Chapter 5: Eye of the Storm
The novelty of listening to song after song quickly wore off, and with each unfamiliar tune his newfound hope shattered just a little more. Soon there'd be nothing left of it and he wouldn't even have the will to listen. The music would drift into his ears and wander to the back of his mind where it would remain forever in static.
Princess Zelda, frankly, had no idea what she was doing. That much was evident by the sound the harp produced as she strummed it and plucked mercilessly at its taut golden strings. The grace the princess normally displayed remained even when the gold lyre didn't produce the correct frequencies. If she completely botched up a song, Kid and Tetra wouldn't know the difference. Not a single melody she played, and by now she must have played close to a hundred for them, bore any sort of resemblance to a tune he may have known once.
Music wasn't terribly common on the Great Sea. Not many possessed instruments, and, more often than not, those that did had no idea how to play. In a way, music was a lost art, in another a mystery for the imagination to run off and play with, but it wasn't a forbidden art. The denizens of the Great Sea were free to do just about anything. Kid was sure that the thought to craft an instrument by hand had occurred to someone once, only for them to find that they had no way of doing it. No materials, no experience, and no instructions. It was a lost cause and most wouldn't mind. Who would pay to hear music when money could be much better spent elsewhere?
Pleasant sounds weren't expected on the Great Sea, nor were they longed for. Kid's meager experience with music was born of the wind that he conducted. It was an entire orchestra filled with instruments he had no names for, but that didn't mean he knew much more than the average islander. The melodies he had learned to conduct were sung by the wind and their effects were straight and to the point. None of those songs were what they needed.
Kid's eyes followed Tetra's form for what must have been the hundredth time as she circled around the small sitting area in the Princess of Hyrule's bedchambers. Watching her pace was beginning to make him dizzy.
Tetra had been pacing ever since the fifth song had failed to bring about results. She was antsy and irritable from lack of a promising breakthrough and from being cooped up in the same room all day. And it had been all day. Lunch had come and gone as had dinner. Kid had pretended to be asleep for the latter, figuring he didn't want to see if Tetra stayed true to her threat at lunch time that if he didn't eat the next meal himself, she'd find a way to shove it down his throat. The sun had set a couple hours ago and the room was now nurtured by the wavering light of many candles.
He wasn't willing to voice it, but he was getting a little concerned about his counterpart and Midna. Shouldn't they have been back by now? Seeing as the province hadn't been plunged into perpetual twilight meant that they had to have subdued Zant by now, so where were they?
"Tetra, please sit down," Princess Zelda requested, lowering the harp to rest on the arm of the couch she was seated on. "You're making me dizzy." Good to know he wasn't the only one.
"If I'm making you dizzy, then don't look," Tetra countered.
Kid casually stuck out his right leg as if he was stretching, intending to force Tetra to stop. However, she nonchalantly stepped over his outstretched leg without missing a beat and continued her pacing. That was as much effort that he was willing to expend for the cause and mutely retracted the obstacle he had created.
"Did you finally run out of songs?" Tetra wondered, when the silence stretched on without a new tune to break it.
"Yes," Princess Zelda sighed. "Are you certain that none of them sounded familiar?"
"Absolutely sure," Tetra responded immediately, "I'd like to know where you'd learned so many songs."
"Why?" the princess asked.
"So you can go learn some more for us," Tetra answered as if it was obvious.
The princess shook her head. "That's not possible. I heard most of those at balls and extravagant parties my parents held when I was much younger. I'm not positive that I recalled some of them correctly, so there's still hope."
If there was still hope, it didn't matter because Kid had lost his again. Glancing at Tetra as she made her way around one more, he noted that the hope she'd held in her eyes all day was quickly fading, only hers didn't transform into sadness like his did. Hers transformed into unmatchable fury.
Tetra stopped and stood completely still for the first time in hours. Her hands balled into fists at her sides and if the untamed fires blazing within her ocean blue irises was any indication, she was more than past due for punching something…or someone.
"Hope," Tetra spoke the word with so make disdain it nearly made Kid flinch, "It's nothing more than wishful thinking. If that's what we're relying on then I agree with Kid. This is hopeless!" She threw her hands up in defeat and plopped down in the nearest unoccupied chair with much more force than was necessary.
"It's not hopeless," Princess Zelda insisted, but Kid could detect the hint of doubt in her voice. It was just a hint, but it was there. "Just because we haven't discovered the correct song yet doesn't mean we never will."
"Oh yeah? And when does our search end, Zelda? Tomorrow? A week from now? A month? Years?" Tetra shot back.
The princess opened her mouth to respond but a knock from behind her closed bedroom doors interrupted her. As she rose to answer it, she picked up the Goddess Harp and passed it to Tetra who accepted it with a scowl on her face. The princess probably meant for Tetra to hide it in case the person at the door was someone she didn't want to see the lyre. Instead, Kid watched as Tetra brooded in the seat across from him, teasing a single string on the harp.
Deciphering what Tetra was thinking has always been a challenge for Kid. With each passing day he was sure that he improved, and then she did something that made him realize that he didn't know as much about her as he thought he did. Her words implied that she was giving up but the fire in her eyes didn't show any signs of fading.
Tetra was the most stubborn person he knew, and it was for that reason he didn't want her to give up with him. They needed a miracle that could only be instigated by Tetra's headstrong attitude. If she gave up, he feared they'd never get home.
Kid's gaze dropped to his lap where Aryll's telescope lay. He'd retrieved it from the room he shared with Link earlier because he didn't want to risk losing it. If he never made it back to the Great Sea, and that was looking more and more likely as the day progressed, he wanted to have something solid to remember his sister by. His breath caught as he absorbed this possibility in full. If they were stuck here for the rest of their lives, then they'd never be able to fulfill the promise they made to King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule. As he and Tetra had floated back to the surface shielded by bubbles, Kid was almost positive that he'd heard the king called them the seeds of the future. If that was true, then their world didn't have a future without them in it.
They wouldn't have much of a future here either. He would never get to see his family again, and Tetra would lose her standing as pirate captain along with her entire crew. They would become two orphaned kids with nowhere to go. What would happen to them then?
"Nice to see you're back Tetra," Link commented, startling Kid out of his thoughts. Kid quickly looked his counterpart over. He appeared to be fine, so what had taken so long?
"I never left, dimwit," Tetra shot back, her stony expression growing even stonier.
"Well, you're in a good mood," Link observed sarcastically.
"Seriously, what bit you?" Midna wondered, melting out of the shadows and becoming a solid entity, "I thought you'd be a little happier since you're back to normal. How'd you manage that anyway?"
"Just shut up!" Tetra snapped, ignoring the questions and keeping her eyes trained on the single, golden harp string she was messing with as if she blamed it for everything wrong with the universe.
"Hey, Kid," Link greeted him, apparently giving up on engaging Tetra in conversation for the time being. He shouldn't have though. Link had a better chance of holding a meager conversation with Tetra, even if it mostly consisted of screaming, than he did with him. Kid let his gaze fall to the telescope in his lap, not waiting to see the sympathetic smile on his counterpart's face. Sympathy meant nothing, especially now.
"You two have been gone all day. Was there an issue?" Princess Zelda inquired when it became clear that Link wouldn't be receiving a response from either of their counterparts. The only thing that kept Kid from tuning out was the fact that he wanted to know the answer to Zelda's question too.
"Not really," Link replied, taking a seat next to the princess as Midna reclined on the arm of Kid's chair.
"Zant won't be bothering anyone anymore," Midna spoke up, "We took care of him. Well, technically, Lanayru did, but we helped. Eee hee!"
"So what took so long?" Princess Zelda wondered.
"My, my, did you miss us that much?" Midna teased, "I'm touched."
"Even when Zant was disposed of, the Twilight over the Eldin Province refused to lift, so we had to travel all the way there to dispel it. After that, we stayed in Kakariko Village for a while," Link explained.
"Was there a particular reason for that?" Zelda asked. Something in her tone made Kid suspect that there was more than curiosity behind her inquiry.
"Well, naturally everyone was sort of freaked out. The Resistance were still in Kakariko, and I ended up talking to them and some of the other people I personally know there," Link reflected, "Why? Did you need us here for something?"
The princess didn't respond, and Kid suddenly felt eyes on him. He didn't dare raise his head though. Before the pause in conversation could become awkward, Midna changed the subject, "So what have you guys been up to while we were gone?"
"Research," Princess Zelda answered, "So far we've established a method of traveling to the Great Sea, but we don't have a way there yet."
"What's the method?" Link wondered.
"We must play a certain song on the Goddess Harp. As of right now, determining the correct song is still a work in progress," the princess admitted.
"How will you know if it's the right song?" Midna asked.
"It is supposed to be a backward version of the song the sages played to get them all here. Since neither of them remember the original song, we've been experimenting in order to figure out what it was," Princess Zelda explained, "I've played every song I can think of but none of them are what we're looking for."
