Repaying a Debt
Disclaimer: I was fuckin' ill when Miyamoto did that book signing in that HUGE Virgin store! Damn it all to hell! Mind you, am not happy with the new Zelda game - too cartoonish and icky. Am quite glad that I'm nothing to do with that one. The others - I'm sad to say I'm nothing to do with them either.
[Bounces] I had some nice group bonding, some music, some stargazing and dodging adults in the last chapter. I didn't actually get to the bottom of the well though - whoops. Well, I will in this one, OK? [Phew]. I love them when they're kids - they're so adorable!
Alexis: [points sword at Soda's throat] You were saying...?
Soda: [Gulp] Urm - just how brave and menacing you guys are.
Alexis: [Preens]
Sheik: [Grins] We know!
Link: We're great we are.
Soda: [Looks down at the four foot(ish) wonders] Well, whaddayaknow? There are people shorter than me!
Alexis, Sheik + Link: [Glare]
Soda: O.o Now I'm freaked - will run away and come back later when have calmed down. [Runs off screaming about scary kids]
Oh yes - be prepared for MUCH more a/u stuff. Much, much more. You'll like it; if you don't, you're an insane monkey bride who's a few pickles short of a full jar. Flames will only add to my great amusement at writing snide remarks back. Read on Macduff...(?) I'm weird...no more coffee tonight.
[] = Alexis' thoughts
{} = Navi's thoughts
** = weird scary voices in head...
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
"This place is creepy," was the greeting I received from Link as I reached the bottom of the well and let go of the ladder. Looking around, I could see Sheik and Link's faces lit up ghost-like by Navi's glow. Sheik was leaning against the stone side of the well, looking down towards the shadowed floor. I followed his gaze, and could see a darker shadowy opening, about two feet across and one a half high.
"We don't have to go through that...do we?" I asked, pointing at it dubiously. Link nodded, and I pulled a face. "Oh, excellent," I muttered, kneeling down on the uneven, damp floor of the well. I looked through the opening, conscious of the other two looking over my shoulders and doing the same. I was almost blinded when Navi flew up before my face, and jumped backwards in alarm. Luckily, the other two got out of my way just in time. [OUCH!]
{Sorry} she said earnestly, and lowered the brightness of her glow. {Come on through.} "I'll wait on the other side for you," she proclaimed, before zipping through the tiny tunnel, and leaving us in almost total darkness, apart from the small square of star filled sky above. I reached out in the direction I though the tunnel was, and immediately came up against stone. So I turned around and fumbled forwards blindly, the puddles of water on the floor soaking right through the knees of my trousers.
"That would be my foot," Sheik's voice came, and the object beneath my left hand wiggled slightly.
"Whoops," I was glad it was dark - he wouldn't be able to see my embarrassed blush. I backed up, and came up against something else. A hand reached out and managed to find my shoulder, and pull me to a standing position.
"This isn't going to work," Link said, releasing my shoulder. "Navi?" he called out, and I felt slightly panicky in case she was too far away to hear us. It was quashed quickly when she zoomed back through, and cast some much desired light around the three of us. She looked around for a split second for a perch, before deciding on the fourth rung of the ladder - about eye height for our child bodies.
"Mmmhmm?" she was looking a little spooked, and had her small arms wrapped protectively around her torso. She noticed me looking, and shot a small smile my way. {Brr, it's cold in here!} she said, but it was false. She was nervous - which made me nervous.
"Just wondering if you'd take us each through the tunnel the same way as you did with the ladder," Link told her, jerking his hand away from where he had leant on the wall, and looking at his palm in disgust. He wiped his hand on his tunic, leaving a slimy looking stain. "Well?" Navi nodded,
"Yeah, sure." She put her arms back down by her sides, and took off from the rung. "Come on then whoever's going first." She hovered around in the air as we all looked at each other. Simultaneously, Link and Sheik pointed at me. I scowled, and then looked up at Navi. "Looks like it's you Blaise," she observed, coming to fly around me. I sighed, got back down on the damp floor, and looked into the tunnel. With some foresight, I removed my glasses.
Navi flew in front of me, lighting a few feet of weed covered stone. "It might be a bit of a squeeze - it's get a bit narrower near the end," she warned, and bearing that in mind, I dropped flat onto my belly. Then, I reached out with my arms and managed to get a grip on the slippery floor and pull myself forwards. I couldn't see the end of the tunnel from here, and felt slightly claustrophobic.
After about a minute, I was beginning to wonder where in all demons the end of the tunnel was, when I emerged on the other side. The room I stood in was like an entrance hall, with two unlit torches - I couldn't see any further than that - the sphere of light Navi created wasn't very big. "Thank Goddesses that's over," I brushed some weed from my hair, and wiped my hands on my trousers. "Ick, I'm soaked now!" Navi laughed tinnily.
"What's wrong?" I asked, then transferred to telepathy so the other two wouldn't overhear. [I'm more perceptive than I look. What's up?]
{You'd have to be with a face like that!} she quipped back, but her heart wasn't in it. She sounded nervous now - and the feeling I had had back in the well expanded ten-fold. {Oh, for the love of - fine, if you must now...I'm...scared of the dark damn it!}
I stared at her. [You're what?!]
{Scared of the dark} she repeated firmly.
[But - you're a fairy. You make light! How can you be scared of the dark?]
{Very astute on the fairy thing. And I just am OK!} she sounded slightly sheepish, and I dropped the subject. "The next one coming through get ready cos I'm coming back!" she called, before going back through the tunnel. Now I was in complete darkness - no stars shone down here. I could feel tendrils of cold, sharp fear creeping up to clench my stomach. I felt a little nauseous, which I put down to the smell of the damp.
Putting a hand in my pocket, I felt the small shape of the ocarina Xenia had given me. I took it out, and tied it around my neck. I figured that way I was less likely to loose the thing. I closed my eyes, but it didn't make the last bit of difference. Pitch black is pitch black, eyes open or not. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.
There was a small disgruntled grunt from somewhere near my feet. This was closely followed by a muffled, "Navi, I think I'm stuck!" I crouched down, and ran my hands over the cold stone until I found the tunnel entrance again. Peeking through, I glimpsed Navi, and behind her, a perturbed looking Link. When he saw me, he lifted his arms helplessly, and said, "A little help?"
"You wouldn't need help if you didn't carry so much!" Navi scolded. I reached out and grabbed Link by the wrists. The floor was slippery, but I managed to hook one foot on the side of the tunnel for leverage.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, just get me out of here!" he urged, and I tightened my grip on his wrists. With the Goron bracelet on, he didn't seem to weigh much; one hard tug, and he came free. There was a slight ripping sound as he did so, and then we tumbled backwards in a heap.
"Are you guys OK over there?" Sheik's voice wafted on the damp laden air.
"Yeah - hang on, I'll be right back to get you," Navi called, and went back through for the last time through the tunnel. I helped Link to his feet, and we stood absolutely still in the darkness, scared of falling down an unseen hole or something.
When the sound of Sheik shuffling through the tunnel became audible, I relaxed a little. When Navi came back into sight, and cast light over the room again, I felt better. Sheik however looked a little worse for wear - the bandages around his torso were now a mottled green instead of crisp white; his head wasn't much better. He stood up, and literally shook himself like a dog, splattering us with more slime.
"Sheik!" Link growled, and Sheik backed away slightly, grinning winningly.
"Don't start that again," Navi flew in between them, and they both stopped. Navi was definitely the scariest in the group. "Now - I'm gonna turn my light back up so we can see better," she said {and so I don't get so freaked out} she admitted in thought. I closed my eyes, and could see the brightness through my closed lids. Slowly, I opened them again, and peered through my lashes at the room.
*
Yes - room - not corridor. Not passageway. One, singular, empty room, apart from; "Oh holy Demons!" Link squeaked, looking at the skeleton in shock. Evidently, the bodies of the major races didn't just burn up. He looked a little green, and I patted him on the arm. I had seen this enough - not every world was fortunate enough to have monsters that disintegrated on death.
Sheik walked forwards, and Navi trailed after him - she suddenly turned forest green and hovered next to the wall on which the skeleton leaned. "What is it?" Sheik asked, putting a hand against the wall. More precisely, through it. He fell forwards and let out a small yell as he disappeared through it.
"Sheik!" Link and I yelled in unison, running towards the wall, and slamming into it. Through it. And tripping over Sheik on the other side. We all tumbled into a shallow stream, creating a loud splash that echoed all around. There was the sound of flapping, and looking around, we saw a skull shrouded in purple fire coming straight for us. I scrambled to get out of the way, pulling the other two with me by their collars. The creature just flew right on by, oblivious to our very existence.
"That was - odd," Sheik shook his head, and looked back at the wall. Wall - as in solid. Weird... Link walked back over to it, and gently reached out - and submerged his hand in it. Then, he plunged his whole arm through, before jumping back through. A few seconds, his head popped through the wall, grinning.
"This is so cool!" he said, waggling the very tips of his fingers through the stone. I just shook my head, and looked in the direction the purple bubble thing had gone.
