Chapter 36:
For only the millionth time today, my fingers twist and turn and tinker with the locket around my neck as I sit on my bed, staring out at the pouring rain through the square hole in the wall that serves as my window. My Ocarina lies at my feet, where it's been picked up and put down repeatedly for quite a while now.
For everyone our victory was a relief. And after talking to Christian, he's the most carefree I've ever seen him. But I just can't shake the unsettled thoughts in my head.
Blood.
I clench the locket tightly within my grasp.
He needs blood to break the seal.
Looking back I don't know how I didn't figure it out sooner. I can even remember the obvious clues.
"Sheik, they only want dead. Aeria, they still want dead, but there are...complications..."
"You know, I was thinking I'd just kill you. What the Dark Lord doesn't know won't hurt him - it's only a few drops I need - but I think this will be more fun."
Up until now, what I learned on my trip back in time hasn't changed much. The knowledge of who I am...a princess...hasn't affected anything. I've been able to keep it a secret without any repercussions. But this...this complicates things...who I am directly affects who is in danger and what the enemy plans to do. They need a sacrifice. An equal sacrifice. But what would amount to the blood of those who locked the Dark Lord away?
Part of their plan has to be me. Somehow. As Jez had said, there are complications around killing me. But there must be more. Because I'm not the princess in their eyes, and they can't expect me alone to meet requirements, even if I'm all it would take. But what else? What more is needlessly on the line because of my secret?
I take a deep breath, my mind tumbling ever more rapidly in tandem with the locket in my hands.
If I come out with it, then whatever else they intend to sacrifice will be needless. Needless and safe. But if I do reveal who I am, then I'll expose to the enemy that there's an even easier way to achieve their goal. I'll risk everything we've worked for and put them one step closer to releasing him, all to save something that might not even mean that much.
The answer seems pretty transparent. I can't risk letting them know who I am. But at the same time, I'm afraid that whatever else is on the line is more than I'm willing to sacrifice.
A pair of strong, comforting arms slip around me, hands coming to catch mine and put a stop to their restless cycle. Christian leans forward to plant a soft kiss on my cheek, before resting his chin on my shoulder.
"You're worried again. What's on your mind?"
I sigh, dropping my locket and rearranging my hands to grasp his arms and pull them even tighter around me. Warmth immediately spreads through my body, but it's not stifling or overpowering. Lately the fire has become less volatile, and the more we touch, the less violent it becomes. It's as though whatever it was that was causing the fire to erupt throughout me has been satisfied. More than satisfied. It's downright content. It might as well be purring.
"Nothing," I lie. Pretty uselessly I might add. There was no way I could have hidden it the way he snuck up on me, and it's more than obvious. It's a direct blow to my ability as a Sheikah that he was able to sneak up on me in the first place. Not long ago I would have sensed his presence faster than Navi could have betrayed me to Impa, and unfortunately, that's only way too fast. I've gotta kick myself out of this.
"Aeria," Christian says. "Normally I'd believe you, except you've got your worried face on. And you're messing with that necklace, which means something's on your mind. And if that weren't enough, it's been raining for 3 hours straight - in the middle of a desert."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I ask dully. He smiles a little, apparently pretty amused.
"I mean, sure, I don't know for a fact that it never rains in the desert," he starts, releasing one of his arms and lowering it to rub my thigh. "But judging from how the Gerudo are acting, I think it's pretty safe to say this isn't normal."
"What are they doing?"
"Well," Christian releases his hand from my thigh, and scruffs it through his hair. "Let's just say that half of the Gerudo are running around with buckets like crazy people trying to catch and save every last possible drop like it will never ever rain again."
I grin a little at the thought, as insensitive as it might be. "What about the other half?"
"Begging the Gods to spare them from the flood," he adds brightly. At that I let out a snort of laughter.
"You're totally making that up."
"A bit," he admits. "But you'd be surprised how little I'm exaggerating. Seriously though, the first part was entirely true." I can see the amusement in his eyes as I turn myself around to face him, my hands making their way around his. "So you wouldn't have anything to do with this?" he asks, watching me with a grin plastered across his face.
"Absolutely not."
In his other hand he raises my Ocarina, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh," I reply easily. "Well when you put it that way...yeah, it might have been entirely my doing." He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head in that way I'm so used to. His wound has apparently been healing nicely - the healers stitched him up well and he's been doing a much better job of not tearing them than I ever did. He's still wrapped up in bandages, but I doubt it'll take too long before he's free to move about unencumbered. "How is it?" I ask, looking pointedly towards the dark spot on the upper right area between his chest and shoulder. Blood...
"It's fine," he answers, brushing my question aside without even the slightest hesitation. "You're not getting away with this so easily. What's up."
Blood...
"Just having a bad day," I finally lie in a low voice. "Bad memory day. I didn't get just the good ones back."
His grin fades slowly into concern, and he raises his hand to tip my chin up to look at him. "I know it's hard," he says quietly, nothing but sincerity in his brown eyes. "Anything I can do to help...all you have to do is ask."
I just give him a weak smile and drop my gaze before I can give him any reason to suspect anything. "You're helping me more than enough as it is," I answer in a soft voice. My eyes flicker back towards the bloodied spot on his torso. "Now seriously," I start again. Whenever I'd been hurt he'd gotten to hear everything about it, as the healers had very little authority over him to make him leave, and it was crystal clear that he'd had no intention of doing so. "What did the healers say?"
"Not much to it once the bleeding stopped," he just shrugs. My fingers slowly make their way towards his chest, coming to rest ever so delicately over the wound and feeling the resulting tremor through his body. "Just have to give it time," he reassures me, giving me a gentle nudge. "I'll be fit as a fiddle before you know it."
I wish those words were enough to make me relax, but I can still feel the weight of worry in the back of my mind. "You can't fight like this."
At that his expression grows indignant. "Of course I can-"
"Not well," I retaliate. "Christian...you can barely even hold a sword..."
Even as I speak he rolls his eyes. "Sure I can. And it's getting better. Maybe a week, I'll be kicking your ass again." He gives me a grin, but my expression doesn't change. "C'mon, Aer. I'll be fine. Please tell me it's not me you're worrying over."
"It's not," I admit, sighing deeply. "But Dinzra's still out there. And Dark Link. And whoever the hell Rydin's lackey is-"
"If Dinzra comes back we'll just push her back out again," Christian says confidently. "And we've already faced Dark Link-"
"Never beaten him though," I point out. I have several scars as proof at this point.
"You're getting better. You're a lot farther than you were when you started out."
"But not far enough," I answer, shaking my head.
He sighs. "Aer, the only time we ever managed to push him back, the whole group of Sages had to do it. And you saw Nabooru when he turned up here, even they're terrified of him." He takes my hand and gives it a small squeeze. "No one's expecting you to take him down. Hell, he's the Dark Lord's right-hand man. We've been trying to avoid him as much as possible. Don't worry about him."
"I'm going to have to be able to beat him."
At that Christian's eyes go wide with surprise. "What?"
