(A/N: This chapter is going to be a little boring because I have to convey some information to you and I'm prepping the foundation for the final stages of the story. Just thought I'd let you know what is going on here. –Infamous 4/12/13)
Act 35: Revelations and Realizations
Dozens of people sat around tables within the comforting confines of a local cafe. The smell of fresh coffee and tea infected the nostrils of all those inside the building. Though the supplies were limited, people still managed to munch on sandwiches made with processed meat and sip watered down, caffeinated beverages, along with some different kinds of juices.
Zelda could hear a couple of the town's middle aged gossips chirping back and forth at a nearby table as she sipped on a glass of pumpkin juice.
"Do you think the queen will ever marry? It must be lonely at the top, you know."
"I hear she's quite difficult to get along with and that she turns down every suitor she is presented with."
"Indecisive like her father."
"A few months before my dad died, he told me about the glory days of Laertes and how he missed them, though he was only a child in those days."
"Your father died ten years ago, Mable!"
"It's still relevant! Children shouldn't be allowed to govern a country!"
Zelda winced at the words of the gossiping women. It felt like little poison barbs getting stabbed into her heart. She couldn't seem to escape who she was or the whispers of her doubters. She squeezed her fists tight every time another comment let fly.
Hector noticed Zelda's discomfort of course and raised his brow at it. "Something wrong, Miss. Helen?"
Zelda looked into Hector's eyes and shook her head. "Oh, nothing is wrong at all."
Hector glanced over at the loose tongued women and laughed softly through his nose. "You a fan of Queen Zelda?"
"Well... I." Zelda looked at her half eaten sandwich.
"Well she's supposed to be coming here. It's been the talk of the town. You might even get to meet her, if you're lucky." Hector winked and then laughed at the idea. "Probably not! Her security team is probably five men deep. Goodness, I'm surprised she even gets exposed to air!"
"Yeah, what a silly idea!" Zelda laughed along with Hector nervously.
Hector then stopped his expression of amusement and became serious. "Don't take anything those old gossiping broads say seriously. Their lives are just so boring that they must discuss the lives of others to make their own more interesting. Most people here in Ordon adore her majesty. Maybe not so much her dear old dad, but we generally adore her! She is considered to be Hyrule's Sweetheart after all."
Zelda blushed a bit at Hector's description of her. Being called 'Hyrule's Sweetheart' surprised Zelda the most. She had no idea that she was so well liked. Then again, if one is surrounded by people who constantly doubt them, they will never hear anything good about themselves and only hear the bad.
"Hyrule's Sweetheart?"
"Jeez, Miss. Helen, do you live under a rock?" Hector moaned a bit at Zelda's obliviousness. "That's what everyone calls her. Maybe not to her face, but a lot of people think of her that way. Whether she likes it or not, people like her!"
Zelda slowly raised her right hand to her mouth as Hector stopped speaking. Hector then narrowed his eyes at her hand for a moment, as if he spotted a bug crawling on it.
Hector than reached across the table and swiftly but gently grabbed Zelda's wrist.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Zelda asked as Hector examined the back of her hand carefully.
"That's no ordinary birthmark, Miss. Helen." Hector whispered as he traced the Triforce marking out with his finger. "You don't seem like the type to get tattoos either."
Zelda snapped her hand back to herself and said nothing as she tucked her hands under her arms.
Hector then leaned over the table a bit with wide eyes, as if he had just been enlightened by something. He then whispered in Zelda's ear. "Pardon my bluntness, but, your majesty, why are you here by yourself?"
Zelda's eyelids snapped back in her head in shock. Her jaw almost dropped to the floor. Hector had seen through the charade. "I don't know what you're talking about..."
Hector sat back in his chair and clicked his tongue off of his teeth in astonishment. He continued to speak softly so he could not be overheard by eavesdropping ears. "Majesty, I apologize if I or anyone else here in Ordon has offended you in anyway."
"Hector, there's no need to be sorry. It was refreshing while it lasted." Zelda cleared her through as she tried to casually sip her juice, as if being found out was no big deal to her. She was trying to put on the usual royal act.
