Chapter 9 - The Third Piece

"Zelda!" yelled Link.

Link sprinted into Hyrule Castle with adrenaline pumping throughout his body.

"ZELDA!"

"Link!" called Zelda's mother.

"Your majesty, I need to have a word with the princess, if you don't mind."

"Well dear I'm sorry but I'm afraid Zelda is not here."

"Where did she go?"

"She left about an hour ago for the Temple of Time."

"Okay, thank you very much."

Link hurried back out of the castle and off to the Temple of Time. He scaled the guard fence and just ran straight in to the building...there was Zelda, gazing upon the Triforce above the Door of Time.

"Zelda," Link quietly said.

This time Link could hear himself speak, unlike his last visit to the Temple, when everything was dead silent.

Zelda did not respond, she just solemnly looked at the Triforce.

"Is something wrong, Zelda?"

Zelda turned around.

"It's him..." she said, "he...he's trying to escape."

"Ganondorf?"

Zelda nodded.

"But...he CAN'T...the seal of the Sacred Realm cannot be broken from the inside, right?"

"Right."

"So...why worry? Just leave and let the Temple be."

"I can't, Link. He still holds the Triforce of Power."

Link stared silently for a few seconds.

"Um...Zelda, I know this is off topic, but I came in here to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I was just at Lake Hylia and Zora's Domain. Well...um...they are flooded. The waterfall is absolutely torrential and the domain is completely submerged. The water has made its way out into the river, too...it won't stop."

"It's his fault...he is trying his hardest to seek revenge on us by using the Triforce. It's hard for him, but he's pulling through."

"Well, what do we do?"

"I'm still trying to think...I had an idea earlier to open the seal momentarily and take the Triforce by using the other two Triforce pieces that you and I own, then immediately shut the seal."

Link felt uneasy. It was too risky. One false move and he'll have to repeat the Hyrule quest all over again. But what other way was there?

Suddenly an eminent beam of light darted out from the Triforce, barely missing Zelda. Zelda screamed, Link drew his sword. An evil laughter was heard right then; obviously the voice of Ganondorf.

"Link! How nice to taunt you again!"

"What in Nayru's name are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all."

"Oh, shut up."

Ganondorf laughed.

"You know you can't do anything to us, Ganondorf. You're stuck in the Sacred Realm."

"That just shows what you know."

What Ganondorf just said greatly intimidated Link. He suddenly became very paranoid and worried that Ganondorf would cause something bad again.

"Link..." said Zelda.

"Yes?"

"He's trying to escape, or do something bad. We can't do much about it, unless we do that plan I suggested...otherwise, in a few years something bad may happen."

"That's not good."

"No, it's not."

"Zelda, I think we would be better off leaving for now."

"But...Ganondorf...he caused the flood. What if he causes something else?"

"We just need time to think this over and come up with a killer plan," Link said slyly.

"Okay."

Link and Zelda exited the temple and walked outside. He thought about what Hyrule would be like in ten years. Would it be...a wasteland? Would it be flooded? Would it be personalized by Ganondorf? No. No way. Ganondorf is gone, and gone for good. Or was he? Was Link in denial? He definitely needs a solution.

"Link!" shouted Zelda.

"What? What?"

"I've got an idea!"

"Well then tell me!"

"You still have the ocarina right?"

"Yeah..."

"You still remember the Song of Time, right?"

"Yeah...I don't see where you're going, though."

"Okay, well you've never used the song for this purpose yet, but there is a way you can travel FORWARD and back again in time."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me a long time ago?"

"It would have been useless."

"So...how do I do it?"

"Well, um, you need to play the notes differently."

"Oh, I know now! I've heard this song! It's the Song of Double Time!"

"No, no, no, no...that song will only go forward a day. I want to go WAY beyond a day."

"Okay, then...what?"

"You're the first person I'm telling this song to. My parents don't even know about it. It's called the Infinite Song of Time."

"So in other words I have to play it forever?"

"No, not at all. You just play it until you reach the point where you want to stop."

"And that will be...?"

"Twenty five years from now."

"Wow, that's a long way away...so how do I come back?"

"Well, you play the Song of Time again and you will return to exact point where you left from, which will be here."

"Okay! Let's do it! How do I play the Infinite Song of Time?"

"You let the each note of the Song of Time ring for about three seconds each. Repeat until you are in the Time Realm. It may take a few minutes, but it works, and only with the Ocarina of Time."

Link put the instrument up to his mouth and began playing the Infinite Song of Time. The harmonic melody put him into a state of meditation for about a minute. Then he found himself in the Time Realm. He finally stopped when he realized 25 years had passed.

BOOM...Link's vision went black. Had he gone blind or something? No. He opened his eyes, finally. He was standing atop a small hill of a miniature island.

Link looked around. Ocean was as far as the naked eye could see. Was he still in Hyrule? Where was he?

"This...this is Hyrule. It's all " Link mumbled to himself.

Could he be 100 certain? It may not have been Hyrule for all he knew. Zelda never said he would pop up in the exact same spot he was when he played the song. He could even be in Termina. Or he could be in a place he's never been before.

He looked down the hill at a small village. He ran down there and wanted to ask the townspeople some questions.

"Excuse me, sir...but I'm new to the area, and I don't know the name of it, could you tell me please?"

"This is Windfall island," replied the man.

"But what is the name of this entire area?"

"We don't have a name for this entire area."

"Is it Hyrule?"

"Hyrule? No."

Link had a huge sigh of relief.

"Have you heard of Hyrule?"

"Of course, it's west of this sea. Very, very far west, though. It'll take you a while to get there. I'd say about 200 miles."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Yeah, once. Last year."

"What was it like?"

"Well...it was rather wet..." the man said, chuckling.

"Wet?!"

"Not submerged, but the water holes there are way too plentiful if you ask me!"

"Thank you for you help!"

"Anytime."

Link played the Song of Time and warped back to Hyrule.

There was Zelda standing beside him.

"So...what was it like?"

"Well, I wasn't there. I ended up on an island west of here."

"Oh, deku nuts! I forgot to tell you how to make yourself end up in the same spot!"

"It's no big deal. I talked to a man on the island. He told me that Hyrule was 'wet', nothing more."

"An island?"

"Yes...west of here."

"There are no islands within six hundred miles of here!"

"The man said two hundred miles away!"

"So that must mean only one thing...Ganondorf failed at completely flooding Hyrule, so the spell malfunctioned and flooded the land surrounding Hyrule! I've got to tell my parents!"

With that, Zelda darted back to the castle. As for Link, he just sat down, stressed.

"And another malicious act by Ganondorf strikes," Link stressfully said, "This may take a while...."

END OF CHAPTER 9