"He and Rydin's lackey are competing for my blood," I answer in a grim voice. "And they'll keep coming for me till they get it. I have to be prepared."
"Aer..." he starts, and then drops off. "Sure, yeah, they're going to keep coming back. But it's not like you're going to be alone. I'm in this as much as you are."
"I know, but-"
"Which is why you have to promise me that if they take me, you won't follow them," Christian says firmly, staring straight into my eyes.
I'm suddenly very confused.
"What?" I ask.
"It won't work unless they have both of us," he answers easily. "They can't do one and then the other, no. It has to be all at once, and if you were to follow me, they'd have us both where they want us."
"What are you saying?"
"Well it works both ways, I mean if they take you-"
"For what?"
Christian just gives me an odd look. "Their sacrifice. One sacrifice. Two triforce-bearers. It's the only way they can bring the Dark Lord back."
My heart drops into the pit of my stomach and my mouth falls open.
Two triforce-bearers for the two triforce-bearers that locked him away.
An equal sacrifice.
Christian stares at me in utter bewilderment, and then slowly realization tinged with panic crosses his face as he watches my expression shift.
"I know that face..."
"Our blood?" I sputter. "You knew?"
"You said your blood, I thought Impa had told you!" he exclaims.
"Did Impa ever tell me anything?" I fall back on the bed, burying my face in my hands and letting out a moan.
"Well then how do you know?" he asks as he gets to his feet.
"I just found out," I roll over onto my stomach and groan into a pillow. "It was in a book, and Jez had mentioned some complications and I knew it took an equal sacrifice and blood and that they needed me for it but I didn't know what the other part was!"
Christian scruffs his hands through his hair in that way he always does when he's overwhelmed. "I don't understand then, why are you so upset?"
"Why am I so upset?"
"You already know that they want to kill you-"
"But I didn't know they wanted to kill you too!"
This time he stops entirely dead in his tracks, staring at me with the most bewildered expression I have ever seen.
I backtrack, closing my eyes and trying to calm down. "I mean, I knew they wanted to kill you, but I didn't know they wanted you as part of the whole, sacrificial, blood..."
"Aer," he continues, still completely stunned. "What difference does it make?"
At that I can only sit there wordless, my mouth hanging open.
"You know I'm a marked man. You've known it since the beginning. And I've known you were a marked woman since before I even met you." His eyes are piercing. "Why is it any different how they plan to do it?"
I don't answer. I can't answer.
Because they don't need him.
They don't have to hurt him. Just me.
"I mean, Aer," he lets out a humorless laugh, "even if I wasn't part of their damn sacrifice, you know they'd try to kill me either way. I hold a piece of the triforce." He raises his hand in exasperation, as if to emphasize his point. "They're trying to collect the pieces for the Dark Lord when he returns. And if he were to return before they gathered them, he would hunt us down himself."
Something clicks in my head.
If he returned before the pieces were gathered, he'd hunt us down himself...
If he returned, he wouldn't have the infinite resources he has now to keep sending forces after us...we'd have a hope of taking his armies and him down forever, instead of fighting an endless, impossible battle...
And if he returned...if we set him free...they wouldn't have to take Christian...
I don't know why I didn't think of this till now. Well, actually, I can kind of understand. It's a little extreme, even for me. But even still...
Christian's expression becomes even more panicked as I leap to my feet. "I know that face too, and it is definitely not good," he says in a worried voice.
"I have to see Nabooru," I let out in a quick stream as I bolt out the door and down the hall, Christian right behind me in a heartbeat.
"You're funny," Nabooru laughs, much to my irritation. I just take a deep breath and stay firm.
"I'm not kidding," I reiterate for at least the tenth time. This hasn't been going as well as I'd hoped. "With him locked away, we have absolutely no chance of winning this!"
"And if we were to set him free now we'd have even less of a chance," Nabooru answers coolly. "That's all there is to it."
"Why?"
The Gerudo leader turns her hawk-eyes up to me and arches an eyebrow. I hold steady.
"If we fight him now we can take away his armies," I argue firmly. "His resources. While he's locked away he has an infinite amount of resources, endless armies at his disposal but if we freed him-"
"If we freed him we'd be dead within a fortnight."
"But Rauru said-"
At that Nabooru's gaze becomes even more piercing. "I am well aware of what Rauru knows on the matter, as are all of the other Sages. What you do not seem to understand is that the last time the Dark Lord was in the Sacred Realm, he came back into Hyrule in less than a day with enough armies to overpower Hyrule for over 7 years."
"But-"
"And if he managed to do create that many armies in a day, how many do you think he could have created over all this time? Do you honestly think we have even the slightest chance of taking that on now with what fractured and small armies we have?"
"It's our only chance!" I shoot back desperately. "The longer we keep him locked away, the more forces he builds and the harder it will be to take him down when he finally does escape! Why not break him out on our own terms? Gather our armies, find and recover the other Sages! Be ready and waiting in Castletown for when he comes out and take him out, once and for all!"
"It's not that simple," Nabooru growls. "When he does come out, he won't be alone. The forces that come out with him will be overpowering. In the state we're in now, we wouldn't have a chance. Not until we united everyone and got the situation in Hyrule itself under control first."
"Then you agree that he has to be let out someday," I hiss.
"Yes," she shoots back, eyes narrowed and shooting daggers. "Someday. Someday probably many years from now."
"We don't have years!" I suddenly explode. "Impa and Ruto are gone! The Dark Lord's plan has already started to work in dividing the races and causing them to crumble from the inside out! Do you really want to wait longer to see what else he has in store for us? We can't do this without armies, we can't do this without Sages, and we're only losing more of both, so why don't we get our act together, get as much of our forces together as we can, get Impa and Ruto back, and fight while we're strong and we still can!"
Nabooru looks like she's about ready to kill me, and I'm pretty sure she's getting dangerously close to her snapping point, but luckily Christian steps in at that exact moment to save my skin.
"You two have agreed on one thing, and that's that we have to get a couple of things under control here before we can launch a full-scale attack," he says firmly. "So how about we forget about when exactly the Dark Lord is getting out and focus on getting everything together as soon as possible?"
Nabooru rolls her eyes. "You shouldn't have told her about the sacrifice. There was a reason she wasn't supposed to know."
That one makes my blood boil even hotter. I thought we were through leaving me in the dark. "He didn't tell me!" I hiss.
"Hey!" Christian shouts in a surprisingly commanding voice, catching us both off-guard. "None of this is the point! The point is that we need to start from somewhere. So we've already visited the races and gained their alliances - let's just focus on getting the Sages back now."
I know that tone of voice all too well. It's the one he always uses on me, the one that means that he means business. The prince voice.
But I have never heard him use it on a Sage.
As taken aback as I am, words cannot express the shock on Nabooru's face.
She has to take a moment to compose herself. "He makes a good point," she finally acknowledges in a low voice. "Without the other two Sages we're already on unstable ground."
