Chapter 56: Guilt of Abandonment
Link stretched his arms out from under his tattered blanket and yawned. The morning fog on his mind had not yet left him, stubbornly aided by the darkness still encasing the city. By all rights he should be still asleep, but he wished to get an early start this morning. At least he could be thankful that he had not been awoken by any signals of further raids by the monsters.
No point delaying. He threw open the few tattered blankets he had found and let the chill night air surround him. That woke him up. He stood and gave one more stretch only to become distracted as he watched his breath made puffs of steam. No. He thought as he realized he had stood there looking at his breath for too long. I have to get moving. Scooping up his blankets, he rung them out, letting a few drops of moisture splash to the ground. The price of everything in the city was high, and he quickly learned he could afford food or lodgings, but not both. Sleeping beneath the night sky had never bothered him, so he thought that was an easy choice.
But the only place he could find where patrolling soldiers wouldn't run him off was a cramped corner tucked between a few buildings. It kept him clear from most of the chill icy winds that spilled out over the city from the sea, but not all. Everything here was at least a little damp. But that was fine. He could handle the chill nights and gleam of water always around him like sweat. At least he didn't have to bother with his shoes anymore. Most the roads were padded with seaweed and moss, or there were deep puddles that would ruin his shoes anyway. He could walk comfortably barefoot and most of his blisters were starting to heal.
And the sky, even in a dark and cloudy night like this. Looking up reminded him of home, of the mists that surrounded his little village with all his friends. Even darkness could bare pleasant memories if you need them.
With that happy little memory, he finished drying his blankets and shoved them into his bag. He had already wasted far too many days accomplishing nothing. A day to find the path to Lord Jabu-Jabu only to discover it had been blockaded. Another pestering the guards there until they told him only an edict from their king could open the doors for him. And then several days where all he did was wait outside the palace grounds.
Tying the bag up he quickly checked he was not leaving anything behind before he made his way through the city. He saw no one as he traveled. Even if it had been noon with a full bright sun in the sky it would have made no difference. Everyone in the city kept hidden. Occasionally an eye peeped through a window, but the streets were for soldiers and scavengers. And as early as it was, even the scavengers were still asleep.
It wasn't until he reached the ornate gates of the palace that he finally saw someone, but only one. A guard stood on the stairs to the palace, spear in hand. His armor gleamed in blues and greens like the water and buildings around him. He was a big Zora, with a wideset eyes and a flattened face. Link had seen him before, always standing at attention as if he was a statue. And when he did move, he marched as if a drummer was keeping his pace.
None of the other guards seemed half as precise as that one. But now, there were no other guards. That had been the way of things the last few days. When Link first visited the palace there had been a dozen patrolling every inch of the palace grounds. From the grand stairway that led up to the main tower of the palace, to the fountains that had Zora statues launching streams of water high into the air through their mouths or from the tips of their weapons.
Yesterday, Link had only seen four the entire day.
Now there was only one.
"Good morning!" Link waved to the guard. "I think I'm the first today."
The guard did not move from his position. It was a bit rude, but also impressive. Even Bethe the most disciplined soldier Link knew didn't stand at attention all day. That sounded exhausting.
"What time will the king see anyone? I've been here the last few days, do you remember me? I was the only Hylian my size!"
Still nothing from the guard.
Not surprising he hadn't been noticed. The streets may be empty, but there always seemed to be people trying to see the king. During the days that Link stood outside the gate, there had been no attack from the monsters. At least not this deep into the city. Which likely didn't help with the crowds. Yesterday, Link had been far to the back of the crowd hoping that it would move at least a little bit. But today he was first. He could get to the king and sort all of this out. The Gerudo still weren't here. He could still make this work.
As the first light of the sun brightened the horizon, other people appeared. Most of them Zora with the occasionally wealthy looking Hylian. First in small pockets of two or three, but soon in masses that pressed forward. Filling the air with the smell and din of crowds. Link frowned but did his best to put up with it. The gate had to be opening for him soon. Then he could get out from under all these people. Rubbing against him, making too much noise. What was even the point of being outside if you couldn't see ahead of you? Or smell the fresh air? Big crowds just made everything worse.
