Chapter 33: A Princess's Trinket
As soon as Link stepped inside, he found Ilia sitting near the fireplace at the central statue. Renado was speaking with Gor Coron and Darbus, but upon hearing the door open, he looked to the noise and eagerly greeted Link. Ilia did not look up but merely stared into the dancing flickers of the fire.
Renado waved Link over to him, and the youth stepped up to their group. "You said it was urgent," said Link immediately.
"Indeed," the shaman smiled. "Ilia has begun to remember vague details. She says she can remember that she knew Colin and that she can remember her father's face, but-"
"But what?" demanded Link. "Is something else wrong?"
"She said something about being held prisoner, but she can recall nothing else." Renado glanced toward Ilia. "She has been sitting at the fire for hours trying to remember. I was hoping that you could sit with her … to help her."
"But how could I-?"
"Is not the girl important to you?" asked Gor Coron, bulky arms crossed over his plump chest.
"Of course, but-"
"Link," Renado said, and he took the youth by his shoulders. "The Goron elder believes that to help her regain her lost memories, we must piece together the fragments of her past. If we work our way backwards from the very place where she lost her memory, we may find something that will restore it. If she were to remember where she was kept prisoner-"
"We could help her find her way," finished Link.
"It is time for you to show your strength, little human," said Darbus. His voice carried heavily across the air. "It is in times like these that we must come to one another's aid! Of course, not that you could ever do much to help me, my tiny friend, but your friend needs you."
Link turned to Gor Coron in that moment, a question in his eyes. Did not the patriarch know that he had been the one to break the dark curse upon him? The Goron led Link away from the group, and spoke lowly to him. "Our chief has no memory of his dark time, and we have not told him that you were the one who saved him. He is a proud Goron, and he would never accept having received help from a human." The Goron shifted his gaze to Ilia. "But now it is not our proud race that needs your help but one that Renado tells me is quite dear to you." The large man looked Link over and cupped a hand over his arm. "You are a strong human; do not let your heart be weakened."
The Goron left his side to return to the others, and Link looked toward Ilia. She sat on a rug before the fire, a dazed but pained expression filling her eyes, as if she wept inwardly at being incapable of remembering her life and what had happened to her. Link swallowed back his own fears as he approached and sat down next to her.
When he took up a place beside her, she did not turn to him immediately. Instead, she continued to gaze into the embers.
"Ilia-" Link began, but at that first utterance, Ilia's tears became unveiled as they streaked down her face.
"I can't. I can't remember," she said. "I can feel it there, within me, but it's so far out of reach." She looked to him then, desperate. "But you. You really do know me, care about me, don't you? That's why you're here, right?"
Link nodded after a silent moment.
But Ilia became even more frustrated. "But I don't know you! Why can't I remember any of it?" Her gaze pleaded. "Do you know? Do you know anything? How I ended up here?"
"I-" The sudden questions had taken him aback. He recalled how Renado had told him once that he should not tell her too much of her life, that it should be allowed to return on its own. "Shouldn't you-?"
"Were you there when I was taken, or not?" she demanded through her tears. "I have to know. I have to know something!"
Ilia's intense and watery gaze upon him made his heart scream in agony. Remembering the day was painful even for him, for it had been a day he had long regretted. He had let this happen to Ilia. "I- We were at the spring," Link began uneasily. He was not sure if he should reveal any of it to her, but her eyes were so full of pain that he could bear it no more. "Colin and Epona, my horse, were with us, too. From out of nowhere, they came and attacked us. They took you, took all of you but me, and ever since then … I searched for you."
A sparkle alien to her tears glowed within Ilia's eyes. "We … we lived in a forest…. Didn't we?"
"Yes, in Ordon Village," he said, glad that the small details of her life were returning.
Ilia looked away, staring at the walls as if trying to imagine the forest that now felt so foreign to her. Link wondered if she could see the spring in her mind or if her memory was still as empty as the walls. "I … I lost something," she said at last. "There was something…. But I don't…."
"Ilia?" tried Link, but she no longer seemed to notice anyone else was with her. Her eyes hazed over once again, just as they had when he had first encountered her within the bar. A cloud full of pain and emptiness had descended upon her clearer than ever before, a longing for the life she could barely remember.