"So how do we find them?" I ask, unable to tear my gaze from Christian's unflinching, determined expression in my amazement.
I know I tend to disregard the Sages' authority on a regular basis, defy them, ignore them, scream at them...but I have never been able to make them listen to me or to take control of the situation like that...
"Finding them isn't the hard part," Nabooru says, grimacing a little as she moves back to her chair and takes a seat. "It will be breaking them free that will be difficult."
"Why is that?" Christian asks.
"Because the witches no doubt brought them to the Spirit Temple," Nabooru answers, a dark expression coming to her face as her eyes slip out of focus as though remembering a dream. "Goddess only knows what they've been doing in there. I'd...rather not dwell on it..." Her gaze suddenly snaps back into focus and she shakes herself out of it. "To get them out, you'll either have to kill the witches or avoid them entirely."
"Avoiding them would be best," Christian says, not moving an inch from his spot. "Openly confronting those two would be a death wish."
"A group of Sheikah could get in easily," I chime in, though Nabooru looks skeptical.
"Getting anyone across Hyrule Field would be a miracle," she says darkly. "Now it's not just the monsters out there. Dinzra's wandering around somewhere with a whole army. And besides that, you need Gerudo to actually get to the temple."
"So basically we're limited to what we have now," Christian thinks aloud. "I think we can still pull it off."
"I'll get a group together," Nabooru agrees. "We'll send them off as soon as possible."
"Wait," I stop in my tracks, frowning. "What about us?"
"You'll stay here."
My blood instantly catches fire in my veins, but Christian cuts me off before I can start yelling. "Aer, go back to your room," he whispers in my ear. I'm about to get even more worked up when he adds, "I can take care of this. Trust me."
I raise an eyebrow, giving him a suspicious look, but there's nothing but sincerity in his eyes. I take a deep breath and release, trying to let go of my anger even though it feels almost impossible. Finally, I whisper back, "Okay."
A smile crosses his face, and he winks before I turn away. I can feel Nabooru's gaze practically glued to my back as I walk away, and though I can't shake some of the anger and nervousness that he won't be able to make her change her mind, I just keep walking.
I wonder just how well that commanding prince voice works...
A Short Break
"What did you do?"
Nabooru's face was half bewildered and half amazed as the door closed. Christian already knew why.
"Nothing," he replied earnestly. The look he received made it clear that his answer wasn't enough.
"You know as well as I do that there is no stopping that girl once she's made up her mind, she doesn't just drop it and let it go like that-"
"Which is why I'm asking you to let her go," he cut in firmly.
At that Nabooru frowned even more deeply.
"You're willing to let her go?"
He took a deep breath, but held his ground. "Yes." Christian wasn't sure he'd ever seen the Sage of Spirit more taken aback. "She's been working every day to get better...she's completed your training grounds...and she's come so far since Castletown. You saw her out there the other day, she was taking on at least three Gerudo at a time! How many of your Reds could do that?"
"Very few," Nabooru admitted - but her expression didn't falter. "She definitely proved her ability on the battlefield. But it's not entirely her ability that I'm concerned about."
"Then what is it?" he demanded.
For a while she just watched him, her eyes so sharply examining him that he was reminded of the Sheikah Caverns. "You realize that I can't let you go out there." At that his body instantly tensed up, and he could feel her gaze growing even harder on him. "Not in the condition you're in."
"Christian...you can barely even hold a sword..."
"I don't understand," he got out in a strangled voice.
Nabooru took a deep breath. "Either I send out a group of my choosing and you both stay here, or I let her go with them...without you."
"But I'm healing-"
"But you won't be fully healed before I send the group out," Nabooru cut him off. He swallowed hard. "She's becoming a damn good fighter, yes. A lot better than many I've seen. But she's rash and impulsive and very good at getting herself into trouble, which for some reason doesn't happen as much when you're with her."
He would have grinned in any other circumstance. Teamwork.
"So my question is...do you want her to leave?"
Hell no, was the immediate answer in his head. He didn't even want her to fight in the battle, though clearly he'd had no control over that because she'd ignored him and gone off and done it anyway. As she had in the Sheikah Caverns. And in the Castle...and when she'd run in after Rydin...
"You know she'll still try and find a way to go, regardless of what either of us say-"
"Believe me, I'm aware," Nabooru gave the tiniest of grins, though why Christian couldn't imagine. "That wasn't the question. You don't want her to go."
He took a deep breath, but didn't answer.
"But you're asking me to let her."
Again, Christian held silent, and Nabooru's gaze on him intensified, observing his every move. What exactly was going on in her mind, he couldn't hope to guess, but he figured it was probably easiest just to not even think about it.
After a few moments, she finally spoke again. "Very well," she said in a calm voice. "I'll start gathering a group. I want you working your arm, getting it back up to strength while it heals. I have no doubt in my mind that she'll still be practicing every day - which I appreciate, she's been working out my Reds, and they're both benefiting from it - but I want her practicing in the archery area and giving it a go against some of the Elites as well." At his skeptical expression, she added, "She's been doing too well against the Reds. She needs to see what else there is to learn and get a taste of defeat if she wants to get farther. She's got a lot of Sheikah and sword training already; I want her learning some Gerudo skills as well." She walked over to a chest in the corner of the room, opening it and pulling out a reflective shield and a bow before throwing them both at him at once, causing him to nearly drop them both. "Most importantly, I want you both working on your link. It's one of the strongest connections you two have, and while you're apart I want you to be able to communicate with each other. I want you to talk and if something goes wrong, I want you to know."
"You ask for so little," Christian said with a small grin, as he rearranged the shield and bow for a better hold of the two. Nabooru's eyebow instantly shot up, but she ignored him.
"And I know that if I let her go, you'll want to be there with her," she continued as though he hadn't said anything. "So have her leave her Ocarina. I'll send them out within a few days, and when you've recovered, you and another group of Gerudo will join them. If something does go wrong before then, we'll have a way to send back-up. In the meantime, I'll send a message to the other races to ready their armies and begin sending troops to Lake Hylia."
Christian frowned. "I thought you said we wanted to delay releasing him as long as possible."
"I do," the Sage agreed. "But as you said, we have to start somewhere. Regardless of when we release him, the sooner we can gather our troops, the better. And like I said," she added with a hopeless smile, "Aeria is reckless, impulsive, and rash - I find it's easiest to plan as though she's already doing what I've told her not to. Keeps me a step ahead of her."
At that, Christian couldn't help but grin back. That wasn't such a bad idea.
"Now I suggest you go find her," Nabooru said, nodding towards the door. "We don't want her taking off to the Spirit Temple by herself."
I don't know if I've ever been this exhausted in my life.
He did it. I have now idea how, but whatever he did, somehow...Christian convinced Nabooru to let us go.
