Chapter 4 – New Worlds
Link materialized in shadowed darkness. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the extremely dim, somewhat orangish light barely glowing in the distance from where he stood.
The lighting in the temple he had just come from, while not excessively bright, was like broad daylight in comparison to the place where he now found himself.
When the pupils of his forest green eyes dilated as wide as they could to let in the meager light, he was able to make out shapes around him and then he was able to see more or less clearly. His night eyesight had always been keener than his surrogate Ordonian family's were due to his Hylian heritage. His native people's senses were, on the whole, keener than the southern, round eared folk.
He found himself standing in a chamber lined with sturdy, thick, obsidian black columns along the walls and at intervals throughout. In the dim lighting, he could not yet see the far wall, and could only barely see the ceiling above him where the columns terminated at. The polished marble white walls beyond the columns were lined with more aged books from floor to ceiling set neatly into stone shelves.
It's a library. A voice from the past within him told him. A real library. His ten year old self had little experience with such places, never having strayed far from the village of his childhood, though his mother had spoken of the libraries of Castle Town and beyond.
Under his feet, several inches of dust covered what had once been a highly polished obsidian stone floor. Placed in various locations around the room were benches, desks, and chairs which seemed to all be made of the same deep black stone the columns were. The lighting for the library hall came from strange lamps which barely gave off enough light to read by.
He turned to look behind him, instinctively expecting another great metal ring like the one he had stepped into, but there was nothing that he would have expected. There was no doorway like with the entry to the of Time, and no ring like the one which had brought him here. Strangely, it looked like he had just materialized out of the stale, dry, cool air.
Behind him instead was a large, worn, red leatherbound book laying open on a pedestal. The book's yellowed vellum pages were clean even as the black stone pedestal and what he could see of the cover were caked with layers of dust. It appeared for all the world as though the book had only just been opened minutes before.
As Link took in his surroundings, he bent down to study the thick dust on the floor. It hadn't been disturbed for a long, long time. He then stood up to look at the book on the pedestal. He was fortunate the pedestal wasn't taller than he was, but he was forcefully reminded of his youth again as he realized a full grown man would be looking down on the book, while it lay just beneath his eye level.
The book itself seemed whole and intact. He carefully picked up the front cover and closed it, blowing the layers of remaining dust off the otherwise plain red leather cover to see the title. The script however was illegible, at least to him, though he couldn't help but have a sense of familiarity with it, like he should know it. It consisted of what looked to him like random squiggles and lines, and not the orderly Hylian script his mother had taught him to read.
Remembering the Sage's words, Link pulled the amethyst lens from the pouch he carried on his belt and, placing the crystal over the text of the alien book's title, looked at the writing again. The lines and squiggles reshaped themselves into real words he could read.
It said The Book of Hyrule.
He opened the book again and began examining its pages through the decrypting lens. Because of the apparent age of the pages, he fingered the vellum lightly, only touching the very edges of each page as he turned them. With his other hand, he held the lens over the text of the page and let it do its translating work.
The writing was not what he had been expecting. Rather than telling a story about Hyrule, it was describing Hyrule, the world of Hyrule, itself; what it was like, how it would work, how much water, what the rules were that governed it. It was the strangest book he had ever seen. Carefully turning to the end, on the back page was what looked like a little glass inset window the size of an adult's hand. But what was truly wondrous about the window was the image contained within. All of world of his birth appeared to fly by within the window as though he himself might be flying over it. The image crossed forests and deserts, the grasslands of Hyrule field, and great lakes before then swinging back towards the Temple of Time, and then the room where the sages waited for him. He could see the faces and forms of those Sage through the window, and then wondered if they could see him as well.
Something within him, a feeling that reached deep beyond even his other memories told him the book was somehow his key to returning, and he was thankful that it was just right here waiting for him. Though he wasn't ready to try and figure out how to use it yet. He still had a princess to rescue and return home.
He closed the book and then, taking it from the pedestal, he slid it carefully into a large pouch hanging from his belt. He didn't think anyone would mind because, judging from the layers of dust it didn't look like anyone had been in the library, or even knew it existed for a long, long time.