Link's downcast gaze filled with frustration. She was remembering some of the smaller details, but they both wanted to know so desperately what had happened to her. Yet, those small things were not so meaningless. To Ilia they were pieces of her life coming back to her, and so, to Link, they were each another thread of hope to which he could cling. If she was beginning to reclaim those memories then there was a brighter ray of optimism to be had for them all.
He stole a last glance at Ilia, who seemed to be within a violent daydream, her tears crusting over her flesh. Link marched toward Renado. The shaman had been watching over the two of them as the Gorons had entered into their own conversation.
"Well?" asked Renado. "Anything?"
Link twisted his expression so that his emotions would not betray him. "She remembers that we live in the forest, but … she says she lost something. She can't remember what, but maybe she'll remember more if we can-"
"-find whatever it is she lost." Renado was nodding, thinking over everything carefully. Link could never thank him fully for helping Ilia so selflessly. "Then perhaps Telma will know something. Ilia was under her care when you encountered her, correct?"
Link nodded.
The shaman crossed his arms so that his heavy sleeves blanketed his hands. "Then I ask you to return to Castle Town and question her of the matter. Any help she could provide will help Ilia. I will remain here with her."
Link moved toward the door, but Renado called over his shoulder. "If it is any comfort to you, Ilia's eyes brightened the moment she knew you were here."
Still holding his countenance together with a thin frown, Link glanced toward the shaman. A wrinkle above his brows twitched, and when he felt his eyes choking at the water breaking through his defense, he turned back into the light of day.
Link spotted Colin and Malo by Epona, and Talo and Beth had come from within the house as well. They all looked toward Link when he had at last reappeared, but he paid them no mind. He whistled to Epona as he approached at a fast walk, and she raced toward her master. When she reached him, he quickly pulled himself into the saddle. He could hear one of the children call to him, but he needed to make haste. Answering their questions of Ilia would only cost him more time, time that he did not wish to waste.
The children had started toward him just as he had galloped away. Malo, Talo, and Beth all exchanged glances, but Colin, who had been at the head of their party, looked after Link. He had been the only one who had seen the traces of tears across Link's face, but he was also the only one to truly see that Link's state of mind was not only affected by Ilia's amnesia. They had not seen Link in weeks, not since he had struck Luda, and already there was even more that was different in him.
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Once arriving at Castle Town again, Link headed straight toward the tavern. Telma greeted him as soon as he stepped into the musty room. She stood over Rusl, who sat at the Group's usual table with his foot propped up as she wrapped a bandage around the bare appendage. Surprise rained through her features at seeing him so soon after he had left only a few hours ago.
She finished covering Rusl's foot as Link approached them.
"Link, what's wrong?" asked Rusl.
"Where did you find Ilia?" Link spat at Telma immediately.
"Find her?" she repeated. "Oh no, the first one to bring Ilia here was Doctor Borville. She found that Zora child in the road and came into town looking for a doctor. Well, he couldn't treat him, so he brought them here for me to worry about." Telma's expression grew deep of disgust. "He may call himself a doctor, but his fees are high and he doesn't care a bit for people he can't help himself. However…." She grinned and stepped away from Rusl to lead the youth over to her bar.
"He's a crusty old bat, for sure, but he may know something." Link could see her mind working as she scratched at her neck. After a moment she winked at him and withdrew a piece of parchment from underneath the counter. "Honey, you go ahead and take this to him. This'll get that codger talking!"
Link grabbed the paper marked with a heading that read: Invoice. The number written under a list of items was higher than any Link had seen. To imagine that many rupees…. "Thank you," said Link, waving the paper. "Where can I find the doctor?"
"His medical house is on the eastern road of town. And" -her tone drew his concern- "don't worry, honey. That girl's memory will come back. You do what you need to."
Thanking her once more, Link returned to the streets.
Telma looked after him, worry in her gaze, and she then turned toward Rusl. His visage also bore disquiet, but they did not exchange their discomforts with each other. Instead, Telma grinned merrily as a regular customer entered the bar.
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Link stepped through the crowds carefully, seeing as though most of the citizens on the main eastern street were filing out into the square and the alleyways instead of heading in deeper. There were not as many shops at this end of town, and he realized that most of these buildings were the townspeople's homes.
