That was the first night in my life, but far from the last, where I dreamed of the lives of the Heroes. Not like I was one of them, or some new adventure my subconscious made up on the fly for me to experience, but actually observing the adventure of a real Hero. I've checked with Fi on occasion, and my dreams line up perfectly with what actually happened. We're still trying to figure out what that's about, and I've started to think I might know, but whether I'm right or now is something that will have to stay in the Shadows for now.
Anyway, my fourth morning with Fi went pretty much as usual at that point, though my breakfast was a little hardier than normal, to help with what I needed to do that day. The new headset system was nice, and not just because I liked having Fi's voice in my ear. Once I'd cleaned my plate, washed it, and was ready to head out for the day, I explained Fi what I was up to. "So, one important thing in Anthropology is making sure you actually found anything, especially in forests like this where so much is obscured. I need to find and flag secondary sites, areas either part of the same ruins as the primary site, or tangentially related buildings and the like. That means I'm going to be trouncing through the forest today."
There was a short pause, so I continued making sure I was bringing exactly the right amount of gear: small snacks, tools for clearing brush, bright fluorescent flag markers that were enchanted to stay in the ground once placed, and knives. Like, seriously, a ridiculous amount of knives. It's a stereotype for Sheikah, I know, but there's a reason for that: you never want to need and a knife and realize you had just thrown your last one. It sounds silly, but I've actually experienced the fear of reaching for one and realizing there's none to grab. It's terrifying, and awfully disempowering. I was afraid Fi would caution me against it, since there was a Gohma Queen nearby. Instead, all they asked was, "How may I assist you in this task?"
Happy to hear they trusted me to stay safe and not get murdered, I explained what I had in store. "What with the giant bug around, I want to stay within one hundred yards of my primary site, namely your ruins, at all times. Luckily, you're connected to my laptop, and with my headset, you can monitor how far away I am using our wireless connection. So, when I'm getting close to 95 yards from you, tell me, and I'll know I need to stay closer. Plus, if I get lost, you can guide me home." I'd meant to say 'here', but if Fi thought anything of my slip of the tongue, they didn't say anything about it.
Once I was ready to go and Fi understood what I needed from them, I headed out. For the first half hour of so, my mind was focused on scanning the underbrush for signs of habitation, but I was also starting to get bored. Luckily, it was right around then that Fi asked me something. "You must have people at your place of employment you know well. Could you tell me who they are, and what they are like?"
I might have been a little slow on the uptake, but it was around here when I started to realize that, after centuries in a forest, Fi really just wanted to know more about the outside world, and that was why they asked me about my day to day life so much. Of course, I owed Fi a lot, and I liked them, so I was happy to answer those questions. "Well, let's see...there's my boss, Mr. Dragmire. He's one of those rare male Gerudo. If he'd been born, like, even just a hundred years ago, he probably would have been a King. But now the monarchy's a thing of the past, so no crown for him. I've always wondered if that was why he's such a strict boss, like he feels he's owed something to make up for the lost throne. Still, he's also pretty generous, and gives compliments when they're earned. He's also weirdly obsessed with making ships in bottles." I'm not sure if there is a proper amount of enthusiasm one can have for such a hobby, but my boss's love goes way beyond it.
Thinking of who else there was, I brought up, "There's also Mags. She's our department's tech person, and she seems nice." I honestly didn't have much else to say about the mousey girl. She kept to herself, and when I had interacted with her, she'd seemed like a bit of a downer. "My office is right next to the one this Goron, Gorko. He's pretty nice, but maybe a little overexcitable. Like, I get being really interested in what can be found in sediment deposits, and what it can tell us about the past, but he's talked my ear off about mica spreads more than once, and that's too many times." Then, the moment I thought of his name, I shuddered. "Plus there's...Terrance." I didn't want to say any more than that to Fi, but Terrance is the creepiest man I've ever met. It was impossible for anyone to really pin down exactly what about the 35-year old Hylian rubbed them all the wrong way, but he just had this...aura.
In my ear, Fi made a pleased sound that was almost like laughter. "Recurrence between timelines?" they asked, almost so quiet I couldn't hear her. Still, I did, and this had been somewhere around the fourth time they had mentioned that word. It had been hard not to ask about it thus far, but just as Fi told me, "You're nearing 95 yards from me," and I turned to walk a bit in a circle to the right before heading back towards the primary site, I had to ask them what I'd been wondering.
"Hey, Fi, what do you mean by 'timelines'? Every once and a while you say something about them, and it's getting me really curious." I didn't spend nearly as much time on it these days, compared to when I was a teenager or a college student, but I did have a love of science fiction. Just hearing the word 'timeline' brought my mind to pulp novels I'd read and television series I'd binged.
While I waited for Fi to respond, I caught sight of my first secondary site. I cleared the underbrush away with my tools, but it turned out to just be a roughly head-sized piece of masonry, probably from the same temple as Fi's sword. Still, I planted a flag and checked the surroundings a little to make sure I found everything there was to see, then moved on. "As we discussed regarding the Hero of Time, time travel is not only possible, but has been done by several different Heroes over time. How it interacts exactly with the continuity of history depends on the method being used, but on the whole, the timeline rights itself naturally.
"However, as his title implies, the Hero of Time interacted far more with moving through time, and making changes as he went, than any other individual I am aware of. This left time itself around him...fragile. This was made worse when, after defeating Ganon and sealing him in the Sacred Realm, he used the Ocarina of Time to return to his childhood, and took steps to stop Ganondorf before he could have ever taken power." All of what they were saying now went entirely against what I knew, but I didn't interrupt, and let Fi continue their explanation. "This created two separate timelines, with different histories. But the damage done already had allowed for a third timeline as well. Normally, when two outcomes are equally possible, only one occurs. But due to the unique circumstances, which have never been repeated and likely never will, both took place: one in which the Hero won, and one in which the Hero had lost his battle against Ganon. It is that timeline that you live in now."