He then went over to the books on the shelves to investigate those. They were filled with more books like it, as well as others that seemed to be notebooks on different worlds, as well as something called "The Art." He spent about an hour perusing the shelves of books trying to decide what might be useful and what might not be. The normal ten year old boy within him questioned why these dusty old books would be of any value, but the hero which had been awakened within him knew all too well the value of the information which the right book could give. He collected two of the smaller notebooks on The Art into his pouch as well. From what the lens showed him of their contents, he thought they might help him understand how to use the book which bore his homeland's name.
He then turned to his next problem, how to get out of this room and continue his search for Princess Zelda. It seemed to be shaped like a rectangle, but was so long the far end of it remained in darkness. Returning to the center pathway of the room where the red leather book's pedestal was, he began to walk towards the far end of the chamber he couldn't see.
It truly seemed endless, the shelves of books looked like they wanted to go on forever. Every so often he would pass another pedestal with a book lying closed. He investigated the first few and found they were "describing books" just like the one which rested heavily in his pouch, although he didn't recognize the names of the worlds they described. Places with names like Azeroth and Middle-Earth. This last one had been laying open like the Book of Hyrule had been, its back panel clean and exposed. He checked the floor around him and could find no footprints in the dust there except his own.
He considered it briefly, wondering what the implications of the open book might mean, but then moved on, leaving each of those other books where they lay. He continued on until at long last he came to a large set of obsidian, stone double doors.
Why is everything here made from stone? He found himself asking. It's like the builders of this place didn't know what wood was, or maybe they didn't have any to build with?
He pushed hard on the doors. Much to his surprise, they gave way easily, scraping stone on stone, but not loudly. When the doors opened wide enough, he was able to make out a narrow set of steps just beyond them ascending upwards. They appeared gray to his eyes, and like much of the library itself looked to be covered in undisturbed dust. He focused his eyes on them further until he could tell that the stairs did not run straight, but appeared to curve off to the left as a spiral staircase shortly after the landing.
With no other direction to head, he proceeded to climb the stairs. The small, strange, dim orange lights were set into the walls of the stairwell at intervals of every ten steps or so allowing him to see his pathway, though as he pointed his eyes upwards through a narrow, circular opening, there was no brighter light that he could see above him.
The spiral stairs felt as though they went on forever as he climbed.
How deep underground was this library? He wondered, and then he wondered, Why would anyone build a library that far underground?
It was a question that his ten year old mind couldn't conceive of an answer for. The dust which covered everything suggested that no one had used it in living memory, but why burrow a library underground in the first place and then just forget about it?
The muscles of his legs began to ache after what felt like an eternity as he continued to climb, and he was not an out of shape boy to begin with. The ladders which his treehouse demanded for navigation saw to that. It felt as though there would be no end to the stairwell.
His legs rubbery and weak, he finally emerged through another set of stone doors into a ruined structure, constructed of solid granite blocks. If it had a ceiling and a roof at one time, it had long since rotted away as he viewed the scene. The lighting seemed to be just a little better in the open air building, though it was still dim and carried an orangish hue.
Looking above him, it appeared to be night, but overcast in whatever world he was in as he turned his eyes upwards into the black sky overhead but saw no stars or moon. The air around him still did not smell fresh, even though it was cool, and there was no breeze to speak of. Instead, it had the earthy scent of being in a cavern underground, something his other memories told him his past lives had much experience with.
A man raised his startled voice in unintelligible words off to his left.
Link's face snapped in the direction of the voice to see a lone figure, a light skinned, clean shaven Ordonian man with sandy blond hair and spectacles over light blue eyes. He had the build of a man who had been trained to fight, but the bearing of a scholar and wore a long white coat open over an untucked blue buttoned shirt and trousers.
The Ordonian man watched him for several seconds before he shouted something else in the same, unintelligible tongue, though the shout was directed out into the air as though to other people nearby, and not to Link himself.
The man held his hands up level with he chest, palms outward in a gesture of being unarmed and no threat to the boy.
Link then tried talking to him by asking the first question that came to his mind, "Where am I?"
