Twenty Eight: Imaginary World

"No, please don't, I don't want…"

A piercing, resounding scream echoed in the fog.

Zelda awoke suddenly and found herself lying in her own bed back at her father's house, surrounded by frills and curtains and waterfalls of lace. Something seemed different, though- she couldn't quite place what. And how had she gotten there, anyway? Last she'd known, she'd been at the Tudors'.

She stood, putting her feet against the lushly carpeted floor. In a trance, almost, she walked to the French doors that looked out onto a beautiful balcony and drew the sheer curtains covering them. Outside, though, there was no fake lagoon pool- instead, Zelda found herself looking out onto the beautiful courtyard of a mighty white stone castle. She knew in that instant where she was.

Hyrule.

Hardly stopping to think, Zelda padded barefoot out of her room and down the lavish halls of the castle- her ancestral home. After all, so much weird crap had arisen in her life since December that randomly finding oneself in a long-gone castle seemed hardly inevitable. For a minute, Zelda was amused to think what all the other Zeldas might have said of her disrespectful attire- one of Link's soccer jerseys and a pair of yoga pants. How informal, how unlike a lady! She could practically see the women in the tapestries gasping and fainting. Or possibly not- after all, Zelda III had originally paraded as a man to guide the Hero of Time, had she not?

Yeah. Something like that.

Zelda descended the large spiral staircase that indubitably led to the anteroom, and from there wandered out to the courtyard. She wasn't sure how she'd managed to randomly appear in the castle, but however she'd done it, she had the feeling that the answer would lie in the courtyard.

Instinct was right. When Zelda stepped out into the bright sunshine, there was a pretty woman sitting on a bench staring at a bird in a tree- Zelda looked at the bird, and watched as it replayed its action like a stuck record and then flew away. The woman turned, smiling, and Zelda was floored.

"Is this a cosmic joke?"

"Not at all."

Aileen Harkinian stood from the bench, curly blond hair swept high up atop her head in a wild yet elegant bun, clad in a loose skirt and a peasant blouse, looking rather like a gypsy. She couldn't have been much older than the most recent photograph Zelda had of her, about a month before Zelda herself was born. But Aileen showed no belly, no age, and she was certainly not dead.

"Well, are you a ghost, then?"

"In a way." Aileen looked sad for a moment, and then smiled. "Let me look at you. I haven't seen you for seventeen years now."

"I thought you were dead."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Aileen, however, just shrugged as she walked in a circle around her daughter. "I am. You certainly do look like a Zelda. Funny how the Zeldas always look so much alike. Your hair is lighter, though. You got that from my father, your grandfather. Poor man. Drunk himself into a hole and now he's dead."

"And so are you. But you're not a ghost?"

"No, no," Aileen stated merrily, flipping a lock of Zelda's hair and smiling. "But come sit on the bench with me. We have many things to discuss."

"How'd you get here? How'd I get here? Why are we here? This is Hyrule, isn't it? I thought Hyrule was, I don't know, all driftwood or something by now. I mean, it did go underwater, didn't it?"

"Look up," Aileen instructed gently. Zelda complied- and saw the ocean above her.

"This is a cosmic joke. It has to be."

"No, Zelda, it's not." Aileen looked very sad as she surveyed the castle courtyard. "This place is… holy, almost. Our entire land was sanctioned off by the goddesses, put on pause, if you will, for the coming of the ocean."

Zelda's stupid side spoke up. "If we're on the ocean floor, why aren't we squished? The pressure underwater is really high. And how can I breathe?"

"Magic and magic. There is no definite boundary where our pocket ends and the ocean begins. But at the same time, we are not underneath the ocean, if that makes sense. We just think we are there."

"Wait, what?"

Aileen sighed, and then smiled at her daughter.

"I'd forgotten how confused I was when my mother first brought me here. This place is a loop hole in time, a worldless place. At least, for the moment it is. Hyrule… I'm sure you know about the two different streams of time, created by our distant predecessor?"

Zelda's response was slow. "Yes…."

Aileen looked around.

"There can only be one Hyrule, as there is only one set of goddesses to watch over them. Nothing can replicate that. So as it is, Hyrule is half in one time and half in the other, and thus it belongs to neither. That is, until the time streams merge and Hyrule manifests."

"When will that be?"

Aileen looked down.

"Too soon for comfort."

Zelda nodded and sighed. She'd assumed as much. "So is that how you're here?"