"I remember a couple songs from my last adventure. If you'll let me have the harp I can try to play them," Link said, glancing at Tetra expectantly. She had no problem relinquishing her possession of the golden lyre and practically threw the instrument at him. Link didn't comment on her hostility and experimentally plucked at the strings of the lyre until he found the notes he was looking for. Link then played a few melodies on the harp that were new to Kid's ears. None of them sounded familiar, and Tetra shook her head furiously every single time he paused in his playing.
"It must be an old song, right?" Midna interjected, glancing between Kid and Tetra for their input.
"I don't know. Maybe. Why? What makes you think it's an old song?" Tetra wondered.
"Just because the goddess Hylia had to know it. I mean, she did set this up for you guys so the song that brought you here must be ancient," Midna concluded.
"Shad knows a lot about ancient things. Maybe I can go ask him tomorrow," Link proposed.
"That scholar guy? Are you sure he knows stuff about songs?" Tetra queried, doubtful.
Link shrugged, "I'm not really sure, but he does research a ton of old things. He probably knows something we don't."
"Or we could ask Fi," Kid suggested, surprising himself and everyone else when he spoke up, "She really is ancient."
"That's true," Link agreed. "Fi? Do you know any songs?"
The sword spirit materialized beside Link, hovering just inches above the floor. "There are a total of five songs stored on record. Which one would you like to hear, Master?"
"Uh...all of them?" Link replied uncertainly, almost as if he hadn't expected Fi to say that she knew any songs.
Fi bowed her head in a nod before opening her mouth to begin. Kid honestly had no idea what he expected to hear, however, he was startled by the sound that met his ears. Fi was actually singing, not just notes, but words. Ancient words. Kid thought that it must have been the closest to emotion she'd displayed thus far. It was certainly musical. The song projected by her automatic voice wasn't familiar, and yet it was. Kid knew it wasn't the song that had brought them to this alternate world. It was too jubilant a tune. For some reason, it reminded him of a wooded area teeming with life. He could almost imagine flowers unfurling their colorful blossoms in order to capture the forest's song in their petals as leaves were whisked into mini whirlwinds and forced to dance to the lively music.
Kid found himself disappointed when the song was over, but Fi moved on to the next one without needing any orders. Link had said he wanted to hear them all. The next tune was much slower, but that didn't make it dull. Fi seemed to have the ability to make her voice echo and often he was sure that he heard underlying accompaniment which sounded like tinkling bells. The song itself reminded him of water dripping into a pool, like a waterfall streaming down a cliffside and entering the clear water below drop by drop instead of in a deafening white mess of foam.
"Too relaxing," Tetra complained, "This isn't it."
Fi finished her song despite Tetra's rejection, and then moved onto the next. This one was so abrupt it made Kid suck in a quiet breath. It was fast paced and passionate. Thoughts of fire immediately entered his head, and Kid could have sworn that the candles burned a little brighter and the mini flames bristled a little more as Fi sang. Kid gave a barely imperceptible shake of his head. This song wasn't it either. It was too forceful. Each note was screaming, rather than singing, in his brain, causing him to become lightheaded.
As Fi started on her fourth song, Kid found it harder to retain interest. At first it had seemed like a good idea, but now he wasn't so sure. The song she was singing now held the same strange sense of familiarity as the others had, but Kid knew that it wasn't the right song. It reminded him of every good deed he'd ever done, everything that made him a hero, which in turn reminded him how he was failing at that particular job of his at the moment. The song ended, and Kid didn't feel any better than he had when it started.
For the final song, Kid took his eyes off of the singing spirit and allowed his thoughts to carry his consciousness to the darkness that had been sucking at him all day. He didn't need to hear anymore, for he'd heard enough. Listening to another song would only disappoint him further.
Suddenly Tetra was grasping his shoulders, shaking him and practically yelling. No, she was yelling. Bewildered, Kid's attention was pulled from the dark recesses of his mind to the very front. Was something wrong? Did he faint without realizing it? Was she freaking out because she finally realized they were stuck here forever? Well, he was way ahead of her on that one.
"This is it! It's the song, Kid, I know it is! Isn't it?!" Tetra shouted, still shaking him. He didn't move to stop her, but he did listen. His curiosity overpowering the despair inside him.
Fi's voice was clear as she sang in a different language, the notes piling on top of each other, climbing closer towards anticipation, towards a tune he'd only heard once but suddenly felt that he knew so well. He could recall how Medli's lyre had mixed with the sweet undertones of Makar's viola to create this wonderful song. A masterpiece he only had the pleasure of hearing one time, and yet, here he was hearing it again. This time with lyrics that made no sense to him. The words didn't matter though, just the sound.
"That's it," Kid confirmed, his eyes wide in shock as Tetra released her grip on his shoulders. Kid straightened in his seat and locked eyes with Fi as she finished the song. "Fi, what's that song called?"
"The Ballad of the Goddess," Fi supplied, her voice once again lacking any emotion, but it was okay. She'd shown enough already.
"Of course it is," Tetra scoffed.
"Sing the Ballad of the Goddess backwards Fi," Kid commanded.
"Kid, I don't think she can-" Link cut in, but was interrupted by Fi.
"As you wish, Master," Fi responded, fully prepared to obey. She then began to sing again. To Kid's astonishment, her voice found a melody, unlike the countless songs Zelda had played forwards and then backwards on the Goddess Harp which had all been warped and odd, as if someone had simply thrust a bunch of notes together and threatened to call them a song.
Princess Zelda let out a small gasp as Fi continued to sing. "Why didn't I think of that before? How could that song have slipped my mind?"
"How do you know the song Fi's singing?" Midna wondered, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
"It's the royal family's song," Princess Zelda said, "It has been for centuries."
"But…it can't be," Tetra refused to accept the information, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Princess Zelda asked.
Tetra's hand found her bandana, and she was silent, thinking. "It can't be the royal family's because…my mom wouldn't…it was hers. It's mine. It's not yours!"
"Huh? What do you mean it's yours?" Midna inquired, "Did you make the song?"
"No, but my mom said…when I was little she said it was my song. It was special…" Tetra trailed off, her former excitement forgotten as she began to recall old memories she worked so hard to bury.
"It is special," Princess Zelda agreed, "Your mother wasn't lying to you. It really is your song. It's mine as well."
"How can it belong to both of us though?" Tetra exclaimed, her eyes blazing, "My mom told me that it was made for me, and if anyone else knew it-"
"Then you could put full, undying trust in that person. Correct?" Princess Zelda guessed.
"Yes. How did you know that?" Tetra asked, wary.
"Because my mother told me the same thing when I was younger," Princess Zelda explained, "She'd sing that song to me every night. Is that what your mother did for you?" At Tetra's small, disbelieving nod, the princess continued. "That song is made for the Princess of Hyrule. It's called Zelda's Lullaby."
"Zelda's…?" Tetra repeated, biting her lip and lowering her gaze to the floor when she couldn't get the full title out. Kid watched her shake her head and cross her arms as if it didn't faze her. She wasn't fooling him though. "Whatever. Who cares what the stupid song is? Just play it already," Tetra ordered the princess, who was currently in possession of the sacred instrument.
"Not yet," Princess Zelda refused with a slight shake of her head. Kid leapt to his feet to stand beside Tetra who was equally shocked by the answer she'd received.
"Not yet? What do you mean not yet?!" Tetra exploded, "Now that we have a way home, I'm not waiting a second longer!"
"Why can't we go now?" Kid wanted to know, managing to keep his voice level but just barely.
"There are still some things we must prepare for. At the very least I must gather some supplies before we depart," Princess Zelda explained, in a way that Kid could only describe as cold hearted. After all this time they could go home. More importantly, he had a way to his missing friends and little sister. Now the Princess of Hyrule was standing in their way. Since when did their friend turn into their greatest enemy?
"What's to prepare for? It's our home!" Tetra fumed, "We know what's there. We can get any supplies we need at Windfall. You said yourself that our potions are more effective anyway!"
"Do you have the money to pay for all of it?" Princess Zelda challenged.
"We have money," Kid assured her, "We can pay for anything we'll need, right, Tetra?"
When he looked to the young pirate captain her brow was furrowed in thought. "We do have money," Tetra confirmed finally, "but the money we have is strictly for supplying the ship and repairing it if need be. It doesn't matter though. We can do a little piracy to fund us if we need to along the way."
"So…it boils down to stealing?" Link concluded, "I don't like that idea."
"No, not stealing! Treasure hunting," Tetra corrected him.
"Taking things from people is called stealing," Link informed her as if she was a small child that didn't know the difference between right and wrong.
"The ocean floor isn't a person. It won't miss anything we take from it," Tetra argued, her hands finding her hips, "What do you take me for?"
"Well…you said you were a pirate and you're talking about committing piracy to get money so…" Link trailed off, uncertain of his interpretation of the word pirate.
