Disclaimer. um... Yeah. Well, I've done this before, I know... I own
nothing... Except I just added an old man and another of Colt's ex-
boyfriends to my list of people I do own. Dance, puppets, DANCE! Mwah ha ha
ha ha. Um... Right.
Note: I know approximately where I'm going... But I'm basically making this up as I go along, so bear with me if the chapters aren't all stimulating... I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to allow a relationship between Link and Colt to develop, or if I'm gonna take the angsty road. Feedback would be welcome. (Look, I've been reduced to begging for reviews! Is there no justice in the world?)
Chapter 7: A Lesson in Leaving
I could see the building that served as the city hall long before I arrived at its marble gates. I stood for a minute, trying to get my bearings. It was a huge palace, oddly out of place in comparison to the rest of the underground city. Suddenly unsure of myself, I made my way through the throng of people and into a large antechamber.
A boy of no more than fifteen stood behind the counter. He glanced at me with bored disinterest, and sighed. "Can I help you... sir?" He sounded as if he wanted to do nothing of the sort, but I let it go.
"I'm here to see the mayor?" It sounded sort of pathetic, but it was in keeping with the rest of my little vacation, so I wasn't going to let it bother me.
"Do you have an appointment?" An appointment? Oh, shit.
"No..." I was floundering again. "Uh... Impa sent me?" God. How cliché. What's next, Colt? 'Hark, who goes there?'? The boy was unimpressed.
"Take a number, and wait for it to be called." He turned away, dismissing me. What else could I do? I took a number and sat down. "Now serving number 243." I looked at my number. 361. Shit. The whole experience reminded me of my first (and last) trip to the DMV. I sat there for almost two hours while the computer called numbers I was sure were being made up.
"Now serving 244. Number 244." I sighed. I was getting nowhere fast. I stuffed the number in my pocket, and stood up. There was a shout, and a loud twang, and an arrow thudded into a post mere inches from my head, followed by a loud crack. Something large and hard struck my head. My vision blurred, and the darkness swallowed me.
~*~*~
The darkness gave way into a vast white expanse. There was nothing in any direction, like I had climbed into a blank piece of paper and wrapped myself in it.
I began to walk. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I knew I couldn't just stay there.
"Colt?" That voice sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly who it was. "Colt, can you hear me?" That voice... The phone... Phone? It was on the tip of my tongue. "Colt, I'm scared." A man. A guy... Why can't I remember? "Colt! PLEASE!" There was a face, in the bleak expanse. It tugged at my memory, but still nothing. "COLT!!!! HELP MEEE-" The voice cut off, and started to scream. The sound pierced my mind, and the white expanse shattered.
~*~*~
"Are you all right, lad?"
"Could someone turn down the drums?" It took me a second to realize the drums were just the pounding of my head. I didn't want to open my eyes. If I didn't open my eyes, I could still imagine that I was home. I could almost smell the coffee scent that clung to my hair and clothes after a day's work. I could just hear the shouts of my younger siblings bickering. As long as I didn't open my eyes, I could believe it was all just a dream.
"Are you all right?" The wavering voice persisted, edging in on my fantasy. Sighing, I opened my eyes and came face to face with what had to be the oldest living being I'd ever encountered. His face was cracked and wrinkled, and reminded me vaguely of a spider web.
"I'm... " I paused. I wasn't fine, as far as I knew, since I was still apparently trapped in this impossible reality. "... alive, anyway." That was good enough. "What happened?"
"One of the supplicants was unsatisfied with the answer the Oracle gave him, and tried to force his way back into the Sanctum of Wisdom." Sanctum of Wisdom? Okay... At this point, I'd left weird FAR behind. We were crossing into the threshold of 'holy SHIT'.
"Where am I?"
"The antechamber of the Sanctum of Wisdom." He smiled at me.
"How did I get here? How the hell..." I wasn't sure if I was referring to the antechamber or Hyrule in general. Suddenly, a smirk crossed my face. "Pan left, close on the steeple of the church." Might as well have fun, right? The old man shot me an odd look. "Never mind." But it had made me feel better. "Can I see the oracle now?" He nodded, and I followed him unsteadily.
The sanctum was disappointing, to say the least. I had expected candles and statues and religious relics, and maybe a portrait or two of the three goddesses of Hyrule. What were their names? Shit... Uh... Din, Nayru and... Damn, I could never remember that last one. Farore! That was it. But the room was strangely bare except for a small representation of what was undoubtedly one part of the triforce. It revolved silently on it's pedestal, bathed in blue light.
