Aria: I told you we'd see you soon.
Sol: Aria! There's a lady coming this way with a cat that has wings!
*everybody looks and sees Nayru and Twister approaching*
Aria: So, is Twister smart now?
Nayru: See for yourself. *points to Twister*
Twister: Hydrogen is the lightest of all the elements. There are seven
kingdoms to living creatures. Geometry was first discovered by the Ancient
Egyptians. Latin is the base language for French, Spanish, and English.
Ancient Mesopotamia was located between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. .
Aria: Okay! I think we've heard enough! He's smart! Make him stop
babbling!
Nayru: That's enough, Twister.
Twister: Okay.
Aria: Glad that's over. He was making me relive my eighth grade classes.
*shivers*
Tiana: But, you did so well! Why are you scared of them?
Aria: You never went to my middle school. It's a nightmare in brick!
Sol: Can a place really be that bad, Anri?
Anri: We've never gone to school, Sol. I don't know.
Kaepora: *groggily stumbles into area* Hic! How are all you ladies and
boys doin'? Hic!
Aria: Kaepora? Are you feeling all right?
Kaepora: Hic! Never better! Hic! *falls flat on face*
Aria: Where did he go and what happened to him?
Tiana: He went to a bachelor party for a friend.
Aria: No wonder he's as drunk as a lord. Somebody get him to his tree.
He's gonna have a huge hangover when he wakes up.
*Din grabs Kaepora and lugs him off to his tree*
Sol: What's a hangover?
Aria: Something you don't want to get, especially since you're underage.
Sol: Whazzat mean? I thought you were fifteen.
Aria: I am! I'm not allowed to drink either, but from what I've heard,
hangovers are really nasty.
Anri: But, if Kaepora is too drunk to do the disclaimers, who will do them?
Sol: Ooh! Can I do the disclaimers? Pretty please?
Aria: Sure!
Sol: Cool! Aria Zephyr is the authoress and owner of this story! She does
not own the Legend of Zelda games or anything about them!
Aria: Good job! Here's a hint about this chapter! People have been asking
what happened to the Hero of Time in my story, so this is his version of
what happened to him. Enjoy!

Chapter 41: The Hero of Time's Tale

"This certainly is a problem," the bottle muttered, "It seems you have no
choice but to go after her." "Don't you think I've noticed?" Link moaned.
"How am I supposed to get up there?" he said, staring up at the looming
tower. "She really has no sort of real imagination at all. She's just
copying her father by telling you to go to the highest tower," the bottle
growled. "What?" Link asked, shocked. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you
earlier, but I didn't think I had to; Natalia, the witch, is Ganondorf's
daughter and, quite frankly, I'm not too fond of her," the bottle said.

"You are very non-serious at times, you know?" Link said. "I'm sorry; just
trying to lighten your mood. It's not exactly the best idea to go into
battle angry," the bottle said. "It's okay. I get the idea. Thanks
anyway," Link said.

"I could help you, though. But, you'd have to break this blasted bottle
first," it said. "How do I do that? It probably has a spell on it or
something," Link said. "Not anymore. When she tossed this thing down to
you, she revoked all shielding spells she had on it. Believe me, I know.
I've been in this thing long enough to tell when there's magic on it or
not," the bottle said.

"It won't hurt you if I just smash it, will it?" Link asked. "Nope. I'm a
spirit, like the princess was. Gosh, I've missed her. I haven't seen her
since. . . since. . . " it trailed off.

"Since what?" Link asked. The bottle said, "Well, you see there's this
gateway thing here in the forest that leads to this Land of the Dead or
something and there are three keys to open it. Each of them are shaped
like triangles and they have a sort of design that represents the element
that each of the three goddesses represent. Anyway, the princess got some
help and they took out one of the keys to the gateway so that no one could
get into wherever it led. She figured that it would be safest if it was
kept with someone who could protect it and she gave it to me. Funny thing
about that was, when the witch originally caught me, I didn't have it
because I had given it to someone else."

"And, that was?" Link asked. "This is really embarrassing, but he was my
son," the bottle said. "I never knew that the Hero of Time had, um,
children," Link said. "Yeah, well, I sort of settled down on the outskirts
of Hyrule and changed my name and I only had one son, no one else. That
was after I had heard that the princess had gotten married to some prince
from another kingdom," the bottle explained.

"Go on," Link said. "Well, this is even more embarrassing, but I had kinda
had a thing for the princess for a while and hearing that she had gotten
hitched to someone else hit me hard. Anyway, I met this nice girl in the
village I was living in. To make a long story short, I married her and she
died while having our son. You getting this?" the bottle asked. "Every
word," Link said.

The bottle continued, "I didn't let anyone know who I had been, not even my
own son. Anyway, he had met the daughter of the owners of a dairy and
horse farm that was near Hyrule Castle one time. He and that girl had a
nice pen pal relationship and I trusted her parents, because her mother had
been a friend of mine."

"Anyway, when he was about twelve, I started hearing rumors about monsters
appearing in the Sacred Wood. I knew something was wrong and when I found
out what through certain sources, I had to go help. I took my son to the
farm and made sure that his friend knew he was coming before we got there.
I had changed my appearance some, so no one would really recognize me."

