Twenty-One : Fever
Of course it would be just Zelda's luck to be sick the next morning when she woke up. She tried to get out of bed, and after a good five minutes of nauseated struggling she succeeded, crawling to her door and down the hall to Link's room, where she knocked on the wooden panel several times. A rustle of sheets drifted out from within, as well as a sleepy "eh?"
"Link," Zelda said hoarsely, "come out here. I'm not feeling so good…"
"Zelda?" His voice was clearer, and she heard the pad of his feet on the carpet, and then the door squeaked open and Zelda fell inwards, crashing into Link's legs.
"Hi," she said woozily. "I'm sick. Could you let everybody know please, and maybe help me back to my room?"
"Why'd you even get out of bed in the first place?" Link stooped down, gathering Zelda easily in his arms and hoisting her up. If she'd been thinking clearly, Zelda would have recognized Link's great strength, but as it was, she was just glad she didn't have to move herself.
"Well I had to tell somebody," she stated, looping her arms around Link's neck, and then she buried her head in his shoulder. "Ughhhh, I don't feel so good…"
"Almost there," he said to her as they walked into Zelda's room. "Hold on- I'll get you a bowl," Link added, gently laying Zelda down in her sheets and arranging her. "If you're gonna puke, just hold it."
"Mmph, thanks. You know, this is funny," she stated. "I felt perfectly fine yesterday… wait… except I kind of couldn't remember most of the night and… oh, Link, hurry up with that bowl…."
"Do you have a jug or anything in here?" He called from the bathroom.
"Yeah, by the tub…"
"Found it," came his jubilant exclamation, and he rushed in and tossed it to Zelda.
And not a moment too soon. Link sat down next to Zelda and held her hair out of her face as her stomach came out through her mouth, not saying anything, rubbing her gently on the back with his free hand. When she was done, he took the jug into the bathroom and emptied it out, and brought Zelda a glass of water.
"Ugh." She was wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, making a face as she did so. "Disgusting. Thanks, Link. You're a real friend."
"You're welcome, princess." He swept her hair out of her eyes gently and sat down next to her carefully, tying the drapes on her bed back. "Would you like me to stay with you?"
"It would be great if you could get me an actual bowl first, and tell everybody that I'm sick. Tell Dad, too," she added. "Especially Dad. And get Audrey."
"Alright." He touched the back of his hand to her forehead and frowned. "You're boiling. Where's a thermometer?"
"Audrey'll take care of things. Whenever I was sick when I was little, she'd come and take care of me. Really sick, that is. Colds were a no go. But go tell them, okay? I'll still be here in ten minutes."
"Alright…" Link looked unsure, and grabbed the jug from the bathroom, putting it next to Zelda. "Just in case. I'll be back in just a minute."
"Alright." She was sad to see him go, but as soon as he'd left, she looked at the back of her left hand. It was red and throbbing, the six lines that made up the three triangles swollen and oozing pus. Carefully, she touched it, and a wave of nausea engulfed her. She grabbed the pitcher and dry-retched, then laid back into the pillows Link had so considerately arranged for her.
"Bleh." She really did feel awful.
Thank goodness it wasn't too long before Link showed up again with an industrial-sized bowl from the kitchen, and Audrey.
"Hi Audrey," Zelda croaked. "Problem."
"Oh, baby…" Audrey hurried forward to sit next to Zelda. "How are you?"
"Awful," she said. "It's my hand…."
Audrey shot a glance down to Zelda's hand and her face became clouded. "Oh dear. This can't be good…"
"Do you know what's wrong?" Zelda clutched a pillow dizzily.
"I've never heard of this happening before. I'm going to have to…" Audrey turned around and eyed Link up and down. "Zelda, is it wise to have him in here?"
"He won't say anything," Zelda mumbled. "Link, lock the door. And don't repeat anything you hear, okay?"
Silently, he complied, an expression of ill-concealed curiosity on his face.
"Anyway, as I was saying, Zelda, I'm going to have to contact the old ones."
"What, the sects? I thought they'd died out."
"No," Audrey replied. "Only the rock, water, and tree people. Those of the shadows and the sands are still around. And, of course, you."
"Are you going to contact the sands?"
"No," Audrey replied. "The shadows. They still exist today in what is considered a radical cult, though the sister to the countessa war fled some forty years ago with her own daughter, who is the heir to the bloodline. They had a dispute, I believe; the countessa minor felt that the shadow beliefs were being warped and took her child to live in the light but taught her the ways of the darkness. That's who I've got to find, but I've got no idea how…" Audrey heaved a frustrated sigh, then fluffed Zelda's pillow. "May I change the subject and ask about that hand of yours?"
