Chapter -14-
…Because There's Too Many Links

Lenae 3, 2050
Northwest Hyrule…

It was cold, especially to a man who was a quarter Gerudo, a race famous for living in the desert region of southwest Hyrule.

Nohansen took a deep breath and said, "If the Lokomo were able to survive in this land for untold ages, I can survive as well. Where are the Anouki markers?" He withdrew his tablet and saw it had good signal, despite the steady snowfall and moderate wind. According to a logo in the corner of the screen, the wind was steady at nine miles an hour with occasional gusts up to fifteen. Just enough to make things uncomfortable.

Nohansen held his breath for four seconds, followed by a soft sigh. He spoke into his audio recorder with a calm voice. "Perhaps if I was part Yook, this would be easy. Their feet were designed for snow. Of course, the Yook went extinct almost three hundred years ago. The Phantom Sword and the Lokomo Sword are made of the same metals, despite being fashioned across the planet from one another, and it seems both were somehow inspired by the design of the Master Goddess Sword from the Old Realm, which had since been moved to New Hyrule, but disappeared some time during the last quarter of the 1600s." He continued to murmur various historical trivia to keep his mind occupied. He pushed the tablet back into his pack and checked his smartwatch for the GPS tracking and digital compass.

"Nearly there. Come, now … it's only seven miles without the four-by-four. You can manage." He raised his left forearm up to shield his face from a wind gust and continued deeper into the snowy woods.

The wind changed direction. Professor Nohansen pressed against it head-on, arms raised up to cover his face from the harsh bite of the frosty chill.

It took several moments to get through, long enough to test his resolve, but there was a clearing up ahead, with a dilapidated building made of the darkest basalt. The front entrance was a circular gate with a broken section at the top.

He pressed his back against the wall, taking refuge from the wind in the lee of the building. He placed a palm against the siding and closed his eyes. He placed his other hand into his coat pocket and withdrew an audio recorder.

Nohansen smirked. He spoke into the recording device. "One of the last remaining space-time gates of the ancients. Missing its force gem, though…" As an afterthought, he added, "Six of these have been put on display in museums over the last few hundred years, and all six have been destroyed beyond repair during the events of the Great War, one hundred fifty years ago. It is said only two remain, and there is a rumor of a possible third, out in the Gerudo desert, from back before it was a desert."

As an afterthought, he added, "The dream I had of the witches of fire and ice told me of this place. And here it is. It was just a goddess-forsaken dream, but … here it is. It's real. Are Koume and Kotake real, too?"

The professor took a deep breath and pushed away from the wall, stepping back into the wind. He continued his way through the snow, around to the front of the building. Nohansen trudged up to the gate so he could analyze it closely. "If this falls through, and nothing is learnt from this holiday, consider a field trip for the class to the Gerudo Desert. Most of these kids have no idea the desert once held water, despite the leviathan remains … likely an ancient Baleen whale of the Mysticeti parvorder. Due to the immense size of the remains, I believe it is perhaps an animal the ancients called humpback. Although the desert fossil would be one of the largest humpback specimens found by the modern world. Sometimes, it is covered by sand, and sometimes the wind puts it on display to the world, but neither the Royal Family nor the Hyrule Diet have any desire to pay the university to unearth it and put it on display at this time. Maybe it will just sit there and rot for the next ten thousand years or so. Longer in all likelihood."

Nohansen entered the round gate and walked into the remains of the ancient temple. The roof and ceiling had long since collapsed from the weight of snow. He made his way to the heart of the ancient, ruined building. The professor withdrew his tablet and selected an application to locate metal.

It didn't take long to uncover a set of treasure chests that appeared to have been once stored inside of a vault. A vault that had long-since collapsed and became buried in the snow.

Nohansen withdrew a thermite packet, glanced at the snow, and returned it to his pack. He spoke into his audio recorder again. "I was going to use thermite and a magnesium flare to handle the collapsed roof, but with all this snow, I would have a lot of smoke and no way to put it out. I've left the sodium in the kerosene container back on the four-by-four, and the phosphorus in the water container. All my knowledge in utilizing such incendiaries like Willie Pete, and I am hampered by simply not carrying it in the storm. I am beyond disappointed with myself."

He found a wooden branch and stripped it of twigs and leaves, then used the main arm of the branch to clear away snow, pry up debris, and then he pushed the remains of the roof into a pile and lit the firewood with a magnesium flare.

The professor warmed his hands and watched as the snow melted away from the immediate area.

Again, he spoke into his audio recorder. "Glad I didn't utilize the thermite packet. This snow melting into water and the addition of water to the hot iron bits of the roof could produce potentially explosive hydrogen gas…"

Once his hands warmed up, he dried his gloves near the fire and went back to work using a piece of metal from the collapsed roof to dig out treasure chests hidden in the middle roof, beneath the ruins.

Overall, it didn't take terribly long for him, maybe an hour, until he uncovered the chests.