Link guarded his place at the front of the line fiercely. Giving angry glares to anyone who even looked as if they would try to push past him. The last few days the line barely moved at all. He would be seen, he had to be. But as the sun grew higher and the crowd grew larger worry crept around his mind. Some of those in the crowd slid off to the side and left. Even though the gates hadn't opened, and they never saw the king. Was that why the line moved the day before? Because people just gave up?
No, that couldn't be it. Perhaps the king was a late riser. How many days had Link slept in, instead of getting an early start on his duties? In a few minutes surely, he'd be let inside.
But minutes came and went, and the only change was the crowd growing bigger and angrier.
"Let me in!" a Zora woman screamed at the lone guard. "My child is sick! I must see the Protector! Let me in!" She grabbed at the gate and looked as if she was trying to shake it down herself. But the steel pillars were stronger than her.
The guard did not move. The only sign he was even alive was in the light of day Link could see his chest slowly rise and fall as he breathed. And his eyes, now he could see the Zora's eyes and the sleepless bags underneath them. He almost looked sad.
"What right does the king have to keep us from Lord Jabu-Jabu?" came another voice.
"Let us in!"
"Let us in!"
"Where is the king?"
Only now did the guard make his move. He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and bellowed loud enough for all to hear. "The king is busy. This is a dangerous time, and he will see to you when he is capable."
That did not relieve the crowd. If anything, they shouted louder, and started to press up against the gates all together.
"Wait," Link said, as the bodies forced him into the gate. "I'm down here. Wait." The steel bars pressed into his chest and arms. This wasn't working. Link tried to swing his elbows hitting legs and stomachs, trying to get them to move aside. Let him breath. But the crowd continued to push forward.
Grunting, grinding his teeth, Link grabbed at the fence and pulled himself along the sides of it. This was so stupid. There was only one guard. He can't be everywhere. Link had tried to do things the right way, the proper way. But if that doesn't work for him – and it never ever did- then he would have to try something else. What he should have done the first day. "Excuse me," he said as he pushed his way along the edge of the crowd. "Pardon me. I'm trying to get through. Excuse me." Most did not hear him. Some tried to give him space but the crowd was far too thick to let them move far.
Squeezing around one body then slipping past another he slowly, steadily made his way out of the crowd. Pulling at his bag, occasionally getting stuck between people or being knocked into another as someone shifted without noticing who was around them. It felt like being in the lines of a battlefield with everyone pressed together. Worse in some ways, he couldn't fight his way out.
Bursting out of the crowd, he gasped for air. Free. The sweet salty taste of sea air was a welcome relief from the foul heat the crowd. He put his hands on his knees for a moment, breathing deep then stretching out. Letting the pure air fill his lungs.
He looked back to the crowd and angled to peer through the fence. The gate was still shut, and there was still only one guard he could see. He wandered along the side of the fence, it did not take long to spot a position outside the guard's field of view. He took hold of the fence bars and pulled himself up. Even with the slight dampness everything had within this city climbing to the top was nothing. Before he even had time to really enjoy it, he was at the top and swing his legs over. Dropping to the ground, he landed with a splash into the garden.
"Gahh," he said as he fell forward to his knees and water went all the way up his legs. The ground he thought was solid wasn't at all. The greenery was lilies and woven seaweed that hid the solid foot of water beneath them.
Picking himself up, he wiped at some of the vegetation stuck to his pants, and really took in the sights of the garden. Was it even true to call it a garden? There were some lanes to walk around, but everything else was underwater. Filled with plants that Link had never seen cultivated before. Lillies and water fern Link knew, but there were far more. Budding vines that snaked out of the water, bright flowers of yellow and violent bursting with life out a strange bush with huge flat leaves that floated along with the seaweed.