"Hey - there's a door there," I pointed down the passageway. It was lit by a few stuttering torches, which cast eerie flickering shadows on the walls.
~
(Author note: This bit is totally a/u. I just don't think the whole silver rupee-collecting thing would work - and I'm going to change practically the whole layout. Any objections?
[Silence]
I'll take that as a no. [Grin.])
~
"Where," Link came back through the wall, and looked in the direction I was pointing. "Well, it's as good a place to start as any. Come on Sheik," he called over his shoulder. Sheik looked up from where he been immersing his arm in the stone and pulling it back out in fascination.
"Coming," he said, pulling his arm back out, and joining us. "That's so weird..." he looked back at the wall interestedly. I just shook my head, and stepped forwards towards the door - onto nothing.
"AHHH!" I yelled, dropping like a stone through the floor, which like the wall wasn't as solid as it had looked.
"Blaise!" Above me, I could see both Sheik and Link, who must have knelt on the floor, sticking their heads and arms through to try and grab me. I reached up, and brushed the tips of Sheik's fingers; [not quick enough] I thought ruefully as I continued to spiral down. With a sickening thud, I landed hard on the ground - which wasn't actually all that hard. It compressed a little, before bouncing back, and pushing me up into a sitting position. My arm hurt pretty bad - looking down, I could see blood welling through the sleeve of my undershirt.
"Blaise? Are you OK?" Navi called, and I looked up, and could see their faces dimly. I tried to raise my arm to reply, but it hurt too much.
"Yeah," I called, but even that sounded feeble.
"We'll be right down - hang on," they withdrew, and the only one left was Navi, who flew between above the fake floor, and below it. I held my arm, biting my lip against the pain. Peeling the sleeve back, I looked at the wound. It wasn't actually that bad under the blood - a gash a few inches long on my forearm was all. I wondered what had caused it, and looked around. My sword had flown off my back as I fell, and lay on the ground next to me. Looking at my sleeve, I could see a neat slit exactly the same size as my cut. That explained that one then.
A coil of rope flopped to the ground next to me, and then the other two slid down it and hurried over to me. Sheik knelt down, and took my arm to examine it. "Youch," he said, running cool fingers over my hand soothingly. A sudden thought hit me, and I used my good arm to pull my pack over my head.
"There's a red potion in there somewhere," I said through gritted teeth. "OW! Demons Sheik, don't do that," I hissed at him when he pressed his hand over the wound.
"Sorry," he sounded apologetic, and I regretted getting so angry with him. But boy, it hurt like hell! "But this is going to hurt a lot more," he held a bottle of red potion in his other hand, and dropped my arm to splash some onto his fingers. He raised an eyebrow when I cringed away, and then gently pressed his fingers over the wound - which couldn't have felt worse if someone had put a flaming sword through it. I took a sharp intake of breath, and snapped my teeth shut to stop a stream of swear words.
"There," Sheik let my arm drop, and looking down, there was no sign of the wound.
"Thanks," I tested it out - still sore, but usable. And luckily, it was the arm with the Goron bracelet, so I had that to fall back on. "So, just wondering - how do we get back up?" Link gestured to the rope. [Oh goodie, another love of mine. Climbing!]
{You're so pessimistic, you know that?}
[It saves on disappointment,] I thought back, putting my sword back on my back, and moving over to the rope. Sheik shimmied up like lightning first, and then leant over the edge of the real floor, his arms outstretched.
"C'mon Blaise, I'll help you up," he offered. I grabbed onto the coarse rope, and pulled myself up as best I could with only one good arm. It was a bit of a struggle, but with Sheik's help, and a little magical aide from Navi, I reached the top. Leaning through, I watched Link shimmy up as well, and then pull the rope up after him and wrap it around his waist. I flipped my glasses from my pocket, surprised that they hadn't been broken by the fall, and put them on.
"So - how do we get to that door then?" I asked, and they shrugged.
"I could lift you over - it's not that far," Navi offered.
"Are you sure you have enough magic to do it?" Link sounded worried.
"Of course I do silly," she bopped him on the nose. "And anyway, even with all that rubbish you carry, you three don't weigh all that much." Sheik gave a derisive snort and looked sidelong at Link. I felt glad I was in between them to stop a fight.
"Well - all right then Navi - do it," I said, and she nodded.
"You'll have to hold hands - that way I only need to cast one spell," she advised, and Link and Sheik linked hands with me. "Right - I hope I can remember how to do this," she said, and we looked at her sternly. "Just kidding, just kidding! Sheesh!" she laughed and then spread her small arms wide. Bright lights - brighter than hers - formed just above each outstretched fingertip of each hand.
She bought her hands together, and the ten balls of light merged into one. This she directed to under our feet, and we were lifted slowly off the ground. Then, she bought us around, turning one hundred and eighty degrees to face the door. Even from so far away, I could see sweat on her forehead, and she bought us down a little abruptly, before soaring lethargically over to us. "Told you I could do it," she said, taking deep gulps of air. "However, I think I need a rest now." Link took his hat off dutifully, and she settled in the blond mass of hair there.
Sheik turned the handle of the door, which opened with a rusty whine. "It's pretty dark in here," he whispered, holding the door open so that Link and I could step through. Then, he let it go, and it shut with a loud click. The whole room was flooded with light, blinding all of us temporarily. When we could see again, it was to find three Stalfos bearing down on us. Luckily, they weren't fully-grown. If they had been, we wouldn't have been able to take them on.
"Ah, at last, something I can see before it hurts me," I said with relish, whipping my sword from my back, raising my shield, and parrying the blow of the first Stalfos.
"Yeah, much better," Sheik agreed, performing an impressive back flip to dodge a vicious swipe from his Stalfos. Link was duelling his expertly, and managed to disarm his within a matter of seconds. Using both his sword and the one of his adversary, he pinned it into a corner and struck it down.
Sheik was leading his on a merry dance, back flipping and somersaulting to also draw his into a corner. Demons, these creatures were dumb. Sheik carried on playing with his Stalfos for a while, and I parried lazily with mine before getting bored and taking its skull head off in one swipe.
The last Stalfos fell with a piteous whine, and I followed suit. My arm was throbbing, and my head hurt. As far as I knew, that shouldn't be happening at all. The red potion had healed me earlier, and the Stalfos hadn't managed to land a blow on any of us. But, I still felt as though I had run a marathon, and then had a really lengthy training session afterwards. "Are you all right?" Link asked as he tried to steady his breaths. I nodded, and then groaned, putting a hand to my head.
"Liar," Navi called from Link's head; he'd dropped the hat during the battle. I just groaned again, and closed my eyes. As soon as I did, the pain grew, centring on my temples and then moving out over my forehead. I opened my eyes again, but the pain didn't go away. Navi and Link were looking at me wide eyed.
"What?" I asked, and my jaw felt painful as I moved it. I tried to stand up, but it felt as if some invisible something had swept my feet out from under me. I collapsed to the floor again, and Sheik ran over from where he had been sitting to retie his facemask.
A soft menacing voice hissed at me. *Get out murderer - out now. We don't want you here; out!* I looked around for the source of the voice, but could find none.
"You're bleeding," Link said, and touched a finger to my temple. When he pulled it away, I could indeed see blood. I wiped the blood away with the back of my hand and stood up - this time, nothing pushed me back down.
*Are you going? You'd better be going - or we'll get you. We'll make you remember EVERYTHING.*
[Navi, can you hear that?]
{What?}
*Of course she can't - her conscience is clear.*
[Never mind.] I shut the link with Navi and then thought back at the voice. [I'm here trying to help! And I don't know what you're talking about!]
*The dead always know when another dies - all the time. Diabola cast the spell, but you gave him to her, didn't you?* I could feel bile rise in my throat at this.
[Diabola...You bitch, go away!]
*Oh, trust us, it isn't her. If she were here, we would have already killed her. Get what you came for and leave. Never return murderer.*
[Fine, I'll go.] The voice didn't answer, and the fact that I was no longer being beaten up told me I was allowed to carry on. I noticed that we had been walking forwards through winding corridors for a while now - checking the floor in front of us before putting our full weight on it. I shivered, and the feeling of nausea wouldn't go away. My head still hurt, and it was still bleeding slightly. This world was too - strange. It knew too much of me for me to be comfortable.
*
We came to another door, and after checking that the floor was safe to walk on, stepped through into a room full of dim light. Looking up, we could see a square of sky high above. It was grey with a slight tinge of blue - dawn was approaching.
In the centre of the room was a large chest - it was already open, and within it, we could see something glinting. Link, of course being the hero, went over to the chest, and removed the item. It looked like a magnifying glass, but with the same emblem as on Sheik's bandages on it. Sheik gasped, and took the glass from Link. "The eye of truth," he said, and held it up to his eye. "It shows the truth - fake walls and floors are revealed, and disguises mean nothing." I gulped - disguises - did that include murderers pretending to be travelling warriors?
