The Gate of Time

Saina slowed as they approached the great stone gateway, high walls on either side cutting off her view of the space beyond. The others, behind and beside her, did the same, whether following her lead or whether because they felt the same anticipation she couldn't say. Beyond the gateway, a bridge stretched across a rocky, sandy hollow, an old riverbed long since run dry. Saina had never seen one flow before leaving the Cycle, before the journey that had brought her to Hylia's Refuge, and she identified and dismissed it without a second thought. Moments later, she had forgotten it altogether, because ahead… ahead stood something incredible.

Even in the sunlight, it seemed to shine with a light of its own, a light as true as sun or moon and yet different to both. Patterns shimmered on and beyond its surface, paler lines in bright, deep depths, a grand design endlessly intricate. As Saina watched, it rotated, smoothly, silently, turn-stop-turn like the gears of a clock, like an unstoppable heartbeat, like something she didn't even have words for. She was drawn towards it, a soft breath of wonder escaping her, barely even noticing she was crossing the bridge.

Along the outer edge, the circular wheel had the regular precise teeth of an enormous gear. And there was its clearest proof of a connection to something far beyond her: where at the upper edges two smaller gears turned in the same smooth yet somehow inexorable synchrony, turning the larger one in sequence, they simply… weren't there, fading in a way she couldn't describe, that her eye couldn't quite understand or her mind quite grasp, with a shimmer of light obscuring the edges of as two-thirds of the fabric of each whole, entire gear was somehow elsewhere, slipping into an aspect of reality beyond her human reach. Awed, she sank slowly to her knees before it, clasping her hands, and beside her unprompted Link did the same, as did Zaik and Marylle behind them.

Kneeling there, she could truly believe that it was the culmination of the Grand Design, something Cycles upon Cycles of her ancestors had worked to bring about without even knowing that they were doing so. Saina gazed into its timeless depths, seeming at once moving and still, and for the first time truly contemplated the distant divinity whose inscrutable will had given them their home.

O Great Goddess…

She felt nothing. She never had. The Goddess of Time was said to be largely removed from mortal concerns, and though she knew the Timekeeper claimed to have been recognised by her, few others ever were. Saina, like most of her people save those who lived near more local spirits, had rarely prayed.

I mean only respect. I will not harm the sacred gate. But, perhaps… I pray you, let there be something of this I can learn. It isn't for myself. Though seeing it, how could she not wish to understand its wonder, the ultimate expression of her own craft as a temporal engineer, months that felt like years ago? It's for the Goddess Hylia, and her people. Do you see the shadow that surrounds them? We must confront it, but there is no time. I must bring them time. Great Goddess, should you hear me… I mean you no wrong. I seek only to bring them time. I pray you will understand.

For a strange, impossible, cosmic moment the world seemed to shift, almost inverting itself, dizzying and inexpressible to her senses. In the eternity between one heartbeat and the next, she felt herself a tiny shard etched in the sweeping landscape of forever, and she felt the heavy gaze of something far beyond upon her. A weight of disapproval, a weight of inevitability. A weight of consequence.

Not of refusal.

Link gazed into the intricate, impossible depths of the great, shining gear for a long moment before bowing his head, down on one knee beside Saina, who had knelt transfixed in awe. Even if the robots had told them nothing about this place, he would have known that what he was looking upon was something sacred indeed. Though he couldn't know it, his silent, heartfelt prayer was thought almost in the same moment as hers.

Goddess of Time, please help us.

And in the eternity between breathing out and breathing in, the senses of space he knew and understood shifted to the inexpressible impossible, forever surrounding him like a landscape he couldn't comprehend. A tiny detail almost at his feet caught his attention, larger than it seemed, and none of it anything he could have rendered into words or even images, or even truly into thoughts. A shard of something intricate that cracking broke would fly, writ large a pattern turning on what seemed the gears of time. The plans a broken cipher would have built a fractured wall against a darkened might-not-be but luminous chains forged, with paths and doors each closing as a will would find a way, had stretched into time's distance and so sweeping bounded lay. He somehow felt the heavy gaze of something far beyond, and in its weight there almost seemed a trace of something not far from apology.

He gasped, his eyes snapping open, panting suddenly, his heart racing as though breath and beat alike had stopped, though he somehow knew no time had passed between his prayer and the moment that his eyes opened. Saina swayed abruptly beside him, gasping just as he was, her head turning as she recognised the same reaction.

"Did-" She swallowed, breathed deeply. "Did you feel that?"

"Y-yeah." He reached out to her in an effort to steady them both, the solidity of the spatial world familiar and reassuring all around them. "The Goddess of Time…" He could hardly believe it had been real. The Goddess of Time was only just below the Golden Goddesses themselves in importance, and she had seen them.