Of all the places he'd seen in his travels, the Zora Domain may just be the most beautiful. But now he had to work. He was careful to disturb the plants as little as possible as he trod through the water to the path. Leaving big wet footprints, he made his way to the palace tower. Digging his fingers around the thick ridges of the scales of the building and pulled himself up. It was like the building was meant to be scaled. The entire design gave him small ledges to place his feet and angle ever upward until he found a window a good two stories up, elegantly tucked between the scale design of the building. He peered inside, it looked empty, other than paintings and frescos lined along the walls, and elegantly shaped pots and small statuettes placed on the various tables. This room would work. He squeezed through the thin window and landed inside.
Solid ground. Dry ground at that. It felt nice after trudging through water for most of the last few days. He looked down on his pruned toes and wiggled them. He wiped his feet down, best not to leave wet tracks behind him. He tried to hold back his wincing as he rubbed at his blisters. Once he was certain he wouldn't leave prints he made his way to the door, gently opened it and glanced within the palace.
Nothing. A long hall with many doors, but not a single living person as far as he could see.
What was the point of such a big house if there was no one inside of it? He wondered had Hyrule Castle been like this? But… no. He had seen the garden, glanced into a window to see the dreaded Rider in Black, and even climbed one of the towers. And there had been people everywhere.
He couldn't even hear anyone else. Not the footsteps of people moving overhead or small quiet chatter. The only thing that made a noise was him and the rush of running water somewhere deeper in the building.
Still best not to take chances. He ducked low, almost crawling along the hall. He moved to the nearest door and pressed his ear to it. Still nothing. So he cracked the door slightly ajar and looked inside only to see a dark unused room. The same with the next door and the next.
No one.
Empty. Was the king even in here?
It took the eighth door to find any sign of life. And there it was only plants in various pots, but there were many of them, so someone had to have looked after them recently. Near the end of the hall there was a room that held a cleaning bucket and a mop resting against the wall, on the floor a stain only half cleaned. Link dipped his finger into the bucket, the water was frigid. Whoever used it left it behind hours ago or more.
Was this whole place empty?
Then why would someone be guarding it?
When Link returned to the hall he didn't bother ducking down, and after a few more rooms he didn't even try to quiet his steps. Still the only sound he heard was that rushing water. Was it coming from outside? He decided to follow it, ignoring the last of the doors he passed, until he reached the tallest widest doors at the very end of the hall. Opening them he saw a pillar of water falling straight down in front of him. Some of it dripped and splashed against the floor which ended just before the falling water.
On both sides of the water there was a winding staircase going up and down. The stairs had a banister and seemed quite safe, except for the section right beside the water, where the banister ended in an ornate fish design only to start up again on the other side. Which didn't seem at all safe to Link, surely such a section would only have people fall into it.
Which, honestly, sounded quite fun if the landing wasn't too hard. Link grabbed onto the banister and leaned out over the edge of the floor. The water seemed to be coming all the way from the top of the tower and it landed in a pool at the very lowest floor. But how deep the pool was he couldn't say. Still, what a thing it would be to dive off one floor and splash to the one below. It made Link grin just thinking about it. Thought that might have been the only fun thing about this place he'd seen so far. "Well," he said to himself after he pulled back away from the edge, "upstairs or downstairs?"
More on a whim than anything he headed up. Up just seemed right. Ganondorf's rooms were in a tower. The Crown of Death Mountain was up. Even getting above the dark mists of the Lost Woods meant going up. Going up had treated him well so far. Why it almost felt like climbing.
The next floor was as empty as the one he had just come from. He opened the first door. "Anyone here?" He said to the bunch of the heads of statues all of them Zora men. "Nope." He went to the next door. "How about here?" Only to see an equal number of statues of Zora women. "About what I figured." He didn't bother himself as he opened the doors and wandered inside. Once he had finished that floor he went back to the stairs and up to the next level.
This one seemed much the same as the last two, but a quarter of the way through checking the doors he heard something. He wasn't certain what it was, but the further he moved away from the rushing water the clearer the noise became. Were they crying?
"Hello?" He shouted, before stopping himself. Stupid. I'm not supposed to be in here.
But he moved toward the noise, regardless. Desperate for any source of information on what was going on here. The sound was erratic, occasionally going silent before returning with a stream of blubbering wet noises. He stopped when he reached the door it was coming from. There was definitely someone inside. Link gently opened the door.