"It's awful," Zelda rasped, holding it out for Audrey to see. "Don't touch it, please. It hurts, though, and when I touched it earlier it made me feel any worse… do you think it has something to do with the glove?"
"No," Audrey replied, inspecting Zelda's hand carefully. "That's never happened before. I would know about it, and you would know about it. Where's the box? There might be something about it in the book?"
"Armoire," Zelda croaked. Audrey stood and left, and Link sat down in her place.
"Are you going to fill me in on what's going on?"
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Audrey replied from within Zelda's armoire. "In the bottom, Zelda?" The teen gave a wheezy affirmation, and Audrey continued, addressing Link once more, "I want you to pretend like what has happened never happened, what's about to happen never happened, and that Zelda just came down with the flu, or an old injury on the back of her hand reopened the other night… ah, here it is." Audrey emerged from the armoire and returned to sit on Zelda's other side. "Zelda, I'm afraid you're going to have to open this for me."
"Why?"
"The seal only appears to firstborns who are of age," Audrey said. "Keeps secrets safe. Have a look." She tilted the box upwards and Zelda saw that, in fact, the insignia on the bottom was not there when Audrey held it. Feeling like she'd been hit by a truck, Zelda reached out and took the box, opening the top and pulling out the locket.
"Zelda, what's that?" Link asked, spotting the pipes of light within.
"It's nothing," she replied with a croak.
"No, no, it's something," Link stated. "I could swear I've seen that before…"
Zelda and Audrey shot glances at one another, and, coming to a silent conclusion, Zelda pulled out the halved ocarina and handed it to Link.
"It's an old heirloom. We only have half. I don't know who has the other half."
"Funny," Link said, turning it over in his hands. "It's almost like… I don't know. But I could swear… so strange…." He ran a thumb along the strange text carved into the back, which Zelda knew to be ancient Hylian, and then returned it to its owner. "Am I going to have to forget about that thing, too?"
"Yes," Audrey replied, helping Zelda put it back in the box and close the lid, but not lock it. "Go on, Zelda, get the book."
"Alright." Zelda pressed the locket into the insignia that appeared to her, and the bottom of the box fell out, and Audrey took up the book.
"I don't suppose you think you've seen this ever before either, Link?"
"Never in my life," he said, watching as Zelda put the locket back in the box and shut and locked the lid. "But that…. Flute… thing…."
"Mmph."
"What's that on the back of your hand, Zelda?"
"You wouldn't believe me," Zelda croaked in reply, parroting her words of last night. "Maybe someday I'll tell you, but for now, just… it's a scar, and I got it with you when we were out on the beach and I slipped and fell on some sea glass. Do you think you can remember that? I'll need you to be my backup."
"Beach. Fell. Sea glass. Gotcha. Do you need me to get anything?"
"Not right now," Zelda replied. "Just go… have you apologized to Dad for me yet?"
"No," Link said, standing. "I'll do that now. I'll be back in a bit, if that's okay."
"Yeah, thanks," Zelda croaked, and burrowed deeper into the cushions, watching Link as he left.
"I know you're firstborn, heir, and you carry the triforce of wisdom," Audrey said from where she was searching through the book, "but as your aunt and only other surviving member of the royal line, I do have to question your judgment. Is it necessarily a good idea to let him know so much?"
"He won't say anything," Zelda replied. "And I think…. I think he may bear courage."
"You what?" Audrey's words were as sharp as the sudden look she threw over the book to Zelda. "Why would you think that?"
"His left hand touched mine the other day," Zelda said, "and an electric shock went through us both, not like a static shock but like the way it feels when I do that weird activation-y thingy whatever. And do you think that the triforce may be resonating? You know, this could be a delayed reaction?"
"But even if he does bear courage or is destined to, how will he receive it? He's an orphan. No family to tell him or pass it on, no magic, no traditions, nothing."
"I don't know," Zelda replied. "But… you know, in the story, the fairy boy didn't know, either, until the queen told him in the end, just before the king of darkness stole her away. He didn't even know his lineage. A tree spirit told him."
"But even still." Audrey was exasperated. "There's no definite way we can know, and no way we can tell him. He very well may be courage, but we can't know for sure unless it appears on him."
"There's a chance," Zelda said. "There's always a chance."
"Zelda…." Audrey flipped a page, then sighed and looked up. "Don't let your emotions get in the way. If he is courage- especially if he is courage- you can't risk things on him. Do you remember what happened to our ancestors?"
