(A/N: I tried desperately to post the previous chapter earlier, but the server was busy, so I wrote this in the meantime. Here's a hefty 2-for-1 deal for you.)
Navi was talking with some Business Scrubs when another guardian fairy approached.
"Hey, Navi! Sheik wants you. He's near the observation room." The fairy relayed, before returning to his own Kokiri companion.
Nodding in acknowledgement, she excused herself from the conversation and headed out. The tension in the cartridge was thick. Everyone had a calm façade, but underneath, everyone was worried. It was exhausting to be so wound up for so long.
Navi yawned quietly as she cruised for the observation room. Tackling the doorknob, she let herself in.
Sheik, both Zeldas, and the Know-it-all brothers were there.
"Good, you're here." Sheik said gratefully. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on her?" he asked, gesturing to the wary-looking little girl.
Navi bobbed up and down in agreement, a smile hidden in her spherical glow. Not that this was news of any kind. Zellie was constantly getting into mischief.
"Great. Thanks."
"Not a problem!" Navi piped.
Sheik continued his debriefing to the brothers. "So, as far as I can tell, the game is 100-percent stable."
"But we still have them to worry about." The youngest brother replied.
Little Zelda looked at him inquisitively. "Does anyone know what happened to them?" she asked with great concern.
Zelda turned to her junior with a sad look. Kneeling to her level, she spoke assuringly. "We're not sure what's wrong yet, but I really think they'll be okay."
Zellie stared back at her with wide, worried eyes. "Really?" She asked.
Zelda put on her best encouraging smile. "Really." She said. "Now stick with Navi, and stay out of trouble, okay?"
Zellie nodded. "Okay."
Navi fluttered over. "Come on, Zel, let's go see the sages." She suggested, and herded the child princess out of the room.
Zelda watched her go, and then stood up with a sigh.
"You don't sound convinced, yourself." Sheik mused.
Zelda looked sadly at the screen among many that showed the progress and current status of the game files, and Link, Doc, and Okareena.
"You weren't this depressed when you found Okareena passed out." Sheik said knowingly.
Zelda turned on him with a scowl, which faded moments after. He was right.
The six sages moved as a group to try and calm down the panicky masses. They had thought to spread out, but Impa had made a point that the spreading rumors and tension would make too many people unpredictable.
Plus, it was an advantage having Darunia around to employ some force if necessary. Not enough to injure anyone, but enough to douse the hysteria.
As it was, it only took the word of the sages to quell the panic in the majority of the cartridge residents. It was usually the ones to high strung for their own safety, and the extremists that required extra persuasion.
A wave of calm passed in the wake of the group. All the sages felt very accomplished, but one.
Saria was feeling too preoccupied to be proud of her efforts.
While the other four spread out in the nearby vicinity, Impa hung back to speak with Saria.
"Something's been bothering you." The shadow sage noted.
Saria nodded glumly.
"I'm worried." She admitted.
Impa smiled thoughtfully. "You can't expect to calm others if you're bothered, yourself."
"I know... it's just..." she trailed off. She found herself thinking back to not so long ago, when he showed up at her favorite spot and tried to talk to her while she was sleeping sitting up. She never did find out exactly what he had said to her, but whatever it was, it had him worked up somehow.
A small smile crossed her face.
Impa smiled in a motherly way. "I understand." she said comfortingly. "Take heart, Saria. While we don't yet know why, they are only slipping out of consciousness. There is still hope."
Saria smiled vaguely. If she held tight to that hope; that he'd make it through okay, maybe she could make it through, too.
Malon was one of the cartridge animal keepers. Cuccos, cows, Keese, Guay, fish and the like weren't intelligent enough to fend for themselves. Up until the lockdown, the animals had stayed in their places within the game area. They had more room that way. Now, they were in relatively small, though still roomy quarters. Malon holed herself up with her horses and cows, and worried.
It wasn't the apocalyptic theories that bothered her, or anything else that hinted that the masses were in danger. It was only one. The talk that the Links had fallen ill, or possibly even died.
Like many others, Malon had heard nothing to disprove any of the rumors. All were disconcerting, whether they were believable or not.
Talon rapped on the door, thoroughly concerned for her well-being.
"You oughta come outta there." He called to her. "Yer not gonna do yerself any good by hidin'."
"Yeah!" her younger counterpart added. A motherly cluck followed, from young Malon's pet cucco.
"I don't want to come out." Malon replied simply. "I just want to stay here by myself for a while."
Outside the latched door, Talon dropped his shoulders in defeat.
Little Malon heard some commotion in the halls, and hurried out to see, her pet cucco on her heels.
It was the sages, being mobbed with questions.
"Are we all going to die?" a zora asked in fear.
"Of course not." Nabooru assured. "The game data is perfectly sound. We-"
"I heard characters have died." A townsperson interrupted.
"It's true that some are afflicted, but they are alive and stable." Ruto explained.
More questions started boiling up.
Little Malon noticed little Zelda working her way through the crowd, with Navi floating nearby.
"Impa!" the princess called.
"Zelda." The sage noted.
"Link and the others will be okay, right?" Zellie asked.
"I'm certain they will be fine." Impa assured.
Having heard it from both Zelda and Impa, Zellie looked very satisfied. With a relieved smile, she waved goodbye and worked her way out of the crowd again. Navi spotted little Malon and called to the young princess. With smile, she hurried over.
As time went on, the crowd boiled back to its original level of racket.
"Please be calm!" Rauru called over the noise. It almost instantly quieted. "None are more than ill from adverse data exposure, and no one is in danger. The corruption is wholly contained. You are all perfectly safe." He said firmly. "You will all do a better service to yourselves and us all by being calm and rational."
His powerful voice seemed to throw a blanket of self-control over the group. Everyone there seemed reassured. The other sages looked at him and each other, curious but satisfied. What he said was a more vague rendition of the truth, but right now it was best to give the impressionable, panicky masses the short and sweet version.
Little Malon and Zellie said their helloes, exchanged their stories of concern and relief, then ran back inside to Talon and Malon, the cucco crowing in surprise as it pelted after them.
"They're okay!" little Malon hollered at the door as she, Zellie, and Navi approached. Talon looked back at her in surprise. She banged on the door with a palm. "Rauru says everything's okay! You can come out. Your boyfriend is okay." She added in a teasing, gossipy voice, knowing she'd touch a nerve.
All four of them jumped in surprise as Malon wrenched the door open, and glared, scandalized, at the triumphantly grinning little girl.
(A/N: Again, exercising the standard pairings. The Link/Zelda pairing in fan fiction kind of bugs me, although it's so popular. There are hints in the game that they are in fact brother and sister. They don't jump out at you, but they're there if you pay attention. For one: You hear about Link's mother dying of grave injuries after taking him to the security of the forest, (Just who was she running from? And why?) but never his father. And Zelda's father is the king, well known, naturally, but her mother? Never brought to discussion at all. And in the fractal stories of the Great War, there are connections that are never completely explained, so it keeps you guessing. But it's by no means a far stretch of the imagination. I'd have to play it over again to be absolutely certain of my sources. Maybe I'll do that sometime relatively soon.)