That being said, when he'd found me and told me, I'd already packed up most of my stuff and was just about ready to pick up my Ocarina and play every song down the list until I wound up at the Spirit Temple. He'd come running in just before I'd started playing and pretty much snatched my Ocarina from my hand before I could even get a note in. I swear, it was like he had seen it coming. Then after he'd explained everything, he'd tried to give me a shield and a bow, though I turned them down. Turns out I already had them, buried within my father's enormous bag of weaponry. I think I might have thrown him for a loop when I'd accidentally pulled out an enormous ball and chain while I was looking for the shield to show him, but as absolutely dumbstruck as he'd looked when I had, I guess he decided he'd rather not ask. So he held onto the stuff Nabooru had given them. I'm sure it's all for the best; after all, if I'm supposed to be practicing with them before we get there, he probably should be too.
Of course, since then, I've done nothing but practice. The first day I spent dueling the Purples and Reds in whatever combination they chose to face me in, in the morning without the Mirror Shield, and in the afternoon with it. It was actually pretty helpful, and I started working on and getting good at both defending myself and using it to deflect light into their eyes while we fought. Yesterday morning, I continued to take on the Reds, again with the Mirror Shield. I didn't lose a single match. But after that, I went straight to the archery area, hopped on Fwhynni, and was shooting arrows at the targets until almost sunset. I've always been an excellent shot (I played the archery game all the time in Kakariko until they finally decided to kick me out), but I'd never done it on horseback. So whereas Fwhynni was thrilled - she hasn't had much in the way of opportunities to run since we got here - I missed all of the targets in my first go, and only started getting an average of 1 out of 10 bullseyes a round towards the end. With an average of 6 total targets hit a round out of 10. I'd never been more frustrated in my life. Until later that evening. To finish up for the night, I had to duel a couple of the elites - all to wind up on my ass in pain every time. After all my success against the Reds, I'd thought I might have a fighting chance against one of them, but no. I was humiliated within a mere minute every time.
Which leads me to now. I'm supposed to be heading down to the front of the fortress this morning to face the Elite again. And every inch of my body is already screaming in protest. I don't know how they could deal me any more physical pain.
"I feel like humiliation isn't a great teaching method," Blaze muses as we walk down the stairs. He, Hayden, Jez, and most of the stable-boys (Christian's been stealing one every day to practice on his own and get his arm back into full healthy working condition - lately it's been John, as he's already worked his way past Pike) have been finding entertainment in watching my duels. Blaze and Hayden have been rooting me on, if for no other reason, because "we Sheikah need to show them who's boss." Pike says he just finds something totally entrancing in watching two women duke it out. I figured I didn't really want to ask more about it. Meanwhile, Tom is actually on my side because he wants to see me do well. I hope. After hearing the other reasons, I didn't really want to ask and find out otherwise. "How can you keep your head up and try and give it all you've got when you're constantly being demoralized?"
"Well maybe that's the whole point of the exercise," Hayden points out. "To demoralize you. Otherwise the Gerudo wouldn't be so unafraid of failure on the battlefield. Or unafraid of running headfirst into battles for no reason."
"That's not true," I argue. As in pain and frustrated as I am, something good has to come of this. "If I'm going to get better, I have to keep moving up. I've already beaten all of the Purples, most of the Reds...if I'm going to learn it has to get progressively more challenging."
"Still," Blaze nudges me in the arm, hurting a lot more than it should. "Is it really better to get into the Elites now and get your ass handed to you than to keep going against the Reds until you're more on par with them?"
"Nabooru seems to think so," I mutter, as we exit the tunnel to the outside and walk into the sun. The Sage of Spirit is standing a little ways ahead with her arms crossed and a ring of white-garbed Gerudo around her. I groan inwardly at the sight. "I just hope something starts happening soon, cause I'm tired of being beaten around by the Elites."
As I walk into the ring of Gerudo and go to pull my shield from my back, Nabooru wrenches it from my hands and throws it outside the circle. "No shield today," she informs me, before tossing me two practice swords.
Like I hadn't figured that out when she'd taken it away. It just means this is going to be even harder.
Forget any sacrifice. I'm going to be killed by a group of Gerudo.
"You gave me an extra-" I start, moving to throw one of the swords back, but she grabs it and pushes it back against me, cutting me off.
"I want you using them both today," she explains. "No shield, two swords."
That would be helpful if I had ever practiced with a sword in my non-dominant hand. I skeptically look at the sword held against my chest, but take it up in my other hand. Surpisingly, it actually doesn't feel as awkward as I had expected it to.
Even as I'm weighing them both in my hands, one of the Gerudo in the circle suddenly leaps forward with a shout, catching me entirely off-guard. I throw my swords up in front of my face in an 'x' as fast as I can, but the force of her blow is so great that I'm still knocked backwards. On my ass. Again.
"Holy Farore, I haven't even tried to use these things yet," I grumble as I pull myself out of the dirt, finding myself even more peeved at the wide smirk across the face of the Gerudo standing above me. "Din and bloody Nayru..."
Just as soon as I make it to my feet, the Gerudo smirking at me steps back, lowering her swords. I narrow my eyes, watching her in confusion - when all of a sudden, something rails against my back and sends me flying face-first into the sand.
I pull my head out of the ground and wipe my face before looking behind me. Another white-garbed Gerudo is standing above me, a cocky little grin plastered to her face also. I can hear Blaze snickering a little, so I look at him and shoot him my fiercest glare. He quiets down abruptly after that.
"Haha, very funny-" I start as I try to pull myself up, but I'm hit this time from the side before I even make it to my feet, and I go flying and skidding towards the other end of the circle, ending up right at Nabooru's feet. If I was peeved before, now I'm downright furious.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" I demand, glaring up at her from on my back. She just arches any eyebrow and looks at me expectantly.
Son of a bitch!
This time I throw myself to my feet, spinning and slashing my swords around me, letting out a cry of frustration as I do so. My left blade collides with an attack from behind on the left, and my head immediately snaps around towards my attacker. I only just manage to catch the smirk across her face before she hurls herself into the center of the ring, flying towards me.
I follow my first instincts. My swords fly up in front of me and as she hits me I let myself absorb the impact, gracefully falling onto my back and kicking my legs up against her stomach as she falls over me, sending her flying over and behind me. I realize that if I don't get up immediately I won't get up at all, and so I let myself continue the backwards roll until I'm back on my feet.
It's a very Sheikah-like maneuver, but I have to start somewhere. If I can avoid hits long enough, maybe I can use the time to learn how to fight back and move forward from there.
The next Gerudo's charging at me less than half a second later, her scimitars held out to her sides.
A familiar voice suddenly echoes in my ears.
"Go for the move that your opponent won't expect!"
It's almost a knee-jerk reaction. My right scimitar flies up to catch the fall of both of the Elite's scimitars, and I duck down, my left scimitar sweeping her legs from out from under her. She hits the ground hard, and I practically leap on top of her, my left blade poised at her throat.
My breath comes in gasps of amazement. I don't remember practicing that. A smile crosses my face, and I turn to look at Nabooru. Both her eyebrows are raised now, clearly in surprise.