"The hero disappeared and never returned," Zelda replied, rolling over and curling up. "He didn't save them from the waters as they prayed he would. But then, a descendant of his appeared a century later and ended the problem once and for all."
"And then he left," Audrey stated, flipping a page. "He left the queen and nothing was heard of him again. Zelda, I know it's the modern world, but I'm not going to lie to you. If he's courage, then this is very, very bad for us."
"Why?"
"Where wisdom and courage are, power is never too far away. Even though times are different now, power is still corrupting, and, if it touches the mind of someone who is not totally pure, which is virtually unheard of today, in a word, we're screwed. Mass chaos. Trauma. Probably war. And you're still too young to burden something like that."
"This is like a really bad sci-fi /fantasy cross over…" Zelda laughed hoarsely. "Let's hope he's not courage. Let's hope that we're fine."
Audrey nodded. "Yes." Link entered then, and Audrey stood. "I'm going to go see if I can get any leads on our contact. There's nothing in the book."
"Put it away?"
"Of course." Audrey put the book in the bottom of the box and closed it, then stashed it in the back of Zelda's armoire, where she'd found it. "Get me if there's any problems. Do you want me to bring you some soup in a few hours?"
"Yes, thanks," Zelda croaked.
"Alright. I'll leave you be, then. And Link, remember…" Audrey waggled a finger at the attractive young man, "it never happened."
He was clueless. "What never happened?"
"Good." Audrey was please, and she smiled softly at her niece one last time before she left. "Be well, Zelda. Get better by Christmas."
"I'll try." Audrey was gone then and Link pulled himself to sit on the bed next to Zelda, and he took her sweaty left hand in his own right and stroked her hair.
"How you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a truck," Zelda laughed weakly.
"Well, Sterling's parents are here, and your Dad's with them, so he may not show up for a while. Is that okay?"
"That's fine," said Zelda tiredly, curling into the warmth of Link.
"You can rest now, okay?"
"Okay, Link," she rasped, and fell asleep with a small smile on her face. Link looked softly down at her, his best friend in the world, rubbing slow circles on her back. She really was so pretty, and even in her ailment she looked as regal as a queen. Frowning, Link looked at the back of her left hand, which looked like a reopened, infected wound.
"Oh, Zelda…." He sighed, wrapping his free arm tighter around her as she shivered in her fever, uncaring of the possible consequences that might come with such intimate contact. "What sort of mess are you in? Don't you know you can tell me anything and I'll believe you?"
Restlessly, she mumbled and shifted in her sleep, away from Link, and he sighed, standing. He walked over to her bookshelf, picking up a fat tome of mythology and plopping down on her reclining couch to read, waiting for his princess to wake up.
-&-
It all passed in a feverish haze to Zelda. Link giving her water, Audrey feeding her soup. Impa sitting by her and brushing her hair out of her eyes or planting a gentle motherly kiss on her forehead. But mostly there was the darkness and the haze.
She slept.
Link plus Audrey stayed home from the ritzy party that night, taking care of Zelda when she needed it, staying with her, holding her hand- in her feverish haze, hallucinations had begun. She cried out and rambled unintelligibly- to all except Audrey, that was, whose face grew drawn and pale at what her niece was saying. But she could not usher Link out, and so she left Zelda to her dream.
-&-
It was the strangest feeling she'd ever experienced. She was in someone else's head. Hearing their thoughts, or perhaps thinking their thoughts? There was something familiar, something familiar yet strange, but…
Who was she again? She tried to raise her hands to touch her face only to find that they didn't move- she couldn't move them… wait, did she even have hands? What was she?
The first thing that she noticed was that it was dark. But perhaps that was….
"Funny." Violet eyes opened to face the canopy of a rich bed. "I could have sworn there was a voice in my head… the goddesses, perhaps?"
The young princess rose from sleep and wandered to the window.
"I can't sleep," she said quietly to herself. "I feel haunted, or maybe a little sick. Something's going to happen. Why can't I see it? Why won't the future appear to me?"
She put one hand to the cool glass of her window out to the night, leaning her forehead against the windowpane. It felt unusually warm. Something was going to happen that night. Something…
Hardly thinking, she dressed, then removed the ocarina of time from where she'd hidden it, in her vanity.
And not a moment too soon.
Impa burst in the door and swept the young princess up in her arm and then fled to the stable. Zelda understood that she must be quiet and must not ask questions. It must be the night they'd been anticipating- Ganondorf was finally making his move.
Rather than fear consuming her at what many would consider certain and impending doom, she closed her eyes and summoned her nocturnal energy, weaving a spell for the Ocarina.
"Link…. When you get this Ocarina, I won't be around anymore…."
