Link had been to the temples of fairies before. They were black things,
surrounded by a blue light, and water. There was always water, and the
fairies would spring out of the water. He set in his head as a youth that
they were thusly aquatic creatures, not so much flying in the air as
jumping out. His personal fairy, one called Navi, told him that was the
stupidest thing she ever heard. It was one of the few times he tried to
converse with her, and proved to him why he rarely did.
The Kaer was different. Water flowed but never pooled. It flowed lit by blue, by yellow, by reds and purples, and greens, and then all and none of those colors at once. The darkness reflected the colors off the black walls, like fire on coals. Before long Link could see it was not a temple so much as a catacomb. Stairs blue as evening snow connected platforms, going both up and down. Those bases were of different sizes, each made of rock. They seemed tethered not by stairs or a common formation, but rather by the fact that each had water flowing onto one another. Link could see nothing else that could be holding them up.
"Terryn", he whispered to no avail. She was not at his side. Neither was Epona. He found himself surrounded, however, by fairies. Pixies surrounded him and danced about him. They were so small he couldn't see what the looked like, but he heard a little girl's giggle a thousand times over in his ear. He felt a wash of comfort, of grime being lifted from his face.
A fairy off in the distance, as best Link could tell, was lifting a large metallic rupee with some difficulty. She moved up very high in the catacomb and held still, and as it fell through the catacombs, it produced a steady beat.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk. plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk-plunk, Clang.
And then the sound grew, with cadence, rhythm and addictive clangs and shutters. Some fairies decided to hum at points, then they dropped off as another group would have a turn.
Link's face turned to a smile, a stupid happy grin. The fairies that danced around him stopped, and showed forth a tiny table. Link drooled some mud and some mushroom. On the table were cured meats, rice, roasted deku nuts, smoked fish stuffed with what he could discern were fruits he hadn't seen before, and an unmarked bottle of wine. "Eat with us," said a little girl's voice in Link's ear. He nodded. And he began to eat.
Many moments later, he heard a large plunk. A definitive plunk. He was fuller than he had ever been. The melodious rock was beginning to deign away into a place beyond earshot. A whisper "see you soon" in his ear, and one by one the fairies stole away into the darkness. One lingered in front of him. It was a deep peach, and after a moment turned a bright red before shooting up the stairs. He figured this was a not so subtle hint he should follow.
Link walked up several staircases. There seemed to be nothing but the rocks, the stairs and the water. He heard a gentle hum. It grew larger when he reached the top layer. It was lit by white light that came, oddly enough, from two small waterfalls that sat on each side of an ancient desk. The fairy woman from the forest was tracing a passage in a book with her fingers and her lips, but when she saw Link she closed and flashed teeth that seemed brighter than the lights behind her.
"Have a seat", she said. Link noticed a glass chair that was to the just left of her desk, but he wasn't all that sure it was there a second ago. Maybe he missed it. He was too full to dwell on it.
"Thank you", he muttered, as he sat down. And she smiled at him. It was impossible not to smile back. What a beautiful woman. Or was it a fairy? Sure was pretty, Link thought- and with horror he realized a frown aimed at him at this point was more than likely fatal.
"I suppose you are wondering why I wanted you here."
Link raised his hand in objection. That was oddly polite, he thought but he actually said "Ma'am?"
"Call me Relic, my dear.", she grinned at him.
"R-relic. I didn't decide to go here. I was taking a girl here. She said she had business with you, and I."
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you've heard or seen a fairy called Navi. She was my own fairy, and and", he caught himself gushing on a bit at the mouth, "she just left."
Relic got up, brushed her hair back over her shoulder, and walked towards the bright waterfall and played with it in her hand. "First of all, you don't, won't, and can't ever own a fairy. We are beyond your life, and we'd outlive any master. If we find ourselves in servitude, it's simple. Our kind simply wait for your kind to die. And then we are free again." She moved next to him, and she seemed to have some idea of what a miserable pile of meat she made Link feel. She kneeled beside him, and put her hand over his. "But I have seen Navi, and rest assured. She is well as can be expected"
"Where is she?"
"She is running an errand for me. In Hyrule. "
"Do you know why she left?" Link gulped down the question, he didn't want the answer.
"Yes, she feared you failed your mission. And at the time, I called her paranoid."
At the time, thought Link?
"Now, I have begun to think something was wrong.