Inside the first one he found was a beautiful green Force Gem in the shape of the Triforce. He spoke into his recorder once more. "As I understand it, these Force Gems are activated by striking them with incredible force. The Lokomo suggested to early Hylian settlers to use something like a cannonball. The fact these gems can withstand such concussive power without shattering, cracking, or even chipping has always astounded me, but they are extremely dense … many times harder than diamond, and a great deal harder to cut or even laser etch. How they were shaped into triangles is still a mystery to modern science. Only the six that came with their ruined gates were ever found. The university still does not understand them, except that they were created synthetically by a potentially ancient … or rather … pre-ancient race." He lifted the gem from the chest with a grunt. "And they are astoundingly heavy for their size. Not as heavy as platinum, but still impressive in weight."

Nohansen put it into his pack, shouldered it, and set about hunting for the next chest. It didn't take terribly long to find it. He opened the container, leering with expectation.

His facial expression brightened with joy, like a ray of sunshine moving over a flower on an otherwise cloudy day. "Yes!" he roared in triumph. "It's here!"

Nohansen took a moment to compose himself. He brought the recorder a little closer to his mouth, licked his frosty lips, and announced, "Byrne's Compass of Light. This gear-shaped compass does not work with magnetic north like a typical compass. No. It is naturally attracted to energy or possibly things that vibrate at a slightly different frequency. Needless to say, this compass can find a portal to another realm. I must know if it truly exists. I must see it for myself. And here it is. There are several realms, pocket universes, documented in the secret Royal Library. Information kept from the rest of the world, including documents on time travel, the Sacred Realm and its apparent remodeled iteration known as the Dark World or Dark Realm. There are also realms said to have been used to banish entire groups of people that crossed the royal family, including the Twilight Realm. There's also a mirror universe, where Hyrule is known as Lorule, and their Ganon is named Yuga, and their Zelda is named Hilda. Legends say they used their Triforce to wish away the very Triforce itself and it slowly led to their world coming apart. The Royal Family's documentations claim Hylia's Chosen Hero from this world used the Triforce of Hyrule to wish the Triforce of Lorule back into existence to save their world. But Hyrule's Royal Family likes to claim they are the goddess' gift to mankind, so I'm not sure if it's nonsense or not. Having said that, I may have found a way to access the Sacred Golden Realm, which is said to be a reflection of Ganondorf's evil, due to a wish he made on the Triforce. If these realms exist, then they are part of history and must be acknowledged as real. That is what motivates me, today." Nohansen put his voice recorder into a coat pocket.

He studied the compass for a moment, took a picture of it, then another picture of its backside, and put his tablet into his pocket. He withdrew his voice recorder again.

"And now? Now to see if this heavy gemstone still works. I recently uncovered one in southwest Hyrule, and this one, therefore, should send me there, to the bordering hills that lead into the Gerudo Desert. But with this compass, I will be able to learn where the train tracks of the Lokomo people once went right into the portal, leading from the desert to the Dark World. Of course, nowadays, it's considered slightly racist to refer to them as the Locomotive People. But considering they are said to be spirit people that ascended to the heavens, en mass, and considering they were said to have believed that their tribal founders returned to the 'heavens' after playing a music duet with one of the people who carried the Hero's Spirit … I am going to go out on a limb, here, and assume that Hylian colonists wiped them out, or something like that. Still, if the documents that speak of them are true, and if they truly existed at one point, they referred to themselves as the Lokomo to the Royal Family, and were documented as such. That said, I can call them the Lokomo if I wish, and they have no say in the matter. I'm rambling because I'm cold."

After a moment of silent, he added, "I dare anyone to label me racist, when I would treat them the same as I treat anyone else, including my so-called royal family members."

Nohansen carried his pack back to the entry gate, scaled the wall where several blocks had fallen away from the top, and climbed up to the top of the circular gate. He spoke into his voice recorder again. "I made it up to the top of the gate. It wasn't easy, but … because it looks a bit like a gear, I was able to use the broken wall and a few of the gate's gear-like teeth to climb atop of it. Now to activate it the way I activated the one I found far south of here."

He wedged the heavy Force Gem into its place at the top of the gate. It slid into place without too much resistance.

He withdrew a handgun from his pack, keyed the device in the trigger guard, removed it, slid the magazine into the handle, pulled back on the slide to load a round into the chamber, then he thumbed the safety.

He pointed the weapon at an angle and fired it against the Force Gem.

It glowed a royal green, and the gate began to glow, but was muted under the snow and ice that stuck to it.

Nohansen withdrew an airhorn from his pack and pointed it at the Force Gem. "If it's like the other one, once it becomes activated by physical force, it becomes activated. The gunshot seems to have activated it. According to the documents in the Royal Library, it requires a sonic attack to awaken. Back in the day, a train whistle worked. I brought an airhorn. Let's see if it works."

The professor blasted the horn and the gate filled with a vibrant yellow portal.

"HA! It works. It actually works. Again, that which people called divine magic, I call ancient technology created by a genius. Technology that does not require consistent maintenance to operate. It simply works … to the point that people thought it was divinity. But in the end, it means that the Royal Family is to blame for literally banishing people, not just from Hyrule or New Hyrule, but right out of this realm of existence."

