AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm baaaaaaaack... And better than ever (hopefully!) I'm nearing the end, and I think the story is going pretty well. I hope to end pretty comically and climatically. I've actually written some of the chapters in advance to iron out plot bugs. Well, anyway, read, review, and enjoy!
"Hi Link! Hi Zelda!" Groose said cheerfully, getting off of his bird. He stepped into the town plaza, ignoring the rubble and smoke surrounding him. A small child's whimper emanated from a nearby shack. "Geez, Gaepora really let this place go…" he commented under his breath.
Zelda looked up from the bench she and Link sat on. "Well, I was going to go see my father, but he's in an alcohol induced coma. His community has been reduced to shambles. Martial law was declared by the knights, but they left a while ago. They probably flew off to some other island. Things are just wrong. And the worst part is, there's nothing I can do. There's nothing we can do."
Groose shrugged it off, and Link patted Zelda's back in an attempt to comfort her. Fi, meanwhile, noticed that the tower in the plaza had toppled over, covering the portal to the last Silent Realm with debris. Oops. Well, this meant that they would have a mystery to solve: the case of the missing Sky Keep. Fi knew it was in Skyloft, but that was about it. Fi left the group to go searching for another way to access Sky Keep.
Groose stood, the ashes of the town blowing in the wind. Dusk had settled in, and the city grew darker and darker. Groose didn't even know why he was here. Fi said he had to look for Sky Keep, but he had been here for a good seventeen and a half years, and he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. He didn't really understand the concept of what a Sky Keep was, but hey, whatever. He decided to take a walk around his wrecked hometown.
Groose didn't like walking, and after about five minutes, stopped dead in his tracks at the weird platypus statue. The statue always intrigued him, first of all because platypuses did not exist in his universe, second of all, because platypuses were an odd choice of animals for the statue. Groose found it odd that it was one of the only things left that wasn't a pile of debris. Upon closer examination, Groose found that one of its eyes were missing. He reached at the other eye, a red, sparkling ruby. As he grasped it, he felt it come loose. With a small tug, he ripped off the eye of the statue, and held it in his hands.
"Groose… is that…" Fi said, spooking Groose. She appeared behind him, and took the ruby out of his hands. She gave it a close examination while Groose lay on the ground hyperventilating.
"Goddess Farore almighty, what the hell was that for!" he said between sharp breaths.
Fi took the stone, and inserted it into the other eye socket on the statue. Nothing happened at first, but then the statue began spitting out flying targets. Groose was perplexed by this, but he wasn't complaining. Maybe this would get him somewhere. As he got up and walked over to Fi, he couldn't help but notice that the targets were leading to nothing.
"Hey Fi… what are those for?"
"I don't know, Master Groose. A red herring, perhaps?"
Groose looked close, and noticed a shift in the foundation of the Statue of the Goddess. He gave it another close look, and saw it move some more. He pointed this out to Fi.
"Do you see that moving?"
"What moving? I think you're ju-" A loud noise interrupted Fi, and a huge-ass building shot out from under the statue.
"Fi, look! It's an upside down birthday cake!"
"Groose, I can correctly assume this is Sky Keep."
Groose got out his clawshots, and began swinging from target to target, screaming "Happy Birthday!"
Groose and Fi stood on the inside of the magnificent structure. The walls were made of ancient materials, with drawings painting the story of creation, the war between Hylia and Demise, what the Goddesses had for lunch a couple weeks later, and a couple other things. As Groose walked around the room, Fi observed the intricate artwork, and noticed something strange. One image, located far away from the rest, featured two figures, encased in a bright light, emanating from a small box. They appeared to be cooperating in some manner, and one held a quill. Ink dripped from its tip, spilling onto the floor, and bleeding into the next set of drawings. The ink's path seemed to weave itself in and out, gripping itself in every story, as though it was part of every story, part of every real event. Even the goddesses had ink in their portraits. Fi thought it was strange, maybe even a joke from the artist of the walls. Who knew.