This room was the largest of all that he had yet seen. It looked most like a place where someone was trying to store their cushions, blankets, and furniture. It was filled with couches and chairs, each of them with thick padding and pillows overtop them. The center of the room was dominated by what Link only recognized as a bed because someone was currently laying on it. It was huge, almost as big as the hollowed tree trunk he called home. A dozen colorful blankets and mattresses were pilled almost as high as Link was tall.
On top of the bed was a Zora with a bulbous catfish-like head, barbels around his mouth arranged almost like a mustache. Tears ran down his face and dampened the pillow and sheets he laid upon.
"Are you hurt?" Link whispered still halfway out the door.
The big Zora did not notice him, he gave a loud sob and buried his head back in his pillow.
Now would be the time when Navi would tell me to get away. Go back to finding the king. You can't help everyone. But Link moved closer, until he was at the foot of the bed. He looked over the man's body seeing if he had any visible wounds. After the raid of the Lizalfos and the Battle for the Crown he had seen people crying like this. Normally it meant that they had taken a great wound. But he could not find any on the man.
"Is there anything wrong?" Link tried again. Moving closer and closer to his head.
The fish-man opened his eyes wide and looked right at Link. But he did not stop crying. He did not speak.
Link didn't know what to do. And so he held out his hand, and took hold of the man's own. "You can get through this," Link said. Though he did not know exactly what the man needed to get through. "I'm here."
The Zora clenched his eyes shut and buried his head deeper into the pillow. But he did not pull his hand away. He did not let go. So Link stood beside him just holding his hand.
"You're going to beat this," Link said. With his free hand he rubbed the Zora's shoulder. "When you feel strength enough to, we can talk. I can wait."
He glanced back to the door, no one was approaching. That was something. Less chance that anyone would come find him. Still Link didn't know what else he could really do. When he had been sad and the fairies tried to help him, they might bring him a drink of water. Or offer to go fishing with him. Link wasn't certain that Zora went fishing like he did. They probably caught them in the water rather than relying on nets and fishing lines. And he didn't know where any drinking water would be. Maybe if he had a cup, he could get some from that pool by the stairs? Could Zora drink that?
But before he could put any further plan in motion, the Zora seemed to regain some of his composure. He did not stop crying, but his voice grew steadier. Eventually he lifted his head up from the pillow and with deep red eyes he seemed to finally take true notice of Link.
"Who are you?" he said, his voice rasping from his sorrow. "I thought I ordered all to leave?"
"No one ordered me to do anything," Link said. "Are you feeling better?"
"No," he said. "Can one feel better when the light of your life is snuffed away? When the sun shines no more and all your worldly goals are dashed to ruin? Can one regain themselves when they are nothing?"
"I don't know," Link said truthfully, not trying to figure out what he was saying. "But the sun has risen, it's a little cloudy but-"
"No, one cannot," the Zora said, and tears welled up in his eyes again. "Ruin. We are all abandoned to ruin."
"Who abandoned you?" Link said. That much he understood. It never felt good when someone important to you decided you weren't worth being with anymore. Link still felt that sting, even after all the miles he left her behind, that still hurt.
"Our lord! Our protector! He has gone mad. In our time of greatest need he has devoured our most precious our innocent. And we are doomed."
"Your king? He abandoned you?" That would explain the empty palace. That would explain the terrible organization of the city's soldiers. Kings were supposed to take charge of that.
"No," the man burst into another howling sob. "Lord Jabu-Jabu! Lord Jabu-Jabu!"
"He's the one I have to see! He abandoned you? Where did he go?"
A hand grabbed Link on the shoulder. Link yelped as he was spun around to stare into the wide eyes of the last of the Zora guard.
"A thief," the guard sneered.
"No!" Link said. "I'm not a thief! I'm not! I need to know! What happened to Lord Jabu-Jabu! What is going on?"
But the one on the bed returned to his grief and tears. The guard shoved Link toward the door. "Move, boy."
"All of us doomed," said the man on the bed. "My daughter! Give me back my daughter!"