He could hear whispers and the occasional merry shout through this street. Women were hanging out their wet clothes on their balconies above, as their children, no doubt, had been instructed to remain inside. Link also saw that some of the men, the fathers and husbands, were either looking to him admirably or objectionably. It was the latter of these that tore Link's eyes away from their families, for Link knew that not all of the townsfolk were likely to appreciate these whispers and declarations that there was a green-clad hero among them. Link did not blame them. There was a matter of honor in being able to care for one's family, and he had successfully taken on the responsibility without question or permission.
Yet, who else would have been able to stand forward?
Surely, there had been those who had opposed the rule of Zant and Ganondorf, but if Link did not stop the evil usurpers soon, many would lose their lives in the battle over Hyrule … a battle sure to soon come.
However, Link owed his family-his friends in Ordon having been his only family-that same attention. This was the time to help Ilia.
Link stepped up onto the porch of the medical building and knocked. He stood silent for a few moments, wherein the townspeople glanced toward him either appraisingly or suspiciously as they walked past, and when the door opened, Link was not entirely sure if he preferred the doctor's bespectacled and critical gaze over the stares of the intimidated or agitated folk about him.
"Oh? So, I see it's the young lad who was willing to help that Zora boy for nary a rupee," the old and short doctor spat toward Link.
"I … yes-"
"Just what is it you want?" the frail old man demanded in a wavering voice. "If you've come for those scrapes, it'll cost you."
"I'm not here for me," started Link, and again he was cut off by the short man, his messed white hair bouncing about as he spoke.
"Is it that girl? She, eh, didn't mention anything about me, did she?" But his voice turned to acid before Link could reply. "Or are you here to just be a bother? I am too busy for bothers! I have money to make, not that I'm having trouble in making any. I am the most skilled physician in town!" Yet, again his demeanor changed, returning to his suspicious state. "Did she really say anything at all about me?"
"No, should she have?" asked Link, his irritation dripping through each word. Honestly, at least Barnes is laughable.
"Then you don't have any reason to be poking about! Be gone!" the man went to shut the half-open door, but Link tossed his forearm in the way. The doctor could plainly see the aggravation in Link's eyes, but then he also saw the paper within his hand.
"Ah!" The doctor tried to slam the door shut again, and Link's anger seeped through-an anger more so toward the fact that he was exhausted of all the events that kept rising between Ilia and her memories. He grasped the door firmly in his other fist and held it open.
"Oh, so Telma's hired you to strong-arm me? Well, she'll have to wait. I can't pay that off right now!"
"I'm not here to do anything except talk," promised Link.
But Doctor Borville was still in a panic. "Listen, lad, if I'd been able to sell the wooden statue that young lady had, I would've been able to get the money…."
The doctor's voice faded off as that fear-stricken statement uncovered something within Link's mind. I lost something….
Immediately, Link pushed on the door and stepped inside, the doctor backing away. "Tell me more of this statue," he ordered. "Do you still have it?"
The doctor frowned up at Link. His stature had been made all the more intimidating since the doctor had to look up at his black-cloaked figure, but somehow the doctor had found his bravery, and he spat back at Link. "No, it was stolen! It had bloodstains all over it and I used my solutions to clean it, but it started to stink. I left it outside on my porch to dry, and then … it was gone! So, there you have it!" Doctor Borville waved a raging finger at Link. "I can't return what I don't have, now go away then!"
Link's expression fell and the doctor must have taken notice of it, for he added, "When it rains misfortune, it pours! Remember that, lad!"
Smirking just in an attempt not to explode from his frustration, Link nodded curtly and spun around to leave. Once outside again Link plunked down on the porch, at a loss for where to go next. A discouraged sigh escaped his lungs as he watched the townspeople milling about their routines. A few of the women on the balconies above had been observing Link's behavior toward the doctor, and by the expressions on their faces they seemed curious as to Link's emotional state. Huffing out an annoyed breath, Link turned from their gazes, letting his forehead sink into his palm. Yet, the moment he drew another breath, there came with it an alien smell, one that he had not sensed before in the streets of Castle Town.
Link's head then bolted upright once more. …used my solutions to clean it, but it started to stink….
"What do you smell?" he heard Midna ask softly.