"Yes," Aileen stated. "In my dying moments, I was able to transport my conscience to this world. And thus, I am dead, but I am not dead. This place is a world out of time. There is no flow. A clock would not tick here. There are only moments, like these, that comprise this place."

"But isn't a moment part of time?"

Aileen smiled mysteriously. "Borrowed time."

Just then, a beam of light shot down from the sky and landed in a small pool before the steps of the castle. Aileen clapped her hands and smiled at Zelda. "We have a visitor!"

"A visitor," she stated faintly as she watched a speck of red descending from the top of the ocean. "What sort of visitor?"

"As this place is a loophole," Aileen stated merrily, "it loops! You're about to meek Link of Outset and the King of Red Lions. He comes down and visits me. It keeps me from going crazy all by myself."

"Link of Outset. King of Red Lions. Aren't they dead and driftwood by now?"

"No. Link visits me every day in his world, which averages three times a week in this one. Not that there are weeks, really. It's complicated. But sometimes he brings the captain along, too."

"You mean his Zelda?"

"I do."

The speck of red was larger now, and Zelda could tell easily that it was a bright red boat, and inside the boat was a figure with shaggy hair clad in a loose blue top and shorts. He was three, possibly four years older than Zelda, and with him was a dark brown woman with gold hair piled high atop her head. She wore a pink shirt, blue vest, and a red bandana. Loose white clam diggers waved around her shins. Zelda gulped.

"You're going to have me talk with the pirate Zelda. Why?"

Aileen gave a shrug. "Why not? The other Zeldas show up here from time to time, as do their daughters and mothers and so on. Every woman in the line has come here before during her life- many came here once a day to commune with the goddesses. It's nice to see them. They keep me company, too." Aileen looked sad. "Sometimes I get lonely here, but it's my duty to stay until Hyrule manifests, to train you and guide you, to prepare you for the manifestation."

The boat touched down gently in the small spring in the middle of the courtyard, and out hopped Link of Outset and Captain Zelda. Young Zelda held her breath, painfully aware of her attire. How she must look…

"Aileen!" Captain Zelda splashed through the water and hopped up onto the grass of the courtyard to hug Zelda's mother. "How are you faring?"

"I'm doing well, Tetra. Hello, Link."

He looked up, shooting a sparkling grin at Aileen. "Hi."

The Captain looked at young Zelda and shot her a cocky grin. "And you must be Zelda. Please, call me Tetra. It reduces confusion."

"It's also what she's used to hearing," Link added, earning himself a smack from the hand of the captain.

"Quiet."

"Yes ma'am."

Zelda couldn't help but laugh into her hand. Tetra grinned.

"You've turned out nicely. Aileen was worried, you know. Sad. She always talked about how she regretted not being there for you… how old are you?"

"Seventeen in three months. By my world's count, anyway. I don't know how long that is here."

"I'm nineteen. Link here's eighteen."

Link looked up from a knot he was tying within the King of Red Lions' uncomplicated rigging system, nodded at Zelda once, and then looked back down. It was funny, Zelda thought as she eyed Link's tufty hair- the line of Links, though for the most part totally unrelated, looked alike. This Link, however, had larger eyes that reminded Zelda of a cat, possibly of Valoo. And there was something rough but shy about this Link, a strange oxymoron whose cause Zelda couldn't quite entirely place.

"…off in La-La land. Don't bother with him, he's sworn to never marry."

"Huh?" Zelda looked up at Tetra, cheeks reddening. "I wasn't, I swear… I was just…."

Tetra burst out laughing, and Link shot her an annoyed look.

"You're too much."

Tetra slapped her knees, and then regained her composure. "So what, pray tell, were you thinking? You were staring at Link with bug eyes."

Zelda decided that this older ancestral Zelda had to be way, way, way back in the line. She couldn't see a single of this woman's traits that were passed on to her.

"I was thinking about how he's different from the Link in my time."

"You know a Link?" Aileen yelped suddenly, then bit her lip. All eyes were on Zelda in an instant.

"Is that true?" Link asked Zelda and, dizzily, she nodded.

"Is he the Link?" Tetra asked, clasping her hands together in front of her and leaning forward.

"I… I think so. He, my… my left hand reacts with his. And he looks like the descriptions in the journals of the Legendary Hero. And he looks like this Link, too."