To my great relief, he dropped it back into Link's palm; Link put it into his belt, and then looked at the wall. Nothing. We turned around to go back through the door, only to find it not there. Link took the eyeglass and raised it to his eye to look for the door. Then, he rotated around - I made sure that I kept away from the sight of the glass-covered eye. Then, he smiled, and moved over to the other wall.
To my great surprise he started to climb thin air. Then I thought about what Sheik had said - obviously, the ladder was hidden to all but those with the eye of truth. He turned around, and grinned, "Just follow me, and you'll be fine." With trepidation, Sheik and I followed his up this ladder that we couldn't see, trusting our hands and feet to find the rungs where our eyes could not.
At the top, we climbed out onto a grassy knoll. Looking around, I could see Kakariko village far below, and closer at hand, the windmill. We were in the stretch of land between the graveyard and the windmill, looking down over the field. Kakariko was beginning to wake up, and I could see some Sheikah clinging to the last shadows as they moved to hide away for the day. "The Princess will be at the ports by now," Sheik said as he looked at his disappearing people.
"Aye - I hope the ones that went with her are all right," Link mused, and turned his gaze to the field as a whole. Then, he turned to look towards the imposing white outline of the Temple of Time. "I suppose we'd best get back - we have what we came for."
'What we came for'. I thought back to the voice, and as if on cue, it came again. *You have what you need - do not return, on pain of death.* That was friendly...
We skidded down the knoll onto the patch of grass behind the windmill. We did contemplate going through it, but then remembered the 'mill guy' who was probably still pissed off about the previous day. So we made our sedate way down an almost vertical slope to the main village, which by this time was almost fully awake. Somewhere, a cock crowed, and I could hear the sounds of gossiping villagers.
"Wait," Sheik put his arms out to the sides to stop us in our tracks. "There's something I have to do before we leave."
"What?" Link asked.
"It's - uh...well," Sheik stammered, and I hit Link gently over the head.
"It's private, right?"
"Uh - yeah..." he blushed, and then scampered off.
"Come on you," I copied Navi and took Link by the ear. "Let's just go sit down and rest or something."
"Ow - ow - ow - ow!" he whined, and I eventually let go when we reached a bench to sit down on. He jumped up again almost immediately, knocking Navi to the floor. "Malon! Hey, Malon!" he rushed off over to a small red head, who I could easily recognise as the Ranch-Girl who gave bear hugs.
"Stupid, lovesick Hylian hero; idiotic, blond haired chump, more actions than sense..." Navi muttered, and added a few more less savoury words telepathically. "Dropping me just to go speak to Malon." She had her hands on her hips and was scowling. I reached out and flattened her sticking up hair. "Thanks," she said, still scowling, and I had an insane urge to laugh. I didn't dare though - I didn't fancy being bitten on the ear, or picked up by one.
Malon was talking animatedly to Link, and they wandered off into the village. Leaving Navi and I alone; and I had absolutely no idea what the layout of the village was like at this time. So, I sat, and swung my legs back and forth on the bench, staring absent-mindedly at the village gate. "I'm gonna go find that dumb Hylian and drag him back here by the hair if I have to," Navi suddenly burst out. "Want to come with?" she half turned to ask me, and I shook my head.
"I'm still feeling a bit tired," I admitted, and she sped off. "Don't do anything too bad to him!" I called after her, chuckling. Looking back at the gate, I saw a red-haired person on a coal black horse ride through. I knew that profile anywhere, even seven years back. Ganondorf. I jumped off of the bench and hid behind the wooden back bars, watching through the cracks as he smiled and handed the reins of his steed to a stable boy, and patted him on the head.
The boy grinned, and said something, to which Ganondorf laughed, and chucked a red rupee at the boy, who looked shocked and pleased at his pay. Then, Ganondorf strode jauntily through the town, looking for all the earth like he was just enjoying a morning stroll. However, by his sweeping gaze, I could tell that he was searching for something - namely the princess.
I was captivated by how little he had in fact changed in the seven years. His hair was shorter here, and his skin slightly fairer. He didn't wear a jewelled headband, instead seeming to favour a plain one. And - he carried no weapon whatsoever. As he walked past my hiding place, I saw the symbol of a triangle on the back of his hand and gasped; very loudly.
He stopped, and looked around confused. I cowered behind my feeble hiding place as he leant over. Hurriedly, I dropped my ocarina on the floor, and pretended to be picking it up. Then, I straightened up, smiled at him, and walked off. I had a feeling that I was home dry when I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was a light tap, but compelled me to stop. I turned around slowly and looked up at him. He was a lot taller from this age.
"Hello there," he smiled cheerily down. "I noticed you hiding behind that bench there. Why may I ask?" I was temped to use childish cheek and say no - but I didn't.
"I was - uh - just - urm - playing hide and seek with me friends is all sir." For some reason, it came out as an accent similar to Malon's. He just nodded, and then looked around distractedly, before looking back at me.
"I'm looking for a little girl around your age. She's my niece," he said, crouching down to be on eye level with me. "About yay high," he held his hand slightly above my own height, "and with blonde hair, blue eyes. Usually wears a pink dress."
"Haven't seen her," I said innocently. "Why're you looking for her; are you playin' hide and seek too?" Oh demons, I sounded like an idiot - but it seemed to be getting rid of him, because he just shook his head and stood up.
"Something like that," he said softly, before walking off. I let out a heavy sigh as I watched his retreating figure, and returned to my place on the bench to wait for the other two to return from their missions. Then, I thought, what the hell, I may as well do something by myself as well. And, I was curious to see where Ganondorf was going to search for the Princess anyway. So, I hurried to catch up with him, stopping about ten yards behind, and then weaving through the milling villagers to follow him.
He turned a corner, and I followed as quickly as I could. However, when I got there, I couldn't see him. I ran forwards to an intersection of three roads, and looked around all three ways. Finally, I caught sight of him halfway down the left street, and ran again to catch up with him. Someone darted into my path, and I was going so fast that I didn't apply the breaks in time, and crashed straight into them.
"Goddesses, I'm sorry about that," a familiar voice came, and looking up, I saw Sheik standing over me. "Blaise? What the heck are you doing running around here?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"Well, I asked first," he smiled, and I just shook my head disbelievingly.
"Fine - look over there," I pointed to where Ganondorf had waylaid another kid, and was obviously asking him whether he had seen his 'niece'. The boy just shrugged, and Ganondorf looked perplexed. Sheik grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the floor, before flying off down the street the opposite way with me in tow.
"C'mon, we have to get out of here," he panted as we carried on running. I couldn't speak - running equalled BAD!
We saw Link still walking with Malon in the main field. Sheik grabbed him, and pulled him away from Malon, not even stopping the sprint.
"HEY!" Link said, and then turned around to wave to Malon. "Catch you later!" Then he turned back to stop himself falling over as we ran along. Navi emerged from a side street, and saw us,
"Why're you running?" she asked, but none of us had the breath to answer. I was conscious of her latching onto my shoulder. The gate of the village passed by in a blur, and then we were hurrying down the steps out into the field.
Finally, Sheik slowed down, and dropped our hands. I gasped for air, and Sheik drew deep, steadying breaths. Link was lucky - he hadn't done the full stint, so he wasn't so tired. "What was all that about?" I asked when I could finally draw breath again.
"Ganondorf stupid!" he snapped back. "We couldn't stay with him there."
"Ganondorf? Where?" Link looked around wildly.
"Don't worry, he's still in Kakariko Link," Sheik assured him. "I just thought it wouldn't be wise to hang around. And we need to get back to the future anyway." Back to the Future - that was a Vellytision programme on one of the planets I had saved. A very funny one too - whoops, I'd gotten a little sidetracked. Sheik was making for the bridge over the river, and we traipsed after him.
"Since you just made me run like mad, I think I deserve to know what you were doing back there," I said obstinately, and Link nodded curtly in agreement. Sheik rolled his eyes, and then glared at us both. I held my ground. "I wanna know!"
"Fine," he grumbled, looking down at the floor, and his mouth curved into a frown. "I just - went to see my mother is all." Link let out a soft sound of surprise. "What?" Sheik turned to narrow his maroon eyes at the both of us. "She left after the first year, and I haven't seen her - so I just went to say I'd be OK." I was astounded to see tears welling up in his eyes, and placed an arm around his shoulders.
"Hey, shh. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry..." I whispered, and he nodded and sniffed loudly. Then, with still over bright eyes, he looked up and ahead to the Castle Town. He didn't shake off the arm I had put around his shoulder, and it felt quite comfortable to use him as a leaning post as we all merely stood and looked at the high walled town. It looked stunning in the sunlight - I suppose each of us was just taking in the sight before we had to go back to the desolate future.
"Just remember this is what we're fighting for." Navi said in awe.
"It sure doesn't look much, but when we save it, it'll be as beautiful as this again," Link said in a hushed voice. Then, the spell was broken, and we carried on to the town, and the Temple of Time.
~*~*~*~
I stretched cat-like when we came out at the other end of the portal. "Goddesses, it feels great to be big again," I yawned, taking my sword from my back and watching it grow back into the right size again.