It seemed the sensible thing to start with, anyway.
About thirty seconds later several more Ordonians dressed in strange, form fitting black clothes came rushing in and pointed what looked like weapons at him.
Link responded by pulling his shield and sword from his back.
The shield was a good Hylian shield which Rusl had given him. It had been issued to the swordmaster years before in the Royal army, but had hung disused on his wall as an ornament since then. Like most shields in use by Hyrule's army, it had been enchanted by royal magicians with special magics to resist any attack, magic or otherwise, the boy had been told. He was fortunate the shield was large enough to protect most of his body, but light enough for his child's frame to wield with one hand.
"I'm not here for trouble." Link said. "I'm looking for Princess Zelda." He then added, "do you know where she is?"
The man in the white coat looked hard at him and stepped back when he heard the name "Zelda." Link could see the flash of recognition in his eyes as the man collapsed backward into the chair he had been sitting in prior to Link's arrival. He seemed to be muttering something to himself out loud.
One of the men in black then called out something to Link which he didn't understand. His lack of understanding must have been apparent because the man then pointed at him and then motioned downward with his weapon.
He wants me to put my sword and shield down, Link thought, not likely.
The same man in black, a soldier, Link guessed, then called out to the man in white. The man in white then responded with something else. Link watched their faces closely. They were having a discussion about something, probably him as the man gestured to the archway Link had emerged from. He then said something else and Link could clearly make out the name "Zelda" as it passed back and forth between the two men several times.
The soldier then called out to his men, and they slowly lowered their weapons, motioning for Link to do the same. He was outnumbered, though that had never slowed his past lives down. But, the boy didn't yet know what those strange weapons could do, and he didn't necessarily want to have to find out right at that moment either.
They don't want a confrontation any more than I do, Link understood. And the man in white recognized Zelda's name. It's not much, but it's a start.
Link slowly re-sheathed his sword, although he kept his shield raised. The soldier in charge seemed satisfied with that and they lowered their weapons completely.
Now what do I do? Link wondered. I can't communicate with them, but at least they won't try to kill me.
The man in white seemed somewhat recovered and sensed the impasse which had now formed. He then took out sheet of paper and drew something on it and held it up to show it to Link. He then tapped the picture and pointed at him, and then surprised the boy utterly when he said, "Link?"
Link looked at the picture, it was an imperfect replica of his birthmark. The mark of the Triforce.
In response, Link carefully pulled the glove off of his left hand and held it up so that the man could see the back of it. The face of the man in white held an expression of near disbelief. He heard his name and Zelda's several times as the man talked furiously with the first soldier whose face also took on an unbelieving look. He then heard another word passed back and forth several times so that it sounded like a name, "Atlantis." He didn't know who or what "Atlantis" was, but it was important somehow.
The Hylian boy then remembered the books below, and had an idea of how he could communicate with these people.
He motioned with his free hand for the piece of paper and the writing stick that the man in white had used. Deciding he would have to trust that they wouldn't try to harm him in the next few minutes, Link returned his shield to its resting place over the sword's scabbard on his back.
Kneeling down on the stone floor, he then wrote a single sentence in his native tongue and script, "Do you know where Zelda is?"
He then slowly pulled the Lens from his pouch and motioned for the man in white to approach him and look through it. He did and then nodded in surprise.
Encouraged by this first success, Link took the paper again and wrote, "Can you lead me to her?"
The man read it and nodded again. He then wrote some words on the paper and Link looked through the Lens. It read, "Are you Link?"
Surprised, the boy replied, "Yes."
The man then asked on the paper, "Where did you come from?"
Link responded in Hylian, "Hyrule. I don't know where I am. I must find and bring Zelda home."
The man nodded and then said something at length to the soldiers. Link heard the word "Atlantis" being said several times, as well as "Zelda".
He then wrote on the paper, "We know where Zelda is. She came to our world several days ago. She's in a city far from here, but we can get you there soon. She mentioned your name several times, but we didn't know where or if you would come. We didn't expect you to show up in this city."