Link tried to wiggle out from the man's hands. "What happened to your daughter? I need to know what's going on! Please!" But the guard slammed the door, and all Link could hear as he was forced down the halls was the sobs that grew quieter and quieter with each step away. "You don't know what you're doing," Link begged the guard.
"I know how to handle thieves," he said as his grip tightened, his webbed fingers pinching at the skin around Link's neck. The guard forced him to the stairs and down to the lowest floor. Never again responding to Link's pleas. They did not stop until he was taken to a small dark room. Empty like all the others, but this one had the cobwebs of spiders in the corners and the air was heavy with dust. Not a well used room even before the palace was abandoned.
The guard forced Link into a seat and yanked at the bag tied to Link's hip. "Let's see what you have in here then thief." The strength of the man almost lifted Link off the chair but the strings tore open after the third pull.
"No!" Link said as the Zora spilled its contents across the ground. "I'm not a thief." A small handful of rupees and apples were the first to tumble out. Followed by his mismatched shoes and broken sword. Then came his ocarina which bounced on the floor. Link scrambled forward to try and keep it from smashing into the hard stone ground or being smashed by the last heaviest thing in the bag. But the guard pushed him back into the chair as the Heart of the Mountain clanked to the ground.
"Going for a weapon, aye?" the guard sneered. He kicked the sword to the other side of the room.
"No," Link tried to say, but the guard was already looking to the Ruby. Link reached forward in his chair and managed to get hold of the ocarina before the guard stopped him. He looked over the instrument, just a small scuff of the wood, the tiniest sliver scraped off. Link felt a few tears well up in his eyes. No one would ever notice but him. It would still play fine. Still, he held the instrument to his chest as tight as he could, as if that would somehow mend the wood.
"You could have lived in leisure your entire life just selling this. Where did you get it?" the guard picked up the Ruby and lifted it high. Letting the light play upon its multifaceted surfaces. "What room does it go back to?"
"It isn't from any of the rooms here," Link said. "Chief Darunia gave me that stone for safekeeping. I need to speak with your king. Please this is urgent. You've seen me out there waiting."
"You will not bother the king again."
Again? Link thought. The man in the bed?
"Stealing from his majesty?" the guard continued. "You won't be leaving this room with both your hands."
"I didn't steal anything!" Link held the ocarina even tighter. "Look at it! It's not from the Zora. No one could make that stone. It's a gift from the Three Goddesses."
The guard scoffed, "I'll give you this thief, of all the whining stories I've heard yours is the most original." But he did keep looking over the Ruby. His mouth shut and he started to grind his teeth as he moved the stone. With one finger he traced along the outside of the golden throne on which the Ruby was placed. He must have traced over the stone half a dozen times with squinting confused eyes before he finally looked back up to Link. "This isn't Zora made."
"I told you. The Goddesses made it. They created three stones and gave them to three guardians. That's one of them."
"This doesn't make sense," he said again. "The Zora have the finest artists in all the world, masters of painting, calligraphy, and our jewelers are the envy of all the world. I've seen the best works of this or any age. And yet…"
"You've never seen anything like that. Because there is nothing like it. The Goddesses made it."
"Don't be ridiculous. There's a trick to it. See the way the gold and ruby just meld together? As if one simply shifts into the other. No seam. No point where the gemstone is slotted into the gold. This… this shouldn't work. It's as if the gold and the stone are truly one piece." Finally, his eyes turned toward Link. "I would have seen this if it was in the royal collection."
"That's what I'm saying! I didn't take it from here. There are three, and there is a man trying to capture them. He's killing anyone who stands in his way, and if he collects all three -then- I don't even know what's going to happen really. But we must not let him get them."
"The Sapphire," the guard whispered. "The Lord's Jewel. That is what you are looking for."
"Yes," Link said. "That's it! You know where it is? I tried to ask how to find the Lord Jabu-Jabu but everyone said that the King had stopped anyone from seeing your guardian. But I need to see him."
"You can't," the Zora said. "No one can see Lord Jabu-Jabu anymore."