He dropped down into the snow, standing in front of the portal, and took a picture with his tablet, but the camera lens did not show the yellow portal. Instead, it showed an empty gate with a partially collapsed building beyond the stone-like circle.

"It's been documented that there are people called the Twili in a sort of … shadow realm. It's been documented that an entire alternative dimension exists in this … Lorule. I wish to posit a theory. What if … the reason we cannot find proof of the Pre-Ancients on this planet is because they lived in the realm known as the Sacred Realm, and they created a pocket universe, or possibly discovered pocket universes, and sent their descendants to dwell within them … and we are all descendants of the so-called goddesses, and our group settled in one of the mirror realms … Hyrule. Another group settled in Lorule. And if that theory holds, the pre-ancients would have had to find a way to terraform this realm before settling it? And without information on how it worked, we as a people thought it was magic and divinity that brought us into this existence. I need to see the so-called Sacred Realm of Gold. The only way to know, for sure, if my theory holds weight is to test my theory. So … I'm entering the portal." And without another word, he stepped through, immediately greeted with a blast of warm dry air.

Nohansen stripped from his jacket, balled it up, and put it into his pack. He removed several layers of heavy clothing and shoveled it into his pack, wearing only an A-frame shirt and pants. He switched his boots for a pair of light shoes from his pack, and then he shouldered the straps with a sigh of finality.

He withdrew his audio recording device again and said, "It's also plausible that the pre-ancients did, in fact, live here on this world, but they learnt or, rather, became learned in the ways of how to make a carbon footprint so small that we have no proof of their existence or their evolution from idiots to geniuses. Or … there really is several gods and goddesses who watch us from the heavens, beyond physical space. Whatever the truth is, there is a historical fact waiting to be uncovered, and I demand to know that truth in full."

As an afterthought, he added, "I've arrived where southwest central Hyrule meets the Gerudo desert. It becomes dryer and far acrider ahead, so I've changed my clothes. It will be quite a hike back to the four-by-four now, heh. Although, whilst in the desert, I have to hide my face and my red hair. People will either recognize me as the brother of the king, or they will mistake me for … well … you-know-who. No middle of the road, there. It's to the point where Gustaf has asked me to avoid the desert towns, because the vai there quickly made a habit of either flocking to me as though I were king of the Gerudo … or they would run away as though I might be pure evil. We covered up my last trip to the desert, and we kept it from being in the news. I haven't been back since taking photographs of the Leviathan's remains, except to repair the gate I found using ancient texts. And that … was carefully orchestrated in the dead of night, when the hot sun wasn't responsible for the diurnal variation in wind speed necessary to cause winds strong enough for sandstorms."

He withdrew his tablet, glanced at the digital compass, returned it to his pocket, and adjusted the GPS destination on his smartwatch. The professor orientated himself and started walking toward the heart of the desert.

He withdrew the gear-shaped golden compass and followed the needle. Within half an hour of walking, the dirt began to resemble beach sand.

Once again, he withdrew his voice recorder. "Forgive me for explaining current theories but if this little adventure is a success, there is the possibility that I'll be juxtaposing this recording to newly learnt truths … possibly in the very libraries that exist amongst the goddesses and gods themselves. The current theory by the leading geologist states that thisland, upon which I now stand, was once a desert for untold millennia, and then seismic stress from the Great Flood, which created the Great Ocean, pressed eastern New Hyrule to the west faster than the west coast, now called Calatia, was willing to travel. The Hebra Mountains rose from a simple rocky range to the enormous heights of the modern range we have today. A smaller plate and adjoining plate, which the indigenous peoples called the River Plate and the Cuccos Plate, moved northeast, whilst the New World Plate, upon which Hyrule and Calatia sit, moved northwest against the Vast Ocean plate, which moves southeast against the Calatia shoreline, causing a crack in the landmass. Between that and the additional water introduced during the Great Flood, which some scientists theorize came from a mix of underground sources and most of the world's glaciers melting a little over two thousand years ago, the Vast Ocean began to flood the desert. This created an enormous inlet that came up to the base of the Hebra Mountains, stopping at what is now called the Gerudo Highlands. Meanwhile, in the eastern part of Hyrule, water gushed in from the Great Ocean. This continued until excess coastal waters came up to the heart of Akkala, filled the southern Eldin region, and gushed north of Mountain Lanayru, creating a mighty body of water in the heart of the Lanayru Region of New Hyrule. A jaw dropping amount of dirty air was released from the melted glaciers. Dirty air that had not been released since the time of the dinosaurs, ancestors of the dragons…" He trailed off for a moment.

Silence.

Nohansen took a moment to compose his thoughts, and then he continued speaking into his voice recorder. "Those who could not breathe well with the added sulfur in the air … undoubtedly were quick to perish. It eventually equalized, and humanity survived, albeit in smaller numbers than before. Some died in the flooding, some could not breathe the hot summer air, and those who did survive…? Many of them were afraid to raise a baby in the rapidly changing world. But the races of humanity did survive. And, with so much water on the planet's surface, the surface temperature dropped due to much of the sun's rays being reflected back into space. After some measure of time, polar ice caps returned once more, the air became filtered and easier to breathe, and either the additional water returned back inside the planet's surface, as some scientists theorize, or … who knows. This is all conjecture … theories."

