"Yes," Aurelia said, sitting down and taking a drink of her own
cider. "She was like a daughter to me. Haven't seen her in years,
though...How is she?"
"She's dead," Link said. "She died long before I could remember. I would have thought I was a Kokiri but for the Deku Tree Sprout telling me otherwise."
Aurelia's eyes widened. "Oh my.....I'm so sorry!"
"Don't think of it," Link said. "Actually, I'm kind of curious-what was she like?"
"She was very beautiful," the old woman said. "In many ways. She was just a commoner, like myself, but she seemed to have this rather magical quality about her. She and your father-one of the best men I ever knew-lived around this area, but in the great war, she fled. Your father had to fight, but she insisted on taking you with her. I had never heard from her again."
"She fled to the forest," Link said, filling in the rest of the tale. "She was dying, so she entrusted the Great Deku Tree with me. She passed away before I could even remember, and I grew up thinking I was a Kokiri."
"I can only imagine the reality shock when you came out of the Sacred Realm after seven years."
"It was pretty intense," Link confirmed. "You seem to know so much about me. How?"
"I know about a lot of things," Aurelia said with a knowing smile. "I have a feeling that's why you came here."
"We were compelled," Zelda said.
"Really?" The old woman said, her eyes widening with curiosity. "By what?"
"Dreams," Link said. "I was told by a dream to come here, and, well, we had nothing to lose."
"I see," she replied. "And what sort of information might you be in search of?"
"For many days past," Zelda began, "there has been a mysterious light in the sky. Everywhere it goes, it awakens monsters. It's kind of triangular-shaped. That's really all we know."
Aurelia's eyes turned puzzled with thought, then grave with discovery. "Of course," she said, getting up hastily and hurrying over to a bookcase. "Of course. Why on Farore's green earth didn't I think of this sooner? It should have been so obvious..."
"What's the matter?" Link asked.
"Just a minute...my goodness, sometimes I can't believe myself, I really can't." From the very bottom of the bookcase, Aurelia took an old, dusty book off the shelf; the sort that used ancient words and capitalized things in seemingly odd places. She blew the dust off (right into Link and Zelda's faces, much to their disapproval) and placed the book on the table. She gazed down at it proudly.
"What's that?" Link asked.
"The Book of Mudora," Aurelia said. "It contains all the knowledge of the history of Hyrule, you know."
"The Book of Mudora?" Zelda wondered. "I thought that was just an old legend..."
"Most certainly not," the old woman told them. "It's very real, and right now, it's very useful." She opened the Book and flipped several pages through it. Link and Zelda caught chapter titles such as "The Beginning," "The Rise of the Three Goddesses," and "The Golden Age." Toward the back of the book, the titles took on names such as "The Deku Tree" and "The Desert King's Mistake." Some of the chapters were called "The Princess of Destiny" and "The Boy Without a Fairy" and "The Master Sword."
"Look, it's us," Link said as these chapters passed.
"The Book is a funny thing," Aurelia commented as she searched. "It adds chapters as it needs them to itself. It's a very magical object...ah, here it is," she said, her eyes settling on a page marked "The Corruption of Glory." She scanned it quickly, just to make sure it was the right one.
"Here," she said, turning the book so that it faced Link and Zelda. "Read down from...here." She pointed.
Their eyes passed slowly over the page, trying to take in everything they were seeing. This is what it said:
After the Three left Hyrule, from the Powers of the Triforce itself was born a Fourth Force. This was the Triforce of Ambition, and its Purpose was to support the Other Three. Without Ambition, there is No Need for Power, Wisdom, or Courage; so sayeth the Three. This is the Reason that they laid the Foundation for the Realization of the Fourth Force. However, before too long it became obvious that the Fourth Force possessed a Corrupt Quality that drove the People of Hyrule into becoming the Minions of Evil. Thus, the Fourth Triforce fell away, but not completely. It still was in Existence, but it was Lesser. However, there was a Line of Heirs for It, and when Ganondorf touched the Triforce 500 years later, the Fourth Force split, just like the Others. Most unfortunately, the Line of Heirs were but Commoners, and had been Killed in the Great War, so there was no Person for the Fourth Force to bond with. In Spite Of, or perhaps Because Of this, the Keepers of Power, Wisdom, and Courage were still able to Abolish the Evil from Hyrule.