"The REAL Oracle is protected by the Zoras." The old man stated simply. "This is just a conduit." I shrugged, not remembering the games mentioning any oracles except the oracles of Ages, Seasons, and Secrets. "Go on... Touch it."
My heart was pounding. The notion of touching the triforce gave me serious pause. ~It's just a representation.~ I told myself, but I was unconvinced.
"Well?" I sighed. Tentatively, I reached out my hand and placed it on the small triangle. It was cold. I frowned. Nothing was happening. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. When my eyes cleared, I found nothing had changed. I glanced back, but the old man was gone. Shaken, I removed my hand and stuck it in the pocket of my jeans. I turned, and gasped. A figure had appeared in the doorway. I had to squint against the light, but I was just able to make out who it was.
It was Riley Alaister. He had been my best friend in elementary school, and my first real crush. In sixth grade, we made out behind the drama building every day during recess, until the seventh grade PE teacher had found us. Riley's parents were outraged, and sent him to boarding school. The Tyrant wasn't as friendly.
"Riley?" I felt my heart tearing. I hadn't seen him since we sat sulkily in the principal's office and listened to a lecture on the immorality of homosexuality. We had made faces at each other when her back was turned, each trying to make the other laugh. "Riley, is that you?" I felt the tears starting to form behind my eyes, and I blinked to keep them out. I ran to him. He smiled at me weakly.
"I cannot stay long. I am here to answer your question, no more, no less. Ask."
"But... Riley... " I tried to embrace him, but he stepped away from me.
"Ask." There were tears in his eyes too. Or was it my imagination?
I nodded. When I got home, I would do my best to locate him. "How do I get home?" Rileythought for what seemed like an eternity. My heart stopped for an instant. What if there WAS no way home? What if I was stuck here forever? But then, he was speaking.
"The way from this prison is not easy. Do not let your judgment be clouded by emotion. You must find the wisdom to separate reality and illusion. Trust yourself. You know what needs to be done." He stopped, and turned away. "I miss you, Colt. Come home soon, okay?" His voice was choked, and I felt the tears trickle down my cheek.
"Wait! Riley! Please!" I ran to him, trying to stop him, but he had vanished before I had reached him. Another flash of light, and I found myself back with my hand against the blue triangle. The old man was standing behind me again.
He smiled at me, and I found myself detesting him. "Did you find what you needed?"
Suddenly I was furious. "What the FUCK WAS THAT? How DARE you fuck with my emotions? What gives you the right..." But as swiftly as it had come, my anger had vanished. The old man seemed unfazed by my outburst, however.
"You met someone you loved once. It's that way with everyone. The one who came to you had a dream about you, but will probably not remember it come tomorrow." He smiled at me again, mollifying me. It occurred to me that he seemed to smile every twenty seconds or so. "That's the way of the Path of Wisdom. One gains Wisdom through study of the errors of one's Past. That's the belief that our sect of the Trinity holds above all others."
"Trinity?" I smiled inwardly at the bastardization of the Christian mythos. I had never been much of a religion fan.
"The three sects of the Goddesses. Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Each of the Sheikah remaining in the world since the Plague holds to one of those three basic truths. Nayru, the patron goddess of this city, is the goddess of wisdom." I didn't bother to inform him that I knew all this already. I'd learned that it's unsettling when strangers knew more about your life than you did yourself. Which, of course, was not to say I had ANY idea what was going on, but, hey...
"Anyway, Riley... I mean... the oracle didn't tell me anything useful. Something about reality and illusions, but nothing valuable. I'm still not sure how to get what I want."
"Of course not. It's not the oracle's job to tell you what to do, but to give advice." He smiled again. Damn. I was getting sick of his smile.
"Well, even as advice, it was pretty damn useless." He just shrugged. "Now what do I do?"
"I would suggest asking the Gerudo. Of course, you can't just waltz in there, you'll have to sneak in. But I'm sure a warrior such as yourself will have no problem, right?" Warrior? Were all the denizens of Hyrule insane? I just shook my head.
"How am I supposed to ASK them, if I'm supposed to avoid them?"
"They possess another of the three oracles. Maybe it will set you in the right direction?" Great. Another oracle. I sighed. "They reside in the desert to the north. Be careful."
