Chapter 6 - Naydra's Eye

Purah's lab had an observatory with a large telescope. Zelda liked to be there. It was cold, no doubt, the icy air of majestic Mount Lanayru whipping hard at the top of the lab, in that part of the village its presence was more evident than in the centre, or in Link's house. She swirled a little in her cloak, it had begun to sparkle, and the temperature plummeted.

She really did get cold up there, she thought, looking at the mountain. How on earth had it occurred to her to climb up there half naked and almost barefoot? Because of Father. Especially for him. Somehow, she knew the pilgrimage wasn't going to work. She wanted to have faith, but her own convictions wavered in every pore of her skin, in every unsteady step in the snow, in every unspoken word on the ascent. She wanted to believe that it would be the last try, that it would be different this time. They climbed alone. And they came down even more alone. Then it was too late.

"Your Highness... you're going to catch a cold!"

"Stop calling me that horrible way, please," she insisted, rolling her eyes. Purah appeared behind the door, wrapped in a kind of sheikah raincoat of her own manufacture.

"Have you seen anything interesting?"

"Nothing. And raindrops mist the lens of the telescope."

"You're watching the road to the wall, aren't you?" Purah checked the coordinates and direction of the telescope.

"It's been more than a week since he left, it's normal for me to worry," she justified herself.

"Smashing a few little lizards is no challenge for Link. I hope he brings me the samples I told him to, goddesses, he's so clueless... Lizalfo's horns are the perfect ingredient for my potion of eternal sleep. In any case, you don't have to worry. He must have got distracted along the way. You know that the straight line is the shortest way for everyone but Link."

"I can no longer see him, nor hear him. Those powers have vanished along with Ganon. It's as if all our ties were severed forever, once the mission was completed. Perhaps they only existed for that reason."

Her heart shrank at the thought, it was painful, but the goddess Hylia had written fate in a language too open to interpretation. It was easy to interpret that she had fallen in love with him in order that her latent powers might awaken. It was easy to believe that a bond of love would be the strongest option until the mission was completed. But once everything was finished and in place, there was nothing to bind her soul to Link's, except unrequited feelings and a love squeezed to the last drop by confinement and the passing years. Maybe that's why he didn't remember her. Maybe oblivion was in the goddesses' plans, like everything else.

"The cold must have frozen your neurons," Purah scoffed, "maybe I should give you a medical examination. Let's go back inside, Symin's made tea and we've got the first apples harvest. You could bake an apple cake for when Link gets back."

"I could...," she admitted, with a half-smile.

"On the other hand, you could give him a sack of flour and unpeeled apples and he would devour them with the same passion."

Zelda couldn't help but laugh and accompanied Purah back into the warmth of the lab. She felt more cheerful. A little.

She had moved to the lab in Link's absence. The house seemed too big and too empty without him, and it was comfortable to stay with the sheikah, after all, she spent most of her hours working with them. She researched the properties of blue fire, Purah's regenerative discoveries, Symin's sheikah slate breakthroughs, and most of all she studied the past. Ten thousand years ago. Everything was still as confusing as ever and she still couldn't find a plausible explanation for the Divine Beasts or anything else.

They had tea in the attic room. Purah used that room as a personal office, but Zelda had occupied it and it was her bedroom now. From there she could go out and look through the telescope as often as she liked. In the evenings she drew star charts. Naydra's eye flickered distant and blue, always pointing north. That was her starting point. Mapping the sky was one of her favourite hobbies, and when she was a princess, she couldn't afford to spend the time on it. During the day she would lose her eyes on the roads in case she saw Link on his way back home.

"You haven't opened any of the messages I've left on the desktop!" Purah exclaimed after a long silence.

"I'll read them later."

"Zelda, you can't keep avoiding this," Purah grumbled, "they know, they all know it!"

"I'm glad they know. But I don't know what else I can do about it."

On the desk remained the four scrolls, with the wax seal intact and the four representative emblems: the elephant, the camel, the salamander and the bird.

"Don't you care about Hyrule anymore?" asked Purah, in a little voice. Suddenly she sounded like a real little girl.

"Hyrule will always be the most important thing, it's my people. That's why they don't need to know more about me, I've done enough damage already. Hyrule is quite capable of carrying on without a monarchy. Why was there a monarchy in the first place? Ever wondered that?"

"Of course," replied Purah, rolling her eyes.