Tetra rolled her eyes. "Look, don't stereotype me. Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean I ransack villages or kill people! There's barely any of those anyway. I'll admit, some pirates can get nasty, but not all of them are so bad. My crew and I, we search for treasure, and believe me there's a lot of it to find, sunken kingdom and all, or we hunt down people that are being jerks and scare them into being more agreeable. If you want an example, there was this shop owner on Windfall. He owned the only bomb shop on the Great Sea. There used to be another, but it got wrecked. Anyway, he was charging super high prices, like ten thousand rupees for ten bombs. It was insane! And people need bombs on the Great Sea, fishermen especially, but pirates also. After we got done with him, the guy was a totally different person. His prices weren't only reasonable, but generous, and now he makes more than he would have charging those insane prices! See? Everyone's happy and nothing but that guy's ego had to die."
"So you guys are like…reformers?" Midna wondered.
"Sure, if you want to call it that," Tetra shrugged.
"Back to the point, you two don't have money to spare?" Zelda inquired.
Tetra sighed in resignation, "No, Zelda. We don't."
"That's why we need to prepare. We have a chance to, and we'd be fools to not take it. We'll leave the day after tomorrow." Princess Zelda announced.
"What?!" Kid and Tetra exclaimed at the same time.
"NO! You can have tonight to prepare, but we're not waiting an entire day! If I stay cooped up in this room much longer, I'll go crazy! We leave tomorrow morning," Tetra declared in a tone that implied the topic wasn't available for compromise. In Kid's opinion, tomorrow morning wasn't soon enough. Anything could happen to the Great Sea by morning. Ghirahim already had a head start on them as it was.
"We go now," Kid interjected, "I don't want to wait."
"Be that as it may, I'm afraid you must," Princess Zelda replied, holding up a gloved hand for silence when Kid opened his mouth to interrupt. "Just listen for a minute. When you came here, all of you were separated. How do we know that playing this song in this specific location will take us back to the exact place you two and your companions departed from? If we land somewhere else entirely or become separated from each other, what then?"
"Then we deal with it," Tetra stated, annoyed with Princess Zelda's logic.
"And if we land in the middle of the ocean with no islands to be seen for miles?" Princess Zelda wondered. Neither of them said anything to that. The princess accepted their silence as her own victory and continued, "Here's what I suggest: We compare the map of your world with ours, see how they match up and determine the best place to play the song in order to give us the best chance of being transported to the correct island."
Kid wasn't willing to admit it was a good idea, so he silently got out his sea chart as Link produced a map of Hyrule from one of his pouches. They spread both maps out on the floor, sitting around them in a half circle so everyone could see. Fi, who had finished her song long ago, had dismissed herself and returned to the Master Sword strapped to Link's back.
"First of all, where would the castle be on your map if it was there?" Princess Zelda asked him. Kid pointed out where the Tower of the Gods was on his sea chart and the princess frowned. Kid knew why even though he couldn't read the other map. There was an unmistakable castle depicted in the very center of the map of Hyrule, whereas the location of Hyrule Castle was shifted the right on his sea chart.
"Can you both estimate about where you found yourselves when you arrived?" Princess Zelda requested.
Kid switched his attention to the map of Hyrule, his eyes following the trail to the south gate and trying to mentally calculate how far they had been from the town. He hesitated before tapping the middle of the southern section of the sketch of Hyrule field. A second later Tetra pointed to an outlying section near the south.
"Well, you both landed in the Faron Province," Link observed. Kid didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing since they hadn't landed anywhere close to each other within the province. Wherever the border was, he was sure Tetra was towards the bottom of it and he the top.
"On your map-" Princess Zelda began.
"Sea chart," Tetra corrected the princess, "It's a sea chart."
"Right, the sea chart. Where were you when you left?" Princess Zelda inquired.
"Windfall Island," Tetra announced, sliding her finger over to the sea chart and pointing to where the island was since the princess could not read it.
"Eee hee hee! It just went from something we could work with to something completely random. That makes no sense," Midna laughed, indicating both pieces of parchment with a wave of her hand. Kid failed to see what was so funny about it. The longer they debated over this topic, the longer they remained in Hyrule. Nonetheless, he had to agree that it didn't make much sense. They had landed to the south of Hyrule and started from the north in their world.
Princess Zelda reached over and turned his sea chart around so they were all viewing it upside down.
"Sure, that's one way you can make north into south," Link joked.
"It makes more sense now though, doesn't it?" Zelda pointed out, "Look, in relation to where the castle is on their sea chart and where the castle is on our map, the island they were last on and the locations they awoke in are relatively close.
"Tetra was closer," Kid noted, "She was practically in the same spot as the island would have been."
"And you weren't, so why?" Zelda mused, "It doesn't make sense for there to be that much of a difference. In relation to where you arrived in Hyrule, you should have departed from here." The princess pointed to the square that contained Eastern Fairy Island.
"The way I see it, it doesn't matter all that much," Tetra interrupted, getting to her feet, "If we play the song from here, we'll most likely end up in the Tower of the Gods. Believe me, there are worse places to be."
"But your ship isn't there, is it?" Link wondered.
"No, but the Tower of the Gods isn't too far from Windfall. We can catch a ride from Beedle if we have to. Doesn't he make rounds there?" Tetra nudged Kid for an answer and he slowly nodded, trying to recall the chart he'd received of Beedle's locations from memory. He was almost positive that Beedle passed by the Tower of the Gods.
"Who is Beetle?" Midna asked, "Is he a bug?"
"Beedle, not Beetle," Kid said, "He runs a shop ship that travels around the Great Sea."
"That could work," the princess admitted, "but it's still risky. I'd like to look into it more before we go, and I need more than tonight to do that properly."
"What more is there to look into?!" Tetra exclaimed.
"Well, for one Link and I would look suspicious dressed as we are at the moment," Princess Zelda pointed out, "So my next question is in regards to the weather. What is it like at this time of year?"
"You're not going on a vacation, goddesses!" Tetra seethed, any patience she managed to retain from earlier now nonexistent, "It's a freaking ocean! It's tropical weather all year round! If you're not willing to take us tomorrow morning then the deal's off. We can do this without you guys. Just give me the stupid instrument, and Kid and I will leave right now!"
"You two can't do it on your own," Princess Zelda objected, "That's the reason why Hylia brought us all together."
"I don't care! Kid, and I can do it. We killed Ganondorf by ourselves. We don't need your help," Tetra countered. She held her hand out to the princess, "Now give the lyre to me, or I'll take it by force."
The princess stood, cradling the Goddess Harp in her arms like a newborn. "I'm sorry, Tetra, but I'm not giving it to you."
Tetra said nothing in response and charged forward, leaping over both maps and straight for the princess who raised the harp high above her head. Before she reached the princess, Link was on his feet and holding her back.
"Let me go you idiot!" Tetra yelled.
"I will when you calm down," Link returned, struggling to keep her restrained without hurting her, "There's no way you're leaving without us."
"Then let go and come with us," Tetra ordered, "You can't really agree with her keeping us here longer, can you?"
"Normally I'm fine with winging it, but if we have a choice we should be smart about it," Link answered honestly. Kid slowly got to his feet, uncertain if he should intervene and attempt to calm his best friend down. Once he would have stepped in without thinking, but now he was reconsidering. If Link really believed that, then it was two against one. Maybe if he rebelled with Tetra, they could leave now.
Kid understood his companions' concern to an extent, but suddenly he didn't care. Let them get dumped in the ocean! Let them get stranded on a deserted island! Let them materialize in the middle of a crowd of people and have to explain their way out of the awkward situation with half formed lies! At least it would be home.
In the instance that they actually did land on the wrong island, he was sure they could manage. Even if it took days, they could survive. Princess Zelda was just being unreasonable. All she needed was to gather some supplies tonight and they could leave in the morning but no! She was asking for an entire day! A day that they had the option of spending on the Great Sea, instead of in a landlocked Hyrule. A day where they could be searching for their missing friends, for his little sister.
His decision was made, but he never had any time to execute it for he witnessed Tetra's hand slink towards the handle of her dagger and his mind was a second too late on processing what the gesture meant. By the time he realized her intentions, Tetra was already sliding her dagger free of its sheath and whirled around so fast he barely saw it. Link made a sound that was caught somewhere between pain and shock, and she was free.
"Tetra!" Link shouted stunned by her actions and clutching his right hand. Kid saw blood trickle out between is fingers.
"Still don't believe I'm serious?" Tetra raised an eyebrow, her dagger raised as she glanced between Link and Zelda. The tension in the air hung heavy over their heads, making Kid claustrophobic. His brain was muddled, trying to sort out what just happened, and if he should do anything about it.
The rest of them seemed equally shocked as Tetra glared at them with her dagger held poised to strike. Then she moved toward the princess, taking advantage of their disbelief.
"Put the dagger down, Tetra," Princess Zelda demanded.
"Give me the harp and I might," Tetra replied, reaching for the instrument that Zelda held protectively above her head. It was then that Tetra's shadow shifted and became a creature big enough to swallow her whole. Before Kid knew what was happening, a large orange hand wrapped around Tetra and slammed her to the floor. As soon as she hit the ground, her dagger flew from her hand, and Tetra screamed in frustration.
