Okay, I rode home for two hours on the train today and let me tell you, the train is the absolute best place to go if you want to type a chapter or two. I edited this chapter and wrote the next one and half of the one after that on the freakin' train. That, for me, is incredible… I don't have the attention span to type that much in one sitting.
Oh, and snaps to anyone who can guess which Beatles song the chapter title is taken from. Seriously, I would be amazed.
I'm warning you now, I don't do poetry, or riddles, so… don't be too hard on me.
Alright, let's get the ball rolling…
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Chapter Five:
"One and One and One is Three"
The citizens of Hyrule were alarmed. More than alarmed. Scared out of their wits was more like it. Less than three days after the appearance of the Mordeth outside of the castle, reports came in from across the kingdom and they all said the same thing: monsters. Lots of them. Monsters that came from the deepest, darkest corners of the Sacred Realms. Monsters that should have stayed dead. They were called the Hands of the Shadows.
They attacked everything they could. What they may have lacked in organization, they made up for in numbers. Hundreds of them roamed Hyrule, killing everyone they came across. Hyrule Field became their home, and no one dared venture out to the Field. Instead, whole villages barricaded themselves in and thousands poured into the Hyrule Castle Town, seeking refuge. All of the citizens of Hyrule turned to their queen, Zelda, and to Link, the Hero of Time, to deliver them from the Hands of the Shadows.
The queen herself stood on the balcony and sighed. Jennifer looked at her shoes and Eric looked at anything but the queen. Zelda turned around to face them, the sun shining behind her, creating a halo around her head. She sighed again.
"Link and the Knights are sweeping the Field, but when one Hand is struck down, three more take its place." It was Impa, gazing at the queen with pity. Pity for what the young queen had to face, and pity that she had to do it alone.
"We are losing some of our best soldiers out there, your majesty. We cannot fight the Hands forever," said one of her advisors.
"What must I do?" Zelda said quietly.
"I suggest we withdraw, your majesty," said another.
"And leave the people outside these walls at the mercy of the Hands?" she said.
Impa put a hand on her queen's, her friend's, shoulder. "There are too many, Zelda. If we do not bring the soldiers back here soon, there may not be anything for them to come back to. The others must survive with the defenses they have."
Zelda nodded silently.
Jennifer rose and left the room. It was dusk, and she watched what was left of the sun disappear beyond the horizon. Eric emerged behind her and they stood together in silence. Despite all of Jennifer's efforts, she still found herself attached to these people, the Hylians. She wanted to help them, and for the first time in her life she felt she truly had a purpose. The problem was, she didn't know how to realize her purpose. She began to wonder when she was getting these so-called blessings from the Goddesses.
Eric kept looking over at Jennifer, lost in her own thoughts. What was she thinking? Her hazel eyes gave nothing away. The last of the sun's rays lit up her face. She may not ordinarily have been the most beautiful woman in the world, but at the moment, she could have been. Too bad for the frown on her face, he thought, how I wish…. She suddenly turned towards him and murmured something about sleep. Before he knew it, she swept away from him and down the hall to her quarters. Eric frowned. He needed something to do to keep his mind occupied.
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Both Jennifer and Eric got their wishes.
That night, after much tossing and turning, the two wandered off into sleep. Somewhere in the process, they also happened to wander into the Sacred Realms.
Jennifer's eyes fluttered open. She felt the familiar sensation of floating on a cloud. Next to her, Eric was just sitting up, shaking his head. Jennifer sat up as well, only to see the three beautiful women from her last trip to the Sacred Realms. She realized now that that was the only place this could be.
"The Goddesses," she whispered.
"Indeed, Jennifer."
The three Goddesses floated imperially around Jennifer and Eric.
"We were the ones to create the land of Hyrule, and we are the ones to protect it."
"Not doing a very good job, are we?" Jennifer quipped.
"Do not slight the Goddesses!" One of them cried, raising her voice so that it penetrated their skulls and made Jennifer and Eric cover their ears in an attempt to block it out.
"You had to insult a Goddess, hm?" Eric whispered furiously.
Jennifer simply shrugged.
"We understand your distress," said another Goddess, this one gentler. "But we have our own battle to fight."
The final one spoke up. "We do not have much time, sisters."
"Very well."
One of the Goddesses touched a hand to Jennifer's forehead. She felt power surge through her, and the print on her chest flared, before returning to normal.
"The best I can give," she said.
Another Goddess turned to Eric, and did the same. The handprint on his chest blazed as he was temporarily engulfed in light.
"What are these gifts?" Jennifer asked, but the Goddesses ignored her.
Soon, the light surrounding Eric faded and he relaxed.