Both knew that the monarchy was created to prevent war and unite peoples in brotherhood. The first king didn't want the Triforce to be a reason for more wars and disputes. But none of that was necessary now.

"Still... I think you should talk to the four leaders, Zelda. They have the right to know the truth."

"I still feel pain," she acknowledged.

"Well, you have to forget about the pain and stay strong. It's just a deference to them, a formality if you want to see it that way. You could start by reading their letters."

"I'll do it, I promise."

The next day dawned rainy. She couldn't go for a walk as she'd been used to. The sea was an immense therapy for her. She had been locked up for so long that watching the waters get lost on the horizon, in a line that never reached its limit, gave her peace. When she stepped onto the wet sand, she forgot all the pain. When she slept, there was no pain either. But when she opened her eyes, all the nostalgic and negative thoughts wrapped around her heart like an invisible claw.

She'd also found an escape route by reading for Link. She ran away from him, she stayed away from him for most of the day. It was a contradiction, because deep inside she felt that she still loved him, albeit in a different way. The fact that she couldn't love him as she had years ago was painful and it drove her to avoid him. But there were moments when she saw a new Link, someone different and yet the same, and then she let herself go and just wanted to stay by his side. Reading was therapeutic. Reading to him made her feel close, and there were no risks. To read wasn't to converse, so there were no questions to stir her feelings, however innocent these questions might be. She didn't know how much longer she would remain by his side, wasn't sure if her company was good for him, or if she was in fact a burden that only served to harm them both. She did know that she had learned to miss the new Link, because the passing of each day without seeing him grew heavier and heavier. Was that good or bad? If she got used to staying with him, it would be much harder to leave him when the time came.

"Zelda, I've managed to rescue part of the damaged file of the sheikah slate after the battle with Ganon."

Symin had quickly become accustomed to calling her by her name. He was hardworking and very intelligent, and Purah was unfair to him, she was always criticizing him and giving him orders. Zelda supposed there was a hidden affection in the way Purah treated him, and Symin must have been aware of it.

"That's great, I thought we'd have lost everything after the blow it took on the battlefield," she smiled, opening the archive, "can I examine what is here?"

"Of course! It must contain pictures that Link has taken since I handed him the slate. After a hundred years I was able to restore it little by little. Of the old archive, almost nothing remains."

"Better like that."

Symin served her a hot tea and left her to continue working in his studio. With so much rain, none of them had left the lab all day.

Link's initial pictures didn't make much sense. Maybe he took them to have the reference of a road, maybe he didn't master the pictographic sensor yet. But when she continued reviewing his pictures, they became much more interesting. There were multiple pictures of him with Purah. Pictures of a large bonfire in a stable or inn. The bones of a gigantic whale - had such creatures really existed in Hyrule? A picture of a group of bokoblins around a fire, devouring what looked like a deer's leg. How the hell dare he take a picture of his enemies so brazenly? It was getting worse. "Goddesses, a hinox!" Not only that. Hordes of moblins, flocks of bats, a gigantic horse, an even more gigantic and terrifying lynel, an unknown village, a pile of ruins, food, food and more food. She was engrossed in the pictures for a long time, until it was time for dinner.

"We'll make a visit to the south of the village tomorrow. There's a place I'd like to investigate," Purah said, serving her soup.

"Alright."

She took a spoonful, but she wasn't hungry. She was starting to get really worried about Link, he had been gone for almost ten days now and there was no sign of him. It was clear that he was a great connoisseur of Hyrule, his pictures were proof of that, but still...

After dinner she retired early. The sky had gone clear, and she was able to observe the stars through the telescope. It was cold, almost wintry cold, and when her hands started to freeze, she decided it was time to go to bed.

The four scrolls were still intact, on her desk. "Okay, it's about time," she said to herself. First of all, she broke the seal of the elephant.

King Dorephan expresses his desire to make contact with who claims to be Princess Zelda Bosphoramus and demands her presence at the court of the Zora Domain as soon as possible.

His Grace has received an information from Impa of the sheikah that needs to be discussed with the supposed princess.

Kind regards,

Mezen - Royal Advisor

It didn't start very well. They questioned her identity. But they were logical doubts. It would make more sense if she finally decided to visit the zora king and he found that she had not aged at all. Without a second thought, she broke the seal with the bird.

Following a communication received from Impa of the Sheikah, it's my wish to contact Zelda Bosphoramus, to discuss the events that took place on the Hyrule Plain.