He paused for a moment, sighed softly while maintaining his hiking pace, and then continued speaking. "Many conspiracy theories exist about what happened to the additional water left over from the Great Flood. It's a simple matter of math. If there are over three hundred twenty-six million-trillion gallons of water on this planet, then how did the Great Flood generate over an additional hundred million-trillion gallons? And where did it all go when the ocean levels finally lowered again? Geologists and the sharpest Sheikah scientist theorize that the world went from fifty-seven million square miles of land to about twenty-two million square miles of land, but now that the excess ocean water is turning back to glaciers, finally, we're back up to forty-three million square miles of land on this world."

Another pause, then he continued. "Water, of course, had an enormous impact on New Hyrule, but we are still trying to understand it … study it. What we know so far is that the receding water carved out Eldin Canyon, created the Lanayru wetlands, helped carve out modern Lake Hylia, it shaped the Gerudo Highlands, and then drained out of the Gerudo Desert, leaving the remains of sea creatures for Hylians to study, including the most famousone, a landmark protected by the Hyrulian Preservation Society, an enormous creature that takes dozens of people to keep it from being covered by sandstorms. I believe I mentioned it earlier. But what I didn't mention is that literally dozens of Gerudo Vai take pride in maintaining the area. On a semi-related note, the Sheikah are now constructing … somethingout by that site. Something beneath the ground, I believe. Not sure what. Hawa Koth, a Sheikah monk and scientist, has carefully negotiated with Tera, one of the Great Fairy Princesses … side note, the average Hylian is not privileged to know of the existence of Great Fairies or their kind; schools in Hyrule now teach of their race's extinction. Another one of the Royal Family's goddess-forsaken secrets…"

Nohansen exhaled sharply through his nose with a grimace.

"All right. Back on topic. The world's ocean water has yet to recede to below where it was when the Great Flood began, but it continues to lower daily, little by little. Divers have found ancient trinkets off the coast of the Lanayru Sea and Akkala Sea, suggesting it's possible that there were once cities out in the Great Ocean beyond the current eastern seaboard. No one seems to know for sure as focus on ancient exploration isn't nearly as important as, say, the need for research and development of modern technology. Furthermore, no one asks questions. No one seems to care how the Lanayru Great Spring was created, or that the Necluda Sea is extremely … hilly … beneath the surface of the water, but to the southeast the seabed becomes extremely flat in a submerged phallic-shaped landmass, which was said to have been above the ocean's surface before the Great Flood, two thousand years ago. How many people lived there? How many died when the Great Ocean rapidly rose to its incredible heights … heights that defy math, yet are supported by geological proof around the globe…?"

He switched the recorder to his other hand and then continued speaking again. "New Hyrule, alone, has changed dramatically in the past two thousand years. For example, there's geological proof that the river, which flows from the Faron Sea into Lake Hylia, once used to be one of the world's longest rivers just two thousand years ago, but that changed during the Great Flood. It may have connected to a gulf of sorts, but now that the flat landmass, which I just mentioned, has become fully submerged, the river simply connects to the Faron Sea. Furthermore, the river no longer goes all the way north of Hyrule anymore; it hasn't since the Great Ocean's flooding."

Brief silence. Nohansen sighed with a shake of his head. "I'm rambling. I'm rambling because I'm wandering the desert at night, worried of being caught. An entire desert, and I'm worried about being caught. That's the kind of emotional trauma I fear I've endured from my brother keeping such control over my life. It's incredibly inhibiting to my pursuit of knowledge for the sake of being a better educator." Nohansen backed up the recorder to the beginning of the last entry and placed his thumb over the deletion key.

He looked down at his hand, sighed again, then fast forward to where he was at in the audio logs. With his free hand, he rubbed his face, shook his head with a clenched jaw, and began recording a new file without deleting the last one. He said, "I nearly deleted my last entry. No true historian or scientist does that. I spoke out against my brother's reign, and that is dangerous, but I am allowed to vent my frustrations whilst in the privacy of my own audio journals. He cannot control my thoughts the way he controls my actions and lifestyle. So, I'm keeping the audio log … the audio rant, as it were. I truly hope I find the gate before the sun comes up."

X

X

Nearly two hours later…

Nohansen smiled brightly. He thumbed his audio recorder. "I've found it. It wasn't easy. And this climb ahead of me … that won't be easy, either. But I've found it, and I'll be scaling the side of this ancient and rather small island in the desert, until I reach the top."

He stashed his audio recorder and placed his palms against the sheer precipice. He used a grappling hook, fired from an attachment that had been fashioned for his pistol. The grappling hook sailed straight up and hooked onto tree roots that jutted out of the side near the summit.

Nohansen removed the attachment, secured his pistol, and checked his rope. He took a deep breath and began his ascent.