"Aye, that it does," Sheik said, and his voice was back to a bass. "Now, off to save the world and all that," he proclaimed cheerfully. "And, since I'm tired of having to walk everywhere all the time, I'm gonna cheat again and teach you the song now Link."
{Thank Goddesses for that. I couldn't take another horse-ride with Link} Navi thought.
[Me neither - horse riding isn't my favourite transport.]
{Portals aren't much better.}
[That's true - but they are quicker.]
{Yeah...and it means less time listening to you think about Sheik...} she said coyly. I didn't rise to it. Sheik had finished teaching Link the melody, and all of us stood closely together as he played it al the way through. A portal grew up all around us, and we were whisked away.
*
At the other end, we were spat out into a gloomy room full of unlit torches. A feeling of unease came over me as I looked at them. Sheik was up quickly, and walking to a raised platform in the centre of the room. "We have to light these all at once," he said, gesturing to the torches that must have numbered at least twenty.
"Right," Link nodded. "One question though."
"What?"
"How?"
"Umm." Sheik shrugged, and Link, Navi and I sweat dropped. "Hey, I got you here, it's your turn to figure something out!" he jumped down off the platform.
"Maybe the fire arrows," Navi offered as a suggestion. Link looked like he could have kissed her. {And I'm so glad he didn't - gross!} she thought, and I snorted. My head was throbbing a little, and I touched my hand to my temple to check for blood. None - maybe those voices were only at the bottom of the well.
"Hang on - how will we get the fire arrows to light them all at once though?" Sheik asked, relieving Link of the vial full of fiery magic.
"Good question..." Navi's brow knitted in concentration, and then she clicked her fingers. "The great fairy on Death Mountain!"
"Wha...?" Link looked at her confused.
"Well, she said she'd help me out if I needed it. All I gotta do is draw up a portal, talk to her, and get her to send some fairies through to help."
"Can you do that?" Sheik asked.
Navi shrugged, "It's worth a shot."
"Right then," I rubbed my hands together as a sudden chill ran through me. "Shall we go and wait outside? It's cold in here." Link and Sheik nodded, and we went outside. It was nighttime again, and I wondered briefly if Sheik would tell me any more constellations. On seeing his tired face, I guessed not. I lay down on the dew-laden grass, and stared upwards at the millions of tiny dots.
After a few seconds, I managed to pick out the 'Zoran songster', and thought back to the legend Sheik had told me. I had lied - I knew one constellation, but it wasn't one that strictly came from Hyrule. It was one that was cut into all the skies of all the worlds if you looked closely enough; which people rarely did. It took me a while to get my bearings and find it, but I finally did, hanging low on the horizon in the South.
It's simply known as 'The Hero'. Though the legend that goes with it is a little hazy, after being rewritten and retold for so long. However, the basic gist of it that I managed to learn from my brother before he...when I was a child, is thus:-
'Once, there was a time when heroes weren't needed. All the worlds knew of all the other worlds, and had achieved a peaceful co-existence. There was no famine, no war, no disease and no death. All were immortal, and happy ever after meant happy ever after. But as always, the equilibrium of the worlds shifted. Some were not content with merely living. They wanted power. Lots of power. Insurmountable power, the kind of power which only Gods and Goddesses could ever dream of.
And there was no one to stop them.
It was only to easy for these discontented few to take the worlds, enslave the people, rape the land, and gain dark powers.
Then, the Hero came. No one knows where from, nor how he learned to fight, nor how it was that he chose his path. But, he saved all worlds, restored order. He was merciful, and let the few go free - which was his downfall. For, one night, upon resting in the whispering tall grasses of Labrynna, he was stabbed with a poisoned dragon claw, and died as such. And his friends knew - his friends sought revenge, and so the roles of Heroes and Heroines were born.'
{Wow.} Navi's voice cut in on my thoughts. {That's amazing; where did you learn that?} I looked over to the entrance to the torch room, and saw Navi surrounded by a small cloud of fairies.
[I was told it by my brother once.] She nodded, and then turned to Link and Sheik.
"Come on you two!" They hopped up from the ground, as did I, and followed Navi back inside. Evidently, her fairy friends knew what to do, as they queued up next to Sheik who held the magic vial, and each held an arrow in their tiny hands. I took two arrows, and dipped them both in together. Immediately, the tips burst into tiny violent infernos, and I held them as far away from me as I could.
When each fairy and person had his or her arrows ready, Link began to count down. "When I say three, you light your torches. Ready?" Calls of assent came from all sides. "OK. One...Two...THREE!" Everyone shoved their flaming arrows into the Hessian fuel balls, and the torches flared up. There was a subterranean thundering sound, and the wall opposite the entrance raised itself up entirely.
And that was when the voices came back. *We warned you damn it!* I fell backwards from an invisible blow, and cracked my head on the floor. Goodbye to consciousness.
~ Diabola was grinning at me amiably, running a tapered finger down the glass front of the family portrait on my bedroom wall. "Such a shame about your poor dear family," she said softly, and patted me on the shoulder as I cried. My black mourning robes were already soaked with tears, and still more were falling. I knew I should stop - six weeks was getting beyond a joke. The last of my family was gone - my Aunt had died by unknown means.
But, I was a child - not even into double figures yet. Who would I live with? Who could I turn to? And then she shows up, full of promises of kindness and teachings. But, Loki and David insisted that I stay with them, as they were my Godparents, and Diabola could not argue with two Master Angels. She didn't seem pleased about letting me go though, and had carried on visiting me, much to the distaste of my two guardians.
"Perhaps if you did something for me, I could - but no, no, it is too much to ask." She trailed off, and sat down on the bed to 'comfort' me.
I sniffed, and looked up. "What? What is it? What could you do?"
"No, I couldn't possibly my dear Alexis," she waved her hand dismissively.
"Please, tell me?" I pleaded, clasping her hand desperately.
"Well," she leant forward conspiratorially, and her long vibrant red hair fell in a sheet across her face. She brushed it back in annoyance. "It is possible - difficult - but possible, to necromance people."
"What does necoran... - uh - what does that mean?" I asked full of childlike curiosity, and the tears that poured down my cheeks were hastily wiped away so I could see her more clearly. She smiled.
"Why, it means to bring loved ones back from the gate so that they'll be with you again," she answered, and I knew the gate to be the one of death. I was amazed.
"How? And can you do it?" She laughed at this, and tossed her silky mane over her shoulder.
"Why of course little one! I've been taught in the ways of magic for years after all!" I nodded; this was common knowledge in the community. "But, I would need you to do me a little favour. David will not meet me alone - he must always insist of having Loki with him."
"But they're in love - they're always together," I had always been totally acceptant of this situation. Diabola, however, had not been in the slightest. She had loved David - understandable, as he was one of the best- looking Angels around. And she one of the best looking also; they would have made a handsome couple, but David had turned her away in favour of his dearest Loki. All this, I did not know at the time. It had always been David and Loki; never Diabola.
"I know that - but I must talk to him alone. Loki would merely interfere and then I wouldn't be able to say all I wanted." She pouted slightly, and turned sad eyes towards me. I couldn't help but look into them - they were so out of the ordinary, even for an Angel's. The centre was normal enough - vibrant green - but the area, which was usually white, on her, was jet black. Against her porcelain skin, they stood out incredibly well.
"I'll do it - but you must promise to bring my family back," I held my hand out to shake on it. She pretended to think about it, before smiling and shaking my hand.
"Now," she leant forwards, "we must discuss how we are going to do this..." ~
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
And that's the end of yet another chapter. O.o I am SO confused! I don't know where to go with this now. Eek. And I can't upload this for a few days anyway, since my net connection is down. [Scowl] stupid ntl...
That little bit at the end is a memory by the way - with the swirly line thingies (these ~). It carries on from the whole voices in the bottom of the well and all that. If you are confused, I understand, and I'll try to make it less confusing. The basic thing is: voices have knocked her out, and she is unconscious with all the memories flooding back.
And the next chapter is going to be interesting, trying to follow on from this weird little one. But, I'll try.
Bye for now - Sheik's asleep, so we don't have a sketch today.
Sheik: [yawns, turns over and promptly falls out of bed]
Soda: OK, maybe we are having one. O.o NAKEE SHEIK!
Sheik: Wha...? OH GODDESSES! [Pulls blanket to cover himself, looks very embarrassed]
Soda: Now I know why Navi gets so scared when she gets locked in with you and Link!
Alexis: [Sniggers uncontrollably]
Sheik: [Defensively] I'm not that bad! [Trips over blanket]
Link: [Walks in] O.o [Walks out again, yells] I don't even want to know what you and Soda were doing!
Soda: O.o
Sheik: O.o
Alexis: [Shudders, and leaves to find the nearest toilet to throw up in]
Soda: [Looks shiftily at Sheik, and backs away] Heh - I'll just be going now
Sheik: [Uncomfortably] Yes - that'd be good...
[Faints]
It is scary living with my muses - off to drink a lot of coffee - nope, fuck that. Off to drink vodka straight, get drunk off my head, and forget this ever happened.