Link nodded, and then stumbled a bit. It had been a long climb up the spiral stairs, and the adrenaline of the encounter with the man in the white coat and what looked to be his guards was wearing off quickly.
The man gave him a sympathetic expression and a half smile. He wrote on the paper again and then motioned with his hand to his mouth, "Are you hungry?"
Link nodded again. The truth was that the last few days, from the time he left his village until the present moment had worn him out completely.
"Come with me. We have food. You can trust me. My name is Daniel." The man wrote.
Link looked into his eyes and saw that he could be trusted. In a way the man's eyes reminded him of Saria's. They were kind and compassionate. He felt again like a ten year old boy in over his head, exhausted and needing some comfort.
"Okay." He wrote on the paper.
The man then led him from the ruins. The soldiers followed, their weapons at ease, but never out of their hands.
Zelda woke the next morning to a glorious sunrise in the east rising over the broad ocean. From the eastward facing windows of her apartment the golden sunlight streamed in bathing her in soft twilight which slowly brightened into full day, rousing her gently from sleep.
She sat up from her bed in her nightclothes and, sliding to the floor on her bare feet, she padded softly towards the glass inset door which led out onto the apartment's small balcony. Here, a metal frame table with two matching chairs had been placed up against the solid railing of the balcony, though she chose to use neither of them, instead preferring to stand and view the scene in front of her.
Like much in this city, the view felt familiar, though she couldn't imagine how it might be. Her homeland had no great, sprawling cities like this one, and certainly none which rested on the surface of the sea as easily as a fishing boat might float on Lake Hylia.
The scene in front of her was of a great stretch of metal and glass towers and smaller buildings reaching out away from the central tower of the city which, off to her left rose like a great obelisk or spire high into the sky, higher than any other man made structure she had ever seen. She could see that the tower which housed her apartment was solidly built on what looked to be a great pier, one of several which radiated out from the center like spokes on a wheel, or the points of a star. Beyond these piers was a vast, and seemingly endless ocean. White and gray feathered seagulls flew over the city and occasionally darted towards the water only to emerge with small fish as their reward.
In a brief flash, she saw within her mind's eye the same city filled with people, on another endless ocean. It felt as though a memory, long buried, and almost as soon as it came to mind, it was gone again.
A tear formed in the corner of her eye again, as she tried to retain it without success. The memory seemed important to her, and yet she couldn't understand why.
The ocean was not new to her as the scent of salt filled her nostrils. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She loved the sea, as infrequently as she was able to visit Hyrule's own coastlines. The Hyrule she knew from day to day was land-locked.
The endless ocean in front of her made her feel small and insignificant next to the power of the waves which she could see and hear crashing against the docks and lower parts of the city. The seagulls flew and played in between the towers of the city, squawking and talking to one another. She wondered what they were saying as she stood at the window. And then she asked a question to herself which almost seemed silly.
"Is there no land on this world?" She wondered.
She moved back from the balcony into the apartment, and to a dresser where her dress, pink and silver and overlaid with the royal crest of the Hylian monarchy, lay. She wanted to put her dress back on, but it seemed out of place here, and a bit dirty from having to wear it for several days.
My night clothes are modest enough, she thought, but it won't do for a Princess of Hyrule to go wandering about in her nightclothes.
As she was debating this she saw another set of clothes, neatly folded on a chair next to the door. She picked them up and examined them. It was a plain white, pullover short sleeve shirt, and some kind of blue trousers that reminded her of something some miners she had once met wore because of their sturdiness. A pair of short stockings and hard soled white shoes with sturdy leather and cloth uppers sat on the floor. Underneath the blue trousers was some kind of woven pink cloth with two large holes she guessed was an undergarment meant for her waist and buttocks.
Someone left these for me last night after I fell asleep. She realized. They're very common, but practical.
She looked again at her dress over on the dresser, and then decided that these clothes would be better suited for her task at hand. They looked lighter and more comfortable in the tropical temperatures of this world than her royal dress, and would allow her to blend in a little more easily. Although, she thought as she felt the tips of her ears, it still wouldn't be so easy.