Disregarding her question Link pulled himself up, sniffing the air. A pair of soldiers looked suspiciously toward him at the gesture, and Link scolded himself. He gave a courteous nod in their direction and they paid him no more mind.
"You know, you really should be more careful about that. Such behavior is so … beastly," giggled Midna.
I know. Link shrugged off her remark and followed the scent that he knew would lead to the lost carving. He lifted his hood over his head, shielding his eyes and nose almost completely. He sniffed at the air every so often as he started down the southern roads. However, once he came to the main intersection of town, he found that the scent led him back to the dead end street where Telma's bar was located.
This can't be right. He continued down the path, but the scent seemed to die away at each house he turned toward. Another wrong turn. Becoming more frustrated than depressed, Link twisted about, determined to find where he went wrong in his search … and his answer stared back up at him from the street.
The white cat that he had seen several times within Telma's bar looked back up at him, tilting its fat face as it watched him. Link cocked brow as he observed the small animal. Why did it seem to understand what he was thinking?
Before he could deduce why the animal seemed so capable of reading his expression, it scampered back toward the main intersection. Link was compelled to follow the cat, and he hurried after it. Once he reached the junction, he spotted the white cat perched on the corner of one of the market kiosks. As soon as their eyes met, the cat was away again, jostling through the shuffling feet of the crowds. Link, however, was forced to walk casually through the throng so as not to disturb them and draw attention to his movements.
He spotted the cat weaving its way every now and again when there was a break in the crowd. Link had been told once how perceptive cats were of human emotions, but he knew that it was something beyond that. He thought perhaps this animal could sense the bestial side of him, connect with that part of him and comprehend his desire. Animals had strange instincts, as he had learned during his transformations, and it was the only possible reasoning he could conjure.
The cat led him through the southern gate and into the grounds beyond, but as soon as Link stepped through the archway and onto the top level of the stone stair steps on the other side, the cat was nowhere to be found. He stopped short, throwing his gaze about in an attempt to rediscover the animal.
But it was gone.
He thought that perhaps he had just imagined the cat had wanted him to follow out of his own desperation to find a lead. Downhearted once again Link meandered down the many flights of stairs, interconnected by platforms that divided them. When he reached the middle of the stone courtyard, he flopped down on the bottommost stair. He jerked back his hood and ran a hand through his gritty hair, realizing it had been some time since he had had a proper bath. He rested his forearms on his knees and stared at his dangling fingers.
"Hello!"
Link's head shot up at the sound of the sweetly feminine voice. A girl dressed in a blue and white dress stood at a flower bed off to the side of the platform where he now sat. Her bronze hair was pulled tightly up into pigtails, and her bangs hung over her forehead from beneath a brown bonnet tied in a big bow under her chin. She also had three noticeable freckles under each eye, but he assumed that they were not natural since they were colors such as blue and red.
"You look like a big grasshopper," she giggled. She twirled the parasol she held on her shoulder, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she scooped up a rather large beetle from a flower. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners?" she smiled, as she placed the bug snuggly within the colorful satchel hanging from her shoulder. Imagining how trapped the insect must have felt, Link was very glad that he was not the grasshopper he apparently appeared to be.
She took a few steps toward him, and he straightened his posture only slightly, his arms still resting on his legs.
"I'm Princess Agitha," she introduced, curtseying, and it was then Link noticed another peculiar thing about this young girl. Though she was dressed nearly completely in frills, her feet remained bare. "I've been looking for friends to invite to my ball this evening," she said, patting her satchel as she plopped down next to Link. It was at that gesture that Link realized she referred to insect friends, and it was also the comment that concluded his initial assumption that she was not true royalty. She was just playing pretend … but to a point where she actually believed herself to be what she imagined.
"So, why do you look so gloomy?" the cheerful girl asked.
"I don't know if you'd understand," returned Link as he looked out toward the darkening sky. Evening would soon set upon the land.
As she scooted closer, he sensed a strange scent circling about her, but in his new misery, he could not place where he had smelt it before.
"A lot of my friends say that to me," she countered, and Link wondered whether she meant other children or insects like those in her satchel. "But, you know, I like helping people-especially when they seem so nice, too! Why not tell me?"