-&-
She was thrashing in her sleep, talking faster than Audrey would have believed possible.
"Zelda, Zelda, it's okay," Link whispered to her, stroking her forehead. "It's okay."
"Link," Audrey's face was grim, "I'd like you to leave the room. I don't want her to hurt you. She's delirious. She doesn't know what's going on."
"No. She's like a sister to me. I'm not leaving. " Link's face was set with determination.
"I don't think she'd want you to see her like this right now. Why don't you at least go and get us some dinner, okay?"
"Okay." As he left, he turned to Audrey, face drawn. "Is she going to die?"
"No," Audrey replied. "She's… I don't know what's going on."
"No idea?" Link looked uncertain, skeptic.
"None," Audrey replied solemnly. "I can fathom a guess or two, but I'd prefer not to. I'm not a doctor."
"Do we need to call one?" Link looked down at the thrashing Zelda.
"No," Audrey replied. "No, not yet. Please, Link. Go get us some food."
-&-
Three years had passed. Zelda- now a Sheikah boy- was drawing water from the well for Impa. They'd settled a little house near Lake Hylia, a dilapidated old thing that Impa had commanded her "son" to fix.
"Mom, water," Zelda called in her deepening voice. Puberty was a strange thing for a single gender- it was even stranger for Zelda having to go through both. Sometimes she was very confused, not sure if she was the girl or the boy, and then there were the times when it was almost like she was being watched, or she was watching herself.
She shook her head. She was still thirteen. It was too much for her to handle.
"Good, son, bring it in and put it on the fire. It's bath day."
"But I went swimming yesterday," came the complaint. "I don't want to."
"You will anyway," Impa replied stonily. "You were up on the roof in the sun all this afternoon and you reek like a re-dead."
"Come on now Mom, I'm not that bad am I?"
"Worse." Impa's mouth quirked up in a smile as she smiled at her "son". "Put it on the fire, that's it, and go outside and work on the garden. I'll call you when it's heated."
"Fine, fine." The princess in disguise heaved a sigh, then wandered out into the garden. "You're such a slave driver."
"You still need a lot of work," Impa replied from the doorway. "If you're going to be ready for the coming in four years."
"Yeah," she whined, kneeling to yank at the weeds. "Four whole years."
"And you need to get that attitude problem fixed," added Impa. "Now work! I don't want to see a single weed in that garden."
"Blah blah, fine."
-&-
Link was tired, and Zelda was only getting more delirious and feverish by the minute. She was crying out occasionally, rolling, and every once in a while, tears would stream down her face.
As much as he hated to ask it, it was a practical question. "What happens when people start coming home to go to sleep? We can't have her screaming all night…"
"That won't be a problem," Audrey replied. "The walls in this house are soundproof. Or most of them, anyway. Especially Zelda's though. She'd listen to a lot of loud rock, and her father finally got tired of it and soundproofed the area around Zelda's room."
"Ah…."
A long time passed. "Are you sure we shouldn't call a doctor?"
"A doctor wouldn't be able to help her," Audrey replied softly as she watched her niece's face. "We need to wait this out."
A while longer passed. He wasn't sure how long. All he knew was that he was worried and that it was very dark outside. He considered asking Audrey for the time, but then decided against it- the older woman seemed lost in her thoughts.
What was going on?
Link looked down into the contorted face of Zelda in search of an answer, watching as her brows furrowed in an expression of pain and she screamed shrilly.
-&-
She fell to the ground and hastily rolled aside, grinding her teeth against the immense pain in her leg. The bone was broken, it felt like. Very, very broken. But that didn't matter to her enemy, and so Zelda reached for her sword and blocked as best she could, then kicked swiftly upwards, effectively knocking the skeletal stalfos off balance. Before it had time to react she'd diced apart the few remaining ligaments and it clattered to the ground, a heap of useless bones, and then, hissing in pain, she limped away.
She was so useless! How was she supposed to get anywhere like this? Honestly! She'd be lucky if she even made it through to the other end of the maze. But if she didn't, the hero would have no guide upon his return….
Grinding her teeth, she sat down and grabbed a vial of red potion, and then pushed her protruding, snapped bone back into place and doused it with a good healthy mix of potentially toxic herbs. Gagging at the reek, she leaned back against the wall, waiting for her strength to return, and then stood, limping, and continued on her way once more….
-&-
A strange language was pouring out of Zelda's mouth. Link looked to Audrey, who was aghast.
"Audrey, what is going on?"
"I can't even comprehend it," Audrey stated. "I don't know. It's almost like she's…." carefully, Audrey put her ear to Zelda's cheek, listening.