She changed from her nightclothes into the Earth clothes which had been left for her. They were slightly big on her, but fit well enough. The low collar of the shirt caught on her ears and she had to carefully tuck them through with her fingers. The shoes were a little loose in comparison with her boots, but serviceable and cooler in this climate.
In the last few days she had seen no children in the parts of Atlantis which she had been allowed to see, and she wondered that someone was able to find clothing that could fit her. She was taller than most children her age and race, even in Hyrule, but also quite thin in comparison to these Ordonian peoples. She had not yet reached womanhood yet, that was still a few years away.
After dressing, she went back to stand at her balcony door and take in the morning air and think.
She had spent all night going over the symbols that were given to her. Three sets of symbols they told her belonged to three different systems of stargates, one they called a "Milky Way" stargate set, another they called a "Pegasus" stargate set, and a third they designated a "Destiny" stargate set.
She looked them over carefully for hours walking them back through her mind to all of the ancient runes she had even seen before. None of them looked familiar, no matter how hard she tried to make them fit in her mind. She could see that, at least with the first two sets, they were pictures of star constellations, but even then she didn't recognize the constellations. Although in a few from either she could imagine one or two of Hyrule's star shapes which she had seen during clear skies at night. She had tried to take these and work it through to six symbols but couldn't. In the end, she was no farther than when she started.
She missed her father and all the people of her household. There was a cook who would let her sneak strawberry pastries when no one else was looking, although her governess would be horrified if she knew.
Her governess, she had been in the carriage with her when she had blacked out and woken up in this place. Was she okay? Were the brave men in her retinue okay? She didn't know, and she worried for them. They would each, even her poor governess, lay down their lives for her, and that knowledge filled her with guilt. They were champions hand-picked by her father, every one of them. She became frightened that them laying down their lives was exactly what had happened.
Her stomach grumbled. The sun had risen completely and shone down on the world casting long morning shadows wherever its light touched. She wondered when she would be allowed to break fast. She went to her door and waved her hand over the side panel like she was shown and it slid open. Two women dressed as soldiers were standing outside her door. She didn't know why, but they reminded her of the Sheikah she had seen once in her father's court.
On seeing her, one of them touched the funny black device in her ear and said, "Zelda's awake and dressed."
The disembodied voice of Mister Woolsey came through loud enough for Zelda with her Hylian ears to hear although she suspected she wasn't supposed to, "Excellent. Is she wearing the clothes Doctor Keller left for her?"
The soldier glanced at her, "yes, sir." She replied.
"Good. Have her wait there. I'll inform Doctor Keller, and send her there." Mr. Woolsey replied.
The woman opened her mouth to speak, but Zelda informed her politely, "I heard, thank you." The woman nodded surprised.
About fifteen minutes later, Doctor Jennifer arrived and stepped into the apartment. Zelda had returned to the balcony view which had so moved her while she waited to watch this new world in front of her with fascination. Besides the seagulls, every once in a while she could see dolphins leap from the water in the distance, or other, larger cetaceans rise just to the surface and blow water in great spouts before they dove beneath once more.
Zelda then heard light footsteps on carpet and something more enter the apartment.
"Enjoying the view?" Doctor Jennifer asked brightly.
"Good morning, Doctor," Zelda said politely. "It's so different from Hyrule. I've always loved the sea, even though I see it so rarely. Our kingdom's capital is far from the coastline." Zelda told the doctor, turning to face her.
Dr. Jennifer had wheeled a cart with food on it into the apartment and began placing the food on the small table.
"You are very kind, Doctor, thank you." Zelda said.
"It's no problem, really. I haven't had breakfast yet either, so I thought maybe we could keep each other company this morning." The kind woman responded.
"I don't just mean with the food," Zelda smiled and gestured to her clothing, simple as it was, she realized she was thankful for not having to get back into the uncomfortable dress.
"Don't worry about," Doctor Jennifer smiled and waived it off, "We keep a few extra sets of clothes in the medical center just in case. On occasion we have to treat kids as well as adults who come through the gate. It's no big deal, I'm just glad I got the sizes right." She looked at the clothes which fit just a bit loosely, and then added, "more or less."
