The Island of Eventide

"No one ever comes here?" Zelda raised her eyebrows and looked over Siré's shoulder to Eventide Island in all its ominous glory. Link had heard of Eventide Island while in Underworld during his brief investigations with Misko when they had split off from Zelda after Charon delivered them in the Underworld.

The scant information he heard while navigating through the throng of thieves and sailors of the Underworld intrigued him. The sole person he and Misko conversed with at length during their attempt to gain information about Ganondorf spoke of Eventide. It had been an odd Sheikah with a Lizalfo leg. He smoked a strange looking pipe, breathing out an occasionally perfect smoky O ring. His information on Ganondorf seemed useless as he mainly wanted an audience to regale with outlandish tales. He told them about the haunting voices rumored to being heard on Eventide.

"Oh, yes. I heard about that. The weird voices?" Link interjected. Siré nodded. The Queen turned abruptly to Link giving him an odd look that Link did not like whatsoever.

"And who exactly told you about that?" The Queen raised one eyebrow. By the tone of her voice Link felt she was posing it as a challenge. Link's heart leaped up into his throat.

"Uh…some guy at "The Old Drunk" in the Underworld…" Link wavered in his response wishing he had phrased it better but alas it was too late to turn back. The blood was rising into his mother's cheeks before the sentence was over.

"Your source of information sounds incredibly reliable: "The Old Drunk." She deadpanned looking him dead in the eyes. She waved her hand in the air as if swatting away his thoughts. "You are disgracing my honor to be believing such fantasies…" She harrumphed with bitterness in her voice. "Believing stories…hmph they make people crazy."

"And you do not, mother?" He straightened himself. "You told me "The Legend of Zelda" and you believed it. I bet you still believe it now, don't you? At least my story isn't 10,000 years old!" Link paused. "Now, that's got to be filled with inaccuracies."

"No! It's not inaccurate. Its history for Hylia's sake! It's not just a story, its Hyrule story. The very thing which molded us, shaped our lives today!" she sighed with frustration. "You're too young to comprehend such things."

Link just was about to spit something terribly nasty at his mother when Zelda's reassuring hand patted his shoulder. "Uh…guys maybe we should settle—" Link knew what Zelda was doing, trying to calm things down. At this point this fight held a spark left from the previous rage his mother had. Link sensed they were both geared up to continue to fight for the sake of it. Instead, Zelda looked up. "Oh! We're here." The whole party turned away from the fight and to the island before them.

Every muscle in Link's body tensed as the palm trees shadow loomed over him. The only sound that he heard was the clunk of the boat meeting shore, they had officially arrived at Eventide and were to meet whatever this island had to bring.

As soon as the boat was settled, the Queen clambered out with as much dignity she could muster in exiting a wobbly raft while holding her cloak above her ankles. Zelda hopped out gracefully and helped Link out. As Link stepped out of the boat, he was expecting the water to be icy cold as ocean water often was. He was pleasantly surprised as the comfortingly warm water rippled ankle deep. "Wow, there is absolutely nothing bad about the temperature here in Lurelin!" A colorful fish swam past his ankle making his face brighten.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Siré disagreed as Zelda helped her out of the boat. "It can be hot and annoyingly stuffy at times. You'll see." She glanced to the island. "There is definitely some bad in Lurelin." Link didn't mind her opinion but didn't worry about it too much. He did start worrying when he saw his mother taking in the terrain with a shrewd eye. Her lips were tight and her eyes sharp.

"Come here this instant, all of you," she commanded. The three of them ran through the shallow water and onto shore where she awaited. Siré was a little behind because she was tying the boat to a firm palm tree. When they were all gathered by her side, she turned her gaze away from the jungle.

"We must be efficient in this operation. The only goal is to execute Ganondorf as swiftly as possible before he can leave this island." Her voice dropped as she added gravely, "We have the chance to isolate him, and we must use this to our advantage. It is one against three." She paused and then motioned to Siré. "I suppose one against four."