Scaling the vertical pillar of earth and granite took six grueling hours.

By the time he pulled himself up atop the island in the frosty Gerudo desert, sweat poured down his face and body. His hair clung to his forehead, and down the back of his shirt, and his body throbbed from the arduous workout.

"That," he panted into his voice recorder, "was amazing. Intense. I can see the horizon beginning to grow lighter in the distance from this height. This, of course, is the coldest month of the year, and it's roughly negative two degrees Celsius on the desert floor, but up here, it seems to be in the positive at five degrees. I'm going to use my vacuum-packed clothes from my pack, because sweating this much can make a chill even more dangerous."

He made quick work of changing his clothes. He used a small device to vacuum the air from a container that held his fresh clothes, in order to pack away his sweaty climbing clothes.

Once ready, he shouldered his pack again and started walking on the desert island. He thumbed his voice recorder once more. "The compass says I'm so close that it's begun to spin anti-clockwise in rapid fashion. I suspect I'll find it soon. I'm hoping it does not require excavating. If I need to dig or blast, I fear this trip might…"

Silence.

"There is an ominous mountain ahead, and a cavern within. It's large. Large enough to drive a train through, if the tales of the Lokomo are to be believed." He continued to walk, passing through the large, cavernous opening. "A shrine within the mountain atop the island … it was quite obviously designed by human hands. There are enormous concrete stones that make up the shrine's floor. There's a path where the spirit tracks once passed through, you can see faded outlines for the rail ties."

His voice reverberated off the sides, but with the top opened, showing the stars above, the echo was louder than the reverberation effect. "Up ahead is an enormous portal … gate … which is designed like the façade of a house frame, but with a circular gate at the center. It has fluted columns on either side, which lean inward framing the gate in menacing fashion. This portal is, for a lack of a better way to describe it, laden with foreboding, if nothing else, and feels utterly sinister. And I cannot stress this enough … it's large enough to drive a train through."

Nohansen continued to walk across the enormous shrine, feeling tiny within the room seemingly built for giants. "I know it was designed for locomotives to pass through here, but … walking through this large open room, one feels like an insect within a human dwelling. There's a sort of gloom about this massive shrine, where words fail me but are at the tip of my tongue to fully describe its immense size and the weight one feels upon approach to its core. I have never seen such a thing … a shrine so large, so open, without walls … within a mountain, which, I suspect, is an extinct volcano, due to the opening at the top. And when I say 'gloom,' I mean a portentous and threatening sort of feel to the air that I, still, even after rambling about it, cannot seem to properly describe beyond using words that belong in a thesaurus. For that, I apologize … not that anyone will ever hear this recording."

He cleared his throat and continued speaking. "All around me are straight vertical fluted columns, connected by etched granite beams in a circle, around the entire interior of this mountain cavern. I have never seen anything like this, and it makes no sense why climbers haven't scaled this place and uploaded videos on the internet by now. It's gorgeous, breathtaking, and somehow … terrifying. I'm approaching the gate up ahead. Stand by…"

There was an egress in the floor in the shape of a Force Gem. He retrieved it from his bag and pushed it into the floor firmly. And, without warning, the Force Gem disappeared.

Nohansen's eyes widened. "What in the name of Hylia…?"

It reappeared high atop the portal-like gate up ahead, gleaming with an ethereal glow.

Nohansen retrieved his weapon, took careful aim, and shot the Force Gem, activating it from a distance.

The gap between the circular portal and the outer section of the gate began to glow a marbled purple coloration, while the circular portal at the center roared to life with an eerie spiraling green and black center.

Something was scrawled across the floor in an enormous granite banner that surrounded the portal and gate. Nohansen squinted then he looked down at his feet, trying to determine if the banner shape was perhaps a hexagon or octagon, but from his shallow angle, walking across the ground, he couldn't be sure, as it was far too large to know unless he could see it from above.

He spoke into his voice recorder again. "Part of me wishes I'd brought a small drone to scan the area from overhead. There appears to be writing on the floor, but I cannot tell if these characters are Hylian, ancient Sheikah, Twili, or ancient Lokomo. Each shape or possibly runic letter is approximately forty feet in size, about the size of a Lokomo steam engine. Now that I'm standing on one, it might just be a design, as the designs seem to be mirrored around the base of the fluted column, up ahead, and it's also all around the circular gate. The green glow of the gate makes a sort of … cylindrical light tunnel that ends with a six-petal flower at the very center, like a chrysanthemum with most of its petals plucked … fascinating how it comes together at the center … very much like a flower fractal. Sorry for the disjointed thoughts, just trying to describe everything I see as quickly as possible, just in case it disappears. Also, outside of the circular gate, there's a top section that looks a bit like the roof of a house or small temple … and the gap between the circular portal and the outer gate is a royal purple coloration, marbled and yet beautiful, the color of Ganon's Malice trails in the sacred texts locked away in the Royal Library."

Nohansen stopped in front of the portal and looked down at his clothing. The fabric of his shirt floated forward, drawn to the portal via static electricity. He lifted his gaze and sighed softly. One last thought to record.