I forced a smile, markedly similar to his rictus. "I'm always careful." Maybe I was getting into this warrior thing? Maybe not. As soon as I got cocky, I would also get dead. A sobering thought, to be sure. I sighed, and made my way back to Kakariko Village.
Note: I know approximately where I'm going... But I'm basically making this up as I go along, so bear with me if the chapters aren't all stimulating... I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to allow a relationship between Link and Colt to develop, or if I'm gonna take the angsty road. Feedback would be welcome. (Look, I've been reduced to begging for reviews! Is there no justice in the world?)
Chapter 7: A Lesson in Leaving
I could see the building that served as the city hall long before I arrived at its marble gates. I stood for a minute, trying to get my bearings. It was a huge palace, oddly out of place in comparison to the rest of the underground city. Suddenly unsure of myself, I made my way through the throng of people and into a large antechamber.
A boy of no more than fifteen stood behind the counter. He glanced at me with bored disinterest, and sighed. "Can I help you... sir?" He sounded as if he wanted to do nothing of the sort, but I let it go.
"I'm here to see the mayor?" It sounded sort of pathetic, but it was in keeping with the rest of my little vacation, so I wasn't going to let it bother me.
"Do you have an appointment?" An appointment? Oh, shit.
"No..." I was floundering again. "Uh... Impa sent me?" God. How cliché. What's next, Colt? 'Hark, who goes there?'? The boy was unimpressed.
"Take a number, and wait for it to be called." He turned away, dismissing me. What else could I do? I took a number and sat down. "Now serving number 243." I looked at my number. 361. Shit. The whole experience reminded me of my first (and last) trip to the DMV. I sat there for almost two hours while the computer called numbers I was sure were being made up.
"Now serving 244. Number 244." I sighed. I was getting nowhere fast. I stuffed the number in my pocket, and stood up. There was a shout, and a loud twang, and an arrow thudded into a post mere inches from my head, followed by a loud crack. Something large and hard struck my head. My vision blurred, and the darkness swallowed me.
~*~*~
The darkness gave way into a vast white expanse. There was nothing in any direction, like I had climbed into a blank piece of paper and wrapped myself in it.
I began to walk. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I knew I couldn't just stay there.
"Colt?" That voice sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly who it was. "Colt, can you hear me?" That voice... The phone... Phone? It was on the tip of my tongue. "Colt, I'm scared." A man. A guy... Why can't I remember? "Colt! PLEASE!" There was a face, in the bleak expanse. It tugged at my memory, but still nothing. "COLT!!!! HELP MEEE-" The voice cut off, and started to scream. The sound pierced my mind, and the white expanse shattered.
~*~*~
"Are you all right, lad?"
"Could someone turn down the drums?" It took me a second to realize the drums were just the pounding of my head. I didn't want to open my eyes. If I didn't open my eyes, I could still imagine that I was home. I could almost smell the coffee scent that clung to my hair and clothes after a day's work. I could just hear the shouts of my younger siblings bickering. As long as I didn't open my eyes, I could believe it was all just a dream.
"Are you all right?" The wavering voice persisted, edging in on my fantasy. Sighing, I opened my eyes and came face to face with what had to be the oldest living being I'd ever encountered. His face was cracked and wrinkled, and reminded me vaguely of a spider web.
"I'm... " I paused. I wasn't fine, as far as I knew, since I was still apparently trapped in this impossible reality. "... alive, anyway." That was good enough. "What happened?"
"One of the supplicants was unsatisfied with the answer the Oracle gave him, and tried to force his way back into the Sanctum of Wisdom." Sanctum of Wisdom? Okay... At this point, I'd left weird FAR behind. We were crossing into the threshold of 'holy SHIT'.
"Where am I?"
"The antechamber of the Sanctum of Wisdom." He smiled at me.
"How did I get here? How the hell..." I wasn't sure if I was referring to the antechamber or Hyrule in general. Suddenly, a smirk crossed my face. "Pan left, close on the steeple of the church." Might as well have fun, right? The old man shot me an odd look. "Never mind." But it had made me feel better. "Can I see the oracle now?" He nodded, and I followed him unsteadily.
The sanctum was disappointing, to say the least. I had expected candles and statues and religious relics, and maybe a portrait or two of the three goddesses of Hyrule. What were their names? Shit... Uh... Din, Nayru and... Damn, I could never remember that last one. Farore! That was it. But the room was strangely bare except for a small representation of what was undoubtedly one part of the triforce. It revolved silently on it's pedestal, bathed in blue light.