The pout on her face was not exactly the reason that he decided to tell her about Ilia, but more so the offer that someone-even one so young-wanted to help him when a doctor would not. As he told her about the statue that Doctor Borville had taken from Ilia, a sparkle washed over Agitha's round face.
"Do you mean this?" she asked, pulling out a wooden carving about a foot in length and as thick as her forearm. And that was when the wave of odor hit Link. The smell that he had sensed about the girl had been that of the medicine which he had first noticed on the doctor's porch. Yes, this must be it! Link took the statue in his hands excitedly, and the small grin over his lips made Agitha laugh.
"You see? I can be helpful, too."
She stood and started back up the stairs, but Link looked back to her. "But where did you find this?"
"Right out here," she replied, grinning back at him. "I found it last night," she continued, and she whispered the last with a slight giggle. "When the beasties come out to play!" Humming a merry tune, she skipped up the stairs.
"Well, as annoying as that little girl was," said Midna, rising from his shadow and looking up at him, "she was rather useful, huh?"
Link did not reply as he stared at the little carving. I'm coming, Ilia. His smile broadened and he stood up all at once, turning with a whirl of his cloak back toward the town.
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Link rushed back into the mountain village, and by the time he arrived, torchlight lit the streets. When he reentered the sanctuary, he found the children within as well. They all sat around the fireplace; Ilia now stared out the window, as if trying to find her memories in the empty, dark streets. Colin looked up to Link, a hopeful light filling his eyes.
Renado stepped up to Link and noticed the small carving that he held at his side. A small smile crossed his lips, and he moved from his path. Exhaling a strained breath, Link stepped up to Ilia. She did not immediately turn to him when she felt his presence beside her. "Do you think I will ever be able to remember?" she asked. Her vacant voice was thick of sorrow, as if she were surrendering to the possibility of never returning to her previous life.
Yet, this had been Link's worst fear since he had first realized her condition. He could say nothing to comfort her, for he had found nothing to console himself. But now they had a clue, one that he prayed would lead to unlocking her lost memories. "I have something for you," he said, offering the wooden statue.
Ilia turned to him then and looked into his eyes. As their gaze met, Ilia could see the desperation within him. When she glanced down at the carving, her brows furrowed. It looked familiar, but something was out of place. She took it in her hands, and in that moment, images flashed before her eyes. Images of a village, an old woman, the dark men, blood….
She gasped, looking to Link. "I remember…." she breathed. "I was confined with an old woman, and she gave me this statue." When Renado and the others heard Ilia's words, they turned toward her, listening to what she could recall. "And then-I was outside…. I- She told me to run, but there were so many of them, and I…." Her voice trailed away for a moment, as she delved deeper into her memories. That was why the statue had seemed out of place…. The blood…. She had injured or killed one or two of them with it.
She gasped, afraid of the memory. Had she really been capable of such an act?
Yet, she ignored that thought as another crept into her mind. "But that means…. The woman might still be there. But I-I can't remember where we were!"
A gruff voice then interrupted. "I know those markings," said Gor Coron, stepping up to Ilia and taking the statue. "I believe this belonged to the tribe that protected the Hylian royal family long ago. The Sheikah," he said as he inspected the carving. "They worked and lived in secret, but it is said that their tribe dwindled in the prolonged wars."
"Do you know where this village is?" breathed Link.
"Of course!" interjected Darbus, his voice booming. "Their village is hidden away in the northern mountains of the Lanayru province. Find the path that leads through the tallest mountain, and it will take you straight into their village."
Link nodded and turned toward the door, but Renado called out to him. "Won't you at least stay the night? You must take rest if you are to be of any help to Ilia."
Grateful for the shaman's concern, Link still declined the offer. "If I ride all night, I should make the mountains by day, and then the village will be much easier to locate."
He could feel the disagreement in Renado's stare, but the man relented.
As Link went for the door handle, Ilia grabbed his arm. "Please... Don't worry about me. Just promise me you'll save the one who helped me." Her eyes pleaded. Her request was all the evidence Link needed to reassure himself that, though her memories were fragmented, she was still the Ilia he had grown up with in the forest.
"I will do what I can," he vowed, and he departed from the sanctuary, heading toward what he hoped would be the last leg in the journey to repair Ilia's shattered past.