Tetra strained against the hand, trying to reach her dagger. However, the princess was closer and bent down to retrieve the weapon. Only when Princess Zelda had the dagger in her possession did the hand release Tetra. Kid thought it was over, but he couldn't have been more wrong.
"Give it back!" Tetra shouted, scrambling to her feet, eyes leaping with fire and hands curling into fists as she advanced on the princess who held the weapon behind her back with her free hand. Just when Kid thought Tetra was going to punch her counterpart, Midna appeared between the two of them. Before the pirate girl could say or do anything more, the Twilight Princess slapped her so hard across the face that Kid could hear the loud smack! that sounded as a result.
Tetra reeled back from the blow, kneeling on the floor with a hand to her cheek.
"You slapped me," Tetra whispered incredulously.
"And I'll do it again if you give me a reason to," Midna informed her, sounding proud of herself. Then her tone changed to a dangerous one, "I don't care who you are or what you've been through, don't you ever hurt my wolf again."
"Or what? What'll you do?" Tetra tested, looking up at Midna, her shock replaced with anger because angry was the only thing she knew how to be now. Kid sensed that she was about to be hit again and moved between them. What Tetra did couldn't be excused, but he couldn't excuse Midna's actions either. That was his best friend she'd just slapped and she had another think coming if she thought he'd let it slide.
"Move," Midna ordered him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him as if she could intimidate him. He'd seen far more terrifying things in his nightmares.
"No," Kid said, returning Midna's glare, "Leave her alone."
"After what she just did to Link?! No way," Midna disagreed, "Now move, or I'll make you!" Kid had no doubt about that. He felt a light tap on his hand and then it was gone.
"Okay, I'll move," Kid relented, stepping aside. As he did so, Tetra's hand found his and he yanked her to her feet in a second. They streaked past Midna on either side and caught the princess off guard.
Kid personally didn't want to hurt anyone, which is why he went for the golden lyre while Tetra only had sights for her stolen weapon. He was vaguely aware of Link yelling at them all to stop, but Kid had made his decision, and he would stick to it.
Running past the princess and jumping onto the couch, Kid turned and reached for the harp, but he was still too short to reach it. Noticing what he was trying to do, the princess distanced herself from the couch while attempting to keep possession of the dagger as Tetra tried to pry her fingers off of it.
Princess Zelda must have felt that keeping the dagger was more important and dropped the harp, using her free hand to summon a gust of wind that knocked Tetra back off of her feet. The princess had probably been planning on being fast enough to reclaim the harp, but Kid leaped off the couch and caught it before it could hit the floor.
He stumbled a bit upon landing but managed to stay upright. In his peripheral vision he witnessed his shadow shift and immediately knew it was Midna. He stepped back just as she lunged out of the shadows, appearing to be one of them. She'd have to do better than that if she wanted to-
An unexpected wind pushed him backward, and Kid tightened his grip on the instrument as he fell. He landed on his left shoulder which instantly alighted with pain. Trying to push away the invisible fire crawling up his arm, he rolled over and sat up.
Before he could catch his breath, Midna appeared. This time, she was a streak of shadow in his vision. Her orange hair wrapped around the harp and yanked it out of his grasp. Kid stumbled to his feet, desperate to take back the instrument. It was their only chance of getting home.
His head swam but that didn't stop him from lunging for it. The Twilight Princess backed out of reach, and Kid found himself on the floor wondering why the room was spinning.
"Kid, help me!" Tetra yelled for assistance, and that was all it took to get him on his feet. It took him a few seconds to locate her, but once he did, it took him a little longer to realize that he wasn't seeing things. A blue dome surrounded the pirate captain and no matter how hard she pressed against it or punched it, it didn't disappear or move an inch. The princess had put a shield around her and didn't appear to be in the mood to take it down by choice anytime soon. As unsteady as he was on his feet, Kid started towards the princess, not knowing what he would do to get her to release Tetra when he got there.
Maybe it was better that he never did get there. Someone caught his left wrist and pulled him back, reminding him of his throbbing shoulder. He didn't understand why it was hurting so much. He had landed on it, but not hard enough to leave a bruise. Kid tried to twist out of his captor's grip.
"Stop it," Link said, and Kid did stop, but not because his counterpart wanted him to. He stopped because the more he struggled, the more his arm hurt. "We can't leave right this second, but I see no problem with tomorrow morning."
"Seriously?" Kid wondered, tilting his head back so he could see his counterpart.
"Yes," Link confirmed, "Seriously."
"Well, why didn't you say that before numbskull?!" Tetra shouted, slamming a fist on the barrier that the princess had placed around her.
"You never gave me a chance," Link replied as he released Kid. Kid breathed an inward sigh of relief at the lack of tension on his arm.
"I can't have everything ready by tomorrow morning. It's already late," Princess Zelda objected.
"I'll help you," Link promised.
"Now that that's sorted out will you let me out of here?!" Tetra requested, kicking the transparent blue shield impatiently. The princess wiped the barrier out of existence with a wave of her hand.
"My dagger?" Tetra wanted to know, holding out an expectant hand.
"You'll get it back when we arrive in your world," Princess Zelda informed her.
"That's completely unfair! It's mine. You have no right to take it," Tetra glowered.
"I have every right. If you're not going to use weapons properly, then I won't allow you to have them. There is no reason for you to be armed in the castle anyway. You are not in danger," Princess Zelda explained.
"It was self-defense," Tetra muttered, crossing her arms and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
"Self-defense?! He wasn't even trying to hurt you!" Midna protested.
"I'm fine, Midna," Link cut in before Tetra had a chance to respond and start the fighting all over again, "Drop it. It's over and done with now."
"You're okay with her turning on you like that?" Midna exclaimed, shocked.
"No, but you don't have to keep chewing her out for it. It's not like she seriously injured me. It's just a small cut. Nothing a potion won't fix," Link pointed out.
"Fine," Midna surrendered. She turned back to Tetra, "But I'm not sorry for slapping you." The Twili then blended with the shadows, and Kid lost sight of her.
"Both of you should go to bed," Princess Zelda suggested, glancing between him and Tetra when no one said anything, "You're obviously overtired."
"Don't tell me what I am!" Tetra scowled, "I'll go to sleep when I feel like it." As tired as he felt, Kid didn't want to go to sleep either. Nightmares would seek him out just like they had last night and the more fatigued he was the longer he would be vulnerable to them.
Kid suddenly found himself stumbling after Tetra towards the doors of the princess's bedchambers as she pulled him along by his right arm.
"Where are you going?" Link wondered, sounding confused. Kid was equally confused and glad to not be the only one lost.
"For a walk. Don't follow us," Tetra responded, her tone curt. If this answer was meant to clue Kid in to what was going on, then it failed. If anything he was more puzzled than before. Why were they going for a walk?
Tetra flung open one of the doors, and Kid thought it was fortunate that they opened in instead of out because otherwise one of the guards would have probably gotten nailed in the face. The door shut with a slam behind them but by that time they were already halfway down the hall. Kid struggled to match Tetra's fast pace as she led him down a flight of stairs, and then a long stretch of feebly lit hallway.
"Where are we going?" he asked after they had started to jog down what must have been their fifth or sixth hallway. Tetra chose to yank him down another flight of stairs in favor of answering his question. They stopped abruptly in the middle of the next hallway, and Tetra looked in both directions as if checking to see if it was clear. Kid looked too but only saw shadows and flickering firelight from the sconces on the walls.
She then released him and kneeled down close to the left hand wall, running her hand along the white baseboard until she found what she was looking for. He watched as she pulled down on the baseboard and became surprised when about three feet of it fell away to reveal open darkness. Tetra then gripped the bottom edge of the exposed wall and lifted. The panel moved on invisible hinges and Kid estimated it to be about five feet tall.
"How'd you know that was there?" Kid wondered. He hadn't noticed anything different about this particular spot compared to the rest of the wall.
"Zelda told me about it when I asked if there were any secret rooms in the castle last night," Tetra replied, holding the panel as high above her head as she could.
"Why were you asking about secret rooms?" It seemed like a very out of the blue topic to him.
"We were talking about the castle and how it was getting rebuilt after what happened last year. There's still remodeling going on, you know? Anyway, I'd always heard that castles have hidden passages so I wanted to know if it was true," Tetra said, adjusting her hold on the raised section of wall.
"So why are we here?" Kid wanted to know as he watched his best friend step over the fallen baseboard and into the airy darkness beyond.
"Because it's private," Tetra responded. Kid reached out to help her keep the panel up. Once his hands were on it, Tetra took hers off. A small shock startled him and he quickly dug out the Pirate's Charm from his pouch with one hand. A soft blue glow emitted from the stone and when he looked up at Tetra he saw that her stone lit up a small circle in the darkness behind the wall. She motioned for him to follow, and he stepped inside, gripping the panel by the bottom so it didn't slam. Tetra placed the charm around her neck where it floated like she was underwater. She pulled the baseboard back into place by slipping her fingers into a small indentation he hadn't noticed before.