"Link, hand me your Sheikah Slate." She motioned for him to give it over to her. He hesitated but nonetheless unclipped it from his belt and handed it to her. His mother took it in her hands and began to vigorously to tap on the screen. Her brows furrowed and he could see the heat rise to her cheeks after a few minutes passed with her struggling with the Sheikah Slate. "Bow to my will, you blasted thing." She cursed the Sheikah Slate.

"Do you need help?" Link inquired and her sharp eyes slid from the Sheikah Slate to him.

"No." she replied with a stubborn ferocity and continued to tap the screen fruitlessly. Everyone stood together in an awkward silence as they watched their wise ruler lose her mind over a small tablet. After five minutes, she tossed the Sheikah Slate aggressively to her son who stumbled back. "Take it to the map." He did so in barely a nanosecond and handed it back to the Queen calmly in a patronizing manner. She didn't thank him.

"Here we are." She murmured and then faced the tablet to the party. "So, to isolate him we must destroy the boat which he arrived on. That is the first step to successfully executing him." She pointed at the place where they stood on the island. "We will split into pairs, taking different directions on the shore." She used her finger to trace the shoreline. The Queen looked up at the group looking each member straight into the eyes. "Siré, what do you specialize in?"

Siré blinked at that as if surprised the Queen was even talking to her. "Oh! I mean wow…you guys are going to include me in your adventure. Wow…this is so exciting!" Siré jumped in the air with enthusiasm, but the Queen did not share the same eagerness.

"We have no choice but to include you. You are our rower and only way out of here." The Queen paused to stare deeply into Siré's soul which made Siré flinch. "Time is of the essence, Siré. We must use every resource available to us. Now…what are your specialties? Specifically practical skills."

"Oh…uh…I can hunt and gather. Ooh yes, I can also track, you know animals and stuff like that. I can cook too…and well, as you know, I can row and swim." Siré put her finger to her chin to think of other specialties. "That is all I can think of now…so." She tried to stand straight in the Queen's presence and Link caught a smile touch Zelda's lips.

"Good." The Queen examined the Sheikah Slate and looked at the map once more. "I have decided what our pairs are. Although they are not the most ideal, they are logical." She motioned to Zelda and Siré with an outstretched hand. "You two will be a team." Link's stomach dropped into his knees. "And Link…you and I will be one." Link sighed deeply, his shoulders sagged while the Queen stood with her spine stiffer than ever.

The Queen launched into a very long and boring explanation that was much more prolonged than necessary. The main points were that Zelda and Siré were going to go to right around the shore and the Queen and Link were going to go left around the shore. They would eventually meet up somewhere on the opposite side of the island. The purpose: to destroy Ganondorf's boat to prevent him from leaving the island. The Queen believed that they would finish this search before nightfall, which was approaching rapidly.

Link and the Queen walked side by side in silence. Link kept his eyes glued to the Sheikah Slate and the Queen kept her eyes on the sea. Although their attention was meant to be drawn away from each other for a practical purpose, it helped them avoid speaking with one another. Link occasional glanced at the Queen, the thoughts of her temper tantrum that happened only an hour ago kept pulling at his mind:

"YOU ALMOST RUINED EVERYTHING! I NEEDED YOU TO BE BUSY WITH THE BEASTS WHILE I COULD FINALLY SILENCE GANONDORF! IF HE TOLD THE KINGDOM OF THE LIES THAT OUR FAMILY—"

It wasn't words that he would forget soon, even ever. Three simple sentences changed the meaning of what he and Zelda had been doing the past weeks. He almost ruined everything, she needed to silence Ganondorf, and he knew the…lies that the royal family told, what lies his family told. His mother may have been in a state of anger and been just saying hurtful things that weren't true. Or her anger may had made her forget to cover her words with guile as she usually did. Perhaps this was the first true thing she had said to him in a long time.

Link's mind whirled with many questions about his mother. Why wasn't she sick anymore? Why was she alone? What were the lies? He tried to think of how to get the answers. The only way which he could think of was not ideal, but it was the only way. He turned to his mother. "I need answers."

The Queen turned sharply to Link as if he had uttered a curse. "You'll have to be more specific." She replied. Turning away from him, she looked straight ahead to the dying sun.