When the table was set, they both sat down to eat. In front of Zelda were eggs, ham, some kind of orange juice in a pitcher, a pot of steaming coffee and several flat round pieces of bread which Doctor Jennifer took two and smeared butter and a sweet smelling syrup on. Zelda did likewise, as well as taking some of the eggs and a slice of ham. She then took her fork and taste some of it, and it was heaven. She gave way to her hunger, which was more considerable than she realized, as she ripped into the food in front of her. How long had it been since she had eaten properly? They had fed her here, surely, hadn't they?
"It's good to see you've gotten your appetite back." Doctor Jennifer said with amusement.
"I'm sorry," Zelda said, pulling back a bit, "I don't mean to be rude."
"No, by all means, eat up. That's why I brought it." She smiled as she watched the girl devour everything in front of her and take more. "I thought it would be better to have breakfast here than the mess hall. There might be more than a few stares there."
"I see." Zelda replied, wiping her mouth. "I thought your people were used to having visitors who were not from your world."
"Well, we are," the woman said as she took a bite of eggs. "But you're kind of a different case. Remember Doctor Lee?"
Zelda nodded. The funny man who knew almost as much about her as she did.
"Well, he's not the only one who knows about you and your world from... other sources." She told her.
Zelda could tell she was trying to be tactful and not say too much. Perhaps that was just as well. Maybe she didn't want to know all of it.
"At any rate, Mister Woolsey also thought it would be best." The doctor then said.
"So, no more tours of the city then?" Zelda asked, knowing the answer.
"Not at the moment anyways." She answered apologetically.
They both continued eating and Doctor Jennifer poured herself a cup of the coffee. It seemed too warm that day to Zelda to be drinking such things, so she contented herself with the orange juice, which suited her well enough with its sweet yet tart taste.
They continued talking for some time after the food was gone. The doctor would ask about Hyrule and her family, and then she would tell her a little of her home in Wisconsin where her father still lived. Zelda learned that there was indeed land on Earth, huge continents which stretched from north to south and many billions of people. Many cities and people of many cultures and languages. It was almost unbelievable to her. Hyrule seemed small and insignificant by comparison, and yet she knew her world was larger than just her kingdom as well. She had been taught by her tutors of other lands and seas, even though she had never seen them. These people had the knowledge and means to explore and cover not only their world, but many others as well. And she had also learned that much of this knowledge was hidden from most of the people of Earth. That part of the conversation seemed a little uncomfortable to the Doctor.
"Why would you need to hide these things from your people?" Zelda asked.
"Not everyone is ready for these kinds of truths." The woman responded. "If the whole of Earth knew what we know, it would cause chaos, and we can't let that happen. We have to introduce these things slowly to let people get used to it first."
"So, your people don't know about this city then?" Zelda asked.
"No. Most of them don't. Only those who've been given permission to work here, and those higher up in our different governments know about it." Doctor Jennifer said.
"Would knowledge of my existence upset your world?" Zelda asked pointedly.
Jennifer looked distinctly uncomfortable at the question as she replied, "Most likely."
"I see." Zelda said. "So then it would be best for both our worlds that I return as quickly as possible, for many reasons."
"You could put it that way." The woman said, sipping her drink slowly.
"Doctor Keller," Mr. Woolsey's voice came through her earpiece breaking the silence which had grown.
"Yes," she responded touching it.
"Please bring Princess Zelda to the jumper bay, she's going on a little trip." He responded.
"Excuse me? A trip where?" Doctor Jennifer responded.
"Her 'hero' has arrived at the D'ni cavern site in New Mexico." Mr. Woolsey said. "He's been asking for her by name. Doctor Jackson is looking after him at the moment."
"My hero?" Zelda asked, taking the doctor by surprise.
Doctor Jennifer repeated the question.
"Yes, a nice young man armed with a sword and shield and dressed in green who answers to the name of Link. Tell the Princess he's very anxious to see her." Mister Woolsey replied.
"Link?" Zelda wondered out loud as the secret histories of Hyrule which her mother had left for her eyes only rushed into her mind like a flood.