"If I step through this gate and meet my end, it will be some time before anyone realizes that these voice recordings are being mirrored to a cloud drive. But they will eventually be found. And since it uses my tablet's reception to upload the files in real time, there will be no further updates until … or … rather unless I return. At which point, the audio files I make on the other side will then be uploaded once the batteries are recharged upon my return.

X

X

2057, the future…

LJ blinked and stared at his sister. "So … if these recorder thingies are here, that's proof he made it back, but was changed by whatever happened there.

Aryll nodded in agreement. "It's also proof that the batteries are fantastic on those things. I know they haven't been used in years, but to hold a charge for that long? That's impressive."

"Focus."

"Right, yeah." Aryll shrugged. "So, where's the rest? Is that the end of it?"

"Yeah. Maybe he started making voice recordings on another unit. I mean, look … there are a bunch here."

"We have our work cut out for us."

LJ rubbed his face with his palms. "Yeah, we do. So … this guy finds his way to the Dark Realm or whatever … and thinks he's Ganon now, and he comes back and … because he's a smart person, he manages to pull off what no one could have foreseen … chaos and a terror attack that's next level…"

"LJ, are you forgetting his hoard of moblins and other creatures?"

"What if they're hard-light emitter creations?" LJ asked.

"They bleed when we run them through with swords. They disappear after defeat, but they still leave blood in their wake. Blood that we can put on a slide, under a microscope, and analyze it. They leave guts when you eviscerate them. The creatures are real. They have DNA and stuff, LJ. They need to be taken as a serious threat. They answer to Nohansen … to Ganon. They die for him. They generally have little regard for their lives, although sometimes they do seem to show a little self-preservation … not often, just … some of them at times. Makes you wonder if some of them have families at home or something. I can't think of any female moblins, but they have to come from somewhere."

LJ grimaced. "Okay, so now we know a little more about this guy … just not what happened on the other side of that portal that made him into the asshole he became."

"Pretty much. But you saw him. You saw his facial tusks. He isn't a normal human anymore."

"He admitted he was a hologram. He could have been using a frickin' app to change his appearance, Aryll."

"I want to understand him better so I can possibly know how to kill him, better. So, yes, we have our homework cut out for us; we'll have to listen to more of these, but I think he's the real deal."

"Convince me," said LJ.

"Well, I believe he got some of Ganon's memories. The question is, did he get them fromGanon in the parallel universe, or was he born Ganon, and got them when Ganon was awoke as he's claimed…?"

"Let's take the rest of these back and listen to them tonight. I wanna find a weakness I can exploit. Especially if it's something I can exploit back in my time."

"Our time, LJ. After all, I'm going home with you."

LJ smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. So is my Aryll. She told me she can't wait to meet her older self."

"I am your Aryll, just older. But I know what you mean. I'm looking forward to hanging out with myself in a time when I can go to a mall and buy soda that isn't years past the expiration date, but … I'm not exactly excited to butt heads with my thirteen-year-old self. Hopefully we don't butt heads, at least. Either way, we'll be very different."

"That's okay. You've grown up a lot since then, but you'll be busy getting ready to help us fight Ganon."

"I'll be one of the pilots."

"Pilots?"

"Of the Divine Beast," said Aryll. "That was Zelda's purpose for me. I found out after she died."

"Can you explain?"

"Of course, big brother. Four of us pilot a Divine Beast animal, and you go with a motorcycle the size of a real horse."

"I do?"

"You were supposed to, yeah. I still remember that conversation with you. You read something in the Royal Library about the Divine Beasts of old, and suddenly you wanted your vehicle to be wolf-based, like the Divine Beast Wolf that stopped the invasion of Twilight."

"A wolf, huh? That sounds like something I'd want to drive … badass. When does this happen?"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to go with a wolf, but it's ultimately your choice. Anyhow, the conversation happened right before you died; building the Divine Beasts never actually happens."

"Because I died?"

"Technically because Zelda died. She was the one putting resources and funding into building the Guardians and Divine Beasts. They were never finished, and they were never utilized in my timeline. But when we get back, you need to convince Zelda to focus on making sure the project is finished before she starts focusing on her growing relationship with you."

"I can do that."

"Good. I want to see Ganon Nohansen at the end of the Master Sword. I thought I was going to get that satisfaction when I attacked him with both, earlier, in front of the Prime Minister's office. I can't believe he was just a solid-light hologram or whatever. I want to kick that man's ass for murdering my brother. That can't happen to you, all right? Promise me."

"I promise." LJ opened his arms.

Aryll fell into his hug. "I mean it. I can't go through that again. I just can't. I can't do that twice. So … yeah. You have to survive this time."

"I will. I promise. And you'll be there to make sure we're going to win. You'll help me make a difference."

"I didn't make a difference last time."

"You weren't trained, and you were just a kid."

She spoke against his shoulder, somewhat muffled in tone. "Some of the heroes of legend were ten and thirteen years old. Just saying."

"What're you saying?"