They were completely sealed inside the secret passage now which was much colder than he'd expected it to be. He felt a slight breeze blowing through it as well and concluded that it must connect to somewhere outside. After Kid slipped the charm around his neck, the two of them continued through the passage with Tetra in the lead.
Even with the aid of the blue stones it was difficult to see much of anything. By sense of touch, Kid could detect that the walls to either side of them were fairly close together since he couldn't stretch both of his arms out to either side with hitting the wall. The floor was uneven as far as he could tell, but then he noticed a pattern to it and realized that the depressions were steps.
Kid began to tread with more caution than before. Falling wasn't a good idea because he had no idea how many steps there really were. There was a chance that the passage wasn't even finished. After all, the castle was still being remodeled, and for good reason if what Link had told him about the building exploding was true.
A few minutes later the ground flattened out and the two of them were left facing a wall. Further investigating proved that the passage continued to the left and right. Tetra chose to go right and eventually the area opened up into a small room that was just as dark as the rest of the tunnels. Kid raised the glowing stone in his possession in an attempt to see better but only ended up partially blinding himself and having to spend the next minute blinking away the spots of color. He was about to slip it off and hold it by the leather string tied around it instead but a tap on his shoulder stopped him.
The blue glow from Tetra's charm illuminated her face and made everything else seem even darker. She held up a piece of paper to his face, but it was too close to read. Kid grabbed it and cupped the glowing Pirate's Charm in his hand so he could control the direction of the light. Unlike every other sign and book in this world, Kid could read the words on this paper. It was written in the modern Hylian he was used to. Silently, he began to read it, which was a little challenging when a small blue stone was the only source of light to be had.
'You were looking paler and paler by the second so I decided to get you out of there before anyone else noticed. If you need to say something, write it.'
Kid looked at Tetra with a puzzled expression on his face when he was finished reading and held out his hand for a writing utensil. She provided him with one and showed him to a small table set up in the middle of the room that he hadn't been able to see before due to the poor lighting.
'Why does it matter if anyone else notices? Why are we passing notes?' Kid wrote before pushing the paper and pencil to Tetra so she could respond. He did admit that he wasn't feeling well but that was probably because he hadn't consumed anything for the past two days and he was far too anxious to eat anything now. Tetra slid the paper back to him and his eyes scanned the letters written in Tetra's surprisingly neat hand.
'Because if the others notice and you actually are sick then they won't let us go home tomorrow. Zelda will take any excuse she can get to stay here another day and if she finds out she'll probably make up some crap like "it's not safe to travel between worlds when you're sick". Besides that, Link is super overprotective of us; you've noticed that, right? If you're sick he'll make sure you stay in bed. Midna is the reason for the notes. I wouldn't put spying past her. She did it before.'
He took the pencil and tapped it against his chin in a contemplative matter. Kid commended Tetra for the notes. With so many shadows around, it would be easy for Midna to snoop on them for the others or her own personal amusement. For once, their separate written languages was beneficial.
Kid then wrote back, 'I don't know if I'm sick or not.'
After reading his response, Tetra wrote quickly, 'You look it to me, and that'll be enough for them to keep us here longer.'
'So what do you want me to do about it?' He exchanged the paper with Tetra again and sat down on the floor to await her response. The more he processed the possibility of being ill, the worse he began to feel.
Tetra passed him the paper and he took it and saw she had written, 'Don't let the others know you're not feeling well. Perk up some.'
That was easy enough to say and write but actually doing it was much more difficult. Seeming to notice his hesitance to answer, Tetra whisked the square piece of paper out of his hand and scribbled something else on it before shoving it back into his hands. Reading with a blue light source was starting to mess with his vision, and Kid rubbed his eyes before attempting to read Tetra's latest note. 'I'll help you cover it up. We can sneak into the kitchen and get you something to eat and drink. (I'm pretty sure these passages connect to most of the main rooms of the castle.) You just have to fake it until we get to the Great Sea tomorrow morning. Once we're there we can verify if you're sick or not and we'll take care of it if you are.'
In all honestly, Kid didn't think he could keep anything down if he tried. Suddenly, he began to wonder if keeping it a secret was a good idea. If he couldn't eat, that was serious, right? It was one thing to decide not to eat, but it was another if he really couldn't. If something was seriously wrong, he'd rather not wait. Even if the potions from the Great Sea were brewed with more healing properties than the ones in Hyrule, they didn't help illnesses. Those potions were strictly for restoring magical energy and healing minor to moderate wounds.
Kid grabbed the pencil and flattened the paper out on the floor. Then he wrote, 'What if I'm really sick? It'll only get worse and by the time we get home it might take a long time for me to recover. When we get home I want to look for Aryll, Medli, and Makar first thing, not lay in bed for days.' He stared at it for a couple seconds before holding it out to Tetra. She snatched it out of his hand impatiently and skimmed over the many words for his response. Tetra sighed in annoyance and held her hand out for the pencil which Kid wasted no time in delivering. She then flipped the paper over and hastily scrawled her next message on it.
When she handed it back, Kid had no trouble finding the newest words since they were now the only ones on the thin parchment. 'Quit worrying so much. I think Link has been rubbing off on you. You're probably not even sick for real. You're just weak because you haven't been eating or sleeping much. That's easy to fix. As I said, we can go sneak something from the kitchen, and then you can sleep tonight. You'll be fine.'
It was almost amusing how simple Tetra made it sound. She was most likely correct on the diagnosis she'd come up with but her method of curing him wasn't going to work. Even if he did manage to eat something and keep it where it's supposed to be, that didn't mean that he wouldn't have nightmares. Nothing Tetra could say or do would take those away, and it was for that reason he wouldn't be able to get any rest.
Knowing her and how insensitive she could be, especially when she was irritable, Kid chose not to mention the bad dreams. She'd only tell him to suck it up and stop being a baby because dreams weren't real. After reclaiming their shared writing tool, Kid scrawled what he intended to be his last note on the piece of paper, 'Okay. Should we go now?' Tetra snatched the paper away from him as soon as he set down the pencil and her eyes swept over the letters as her brain swiftly processed them into words and then meaning.
She dropped the paper and nodded to him in agreement. Kid got to his feet, slowly so as not to welcome a dizzy spell, and they headed back the way they'd come. If it was possible, the passage became even darker. They eventually resorted to groping along the wall since the glow of the stones barely provided enough light to illuminate their entire forms and blindly moving forward seemed like a bad idea.
After what must have been fifteen minutes later, the two of them found the kitchen. Despite the late hour, the kitchen seemed to be busier than ever and just the smell of food cooking and bread baking made his stomach tie itself in a knot. The kitchen itself was visible through a grate near the bottom of the wall that they could easily remove. However, it was far too small for them to squeeze through.
Sheltering their enhanced gossip stones in their cupped hands to minimize the glow, the two of them were currently laying on their stomachs to peer into the kitchen. The tiled floor was crowded with many feet, bustling this way and that as their owners prepared things for the morning and cleaned. Kid only hoped no one had to clean the floors or else they'd definitely be seen with the open fire from the stove a few feet away to illuminate them. Kid actually wished he was closer to the fire since his tunic was failing to keep him warm with all of the night air flowing into the secret passage from outside.
Tetra seemed to already be scheming ways to get in and out with food in hand. However, he knew that he wouldn't put anything in his mouth even if they somehow managed to get the food, so he nudged her side with his elbow to get her attention. Once she was looking he mouthed, "Come on," and motioned for her to move back from the grate with him. Tetra rolled her eyes in exasperation, like he predicted she would, and backed away from the grate. When they were far enough from the small grate they hit the steep steps that they'd used to reach the vent.
"You're not going to eat anything, are you?" Tetra asked in a tone that implied she already knew the answer.
"How did you know?" Kid whispered back as he climbed down. The steps were so steep they could classify as a ladder.
"Please, you're like a book. A children's book. Very easy to read," Tetra proclaimed, "Which is a problem."
He offered a meager shrug in response. Personally, he didn't view it as a problem. Until he'd met Tetra, he'd never known anyone that possessed the ability to hide their emotions so skillfully. Half the time he couldn't tell if she was content or bored. It wasn't too hard to figure out when she was mad or irritated. For some reason, she didn't have trouble expressing negative emotions. For Kid, they all came naturally. Usually none of them ruled over the others, but lately that hasn't been the case.
"Midna, if you're here, you might as well come out now," Tetra invited, peering into the shadows disapprovingly. Kid looked too but the darkness pressing in on all sides quickly made him claustrophobic, and he redirected his gaze to the glowing stone floating above his chest. A minute passed in which the only sounds were those floating down to them from the busy kitchen above.
"I don't think she's here," Kid commented, "If she was she would have come out."
Tetra kicked a pebble on the floor that he couldn't see and it clanked in the darkness, leaving behind a tiny echo in its wake. "Yeah…can you believe she slapped me?" Tetra huffed, turning to him.
"Well, you were a little out of line there…" Kid trailed off and dropped his gaze to the floor so he didn't have to watch his friend get angry at him for saying so.
