Ahah... Not really a plottish chapter. At the moment, at least. It's important later, though... so...
ARGH!! THIS IS MAKING ME SAD!! Every time I think I'm coming to the end of it, it pulls another plot twist out of it's ass.
He had assumed they were in the recreated Hyrule Castle. Turns out, they were deep within the Gerudo fortress, almost a mile deep into the high cliffs. That section had been crafted by magic out of the living rock, and as such, could only be transversed by the same means. There were no tunnels, no air shafts. There weren't even doors. Just paths of magical energy, winding their way through the rock like veins of precious ore.
Ganondorf assured him that he'd be able to learn to use them eventually. They operated on the same basic principle as the Hylian transportation songs, and he excelled at those, after all. He tried to point out that he couldn't actually use the songs, but that didn't seem to matter at all.
For the moment, he was forced to piggyback on Ganondorf's trail, holding tight to the big man's hand as they slid through the solid stone like it was water.
The feeling of it was indescribable. It was totally different from what little he knew of Hylian magic. Hylian magic was about rules, about the mathematical notes of a song or the flawless transcription of mystical symbols. From what he could tell, the king more or less asked the rock to let them through, and it did. They became colour, bright and pure, and trickled through like water through a crack. It was casual. Simple.
Beautiful.
And then the rock pushed them out into the single largest room he had ever seen.
It looked like it could hold the entirety of the Temple of Time within it and still have room to spare. But it wasn't just big and empty, no, that would have made it look even more obscenely large than it already did.
It was filled with books.
The walls were lined with bookshelves. Each was crammed full with every time of manuscript he could imagine. Bound leather books, wooden lexicons written on vellum, old sheaves of parchment that looked like they were about to fall apart… There were even ancient scrolls of papyrus and a collection of stone tablets, carefully packed away in glass cases. From the edge of the balcony on which they stood, he could see four floors of the same below and at least three more above. The empty space in the centre of the room was crisscrossed with bridges, allowing for easy access from one part of the library to another, as well as to the central platform. Spiral staircases wound their way up and down, forming a sort of spine from which the whole library grew.
He'd never seen anything like it.
"I take it you're impressed." The king chuckled, standing beside him looking out at the great expanses of knowledge before them.
"I… I'm…" He shook his head, gaping at the wonder before him. "This is…"
"Heh…" Ganondorf leant against the railing, apparently quite pleased with himself. "Would you like to take a look?"
"WOULD I EVER!?" He almost sent himself careening off the edge of the balcony, just barely managing to save himself by latching onto the laughing man's arm. "There's a lifetime of reading here! Hell, there are two! Please please please please PLEASE!!"
"Fine, fine!" Ganondorf chuckled, gently prying his fingers off his arm. "Just make sure you surface for dinner. Nabooru and Aviel have been going crazy ever since you arrived. I'm the only one they ever cook for, and I have to admit, I'm not exactly a connoisseur."
"Yes, of course." His eyes were already wandering, flickering over the seemingly endless shelves of books, trying to decided what to attack first. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Heh… Have fun, brother." Laughing, he clapped the younger man on the shoulder before heading back the way he'd came.
By the time the last of him disappeared into the rock, he was already pulling out his first book.
If Sheik's reaction to the library surprises you or seems a little strong, think about this. Sheik is a poet by nature, which means words and such are his strong point. The Royal Family only really gave him access to a dozen or so books, most of which involve the prophecies and his role in them. So it's basically like living your entire life with three channels and then suddenly discovering you have satellite.