"The REAL Oracle is protected by the Zoras." The old man stated simply. "This is just a conduit." I shrugged, not remembering the games mentioning any oracles except the oracles of Ages, Seasons, and Secrets. "Go on... Touch it."
My heart was pounding. The notion of touching the triforce gave me serious pause. ~It's just a representation.~ I told myself, but I was unconvinced.
"Well?" I sighed. Tentatively, I reached out my hand and placed it on the small triangle. It was cold. I frowned. Nothing was happening. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. When my eyes cleared, I found nothing had changed. I glanced back, but the old man was gone. Shaken, I removed my hand and stuck it in the pocket of my jeans. I turned, and gasped. A figure had appeared in the doorway. I had to squint against the light, but I was just able to make out who it was.
It was Riley Alaister. He had been my best friend in elementary school, and my first real crush. In sixth grade, we made out behind the drama building every day during recess, until the seventh grade PE teacher had found us. Riley's parents were outraged, and sent him to boarding school. The Tyrant wasn't as friendly.
"Riley?" I felt my heart tearing. I hadn't seen him since we sat sulkily in the principal's office and listened to a lecture on the immorality of homosexuality. We had made faces at each other when her back was turned, each trying to make the other laugh. "Riley, is that you?" I felt the tears starting to form behind my eyes, and I blinked to keep them out. I ran to him. He smiled at me weakly.
"I cannot stay long. I am here to answer your question, no more, no less. Ask."
"But... Riley... " I tried to embrace him, but he stepped away from me.
"Ask." There were tears in his eyes too. Or was it my imagination?
I nodded. When I got home, I would do my best to locate him. "How do I get home?" Rileythought for what seemed like an eternity. My heart stopped for an instant. What if there WAS no way home? What if I was stuck here forever? But then, he was speaking.
"The way from this prison is not easy. Do not let your judgment be clouded by emotion. You must find the wisdom to separate reality and illusion. Trust yourself. You know what needs to be done." He stopped, and turned away. "I miss you, Colt. Come home soon, okay?" His voice was choked, and I felt the tears trickle down my cheek.
"Wait! Riley! Please!" I ran to him, trying to stop him, but he had vanished before I had reached him. Another flash of light, and I found myself back with my hand against the blue triangle. The old man was standing behind me again.
He smiled at me, and I found myself detesting him. "Did you find what you needed?"
Suddenly I was furious. "What the FUCK WAS THAT? How DARE you fuck with my emotions? What gives you the right..." But as swiftly as it had come, my anger had vanished. The old man seemed unfazed by my outburst, however.
"You met someone you loved once. It's that way with everyone. The one who came to you had a dream about you, but will probably not remember it come tomorrow." He smiled at me again, mollifying me. It occurred to me that he seemed to smile every twenty seconds or so. "That's the way of the Path of Wisdom. One gains Wisdom through study of the errors of one's Past. That's the belief that our sect of the Trinity holds above all others."
"Trinity?" I smiled inwardly at the bastardization of the Christian mythos. I had never been much of a religion fan.
"The three sects of the Goddesses. Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Each of the Sheikah remaining in the world since the Plague holds to one of those three basic truths. Nayru, the patron goddess of this city, is the goddess of wisdom." I didn't bother to inform him that I knew all this already. I'd learned that it's unsettling when strangers knew more about your life than you did yourself. Which, of course, was not to say I had ANY idea what was going on, but, hey...
"Anyway, Riley... I mean... the oracle didn't tell me anything useful. Something about reality and illusions, but nothing valuable. I'm still not sure how to get what I want."
"Of course not. It's not the oracle's job to tell you what to do, but to give advice." He smiled again. Damn. I was getting sick of his smile.
"Well, even as advice, it was pretty damn useless." He just shrugged. "Now what do I do?"
"I would suggest asking the Gerudo. Of course, you can't just waltz in there, you'll have to sneak in. But I'm sure a warrior such as yourself will have no problem, right?" Warrior? Were all the denizens of Hyrule insane? I just shook my head.
"How am I supposed to ASK them, if I'm supposed to avoid them?"
"They possess another of the three oracles. Maybe it will set you in the right direction?" Great. Another oracle. I sighed. "They reside in the desert to the north. Be careful."
I forced a smile, markedly similar to his rictus. "I'm always careful." Maybe I was getting into this warrior thing? Maybe not. As soon as I got cocky, I would also get dead. A sobering thought, to be sure. I sighed, and made my way back to Kakariko Village.