A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
Hi again! Welcome to another fun (I hope), exciting (surely?), action-packed (let it be!) chapter of The Destined. ^^; It came upon me just about two seconds ago that the chapter count for this story is well into the twenty-sometimes. o.o; Wowee. And there's a lot more to tell...so thanks for following this long, hope you continue to do so!
Since TD's humble beginnings I've gotten a lot of questions about the sages and if they'll play a role in the fic. Well, as you may be able to tell from the chapter title, this and future chapters will answer those questions. So sit tight, and away we go...
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Chapter 22
Seeking the Sages
Saria returned to Link the Master Sword, warning him not to leave the temple. "You and Zelda must stay here for the time being," she said seriously. "It is likely that Ganondorf has agents searching for you everywhere. If you leave there is a good chance he will find you. If he finds you with that sword, it's all over."
But confinement in the Forest Temple did not sit well with Zelda. Nor Azura. "You call yourselves heroes?" the Gerudo said scornfully after five long, uneventful days. "What kind of heroes are you when you hide in this temple with your tails between your legs?"
"Excuse me? Heroes?" Link growled. "Pardon me if we don't fit your definition of heroes, but we're just trying to survive."
"You are welcome to leave," Zelda added scathingly, but Link saw that gleam in her eyes that he didn't like. She was restless and tired of being confined. She wanted to take fate into her own hands.
So it was no surprise when Zelda approached him with a very serious expression. "Link," she said, "do you remember that prophecy the oracle in Hylia City told me?"
"When Nayru spoke through her?" Link asked warily.
"Yes." Zelda's eyes glittered. "I remember it word-by-word, Link. 'You will have the Sages, the Feather Man, and the Half at your side. The people will come to you and accept your command. The power of the Goddesses will be yours, and you will embody the Immortal Three-Who-Are-One. When all pieces are joined together, the cycle will be fulfilled, and Balance restored.'"
"I hate puzzles," Link confessed. "What does it mean?"
"That's just it," Zelda said excitedly. "It is a puzzle. And all the pieces are slowly being joined together. The power of the goddesses–that must mean the Triforce. The Feather Man–well, we all know who that is. And the Half..." Zelda smiled.
It abruptly hit him. "Azura," Link said slowly. "She's a half...she's a twin. With her sister she was one, but now that Arjuna is dead..."
"Exactly," Zelda said triumphantly. "We're piecing the puzzle together, and once we do the cycle will fulfill itself, and we'll defeat Ganondorf. It's just a matter of finding the rest of the pieces."
Link shook his head. She made it sound far too easy. "And the next piece?"
Zelda's eyes glittered. "The Sages."
* * *
"The Sages are servants of the Destined," Saria explained in a conference between her, Zelda, Link, and Impa. "They lend their power to Link to aid him in the final battle against Ganondorf."
"Can we defeat Ganondorf without them?" Zelda asked.
Impa and Saria exchanged a glance. "We do not know," Saria said simply. "It has never happened before."
"Then how do we find the Sages?"
"You don't," Impa informed them. "The Sages will come to you, once they are awakened."
"They number six," Saria explained. "Impa and I are the Sage of Forest and the Sage of Shadow, respectively. There are four more that must be awakened."
"There is a seventh as well," Impa added, gazing at Zelda. "An entity more powerful than the other six Sages combined. It is the Sage of Time, and this entity..." She glanced at Saria.
"This entity shall awaken in you," Saria told Zelda serenely.
Zelda blinked. "A Sage? Me? How do you know?"
"We know," Impa said quietly. "It is our duty to know. You are simply unawakened."
Zelda exchanged a glance with Link. "Where are the other Sages?" Link asked Impa and Saria, turning his eyes to them. "Have they awakened yet?"
Impa shook her head. "None yet."
"Then we've got to find them!" Zelda exclaimed. "We can't just sit around and wait for them to show up. There's no time for that."
"There's no other option," Impa insisted. "The Sages will awaken eventually. We must be patient."
"What if Ganondorf kills one of them before they can awaken?" Zelda demanded. "What if it takes years for any of them to appear? What if Ganondorf kills us? I won't wait for him to find us. I will not allow myself to be blindly led by fate!"