"What are you doing here without security, majesty? You cannot possibly think Guinevere will suffice. Pardon me, but she is probably the worst security guard money can buy! She'd feed you to a dragon before giving you her respect." Hector whispered as he raised his glass of water to his lips. He then placed it back on the table and sighed. "Majesty, what is going on here?"
Zelda darted her eyes around the room quickly and felt as if everyone in the room was staring at her and Hector. "My caravan was attacked. My team is dead. Guinevere brought me here."
"Guinevere did?" Hector raised his eyebrows in disbelief and then crossed his arms. "More like kidnapped you."
"Well, I forced her to." Zelda shrugged. "I didn't want to travel alone."
Hector stressfully ran his hand down his face trying to think of what to do. "Dear Din, I bet they have the best man hunters in the country hot in pursuit of my sister right now."
Zelda hugged herself tight for a moment as she looked down at the table. "Those falcons we saw earlier..."
Hector looked up at Zelda in shock. "You can't be serious. They were scouting? That's why you tried to get me to go elsewhere. Why? Don't you want to go home? I mean, it's probably a lot nicer than here."
The young monarch ran her fingers through her blonde ponytail. "That's the thing, I find this refreshing and I'm in no hurry to go home. I also like how close I can be to people without intimidating them with my status."
"So you do live in jail." Hector nodded, referring to their past conversation.
"How did you figure me out so quickly?" Zelda asked as she flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder so that it once again ran down her back.
Hector shrugged as he stood up. "Connecting the dots. Guinevere told me not to flirt with you, as you are my distant cousin. You reminded me of my childhood friend, Princess Zelda. You are far too naive about the world and appear to have lived a sheltered life. You were wearing some rather expensive clothing when you arrived. Only a select few have a mark like that on the back of their hand, and I would never forget a birthmark like that."
Hector extended his usual gentlemanly arm for Zelda to take hold of. "You are the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom, yet you do not act nearly as wise as I thought you would."
Zelda smiled a bit as she took the young man's arm once more and walked out of the cafe with him.
The steel shoes of the horse hooves that banged down on the ground shook the earth. A platoon of knights, led by a skilled man tracker and a huntsman plowed quickly through Hyrule Field. Small basset hounds quickly waddled in front of and alongside the horsemen, some with their noses quietly stuck to the ground, others barking and howling as they rushed towards the Ordona Province. The hounds were surprisingly fast runners compared to most.
The hunt for a bounty hunter was on. They would take their queen back and have Guinevere in shackles before the day was done. That was the plan.
Some may have thought that a platoon was far too many knights for a simple search, rescue and arrest mission such as this. But many knights in Hyrule were afraid of Good Lady Gwyn, so it never hurt to have a little more firepower.
"Come on men! Keep going! Her majesty needs our help!" shouted the Captain of the Guard, who was positioned just behind the huntsman. "What is Hyrule without its monarch?"
The knights looked up to see the falcons circling overhead, signalling that they had indeed found something and wished for their masters to follow them. A handful of knights in Hyrule were skilled in falconry, so it was only natural that most of them were members of the platoon.
"They got something!" called one of the knights from the back. "Keep going!"
Link sat on a stool and stared into the controlled flames within the fireplace's hearth. His hands were folded in front of his mouth and his eyes were dull. He had started reading one of the suggested reads that Ashli had given him, but he had not been able to get through the first chapters. So the books were in a stack in the corner.
On Ashli's instruction, he had rolled back the red floor mat and found an entrance to a small cellar. Within its confines, Link found several different potions for emergency use. He had given Ashli a red potion and she had then fallen asleep.
Every now and again Link would look over at his friend to make sure she was indeed okay. The yellow light from the fire gently played upon her hair, making it seem more navy blue than raven black. Link then thought about the hidden potions and murmured with a chuckle. "Sneaky broad."
"Master Link." A familiar voice chimed from behind him.
Link jumped a bit at the sound of the monotone voice. "Fi!"
"I apologize for startling you." FI nodded a bit as her strange silver hair flowed with an unfelt breeze. "Is your friend okay?"
Link stood up and looked from Fi to Ashli. "I guess so. No thanks to you. I almost got her killed. You said if I didn't go and help her she would die. She could have died anyway. She can't walk anymore."
Fi gave her new master a most perplexed look. "But you did rescue her and now she is safe."
