Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, Jiji, and, now introducing, Aryn. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

Chapter 16

Jiji sat on the bed in the guest bedroom for a few minutes after changing into Selphie's nightgown. She had a lot on her mind, and she was trying very hard not to cry. Crying would get her nowhere, and she had already spent more tears on that dirty bastard than he deserved. But even as she thought this, the tears spilled from her eyes because she knew that Iggy wasn't really a dirty bastard. She loved him dearly even after what he had just done, or what he was about to do.

She just didn't understand what could have made him stop loving her. If something had changed, wouldn't she have felt it too? If anything, she had felt their relationship escalating as it progressed, up until the point where he regressed and pulled himself away. Thinking about it all again just made her hurt even more and she buried her face in her hands. She didn't look out until she felt a rush of wind and realized the window had come open.

Momentarily forgetting her problems, Jiji jumped up and went to the window, shutting it and making sure it was locked. When this was done she took a deep breath and looked out the window at the storm that was raging on. It was a tempest to rival the one inside her right now. Rain streamed down the windows and thunder roared overhead. Wind buffeted the sides of the house and lightning streaked across the sky. When the flash died away, she realized it was darker in the room and turned to see the candle was out.

She groaned slightly and pressed her forehead against the glass of the windowpane. "Damn candle…" She declined to walk over and relight it, but continued to stare out at the storm.

Jiji was lost in her thoughts until her ears twitched slightly. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as it does when one gets the feeling that one has someone right behind him. Jiji sat up, but didn't turn around. She didn't have to because she could see the Garo's eyes reflected in the window. Before she could react, he had reached around her and held a cloth to her face. Jiji took two breaths and was out like a light.

She was cold. Her face was pressed up against wet stone. Her whole body ached as of someone who had been unconscious for some time.

Jiji finally opened her eyes. She sat up and looked around and all hints of sleep disappeared from her face as she realized where she was. There were three solid walls around her and one set of corroded iron bars opposite her. The floor and walls were damp from lack of upkeep. She was in the prison of the Garo encampment. The room had not been kept in good condition because the Garo rarely took prisoners, which led Jiji to wonder why in hell she was there.

"I see you're awake." Jiji started when she heard the voice. Looking to the cell door, her eyes narrowed as she saw her old teacher, one of the Garo masters. He stepped closer to the bars to get a better look at her. "Two years have changed you, Jiji," he said.

"I'm sorry I can't say the same for you," she said coldly. "Skip the crap. I wanna know why I'm here, and I wanna know now."

"Spirited as ever," he commented.

"What's it to you?" she sneered.

"I'm just hoping it will carry over. Spirit is a good thing to have," he responded coolly. Jiji didn't understand his meaning, and she didn't particularly care.

"Now that's two questions that you've avoided answering," she said.

"Technically you didn't ask a question before."

"I'm asking you now. Why am I here?" The Garo master didn't respond but opted silence and started to leave. "Hey! Answer me, you bastard!" she shouted, jumping up and starting for the bars. The shackles on her wrists just barely allowed her to reach and grasp the metals bars in her hands.

He paused and turned back to her. "I suppose you deserve an explanation as to why you'll be a guest here for the next year," he replied nonchalantly.

"A year?" Jiji repeated incredulously. "You don't take prisoners anyway. Why are you holding me here for a year, especially when you've already tried to have me killed.

The Garo master placed his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "That, I'll admit, was a mistake of ours. It is almost fortunate that the two we sent out to kill you before had failed, although we're still glad we found the mistake before they graduated… they were punished," he said with a grim smile. "In any event, we'll need you for at least nine months. The extra three are precaution."

"Nine months for what?" Jiji asked suspiciously. The Garo master gave a small chuckle. "Nine months for what?"

"Think about it."

Jiji did think about it, and it didn't take long for her eyes to widen. She backed away from the iron bars to the wall at the back of the cell. "You're… you're not serious!" she gasped.

"And why not?" he posed.

"Because… because there's no reason for it!" she answered.

"Ah, but there is," the Garo master replied, stepping toward the cell again. "I don't suppose you know, my dear, that you descend from the very traitor who gave away the balteus movere."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked.

"He placed a charm on his family. His eldest son would have all the secrets of the belt buried within his psyche. It would carry on that the eldest of his descendants would inherit this trait," he said. "And you, Jiji, are the eldest of your family. It just so happens that we tried to pry the information out of your sister's head not long ago. It was when we found she didn't have it that we realized you and Iggy were still alive."

"And why kidnap me instead of killing me and letting Aryn carry on the line?" Jiji posed.

"A matter as important as this was, of course, properly researched when we realized you were still alive," the Garo master said. "While we would have loved to have just killed you, we discovered it could only be one of your descendants who would hold the information. Had you died, the secrets would have disappeared with you."

"But in nine months when the child is born, you'll have no need of me and I'll be killed," Jiji stated rather than asked.

"It may be more than nine months," the master said.

"Why's that?" she asked.

"Well, it is never exactly nine months, and we can't fertilize you quite yet."

"What?"

"My dear, you do recall that a woman is only fertile for so long out of her monthly cycle-."

"Of course I know that!" she shouted. The Garo master ignored this outburst and stepped away, starting toward the door.

"Be aware of this: it will do no good to hide your virginity. It shall be lost within the fortnight," he said before leaving. Jiji stared at the door a moment, contemplating his words. Somehow she had backed into a corner and now slid to the floor. As she sat there and thought, a sob escaped her lips and she covered her mouth, not wanting anyone there to hear her cry. Then she hid her face and buried her head in her knees.

She was going to be forced to carry on the tradition of a people she had tried to completely forget about, and as she thought about the Garo master's words, she realized she actually didn't have what he thought she was going to lose. With that, she was reminded of the person she had given it to and how she wouldn't have seen him again even if she hadn't been kidnapped and how much she loved him and it all just made her cry even harder until she eventually sobbed herself to sleep.