Excitement floods my body. But only briefly. Next think I know something's hit me hard from the side and sent me flying. We both roll over each other, before we slow and the Elite on top of me grabs the front of my tunic and slams my head and back against the ground, her blade instantly at my heart.
Whatever just happened barely registers in my brain. Not that I can really focus, as now I'm suffering from excruciating pain in my head and all of the wind has been knocked out of my lungs.
Yet that's not even what frustrates me the most.
I had had her pinned down! I was this close to one small victory, and just like that it was snatched away!
Nabooru gives a curt wave of her hand, and the Elite on top of me leaps back to the ring. She watches me with her arms crossed. "Your sword arm is stronger than your left one, but that's definitely a two-handed technique. I didn't think you'd been practicing that."
"I haven't," I wheeze from the ground.
I can get up. But I won't, because now whenever I do I expect I'm going to get rushed from some direction. I'm not going to get up until I absolutely have to.
That was my father's voice.
"It's in your blood. It's there, even if you don't remember it. It seems I'll have to refresh your memory."
I can remember our training sessions, though they tend to run together in my mind, and the specifics are naturally fuzzy. It's been twelve years since then at least, and it's not as though I've had these memories a long time. Whereas remembering things after the attack is as easy as breathing, I'm still familiarizing myself with my old life.
Perhaps he was right. Maybe I only need to refresh my memory, and my body remembered everything I didn't.
Maybe this will help aid the process.
Apparently he taught me a lot more than just basic swordsmanship...
"From the girl I've been training since she's been old enough to walk..."
"Well then, keep using both swords a bit longer. Again."
I take in a couple deep lungfuls of air and wipe the sweat from my forehead, bracing myself for the next wave of attacks, before I leap back onto my feet, both swords swinging and blocking the instantaneous attacks from either side of me.
I sure hope he taught me a lot more than this in that time...
"You're getting better," Nabooru says after at least 20 more endless rounds of brutality. When it looked I was starting to hold my own with two blades, she took one away and made me use my non-dominant hand, starting the entire process all over again. And when I was finally succeeding in not getting my ass kicked the entire time with that, she took it away and had me start without swords so that I had to steal one or two (though I barely succeeded in getting one) from one of the Gerudo charging at me.
I can only gasp for breath and pant in the sand, my eyes glued on the sky above me. And I thought it wasn't possible to be in more pain than I was in this morning. Luckily, I was right in that I had been at least slightly familiar with many of the ways I'd been set up. With every new encounter, I could hear my father's voice directing me...helping to put me at ease...I can never hear his voice in any other way again...
I'd better be getting better...
"One more," she says, and I immediately groan.
"Seriously?"
At that she chuckles a little. "You complain as much as the last Hero."
My heart skips a beat, the way it always does when either he or my mother are mentioned. "You helped train Link?"
"A bit. I helped him improve like I'm doing for you. It's not like he just sprung from the womb knowing how to fight," she answers with a crooked grin. Maybe that's why all these drills seem familiar... "If it helps, you're learning faster than he did."
I'd laugh if I had the energy. I have a bit of an advantage.
"Now come on. Last go."
Slowly, I prop myself up on my elbows, not fully getting up as I've now come to associate getting up with being attacked. Yet as I do so, the ring disbands, and the Elite form a group behind Nabooru, lowering their scimitars.
Cautiously, I pull myself up onto my feet, keeping on my toes and holding my hands at the ready in case anyone comes at me. But no one does. Nabooru just watches me, giving me a few moments to collect myself.
I actually got up without being tackled. I don't think I've ever appreciated being able to get up without interference this much before.
I don't think I'll ever take it for granted again.
Nabooru pulls out two practice scimitars, and I wince. I've never fought Nabooru before. And I'd much rather not. I have this terrible feeling that this has something to do with all the times I've back-talked her...
After putting both scimitars in one hand, she pulls another sword from behind her and tosses it at me. I blink in surprise, barely catching it.
From two-hand to bad-hand to no weapons back to getting a sword?
"I don't understand..."
Her grin widens. "You duel me. Take your weapon."
I'm still utterly confused, but I take up the sword in my left-hand expectantly, trying to remember what I'd learned from the bad-hand drill.
"No," she laughs, as do the Gerudo behind her. I'm too exhausted to get angry about it anymore. "Use your dominant hand. No conditions this time. Fight me like you'd fight anyone else on the battlefield."
As taken aback as I am by this abnormal privilege, there's no way in hell I'm going to argue. I switch my sword over to my right hand as quickly as possible, before she can have a chance to change her mind, and raise it up, taking a defensive stance.
Nabooru leaps forward.
I don't even take the time to breathe.
I immediately spin off to my left, swinging my sword in a full arc around me as I do so, countering by whirling around her attack and continuing the spin of my blade towards her back. She throws her scimitars behind her back in an 'x', defending herself without even turning around. Not that she lets herself stay in that position, as before I even have time to blink she's facing me again, her blades swinging down not a full second later. I throw my sword up to block one, side-stepping to the left to avoid the other. She just smirks, and slashes horizontally at my torso. I leap back as quickly as possible, but she only barely misses my chest. I can feel the tip of her scimitars grazing my tunic.
Find your opponent's weakness and take advantage of it.
There's absolutely no way I can take her from the front. She's too quick, and the fact that I'm trying to dodge and attack against her two blades with my one only exacerbates my disadvantage. If I want to hit her, I'll have to go for her back.
The only problem with that solution is that she absolutely refuses to turn around. I continue to try and spin off to her sides, uppercutting with my blade, but she somehow manages to turn before I have a chance to actually hit her. I alternate blocking her left and right scimitars and switching sides, but my parry always clues her in to which side I'm coming in from. I have to find a way to avoid her blows without parrying...maybe then I can throw her off my next move...
A sudden memory pops up in my mind...
"Go for the backs!" he commands over the chaos. Meanwhile, the other Iron Knuckle has made its way closer to where I stand and has reared back for another blow.
I gulp audibly and throw myself forward onto the ground just in time to avoid getting killed. I hear more screaming from others who are not so lucky.
If I thought the Stalfos were bad...
As it finishes its attack, it overswings and ends up catching its blade in a column. As it tries to break free, I roll forward and under it as quickly as I can, managing to land a small but effective blow on its unshielded back. The Iron Knuckle lets out a groan, before finally freeing its blade. I get out of the way as fast as possible, realizing as I do so that it has lost some of its armor.
Link seems to be managing the same, and as he makes a final blow, his Iron Knuckle loses the remains of its armor. The guards throw several spears at the now vulnerable enemy until it collapses on the ground.
As Nabooru's scimitars come crashing down towards me, I make up my mind and trust my gut. I drop down into a roll, avoiding her blow and leaping up in the air behind her, slashing all around me as I do so.
The Sage of Spirit stumbles forward, only barely avoiding my attack. I watch as her head whips around, her eyes narrowed and all traces of her grin gone.
I only close my eyes for a fraction of a second, taking a little bit of recovery time for myself before she can come at me full force, when the world goes black.
