Heya guys, guess what…it's another update!! *mass rejoicing* So how was the wait between chapters this time? Not too long, I hope? ^_^ I actually wrote this chapter pretty fast but didn't have access to a computer for a while which was why I couldn't post right away. I'll stop babbling now.
Zelda does not belong to me, it belongs to the great Miyamoto-sama, who'd better come out with the next damn game soon!!
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Hero
I screamed at the sight of Link, sprawled flat on his stomach with a sword clutched in his grip, his white fairy crumpled close to his free hand. "Rauru! What happened?"
Rauru appeared in the doorway within moments, but I was already at Link's side. I knelt, shaking, and brought my ear close to his chest. There was his steady heartbeat; his breathing was slow and strong, like that of one in a deep sleep. I sat back on my heels, heaving a sigh of relief.
"He's sleeping," I said, turning my gaze to Rauru.
His eyes fell on me, dark and grave. "Yes," he said softly, "almost."
"What do you mean?"
"Look behind you," Rauru ordered. I turned, glancing momentarily down at Link before looking up once more. There was a pedestal on the hexagonal platform that I'd not noticed before, dead center. It was made of marble, short and plain with only a Triforce mark for decoration, but the power radiating from it made the hair on the back of my neck raise. I wondered why I hadn't noticed it before.
"What is it?" I asked without turning my gaze away.
His answer made my scalp prickle. "It is the door."
I turned and stared at him. "To what?"
"To the Sacred Realm."
The Sacred Realm. I should've known. This temple housed the only gateway to that godly place in all of Hyrule- why, this temple had been built for the purpose of protecting it. That everyone knew. But still...
"How is a pedestal a doorway?" I demanded skeptically.
Rauru smiled a bit and walked to our side, Link's and mine. He bent over Link and grasped the wrist of the hand clutching the sword, lifting it to show me. The sword did not slip from Link's grip- his hand was wound so tightly around the handle that his knuckles were white. I stared at the sword in fascination; at the ornamental handle and gold Triforce mark below the hilt, at the dark, shimmering blade that seemed to almost whisper. I reached out a slightly quivering hand and placed my fingerstips reverently to it. The blade was cold and hot all at once, humming under my touch.
"It's called the Master Sword," Rauru said quietly, placing Link's wrist gently down when I took my fingers away. "This was what once rested in the pedestal, before your friend here removed it. Where the pedestal is the doorway, this sword is the key."
"And to open the door...?"
"The Master Sword must be removed from the pedestal. Only one with a pure heart may do so."
"But Ganondorf..." I said, confused.
Rauru nodded. "This is where he breached the Sacred Realm," he said in answer to my unfinished question. "This boy came to the temple unaware that he was leading Ganondorf. He entered the room using the Spiritual Stones and the Song of Time..."
The Song of Time? I knew of that. It was written on the door to this sacred room, able to be played only with a sacred instrument...only with the goddesses' gift to my family, the Ocarina of Time...
"The boy took the Master Sword and removedit from its pedestal. The door to the Sacred Realm opened and Ganondorf shoved the boy aside, entering the Sacred Realm himself where he took the Triforce of Power."
"And Link?" I said breathlessly.
Rauru looked down at the boy. "Link took destiny into his hands too soon," he said gravely.
"What do you mean?" I demanded, but Rauru answered with his own question.
"What do you know of the Hero of Time?"
I blinked. I had heard the title, read of it in my father's library. "The Hero of Time is the champion of the goddesses," I said, reciting from memory. "He is destined to come when Hyrule has fallen into dark, violent times. His light will restore calm and bring about a golden age of peace and prosperity. But he's just a legend, of course," I added matter-of-factly.
Rauru half-smiled. "Not anymore."
I took the hint. "You can't possibly mean him."
"But I do."
"That's impossible," I snapped. This was too much. Goddesses, tyrants, sages, and now heroes- it was as though I were suddenly living in a very grim fairy tale. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen in real life. "The Hero of Time is a legend."
"He's not," said Rauru patiently. "Has Hyrule not fallen into a time of darkness and violence? Is Hyrule not in need of a hero, with the King disappeared and you forced into hiding? It is this boy's destiny; his fate is entwined with yours, with Ganondorf's, with all of Hyrule's. You yourself entrusted the Ocarina of Time to him-"
"How do you know about that?" I demanded, startled.
"He used that sacred instrument to open the door to this place. How else could it have been in his possession, unless he stole it from you, which I highly doubt." Rauru paused for a moment, then asked, "Why did you give him the ocarina?"
"I-I'm not sure," I muttered.
"Almost as if it were destiny, isn't it?" Rauru said pointedly.
I made a face. "Fine," I said stiffly. "But tell me this. If he really is the Hero of Time, why is he on the floor sleeping instead of championing for Hyrule?"
"That's no ordinary sleep," Rauru replied grimly. "Hero of Time or not, Link cannot battle Ganondorf in his present state. He possesses the title but is too young to bear it. Thus when he took the Master Sword, the goddesses imprisoned his body and spirit within an enchanted sleep. His body is here, but his spirit is trapped in the Sacred Realm, unconcious and unaware. When he is old enough to fulfill his destiny, he will be released."
"And how long will that be?" I demanded.
Rauru hesitated. "Several years, probably. The blessing of this temple was done to protect him while he is vulnerable in sleep."
I sank to my knees beside Link's empty vessel, my mouth and throat dry. "Tell me you're not serious. I have to wait years for him to wake up and save Hyrule? Years?" My voice rose considerably. "How much damage can Ganondorf do in years?!"
"He will probably destroy most of Hyrule," Rauru said quietly.
I stared at him, speechless. Then I made a snap decision and jumped to my feet. "I'm leaving. I can do much more for Hyrule out there than-"
Rauru caught my wrist in an iron grip. "You can do nothing," he said harshly. "What do you think you can do now when even the Hero of Time is helpless? You're just a little girl."
"I'm a princess," I snapped. "So let go of me!"
Rauru did not. "Being a princess is irrelevant. Ganondorf doesn't care. He will kill you the moment you step out of this temple. Nothing can save you from him."
I was silent. My thoughts were dwelling on that night a month ago, when Impa and I fled the castle and I gave my ocarina to Link. If not for that, would he have taken the Master Sword and let Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm? Would he be asleep now, helpless to save Hyrule? How could he be, when entrance to this room was impossible without the combined power of the Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time?
"Destiny is cruel," I said in an empty sort of voice. "Ganondorf has breached the Sacred Realm, making the fall of Hyrule imminent, and it's all my fault."
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Continued in Chapter 12.