"Only one person is born with the spirit of the hero each time he's reincarnated. And, once again, it wasn't a girl this time. That's all. But yes, I wasn't trained and now I am. And I can use the Master Sword, now. I can swing it; I can use it to block attacks…"

"I saw. This A-hole, Nohansen-Ganon, or Ganon-Nohansen, whichever … he's lucky he was a solid-light hologram, because you would have decapitated him and stabbed him through the heart at the same time, earlier."

"Yeah. I was frustrated as soon as I didn't see any blood. Not that I'm bloodthirsty, I just … want to see his. And using both Master Swords at the same time was probably dangerous or something, I don't know. I didn't ask Link before taking his. I just grabbed both from Sanctuary, hoping it was my chance to shine. But the truth is, I don't care who kills Ganon, just as long as someone drives the Master Sword through Ganon Nohansen's heart."

"I can't promise that you'll be the one to jam that sword into his heart, but it will happen when we get back to 2050."

"Just so long as it happens, I don't care who does it. Sooner we get back, the sooner he dies, so let's get the hell out of here. The Prime Minister can't stop us, now. There's nothing left for this timeline."

"Who's left? Because whoever is left won't have anyone to protect them."

Aryll shrugged. "A handful of people with no kids, and a lot of drama, that's all that's left. We're going to go back to 2050 and destroy that man before he kills everyone I care about."

LJ nodded firmly. "Agreed. Oh, and uh … I'm pretty sure 2057-Link is coming with us."

"He is?"

LJ nodded again. "At least he says he is. The Links approached me before you and I headed here…"

"They did?"

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, they already worked out the details of sending my Link to go back to his time in 1675, but I feel like it can't work that way. The younger Link can't go back to his time, or the older Link won't exist. Right? I know everyone said the timeline 'split,' but we're not talking about equity shares on the stock market, here, you know? Or, maybe, uh, ok that might not be a good example since you grew up after the stock market ended. But … my point is … keeping the older Link in the future and sending the younger Link back to 1675 … doesn't that create some sort of … I dunno … a paradox?"

"I don't know. But my Link deserves to go home and marry his princess. I know he would be a lot older than her, now, by seven years, but … that's okay. Older men are attractive. They're emotionally mature, and that makes them sexier."

"You're saying Zelda in his time would find him attractive because he's now seven years more mature?"

"I don't see why not."

LJ grimaced. "Did, uh…"

"Did … what?"

"Never mind."

"No, don't 'never mind' me. Say what's on your mind. I'm a grown-ass-woman, now."

"Aryll, you find him attractive."

"So what?!"

"You guys had a thing, didn't you?"

"LJ!"

LJ brought his hand to his forehead and sighed. "It all makes sense, now."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"You guys are a thing, now, aren't you?"

"Where is this even coming from?"

"Older Link developed feelings. The two of you reciprocate those feelings." LJ's voice started to raise in volume with each word, as he continued to speak. "Now, older Link wants to stay and fight because he's in love with YOU, Aryll. Dammit!"

"Look, LJ, we have a tight bond because we were in a figurative foxhole for seven years, back-to-back. After you passed … after you were murdered, I needed the security of a roommate. I couldn't live by myself. I had nightmares. It didn't help that the world was ending, but I guess I'm lucky I didn't need to balance a job and rent on top of everything else. Anyway, having Link in the same house made me feel safe, and yes, before you ask, his room was on a different floor. But he and I were close. We watched old digital movies together and we ate dinners together."

"I don't know what to say to that. Do I thank him? Do I freak out and ask him if he tookadvantage of you? How do I act?"

Aryll sighed. "It's complicated, but it's not that complicated."

"Are we dancing around the topic, or…?"

"Oh my God, LJ. Look, the love of his life is Princess Zelda in 1675. You should already know that." Before LJ could reply she added, "I've been through some shit – I lost my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, and … he's been through some shit, too. He lost his parents, and then his entire world and time period. Then he gets here, and what happens? You die, right after he promised to keep you safe. He feels like he's failed you and Zelda, and how can he not when both of you died in this timeline…? He never forgave himself. And, for the record, he's nearly died, more than once, trying to keep me alive. And, you know what? I've been trying to convince him to go home for years. But he doesn't think he deserves it. I'm telling you that he does."

"I'm telling you that he hasn't gone home because he's subconsciously conflicted – he has feelings for you. It's that simple. The dude just hasn't come to terms with it, I'm telling you. No one passes up a chance to go home to their kid's mom unless they've fallen in love with you and he doesn't wanna bring the baggage back in time with him, so he's sending a pure-of-heart version of himself home. Look, you're a girl – you tell me I'm wrong. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."

"LJ! For the love of Hylia, just drop it. You're blowing this way out of proportion."

"Am I? Look, Aryll, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the two of you living together, and the possible implications … and complications … that 'cohabitation' brings. Okay? It's just … not only that, but also … you're so much younger than him."

"LJ, will you shut up? First off, we're nine years apart, not twenty years apart. And for the record, I'm a grown-ass-woman. And, finally, I told you we're not dating."

"It's weird that he is our ancestor."