"How do you know him?" Aileen asked, almost urgently. Zelda blinked twice, not sure how her mother would take this next bit of news:

"Dad shipped me off to live with his parents."

Aileen went pallid. "…He didn't."

"He did. I didn't get along with anyone at the house. So I went, not entirely of my own free will but pretty close to it, to the Tudors'… er… that's Link's family name. And when I got there, they were remodeling, so I had to sleep in the basement, and so did Link." Zelda grinned suddenly. "It was fun. We sat up most nights talking, listening to 80's songs."

"And his parents didn't care?"

Zelda shrugged. "Nope. Impa's the one that put us there in the first place. She knew we wouldn't do… anything….. Mom?"

Aileen was looking at Tetra, expressions inscrutable.

"You live in a house with Link and Impa?" Tetra finally asked. "Who else is there?"

"Well, there's Haft, Impa's husband, and then their twin daughters, Saria and Jayda. Link's not their biological son. They adopted him," she added, rather randomly.

Tetra looked surprised. "And Saria. I don't suppose you know a Raru?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't…"

"A Darunia?"

"I know a Darmani…"

Tetra looked at Aileen. "Legend says that Darmani was the leader of a great Goron tribe in Termina."

"He's human, though," Zelda protested. "He's a big guy, lots of muscles, very strong. Gentle as a kitten, though."

Tetra and Aileen now looked fully perplexed. Link looked thoughtful. Finally, he spoke.

"Who else do you know? Do you know of a Ruto or a Nabooru?"

"I know them both." Zelda's face twisted a little. "Ruto's my friend Lulu's little sister. Nabooru is my gym coach."

Tetra began to, astoundingly, laugh. Aileen looked like she might drop dead from shock.

"Who are your immediate friends?" Zelda's mother asked.

Zelda was beginning to feel a little nervous. Why did it matter so much?

"Well, aside from Link, my best friends are Malon and Lulu. Malon's little sister, Cremia, is cool, too. Malon's going out with Darmani and Lulu's going out with Mikau. Er, I'm in a band, and Darmani's the drummer and Mikau is the lead singer and guitarist. Um…" Zelda quailed under the inscrutable gaze of Tetra. "Am I in trouble?"

"Not with us, but you may very well be," Aileen finally stated plainly. She turned to Tetra- "do you know all those names?"

"Each and every one," Tetra affirmed. "Cremia, Darmani, and Mikau were all prominent people in Termina. Darmani, as I said, was the leader of a Goron tribe- the hero put his soul to rest. Same with Mikau. He was an icon to the Zora people, not to mention lead singer in the Indigo Go's."

"That's Lulu's Mom's old band," Zelda added, offhand. "And her mother's before it. But Lulu's mom disbanded it."

"Goddesses protect you," Tetra muttered.

"What's so important about Malon and Ruto and Saria and Impa and Nabooru, though?"

Tetra sat down on a rock. Link seated himself beside her, and, astoundingly, cleared his throat.

"The legendary hero, whose wake, likeness, and example I follow, worked with each of those people."

"Malon was a farm girl in Hyrule. Her line is still here, or part of it," Tetra stated.

"Ruto, Saria, Impa, and Nabooru were all sages who helped to seal away the…. Evil One," Tetra said. Aileen looked sad.

"And they've all reincarnated around you, or found their way to you. I knew that… that Hyrule would manifest, but I didn't think it would be so soon…."

"The Goddesses have a funny way of being unpredictable," Link stated, and went about to examining Zelda, causing her to wiggle a little under his gaze. "She resembles you, Aileen," he finally stated. "But more than that, she looks like the portrait of the sixth in the palace, except her hair isn't quite so red."

"There's portraits inside? I didn't notice." Zelda smiled a little and chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Zelda, may we see the back of your left hand?" Link asked her, an interested look on his weathered face, brown from the sun of the sea.

"Eh? Oh, yeah."

Zelda hadn't realized that she'd gone to sleep in her gauntlets. They were now as much a part of her as… oh, say, her hair. Half the time she didn't realize they were there.

Zelda unstrapped the leather ties of her left glove and peeled it off her hand, presenting her flesh to her mother, her ancestor, and a legend.

Link looked impressed. Aileen looked worried. Tetra looked surprised.

"The triangle was filled in with the royal crest?" asked the latter.

"Sheik's is filled in with a bleeding eye, um, the Sheikah symbol, I think."