Nabooru and the desert are gone, leaving nothing in their place except for suffocating darkness. A chill courses through my body, as I whirl around, squinting for any signs of anyone.
That's when I see it. I can only barely make out the outline of a shadowy figure coming towards me, but it's there.
I'm not alone.
"Never lose sight of your enemy," the stranger says. It's my father's voice. My heart begins to beat faster, almost excitedly at the sound...
But even as the silhouette comes closer though, the world starts to grow cold...I can feel the air being snatched from my lungs...
Something's not right...
The shadow's hand suddenly falls upon my shoulder, and his eyes snap open.
Vivid, blood-red eyes.
My heart stops dead.
All I can hear is the sound of steel as Dark Link's blade pierces my body. Pain unlike anything I've ever felt rips through my body, and I scream.
Dark Link laughs. My eyes widen as I hear my father's laugh at first, slowly warping and convoluting into the sick, twisted sound of Dark Link's own voice.
"Your time has run out."
"Get Christian, let him know what happened. Tell him to meet us in his quarters. Should've had them working together a while ago..."
I come to gasping for breath, momentarily blinded by the sun. I'm on the ground, Nabooru and Blaze kneeling at my side. If I squint, I can see the Elite watching me with puzzled faces...
"Up you get," Blaze says - and suddenly I'm being pulled to my feet, one of my arms draped over his shoulders, the other around Nabooru's. "You all right?"
"Yeah," I answer shakily, realizing as I try to stand just how worn out my muscles are. My legs strain with effort just trying to stand. I didn't realize how worn out my body was while I was fighting...it must have all just caught up with me. "I'm fine. Must've been the heat and everything."
"I'm not surprised, it looked pretty brutal," Blaze notes as they walk me into the Fortress. I notice Nabooru's gaze is uncomfortably glued to my expression, so I give her a weak smile in an attempt to avoid her suspicion.
This is something I have to keep to myself. I'm just proving myself as a strong swordsman. I don't need Nabooru or Christian worrying or seeing me weak. And I definitely don't need any more suspicion in the princess department.
"We'll see," is all Nabooru says, as we make our way up to Christian's room. While we walk I try to support myself fully on my feet, and while on flat ground I actually begin to regain stability. As soon as we hit the stairs though I start stumbling. Nabooru and Blaze heave me all the way up the staircase, and as soon as we get back on normal floor I start walking as best I can again to make up for it until we reach Christian's room.
Nabooru raps loudly on the door, and as we just stand there I become more confident in my ability to support myself. "I'm fine," I tell the two of them, pulling from their grasp and focusing all my energy on keeping myself upright. Blaze looks both skeptical and amused, but hey, I'm doing it.
Christian opens the door, finishing pulling on a shirt as he does so. For the briefest of seconds I catch a glimpse of his torso underneath before the fabric falls to his waist. As my eyes rise back to his face I realize he's watching me, and I give him an innocent smile. If I look like I'm fine and happy he won't have anything to worry about. "She doesn't look too bad," he says finally.
I can't see Nabooru's expression, but Blaze is watching me with that same look as before. "They kind of ran her rampant. She's just a big faker."
I smile even more beatifically, but half a second later, Blaze pokes me in the back just hard enough to send me over my center of balance. I fall forward against Christian's chest, clutching at the front of his shirt to right myself. Fortunately he manages to catch me with his good arm, with which he pulls my arm over his shoulder and holds me tightly around my waist.
There went any chance I had of hiding my weakness from him. I drop the smiling act, giving Blaze a sour look. He just shrugs.
"I figured she needed a break," Nabooru says calmly. A little too calmly. "And I thought it might be a good time to work on your link."
"Absolutely," Christian agrees with a curt nod. As Nabooru and Blaze start back off down the hall, her gaze shifts back towards me, her expression doubtful.
"We can wait till tomorrow to resume training," she adds, never taking her eyes off me. "I want you two really focusing on this."
With that final word, she turns around and heads off. Christian pulls me inside the room and closes the door.
"Pike said you blacked out," he says as he leads me over to his bed, letting me slide from his grasp onto the blankets atop it. I bury my face into the covers and let out a loud moan, at which he chuckles, if only a little. I never thought a bed could feel this good. "Want to tell me what happened?"
With a deep sigh I roll over onto my back. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a soft smile as he watches me, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Nothing," I lie, keeping my eyes locked on his. "Just the heat I guess, you wouldn't believe how brutal it was."
"Oh I believe it," he argues, his grin broadening slightly as he brushes some of the sand from my pants. His eyes still look the same though, and I find myself growing concerned. He notices, and his grin fades. "Pike also said you screamed."
Oh. Shit.
I fall silent, avoiding his gaze, though I can still feel it burning against my skin as he observes my reaction.
"Aer...tell me...was it the nightmare, or a memory, or-"
"No," I cut him off, swallowing hard. "I mean...it was like the nightmare, but different...it was new..."
"What happened?"
His brown eyes search mine, and for the second time I find myself tearing my gaze away. "I...can't tell you..." He frowns suddenly, clearly confused, but doesn't speak. "Christian..." I start, taking another deep breath. "Please...I know I usually tell you everything, so this must seem strange, but I just...can't..."
He sighs deeply, taking it all in for a couple moments before he speaks. "Okay," he finally answers, accepting it. "But Aer...this is a big deal..."
I frown, my hands finding themselves clutching the bottom of his shirt. "I don't understand..."
Slowly, he pulls himself more onto the bed, his hand clasping around mine. "Do you remember, in Death Mountain...you collapsed out of nowhere, and you told me that you had seen your nightmare..."
I nod. "And then you collapsed right as Dark Link came..."
"Yes," he answers in low voice, his fingers brushing up my arm and coming to cup the side of my face. I lean into his hand as his thumb strokes my cheek. "Hasn't it crossed your mind that this isn't normal?"
"A lot of things we go through aren't exactly normal..."
"But it's considerably more abnormal," he says firmly. "Your dreams are getting worse, aren't they."
They are. I've been having that nightmare at least once a night lately. And not just that one. Many others. Every single one of them ends the same way.
In death.
"Yes," I answer grimly, reclaiming his hand in mine. "Yours are too."
His expression is all the answer I need. "Something's wrong," he says quietly. "I don't know what it is, but there has to be a reason..."
I raise my hands to either side of his face, turning his head to look me in the eye. "Nabooru wanted us to practice our link," I tell him, giving him a small reassuring smile. "Maybe we'll find it doing that."
Christian takes a deep breath before taking my hands in his. "All right. Who first."
"Me," I answer automatically. In case that blackout is too fresh to hide. He accepts that, closing his eyes and taking my hand.
The familiar burning sensation in my hand rises up again as the triangle symbols on his hand and mine begin glowing again. I close my eyes, focusing everything on trying to clear my mind of all thought and reach out to his...
"Christian?"
When I open my eyes, the real world has vanished. Everything is blindingly white for a couple moments, then begins to slowly fade and transition into someplace else. As I watch, the world around me transforms until I find myself standing in the center of the Castle courtyard.