Best regards,

Lord Tyto - Patriarch of the Rito

Both King Dorephan and Lord Tyto existed a hundred years ago. They knew her story and they knew her personally. The Rito and Zora had long-lived lives, which could double or even triple the life of a Hylian. Talking to them was going to be harder. Not only would she have to tell them what had happened at the Battle of Hyrule Plain, but she would also have to apologise for all the harm she had caused them, and for the two huge losses that still weighed heavily on her heart, like a burden.

She grabbed an unused piece of parchment and dipped ink into a pen.

To the attention of His Grace, King Dorephan of the Zora

It may seem unbelievable to you, but I am indeed Zelda Bosphoramus, formerly heir to the crown of the kingdom of Hyrule.

The castle is a mountain of ruins and destruction, so the throne no longer has...

Delete, delete. She didn't pretend to look like she was complaining. She didn't care about the castle; it was as much a part of the past as everything else.

I have received a letter from your counselor, and I take into account your request. Without a doubt I have to make a visit to the Domain with Master Link...

Delete again. She didn't have to drag Link into all that, she herself was responsible and would have to bear the consequences of what had happened. No doubt she would tell them of Link's exploits, but he was now free and there was no need to involve him in all this diplomatic business.

I have received the letter from your counselor, and I take into account your request, so I will make a visit to the Domain as soon as it is possible for me to plan the trip.

"Which could be never," she thought. The letter was open enough to interpretation, so she signed it. She wrote a very similar text for Lord Tyto and reserved the other two letters for another day. Her eyes were heavy, and she decided it was time to sleep.

"Yes! This little boy is Mylo, my son," the shop assistant said, pointing her finger to the slate, "and she's Orene, the cowboy's daughter. Link killed the monsters that lived in the northwest forest and is a good friend with Orene and her family. That artifact is amazing! I didn't know you could keep pictures in such way! It seems magic…"

Zelda put the sheikah stone in her belt and took out the sachet of rupees that Purah had given her.

"Thank you for everything, Nynn. It's thirty rupees, isn't it?"

"Yes. Flour, eggs and sugar. Are you sure you don't want to try these wild fruits? My husband bought them from a street vendor, he says they come from the distant forest of Farone."

"No, that's enough," she smiled, handing her the thirty rupees.

"Are you going to make a cake?""

"An apple pie."

"I hope it'll be delicious, Zelda. Thank you for your visit! Come back whenever you need anything else!"

When she went outside it was raining again, so she covered the shopping in her basket and pulled her hood over her head.

The sheikah hardly interacted with the rest of the villagers. She had found out that it was Symin who did the shopping, and he would place orders just with Nynn so that he didn't have to go to the other shops and bazaars. The milkman left the milk at the lab's door, and they made their own bread, so their contact with the neighbours was almost non-existent.

Suddenly the sky got darker and it began to rain heavily. Zelda hid under the porch of a small wooden house, next to the laundry street.

"Hey, girl! Girl!"

Zelda looked around, but didn't see anyone. There was a rattling sound and a slim, petite woman appeared behind the door behind her.

"You're going to get soaked, girl."

"I know, I've taken refuge here, I hope you don't mind."

"Don't be shy, come in, you can dry your feet while we wait for the rain to stop."

Zelda hesitated for a moment but accepted the woman's generous offer. She took off her boots and wet cloak.

"My name is Astelia," said the woman. She had hay-colored hair covered with some silver strands.

"My name is Zelda, I live in the house on the other side of the river."

"Really? I thought you lived with the sheikah. Won't you be the young woman they say is staying at Link's house?"

"That's right," she admitted, and blushed a little. She didn't have to feel embarrased, Hateno was a small village, and everyone should know her more than enough despite the short time she had been there.

"Here, a hot tea. It is not convenient to cool down," Astelia smiled. Zelda noticed a warm feeling in her chest. "Link pulled my five-year-old daughter out of a ditch. It happened on a rainy afternoon, just like this one. My husband works as a forester and I was at the farm at the edge of the forest, helping to get the cattle inside the fence. I looked to the side for a second and before I knew it, my little Astelia had disappeared. I ran out to call for help and there was Link. He was known in the village as 'the stranger', everyone knew that he bought the ruined house on the other side of the river, but we didn't know much more about him, except that he had a bag of rupees so full that Bolson didn't sleep for almost two days from the shock. Link left immediately to go and fetch my little girl. Goddesses, if it wasn't for him, I'm still so thankful…"

"I'm glad you stumbled upon Link," she smiled.