Link only moaned a bit at the spirit's reply.
"Now, we have much to discuss." Fi continued. "You must return to the castle and-
"Link, who are you talking to?" Ashli's voice interrupted with a grumble. Her eyes were tightly shut, as if she were still half asleep.
Link gasped a bit. "No one! Go back to sleep!"
"Right. Right. Keep it down, will ya?" Ashli yawned as she struggled and eventually rolled onto her right side and faced the wall.
"Sure thing." Link smiled a bit and then looked back at Fi with more serious expression.
There was silence for a moment. They waited until gentle snoring could be heard and then picked their conversation back up.
Link raised his left index finger to his lips in a hushing manor and then pointed to the uncovered trapdoor that led to the cellar where he had gotten the emergency potions from.
Fi nodded in understanding as Link slowly lifted the hatch in the floorboards. He then grabbed a lantern in the corner and lit it with the small matchbook he had used to light the wood in the fireplace.
The hidden cellar was dark and looked like a bottomless pit. It had an old wooden ladder attached to one of the walls for someone climb up or down. It could probably only support about one person at a time, any more and it would collapse.
Link attached the lantern to his belt and began to climb down the narrow passage into the cellar. Fi somehow teleported to the bottom and beat him there.
"As you were saying?" Link sighed as he detached the lantern from his belt and examined the claustrophobic confines of the basement. The walls were lined with old wooden shelves that had jars and bottles of haphazard supplies within them. Some of the jars appeared to be decades old, so there was no telling how long they had been sitting down there in the dark and cold holding room.
Fi nodded. "Right. You must return to the castle and enter the royal garden. That is where you will find the tool that you need to free this land of Ghirahim and his master, Demise."
Link's eyes widened after hearing the information. "The castle? The royal garden? A tool?"
His memory flashed back to the specific spot that Zelda had shown him when they were children. No way.
"What tool?" Link asked curiously as he continued to think about the specific spot Zelda had shown him many years before.
Fi docked her head to the side and then ran a curious hand through her long, silver hair, watching the yellow light illuminate it. "The Master Sword."
"What? But I thought the sword was resting in the Sacred Grove!" Link snapped. "That's what everyone says. The Hero of Twilight put the sword to rest back in its rightful place."
"It was moved in secret." Fi explained, remaining monotone and unemotional. "It was moved by the Hero's illegitimate son, in fears that the sword would be disturbed by 'looky lous', as he called them."
"Wait, if you were sleeping inside the sword, how do you know that?" Link raised an eyebrow.
Fi tapped her temple. "It seems that I have a few memories of Princess Zola's, as well as my own."
"So what about this, illegitimate son...?"
"Princess Zola, honourable granddaughter of King Laertes the First. Laertes was the illegitimate son of the Hero of Twilight and Queen Zelda the Sixth." Fi explained. Her eyes were closed and her face was creased with focus. She was trying to dig into the memory of a person who had long since left the world of the living.
"So... Zelda is related to the Hero of Twilight!?" Link swallowed hard a bit. He didn't know why he cared about that so much. In fact, his unjustified affection for the young monarch was strange to him. He still had a bit of a thing for her, but he knew that they were both different people, especially at this point in time. He had become smitten with someone he could never be with and had not been close to in a very long time. In his heart, he still held a special place for the sheltered princess that told him everything about everything almost every day for seven years.
Link reached his left hand onto his right shoulder blade and winced a bit, remembering the flogging he had received while in the castle dungeon, and how Zelda had somehow healed him with the upmost ease.
Fi's face was still stoic but she somehow spoke with a strand wave of recognition to Link's words. "Zelda?"
Link blushed a bit as he scratched the back of his head. Alas he was back to his humble servant boy mannerisms for a moment. It was probably because he remembered when things were simpler and why he had actually fallen for Zelda. "Uh, yeah."
"I see." Fi nodded, not sure of what was really wrong with her master.
Link glanced at Fi for a moment and watched as the flickering light of the lantern made her silver hair glow. "So, why do you look like that?"
Fi rose her hands up a bit and examined them curiously. "While you were away, I was able to create an appropriate reason using the small pieces of Zola's memory that I have and some of my own."
"Care to share?" Link smiled a bit.