"Mother…I need you to answer truthfully and honestly." she didn't respond so Link continued. "Are you hiding something?"

"I have no obligation to explain my ways to you. I am the Queen of Hyrule, you are a mere prince. If you had an ounce of respect to my kingdom you wouldn't question me. You ought to trust that I shall do things as they should be done." The Queen told Link and turned to meet his gaze once only to turn away again.

"I am, as you say, a 'mere' prince. But I should know if my family is hiding secrets. They are not just your secrets. They are mine as well. I deserve to know." Link pressed.

His mother planted her foot in the sand and stopped abruptly, turning sharply to her son. "You do not deserve to know. You may be a prince, but you have not a clue how to deal with royal matters such as what I bear. Already too many untrustworthy people were involved with this such affair such as Ganondorf himself. I'm protecting you by shielding you from this knowledge, this responsibility." She paused. "You don't understand now but one day, you will appreciate your blissful unknowingness. It was a secret buried for centuries and I uncovered it. Now I must bury it forever…and it will happen on this island I assure you." She walked briskly away. Link scrambled to keep up with her quick pace.

"If you are burying it forever by killing Ganondorf then you can tell me." Link assured her but the Queen was not persuaded.

"No. The secret will die with me. And from then on there will be no threat to our rule." The Queen spoke firmly.

"But didn't you uncover the secret? The threat will always be there. If you found it, it can be found again." Link pointed out.

The Queen stopped again in her tracks. "It was only because I poked my nose in places it didn't belong while investigating your father's murder. I didn't mean to find it in Gerudo…I found it and though the knowledge is a burden, I am glad I did." The Queen stopped speaking and stared at Link with wide eyes. Link could only stare at her. There was a long and painful silence.

"Murder?" was the only word that Link could uttered.

"What do you mean murder? You never said he was murdered! You led me to believe he had disappeared, presumed to have perished and his body wasn't recovered." Why didn't she ever tell me! "You lied to me!" he shouted.

"I didn't lie to you. I just never told you. There is a big difference, Link. And his body wasn't recovered. But I discovered that he was murdered." The Queen defended herself and her voice rose. "Do you think I could ever tell the kingdom my husband was captured and murdered? That my brave heroic husband, the king, couldn't defend himself? It's shameful."

"It's shameful? Is that what you're saying? It's shameful that my father sacrificed his life in his efforts to save you?" The anger within Link began to boil over inside. "How dare you disgrace him! How dare you disgrace his memory! He went out there in the dead of the night to Gerudo to save you! You're unbelievable. You're a monster." Link could feel the tears begin to tug at his eyes. "He promised me he would come back. It was the last thing he ever said to me."

"I am no monster. It is simple fact that it was shameful, and I cannot ignore it." the Queen tried to speak but Link cut her off.

"I hate you." he shouted and stormed off. He didn't hesitant when he called back. "I wish you died that night instead."

Just when he thought it was over his mother called back with an even more biting reply, "And I wish you were never born."

Link kept running and never did stop until he saw Zelda. He flung his arms around her before she could even say anything. Although he didn't want to cry, he felt silent tears trickle down his cheeks. Zelda didn't know what to do and was caught off guard. Siré stood by with a surprised look on her face. "What? Link?" Zelda slowly put her arms around him and was very confused. "What's wrong?" she asked as his tears dripped onto her shoulder.

"I hate her. I hate her so much." The words tumbled out of Link's mouth. Zelda began to piece together what had happened. She didn't speak but she did rub him gently on the back to soothe him and comfort him.

Zelda guided him through thickets of trees with Siré by their side. Nightfall was descending rapidly upon the island. The stars became their only source of light. Link leaned on a log, trying to cope with his thoughts and tinkering with his Sheikah Slate to calm himself down. Siré and Zelda worked on a campfire although Zelda would come to check on Link every few minutes. Siré and Zelda seemed to be working together well which Link took notice of. Link only spoke up when Siré said she going to find the Queen to bring her to their campsite.