"When we got to the farm, I talked with the girl's mother, her name was
Malon, while the kids played with the horses. I knew I could trust Malon
to keep a secret and I told her who I was. She was pretty surprised, but
she understood why I wanted my identity a secret. I told her I was going
to the Sacred Wood and the chances of me coming back were very slim. I
asked her if she could take care of my son for me and she agreed."

"After I ironed that wrinkle out, I had to talk to my son. I told him that
I was going on a journey and I might not come back. He begged me not to
go, but I stood firm and told him that I didn't have a choice. Then, I
took out the medallion the princess had given me and showed it to him. I
told him it was a very, very important object and he couldn't tell anyone
except people he knew he could trust with his life about it. He promised
not to tell anyone and I told him, that if I never came back, the medallion
was supposed to be given to his oldest child when he or she was twelve too.
He promised again and took the medallion."

"Well, to wrap things up, the second I set foot inside the Sacred Wood,
that witch pounced on me and captured me. She pretty much used the same
tactic on me that she tried to use on you, minus that last one. Then, when
she had brought her beloved daddy back, I wasn't of any use anymore and
they got rid of me. Though, not entirely."

"What you mean is, they trapped your spirit in that bottle and left you
there," Link said. "Now, you're catching on. Yeah, that's exactly what
they did and here I am! A talking bottle. Sad thing, don't you think?"
the bottle said. "I find it more annoying than anything else, really,"
Link said. "Yeah, well." the bottle said.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" the bottle said. "Yeah, sure. What is
it?" Link asked. "That girl-Princess Zelda-she called you Link, right?"
the bottle asked. "Yeah, that is my name, after all," Link said. "I was
just wondering," the bottle said.

"Hey! Wait a second! I just remembered something!" Link said. "And, that
is?" the bottle asked. "Just a second; I need to find something first,"
Link said, pulling random items from his pockets. "Found it!" he said
finally, holding up a somewhat crumpled letter. He quickly read it and
smiled.

"What are you so giddy about?" the bottle asked. "When I compared your
story to the one my mother mentioned in this letter, there's a pretty good
chance that you're my ancestor," Link replied. "Oh gosh! I never stopped
to think about that! But, when you really think about it, it is very
likely," the bottle said.

"This is all really nice and everything, but I'd really appreciate getting
out of this bottle," it said. "Oh! Sorry!" Link said, taking out his
massive skull hammer. "You can actually lift that thing and use it? It
must be really heavy," the bottle remarked. "It used to, but not so much
anymore. I'm used to it," Link replied. "How is that possible?" the
bottle asked. "Well, I've had to carry Zelda a few times and I don't mean
to be rude or anything, but she's not exactly what you'd call extremely
light," Link said.

"You like her," the bottle teased. "What do you mean by that?" Link asked,
starting to turn red. "Actually, judging by your reaction and how you were
acting with her before, you love her," the bottle said. Now, Link was
going scarlet.

"I could leave you in there, you know," he said. "Alright; I get the
message. I'll shut up now," the bottle said. "Fire when ready; or should
I say, hammer when ready?" the bottle said. "I say, be quiet or I might
miss," Link replied. "Shutting up," the bottle said.

Link swung the hammer down upon the bottle and smashed it. Some dust flew
up from the ground, but most of the bottle had been crushed to dust. Link
pulled the hammer back and stowed it away again.

"That's much better. Thank you," the voice said from Link's shoulder.
Link looked at blinked in surprise to see a person who might have been an
older version of himself there. "Um, you're welcome," he said, unable to
say much else. The spirit smiled and said, "I kinda unnerve you, don't I?
I have to be honest, myself. When I saw you the first time, I had to take
a double-take just to see if you were real."

"What can I call you? For now, at least," Link asked. "Um, wow! I didn't
think about that. Give me a minute," the spirit said. After a while, he
said, "I guess you can just call me 'Hero' or something. If you called me
by my name, I'd bet we'd feel sort of uncomfortable about that." "You're
right. It'd feel strange," Link admitted.

"Anyway, we should get going now. You still have to save that girl of
yours," Hero said, smiling roguishly as he headed for the hallway that they
had escaped the dungeons in. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Link yelled after
him. "Sure. I so believe you," the hero said, his tone of voice saying
otherwise. Link rolled his eyes and followed him in, with the hero
laughing slightly at his obvious blush.

Tiana: Hehehe! Link is embarrassed!
Anri: We ALL know he likes her more than he says!
Aria: I'm so mischievous about this kind of thing sometimes! I love it!
Sol: Anri, what are you all talking about?
Anri: If I told you, you'd get grossed out, Sol.
Sol: Huh?
Anri: *whispers into his ear*
Sol: Eeeeewwwww!
Anri: I warned you.
Nayru: Highly interesting tale, Aria.
Aria: Thank you. It's something that I just spun up out of my imagination.
Din: *pokes unconscious Kaepora* He's still out like a light. And, he
smells weird.
Farore: Then, come over here where it smells like dewdrops and rain.
Aria: Okay. That's it for now! We'll see you all in the next update!
Until then, read and review! Bye!