"So Sheik is around you, too?" Tetra asked. In reply, Zelda nodded; Aileen then looked to her daughter, questions on her face.

"How is Sheik a part of your world?"

Zelda bit the inside of her lip- how would she possibly tell her mother that her father was remarrying? "You're not going to like it."

"Tell me anyway," Aileen compelled. "I've been stuck here for what feels like forever. I doubt much is going to surprise me."

"The news about my friends did, and the news about me being shipped away did," Zelda stated dourly, and then sighed. "Dad's marrying Sheik's mom."

"I see." Aileen looked a little sad, but then she shook it off. "I'd hoped he wouldn't be lonely the rest of your life, for his sake. And who, pray tell, might Sheik's mother be?"

"Madame Aroma Dotour."

Tetra burst out laughing and fell backwards off the rock she'd been sitting on. Link reached down and helped her back up.

"The wife of the mayor of Clock town, in Termina," she offered, by way of giggled explanation. "Coincidence and fate are cruel things."

Link looked at Tetra, and stood suddenly.

"We're toying with the fabric of time," he said. "We need to go soon."

"Of course," Tetra replied. And then, to Zelda: "I hope you don't mind our abrupt departure. That's just the way things are here."

"It's okay," Zelda stated, offhand. "I mean, I understand. Just come back some time."

"Of course." Tetra smiled.

Link nodded at Zelda and Aileen as he hopped into the boat, helping Tetra in behind him. "Zelda, Aileen. Goddesses be with you."

"And with you," Aileen called to him as the King of Red Lions spun to the top of the sea and vanished. Mother turned to daughter then and sighed.

"I have much to teach you. Your tenure here must and will be short, so come. We must get to work right away. I had forgotten how little you know."

"Mom, I have a question," Zelda asked as she followed her mother into the castle. Aileen stopped abruptly on the word "Mom", but then continued walking.

"Yes?" Her voice sounded thick.

Zelda felt a little awkward, but spoke her mind anyway.

"Tetra and Link are obviously… close. Why didn't they marry and break the curse?"

"They couldn't. She was still a princess… oh, Zelda, it's complicated. But Link swore off marriage when he learned that Tetra would have to continue the line- the noble line."

"Oh." A beat of silence. And then- "can I ask you another question?"

"Of course."

Aileen was leading the way through the labrynthine castle, full of so many twists and turns that Zelda was thoroughly lost. This wouldn't deter her, however. She wouldn't let it.

"Tetra and Link go on to found a new Hyrule, I know. What happened to it?"

"We're standing in it. They found juncture in the time stream and crossed over and found a place where Hyrule was able to manifest, but as it was, it was not able to be there for more than… oh, say, three hundred years, I believe."

"Three hundred years?"

"Yes." Aileen gave a nod, and then smiled over her shoulder at her daughter. "It may seem like a long time to you, but really, it's not."

"So I have another question. Why is Hyrule going to manifest again, after all this time? People won't take well to a feudal world randomly reappearing."

"You need to understand this, Zelda," Aileen stated as they rounded another corner. "Hyrule is a place of magic, and it chooses its own fate. I do believe, however, that the goddesses are guiding the outcome of all the worlds. The two time lines will collide, reunite, and Hyrule will be able to fully reincarnate. See, it won't be torn between two places at once. So first and foremost, it must manifest for this reason. And people will take to it. They'll be hypnotized by it. You are the legal heir- it's in writing, believe me- so you may do with the whole land as you see fit. The goddesses will be behind you no matter what, I am sure. But… oh, Zelda, our world is so complicated. I'm not even half sure myself of what will happen." Aileen gave a little sad smile as she stopped before a set of great wooden doors. "I almost wish you could rule here, like a real queen. But with the way the world is, that could never happen."

"Maybe I'll be able to, somehow," Zelda replied softly, and then watched as her mother pushed open the great wooden doors. "Is this the library?"

"No," Aileen stated as she walked in to stand amongst the shelves and shelves and shelves of the thousands upon thousands of well kept books. "This is obviously the armory."

Laughing as she settled down for a long day of study, Zelda realized that she and her mother really were alike.

&-

Zelda was sitting out on a balcony, just outside a beautiful set of glass and iron-wrought windows, reading a book. The sun was going down on the ocean high above, sending a beautiful, shimmering red light across the castle and the countryside surrounding it. Zelda had asked her mother if there was any way she could go about the countryside later- Aileen had responded with a yes, but to be careful. Not for monsters, she'd added, but for the people.