"Let her get a taste of misery." He campaigned for leaving her alone out on the island but was overruled. Siré set out to find the Queen. Link's fury still boiled. He didn't ever want to see his mother again. He would rather fight Ganondorf alone. Link still couldn't believe that she had truly said that she wished he were never born. Or that his father was murdered, and the only reason was he was never told was because of his mother's pride. Another question struck him, bringing another wave of rage and misery: who had captured and killed his father?

Link and Zelda sat silently side by side. They had little to say and too much to think. The fire was warm, but Link felt icy cold. Only when he heard rustling did he look up. To his dismay it was his mother and Siré. His mother looked colder than usual. He knew she saw him but chose to ignore him. She sat as far as she could from him and placed herself close to the fire.

Siré and Zelda reported to the Queen that they had found Ganondorf's raft. They destroyed it by burning it and thus eliminated his only way off the island. A mumbled, "Good" and a curt nod was all they received as approval.

Link felt his stomach rumble. He was so distraught he had forgotten about food which was unusual for him. He turned to Zelda wearily. "Do you have anything I can eat?" Zelda rummaged through her bag and shook her head. "We're out of rations." She sighed. Then her eyes lit up and she looked to Siré who was twiddling with a twig. "Hey, you said you were good at hunting, right?" Siré nodded her head. "We have to get dinner. I don't know a whole lot about hunting, but I can come with you to get food."

Siré shook her head. "Nah, its fine. I think it's better if I go alone since I need to be stealthy." She snapped her fingers. "Thanks for reminding me. Some of the best sea food only comes out at night. I'll be back in a jiffy." She scurried off in search of food. Siré wasn't back in a jiffy, but she came back bearing food, nonetheless. Link wasn't crazy about the idea of sea food, but he was willing to take what he could get. Siré returned with three Bright Eyed Crabs, two Hearty Blueshell Snails, and two Mighty Porgy which she cooked up in the campfire with some sliced Palmfruit on a skewer.

To Link's surprise the food was delicious. Having a full belly made him feel somewhat better though his mother's dour presence put a damper on everything. After dinner Zelda and Siré were talking up a storm about the best way to defeat a Lynel which was of no interest to Link. He withdrew from the world by retreating into the amazing world of his Sheikah Slate.

To his great excitement he had tinkered with it enough to extract more of the old technology which fascinated him so much. His most recent discovery was a camera. This advancement could capture still images of the world without the need for painting or drawing. The camera captured the image instantaneously. He found himself taking pictures of the trees around him, the sky, Zelda, and then himself. He took many pictures of himself.

To his great amazement he was able to take pictures of certain flowers or trees around him and the Sheikah Slate was able to the name of the object, the exact type of flower or tree, even creatures like scuttling beetles or swimming fish. It was absolutely extraordinary.

He discovered something else, a 3-dimensional box and a 3-dimensional circle. He clicked on it, curious what would happen and a 3-dimensional circle appeared in his hands. He put it down beside him and looked back at the Sheikah Slate. Link didn't notice the ball rolling away from him coming to rest at the bottom of the gentle slope he was seated on. A button on his Sheikah Slate screen said: "Activate". He jabbed at the button pressed eagerly and was horrified at the results.

The ground shook and everyone shrieked including Link. "What in Hyrule are you doing, Link?" Zelda shouted out of surprise.

"Oh, it's a bomb." Link mused to himself. "Cool." Apparently the 3-dimensional circle combusted and anything within a ten feet radius was disintegrated.

"What?" Siré asked.

"It's weapon on the Sheikah Slate." Link responded and read out loud a small description. "Able to disintegrate anything within a ten-feet radius. Hmmm…" he didn't show it, but he was overjoyed with excitement. Link found something that was specialized in weapons on the Sheikah Slate. He wondered what other treasures were hidden within it and clicked around for a while.

After a while the Queen stood up dramatically and announced. "I am taking my leave. May those who deserve to be blessed by my voice have a good night." Link knew that comment was aimed at him but chose to ignore it as she had ignored his existence entirely. His mother laid down on a mat Zelda had brought along for the journey and fell asleep instantly.

Siré watched the Queen fall soundly asleep before turning to Link. The light of the fire reflected on her face, and she leaned in towards Zelda and Link. "Do you want to hear a story?"