I know this place. I was just here.
The flowers are all in bloom and the softest of breezes flows through the air, caressing the grass beneath it. Springtime. From here I can see all the gardens, alive with color...and best of all there are no statues. No graves.
The Castle before the attack.
Christian stands before me, arm fully healed, his eyes firmly set on me as I take everything in.
This was where we used to play...and over there is where my father and I used to spar...
I have so many memories of this place...most of which are all so new to me...
"I've always felt most comfortable here," Christian says as he walks towards me. I shake myself out of it. "I spent a lot of my childhood running around this place...got into quite a bit of trouble..." A smile lights up his face, and he laughs softly. "Not always my fault, but mom would get so mad...and my dad, he'd just laugh and talk my mom out of it..."
I've met his mother, but somehow his father and I never crossed paths even with my week at the Castle...I wonder how I never though of it until now... "I never met your dad."
Christian's smile slowly becomes bittersweet. "He doesn't have much time to meet people these days. The attack and the monsters in the field..." he breaks off. "Things...changed after the first attack on Castletown..."
I watch as his expression grows dark, and decide not to press the matter. Instead I slide my arms under his, wrapping them around him, and rest my head against his chest, closing my eyes and breathing in his scent. "It's beautiful."
He doesn't say a word, but his arms tighten around me and he kisses the top of my forehead.
The world begins to blur for a moment, though within seconds its resettled back into the courtyard. But I feel Christian suddenly tense up.
"What is it?" I ask. He just shakes his head.
"Nothing," he reassures me. I try to turn my head to look, but the world has already begun to fade...
When I open my eyes, I'm back on Christian's bed, where he sits beside me, watching me with that same grim expression. I give him a light kiss on the cheek and smile.
That seems to cheer him up a bit. The corners of his lips begin to curve upward. "My turn," he says firmly.
"Well if you insist," I tease, settling down in his bed, while trying to mentally calm myself. I have to keep a check on my thoughts.
"Just relax..." he whispers in my ear.
The world starts out as nothing but that bright white light again, before beginning to settle. I imagine Hyrule Field...we're standing only a little ways from the gates into Castletown...there are no monsters to be seen...
"All right," Christian muses aloud. "Success both ways...let's try-"
He's cut off by a scream, and a chill runs through the air. Both our heads whip around towards Castletown.
Hyrule Castle is burning.
Cruel laughter sounds from behind us, and my heart drops in my stomach. I know that voice.
My sword's out and at the ready in an instant. From beside me, it's clear that Christian had the same reaction.
"Give it up boy," Dark Link grins, his ebony blade raised and ready to strike. "Hand her over, and we'll spare you from pain. We'll make it nice and quick for you."
"Don't listen to him," Christian whispers in my ear. "It's just a dream...just a dream, nothing more."
Dark Link takes even greater delight at that. "Just a dream, is it?" he asks as his lip curls into an even more crooked grin. I take a step forward, my sword held firmly in my grasp.
"Leave him alone," I snarl.
Dark Link only just keeps smiling. "That can be arranged."
All I see is a flash of steel. He moves too quickly for either of us to react.
His sword buries itself deep in Christian's chest.
I scream as his eyes widen in disbelief, blood streaming freely down the front of his shirt. With a heave, Dark Link wrenches his blade from Christian's body, and I race to his side, dropping to my knees as he falls back onto the ground.
"No," I whisper as I grab his hand...it's so cold...his eyes stare straight up ahead, slipping in and out of focus as he gasps for air. He coughs up blood and my other hand finds its way to the side of his face. His expression is agonizing... "No," I say more firmly this time. "It's just a dream..." His pained eyes turn to mine, and I feel my heart drop to the bottom of my stomach as his hand shakily rises to mine, pressing it against his cheek. "It's just a dream..." I repeat, my voice quavering as his breath hitches, and he closes his eyes, squeezing my hands in pain. "It's not real...none of this is real..."
Slowly his grip loosens, both of his hands going limp in mine as all of the air in his lungs is released in one final breath.
My heart stops dead.
"No..." I whisper breathlessly, only tightening my grasp. "No..it's just a dream...Christian...wake up..." He doesn't move. "Christian!"
The world suddenly grows dark. Christian disappears, leaving me all alone on my knees, desperately shouting his name. My heart grows cold and I throw myself to my feet, terror rushing through my body.
There's nothing but blackness. All I can see are his eyes. Those horrible red eyes...
His sword flies forward, and I can't avoid it. It slides through my stomach easily.
Goddess it hurts!
"Fool girl," he says, laughing at me as I clutch the blade in my gut.
"Your time has run out."
I snap back into reality violently, sitting upright and gasping for air, my heart pounding at a million miles a minute. Within moments I become aware of the fact that I'm thrashing against a pair of strong hands on my arms. "Aeria!" comes a voice. Christian's voice. "Aeria, it's me! It's me!"
Only at that point do I stop fighting back and open my eyes. Christian's watching me worriedly, his hands tight on my shoulders. My breath comes in rapid uneven gasps, and I'm shaking.
"You said it was just a dream!" I scream angrily, overwhelmed almost to the point of tears. "If it was just a dream, why did you leave me?"
Christian can only stare at me in disbelief and confusion, his eyes wide.
Less than a heartbeat later I'm in his arms, clutching the front of his shirt so tightly that my knuckles are turning white. His arms pull me in as close to him as possible as I press my forehead into his chest, trying my hardest just to slow my breathing. "It's all right," he whispers in my ear, rocking me back and forth. "It's all right..."
He was dead...I saw him die...
I watched him breathe his last breath, held his icy hands and felt the life leaving him...and it all felt so real...
"Why did you leave me?" I repeat desperately as I pant into his shirt, clinging as if it were the difference between life and death.
"I didn't leave you," he answers confusedly, as one of his hands rises to stroke my hair. I raise my head to directly into his eyes. There's both worry, confusion, and absolute sincerity in his eyes. "I didn't know what happened, I thought maybe you pushed me out-"
"I didn't push you out," I sputter, still shaking pretty hard. "I wouldn't push you out...and not like that...never like that..."
Christian only holds me tighter, never stopping rocking me. "Just breathe...calm down..."
"It was like someone else was there," I say in a trembling voice. "It was not just a dream...it wasn't just a dream..."
"I know," he says soothingly, his other hand rubbing my back. "I know...just breathe...everything's going to be all right..."
It takes several minutes before I finally get myself into a calmer state. Christian doesn't let go of me once, not even when my breathing slows back to normal. He just holds me for as long as I need.
"Has that happened to you before?" I barely get out as the adrenaline begins to pass. He nods.
"Yes," he answers quietly. "Not always that intensely. But It looks like they're happening to you too." With a grim look, he adds, "I think we're done with practicing for the day..."
Clearly.
I can only press myself closer to him, listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat and absorbing as much comfort as I can.
He's alive. None of it was real. He's alive.
"What are they?"
He takes a long, deep breath. "I don't know..."