"Why not? No one has told me what's going on. The people on the street are terrified. They don't have their protector or their king. They need answers. I need answers."
"Because it is dangerous. Our Lord Protector would grant us wishes, people brought him an offering of fresh fish and he would hear their desires and to those he deemed worthy he would grant them."
"That sounds amazing," Link tried to think back to his own guardian. The Great Deku Tree as loving a father as he had been, he never granted wishes. And the dragon of Death Mountain didn't seem the type to do that either while it was still alive.
"And for generations it was," the guard's voice sounded pained, as if he was holding back tears of his own. "But what happens when someone wishes for something foul? If someone makes a request of the Lord Jabu-Jabu that would have terrible consequences."
"Well, then he shouldn't do it. But everything I heard about Lord Jabu-Jabu is that he is wise, that he can see into the soul of a person. Wouldn't someone like that be able to see if an evil person was asking for a wish?"
The guard almost choked. He shivered as if a deep chill took him to the bone, before he steadied himself. This was the same man who looked a statue not long before. What was going on within him? When he looked back to Link his eyes were filled with so much pain. And guilt.
"Did you wish for something?" Link whispered.
The guard went quiet for a moment before he spoke in a voice weaker than a tumbling leaf. "I didn't mean to. I didn't think the Lord would answer my wish as he did."
"What did you ask?"
"I don't even remember the words I spoke. You have to understand, I was one of the guards of the Princess Ruto. I followed her every order, I watched her as she… she was so troublesome. She had the way about her to demand the world obey her whims as if she owned all within it. I know my history. Not as well as some others. But I've heard of the spiteful King Metrial II who tried to drown the lands of the south with unending tides, or Queen Ralias and her endless executions. I was trying to make certain she did not go the same way. I didn't mean for what happened."
"I believe you."
"She returned to Lord Jabu-Jabu demanding the Sapphire for a second time. And.. I couldn't… our Lord Protector ate her. As he devoured thousands of our enemies. The king flew into a rage, he demanded that we slaughter Lord Jabu-Jabu in vengeance, but the soldiers refused. Then, he placed guards so none could see him and he fell from wrath to torment. You've seen him, he is despondent. He sees no one, he is unable to lead. And we are left without king, without guardian. Now when we need them most. All because of me."
The Zora dropped the Ruby, it clattered to the ground as his hands went to his eyes. His fist clenched as his hands went back to his sides. Trying desperately to look like the unblemished statue of a soldier he had been before. But it was no good. Though unshed there were still tears in his eyes and his lower lip wobbled slightly as he tried to hold his emotions in. He returned his attention to Link, as if seeking Link's scorn. As though he wanted Link to tell him that he had done something terrible. That all the world's troubles were his fault and his alone.
"How could you have known?" Link said as he stood in front of him. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were trying to protect your people isn't that what you were supposed to do?"
"No," he snapped. "I was a royal guard I should have followed my orders without complaint. I should never have made my wish. It's on me, don't you understand? My people are dying and it's all on me."
"What's your name?" Link asked the guard.
"Captain Miashir, third spear of the Zora Royal Guard," he said.
"Well, Miashir," Link took hold of his hand and spoke gently as if he was treating a sick foal back at Lon Lon Ranch. "I'm Link. I'm a child of the Kokiri Forest. I watched my father die. I fought in a battle, crawled through a mountain filled with the dead, and faced monsters and the only thing I've learned in is that you can't give up. You have to keep fighting. Even when things impossible. Even when you think you've made the biggest mistakes in the world, you have to keep trying to fix them."
"One cannot fix oncoming doom."
"Well, I'm going to try anyway. I don't always succeed. I wasn't able to save my father. I lost the letters of Princess Zelda which made everything harder. But I have to keep going. I have to try and fix things or – I don't know- But I know I have to try. And I hope you can try with me."
"What good will that do?"
"I'll know I did my best. That my father would be proud of me. That even after all my mistakes, I'm proud of me."
Miashir took a deep breath. "You're a very smart child, you know that?"
Link gave a slight grin. "I'm not really. I'm dumb, everyone says so. But that doesn't mean I'm always wrong."