"Use it well, my child."
"Will they help us fight the Shadows?" Jennifer tried once more, but again the Goddesses did not answer.
The final Goddess took her turn. Her hands flamed with power and she cast them out towards Jennifer and Eric. The light swallowed them.
"You must seek the Five Powers to awaken the Key and fight the Shadows…."
As the light faded, so did their consciousnesses.
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Jennifer woke groggily in the morning, like she had jet-lag. Understandable, as she apparently had traveled to another realm; or maybe the Goddesses came to them, and she felt tired from the fretful night's sleep. She couldn't decide. The ways of this world didn't seem to make much sense to her, but by now she figured that the only way to keep her sanity was to just accept that it didn't make sense and leave it at that.
Eric threw the covers off and headed for the mirror, trying to see if anything in his appearance had changed. Nope, he looked like the same old Eric. Even Destiny's handprint wasn't visible. It was funny, he didn't even feel any different either. He knew that something about him was different—or at least should be—but he couldn't pinpoint it.
Zelda had barely slept at all during the night. So wrought was she with worry over Link, the Key, and her kingdom, she could barely function as she used to. This was normal for her, however; in times of great peril she always seemed to put herself last, as so she should. She was, after all, a queen, the servant of the people and the land.
A knock at her door startled Zelda out of her reverie.
It was Jennifer and Eric. "What are the Five Powers?" Jennifer asked, in her blunt manner. At least to Zelda it was blunt.
Zelda hid her astonishment very well. She was trained for it after all.
"I have never heard of the Five Powers," she said.
Eric must have noticed something. "Sorry to barge in on you like this, your majesty…."
"Oh, please, I thought by now you would have called me Zelda."
They all smiled. "Sorry," Eric continued.
"Yeah, good morning… Zelda," Jennifer said.
"I trust that this new-found curiosity in the Five Powers denotes a visit from the Goddesses?"
She really was almost psychic. "Yeah," Jennifer replied.
"Perhaps I can help you."
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"One for those of the warrior ways;
"Two for those young of heart;
"Three for those of the fount of tears;
"Four for those scuffing the sky;
"And Five for those that connect them all."
Rauru recited from the deepest corners of his mind. It was a strange request Zelda had put forth to him. As the oldest of all the Sages, he knew most things the others did not. He was also wise enough to know that Zelda wasn't merely curious—she was anxious.
"And what happens when the Five Powers are collected?" Her wide eyes held hope.
"They are first collected and then they are… activated."
"Why?" This was Jennifer, one of the two Zelda had brought with her to meet Rauru. As far as heroes went, she wasn't much, but Rauru knew that looks were deceiving. She was Goddess and Destiny touched, and that spoke for something.
"That question I cannot answer."
The three sighed at the old man.
"What? At least we know where they are!" he said.
"You know where they are?" Eric said.
"Of course. That should be obvious enough!"
Jennifer rolled her eyes.
"Spit it out, geezer," she said.
"One is for every race: Gerudo, Kokiri, Zora, Goron, and Hylian. I could only imagine they would be at the places they call home."
"Of course! Rauru, you old dog!" Zelda gave him a hug.
"Hey! I'm not old!" he said, but looked pleased nonetheless.
"So we just have to collect and activate the Five Powers at each of the places?" There was Eric again, stating the obvious.
"Yes." Jennifer smiled. "But how do we"—she added air quotes—"'activate' them?"
"That I do not know," Rauru said. Jennifer certainly was a strange one, he thought.
"I am sure the Goddesses will guide you," Zelda said.
Jennifer wasn't so sure about that. She and Eric had told Zelda what had happened in the Sacred Realms. Zelda was both delighted and put off. The Goddesses were giving them help, but they had also mentioned that they were fighting a battle in the Sacred Realms. Fights between the powers of the Sacred Realms were rare, and dangerous.
Jennifer, on the other hand, was more put off than anything. These were Goddesses; surely they could give the mere mortals more help. Jennifer wanted a little Deus Ex Machina. But since it didn't appear she would be getting that, she was going to have to do it herself.
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The Five Powers? Hmmm, I smell a quest!
So, anyway, this chapter and the next one should clear up a lot about Jen and Eric's story. Based on what I have so far, they should be off on their quest ASAP. Oh, and don't worry, Jen and Eric are going to have their hands full with this journey, they will hardly have time for any romantic actions. At the moment, that is. As for Zellie and Link… we'll see. Honestly, I'm a Zelinker, please don't shoot me, and I think they're meant for each other. But… I'm still not sure how it's going to work out in this story. Maybe something, or maybe nothing, I don't know.
As always, thanks for reading, my dears! Please review! Please!
B2