"It's Link's own fault for touching me. I don't like to be touched," Tetra said bitterly, "Besides, Zelda's just…ugh. How do we possibly share a soul?" Kid remained silent, feeling that he wasn't there to answer, but to listen. He thought the pirate girl would continue on her tangent but she simply shook her head and began walking at a brisk pace.
Kid attempted to match her speed but ended up making himself dizzy in the process. Pushing through it, Kid continued to follow her. If he lost track of Tetra, he knew that he'd never get out of the secret passage. They had made so many turns that he had no idea where the room that they'd exchanged written messages in was, much less where they'd started from.
Without warning the room tilted, and Kid stumbled. He attempted to right himself but it was futile. He fell forward, expecting to hit the ground, and he did. After hitting five stairs first. Then he found himself on the floor, his palms stinging and pain lacing his left shoulder. He gritted his teeth to keep himself from crying out. Everything ached, but Kid didn't think that he broke anything. What concerned him was the floor. The blackness was chased away by a swinging blue light which blended with tiny pebbles to turn the ground into a swirling mess that made him nauseous.
"Kid, you klutz. Are you okay?" Tetra's voice startled him with how suddenly it sliced through the silence. He closed his eyes and shook his head a little, not trusting himself to speak.
"Is it really bad? Can you stand?" Tetra asked, sounding concerned this time. Kid allowed his eyes to open and this time the floor was still along with the light emitting from the rock around his neck. He swallowed the nausea, carefully lifting his head to see Tetra kneeling down beside him.
Kid adjusted himself so he was sitting and took a breath to calm himself. His heart was racing, and, as far as he understood, there was no reason for it. So he'd fell down a few stairs. It wasn't a big deal.
"Come on. You set the pace," Tetra ordered, pulling him to his feet, "We'll head to the room that I shared with the others last time we stayed here, and you can rest there for the night, okay?"
Kid agreed with the smallest of nods, and the two of them set off again at a much slower pace. Tetra warned him whenever there were steps in a joking manner that he would have registered as degrading at any other time, but currently regarded as courteous. After what felt like forever they finally made it out of the drafty passage and Tetra cut off communication between the stones so they hung lifelessly around their necks. Kid slipped his off and stowed it away while Tetra closed up the entrance to the hidden passage.
Despite his fatigue, he still didn't want to rest for fear of nightmares, but laying down couldn't hurt. Moving made him dizzy and his vision blurred with the sleep that decided to torment him every time he blinked. It was as if in the short millisecond it took to close his eyes and open them again, sleep was able to briefly grab him and left its mark behind when it found that it couldn't keep him.
Tetra finished sealing up the entrance and took his hand, alerting him to the fact that he'd been swaying a little on his feet. "It's a short walk," Tetra informed him, "but try to look a little less disoriented if you can. Just in case we run into someone." She let go of his hand and gestured for him to follow her. Fortunately for him, she set a relaxed pace that he could keep up with as he tried to keep the haze out of his eyes and ignore the headache that had suddenly sprung into his right temple.
She had claimed it was a short walk, but Kid was beginning to think she'd lied as they began to climb a second set of stairs. "How much farther?" Kid wanted to know, holding tight to the railing and imagining it was a rope he was using to aid his climb up the steps, going hand over hand.
Tetra, who was a couple stairs ahead, glanced back at him. "Straight through this hallway at the top of these stairs, then a left and another left, and we'll be in front of the door." It still sounded miles away, but Kid continued to climb, pushing every other thought out of his mind.
When they finally made it to the room, Tetra threw open the door and let him in first before following. She closed it in a civil manner behind her and they were plunged into darkness. No candles were lit and the room felt unbearably cold, causing him to shiver.
"Darn it," Tetra muttered, stumbling around in the dark and trying to find a match.
"Why's it so cold in here?" Kid wondered wrapping his arms around himself to conserve his body heat.
"Huh? It's not cold, you weirdo," Tetra said from somewhere within the blackness.
"A window must be open or something," Kid insisted.
"There's not," Tetra declared.
"How do you know?" Kid tested, not believing her.
"Because if there was we wouldn't be in pitch blackness. There'd be a little moonlight coming in and there's not," Tetra pointed out, "But that's actually a good idea. If I can find a window then I can open it and we'll have some light."
"Don't do that," Kid protested, "It's cold enough already."
"Look, if you're cold, grab a blanket off one of the beds," Tetra sighed as she delved within the darkness for any indications of a window.
"Where are the beds?" Kid asked.
"Somewhere in this room," Tetra replied smartly. Her tone transformed into a victorious one. "Aha! Here it is." Silvery light floated into the room from the far wall, outlining Tetra's form and a few other pieces of furniture. Kid gravitated towards one of the larger outlines, and was satisfied to find that it was a bed. He tugged off his boots and grabbed the nearest blanket, wrapping it around himself as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Two quick raps on the door made them both jump. Tetra motioned for him to lay down and he did, understanding what she was thinking. He then watched as she ran over to the door and opened it, candle light from the hallway flooding into the still dark room.
"What?" she demanded in an irritated voice.
"Is Kid with you?" Link's voice met Kid's ears, and he tried to slow his breathing so it would sound like he was sleeping.
"Yes. Why?" Tetra replied, lingering in the doorway so Link couldn't get inside.
"Because I have his sea chart and Aryll's telescope. He left them in Zelda's room," Link said. Kid had completely forgotten. Suddenly, he longed for his possessions, but he fought down the urge to hurry over there and grab them.
"Give them to him in the morning then. He's sleeping right now," Tetra announced in a hushed voice. Kid would have taken that as his cue to close his eyes if it wasn't already so dark. There was no way Link was able to discern where he was in the room, much less whether his eyes were shut or not.
"Really?" Link wondered with curiosity so obviously fake it made Kid rethink, "Because as far as I know, Kid doesn't sleep with his eyes open."
"Wha-no. That's ridiculous. Why would he be sleeping with his eyes open?" Tetra replied, a slight fluctuation in her voice providing Kid with a hint to close his eyes. Letting them slide shut wasn't that hard, but staying awake was. He didn't actually want to drop off to sleep. Kid tried to concentrate on the conversation to keep himself conscious.
"What game are you guys playing?" Link asked, skeptical. Kid had a feeling that his counterpart was including him in that question.
"There's no game," Tetra huffed in impatience, "Look, if you just came by to nag us then-"
"I didn't come by to nag you," Link interrupted her, "I was just going to return these and leave you guys be, but you're both acting weird, and I want to know why."
"I'm not acting weird. You are! And Kid can't act any way because he's sleeping," Tetra informed him, putting extra emphasis on the last word as if it would help get the lie to stick in Link's head.
"No he's not. I can see him from here. When I came in here his eyes were open and he closed them just a few seconds ago," Link announced.
"How can you see in the dark?" Tetra challenged him.
"The wolf thing, remember?" Link reminded her, "I have heightened senses because of it so I can see better in the dark than either of you can." Kid used that as his excuse to open his eyes and sat up, making sure the blanket stayed around him. He did recall Link saying that before, but he hadn't believed it much since his counterpart had never given him solid proof to back up the claim. Now there was no denying that Link had some form of night vision.
"What's really going on?" Link wanted to know, easily pushing past Tetra into the room despite her protests for him to stop and get out.
"Nothing," Tetra and Kid answered simultaneously. It was too short of a response and came far too quickly to classify as anything other than suspicious.
"Seriously, what's the problem? I would try to get Zelda to leave tonight, but there has to be some compromise. We're already pushing it with tomorrow morning as it is," Link informed them. Kid was about to argue that that wasn't it, but Tetra beat him to it.
"Well, you should try to persuade her to leave tonight. There's no way either of us is going to get any sleep. We're so close," Tetra said, closing the door and plunging the room into almost total darkness.
"I know, but I don't think anything I can say will convince her to leave earlier," Link confided, "She doesn't like to be unprepared for things. It drives her crazy."
"She's driving me crazy," Tetra commented, wandering over to the open window.
"Tetra, close it," Kid requested. He'd told her not to open it before, and having light wasn't worth freezing.
"Close what? The window? It's not even open. I just pulled back the curtains," Tetra responded, her tone cross. Kid didn't believe her but stayed quiet, knowing that she'd start yelling at him and irritate his head if he complained about it any further.
"Here, Kid," Link's voice distracted him and he turned towards it. Too fast. His eyes had adjusted to the dark a little so he could see vague outlines but even those were wavering and blurry. He didn't dare move to rub his eyes, afraid that he would lose his balance if he did. Instead, he tried to blink it away. If anything, his already limited vision became worse.
Despite that, Kid knew he had to reach out to take the things being offered to him. Otherwise, Link would know something was wrong, and as much as he'd like to believe that Tetra was incorrect about their having to stay longer if he was sick, he knew that was exactly what would happen.
Warm orange and yellow light suddenly lit up the surrounding area. "Sorry. I forgot you couldn't see me," Link apologized, holding up his now lit lantern. Kid couldn't believe his luck. Link thought he hadn't taken his things yet because he couldn't see. That excuse wouldn't hold up much longer. The light helped Kid distinguish what was what, so the dizzy spell began to fade into an ache in his head which he preferred because it wasn't noticeable to anyone else.