She pulled a jug of milk from under her desk. She poured it all over her desk. It covered the knotted wood, coloring it loose and ivory. It vibrated softly whenever Relic spoke. "Hold this", she told Link. She picked up a quill and inkwell and placed it softly in Link's hand.
As Link grasped it, she pulled out the pen, and softly, dipped the tip in the middle of the desk. It spread sickly throughout the desk. "When a young person sees this, he feels it is irreparable. Tainted. But, to an old person, they know that all it takes is just a bit more milk." She spilled forth more, and returned everything to ivory. The canister didn't seem any less empty than it was earlier. "What Navi saw, and told me, was that when some good was brought in to face the darkness, the darkness didn't go away. And this troubled her greatly. We fairies can see beyond your life, and when we serve you it is to better the world. But when the good of the world is the Hero of Time, and the darkness remains. ", she hesitated. "What she saw was that something had gone wrong. And that it would grow again." She waved her hand over the desk, and from the middle came a sudden spiderlike web of black that corrupted all other color, and then it grew beyond grey.
"This is why I asked Terryn to come here.", she said. "Navi may be perceptive, but Terryn is gifted in this matter. The world speaks directly to her, and through that she comes incredibly astute in things that have yet to happen. As far as to why I let Terryn bring you, well, I can say that I've wanted to meet you. And you should understand that I let few things happen by chance or mistake. "
The boy sat still. He felt a bit foolish at this point. "What do you want me to do?", he asked.
"I want you to stop chasing fairies, Link."
Hyrule.
It was a meal fit for a king. The wise king of Hyrule, of course, eats like this every day. And a wise nobleman, in purple colors of peace, goodwill, and wealth sat next to him and chewed the fat most approvingly. His mouth spoke of peace and of settling discrepancies about who owed what to whom. His eyes and drool fixated on the fair blonde sitting on the other side of the king. She toyed her finger around the ring of a chalice, completely bored.
"And I wish this visit was in happier days" he said to the king.
"Indeed," said the king. He drank deeper than his voice spoke.
"Princess Zelda," The dark haired stranger muttered, "I hope these affairs do not bore you."
She smiled politely at him, "Dear sir, I am merely overwhelmed with the arrival of so many strangers and friends to our great land."
The king interrupted, "Yes, well, we will board much more nobility by the end of the month. The more the merrier, eh Springfield?
Springfield seemed flustered and ran his fingers through his black hair. He smiled approvingly at the king, and after a sip of wine "and much more important travelers than me, dearest liege."
"Well," muttered the king, beginning to feel the effects of the bubbles in the ale, "I doubt the guildsmen of the west have much to say about nobility, say how it allows them to engage in the life of a rabbit."
Neither the princess nor the handsome noble seemed to get the joke, so they smiled politely at the king and then at each other.
"Dear king," Springfield breathed in deeply "May I ask your permission to dance with your daughter?" Zelda stared at him seriously, without humor or flirtation. He couldn't help but wince slightly. She smiled then. "It would be a pleasure, dear sir."
And the two headed after the table, hand in hand.
Terryn sat on top of the dry chestnut desk. Her eyes had rolled to the back of a head. She clutched her fingers deep in a patch of grass Relic had given her. "There."
Relic sat across from her "Go on dear"
"There are whispers of murder. Footsteps of an assassin. And those of a thief, a thief, a thief, and darkness. Many jewels are going to pass hands, and she will fall. Everything should be in its right place, ,but it doesn't feel right", she shook her head and began to sob into her lap.
"Terryn, continue," Relic was on her feet now. Link shifted oddly in his seat, and was getting restless. She shuddered, and then turned to him. "None of that now, Link. Please."
Terryn threw her head back up and moaned. It was ungodly and she sounded ill. "Great danger is coming to our Land, and a young woman is all that can stop it. She has great wisdom in her, and soon her guts will spill over the floor like a sheep's innards. Her insides will rot and her eyes will mold over in her-"
Relic's eyes flashed. "That's enough." Terryn whimpered began to sob again, not bothering to move her head up. She got up, and waved her hand in front of her. Terryn crawled up and began to sleep.
Link stared at his feet. His hands were clutched. Relic sighed and placed both her hands on the ends of her desk, supporting herself up. "Soil doesn't lie, Link. It tells the tales of all that walk on it. You know what you have to do. Leave at once. Please." She walked over placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to ask you to do this."