For a while neither of us speaks. I simply lay there for what feels like hours, my mind whirring a mile a minute.
They want him dead.
I can't change that. Regardless of whether or not they need him for their sacrifice, they'll still want him dead. He's a triforce-bearer. I've known that since the beginning.
But if they catch him before we release the Dark Lord...he will die. I know that the risk of death will remain for both of us after we release him, but if we can release him before they get a chance to take Christian, then we'll still have each other. We'll still be a team. We'll all be on better footing, because the Dark Lord will emerge with only one triforce piece instead of two, which is necessary if we want to have a fighting chance against him, seeing as he has an enormous advantage over us already with his legions of monsters. But if they catch him first...they won't rest until they catch me too. We won't be able to release the Dark Lord on our terms, because they'll have already obtained the Triforce of Wisdom, and there would be no way we would last against his forces and the power of both triforces. If they catch me, they'll have us both, and he'll be released and it'll all be over. And if they don't catch me, it will only be a matter of time...there will be nothing left for me to do but run, and absolutely no chance for any of us...
Christian wanted me to promise not to come after him if they took him. But if I didn't, it would only just delay the inevitable. They'd hold him and torture him until they caught me, because they'd still think that it takes the two of us to set the Dark Lord free. We couldn't go release the Dark Lord, because they'd just kill him afterward and take the Triforce, and completely overpower us. There would be no point. As long as he was in the enemy's hands, we wouldn't have a chance.
Nabooru doesn't want to set the Dark Lord free anytime soon, but she doesn't know what I know. She thinks, like everybody else, that in order to set him free, both Christian and I need to sacrifice blood. And I know that sending us both right into the place the enemy wants us without an organized army and all six of the Sages waiting outside is an enormous risk. Hell, it'd be an enormous risk even if we had a huge, organized army and all six Sages with us. But they don't need to send us both in.
The only one they need to send in is me.
It's the only way. Sending just one triforce-bearer cuts the risk in half. There would still be the chance of me being killed, but the worst possible outcome would be that the Dark Lord would emerge with only two pieces of the triforce, as opposed to the worst outcome otherwise - that he'd come out with the whole damn thing. Plus, if only one of us went in, it would be much easier to avoid the monsters no doubt waiting inside, and simply slip in. Afterward, all I'd have to do was poof - and teleport safely out of there.
I just have to be able to get in there before they have the chance to take Christian. That's why we have to do it soon. Every second that passes by, the risk grows, because the Dark Lord's forces are only increasing, and we can only pray that neither of us gets taken. There's no way of predicting it. We have to release him as soon as possible.
My entire body is numb, except for a tingling sensation in my hand...
The triforce on the back of it is glowing...I look towards it, and then bring my hand to my face...
It's wet...
I turn my hand over...
A deep crimson cut streaks diagonally across my palm, dripping blood.
Suddenly my dream makes sense.
I have to release him.
After we free the Sages. If there's any hope of me succeeding, I'll need at least them at my back. Going in before then would be a death wish. Going in any later would still increase the risk of either of us being taken.
Nabooru will try to stop me...Christian will definitely try to stop me...but there's no other way.
I try and calm myself down. The decision's been made. I know what I have to do. But even still, my thoughts don't stop whirring around in my head...
The dreams still press on my mind. They weren't just dreams...but they can't be prophecies...if I get in there before they get Christian, then they can't kill him, and so my...whatever they are's...of him dying can't be the future...
The most frustrating parts is that it's not like we can go ask anyone about it. The only other two people with a mind connection like ours are dead.
But maybe...
"Maybe we should ask Navi..." I murmur as I close my eyes. I'm actually happy that I spent the entire day getting my ass kicked, because as much of a blur as my thoughts are, the exhaustion overpowers all of it. I curl up against Christian, holding him even tighter and listening to his steady heartbeat.
He's still here...
I don't know when the dizzying array of thoughts in my head subsides. Before I even have time to notice, the world slips away and I drift into unconsciousness.
A Short Break
While Aeria slowly fell asleep cradled in his arms, Christian couldn't seem to drift off with her. He was too worried to sleep.
They hadn't been dreams. None of them. He had been having vivid visions like this for a long time now, and he'd constantly been telling himself not to worry about it, but after tonight...
What if everything he'd seen was real?
It had all certainly felt like his visions of the future had. They had felt so much more real than the normal nightmares...but he'd just kept denying, refusing to possibly believe it...
Maybe they are real, but they're not visions, he told himself firmly. There was no way what he was seeing was the future. It couldn't be.
Her body, crumpled and drenched in blood on the floor...how cold her hands were in his...the agony in her eyes as she struggled to breathe...
His hold on her tightened as he tried with all his might to send that image away, but with no success. In every single dream, he couldn't save her. He always had to watch helplessly as the final blow was dealt, in a different way every time, and every time he'd rush to save her - but would always be too late. Several times they killed him beside her, like had just happened. Many times he had to endure torture first. Regardless of what happened, they were all beginning to take their toll.
His eyes dropped to her sleeping form, watching her body rise and fall with each deep breath she took. She looked so peaceful and content there...and she was alive. Most of all alive.
She was not going to die.
She couldn't. He couldn't even bear to think of it as a possibility anymore. He could not let anything happen to her.
Besides, he told himself. He'd seen her dying in too many ways for those visions to be of the future. They couldn't all logically happen, and therefore, while they might not be dreams, they definitely weren't prophecies.
That was enough to at least lessen the worry. They weren't going to happen. Now the question just lay in what they actually were...
"Christian..." came a soft murmur against his chest. His eyes fell back down to Aeria, where she still slept soundly, curling up even closer to him and nestling her head in the crook between his shoulder and his neck. With a soft smile, he took her hand in his, feeling the immediate warmth on the back of his hand as he did so. "Christian..."
Hearing her say his name sent a wave of excitement and heat coursing through his body. His name. It was his name she was murmuring. And for some reason that one fact was enough to fill him with joy and dispel whatever worry was left in his mind.
His smile widened as he began to feel the weight of exhaustion on his eyelids. Finally. It felt like he had been waiting for hours to get some rest. At this point, his still injured arm making it so he was unable to carry her, it was clear that there would be no moving Aeria - not that he had any objection to that of course - so with one hand, he slipped off her boots and placed them neatly on the floor, before laying her down across the bed. For a moment he was afraid he'd woken her, as she let out a small stifled moan after he set her down, but she quickly fell silent again thereafter. Meanwhile, Christian slipped off his own boots before pulling off his shirt and settling himself down on the bed. In one swift motion he reached down and pulled the covers up around the two of them before blowing out the candle on the nightstand.
He heard Aeria let out a deep, contented sigh, and felt as she reached out with her hands. Upon grazing his stomach, she snuggled in towards him, curling up against his body. "Christian..." she murmured yet again, causing the broad smile to return to his face as he let his arm wrap around her. As worried as he had been before, it was though all traces of it had been blown away, and he was filled with nothing but sheer happiness.
"I'm here."