Ciao, Soda [EWW]
Disclaimer: I was fuckin' ill when Miyamoto did that book signing in that HUGE Virgin store! Damn it all to hell! Mind you, am not happy with the new Zelda game - too cartoonish and icky. Am quite glad that I'm nothing to do with that one. The others - I'm sad to say I'm nothing to do with them either.
[Bounces] I had some nice group bonding, some music, some stargazing and dodging adults in the last chapter. I didn't actually get to the bottom of the well though - whoops. Well, I will in this one, OK? [Phew]. I love them when they're kids - they're so adorable!
Alexis: [points sword at Soda's throat] You were saying...?
Soda: [Gulp] Urm - just how brave and menacing you guys are.
Alexis: [Preens]
Sheik: [Grins] We know!
Link: We're great we are.
Soda: [Looks down at the four foot(ish) wonders] Well, whaddayaknow? There are people shorter than me!
Alexis, Sheik + Link: [Glare]
Soda: O.o Now I'm freaked - will run away and come back later when have calmed down. [Runs off screaming about scary kids]
Oh yes - be prepared for MUCH more a/u stuff. Much, much more. You'll like it; if you don't, you're an insane monkey bride who's a few pickles short of a full jar. Flames will only add to my great amusement at writing snide remarks back. Read on Macduff...(?) I'm weird...no more coffee tonight.
[] = Alexis' thoughts
{} = Navi's thoughts
** = weird scary voices in head...
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
"This place is creepy," was the greeting I received from Link as I reached the bottom of the well and let go of the ladder. Looking around, I could see Sheik and Link's faces lit up ghost-like by Navi's glow. Sheik was leaning against the stone side of the well, looking down towards the shadowed floor. I followed his gaze, and could see a darker shadowy opening, about two feet across and one a half high.
"We don't have to go through that...do we?" I asked, pointing at it dubiously. Link nodded, and I pulled a face. "Oh, excellent," I muttered, kneeling down on the uneven, damp floor of the well. I looked through the opening, conscious of the other two looking over my shoulders and doing the same. I was almost blinded when Navi flew up before my face, and jumped backwards in alarm. Luckily, the other two got out of my way just in time. [OUCH!]
{Sorry} she said earnestly, and lowered the brightness of her glow. {Come on through.} "I'll wait on the other side for you," she proclaimed, before zipping through the tiny tunnel, and leaving us in almost total darkness, apart from the small square of star filled sky above. I reached out in the direction I though the tunnel was, and immediately came up against stone. So I turned around and fumbled forwards blindly, the puddles of water on the floor soaking right through the knees of my trousers.
"That would be my foot," Sheik's voice came, and the object beneath my left hand wiggled slightly.
"Whoops," I was glad it was dark - he wouldn't be able to see my embarrassed blush. I backed up, and came up against something else. A hand reached out and managed to find my shoulder, and pull me to a standing position.
"This isn't going to work," Link said, releasing my shoulder. "Navi?" he called out, and I felt slightly panicky in case she was too far away to hear us. It was quashed quickly when she zoomed back through, and cast some much desired light around the three of us. She looked around for a split second for a perch, before deciding on the fourth rung of the ladder - about eye height for our child bodies.
"Mmmhmm?" she was looking a little spooked, and had her small arms wrapped protectively around her torso. She noticed me looking, and shot a small smile my way. {Brr, it's cold in here!} she said, but it was false. She was nervous - which made me nervous.
"Just wondering if you'd take us each through the tunnel the same way as you did with the ladder," Link told her, jerking his hand away from where he had leant on the wall, and looking at his palm in disgust. He wiped his hand on his tunic, leaving a slimy looking stain. "Well?" Navi nodded,
"Yeah, sure." She put her arms back down by her sides, and took off from the rung. "Come on then whoever's going first." She hovered around in the air as we all looked at each other. Simultaneously, Link and Sheik pointed at me. I scowled, and then looked up at Navi. "Looks like it's you Blaise," she observed, coming to fly around me. I sighed, got back down on the damp floor, and looked into the tunnel. With some foresight, I removed my glasses.
Navi flew in front of me, lighting a few feet of weed covered stone. "It might be a bit of a squeeze - it's get a bit narrower near the end," she warned, and bearing that in mind, I dropped flat onto my belly. Then, I reached out with my arms and managed to get a grip on the slippery floor and pull myself forwards. I couldn't see the end of the tunnel from here, and felt slightly claustrophobic.
After about a minute, I was beginning to wonder where in all demons the end of the tunnel was, when I emerged on the other side. The room I stood in was like an entrance hall, with two unlit torches - I couldn't see any further than that - the sphere of light Navi created wasn't very big. "Thank Goddesses that's over," I brushed some weed from my hair, and wiped my hands on my trousers. "Ick, I'm soaked now!" Navi laughed tinnily.
"What's wrong?" I asked, then transferred to telepathy so the other two wouldn't overhear. [I'm more perceptive than I look. What's up?]
{You'd have to be with a face like that!} she quipped back, but her heart wasn't in it. She sounded nervous now - and the feeling I had had back in the well expanded ten-fold. {Oh, for the love of - fine, if you must now...I'm...scared of the dark damn it!}
I stared at her. [You're what?!]
{Scared of the dark} she repeated firmly.
[But - you're a fairy. You make light! How can you be scared of the dark?]
{Very astute on the fairy thing. And I just am OK!} she sounded slightly sheepish, and I dropped the subject. "The next one coming through get ready cos I'm coming back!" she called, before going back through the tunnel. Now I was in complete darkness - no stars shone down here. I could feel tendrils of cold, sharp fear creeping up to clench my stomach. I felt a little nauseous, which I put down to the smell of the damp.
Putting a hand in my pocket, I felt the small shape of the ocarina Xenia had given me. I took it out, and tied it around my neck. I figured that way I was less likely to loose the thing. I closed my eyes, but it didn't make the last bit of difference. Pitch black is pitch black, eyes open or not. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.
There was a small disgruntled grunt from somewhere near my feet. This was closely followed by a muffled, "Navi, I think I'm stuck!" I crouched down, and ran my hands over the cold stone until I found the tunnel entrance again. Peeking through, I glimpsed Navi, and behind her, a perturbed looking Link. When he saw me, he lifted his arms helplessly, and said, "A little help?"
"You wouldn't need help if you didn't carry so much!" Navi scolded. I reached out and grabbed Link by the wrists. The floor was slippery, but I managed to hook one foot on the side of the tunnel for leverage.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, just get me out of here!" he urged, and I tightened my grip on his wrists. With the Goron bracelet on, he didn't seem to weigh much; one hard tug, and he came free. There was a slight ripping sound as he did so, and then we tumbled backwards in a heap.
"Are you guys OK over there?" Sheik's voice wafted on the damp laden air.
"Yeah - hang on, I'll be right back to get you," Navi called, and went back through for the last time through the tunnel. I helped Link to his feet, and we stood absolutely still in the darkness, scared of falling down an unseen hole or something.
When the sound of Sheik shuffling through the tunnel became audible, I relaxed a little. When Navi came back into sight, and cast light over the room again, I felt better. Sheik however looked a little worse for wear - the bandages around his torso were now a mottled green instead of crisp white; his head wasn't much better. He stood up, and literally shook himself like a dog, splattering us with more slime.
"Sheik!" Link growled, and Sheik backed away slightly, grinning winningly.
"Don't start that again," Navi flew in between them, and they both stopped. Navi was definitely the scariest in the group. "Now - I'm gonna turn my light back up so we can see better," she said {and so I don't get so freaked out} she admitted in thought. I closed my eyes, and could see the brightness through my closed lids. Slowly, I opened them again, and peered through my lashes at the room.
*
Yes - room - not corridor. Not passageway. One, singular, empty room, apart from; "Oh holy Demons!" Link squeaked, looking at the skeleton in shock. Evidently, the bodies of the major races didn't just burn up. He looked a little green, and I patted him on the arm. I had seen this enough - not every world was fortunate enough to have monsters that disintegrated on death.
Sheik walked forwards, and Navi trailed after him - she suddenly turned forest green and hovered next to the wall on which the skeleton leaned. "What is it?" Sheik asked, putting a hand against the wall. More precisely, through it. He fell forwards and let out a small yell as he disappeared through it.
"Sheik!" Link and I yelled in unison, running towards the wall, and slamming into it. Through it. And tripping over Sheik on the other side. We all tumbled into a shallow stream, creating a loud splash that echoed all around. There was the sound of flapping, and looking around, we saw a skull shrouded in purple fire coming straight for us. I scrambled to get out of the way, pulling the other two with me by their collars. The creature just flew right on by, oblivious to our very existence.
"That was - odd," Sheik shook his head, and looked back at the wall. Wall - as in solid. Weird... Link walked back over to it, and gently reached out - and submerged his hand in it. Then, he plunged his whole arm through, before jumping back through. A few seconds, his head popped through the wall, grinning.
"This is so cool!" he said, waggling the very tips of his fingers through the stone. I just shook my head, and looked in the direction the purple bubble thing had gone.