"And, that's where we are today," Aurelia said as Link and Zelda looked up.
"What did it mean, 'in spite of, or perhaps because of?'" The princess asked.
"It's fairly simple," the old woman answered. "Ambition can very easily become corruption. Thus, it may or may not have hindered you in your quest. It doesn't matter now, because Ganon is finished anyway."
"So we really have been chasing a Triforce this whole time," Link said, his eyes calculating.
"That's about the size of it," Aurelia said. "Now, I most certainly don't know, but my guess is that the power radiating from this Triforce is what has been causing all those monsters to show up."
"Of course...of course, it all makes sense!" Zelda cried. "Yes, it all fits! Link, we can go to the castle now!"
"Yes, but I do have one other question before we go: it says that Power, Wisdom, and Courage were able to TOGETHER defeat evil. But Ganondorf-the evil, I assume-was, and is, still holding the Triforce of Power."
"The Triforce is a funny thing," Aurelia said. "It helped him, but it also destroyed him. You remember how Hyrule was when he was in power. Eventually, the whole nation would have imploded. Thankfully, you came along and saved it, and its people. But, a small percent-VERY small, I must stress-was Ganon's own doing."
"I understand," Link said.
"It's getting late. Why don't you two stay overnight?" Aurelia said.
"We wouldn't want to trouble you..." Zelda said slowly.
"Not at all! It would be my honor."
"Well, I never say no to a free meal," Link said, giving Zelda a sidelong glance.
"All right," she said with a smile. "Thank you very much. We'd be happy to."
Aurelia seemed proud to show off her cooking skills as she made them dinner, and she deserved her pride; the meal was delicious. Afterwards, the three of them went out to a hill in the backyard to watch the sunset, which was spectacular. The odd thing about Aurelia's house was, the doors always seemed to lead exactly where she wanted them to. It seemed to Link and Zelda that her house boasted only a few doors, but there were a great many rooms. It didn't really seem out of the ordinary here, though. Another unusual thing they had found (and nearly tripped over) was a little bit of bread set out on the back porch. When they questioned Aurelia about it, she had smiled and said, "It's faerie food. There are many different realities, as I'm sure you know, and Hylians only exist in a few of them. In others, there are faeries outside the forest." Sure enough, the faerie food had gone by the following morning. This was a very magical place, it seemed, and both the hero and the princess felt quite content.
The sunset that evening was gorgeous off of the hillside. Hyrule's past transformation really was amazing. Aurelia sat with them for a little while, but soon excused herself, saying: "I probably ought to take care of those dishes; they don't clean themselves, you know. Well, they might, with some enchantments, but...well, I'll just do them manually for now."
"But what about this sunset?" Link asked, gesturing off into the brilliant sky.
Aurelia smiled. "I have seen it many times. You two should just enjoy it...together." And with that she disappeared back off into the house.
"So, tomorrow is Hyrule Castle, then," Link said quietly.
Zelda nodded. "And Harlan won't be dealt with quite so easily as Malon."
"How did you know about Malon?"
"I just know you too well," Zelda said with a smile.
Link smiled too, but after a second it lost its joy. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Zelda said. "I just don't know."
They sat in silence for a moment. "Are you going to take up my father on his offer?" Zelda asked.
Link paused, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am."
Zelda smiled famously. "That will make a lot of people very happy.." Her smile faded a little. "Even if we can't be..."
"Look, Zelda," Link said, turning to her, "no matter what happens, I'm going to love you. That's painfully obvious." He smiled a little at his remark. "So, even if I can't be with you, you'll still always have me to turn to. If Calatia gets into a war, then I will send every one of Hyrule's armies to protect you. I promise."
"I know you will," she said, her eyes shining with held-back tears. "Let's just have tonight to ourselves. We will go and face them in the morning, but right now...there's no one I'd rather be seeing this with than you."