"Oh, my goddess! Okay, how do I even tackle this conversation?"

"Directly?"

Aryll grimaced. "Okay, fine. Let's do it head-on: Link and me? We're centuries apart. Like, a dozen generations apart or … something. At this point, genetically speaking, we're barelyrelated."

"Barely related? He and I look identical!"

"So what?! The facial features that were handed down just so happened to be some … recessive gene that surfaced with your generation! Whatever! My point is, there's so much more genetic information thrown into the mix over the course of all those generations between him and us. I'm serious, LJ. We're, like, way more than third cousins. On top of that, we're roommates, not mates."

LJ cringed. "Don't say, 'on top of,' when talking about your relationship with him. Please. Ugh."

"Holy Hylia, LJ! It's not marriage; we don't have kids. That would be weird."

"Then what is it? What is it you two have when you eat dinner together?"

Aryll buried her face into both of her palms and groaned in annoyance. She pulled her hands down her face, tugging on her cheeks, followed by a deep sigh.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but … I'm glad you didn't have kids. With him, I mean."

"LJ, we nearly died in one of Ganon's raids. We saved each other. We celebrated with the rest of Skyloft's survivors. We drank together, but with the rest of Skyloft. He carried me home and tucked me in. I felt like I trusted him enough to live in the same house with him. You're making this into a big deal when it's nothing."

"It's not 'nothing.' It's a bombshell you dropped on me."

"Um, sorry…?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Look, don't treat him … or me any differently."

LJ nodded. "I promise I won't. I'm just going to pretend like I never heard any of this. How's that?"

"Pfft. Can you pull that off?"

LJ chuckled. "I have no idea to be honest."

"Well, do it for me. Please. Like I said, we don't have a relationship."

"Would you even confirm to me if anything physical happened between the two of you?"

Aryll rolled her eyes again. "Holy effing Hylia. Okay, for goddess' sake, let's just say that sort of thing happened … how would it be any of your business what two adults do behind closed doors?"

LJ brought his hand to his own face and sighed into his palm. "Okay, this is getting weird, and I just … I can't right now, I just can't."

Aryll sighed softly.

"So … will you just tell me?"

Aryll huffed with indignation. "Look, you told me on the way over here that he came to you and told you that he's sending his younger-self back to 1675, after he passes on a few new techniques I assume. Then, he's going to 2050 with us to fight Ganon, where it's likely he's going to die in combat. Furthermore, I told you that I think he should go back to 1675 instead of his younger self, because he deserves to live out a peaceful life with someone he loves. He deserves to have a family. I want you to help me convince him."

"Aryll, have you ever thought … maybe this is why he wants his younger self to go back to Zelda? Maybe YOU are the reason he wants to stay and go back to 2050 with us. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe he caught feelings? Maybe he fell in love? Did you ever think of that before I brought it up?"

Aryll pursed her lips with a frown. "Look, I'll talk to him. He and I can talk to each other about anything with no judgment at all, okay?"

"Okay. You're an adult. I'm not going to say you can't talk to the guy. Just … I don't want to be part of that … conversation. Whatever you guys decide is fine. If we all survive, you and he will both be 'out of time' together, so … maybe that's the gods' and goddess' way of being … of having … a messed-up sense of humor on their part, huh?"

Awkward silence.

"I … I'm sorry. That wasn't nice of me to say. It's just…" He shook his head with a sigh of exasperation. "I mean it, I don't want to be part of that conversation between the two of you."

"LJ…" She sighed softly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want you to be part of our conversation. I asked you to help me convince him to leave, and you're being weird about stuff, so … I'll handle it."

"Holy Hylia, fine. I'll butt out."

Aryll thrust her arms outward. "THANK HEAVENS!"

LJ groaned.

"How about we change the topic, LJ?"

"Okay, okay." He ran his hand back through his unruley blond tresses. "So, did you learn how to be a badass swordswoman heroine?"

"Better than you."

"Well, now it's time for me to learn how to fight. I have to catch up."

"You've come through time to take me back to 2050, so that I can be the hero of time, right?" She smirked at him. "The spirit of the hero is supposed to be a male, but maybe this time it's me."

"Maybe it is."

"LJ, I was joking with you."

"I'm not. Maybe you're going to save us all."

"Okay, okay. Let's just get life back to normal so you can write that second book."

"Writing books seems like a lifetime ago, and writing my sequel seems like … it doesn't even register on the priority scale anymore."

"Well, let's kill Ganon and then you can make it a priority again. Anyway, c'mon. We still have to go through these other audio diaries back at Skyloft, and then we need to make some preparations for the people left on Skyloft before heading back to 2050. Let's go." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, pivoted, and headed back the way from which they came. "On my six, trainee."

LJ scoffed. "Oh, ha-freaking-ha."

X

X

Author's Note: Okay, I need reader feedback, here. I left things intentionally vague so I can ask readers what they think about 20-year-old Aryll and 28.7-year-old Link. It makes sense, yet it makes no sense. So, readers, what kinda drama do you wanna see, here? Is LJ overreacting? Is Aryll hiding something?
You decide!