Spiritual Curse Chapter 3

PG

All characters belong to Nintendo.

Link arrived at the castle drawbridge just before sunset.  He smiled, nodding to the guards in the stone hut as he crossed over into Hyrule Castle Town and the marketplace.  It was fairly empty, so late in the afternoon.  A few of the strange wild dogs that somehow disappeared during the day had begun to emerge as Link led Epona toward the castle.

Ever since the fall of Ganondorf, Link had vowed to protect Zelda and the Temple of Time.  He didn't mind staying here in this time.  There was little left for him in his childhood, save Saria.  But even still, had he gone back, who was to say that Ganondorf would not arise again?  All of his work then would have been in vain and he would be forced to start all over again.  Not to mention he loved Zelda dearly.  From the moment he laid eyes on her as a young child he felt a strange connection with her.  Meeting again seven years later awoke in him something more.  She had felt it too, both knowing somehow they were destined to be together. 

He smiled to himself, thinking of his love as he took Epona to the stables.  He unsaddled her, brushing her down, all the while anxious to see Zelda.  He finished quickly as the sun set behind the Valley Mountains, walking briskly toward the castle.

It was some time before he finally found her, sitting in her garden where she had stayed the day.  "Hey," he said quietly, not wanting to startle her.  She looked up, a small smile crossing her lips as he walked up to her.  She didn't want to tell him about Nabooru's dream…but she knew she had to.  She stood slowly up, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.  "Are you okay?" he asked, enfolding his arms about her.

She inhaled deeply, letting it out slowly.  "Yeah," she replied softly.  "Yeah, it was just a strange day."  Link sat down on the soft grass, pulling her down with him.

"What happened?"

"Nabooru came to the castle today.  She had had a strange dream last night.  The Twinrova had killed you to resurrect themselves."  Link creased his brow.

"I'm sure it was just a dream," he said, squeezing her gently.  "I've defeated them once before.  If I had to I could do it again."

"That's what I had thought too, but Nabooru pointed out that this week is the blood moon.  She said she would look into any spells that they might be able to place because of it, and she would let us know."  Link placed his hand under her chin, lifting her face to his.  "Just promise me you'll be careful this week.  I don't know what I would do if I lost you again."

"Zelda, you're not going to lose me…"

"Just promise me Link.  Please."

"All right.  I promise.  You'll have nothing to worry about."  He leaned down, kissing her gently.

"Thank you," she whispered, a small smile crossing her lips.  Link lay back on the grass, butterflies in his stomach.  Not because of what had just happened, but for what was about to.  Zelda nestled her head into his shoulder as they started up at the evening stars slowly appearing in the darkening sky.

"Zelda, have you thought much about the future?" he asked suddenly.  Confused by the strange question, Zelda tilted her head up to look at him.  His crystal blue eyes fixed on some distant point, unmoving.  "I mean, in general…"

"Not really," she answered quietly, following his eyes back up to the sky.  "I've been concentrating more on erasing the last seven years from the face of Hyrule.  Why do you ask?"

"No reason really."

"Link," she said, propping herself up on her arm, "if there's only one thing in this world you don't do well, it's lie."  She smiled, wondering what he was hiding.  Link smiled in return, reaching into his pouch.  He produced a much smaller leather bag, the flap closed by a tiny pearl button.

"When I was in the forest today, Saria told me of my mother," he started, mindlessly turning the small bag over in his hand.  "She had never known her, but the Deku Tree Sprout told her what he knew.  Saria then told me what she had learned, as well as where her belongings had been hidden all these years."  Link was learning one thing very quickly: the Triforce of Courage gave him great strength and bravery in battle, but did nothing for him concerning affairs of the heart.  He swallowed hard, propping himself up on his elbow as he opened the small bag.  "Anyhow, I was thinking…about our future… There's no more traveling through time now and I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that I would fight Ganon a thousand times over if you…" he reached into the bag, pulling out a small ring… "would…"  He slipped his mother's ring onto her slender finger.  Somehow, it fit perfectly.  Her breath caught in her throat as he stumbled over the words.  She raised a finger to his lips, silencing him as she leaned close to him.

"Yes," she whispered, kissing him passionately.  She smiled as she pulled away, lying back down with him, admiring the ring.  It was a simple band of silver with a tiny ruby, emerald, and sapphire set into the band as the three points of a triangle.  She again rested her head in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes, her worries of Nabooru's dream forgotten.  She soon fell asleep in the comfort of his embrace.

Link carried her through the castle to her chamber high in one of the towers.  He laid her down upon the bed, covering her with a thin blanket.  He kissed her lips softly, whispering, "Sleep well, my princess."  He backed away, closing the door to her chamber softly.  He made it about halfway down the hall to the stairs before he was stopped in his tracks by a scream.  "Zelda!"  He turned back, running down the hall.  The door to her chamber had been locked.  He drew his sword, kicking the door in.  The chamber was empty, Zelda's bedding strewn across the room toward the open window.  She screamed again as he bolted to the window.  His eyes scanned the castle grounds frantically, finally spotting the princess as she kicked one of the many Lizalfos holding her.  She escaped his grasp long enough to run a few paces before another leapt upon her, knocking her to the ground.  Link leapt onto the windowsill as a Lizalfo jumped into the window, knocking him back.  He landed on the soft bedding, reaching into his pouch quickly, hurling his boomerang at the giant lizard.  The boomerang struck it, knocking it back out of the window.  Link leapt to his feet, vaulting through the window, rolling as he hit the tiled rooftop below the window.  He ran along the edge of the turret, jumping down quickly.  "Zelda!" he called out as he neared the group of struggling Lizalfos.  It was then that he noticed they were dragging her toward a spot in the grass that had turned purple with an evil light radiating from it.  Zelda turned in their grasp as she and her captors noticed the hero coming up quickly behind them. 

"Link!" she shouted as several of the lizards attacked him.  He tried to fight them off, but there were so many, they smothered him completely.  Casting his Din's Fire spell, Link quickly emerged from the group.  By this time, the Lizalfos had dragged the princess to the purple light, forcing her into it.  She struggled, trying to make her way out of it as the remaining group of Lizalfos attacked Link.  She sank quickly as he slashed his way through the line of giant lizard warriors.  He could see Zelda through the line; only her head and arm were left as she tried to free herself.

"Zelda!" Link cried out.  He was surrounded by one final circle.  He took stance, charging his sword, executing a perfect spin attack.  Zelda's hand sank into the purple ground, the light flashing as the ground returned to normal.  Link leapt, trying to reach her before it was too late, landing hard on the solid grass.  "No!"  He clawed at the grass, nothing more than dirt beneath it.