"Fi! Look what I found!" Fi turned away from her observations to see Groose hunched over at a table. She floated over to him. He stood with a puzzled look on his face. She glanced down at the table, and her heart sank. It was a puzzle. This was hopeless.
"Groose, do you have any idea what you're doing?"
"I've done these before, they're easy."
"And how is that?"
Groose looked down at the sliding square puzzle. All he had to do was mix up these eight tiles so that it made a path to the little pieces. Groose remembered how he had completed a lot of these puzzles as a kid, and got right to work. He ripped off the sticker on the first piece, then the next, sticking the first down. He continued doing this until every piece made a straight connection to the Triforce pieces marked down on the map.
"Groose, nice try, but that will never wor-" Fi, cut off for the second time by Sky Keep, heard a loud rumbling noise. Sure enough, the temple had responded to Groose's antics.
"You've got to be kidding me." she said, passing through the doorway. When she came back, her mouth was open wide. "It… it actually worked!"
Link and Zelda walked in the room, joining the duo. "We heard a loud commotion, then noticed the giant upside down birthday cake. What's going on?"
"Groose is going to get the Triforce pieces." Fi said, as Groose left the room.
"You expect him to be able to accomplish that?" Link said in response to Fi's bold statement.
"No, not really, but he hasn't let us down before. Well, he has, but we're still alive. With the exception of countless monsters, Skyloft citizens, a Parella, a Goron, and probably a couple other things, too." Fi said.
"Don't forget my future." Link added sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I'm back!" Groose said, holding three golden, shimmering triangles.
"How did you do that so quickly?!" Fi exclaimed.
"After rearranging the stickers, I just erased the Triforce symbols with a pencil and drew them all in the same room."
Fi couldn't believe this. A two year old could have broken into the defense system created by the Goddesses to guard the ultimate power. She was surprised, but she wasn't complaining.
Groose stood in the center of the room, and the three pieces formed together to create the Triforce in its entirety. Groose felt something burning in his hand, and he held it up to see a tiny Triforce appear on it. A golden triangle began glowing in the lower right. Zelda experienced the same phenomenon, but her triangle glowed in the lower left portion. Groose stood before the Triforce, the ultimate power, granted to the mortals by the Goddesses themselves.
"Master Groose, this is your chance to save the world, right here and now. Think long and hard about this. How can you save the entire world with one wish? Think."
Groose stood for about five seconds. Then a voice boomed throughout the room. "Your wish is granted." it spoke. Groose reached for his pompadour. It grew a little bit in front of his very eyes.
"Groose… did you…" Fi stared at him, astonished. "You did not… what… did you just waste your wish… on your pompadour?"
Groose looked her in the eye and smiled. "Waste?"
Fi passed out and fell to the floor motionless. Actually, she fell through the floor down to the earth below. Groose shrugged it off.
"Oh my Goddess." Zelda said. "You just destroyed any hope we have of saving the world. Good job." Zelda also passed out.
Link took a look at the motionless body at the floor. She laid there helpless, nobody to help her. She had a prophecy to fulfill, and now she couldn't. Link felt something inside of him churn. He knew that feeling all too well. He shouldn't be here. He should be standing where Groose was now. He should be in Groose's position, the hero's duty, it was his. Link shouted out, his voice bellowing through the room. "Do I get a wish? I want to save the world."
The voice from the Triforce returned. "Yes, you may also have your wish."
"Good." Link reached out to the Triforce, and felt the glimmering golden power rushing through his body. He could feel his wish being lifted from within him. Suddenly, there was a large flash of golden light. Link was knocked back, as was Groose. Link felt a burning sensation go throughout his body. When he got up, he was still a little shaky. Groose laid unconscious in the corner. Link held up his hand. A glowing Triforce emanated from it, glowing with the power of the Goddesses. Link had gotten his wish.