"Hey - there's a door there," I pointed down the passageway. It was lit by a few stuttering torches, which cast eerie flickering shadows on the walls.
~
(Author note: This bit is totally a/u. I just don't think the whole silver rupee-collecting thing would work - and I'm going to change practically the whole layout. Any objections?
[Silence]
I'll take that as a no. [Grin.])
~
"Where," Link came back through the wall, and looked in the direction I was pointing. "Well, it's as good a place to start as any. Come on Sheik," he called over his shoulder. Sheik looked up from where he been immersing his arm in the stone and pulling it back out in fascination.
"Coming," he said, pulling his arm back out, and joining us. "That's so weird..." he looked back at the wall interestedly. I just shook my head, and stepped forwards towards the door - onto nothing.
"AHHH!" I yelled, dropping like a stone through the floor, which like the wall wasn't as solid as it had looked.
"Blaise!" Above me, I could see both Sheik and Link, who must have knelt on the floor, sticking their heads and arms through to try and grab me. I reached up, and brushed the tips of Sheik's fingers; [not quick enough] I thought ruefully as I continued to spiral down. With a sickening thud, I landed hard on the ground - which wasn't actually all that hard. It compressed a little, before bouncing back, and pushing me up into a sitting position. My arm hurt pretty bad - looking down, I could see blood welling through the sleeve of my undershirt.
"Blaise? Are you OK?" Navi called, and I looked up, and could see their faces dimly. I tried to raise my arm to reply, but it hurt too much.
"Yeah," I called, but even that sounded feeble.
"We'll be right down - hang on," they withdrew, and the only one left was Navi, who flew between above the fake floor, and below it. I held my arm, biting my lip against the pain. Peeling the sleeve back, I looked at the wound. It wasn't actually that bad under the blood - a gash a few inches long on my forearm was all. I wondered what had caused it, and looked around. My sword had flown off my back as I fell, and lay on the ground next to me. Looking at my sleeve, I could see a neat slit exactly the same size as my cut. That explained that one then.
A coil of rope flopped to the ground next to me, and then the other two slid down it and hurried over to me. Sheik knelt down, and took my arm to examine it. "Youch," he said, running cool fingers over my hand soothingly. A sudden thought hit me, and I used my good arm to pull my pack over my head.
"There's a red potion in there somewhere," I said through gritted teeth. "OW! Demons Sheik, don't do that," I hissed at him when he pressed his hand over the wound.
"Sorry," he sounded apologetic, and I regretted getting so angry with him. But boy, it hurt like hell! "But this is going to hurt a lot more," he held a bottle of red potion in his other hand, and dropped my arm to splash some onto his fingers. He raised an eyebrow when I cringed away, and then gently pressed his fingers over the wound - which couldn't have felt worse if someone had put a flaming sword through it. I took a sharp intake of breath, and snapped my teeth shut to stop a stream of swear words.
"There," Sheik let my arm drop, and looking down, there was no sign of the wound.
"Thanks," I tested it out - still sore, but usable. And luckily, it was the arm with the Goron bracelet, so I had that to fall back on. "So, just wondering - how do we get back up?" Link gestured to the rope. [Oh goodie, another love of mine. Climbing!]
{You're so pessimistic, you know that?}
[It saves on disappointment,] I thought back, putting my sword back on my back, and moving over to the rope. Sheik shimmied up like lightning first, and then leant over the edge of the real floor, his arms outstretched.
"C'mon Blaise, I'll help you up," he offered. I grabbed onto the coarse rope, and pulled myself up as best I could with only one good arm. It was a bit of a struggle, but with Sheik's help, and a little magical aide from Navi, I reached the top. Leaning through, I watched Link shimmy up as well, and then pull the rope up after him and wrap it around his waist. I flipped my glasses from my pocket, surprised that they hadn't been broken by the fall, and put them on.
"So - how do we get to that door then?" I asked, and they shrugged.
"I could lift you over - it's not that far," Navi offered.
"Are you sure you have enough magic to do it?" Link sounded worried.
"Of course I do silly," she bopped him on the nose. "And anyway, even with all that rubbish you carry, you three don't weigh all that much." Sheik gave a derisive snort and looked sidelong at Link. I felt glad I was in between them to stop a fight.
"Well - all right then Navi - do it," I said, and she nodded.
"You'll have to hold hands - that way I only need to cast one spell," she advised, and Link and Sheik linked hands with me. "Right - I hope I can remember how to do this," she said, and we looked at her sternly. "Just kidding, just kidding! Sheesh!" she laughed and then spread her small arms wide. Bright lights - brighter than hers - formed just above each outstretched fingertip of each hand.
She bought her hands together, and the ten balls of light merged into one. This she directed to under our feet, and we were lifted slowly off the ground. Then, she bought us around, turning one hundred and eighty degrees to face the door. Even from so far away, I could see sweat on her forehead, and she bought us down a little abruptly, before soaring lethargically over to us. "Told you I could do it," she said, taking deep gulps of air. "However, I think I need a rest now." Link took his hat off dutifully, and she settled in the blond mass of hair there.
Sheik turned the handle of the door, which opened with a rusty whine. "It's pretty dark in here," he whispered, holding the door open so that Link and I could step through. Then, he let it go, and it shut with a loud click. The whole room was flooded with light, blinding all of us temporarily. When we could see again, it was to find three Stalfos bearing down on us. Luckily, they weren't fully-grown. If they had been, we wouldn't have been able to take them on.
"Ah, at last, something I can see before it hurts me," I said with relish, whipping my sword from my back, raising my shield, and parrying the blow of the first Stalfos.
"Yeah, much better," Sheik agreed, performing an impressive back flip to dodge a vicious swipe from his Stalfos. Link was duelling his expertly, and managed to disarm his within a matter of seconds. Using both his sword and the one of his adversary, he pinned it into a corner and struck it down.
Sheik was leading his on a merry dance, back flipping and somersaulting to also draw his into a corner. Demons, these creatures were dumb. Sheik carried on playing with his Stalfos for a while, and I parried lazily with mine before getting bored and taking its skull head off in one swipe.
The last Stalfos fell with a piteous whine, and I followed suit. My arm was throbbing, and my head hurt. As far as I knew, that shouldn't be happening at all. The red potion had healed me earlier, and the Stalfos hadn't managed to land a blow on any of us. But, I still felt as though I had run a marathon, and then had a really lengthy training session afterwards. "Are you all right?" Link asked as he tried to steady his breaths. I nodded, and then groaned, putting a hand to my head.
"Liar," Navi called from Link's head; he'd dropped the hat during the battle. I just groaned again, and closed my eyes. As soon as I did, the pain grew, centring on my temples and then moving out over my forehead. I opened my eyes again, but the pain didn't go away. Navi and Link were looking at me wide eyed.
"What?" I asked, and my jaw felt painful as I moved it. I tried to stand up, but it felt as if some invisible something had swept my feet out from under me. I collapsed to the floor again, and Sheik ran over from where he had been sitting to retie his facemask.
A soft menacing voice hissed at me. *Get out murderer - out now. We don't want you here; out!* I looked around for the source of the voice, but could find none.
"You're bleeding," Link said, and touched a finger to my temple. When he pulled it away, I could indeed see blood. I wiped the blood away with the back of my hand and stood up - this time, nothing pushed me back down.
*Are you going? You'd better be going - or we'll get you. We'll make you remember EVERYTHING.*
[Navi, can you hear that?]
{What?}
*Of course she can't - her conscience is clear.*
[Never mind.] I shut the link with Navi and then thought back at the voice. [I'm here trying to help! And I don't know what you're talking about!]
*The dead always know when another dies - all the time. Diabola cast the spell, but you gave him to her, didn't you?* I could feel bile rise in my throat at this.
[Diabola...You bitch, go away!]
*Oh, trust us, it isn't her. If she were here, we would have already killed her. Get what you came for and leave. Never return murderer.*
[Fine, I'll go.] The voice didn't answer, and the fact that I was no longer being beaten up told me I was allowed to carry on. I noticed that we had been walking forwards through winding corridors for a while now - checking the floor in front of us before putting our full weight on it. I shivered, and the feeling of nausea wouldn't go away. My head still hurt, and it was still bleeding slightly. This world was too - strange. It knew too much of me for me to be comfortable.
*
We came to another door, and after checking that the floor was safe to walk on, stepped through into a room full of dim light. Looking up, we could see a square of sky high above. It was grey with a slight tinge of blue - dawn was approaching.
In the centre of the room was a large chest - it was already open, and within it, we could see something glinting. Link, of course being the hero, went over to the chest, and removed the item. It looked like a magnifying glass, but with the same emblem as on Sheik's bandages on it. Sheik gasped, and took the glass from Link. "The eye of truth," he said, and held it up to his eye. "It shows the truth - fake walls and floors are revealed, and disguises mean nothing." I gulped - disguises - did that include murderers pretending to be travelling warriors?
