* * *
It was somewhere around midnight. The dark provided a perfect cover for anyone who didn't wish to be seen. Especially for a group of seven people wearing cloaks that hid most of their features, anyway.
The figures included a groups of five girls from the future, a princess, and a hero.
The girls walked at the back of the group, slightly slower that Link and Zelda. The two groups in the group were enveloped within their own conversations. The girls were still slightly wary about what was going on at this point, but they were willing to do what they needed to in order to stop what might happen.
Earlier that day, after the scene in the library, Zelda had finally revealed exactly what was going on, or at least what she thought was going on. The girls were glad to finally have some further clue as to exactly what their mission might be. However, when Zelda told them what it was exactly, they started to feel not quite to confident.
In Zelda's dream, there had been a shadow of a sorceress or something similar. It might not have led her to believe the shadow had anything to do with Ganon but for the fact that the shadow was backed up by dark clouds. The shadow had summoned something to Death Mountain, which in turn caused a seal to be broken. After that, there had been nothing but Chaos.
What made the five girls weary was the fact that the Goddesses had told them about a sorceress who was summoning Ganon from the future. Although they knew that it was impossible for her to break the seal from there with the power she possessed, what if whatever she was summoning from Death Mountain could? Although they weren't sure why she could be in the past if she was from the same time they had come from, they knew that they probably shouldn't underestimate the power of a sorceress who was intent on bringing a creature like Ganon out of the Dark Realm.
It was unanimous among the group that they would go to Death Mountain to try to figure out what was going on, and somehow stop it. And although Malon knew what was going on as well as the rest of them and seemed to be sensitive to these kinds of things, Zelda suggested it might be safer for her to stay behind. And because Zelda didn't want to create a panic in her country by announcing their intentions at the mountain, she had simply informed the castle that they would be visiting Kakariko for a while.
Michelle, Aholya, Chrystie and Katrina seemed to be getting bad vibes about the situation ever since they had left the castle. Rynita figured it must be because of their connection to the Goddesses and to each other. But, it wasn't until Rynita actually saw the mountain that she started to sense that something was wrong. The usually grayish cloud of smoke that surrounded the crater seemed darker and somehow dangerous. And, for some reason, she could feel the same presence she had felt from the shadow in her dream.
When the group finally did reach Kakariko about an hour after they had left the castle, they were all a little bit more quiet and a little bit more sensitive to their surroundings. As they went through the town, Rynita could see bits and pieces of the Kakariko she was familiar with as her home in the future. It wasn't until they were about to go up the trail to the mountain that she realized a problem with their heading to the mountain.
"How are we going to go into the mountain if the temperature is as high as it is?" she asked out loud.
"I thought about that," Link said. "The Gorons make a certain kind of heat resistant material that can be used to go into the crater. We can stop in Goron Village on the way there and get some of it."
"Oh, that's convenient," Michelle muttered. She wished someone would say something else, because the quiet was really starting to bother her. "So, what does anyone plan to do once we actually get to the mountain?"
Zelda slowed her pace for a moment, as if considering. When she did answer, her tone was dark and it somehow scared her. "I have a feeling that a clue will present itself once we're there. Although it might be more than just a clue, so we should be prepared for anything."
If possible, Michelle liked the silence that followed that statement even less.
* * *
A while later, the group had stopped in with the Gorons to purchase some of their famous heat-resistant tunics. The Goron who sold them the clothes said something about even the path to the mountain being extremely hot at this time, so they changed into them before they even left. The girls seemed to eye the clothes with distaste, and Michelle especially seemed to want to make a fuss about it. Chrystie made a comment to her that at least they had those that were cut for women to wear, and that people going into Death Mountain usually weren't exactly looking to make a fashion statement. Michelle decided to shut up after that.
Back on the trail, everyone present started to notice a change in the temperature. It was very slight at first, as they first started to notice the gradual slope in the path. But, as the trail got steeper, the temperature also seemed to climb. By the time that they were so close to Death Mountain that they only thing they needed to do was to make the climb up the rock face of the slope on the mountain in which the cave to the crater was carved, the girls were really considering that they had made a mistake in coming. The heat wasn't so bad as it might have been had they not been wearing what they were, however.
"You know," Katrina panted as the group made their way up the sheer rock face. "It might have been easier to do this had we brought some rope or something," she finished sarcastically.
It was true, however. Although there were spots in the climb that were not difficult to put one's foot, it was a long climb. By the time that the group reached the top, with Michelle bringing up the rear, everyone save Link seemed to be nearly exhausted.
Michelle brought herself over the last ledge and dropped flat on her back.
"Can we take an elevator next time?" she mumbled. The response was silence, which Michelle took to mean that nobody had any clue what an elevator was. "Forget that I said anything."
Zelda, meanwhile, had walked to the cavernous entrance to the crater of the mountain. She coughed a bit because of the sudden presence of the smoke there, but turned quickly back to the group after only a few steps.
"There is definitely something in there. I can feel it already."