"No, it's ok," he said. He got up and smiled. He padded the hilt of his sword. "I'll go and do the job. Can't be harder than last time, right?" He bit his trembling lip and turned the other way. As he almost fell down from where the stairs were, "I think I'll walk you two out." Relic grinned at him.
You two? thought Link.
The Kaer was different. Water flowed but never pooled. It flowed lit by blue, by yellow, by reds and purples, and greens, and then all and none of those colors at once. The darkness reflected the colors off the black walls, like fire on coals. Before long Link could see it was not a temple so much as a catacomb. Stairs blue as evening snow connected platforms, going both up and down. Those bases were of different sizes, each made of rock. They seemed tethered not by stairs or a common formation, but rather by the fact that each had water flowing onto one another. Link could see nothing else that could be holding them up.
"Terryn", he whispered to no avail. She was not at his side. Neither was Epona. He found himself surrounded, however, by fairies. Pixies surrounded him and danced about him. They were so small he couldn't see what the looked like, but he heard a little girl's giggle a thousand times over in his ear. He felt a wash of comfort, of grime being lifted from his face.
A fairy off in the distance, as best Link could tell, was lifting a large metallic rupee with some difficulty. She moved up very high in the catacomb and held still, and as it fell through the catacombs, it produced a steady beat.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk. plunk.
Plunk.
Plunk-plunk, Clang.
And then the sound grew, with cadence, rhythm and addictive clangs and shutters. Some fairies decided to hum at points, then they dropped off as another group would have a turn.
Link's face turned to a smile, a stupid happy grin. The fairies that danced around him stopped, and showed forth a tiny table. Link drooled some mud and some mushroom. On the table were cured meats, rice, roasted deku nuts, smoked fish stuffed with what he could discern were fruits he hadn't seen before, and an unmarked bottle of wine. "Eat with us," said a little girl's voice in Link's ear. He nodded. And he began to eat.
Many moments later, he heard a large plunk. A definitive plunk. He was fuller than he had ever been. The melodious rock was beginning to deign away into a place beyond earshot. A whisper "see you soon" in his ear, and one by one the fairies stole away into the darkness. One lingered in front of him. It was a deep peach, and after a moment turned a bright red before shooting up the stairs. He figured this was a not so subtle hint he should follow.
Link walked up several staircases. There seemed to be nothing but the rocks, the stairs and the water. He heard a gentle hum. It grew larger when he reached the top layer. It was lit by white light that came, oddly enough, from two small waterfalls that sat on each side of an ancient desk. The fairy woman from the forest was tracing a passage in a book with her fingers and her lips, but when she saw Link she closed and flashed teeth that seemed brighter than the lights behind her.
"Have a seat", she said. Link noticed a glass chair that was to the just left of her desk, but he wasn't all that sure it was there a second ago. Maybe he missed it. He was too full to dwell on it.
"Thank you", he muttered, as he sat down. And she smiled at him. It was impossible not to smile back. What a beautiful woman. Or was it a fairy? Sure was pretty, Link thought- and with horror he realized a frown aimed at him at this point was more than likely fatal.
"I suppose you are wondering why I wanted you here."
Link raised his hand in objection. That was oddly polite, he thought but he actually said "Ma'am?"
"Call me Relic, my dear.", she grinned at him.
"R-relic. I didn't decide to go here. I was taking a girl here. She said she had business with you, and I."
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you've heard or seen a fairy called Navi. She was my own fairy, and and", he caught himself gushing on a bit at the mouth, "she just left."
Relic got up, brushed her hair back over her shoulder, and walked towards the bright waterfall and played with it in her hand. "First of all, you don't, won't, and can't ever own a fairy. We are beyond your life, and we'd outlive any master. If we find ourselves in servitude, it's simple. Our kind simply wait for your kind to die. And then we are free again." She moved next to him, and she seemed to have some idea of what a miserable pile of meat she made Link feel. She kneeled beside him, and put her hand over his. "But I have seen Navi, and rest assured. She is well as can be expected"
"Where is she?"
"She is running an errand for me. In Hyrule. "
"Do you know why she left?" Link gulped down the question, he didn't want the answer.
"Yes, she feared you failed your mission. And at the time, I called her paranoid."
At the time, thought Link?
"Now, I have begun to think something was wrong.
She pulled a jug of milk from under her desk. She poured it all over her desk. It covered the knotted wood, coloring it loose and ivory. It vibrated softly whenever Relic spoke. "Hold this", she told Link. She picked up a quill and inkwell and placed it softly in Link's hand.