He put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, and there they sat until the last traces of red glow had disappeared from the sky.
"She's dead," Link said. "She died long before I could remember. I would have thought I was a Kokiri but for the Deku Tree Sprout telling me otherwise."
Aurelia's eyes widened. "Oh my.....I'm so sorry!"
"Don't think of it," Link said. "Actually, I'm kind of curious-what was she like?"
"She was very beautiful," the old woman said. "In many ways. She was just a commoner, like myself, but she seemed to have this rather magical quality about her. She and your father-one of the best men I ever knew-lived around this area, but in the great war, she fled. Your father had to fight, but she insisted on taking you with her. I had never heard from her again."
"She fled to the forest," Link said, filling in the rest of the tale. "She was dying, so she entrusted the Great Deku Tree with me. She passed away before I could even remember, and I grew up thinking I was a Kokiri."
"I can only imagine the reality shock when you came out of the Sacred Realm after seven years."
"It was pretty intense," Link confirmed. "You seem to know so much about me. How?"
"I know about a lot of things," Aurelia said with a knowing smile. "I have a feeling that's why you came here."
"We were compelled," Zelda said.
"Really?" The old woman said, her eyes widening with curiosity. "By what?"
"Dreams," Link said. "I was told by a dream to come here, and, well, we had nothing to lose."
"I see," she replied. "And what sort of information might you be in search of?"
"For many days past," Zelda began, "there has been a mysterious light in the sky. Everywhere it goes, it awakens monsters. It's kind of triangular-shaped. That's really all we know."
Aurelia's eyes turned puzzled with thought, then grave with discovery. "Of course," she said, getting up hastily and hurrying over to a bookcase. "Of course. Why on Farore's green earth didn't I think of this sooner? It should have been so obvious..."
"What's the matter?" Link asked.
"Just a minute...my goodness, sometimes I can't believe myself, I really can't." From the very bottom of the bookcase, Aurelia took an old, dusty book off the shelf; the sort that used ancient words and capitalized things in seemingly odd places. She blew the dust off (right into Link and Zelda's faces, much to their disapproval) and placed the book on the table. She gazed down at it proudly.
"What's that?" Link asked.
"The Book of Mudora," Aurelia said. "It contains all the knowledge of the history of Hyrule, you know."
"The Book of Mudora?" Zelda wondered. "I thought that was just an old legend..."
"Most certainly not," the old woman told them. "It's very real, and right now, it's very useful." She opened the Book and flipped several pages through it. Link and Zelda caught chapter titles such as "The Beginning," "The Rise of the Three Goddesses," and "The Golden Age." Toward the back of the book, the titles took on names such as "The Deku Tree" and "The Desert King's Mistake." Some of the chapters were called "The Princess of Destiny" and "The Boy Without a Fairy" and "The Master Sword."
"Look, it's us," Link said as these chapters passed.
"The Book is a funny thing," Aurelia commented as she searched. "It adds chapters as it needs them to itself. It's a very magical object...ah, here it is," she said, her eyes settling on a page marked "The Corruption of Glory." She scanned it quickly, just to make sure it was the right one.
"Here," she said, turning the book so that it faced Link and Zelda. "Read down from...here." She pointed.
Their eyes passed slowly over the page, trying to take in everything they were seeing. This is what it said:
After the Three left Hyrule, from the Powers of the Triforce itself was born a Fourth Force. This was the Triforce of Ambition, and its Purpose was to support the Other Three. Without Ambition, there is No Need for Power, Wisdom, or Courage; so sayeth the Three. This is the Reason that they laid the Foundation for the Realization of the Fourth Force. However, before too long it became obvious that the Fourth Force possessed a Corrupt Quality that drove the People of Hyrule into becoming the Minions of Evil. Thus, the Fourth Triforce fell away, but not completely. It still was in Existence, but it was Lesser. However, there was a Line of Heirs for It, and when Ganondorf touched the Triforce 500 years later, the Fourth Force split, just like the Others. Most unfortunately, the Line of Heirs were but Commoners, and had been Killed in the Great War, so there was no Person for the Fourth Force to bond with. In Spite Of, or perhaps Because Of this, the Keepers of Power, Wisdom, and Courage were still able to Abolish the Evil from Hyrule.