"He's a lovely boy. And tell me, is he on a trip? Nynn tells me you're living at the lab and doing the shopping instead of Symin."

Nynn was a nice woman, Zelda thought, but she didn't seem to be able to keep her mouth shut.

"Link is traveling. He's been out for more than a week."

"Oh, it's not a long time. The boy barely steps on the village. He doesn't look like someone who stays in the same place for a long time... Anyway, I guess it's just a thing of youth."

Zelda took a sip of her tea and looked at the contents of her basket. Maybe Link had decided not to go back to the village. Or not do it in a long time. He didn't have to go back. As he himself said: he used the house to store his stuff, it wasn't a real home.

"I have to leave, you've been very kind, Astelia, thank you."

"Come back whenever you want, and hurry up to get to the lab, perhaps the rain starts again."

During the afternoon, Zelda was baking the apple pie.

It was raining heavily and Purah and Symin were in the lab too. Purah's work table was in chaos and the diminutive sheikah was more upset than usual, Zelda didn't know if it was because of the confinement, but she had managed to make her feel more focused by asking her to help her cook.

"We have to go see Robbie soon," Purah said, as she cut apple slices, "I want to show him the results of your medical checkup."

"Have you seen something weird?"

"No, no. But it's important that we look at it. He will know what happens with the cessation of ancient energy, he has much more advanced devices than mine at his lab."

They finished preparing the cake and Zelda stoked the wood-burning oven before putting it in.

"Well, tonight we can have apple pie for dinner," she said, as the house began to fill with the sweet smell of baking cake.

"Haven't you done it for Link?", Purah hinted.

"We don't know when he'll come back. Maybe never, so better eat it when it's freshly made. It will be fluffier than if left forgotten for days."

"Maybe never? Zelda, sit there." Purah said, trying to sound authoritarian. Despite her size and singing voice, she sounded very authoritative when she insisted on it. "You haven't talked to Link."

"About what?"

"Well... about a hundred years ago."

"We did." She frowned.

"I mean a more personal conversation, you know." Purah, coughed, clearing her throat.

"It's better not to," she said, looking at the window. Thousands of drops were hitting the glass and it was already dark outside. "He's not the same person. Neither am I. I don't want him to cry at parents he no longer has, or at friends he may never remember."

"And what about you? Don't you think you should tell him about everything you had to go through a hundred years ago?"

"The only thing that matters is the present."

"Zelda, there's something you haven't told me. How did you awaken your powers?"

"Goddesses, Purah." she said, standing up in discomfort, "I don't feel like talking about it now."

"My sister told me that your powers are somehow connected to Link, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Then you have to tell him about that thing."

"We'll have the cake for dinner tonight," she said to put the matter to rest, and ran upstairs to her room.

Naydra's Eye was shining in the sky again that night. The rain had finally let up and the clouds had retreated to leave the sky black and starry.

It was late, but she wasn't sleepy. After a good while of reading, Zelda resumed the tedious task of reading the remaining scrolls. First she broke the seal with the symbol of the fire salamander.

Goro-greetings from Goron City.

Our friends the sheikah report that Princess Zelda is alive, safe and sound. The royal family is welcome to visit our city.

We ask Master Link and Princess Zelda to pay us a visit to check on Vah Rudania and tell us what has happened to the goro-enemies.

Yunobo.

Yunobo? She didn't know who it was. So far, the Goron letter had been the most appealing to her. When she decided to start fulfilling her unfinished business, the Goron city seemed the best candidate to start.

She was about to open the last scroll when she heard noise and commotion on the ground floor. She heard the voices of Purah and Symin and... dropped the scroll and rushed downstairs in her nightgown and bare feet.

When she saw Symin asking Link to hand him his travelling cloak, her heart skipped a beat. Link was dishevelled and his boots were muddy up to his knees. Both Link and the sheikah turned to look at her, when they saw her bursting in with a rush and in bedclothes.

"It's been bad weather," Link said, shrugging as the only greeting.

She felt herself shudder at the sight of him again, something trembled inside her as autumn leaves tremble, about to fall from the tree. She took a couple of strides to embrace him, clinging to his neck. Link stiffened, perhaps stupefied by her reaction. He smelled of rain and forest. His tunic was damp, he must have been soaked from head to toe.

"You're late," she said, pulling away from him. The sheikah were there, as sort of mute spectators, but she didn't care.

"The trip has had some complications."