He was still careful in taking his sister's telescope and the rolled up sea chart from Link, but he hoped that his caution wasn't as obvious as he felt it was. Kid set his sister's telescope down beside him and began to put away his sea chart.
"What was up with the window?" Link wondered. Kid was still fumbling with the clasp to close the pouch he'd stowed away his sea chart in, so he didn't comprehend his counterpart's question at first. What window? Why was that important?
"Forget the window," Tetra cut in, leaning over the arched footboard of the bed, "He's tired and doesn't know what he's saying."
Then he remembered. It was cold. It was, but it isn't anymore. Now it was hot. Kid let the blanket encompassing his shoulders fall off and resisted the urge to kick it away. Even though it was no longer on him, it still felt far too close.
Fi startled them all with her sudden appearance. "Master, I am detecting irrational fluctuations in my other Master's emotional state." Fi then turned to Kid, "Will you allow me to do a full evaluation?"
"Uh…I guess?" Kid replied, looking up at her blearily in confusion. His brain was far too muddled to decipher anything Fi had to say.
"Fi, what are you talking about?" Link inquired, just as puzzled as he was.
"My smaller Master currently possesses irregularities for a normal human. However, I cannot distinguish the cause unless I am in his possession," Fi explained.
"Irregularities…" Link trailed off in thought, "You mean…like temperature? He's sick?"
"There is a 96% probability that he is ill," Fi reported.
"What do you know? You're not even human. How can you tell what he's feeling?" Tetra asked, trying to prove Fi false. Fi either didn't hear her or didn't feel it was worth responding to for she said nothing else.
"Let me guess: You two were trying to hide it," Link speculated.
"So what if we were?" Tetra snapped in a haughty tone.
"So what?! It's dangerous!" Link exclaimed, "What were you two thinking trying to keep it a secret?"
"We were thinking we wanted to go home tomorrow," Tetra informed him, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
"Yeah, but you want to go there alive, right? Geez…" Link sighed, putting a hand to Kid's forehead.
"We do, but it's not like he's going to die or anything. You're so over dramatic. It's just because he hasn't been eating," Tetra waved off Link's concern.
"No, it's not," Link objected, removing his hand. "Not eating for a couple days won't give him a fever so quickly. It's something else."
"What is it then?" Kid wanted to know, putting a hand to his own head, unable to tell if it was hot or not.
"I don't know," Link admitted, "but we're going to figure it out. Fi, can you do that evaluation thing you were asking permission to do before?"
"The only means of performing the evaluation is if the sword is in his possession," Fi stated. Link unsheathed the Master Sword and laid it on the bed in front of Kid. Reaching out to grab the hilt, Kid felt a cool pulse beneath his fingertips as his hand wrapped around it. His eyes were on Fi who hovered off to the side in silence, calculations and information running through her head in mere seconds.
"I have detected a raised body temperature of one hundred three degrees Fahrenheit which is four point four degrees higher than normal. There are three possible causes for this. Malnutrition and dehydration are the least likely sources of illness, but they are severe enough to have the capability of being contributing factors. The most likely cause is an infection in the upper arm," Fi announced. Kid glanced at his left arm wondering how in the world he'd managed to get an infection. Link had used a fairy to heal him, so there shouldn't have been any reason for concern. Fairies had always worked before, so why hadn't this one?
"Let me see your arm," Link ordered, setting the lantern down on the bedside table. Kid took his hand off of the sword and held out his left arm wordlessly, watching wearily as his counterpart rolled up his sleeve to expose the cut that Ghirahim's sword had made. Thanks to the fairy's healing magic, it wasn't deep, but it was long, spanning the entire width of his upper arm. Redness surrounded the wound with streaks of scarlet spreading out from it like blood had dried onto his skin and faded into it. However, he didn't see any blood.
"Does it hurt?" Link asked him.
"Sometimes," Kid answered.
"You can feel it though right? It's not numb or anything?" Link checked.
"No, I can feel it," Kid replied.
"Okay, both of you stay here. I'm going to go ask Zelda what to do. She knows more about healing than I do," Link said, reclaiming the Master Sword and slipping it into its sheath.
"You don't know how to cure him?" Tetra wondered, almost sounding like she was gloating. Kid couldn't fathom why. It wasn't like she knew any more than Link did.
"No. Healing isn't really my forte. I know basic first aid but infections are beyond me. I've never had to deal with one before," Link confessed. He then left the room, and the two of them were alone. Tetra didn't try to engage him in conversation, probably guilty about being wrong with her identification of the origins of his illness. Kid didn't blame her for his condition because he knew it was partially, if not all, his fault. The cut probably would have healed itself just fine if he'd been eating, drinking, and sleeping like normal.
Kid wasn't aware of nodding off while sitting there but he must have at some point because suddenly he was opening his eyes, and both Link and the princess were there. The room was well lit compared to earlier. A fire was crackling in the fireplace somewhere in the room and the walls were illuminated by multiple sconces.
"Drink this, okay?" Princess Zelda instructed as she pressed a cup into his right hand. She waited until his fingers closed around it before letting go. He had no idea what it was but guessed it was medicine and brought it to his lips. As soon as it entered his mouth he knew exactly what it was. Water. Kid had no idea how water was supposed to help him, but he didn't complain. Before now, he hadn't realized how thirsty he was. As much as he wanted to gulp it down, he didn't. Kid concentrated on taking small sips. He was so absorbed in doing so that he didn't realize the princess was examining his infected shoulder until unexpected pain blurred his vision and he gasped, instinctively jerking his arm away from Princess Zelda. Coughing now from the water that had been in the process of sliding down his throat when the sudden pain had come, Kid was only vaguely aware of Link taking the cup out of his hand, so he wouldn't spill its remaining contents.
The coughing fit stopped quickly but his shoulder continued to throb with pain that had only just begun to fade.
"Maybe that wasn't smart to have him drinking when you're doing that," Link observed.
"Maybe not," the princess agreed, "We'll do this first then." She tried to take his arm again, but Kid shied away from her touch in distrust. He could still feel the pain from last time, and it was bringing back his nausea from earlier.
"It's just spring water from one of the spirit springs," Zelda informed him. Now he really didn't want her to continue. The spring water might contain healing properties but it came with a price. It hurt just like when the wound was inflicted and, if he wasn't sick, he would be able to power through it.
"You say that like it's supposed to be comforting," Tetra rolled her eyes, "He definitely won't let you touch him with it now." At least Tetra understood.
"I have to do it sometime. Might as well get it over with," Princess Zelda pointed out. Kid shook his head furiously. The motion made him dizzy, but he didn't care. She wasn't getting his consent for this.
"Finish this first," Link said, holding the cup of water out to him. Kid accepted it gratefully, keeping a watchful eye on the princess to make sure she didn't pull anything. She was perched on the edge of the bed with a cloth drenched in spring water in one hand. Kid quickly finished the water and let Link take the cup away, dreading what had to come next.
"Will you allow me to help you now?" Princess Zelda requested. Kid couldn't say no but he didn't want to say yes either.
"Be gentle," Kid muttered before offering his arm to the princess and looking the other way. The pain would catch him off guard whether he was watching or not. This time when it hit him, it came at full force and he couldn't help but flinch away. He immediately became convinced that Princess Zelda didn't grasp the concept of being gentle. The princess wouldn't let him retract his arm though, and so he was stuck there with tears pricking his eyes like miniature needles as fire consumed every nerve in his shoulder and spread down his arm. Zelda whispered apologies the entire time but he barely heard them. To him, they meant virtually nothing. She might have been sorry, but she obviously wasn't feeling sorry enough for him to give him a break.
Once she was finished with the injury itself, she rubbed the spring water on the rest of his arm, targeting the streaks of crimson. This didn't hurt as much but it did sting enough for him to notice through the fresh pain radiating from nerves that were already mended, courtesy of the fairy.
As soon as she released him, Kid curled up on the bed and moaned, wishing to be as small as possible so all of his ailments would be forced to shrink in size with him. It didn't really help the pain in his arm, but it did alleviate the ache in his head a little.
"All I have to do is wrap it and you're done. That shouldn't hurt," the princess announced. Kid didn't respond because knowing his luck it would hurt. He decided to let her do it and slowly sat up again. It took under a minute for Princess Zelda to wrap it and then he was able to pull his sleeve down.
"Is that it?" Link wondered.
"Well, he isn't cured yet," Princess Zelda replied, "but the water should completely eradicate the infection in a few hours and the fever should go away on its own as long as he rests."
"And about tomorrow morning?" Tetra wanted to know, "We're still going right?"
"Possibly," the princess said. Kid had a feeling she meant no and sensed that Tetra thought so too, for she let out an irritated sigh.
"I still don't understand something," Link interjected, addressing the princess, "When he got that wound I had a fairy heal him, so why didn't it work?"