All the inhabitants of the countryside were frozen.

As it was, however, Zelda was sitting out on the balcony, a thick tome of history in her lap, when the strangest thing began to happen.

Images of a sky began flickering overhead, a stormy sky. Zelda responded to it as calmly as she could, given the situation- she dog-eared a page, walked inside, closed the beautiful window-doors, and promptly flipped out.

"MOM!" she yelled, dashing wildly down the halls. "SOMETHING WEIRD IS HAPPENING!"

"We're going through time," Aileen replied calmly, sticking her head out from behind a tapestry, nearly frightening Zelda to death. "I thought I'd come find you, let you know. Let's go back to the chamber you were just in- you can see the history of our world for yourself. Come on," she added, tugging on a reluctant Zelda's arm. "You're going to meet another of your ancestors."

"Oh….. my…."

Zelda found herself hauled back to the room she'd just dashed out of, and watched as the stormy sky outside darkened. For there was no doubt in Zelda's mind now that they weren't underwater. And then she realized that she was partially transparent.

"Mom……"

"Relax. This world is only manifesting. We won't be here for long."

"Mom, how are we manifesting? Aren't you going to die?"

Aileen chuckled. "No, I'm not. We're manifesting years and years in the past, on the other time stream."

"In old Hyrule? Tetra and Link's Hyrule that they founded?"

Aileen shook her head. Zelda felt rather faint.

"But… so we're… not in the medieval age?"

"In a way, yes, in a way, no. Remember, we're in a loophole, not part of either world. The loophole in time is passing by the secondary time stream and manifesting. Remember, we're half on, half off."

"But I thought time was like rivers."

Aileen laughed again. "No. If anything, time is like a four-dimensional whirlpool. It's something unexpected and impossible. Now watch."

Slowly, a shadow appeared by the window Zelda had been sitting just outside moments ago. A flash of lightning lit up the sky outside, and the back of the cloak was illuminated- gray stitching, the bleeding eye of the Sheikah. The cloaked figure turned, and Zelda immediately saw that almost an exact reflection of herself was staring back.

"Aileen," said the figure softly. "I can see you this night."

"Just passing by, highness." Aileen swept a graceful curtsy and Zelda clumsily imitated her in her awkward dress that Aileen had found her in one closet.

"Your daughter is with you?" The cloaked princess walked forward to stand before Zelda. Zelda noticed that she looked a little fizzy, a little fuzzy, like a bad projection.

"I'm Zelda XXII, majesty," she stuttered. The princess walked to stand before Zelda, and then pulled the cowl of her hood back, revealing her face.

"You look just like me," the princess said to Zelda.

"Your hair has more red in it, sixth," Aileen observed, offhand. The princess turned her eyes on Aileen and then smiled.

"I suppose so. Aileen, I am frightened." The last four words were said with such a shift in tone that Zelda felt chills creep up her spine. "This storm is the greatest storm we've ever seen. There are dragons flying around, restless. I am afraid. Is… is the holy land to manifest soon in your time?"

"We believe so," Aileen affirmed. "Why?"

"I… am afraid that it is causing instability in all the realms. I'm not sure what to do. I'm uncertain."

"Stay strong, sixth," Aileen offered. "You and your world will be fine, I'm certain."

Zelda looked into the eyes of the princess, almost exact mirrors of her own, save that the princess's eyes were light blue, and Zelda's were almost violet. But this young woman could not have been much older than Zelda, perhaps eighteen, and she was the princess of a land and afraid.

It hit Zelda like a bolt of lightning- that's going to be me in several months.

And then, suddenly and in total shock, Zelda fainted, underneath the storming sky of an imaginary world.

&-

uploaded: 11:01 PM

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

A/N: Manohmanohman am I pooped. Last day of school was today... but alas! No reprieve for the weary. I'm starting college summer classes for extra credits... or rather, I started on Monday. So no real break until July. ( Aww. No real news to report otherwise, except that this story seems to be getting a little soap-operatic. So I've got a real treat in for you guys next time that I've been wanting to do for a long time- a dream that Zelda has, and not, it is not prophetic. It's going to be an assortment of all the stupid ideas for fic events that pop into my head, starting with a Van Halen musical, with Link singing, of course. So that's what you have to look forward to!

Until then!