"And, that's where we are today," Aurelia said as Link and Zelda looked up.
"What did it mean, 'in spite of, or perhaps because of?'" The princess asked.
"It's fairly simple," the old woman answered. "Ambition can very easily become corruption. Thus, it may or may not have hindered you in your quest. It doesn't matter now, because Ganon is finished anyway."
"So we really have been chasing a Triforce this whole time," Link said, his eyes calculating.
"That's about the size of it," Aurelia said. "Now, I most certainly don't know, but my guess is that the power radiating from this Triforce is what has been causing all those monsters to show up."
"Of course...of course, it all makes sense!" Zelda cried. "Yes, it all fits! Link, we can go to the castle now!"
"Yes, but I do have one other question before we go: it says that Power, Wisdom, and Courage were able to TOGETHER defeat evil. But Ganondorf-the evil, I assume-was, and is, still holding the Triforce of Power."
"The Triforce is a funny thing," Aurelia said. "It helped him, but it also destroyed him. You remember how Hyrule was when he was in power. Eventually, the whole nation would have imploded. Thankfully, you came along and saved it, and its people. But, a small percent-VERY small, I must stress-was Ganon's own doing."
"I understand," Link said.
"It's getting late. Why don't you two stay overnight?" Aurelia said.
"We wouldn't want to trouble you..." Zelda said slowly.
"Not at all! It would be my honor."
"Well, I never say no to a free meal," Link said, giving Zelda a sidelong glance.
"All right," she said with a smile. "Thank you very much. We'd be happy to."
Aurelia seemed proud to show off her cooking skills as she made them dinner, and she deserved her pride; the meal was delicious. Afterwards, the three of them went out to a hill in the backyard to watch the sunset, which was spectacular. The odd thing about Aurelia's house was, the doors always seemed to lead exactly where she wanted them to. It seemed to Link and Zelda that her house boasted only a few doors, but there were a great many rooms. It didn't really seem out of the ordinary here, though. Another unusual thing they had found (and nearly tripped over) was a little bit of bread set out on the back porch. When they questioned Aurelia about it, she had smiled and said, "It's faerie food. There are many different realities, as I'm sure you know, and Hylians only exist in a few of them. In others, there are faeries outside the forest." Sure enough, the faerie food had gone by the following morning. This was a very magical place, it seemed, and both the hero and the princess felt quite content.
The sunset that evening was gorgeous off of the hillside. Hyrule's past transformation really was amazing. Aurelia sat with them for a little while, but soon excused herself, saying: "I probably ought to take care of those dishes; they don't clean themselves, you know. Well, they might, with some enchantments, but...well, I'll just do them manually for now."
"But what about this sunset?" Link asked, gesturing off into the brilliant sky.
Aurelia smiled. "I have seen it many times. You two should just enjoy it...together." And with that she disappeared back off into the house.
"So, tomorrow is Hyrule Castle, then," Link said quietly.
Zelda nodded. "And Harlan won't be dealt with quite so easily as Malon."
"How did you know about Malon?"
"I just know you too well," Zelda said with a smile.
Link smiled too, but after a second it lost its joy. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Zelda said. "I just don't know."
They sat in silence for a moment. "Are you going to take up my father on his offer?" Zelda asked.
Link paused, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am."
Zelda smiled famously. "That will make a lot of people very happy.." Her smile faded a little. "Even if we can't be..."
"Look, Zelda," Link said, turning to her, "no matter what happens, I'm going to love you. That's painfully obvious." He smiled a little at his remark. "So, even if I can't be with you, you'll still always have me to turn to. If Calatia gets into a war, then I will send every one of Hyrule's armies to protect you. I promise."
"I know you will," she said, her eyes shining with held-back tears. "Let's just have tonight to ourselves. We will go and face them in the morning, but right now...there's no one I'd rather be seeing this with than you."
He put his arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, and there they sat until the last traces of red glow had disappeared from the sky.