To my great relief, he dropped it back into Link's palm; Link put it into his belt, and then looked at the wall. Nothing. We turned around to go back through the door, only to find it not there. Link took the eyeglass and raised it to his eye to look for the door. Then, he rotated around - I made sure that I kept away from the sight of the glass-covered eye. Then, he smiled, and moved over to the other wall.
To my great surprise he started to climb thin air. Then I thought about what Sheik had said - obviously, the ladder was hidden to all but those with the eye of truth. He turned around, and grinned, "Just follow me, and you'll be fine." With trepidation, Sheik and I followed his up this ladder that we couldn't see, trusting our hands and feet to find the rungs where our eyes could not.
At the top, we climbed out onto a grassy knoll. Looking around, I could see Kakariko village far below, and closer at hand, the windmill. We were in the stretch of land between the graveyard and the windmill, looking down over the field. Kakariko was beginning to wake up, and I could see some Sheikah clinging to the last shadows as they moved to hide away for the day. "The Princess will be at the ports by now," Sheik said as he looked at his disappearing people.
"Aye - I hope the ones that went with her are all right," Link mused, and turned his gaze to the field as a whole. Then, he turned to look towards the imposing white outline of the Temple of Time. "I suppose we'd best get back - we have what we came for."
'What we came for'. I thought back to the voice, and as if on cue, it came again. *You have what you need - do not return, on pain of death.* That was friendly...
We skidded down the knoll onto the patch of grass behind the windmill. We did contemplate going through it, but then remembered the 'mill guy' who was probably still pissed off about the previous day. So we made our sedate way down an almost vertical slope to the main village, which by this time was almost fully awake. Somewhere, a cock crowed, and I could hear the sounds of gossiping villagers.
"Wait," Sheik put his arms out to the sides to stop us in our tracks. "There's something I have to do before we leave."
"What?" Link asked.
"It's - uh...well," Sheik stammered, and I hit Link gently over the head.
"It's private, right?"
"Uh - yeah..." he blushed, and then scampered off.
"Come on you," I copied Navi and took Link by the ear. "Let's just go sit down and rest or something."
"Ow - ow - ow - ow!" he whined, and I eventually let go when we reached a bench to sit down on. He jumped up again almost immediately, knocking Navi to the floor. "Malon! Hey, Malon!" he rushed off over to a small red head, who I could easily recognise as the Ranch-Girl who gave bear hugs.
"Stupid, lovesick Hylian hero; idiotic, blond haired chump, more actions than sense..." Navi muttered, and added a few more less savoury words telepathically. "Dropping me just to go speak to Malon." She had her hands on her hips and was scowling. I reached out and flattened her sticking up hair. "Thanks," she said, still scowling, and I had an insane urge to laugh. I didn't dare though - I didn't fancy being bitten on the ear, or picked up by one.
Malon was talking animatedly to Link, and they wandered off into the village. Leaving Navi and I alone; and I had absolutely no idea what the layout of the village was like at this time. So, I sat, and swung my legs back and forth on the bench, staring absent-mindedly at the village gate. "I'm gonna go find that dumb Hylian and drag him back here by the hair if I have to," Navi suddenly burst out. "Want to come with?" she half turned to ask me, and I shook my head.
"I'm still feeling a bit tired," I admitted, and she sped off. "Don't do anything too bad to him!" I called after her, chuckling. Looking back at the gate, I saw a red-haired person on a coal black horse ride through. I knew that profile anywhere, even seven years back. Ganondorf. I jumped off of the bench and hid behind the wooden back bars, watching through the cracks as he smiled and handed the reins of his steed to a stable boy, and patted him on the head.
The boy grinned, and said something, to which Ganondorf laughed, and chucked a red rupee at the boy, who looked shocked and pleased at his pay. Then, Ganondorf strode jauntily through the town, looking for all the earth like he was just enjoying a morning stroll. However, by his sweeping gaze, I could tell that he was searching for something - namely the princess.
I was captivated by how little he had in fact changed in the seven years. His hair was shorter here, and his skin slightly fairer. He didn't wear a jewelled headband, instead seeming to favour a plain one. And - he carried no weapon whatsoever. As he walked past my hiding place, I saw the symbol of a triangle on the back of his hand and gasped; very loudly.
He stopped, and looked around confused. I cowered behind my feeble hiding place as he leant over. Hurriedly, I dropped my ocarina on the floor, and pretended to be picking it up. Then, I straightened up, smiled at him, and walked off. I had a feeling that I was home dry when I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was a light tap, but compelled me to stop. I turned around slowly and looked up at him. He was a lot taller from this age.
"Hello there," he smiled cheerily down. "I noticed you hiding behind that bench there. Why may I ask?" I was temped to use childish cheek and say no - but I didn't.
"I was - uh - just - urm - playing hide and seek with me friends is all sir." For some reason, it came out as an accent similar to Malon's. He just nodded, and then looked around distractedly, before looking back at me.
"I'm looking for a little girl around your age. She's my niece," he said, crouching down to be on eye level with me. "About yay high," he held his hand slightly above my own height, "and with blonde hair, blue eyes. Usually wears a pink dress."
"Haven't seen her," I said innocently. "Why're you looking for her; are you playin' hide and seek too?" Oh demons, I sounded like an idiot - but it seemed to be getting rid of him, because he just shook his head and stood up.
"Something like that," he said softly, before walking off. I let out a heavy sigh as I watched his retreating figure, and returned to my place on the bench to wait for the other two to return from their missions. Then, I thought, what the hell, I may as well do something by myself as well. And, I was curious to see where Ganondorf was going to search for the Princess anyway. So, I hurried to catch up with him, stopping about ten yards behind, and then weaving through the milling villagers to follow him.
He turned a corner, and I followed as quickly as I could. However, when I got there, I couldn't see him. I ran forwards to an intersection of three roads, and looked around all three ways. Finally, I caught sight of him halfway down the left street, and ran again to catch up with him. Someone darted into my path, and I was going so fast that I didn't apply the breaks in time, and crashed straight into them.
"Goddesses, I'm sorry about that," a familiar voice came, and looking up, I saw Sheik standing over me. "Blaise? What the heck are you doing running around here?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"Well, I asked first," he smiled, and I just shook my head disbelievingly.
"Fine - look over there," I pointed to where Ganondorf had waylaid another kid, and was obviously asking him whether he had seen his 'niece'. The boy just shrugged, and Ganondorf looked perplexed. Sheik grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the floor, before flying off down the street the opposite way with me in tow.
"C'mon, we have to get out of here," he panted as we carried on running. I couldn't speak - running equalled BAD!
We saw Link still walking with Malon in the main field. Sheik grabbed him, and pulled him away from Malon, not even stopping the sprint.
"HEY!" Link said, and then turned around to wave to Malon. "Catch you later!" Then he turned back to stop himself falling over as we ran along. Navi emerged from a side street, and saw us,
"Why're you running?" she asked, but none of us had the breath to answer. I was conscious of her latching onto my shoulder. The gate of the village passed by in a blur, and then we were hurrying down the steps out into the field.
Finally, Sheik slowed down, and dropped our hands. I gasped for air, and Sheik drew deep, steadying breaths. Link was lucky - he hadn't done the full stint, so he wasn't so tired. "What was all that about?" I asked when I could finally draw breath again.
"Ganondorf stupid!" he snapped back. "We couldn't stay with him there."
"Ganondorf? Where?" Link looked around wildly.
"Don't worry, he's still in Kakariko Link," Sheik assured him. "I just thought it wouldn't be wise to hang around. And we need to get back to the future anyway." Back to the Future - that was a Vellytision programme on one of the planets I had saved. A very funny one too - whoops, I'd gotten a little sidetracked. Sheik was making for the bridge over the river, and we traipsed after him.
"Since you just made me run like mad, I think I deserve to know what you were doing back there," I said obstinately, and Link nodded curtly in agreement. Sheik rolled his eyes, and then glared at us both. I held my ground. "I wanna know!"
"Fine," he grumbled, looking down at the floor, and his mouth curved into a frown. "I just - went to see my mother is all." Link let out a soft sound of surprise. "What?" Sheik turned to narrow his maroon eyes at the both of us. "She left after the first year, and I haven't seen her - so I just went to say I'd be OK." I was astounded to see tears welling up in his eyes, and placed an arm around his shoulders.
"Hey, shh. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry..." I whispered, and he nodded and sniffed loudly. Then, with still over bright eyes, he looked up and ahead to the Castle Town. He didn't shake off the arm I had put around his shoulder, and it felt quite comfortable to use him as a leaning post as we all merely stood and looked at the high walled town. It looked stunning in the sunlight - I suppose each of us was just taking in the sight before we had to go back to the desolate future.
"Just remember this is what we're fighting for." Navi said in awe.
"It sure doesn't look much, but when we save it, it'll be as beautiful as this again," Link said in a hushed voice. Then, the spell was broken, and we carried on to the town, and the Temple of Time.
~*~*~*~
I stretched cat-like when we came out at the other end of the portal. "Goddesses, it feels great to be big again," I yawned, taking my sword from my back and watching it grow back into the right size again.