They walked over to join her. All, that is, with the exception of Michelle.
Although she had her eyes closed, she could hear somebody snapping in front of her face.
"Up," Aholya commanded of her.
"Oh, be quiet," the girl mumbled as she propped herself up on her elbows.
The group made their way into the cave. It was relatively dark in the entrance way compared with the moonlight of outside, but as soon as the entrance opened up into a larger room, it became lighter. An unknown, reddish orange glow lit up the whole place. The large opening of the volcano opened up to the night sky, although it was partially blocked due to the violent looking smoke surrounding the crater. The rest of the room consisted of several platforms that were connected by bridges, most likely put in by those people who had come to use the recourses that the volcano had to offer.
The area reminded Michelle of caves she had seen on the television. She walked forward slightly to look down from the edge to what she thought was a lower level of rock. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of a sea of molten rock that was a hundred or so below. She looked back up immediately and began to feel rather dizzy.
* * *
'I've got you right where I want you,' thought a shadow from a dark ledge above the as of now unsuspecting group of seven people.
Ilisya shifted from her post slightly, moving forward so she could have a better look at the Hylians below. She had known that her plan would have worked out perfectly. She had had to bring the girls to the past, because they would have been in the way in the time they had come from. But here, they would not only be out of the way, but they would actually be helping her in her plans to release the Creature from the Dark Realm.
And them coming to Death Mountain on their own was even more perfect. She had known that the so-called Princess of Destiny was sensitive to prophetic visions, but she hadn't thought it would work out so perfectly as it had. The goddesses and Destiny had been giving the girls bits and pieces of information that they had hoped would help them. But in reality, the fact that they had told them about the sorceress led to them believing Zelda's vision meant that they would somehow stop her before she released Ganon if they went to the volcano. And stopped her from opening the seal. When really, the mountain may had been a warning. Or a summoning. Destiny was funny in that way, she thought. It sometimes did things that may have seemed harmful, but had a way of "working out" in the end of things.
'Well,' Ilisya thought to herself. 'This sorceress isn't going to allow Destiny and her minions to prevail in this legend.'
* * *
"So, you guys are really daughters of the Goddesses?" Zelda asked in a somewhat skeptical voice as she was seated on a rock on the volcano.
The rest of the group was seated in a circle around her on some other rocks. And although they were talking, they were all making sure to pay close attention to their surroundings.
Michelle rolled her eyes at this. "I didn't really expect you to believe us, at all. I know you might think our story is believable in that we came from the past because you've seen time travel done before."
"But," Aholya continued. "I don't know why you allowed us to come here, or why you didn't question us more when we were first talking about it."
"At first, I was too busy thinning about the legend and what my dream might have to do with it," Zelda replied. She sighed. "Something tells me that I should believe you about the whole Goddess thing. People have been known, in the past, to be able to talk to one or more of the Goddesses."
"But whether you five came here by accident, or by some plot of Destiny, I think Zelda and I both figured you to have some role in the legend," Link continued.
"What I don't quite understand is what role she has to play in all this," Zelda said, gesturing to Rynita.
Rynita winced slightly. She had been very vague when it came to her role in the legend, mostly when it had to do with her being related to Link.
"Well, actually..." she started. "Do you remember what we said about the Goddesses telling me what I had to do with the legend?"
"Something about destroying the demon...Why?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously just slightly.
"Really, though...." Her eyes drifted to a moment to Michelle, who seemed to have something resembling understanding on her face. She understood that if someone who supposedly came from the future told you that they were your descendant, it might be a little on the bizarre side. The other girls had a similar expression, with the exception of Aholya. She never had shown any understanding towards her, however.
Rynita decided to continue anyway.
"Well, to be blunt, I actually was supposed to somehow finish the destiny of the Hero of Time. Although, I don't know how that can happen unless we go back to our own time."
"But, what do you have to do with...?" Link began.
"Because my family comes from a line of blood that actually descends directly from you," she said while managing to not avoid his eyes.
To Zelda, the expression on his face was priceless. It was one of those rare looks like a combination of, "What was that, I didn't quite hear you," and, "Did you say what I thought you just said?" and, "Holy Farore."
"Well," Michelle said, breaking the silence. "Maybe we shouldn't really worry about all of this destiny stuff until we actually know what in the Dark Realm is going on, here."
Just as she had finished speaking, Aholya noticed something dark that seemed to drop from above them and off to the side. She looked over to see if it was anything more than a Keese, but when she did see it, she did a double take. She could have sworn the shadowy figure was Ilisya. And she seemed to be walking right towards them with a purpose.
"Um, people? I think we might be finding out what's going on sooner that we would have expected..."
* * *
**Mwehehe....Just call me the Mistress of Evil. Curse the cliffhangers! And do you know what you can do in order to make me hurry myself up and right another chapter for you all? YOU CAN REVIEW, THAT'S WHAT!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!! ^__^ Oh, and as always, questions are welcome. E-mail, or review, either is always fine with me! Thanks for reading, people!
Bye!
SailorZelda~