"….one in a house of the dead, one in a goddess of the sand…."
Audrey cursed, long and hard, and Link looked up in awe at her extensive vocabulary.
"Zelda'd kill you for that, you know," he stated. Audrey took a deep breath, then looked down at her niece.
"Link. Don't talk about this to anyone, especially not her. And prevent anybody you can from calling a doctor. She never had this hallucination, do you understand?"
He nodded, then unsteadily asked, "What's going on?"
"Wait and see," Audrey replied. "After she wakes up, she may be able to tell us. Maybe. If she wakes up any time soon, that is…"
"If…." Link looked down at Zelda's sleeping face, feeling his heart wrench.
"Goddesses, Zelda," Audrey whispered, too low for Link to hear. "What will become of us?"
-&-
She awoke some thirty minutes later with a scream like a banshee. Her pupils were dilated, her cheeks flushed, her breathing unsteady and her heartbeat irregular. She began to claw wildly, thrashing.
"Zelda, Zelda, calm down," Audrey said. "Calm down. It's me, Audrey. And Link. Calm down, Zelda. Calm down."
"How do you know who I am?" They weren't her words, they were the words of a possessed woman, psychotic, unreasonable. Hysteric. Almost like a woman in mourning…
"You are Zelda Harkinian." Audrey spoke calmly. "It is two-thirty in the morning on Sunday, December twentieth, one thousand, two hundred and forty seven post-realm. You are lying in your own bed. You are ill with fever. Zelda, breathe. You just had a hallucination. Calm down."
"One two four seven… the rivers of time…" She was breathing hard, looking around wildly. "The portal. What of the portal?"
"Underwater," Audrey replied. "Beneath the seas.. Hopefully, it will stay that way forever.'"
"I see." Zelda closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, and then looked around. "I'm sorry, to have caused you so much trouble, Audrey, Link." It was definitely Zelda talking again,
"It's fine, Zelda. How are you feeling?"
"A bit better." She nodded, then yawned. "But I am tired. Very tired. Would you mind leaving me for the night?"
"Not at all. Are you sure you're feeling a bit better?"
"Yes. I think I'll be staying in bed tomorrow though, thanks. Goodnight Audrey, goodnight Link. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm doing better now, I think."
Audrey fussed a little, uncertain. "Well, if you're sure."
"I am. You can go to bed now. Goodnight. I love you both."
"You too," Link said brainlessly, whereas Audrey went and gently kissed her niece on the forehead.
"Be well," she whispered. "Goodnight, Zelda." She walked to the door with Link, turning off the light and pausing for a moment as Zelda's sigh and the rustle of sheets wafted to their ears.
Audrey and Link stepped out the door, closing it with a quiet click, and Link turned to face Audrey, confusion in his eyes.
"Tell me what's going on," he insisted. "Now."
"Tell you what's going on?" Audrey asked innocently. "Link, let's get you to your room. I think Zelda may have contaminated you. Or perhaps you're so tired you're hallucinating."
"Hallucinating? But Zelda, she just was hallucinating, and then she wakes up and says, 'don't worry, I'm fine now' and we just walk out… what's it all supposed to mean! Just…"
"Just what?" Audrey asked, leading Link to his room.
"When she first woke up, she was definitely not Zelda, and you two said something about a portal, and…." The sheer madness of it all hit him. Audrey's face was a mask of confusion.
"Link, she never said anything like that," Audrey replied. "She woke up and asked us to please leave her, that she was feeling a little better and wanted to be left alone. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
Exhaustion hit him like a dead weight. It had seemed so surreal anyway. Yeah, maybe he was just losing it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You know what, maybe you're right. I'm tired. I'm going to bed now. Good night, Audrey."
"Good night, Link. Don't bother getting up in the morning. I'll come and check on you, in case you're sick too."
"Okay," Link stated wearily. "Thanks."
He trooped of to his room, feeling unsettled. He looked at the clock- three in the morning. Where was everybody anyway? And what exactly had happened in Zelda's room anyway? He couldn't' remember very clearly… he was so tired…
He collapsed fully clothed on his bed and was out like a light.
&&-
uploaded: Saturday, March 12, 2005
5:43 PM
A/N: Wow. It's only 5:30 and I'm exhausted… three cheers for the SAT. shudder Eesh.
Anyway, this was a different sort of chapter, not like anything really encountered in this story before, but a revelation as to the past anyhow. YES, everything will be explained later on and I know it's kind of confusing now, but things will get clearer. Eventually.
Anyway, going out tonight, must go nap before nocturnal downtown activities begin. Review, everybody! I love you all.