"Aye, that it does," Sheik said, and his voice was back to a bass. "Now, off to save the world and all that," he proclaimed cheerfully. "And, since I'm tired of having to walk everywhere all the time, I'm gonna cheat again and teach you the song now Link."
{Thank Goddesses for that. I couldn't take another horse-ride with Link} Navi thought.
[Me neither - horse riding isn't my favourite transport.]
{Portals aren't much better.}
[That's true - but they are quicker.]
{Yeah...and it means less time listening to you think about Sheik...} she said coyly. I didn't rise to it. Sheik had finished teaching Link the melody, and all of us stood closely together as he played it al the way through. A portal grew up all around us, and we were whisked away.
*
At the other end, we were spat out into a gloomy room full of unlit torches. A feeling of unease came over me as I looked at them. Sheik was up quickly, and walking to a raised platform in the centre of the room. "We have to light these all at once," he said, gesturing to the torches that must have numbered at least twenty.
"Right," Link nodded. "One question though."
"What?"
"How?"
"Umm." Sheik shrugged, and Link, Navi and I sweat dropped. "Hey, I got you here, it's your turn to figure something out!" he jumped down off the platform.
"Maybe the fire arrows," Navi offered as a suggestion. Link looked like he could have kissed her. {And I'm so glad he didn't - gross!} she thought, and I snorted. My head was throbbing a little, and I touched my hand to my temple to check for blood. None - maybe those voices were only at the bottom of the well.
"Hang on - how will we get the fire arrows to light them all at once though?" Sheik asked, relieving Link of the vial full of fiery magic.
"Good question..." Navi's brow knitted in concentration, and then she clicked her fingers. "The great fairy on Death Mountain!"
"Wha...?" Link looked at her confused.
"Well, she said she'd help me out if I needed it. All I gotta do is draw up a portal, talk to her, and get her to send some fairies through to help."
"Can you do that?" Sheik asked.
Navi shrugged, "It's worth a shot."
"Right then," I rubbed my hands together as a sudden chill ran through me. "Shall we go and wait outside? It's cold in here." Link and Sheik nodded, and we went outside. It was nighttime again, and I wondered briefly if Sheik would tell me any more constellations. On seeing his tired face, I guessed not. I lay down on the dew-laden grass, and stared upwards at the millions of tiny dots.
After a few seconds, I managed to pick out the 'Zoran songster', and thought back to the legend Sheik had told me. I had lied - I knew one constellation, but it wasn't one that strictly came from Hyrule. It was one that was cut into all the skies of all the worlds if you looked closely enough; which people rarely did. It took me a while to get my bearings and find it, but I finally did, hanging low on the horizon in the South.
It's simply known as 'The Hero'. Though the legend that goes with it is a little hazy, after being rewritten and retold for so long. However, the basic gist of it that I managed to learn from my brother before he...when I was a child, is thus:-
'Once, there was a time when heroes weren't needed. All the worlds knew of all the other worlds, and had achieved a peaceful co-existence. There was no famine, no war, no disease and no death. All were immortal, and happy ever after meant happy ever after. But as always, the equilibrium of the worlds shifted. Some were not content with merely living. They wanted power. Lots of power. Insurmountable power, the kind of power which only Gods and Goddesses could ever dream of.
And there was no one to stop them.
It was only to easy for these discontented few to take the worlds, enslave the people, rape the land, and gain dark powers.
Then, the Hero came. No one knows where from, nor how he learned to fight, nor how it was that he chose his path. But, he saved all worlds, restored order. He was merciful, and let the few go free - which was his downfall. For, one night, upon resting in the whispering tall grasses of Labrynna, he was stabbed with a poisoned dragon claw, and died as such. And his friends knew - his friends sought revenge, and so the roles of Heroes and Heroines were born.'
{Wow.} Navi's voice cut in on my thoughts. {That's amazing; where did you learn that?} I looked over to the entrance to the torch room, and saw Navi surrounded by a small cloud of fairies.
[I was told it by my brother once.] She nodded, and then turned to Link and Sheik.
"Come on you two!" They hopped up from the ground, as did I, and followed Navi back inside. Evidently, her fairy friends knew what to do, as they queued up next to Sheik who held the magic vial, and each held an arrow in their tiny hands. I took two arrows, and dipped them both in together. Immediately, the tips burst into tiny violent infernos, and I held them as far away from me as I could.
When each fairy and person had his or her arrows ready, Link began to count down. "When I say three, you light your torches. Ready?" Calls of assent came from all sides. "OK. One...Two...THREE!" Everyone shoved their flaming arrows into the Hessian fuel balls, and the torches flared up. There was a subterranean thundering sound, and the wall opposite the entrance raised itself up entirely.
And that was when the voices came back. *We warned you damn it!* I fell backwards from an invisible blow, and cracked my head on the floor. Goodbye to consciousness.
~ Diabola was grinning at me amiably, running a tapered finger down the glass front of the family portrait on my bedroom wall. "Such a shame about your poor dear family," she said softly, and patted me on the shoulder as I cried. My black mourning robes were already soaked with tears, and still more were falling. I knew I should stop - six weeks was getting beyond a joke. The last of my family was gone - my Aunt had died by unknown means.
But, I was a child - not even into double figures yet. Who would I live with? Who could I turn to? And then she shows up, full of promises of kindness and teachings. But, Loki and David insisted that I stay with them, as they were my Godparents, and Diabola could not argue with two Master Angels. She didn't seem pleased about letting me go though, and had carried on visiting me, much to the distaste of my two guardians.
"Perhaps if you did something for me, I could - but no, no, it is too much to ask." She trailed off, and sat down on the bed to 'comfort' me.
I sniffed, and looked up. "What? What is it? What could you do?"
"No, I couldn't possibly my dear Alexis," she waved her hand dismissively.
"Please, tell me?" I pleaded, clasping her hand desperately.
"Well," she leant forward conspiratorially, and her long vibrant red hair fell in a sheet across her face. She brushed it back in annoyance. "It is possible - difficult - but possible, to necromance people."
"What does necoran... - uh - what does that mean?" I asked full of childlike curiosity, and the tears that poured down my cheeks were hastily wiped away so I could see her more clearly. She smiled.
"Why, it means to bring loved ones back from the gate so that they'll be with you again," she answered, and I knew the gate to be the one of death. I was amazed.
"How? And can you do it?" She laughed at this, and tossed her silky mane over her shoulder.
"Why of course little one! I've been taught in the ways of magic for years after all!" I nodded; this was common knowledge in the community. "But, I would need you to do me a little favour. David will not meet me alone - he must always insist of having Loki with him."
"But they're in love - they're always together," I had always been totally acceptant of this situation. Diabola, however, had not been in the slightest. She had loved David - understandable, as he was one of the best- looking Angels around. And she one of the best looking also; they would have made a handsome couple, but David had turned her away in favour of his dearest Loki. All this, I did not know at the time. It had always been David and Loki; never Diabola.
"I know that - but I must talk to him alone. Loki would merely interfere and then I wouldn't be able to say all I wanted." She pouted slightly, and turned sad eyes towards me. I couldn't help but look into them - they were so out of the ordinary, even for an Angel's. The centre was normal enough - vibrant green - but the area, which was usually white, on her, was jet black. Against her porcelain skin, they stood out incredibly well.
"I'll do it - but you must promise to bring my family back," I held my hand out to shake on it. She pretended to think about it, before smiling and shaking my hand.
"Now," she leant forwards, "we must discuss how we are going to do this..." ~
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
And that's the end of yet another chapter. O.o I am SO confused! I don't know where to go with this now. Eek. And I can't upload this for a few days anyway, since my net connection is down. [Scowl] stupid ntl...
That little bit at the end is a memory by the way - with the swirly line thingies (these ~). It carries on from the whole voices in the bottom of the well and all that. If you are confused, I understand, and I'll try to make it less confusing. The basic thing is: voices have knocked her out, and she is unconscious with all the memories flooding back.
And the next chapter is going to be interesting, trying to follow on from this weird little one. But, I'll try.
Bye for now - Sheik's asleep, so we don't have a sketch today.
Sheik: [yawns, turns over and promptly falls out of bed]
Soda: OK, maybe we are having one. O.o NAKEE SHEIK!
Sheik: Wha...? OH GODDESSES! [Pulls blanket to cover himself, looks very embarrassed]
Soda: Now I know why Navi gets so scared when she gets locked in with you and Link!
Alexis: [Sniggers uncontrollably]
Sheik: [Defensively] I'm not that bad! [Trips over blanket]
Link: [Walks in] O.o [Walks out again, yells] I don't even want to know what you and Soda were doing!
Soda: O.o
Sheik: O.o
Alexis: [Shudders, and leaves to find the nearest toilet to throw up in]
Soda: [Looks shiftily at Sheik, and backs away] Heh - I'll just be going now
Sheik: [Uncomfortably] Yes - that'd be good...
[Faints]
It is scary living with my muses - off to drink a lot of coffee - nope, fuck that. Off to drink vodka straight, get drunk off my head, and forget this ever happened.
Ciao, Soda [EWW]