"That I don't know," Princess Zelda confided, "It could have been because you'd used a fairy on him earlier. It's possible that some of the healing magic from the first fairy interfered with the second's, and that's why it couldn't heal the injury fully. Or it was trying to fix too much at once. If he was tired at that point, then it was probably taking his fatigue as something that needed to be cured and distributed its healing so half of it went to giving him more energy instead of all of it going into mending the wound."
If that was true, Kid thought it was stupid. He'd used two fairies in one day before and never had a problem. He was too tired to voice this piece of information and laid down, content that his arm had stopped hurting so much. At least this way they could search for the others when they got to the Great Sea instead of having to take time for him to get better.
If the conversation continued after that, Kid heard none of it. Sleep was too enticing to ignore this time, and as soon as he closed his eyes it was able to claim him. Describing the night as fitful was a huge understatement. He woke up constantly, whether it was because he was too hot, too cold, or a bizarre dream had transformed into a nightmare and scared him awake. He didn't sleep well at all. There was no one to complain to either. Tetra was the only other person in the room, and to say she didn't care might be a little on the harsh side, but she certainly wouldn't be happy if he woke her up.
Instead he suffered in silence, oftentimes lying awake for twenty minutes to an hour before he was able to drop off to sleep again. When he did, the pattern started all over again and the worst part was that, even when he opened his eyes and saw sunlight streaming in through the open curtains, he couldn't get up. Anytime he tried, his head spun, and he knew that he'd fall or possibly faint if he attempted to stand. He was still tired anyway.
The day consisted of broken pieces of consciousness that resembled dreams. Some he remembered, and some he didn't. Kid thought that the longest he remained awake was the hour that he, Link, and Tetra were arguing about food. He insisted he wasn't hungry and they kept insisting he had to eat. Finally they had compromised with a few apple slices. It seemed like every time he woke up Link was having Fi check his temperature and giving him more water to drink even when he stopped wanting it. Sometimes he'd awake to Zelda checking his arm, other times it was Link comforting him from a bad dream he could barely remember but was terrified of nonetheless.
He was surprised to find when he awoke again that it was night, and Tetra was sleeping in the next bed over. The room was silent, save for the occasional pops coming from the fireplace. Kid sat up a little, elated when there was no dizzy spell to greet him. Reaching over to the bedside table, Kid gripped the handle of the Master Sword that was leaning against the piece of furniture.
Fi appeared immediately and answered his unspoken question without any hesitance. She'd understood what information they wanted from her after repeating the question a few times earlier. "Your body temperature is now in normal range, Master. However, I would recommend continuing to rest until morning." He whispered his thanks to Fi and removed his hand from the hilt. Finally.
When the morning did arrive, he awoke around the same time as Tetra. Despite the nightmares he'd been forced to endure last night, he was in high spirits, and Tetra noticed.
"You don't have a fever anymore, do you?" his best friend guessed, smirking as she realized what that meant for them.
"According to Fi I don't," he replied, throwing off the covers and getting out of bed. Tetra watched him stand and smiled in approval when he didn't fall.
"Awesome. Let's grab the others and get out of here," Tetra proposed, stretching her arms above her head as she stood. Before either of them could move towards the door, it opened and Link stepped inside.
"You're cured?" Link wondered when he noticed Kid standing firmly on his own two feet. Kid nodded happily in response.
"That means we can leave, right?" Tetra asked, coming to stand beside Kid.
"Yeah. Zelda's ready, and so am I," Link declared after reclaiming the Master Sword, "Make sure you guys have everything."
Kid grabbed his sister's telescope and stuffed it in with the rest of his things. Then he set to the task of putting his boots on.
"Do you want to eat anything before we go?" Link asked him, "Just because you don't have a fever anymore doesn't mean you're automatically back to perfect health."
"I know, but I feel a lot better than yesterday," Kid insisted. It was true, after all. His headache was gone and so were the dizzy spells. He was still tired, but he had a feeling that that was going to persist until he found his sister and friends and confirmed they were alright.
"Still, don't push yourself," Link cautioned him.
"I won't," Kid said, knowing that he definitely would if the need arose.
"Quit hovering over him, Link. Live and learn as they say," Tetra advised, hands on hips.
"Yeah well, that's not the best saying to live by," Link replied as they all walked towards the exit.
"Oh, so I guess you won't approve of living by the saying, 'Rules are merely suggestions,' Tetra observed.
"Definitely not. Who came up with that one?" Link wanted to know.
"I did," Tetra informed him proudly.
"Of course you did," Link said in a tone that suggested he wasn't at all surprised.
It was then that Kid realized the lack of weight on his back and recalled that his sword and shield were still in the room he'd shared with Link. The three of them made a trip to retrieve Kid's weapons before heading for Princess Zelda's bedchambers.
When they arrived at her bedroom, they were let in with little to no fuss. The princess excused herself for a few minutes while she got changed into something more appropriate for the Great Sea that Tetra had helped her select yesterday.
"You're not going to change into something else?" Kid asked Link while they waited for Princess Zelda.
"No. I'm basically wearing the same thing you are so it shouldn't be that out of place, right?" Link responded, motioning to both of their outfits. Kid nodded. It wouldn't be out of place but it would definitely be too warm. At times his own outfit became too sweltering and he had to change into something cooler. Link wouldn't last very long with that chainmail.
Seeming to read his thoughts, Tetra spoke up, "Don't start complaining about being hot when you start regretting your decision later."
"I won't regret anything," Link assured her.
"We'll see about that," Tetra said, eyeing his outfit smugly.
"Is everyone ready to depart?" Princess Zelda interrupted their conversation. When Kid looked the first thing he noticed was how non-regal she looked. It was amazing what a simple change of clothes could do. The crown she normally wore upon her brow was absent, along with her golden armor, gloves, and fancy dress. Instead her hair was pulled back into a low braid and the hair that hung in front of her shoulders was unrestricted by the lack of decorative string. Her long, flowy dress was a light violet, with short slightly puffed sleeves and a square neckline. Short, light brown boots adorned her feet and a brown satchel hung from her right shoulder.
"So did I do a good job or what?" Tetra wanted to know, looking to Kid for his opinion.
"Yup," Kid nodded. "It's still a little fancier than normal though."
"Yeah, well, if Zelda wasn't a princess that lives her life in the castle, maybe I'd have more to work with," Tetra replied wistfully.
"Do you have any weapons on you?" Link wondered.
"My sword is in here with some other supplies since Tetra claimed it would be strange for me to be carrying a weapon," Princess Zelda explained.
"But, Tetra, you're a girl and you're carrying a weapon," Link pointed out.
"I'm also a pirate," Tetra reminded him, "In which case, me having a weapon is frowned upon but expected. The only way for Zelda to carry a weapon openly would be to pretend she was a pirate, but she already shot me down on that idea so secret enchanted bag it is."
"Whatever works, I guess," Link shrugged, "Are we going now?" Kid nodded eagerly along with Tetra and the four of them gathered into a tight circle, far from any furniture in the room.
"Any last minute tips?" Princess Zelda wondered, glancing between him and Tetra for their input.
"What do you mean tips?" Tetra queried, confused.
"Well, you've done this once before," Zelda said as she produced the Goddess Harp from her bag.
"Live and learn, or did you not say that earlier, Tetra?" Link commented.
"I know what I said earlier, thank you very much," Tetra scoffed. "Let's see, it was really bright and we'll probably pass out like we did last time so I'd just close your eyes and keep them closed when the song's over."
"It might not be a bad idea to hold onto each other either," Kid added, "We have a better chance of staying together that way."
"Should I stay in the shadows then or what?" Midna asked, slipping out of Link's shadow without warning.
"You're coming with?" Tetra wondered.
"Of course! I've got a bone to pick with that Ghirahim. He's the reason why I look like this, or have you forgotten?" Midna exclaimed, gesturing to herself. Kid wasn't willing to admit to her that he had forgotten about her being cursed. "Besides, I want to see your world too."
"Our shadows move with us so you should be fine," Tetra theorized. Midna nodded and disappeared.
"Ready?" Princess Zelda inquired, raising the harp into position.
"I've been ready ever since we found out how to go home! Let's not waste any more time," Tetra declared, grabbing Kid's hand in hers and putting her other hand on the princess's shoulder. Kid slid his hand into Link's and nodded.
"This better work," Link said, completing the circle by laying a hand on the princess's remaining shoulder. With them all connected, the princess began to play Zelda's Lullaby. The light, airy sound of the lyre made the already calm song even more relaxing, and it was for this reason that Kid didn't allow himself to shut his eyes until the song ceased. As the last note vibrated in the air, he allowed his eyes to close. Not a second later Kid could see white light through his closed eyelids, and he bowed his head, squeezing both hands he was holding tighter to make sure he didn't lose them. Kid felt them squeeze back. Then his vision was painted black with no dreams, and no nightmares. It was simply nothing. He determined it to be a unique form of nothing. It was a form where he only had one sense to go by and that was touch. Suddenly Kid found himself clutching at empty air. Attempting to force his eyes open proved that he no longer had the ability to do so. Before he could react, his consciousness blended into the nothingness, and the only thing he knew was nothing.