"Ghirahim appeared again in the castle for a second time, as a traveling salesman, going by the name of Ira. Prince Zolo and Princess Zola had heard stories of Ghirahim from their grandfather and made the connection between the two. They knew that the Master Sword had been moved into the castle, and they believed, since they were related to the Hero of Twilight, that they would be able to raise the sword and use it to destroy the devil." Fi explained. She did not seem to be speaking in her normal pattern. It was as if she was reading the information from a transcript that had been penned by an out of character ghostwriter. "They ran to the royal garden and found where the sword had been put to rest. Ghirahim killed Zolo and collected his life force, and Zola kept running towards the blade. The princess tripped and fell to her knees, but was able to wrap her hand around the hilt. While her hand was on the sword, Ghirahim attempted to steal her life force as well and seal the vexed portion of her soul into Demise's sword, thus taking his place as the sword's spirit. But when he did this, he also sealed my spirit within Demise's sword."
"Zola acted as a type of conductor." Link looked at the ground pensively. "It was through her that your spirit was sucked out of the sword and placed into the other one."
Fi nodded again. "Yes. Since I am an eternal being, created by the divine, my spirit overpowered that of Zola's mortal one. I detect a seventy five percent chance that while in the blade my physical form changed because of her and the malice that the weapon carried."
"So what happened to Zola's soul?" Link asked.
Fi shook her head. "There is a ninety five percent chance that it is stuck in an everlasting state of limbo."
Being stuck in limbo meant being stuck between the heavens and the underworld. A soul that was doomed to wander in limbo for eternity was often considered to be the unluckiest of sorts. Some religious types said that being stuck in perpetual limbo was a fate worse than any type of hell as the soul was forced to wait for a decision that would never be made.
Fi did not pay attention to Link's sudden sorry expression. Instead she urged him to move forward. "Master, I suggest you hurry to the castle as soon as you can. The longer you wait, the stronger Ghirahim will get."
Link attached the lantern to his belt and began to scale the latter, deeming the conversation as finished. "I can't. Ashli needs me here."
Fi floated upward, next to Link. "Master, I urge you to leave here as soon as possible."
Link hopped out of cellar and slowly closed the trapdoor. He then unhooked the lantern from his belt and snuffed out the small flame within it and placed it on the table. He looked at Fi in distress and then looked back at his friend who was sound asleep. "I can't just do that."
"Very well. But please remember what task you must complete." Fi nodded stoically and then faded into blue sparkles.
Link had to accept the fact that the spirit was real. It was too strange to be doubted. Hyrule was a strange land, and Link had experienced strange things. At this point, nothing was too bizarre or too farfetched for the young hero to believe.
The platoon of knights road onward into Faron Woods. The hounds continued to waddle quickly and bark as they tried to find one of Hyrule's greatest bounty hunters. The men on horseback coughed and sighed and cursed under their breaths as they felt that they were going in circles in the never ending forest.
But, eventually the hounds rushed towards a single tree on the far right of the beaten path. They howled and bayed up the tree's trunk and scratched at its roots with their claws. Their noses pointed straight upward as they continued to make noise.
"What's going on there?" the Captain of the Guard asked the huntsman.
"They got something. Stay back." The huntsman said stoically as he dismounted his white horse and shuffled towards the dogs.
"Alright, we got her now!" one of the knights cheered. "Might as well give up, Guinevere!"
"Caught like a cat up a tree! A fitting end to Hyrule's stray cat." Another knight cheered.
The Captain of the Guard looked back and hushed. "Don't get cocky, men! You know damn well that she could kill us all given the right vantage point!"
The huntsman then whistled at the knights. He waved a green pointed cap in one hand, and an arrow in the other. "Ay, these belong to her?"
The Captain of the Guard widened his eyes. There was perfect silence before he shouted. "It's a trap! She knew we'd come for her!"
Suddenly a barrage of arrows glided gracefully through the air like a flock of birds zeroing in on prey. The knights all ducked down and hugged their horses tightly, thus dodging the attack. The arrows flew into the other side of the forest and smacked into trees and rocks.
"I don't suppose any of you fine gentlemen could help a lady with her aim?" a woman's voice sighed from the top of one of the trees within the area.
