Farore: We still have a crisis here! Aria still needs some sort of
inspiration!
Aria: *huddled on cloud, hugging knees to chest*
Nayru: We've already tried to calm her down, but she went up on that cloud
and has a shield around it that we can't penetrate!
Darunia: Any other ideas left?
Nayru: No. Sorry.
Farore: Because Aria doesn't seem up to it, should we introduce the chapter
without her?
Nayru: We might as well. Even though she'll be offended that we did her
job for her, she'd be even angrier if the chapter wasn't posted. Not after
she worked on it so hard.
Darunia: Might as well do my job. Our much traumatized authoress, Aria
Zephyr, does not own the Legend of Zelda games, their characters, etc. She
does own this story.
Nayru: For those of you who were wondering what might be happening to Link
after he was kidnapped, this chapter tells you what the poor thing is going
through at the mercy of that wicked witch.
Farore: I wish there was some way we could make her behave! I've already
read the chapter and I nearly started crying! Poor Link!

Chapter 32: A Reached Understanding

The princess glanced anxiously at her father and rushed to the girl's side.
She was breathing heavily and a look of terror shone in her blue eyes.
What concerned her most was that Zelda was clutching a hand over where her
heart was.

"What's the matter, young one?" the princess asked, trying to sound gentle
despite her concern. "I-I had a dream," Zelda said in faltering tones, "I
saw a huge fortress half buried beneath the ground. It was swarming with
monsters of all kinds." She paused for a moment and the princess sat down
next to her, gently stroking her hair as a mother would. Zelda continued
recounting what she had seen in her dream.

"There was a long, dusty corridor that led to a musty dungeon. A woman
with very dark skin and fire-colored hair was walking along it. She had an
oddly bright mirror in her hands and she was muttering something to
herself. She walked straight into the dungeon and faced on of the few
cells. She had an almost savage look on her face as she talked to whoever
was inside it. She stopped for a moment to glare at a bottle that was
glowing slightly and was sitting on a shelf near her head."

"She turned back to the cell and waved her hand towards her. Link stumbled
face-forward into the front of the cell and looked at the witch defiantly.
She sneered at him and grabbed the front of his tunic through the cell
bars. She held a blackened dagger to his throat and demanded something.
Link only glared at her more and said something to her. Her eyes flashed
and she threw him backwards in the cell."

"Then, she turned away and said something. She looked back at the cell and
her eyes were almost sparkling with maniacal delight. She pointed a finger
at Link and something sparked from it. Then, suddenly, Link collapsed to
the floor of the cell, screaming with pain. The witch only smiled and
pointed at him with her other hand too. Link was doubled up with pain and
obviously trying to not scream."

"Then, I started to feel it too. It felt like someone had switched my
blood with molten lead and it was rushing along all of my body. I fell to
the floor like Link did as the pain raced to my heart and it felt like
someone was trying to rip it from my body. Just as the woman renewed her
attack on Link, I woke up," Zelda said, turning her fear-filled eyes to her
ancestor.

"Do you think that it's true? Is someone really torturing Link?" she asked
desperately. "I'm afraid that from what we know about the witch, it is
very likely that she is torturing him and enjoying it," the old man said,
coming to where the two females were.

Zelda stared at him in astonishment when she saw him. "King of Hyrule?
You're here?" she asked softly. He nodded and said, "I am, but that is not
our main concern now. Zelda, tell me, have you had any other dreams or
seen anything that didn't seem right before?" Zelda bit her lip and said,
"I have. Twice before now."

The former King of Hyrule looked startled, but he asked, "What were they
about?" Zelda patiently explained the vision she had seen in the
pictograph of Link's family and the dream she'd had before Link was
kidnapped. When she finished, he was pacing in an anxious manner.

"This isn't at all good," he said finally. "If the last dream came true to
the letter, the dream you just experienced may have been a vision of what
danger Link is in. And, if that first vision comes true." He shook his
head, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on him.

"But, what else can we do? You certainly can't leave this world and I can
only remain outside it for an hour at most! We'll just have to find a way
inside the fortress without her being seen," the princess said. "That's
the problem! Zelda, how many monsters did you see around that fortress?"
the King asked.

Zelda hesitated for a moment before answering, "I saw fifty, at least."
"There's no way she'd be able to sneak around that many monsters without
being caught! I know that those kinds of monsters aren't very bright, but
most of them have excellent smell or hearing. What will we do now?" the
King moaned.

"She does have Nayru's love. Perhaps, we could use it for a base spell
that would hide her from detection," the princess suggested. "Perhaps, but
do we still have that much magic here? We might need a little help," the
King said. The princess wrinkled her nose in exasperation and said, "And,
whom did you have in mind?" "Just the former sages. They'd have enough
magic to help and I'm sure they'd want to help someone get back at that
witch," the King replied. "Hey! Who says I can't help with the spell?!
I'm not an invalid, you know!" Zelda interrupted.

The arguing adults turned to look at her, both wearing a look of surprise.
The lady got over her surprise first and said, "We never said you were an
invalid, child. It's just that you should save as much of your magic for
when you may need it in the witch's fortress." Zelda pouted, but she
didn't argue.

"Where are the former sages, anyway?" the princess asked. "They're
probably chatting near the pool at the end of the stream. When they find
out about what's going on, they'll probably worry themselves into a fit,"
the King said, sighing. "Well, whether they worry themselves into a fit or
not, we should get their assistance in this. Let's go find them," the
princess said, standing up.

"Should I come too?" Zelda asked. The lady nodded and said, "They will
want to meet you and since the spell will be used for you, you really
should come." Zelda got to her feet and brushed bits of grass and twigs
from her clothes. "I'll come with you two. I know where else they might
be if they're not at the pool," the King said. "Alright, Father, but
remember that time is of the essence now," the princess said.

Nayru: Oops! We forgot to tell you that in this story, the King of Hyrule
drowned when Hyrule was flooded after the battle with Ganondorf. Sorry!
Farore: *floats next to cloud that Aria is on* She still won't talk to me.
She's really cracked this time.
Nayru: And I thought it was bad after she found out that we have no lives
outside this story.
Darunia: We don't? Boy, that's sad.
Nayru: No, really.
Farore: Do you think candy might work on her? It did the last time.
Nayru: No, we already tried that. Remember? We'd have to do something
drastic or come up with something ourselves.
Darunia: I favor coming up with something ourselves. The only thing that
could snap her out of this is if we pulled Tingle in here and you know
that, afterwards, she'd skin us alive.
Farore: I've got an idea! Let's get her a sweet little fairy of her own!
Nayru: That might work, but what would we name it?
Farore: I dunno. You're the goddess of wisdom.
Nayru: Oh crap. If anyone has any ideas, help!