I could ever be yet. I have still a lot to learn before I'm anywhere near matching the 'strength' of that other side of you…"

He finally opened his eyes again. "And you know what? That adult side you showed… I like it a lot. I… I really hope I will grow up to be like this as well!"

Kaze ended his speech with a big, heartfelt smile. And, after gazing at him in a touched way for a few seconds, Toki returned the smile.

"Thank you. For everything."

"Boys…?" Tetra approached them. "What is going on? You talk like…"

"Have you found the altar yet, Tetra?" Kaze asked quickly.

"Well…" Tetra pointed to the middle of the room, where the podium that Wizrova had "abused" as a throne was. Of course… this was the most obvious place. Why didn't they search there right away? "But first, why are you two talking like—"

The boys just ran past her to the podium. Something was written on it. And, seeing the ancient Hylian symbols again, Kaze frowned. "What does it say?" he asked.

Toki read and laughed a little bit. "Ruto… you're never gonna change, right?"

"Huh?" Kaze bent down, but this, of course, didn't help him read the symbols. "What? What is it?"

Toki blushed a little bit at this question. "I am not going to read that out aloud," he said. "But, basically…" he finished reading the text, "We need to arrange the three blue stones in the shape of the Zora's Saphire… Zelda, would you please give them to me?"

Wordlessly, probably still wondering (and maybe even suspecting) why the boys had behaved like they did just now, Tetra passed the three blue stones on to Toki, who then arranged them in the right spots on the altar.

"Is it working, is it, is it?!" Eyne asked hysterically.

"Yes, yes, it will work, just calm down!!" Kaze told her, while he saw Toki throwing her that look again. And he sighed. Yes, it was true, Eyne was behaving suspiciously...but it didn't matter now anymore anyway. Feeling a certain satisfaction, he watched as the altar lit up in a bright blue light and started to change. In a few seconds, the last sage would be awoken. Then everything would be over. They would bid Toki farewell and go to the Fairy Queen to report their victory. Everything would be well. And so he observed with his friends, as the shape of the Sage of Water, the Zora Princess Ruto formed…

And both he and Tetra gasped.

Kaze had seen a Zora before, of course: Laruto, Sage of Earth, but… this Ruto… she was completely different. While Laruto had looked somewhat mysterious, but had been no one who would stay on your mind for your long time because of her appearance, Ruto was exactly that. Not that Kaze would have wanted to get stalked by her, heck no, but there was no denying that she was a beauty, especially considering that she actually shouldn't fit human standards. She certainly deserved the title "Princess," at least based on her looks…

And now, she was about to open her eyes… slowly…

Apparently still somewhat drowsy, she looked down at them. "…Link?...Huh!" Ruto jerked as soon as she heard the sound of her own voice. Shock appeared in her eyes. "M-My seal was broken!?"

Somewhat reluctantly, Toki took a step forward and bowed. "Princess Ruto… it's an honor to meet you aga—"

"This… This shouldn't have happened!"

"Hm?" In confusion, the group looked up to her as the Sage of Water started to panic.

"Link! Us… The other sages noticed too late! It was a trap! Now that all 6 seals have been broken, they can—"

"Oh, shut up, will you?"

"Ah!"

And this was moment when a strong wind suddenly blew through the room, focused, and finally caught Ruto.

"H-Hel—" She couldn't end the word because by that time, the solid crystal shell had appeared around her. She was pounding against it, but not even a sound reached outside.

"Sage Ruto!" Tetra shouted in shock.

"A-A trap?!" Kaze shook his head in disbelief. "But... how… why…we thought… we…"

"Heheh…"

Kaze stopped and shuddered… Behind him… There was someone laughing behind him…

"This was almost too easy… You… Both of you… I never would have dreamt that someone the goddesses have chosen could be such a naïve kid!"

This voice…

Kaze turned around and found its owner.

Eyne.

But the expression on her face wasn't nervous, hectic, or the humble smile he was used of her. The smile she showed right now… seemed to taunt him. And her eyes had lost the childlike shine they had before.

"Thank you for being so gullible!"

"What…?"

"Get away from her!" Toki shouted in panic. "She's a sylph!!"

"A wha—"

Kaze couldn't end the sentence, because a shock silenced him before he had a chance to.

---Note

WOOT! We broke the 100-review mark! And that 3 chapters before the german version did back then! OMG, thank you, everybody! ^^ This is truely awesome! I am aware that my writting is not nearly as good as that of many other authors on here, so I'm really glad that you are reading this story regardless. I feel very honored. ^^

Well, what can I say? Looks like the Links got backstabbed by the Exposition Fairy. This could have been avoided, but, oh, well, they are Link. Same guy who thought Princess Zelda's idea to open the Sacred Realm, so Ganondork could waltz right in and grab the Triforce, was genius.

I tried to write Wizrova as a strong, yet balanced enemy, with enough weaknesses to make up for her overkill strength. You might have already noticed that her physical defense equals Zero (which is why she's fond of Teleportation orgies) and that Light Arrows, naturally, render her powerless. For matter of the fact: Had the Links used a Light Arrow to burn the jewel on her head, rather than a Fire Arrow, she wouldn't have had the power to put them through the Mind Rape that followed. But they didn't and had to pay the consequences.

Ah, the Mind Rape. One of my FAVORITE scenes in the whole Fanfiction. ^^ Imagine this: You have the choice between spending your life with either everything you ever wished for on hand, or a as someone who is doomed to slay monster after monster after monster after monster after monster, until he is lucky enough to finally bite the dust- Just to have the whole game start over again a 100 years latter in another body. What would you choose? Hm? Hm? HM?!

Heheh, I hyped you up for some Ruto-comedy and all you get is a Plot Twist that resets the Links' progress behind zero! Have at you! ^^

Again, thanks to the stand-in-Betareader. You're doing an awesome job, my friend, de-narmifying those chapters! ^^