While Zelda and I run up the stairs, I think to myself about where I've seen Lucife from. We turn the corner, expecting to see Lucife, but instead see Link sitting on the floor, looking dazed.
"Link? Is… is that really you?" Zelda runs over to him and throws her arms around him, sobbing. Link smiles lightly, but I can see that he isn't really paying attention to Zelda.
"Look, baby, I have a very important thing that I have to do right now, okay? I'll be back in a few days... wait a minute. What's she doing out?" He looks at me with an unnatural look of disgust on his face. For a minute, I'm surprised, and I can't help but think about how rapidly my plan changed. I was supposed to be in love with this man, but now it appeared that the person I was in love with isn't really who he seems to be. To my horror, guards come into the room and grab me, dragging me back down to the prison. The last thing that I hear before the door slams shut is Zelda screaming at her husband.
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"Aires? Aires? Can you hear me? Oh thank the goddesses. When they threw you down here, I didn't know what to think. We need to get out of here." I open my eyes ever so slightly to see Zelda standing above me. At least… I think that it's Zelda.
Her long blonde hair has been wrapped up into a bun and her long royal gown has been traded for a shorter, looser peasant dress. She's holding out a similar garment for me, and groggily, I manage to put it on.
"Where are we going?" I ask, standing up and wincing as all of my blood seems to rush to my head. Zelda-peasant girl looks at me.
"We have to go help Malon and Kierana. Link wants his daughter back and I'm not sure why. Let's go. We should be able to get there before dark if we hurry.
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It's well after dark when we arrive in Termina. After much wandering, we find a small inn to stay at- not the one where I first found the Malon/Romani double. Both of us collapse onto our beds as soon as we get inside, but I can't sleep. I get up and walk around outside, wondering why sleep is evading me. By the time I feel remotely sleepy, the sun is rising, and Zelda and I head off to the ranch. When we get there, I'm shocked to see a large pillar of smoke, but I instantly spot Malon and a girl that could have been her older sister. When she sees me, I know I'm in trouble.
"What did you do with my baby? Where did Link take her? Tell me, Aires! Where is she?" I grab her hands and hold her still, but her body still shakes from her sobs. I decide that now is my time to give myself away.
"First of all, I'm not Aires. I'm Saria. Second of all, I don't know where she is, but I am willing to help you find her. And third, probably most importantly, Zelda here believes that Link is being possessed." This last bit of information startles her. She looks at Zelda in shock, but Zelda is avoiding eye contact. We wait a few seconds, and she finally speaks.
"Lucife. I think that 'assistant' of his is overpowering him. He came to us about three months before the wedding, begging for a job. Lucife struck me as dishonest, because someone with his looks and behavior surely isn't jobless. About a month after that, Link started acting weird, and Lucife was nowhere to be seen. Occasionally, like at our wedding, Lucife appeared again, and, well, Link was jittery. I assumed it was the whole marriage thing, but now, with the baby coming and all, he's a lot different- or indifferent, I guess." Malon is staring at her in disbelief. I can tell that she can't actually believe that she thinks that Lucife is possessing Link. To my horror, I see that her temperature is rising and that she is about to burst..
"Zelda, get it through your stupid, pathetic, spoiled, blonde head! You are going crazy! You're so upset that the man that you married is going insane, you think that he's being possessed! I don't get it! What is wrong with you? It doesn't make any sense!" Zelda looked at me and back at Malon, her eyes open wide.
"Did- did you just call me blonde?" We both stare at her, confused.
"What?" She looks Malon, tears filling her eyes. "What the heck are you talking about, Zelda?" She looks at the ground and coughs.
"You called me a blonde, didn't you?" Malon frowns at her, then nods.
"I can't believe that. Here I am, trying to help you, and you go and insult me. Well, let me tell you-"
Zelda is interrupted with a high-pitched scream and a lot of yelling. From our view from the top of the hill, we soon see what we are dreading- Link and his men are coming up at us.