As Link grasped it, she pulled out the pen, and softly, dipped the tip in the middle of the desk. It spread sickly throughout the desk. "When a young person sees this, he feels it is irreparable. Tainted. But, to an old person, they know that all it takes is just a bit more milk." She spilled forth more, and returned everything to ivory. The canister didn't seem any less empty than it was earlier. "What Navi saw, and told me, was that when some good was brought in to face the darkness, the darkness didn't go away. And this troubled her greatly. We fairies can see beyond your life, and when we serve you it is to better the world. But when the good of the world is the Hero of Time, and the darkness remains. ", she hesitated. "What she saw was that something had gone wrong. And that it would grow again." She waved her hand over the desk, and from the middle came a sudden spiderlike web of black that corrupted all other color, and then it grew beyond grey.
"This is why I asked Terryn to come here.", she said. "Navi may be perceptive, but Terryn is gifted in this matter. The world speaks directly to her, and through that she comes incredibly astute in things that have yet to happen. As far as to why I let Terryn bring you, well, I can say that I've wanted to meet you. And you should understand that I let few things happen by chance or mistake. "
The boy sat still. He felt a bit foolish at this point. "What do you want me to do?", he asked.
"I want you to stop chasing fairies, Link."
Hyrule.
It was a meal fit for a king. The wise king of Hyrule, of course, eats like this every day. And a wise nobleman, in purple colors of peace, goodwill, and wealth sat next to him and chewed the fat most approvingly. His mouth spoke of peace and of settling discrepancies about who owed what to whom. His eyes and drool fixated on the fair blonde sitting on the other side of the king. She toyed her finger around the ring of a chalice, completely bored.
"And I wish this visit was in happier days" he said to the king.
"Indeed," said the king. He drank deeper than his voice spoke.
"Princess Zelda," The dark haired stranger muttered, "I hope these affairs do not bore you."
She smiled politely at him, "Dear sir, I am merely overwhelmed with the arrival of so many strangers and friends to our great land."
The king interrupted, "Yes, well, we will board much more nobility by the end of the month. The more the merrier, eh Springfield?
Springfield seemed flustered and ran his fingers through his black hair. He smiled approvingly at the king, and after a sip of wine "and much more important travelers than me, dearest liege."
"Well," muttered the king, beginning to feel the effects of the bubbles in the ale, "I doubt the guildsmen of the west have much to say about nobility, say how it allows them to engage in the life of a rabbit."
Neither the princess nor the handsome noble seemed to get the joke, so they smiled politely at the king and then at each other.
"Dear king," Springfield breathed in deeply "May I ask your permission to dance with your daughter?" Zelda stared at him seriously, without humor or flirtation. He couldn't help but wince slightly. She smiled then. "It would be a pleasure, dear sir."
And the two headed after the table, hand in hand.
Terryn sat on top of the dry chestnut desk. Her eyes had rolled to the back of a head. She clutched her fingers deep in a patch of grass Relic had given her. "There."
Relic sat across from her "Go on dear"
"There are whispers of murder. Footsteps of an assassin. And those of a thief, a thief, a thief, and darkness. Many jewels are going to pass hands, and she will fall. Everything should be in its right place, ,but it doesn't feel right", she shook her head and began to sob into her lap.
"Terryn, continue," Relic was on her feet now. Link shifted oddly in his seat, and was getting restless. She shuddered, and then turned to him. "None of that now, Link. Please."
Terryn threw her head back up and moaned. It was ungodly and she sounded ill. "Great danger is coming to our Land, and a young woman is all that can stop it. She has great wisdom in her, and soon her guts will spill over the floor like a sheep's innards. Her insides will rot and her eyes will mold over in her-"
Relic's eyes flashed. "That's enough." Terryn whimpered began to sob again, not bothering to move her head up. She got up, and waved her hand in front of her. Terryn crawled up and began to sleep.
Link stared at his feet. His hands were clutched. Relic sighed and placed both her hands on the ends of her desk, supporting herself up. "Soil doesn't lie, Link. It tells the tales of all that walk on it. You know what you have to do. Leave at once. Please." She walked over placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to ask you to do this."
"No, it's ok," he said. He got up and smiled. He padded the hilt of his sword. "I'll go and do the job. Can't be harder than last time, right?" He bit his trembling lip and turned the other way. As he almost fell down from where the stairs were, "I think I'll walk you two out." Relic grinned at him.
You two? thought Link.