In one conversation, Fi had shattered the Infinite Worlds Hypothesis, as least as far as I could tell, and revealed that the world in which I lived, that I grew up, was one of three that existed, simultaneous, parallel to each other. My mouth was dry, and as I neared the camp and turned around once more, I asked them, "When I'm done for the day, can we talk more about this? I...need to focus more on my work right now." Fi had no problems with that, so over the next few hours, I focused on doing what I was supposed to be doing. By the time back to camp, I'd surveyed about half the area I needed, and found a total of four secondary sites, though none of them looked particularly noteworthy at first glance.
We held off on the further discussion until I'd made myself a big dinner, to help make-up for how exhausted I was from my work all day. Once I was sitting next to the Master Sword, headset disconnected so we could talk face-to-sword, and I asked Fi how they knew all that timeline stuff. "Being an immaterial being, only tied to the physical world through the Master Sword, I exist in all timelines simultaneously." I choked a little on my rice curry, amazed at trying to imagine what that would be like. "Currently, in one timeline, my sword is in a museum, while in the other, my sword is under an ocean."
I laughed at that. "Well, that last one sounds boring." Then, realizing what we usually talked about, my heart began beating faster as I asked excitedly, "Can you tell me about a Hero from another timeline, one who we don't even know about?!" I couldn't believe I'd missed the most obvious benefit the timelines gave me: new Heroes to learn about!
After making a sound of confirmation that sounded like a bell ringing, Fi started filling me in. "In the timeline wherein the Hero of Time went back to his childhood, and was able to lay evidence of Ganondorf's crimes before the rightful authorities shortly after he took the Triforce of Power, the Gerudo King was arrested by the Sages and put on trial for his actions. He tried to fight back, but was not used to the power he then held, only managing to slay one Sage before being sealed in the Twilight Realm."
Fi must have known I was going to ask about that, so they told me, "I may inform you further regarding the Twilight Realm at a later date. For now, I can tell you that it is another plane of existence, like the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf waited there, injured by the Sages, for eons. But he was not alone. Centuries before Ganondorf was born, a group of Sheikah, trying to take the Triforce for themselves, were sealed in the Twilight Realm as well, Ganondorf began to manipulate them as his pawns. It took many years, but eventually an usurper, backed by Ganondorf, invaded Hyrule. It was then that the Hero known later as the Hero of Light took up my sword and fought to save Hyrule."
A ran a hand through my hair, which I then realized was getting a bit shaggy. It was hard finding someone to cut my hair in a way that I liked, and the person I'd settled on was expensive. Still, in the meantime I'd have a cool Woodland Warrior look, or at least that's what I told my self. Focusing back on the conversation, I asked Fi, "What else can you tell me of the Hero of Light?"
They seemed to consider the question a little, before telling me, "They came from Ordon Village, a region that does not exist in this timeline due to differences in expansion and etymology. Due to a curse he suffered during his adventure, he was able to turn into a wolf." I had been taking even more detailed notes than normal, and couldn't help adding a subfooting to that one about how much certain mythology fans would find that very interesting indeed. "His traveling companion was the Princess of the Twilight Realm, who had been transformed into an imp. As for his personality, he was...sweet."
I asked them to better define that for me, and Fi tried to explain. "The Hero of Light often tried very hard to appear serious, but was too warm hearted and good natured to ever really pull it off. He gained many female suitors, all of whom were attracted to that quality in him." I wanted to make a comment about their taste, but then again my taste was mostly limited to strong, confident women who could carry me fireman style, so I had no room to talk. "He was also too honorable for his own good."
That raised a flag for me. "What do you mean by that? Weren't all the Heroes, well, Heroes? I can't imagine they'd be the type someone would call dishonorable." Most modern recreations of the Heroes went all into the whole knight thing: chivalrous, bound by a code of honor, stick up their ass, the whole nine yards.
"That is not the meaning I had meant to convey," Fi told me, sounding more than a little exasperated. "Perhaps it would be better to say he had little creativity. Other incarnations of the Hero were quite intelligent when it came to solving puzzles, and could use that same ingenuity to solve difficult fights in creative ways, rather than fighting traditionally." That made more sense to me. After all, for some reason the Hylian culture had a long tradition of puzzles as security, so anyone in my field had to have a head for them. "But the Hero of Light was raised on stories of valiant knights, and internalized it far more than most other heroes. Due to this, he rarely sought out-of-the-box solutions, and instead focused on knightly combat." Then, Fi made a sound almost like laughter, and it sounded like the purest music imaginable. "It is humorous, for another incarnation, a true Knight of Hyrule, was the most crafty and cunning incarnation in their history." My hopes were raised, and then dashed. "But that is a story, perhaps, for tomorrow. You need your rest, Shel'ra."
Rolling my eyes, I told them. "Yes, Mom," and packed things up for the night. Still, it was hard to fall asleep, even as tired as I was. Heroes in other worlds, other histories, that we knew nothing about. Was there a me in that universe? Or had the timelines diverged so much that anything like that was impossible? Considering what Fi had told me about where they were in both timelines, I knew it was unlikely I'd ever learn. But when I fell asleep that night, I did end up dreaming of a Sheikah girl with blood-red eyes in a desert, digging for something. What it was, I still do not know.