"I don't… think she likes me," Saina said in an undertone. She wasn't entirely sure what she thought of that. The gods' approval was something she would never refuse, but it wasn't something she actively sought. But the weight of what she had felt… "But I don't think she refused us."

"I thought she seemed… sorry," Link replied, just as softly.

That thought cut, deeper than Saina could have expected it would, and she murmured back "We'll have to talk about it later." If the Goddess of Time has a better plan, I'd be very happy for her to share it! Link nodded, and she rose slowly to her feet, the others looking on as she turned around to face them, her back to the endlessly moving Gate of Time.

"Did anyone else feel that?"

Zaik and Marylle shook their heads, as did Parasova, sitting behind them.

"I think we've been given permission. At least, she didn't deny us, and Link and I both felt… something. It was… difficult to describe, honestly." No wonder all Timekeepers I've ever read about seemed to talk in riddles. "So let's find somewhere to set up camp near this courtyard. I feel it would be disrespectful to stay inside it."

The nods she got were of emphatic agreement.

. . .

That evening, Link's half-finished little carving standing in once again for a true idol, they knelt in the side room that they'd dedicated to Hylia in the mostly-intact building they'd occupied. They had little enough to even mark it as a dedicated space, let alone to place in honour of they god they had dedicated it to, and yet, after a short time, they felt the faintest sense of her radiant light wash across them.

Dearest… The statuette began, ever so faintly, to glow as Hylia's attention strengthened, focusing her awareness so far from her usual domain with the strength of their prayers as an anchor. You have arrived at a sacred site, have you not?

Link listened as Saina explained, speaking her words aloud though he knew the goddess didn't need them to. Even as she spoke, he could feel the warmth of Hylia's attention on him, enveloping him though he had nothing to add.

My gift for you progresses, my chosen, her silent voice said softly, and he knew that only he could hear. Do not fear its weight, though I know it is a heavy burden I ask you to bear.

He couldn't deny it. The weight of the goddess' attention hung over him, of her expectations. But he thought again about all he had agreed to protect, and knew it was no price at all.

It's all right. We need its power to fight against Demise. I'll do my best to be worthy of it. For if he didn't, Hylia's Refuge would fall in blood and death, and he would sooner die than see that happen. Whatever the cost, he would accept the power she offered him to be her sword, and do all he could to use it well, on behalf of the goddess and all of her people.

You already are, Hylia replied warmly. Link smiled a little despite himself, her compliment leaving him equal parts pleased and uncomfortable.

"...and Link and I both felt something, although I think it was something different. But she didn't refuse either of us, even if… I felt there would be consequences. So I'm going to try and find out how it was made. If I can bring back the means to make a second Gate of Time, we'd have perfect control. We'd have all the time we could ever need." A note of uncertainty entered Saina's voice as she concluded. "If that's… acceptable to you, Your Radiance. The Gate of Time is far greater than anything I know how to make on my own."

Dear Saina, that is wonderful! The goddess' approval and relief washed over her like a flood of light, chasing the shadow of her worries away. If Time permits it, I will hardly refuse such a gift. Our people shall be saved, and you and dearest Link shall be the instrument of it. She paused, sensing a shadow resurfacing in her mortal ally's mind. Yet something troubles you?

I don't think she likes me, Your Radiance, Saina admitted.

Hylia brushed the concern aside. I shall speak with her, and be certain. But she knows that you have never intended disrespect or harm. Begin your task, dear Saina, and speak with me as often as you wish. Though much of me is focused upon my gift's creation, I will always listen for your prayers.

Saina smiled, relieved, pleased, honoured by the goddess' approval. We will. Thank you, Radiant Hylia.

Thank you, Hylia replied. For all you have done to aid my people, dear Saina, you will always have my gratitude. Only work swiftly, as I know you will, and return to me, and all will be well.

"I promise," Saina said out loud, lifting her head. Hylia's words had renewed all her determination, and as she rose to her feet and bowed to the statue, its faint glow fading, she was already going over the discussion she would need to have with Parasova to organise their next days.

Here comes that explanation for the Gate of Time, Random Reader!

And at last we meet, after a fashion, the Goddess of Time. Her viewpoint is impossible for them to properly comprehend, and in the absence of the ability to describe the indescribable perceptions that don't really map properly onto regular human senses, I instead opted to cloak my language until it was, hopefully, as about as impenetrably meaningful as what was actually semi-perceived. It does, in fact, all have a coherent meaning. By all means make guesses, but I'll only provide a full "translation" when Out of Time is complete, because – as you might expect from something temporally perceived – it does in fact contain spoilers.

Also, the Gate of Time, given what I hope is its due grandeur. What that is – what it means, what it must be, the depth of its intertwining with the fabric of reality on a basic level – is something incredible; I hope I can at least try and portray the awe of it.

(And lastly, the dubious bird continues dubiously!)