"There is no other option," Impa repeated, her eyes glittering. "You cannot force an awakening of Sages. End of story."
Zelda cursed, clenching her fists in frustration. For a moment there was silence.
Then Saria said slowly, "Well...there is one other option."
* * *
Link found Zelda in the courtyard, sitting on the familiar marble bench and contemplating her future. He could tell from one look at her face that she was seriously considering Saria's proposal.
"Zelda–"
She interrupted him before he could go further. "I know what you're going to say, Link. I haven't made a decision yet. But when I do, it will be my decision. This is my fate."
He scowled and began pacing through the grass, running a hand restlessly through his hair. For a moment he hated Saria with such an intense passion that he surprised himself. Why in Din's name did the sage have to suggest such a ridiculous idea?
"You are the Sage of Time," Saria had told Zelda earlier in their conversation. "The power of time is yours to do with as you will. If you do not wish to wait for a Sage awakening, don't. Travel to the future–or the past–and collect the sages of another time."
Impa had reacted exactly as Link–with vehement, almost violent opposition. But the glimmer in Zelda's eyes told far more than words. The idea appealed to her, if only because it gave her some measure of control over her fate, however dangerous.
And he had to talk her out of it.
"You heard what Impa said," he argued, facing her. "Even your mother attempted time reversion only once, and she had the aid of a magical instrument. You have nothing but what power you've awakened and your own life-energy. What if you burn it all up?"
"I suspect the goddesses will interfere again," Zelda said.
Link cursed under his breath. He recognized this mood as Zelda at her densest and most stubborn. "How would you even know when and where to go in the future?" he asked, swiftly changing tact.
Zelda gave a slow, almost apologetic smile. "I wouldn't go to the future. I'd go to the past."
"When?" he demanded.
"To my mother's time." Zelda met Link's eyes, completely serious now. "You remember the collective memories Saria shared with us, don't you, Link? I spoke–through my mother–to her sages. Impa, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Nabooru, Rauru," she rattled off without hesitation. "The names, the persons, are etched into my mind. I am sure I could find them. And I am sure I can find my way back to my mother's time."
"Zelda–" Link grasped her hands and tugged her to her feet, his gaze locked with hers. "Saria's idea is madness, pure and simple. You know better than anyone the energy it will take. You could easily die."
"And you know as well as I that I could easily die at any time!" Zelda cried in frustration. "We all could! I will not sit and wait for Ganondorf to murder me, I will not let my fate control me–"
"So rather than wait, you'll just rush headlong into death?" Link demanded sharply.
"Yes!" Zelda cried. "Because at least that is my choice!"
There was a long moment of silence in the courtyard, as Link struggled to get his emotions under some measure of control.
"Then I will follow you into death," he said at last.
He sensed her hesitation and pressed on. "I suppose without you there wouldn't be any point to going on. I can't defeat Ganondorf on my own, if what the goddesses say is true. Of course there are the thieves to protect. And there's Impa, and Saria. But none of that would matter without you."
"I know," Zelda whispered in quiet frustration.
"I'm begging you not to do this," Link said quietly. "I don't want to lose you." Zelda averted her gaze, but Link gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Promise me, Zelda. Please."
Zelda gave a long sigh, the tension seeping from her body. "All right," she whispered.
And in Link's relief, he failed to notice that it wasn't quite a promise.
* * *
The next morning Link found Dagger and Bolo waiting for him in the main hall of the temple. "Was Miss Zelda with you last night?" Bolo demanded, wasting no time on pleasantries.
"No," Link said regretfully. After their conversation the previous day Zelda hadn't seemed very happy with him. He didn't regret pressing her, though, not if it saved her life. "Why do you ask?" he wondered. True, it was common knowledge that he and Zelda normally spent their nights together, but he didn't recall Zelda's thieves ever being so forward.
"She told Saria she was going for a walk in the forest last night," Dagger said worriedly. "She never came back."
Link felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.
He didn't need a second guess to know exactly where Zelda had gone.
* * *
To be continued.