Every knight in the small platoon began to shake in fear and bumble like a baby, everyone except the Captain of the Guard and the hired man tracker. The huntsman almost fainted when he heard the woman's voice, his hounds growled as they tried to sniff out the person the voice belonged to.
"Guinevere, is that you? Show yourself!" the Captain of the Guard yelled.
"Fine." The voice sighed. A quick flash of dark green dropped out of out of the obscure trees straight ahead of the platoon.
The hounds barked as they ran up to the bounty hunter, but seemed to approach with a bit of caution.
"How did you evade the dogs?" the huntsman questioned in astonishment.
Guinevere looked around calmly and sighed. "I have this whole area rigged up for such an occasion. I have buried and hidden various pieces of my clothing and personal belongings throughout the forest, in case work ever tried to follow me home. Looks like it worked after all."
"You're under arrest, Guinevere!" the Captain of the Guard shouted.
The bounty hunter raised her thin, brown eyebrows in surprise. "Whatever for? I assure you, my licenses are up to date."
"For the kidnapping of her majesty, the queen!" the Captain retorted.
Guinevere frowned in annoyance and adjusted her belt that appeared to change colour from a muddy brown to a wicked, dark purple. "You've got to be kidding. I saved her royal ass from certain death! You can ask her yourself! She begged for me not to leave her on her own and she followed me back here! I didn't kidnap anybody! She followed me here!"
"I don't buy it." One of the knights mumbled.
"Well that's the story I'm selling, loser!" Guinevere hissed.
The Captain of the Guard raised his armoured hand, asking for silence. "Where is she now?"
"In Ordon."
"With who?"
"My family."
"Well, you better pray to the gods that she's alright!"
"I know she is. Nothing bad ever happens in Ordon. Why do you think I spend so little time there? Nothing ever happens!" Guinevere rolled her eyes as she whistled for her horse. "I'll even be kind enough to escort you to her."
The knights were astounded by Guinevere. The Captain of the Guard nodded quickly as he led his troops onward.
"Shall I send word to the castle using one of the falcons?" one of the knights asked.
"Yes." Said the captain. "Do it."
Link sat still in the silence of the cabin. He thought about what Fi had said to him. In his heart he was drawn to returning to the castle, but he also felt the need to stay by his friend's side. He held himself responsible for what had happened to Ashli. And though she would most likely be okay, he still felt awful about putting her life in danger.
"Why?" Ashli's raspy voice wheezed, garnering Link's attention.
"Pardon me?" Link looked over his shoulder to see Ashli staring at him in anguish.
"Why did you save me?" Ashli coughed a bit. "I told you to leave me, you idiot."
Link's eyes shook a bit in his head in surprise at his friend's sudden questions. "I couldn't leave you there!"
"Would have been better if you had." Ashli coughed and then extended her hand towards her legs. "Look at me! I'll never walk again!"
Link swallowed hard as he tried to prevent his eyes from welling with tears of guilt. "No one gets left behind..."
"This is a fate worse than death, Jack. I'll never be able to go out and continue my research like this! I'm nothing but a cripple." Ashli scolded as she tried to elevate herself on her elbows. "I'd rather be dead."
Link bowed his head in even greater guilt. He had saved Ashli's life, but he had also ruined it. "I'm sorry."
"Saying sorry will not fix my legs." Ashli groaned before flopping back down onto her back.
"I don't know what else to say..."
"Shut up." Ashli mumbled before struggling to roll herself back onto her right side, and away from Link.
Link looked at his hands and balled his fists in anger. He was angry with not only himself or at Ashli for being unreasonable. He was just straight up angry for no reason. Link had some form of unjustified rage boiling his blood. Perhaps it was how it seemed that everything Link came into contact with went straight to hell. Nothing seemed to ever go right for the former kitchen boy.
He pressed his fists to his mouth and whispered to himself. "Am I not supposed to be happy?"
But with this question and with this rage, Link decided to feed the fire that was his hatred towards Ghiarhim. When the time came for them to once again cross paths, Link knew that Ghirahim would feel the blunt force of all of his burning emotion.
Review it! Vote on the poll! Again, I'm gearing up for the final chapters and I need to get these informative chapters out of the way. I plan on having the next chapter as a Ghirahim-heavy chapter.