Link and Sidon were man-handled through a hallway between two mushrooms into another part of the building. Whereas the first room had been vast and grand looking – and thus perfect to play tag in – the next place had a more… sacred temple kind of atmosphere. There were ornate pillars all around the place, mystical yet peaceful looking paintings hanging from the walls, and an altar against one wall. There was also a small fountain in the middle of the room.
Before the fountain stood an adult Minish dressed in the same robes as the children were. They turned around to look when the rather noisy group entered the room.
"Oh, visitors?" they asked, rather unnecessarily in Link's opinion.
"Yes! We seized them at the door!" said the kid who had spoken before – or at least Link assumed them to be the same kid; not like he could tell them apart other than by size at best. "We don't know what they want!"
The adult Minish sighed deeply, and Link couldn't help but sympathize; he got the impression that this situation was commonplace, potentially happening with every visitor even.
"I see", the adult said, managing to scrounge up an indulgent and patient smile for the kids. "Thank you for the assistance. Run back to your games."
The children cheered loudly, and abruptly let go of them to run back to the previous room. Link was very bewildered, and Sidon looked even more so.
"Pardon the children, usually we have one of the older children on door duty, but they're all on a field trip today", the adult Minish said. "My name is Festari of the Abbey. How may I be of assistance?"
Wait. The kids had also called themselves Festaris. Just how many of these people had the same name?
"I'm Prince Sidon and this is Link", Sidon said, smiling pleasantly as always. "We were told that this was the city hall and we would find the mayor here. Would that be you?"
Festari shook their head. "Unfortunately not. That would be my sister, and she's with the older children. I may still be able to assist you, depending on what your query is. I'm the spiritual leader of this city, the main guardian of the Deepwood Shrine, and have knowledge on most affairs in the city, so if you're not here for any official paperwork that require the mayor specifically, I may just be able to help."
That sounded more than good enough for Link. He tapped Sidon's arm. 'Let's roll with this one. Ask about the unrest first.'
Sidon nodded, and asked. What they got matched with Wanderi's knowledge, except Festari was able to confirm that the culprits had indeed been Vaatians, and any injuries sustained were minor on both sides of the conflict. The Vaatians had managed to ambush two traveling pairs with nobody the wiser, but their third victims had managed to scream for help. This confirmed Link's suspicion: the two of them had definitely been the intended targets. Why else would the Vaatians have targeted pairs?
"They've truly grown to be a nuisance lately", Festari said and shook their head. "They even attempted to get into the Deepwood Shrine just the other day. Thankfully their magical abilities are no match to the combined power pool of our clan, so they can't get in by sneaking past me."
So. Many. Questions. Once again, Sidon was on it without prompting.
"Deepwood Shrine? Your clan? Power pool? Could you perhaps elaborate? We promise we've no intention of spreading any sensitive information around."
Festari gave them an amused look. "I have no intention of sharing any sensitive information. One learns to pick what one shares with this many little listening ears around."
They gave a pointed look past Link's shoulder, and he heard a guilty little squeak and hurried retreating footsteps.
He saw Festari's point.
"The answers to your questions are not particularly sensitive, however", they continued. "By our clan, I mean each and every Festari living here. Our family is very large. The children here belong to me, my sister, and my three brothers. Oh, and a few are our cousins'. The power pool I mentioned refers to our family magic. Whoever in our clan becomes the guardian of the Shrine acts as the gatekeeper whose magic keeps unsolicited visitors out of the shrine, but the magic itself is powered by everyone who lives here. The more of us live here, the better protected the Shrine is. That's why our clan is large and the majority of the closely related children live here."
"Fascinating!" Sidon said, the embodiment of enthusiasm. "The Shrine itself must be a big deal then? Is it a Sheikah shrine?"
Link was all ears. He knew they were in a hurry, but if it was a Sheikah shrine…
"Sheikah?" Festari asked, blinking rapidly and tilting their head to the side. "No. That's Slateri family's business as far as I know. This is a Minish shrine and harbors the Earth Element used to power up the Picori Blade. It's not exactly needed often, but it's important to keep it safe for the future generations, in case it ever is needed again. ...Ah, you know the tale of the Picori Blade, the Hero, and Ezlo, right?"
Did Link ever! Librari and Histori had been all over that. They had neglected to mention that one of the elements was stored this close, however. ...Or Link hadn't been paying enough attention to pick that detail up.
A Minish shrine, then? It had to be very different from the Sheikah shrines. Link would bet his sword that it wouldn't be solvable with the slate, but he'd need different tools for it. Perhaps he would find them within the shrine, like he had gotten the basic functions to his slate from the first Sheikah shrines he had explored. It would be a thrilling new experience that would test him in ways that he hadn't been tested yet.
New tools!
New skills!
New strategies!
'I want to explore', he said to Sidon urgently.
Sidon looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Excuse me?"
'The Deepwood Shrine. I want to explore it.'
"Uh… I don't think that's a done thing here. Festari is guarding the place from people who don't have any actual business there. Isn't that right?" Sidon said, and turned towards very baffled looking Festari, who was staring at Link's hands. They clearly had no idea what was going on, which was fair since they evidently only understood half of the conversation.
"Y-yes? Unless the evil is released again, I'm not supposed to let anyone in."
Link refused to give up this easily. 'Not supposed to' didn't mean 'unable to' or 'cannot be persuaded'. It seemed, however, that he needed to convince his own boyfriend first.
'I need to explore! It could be useful!'
"I understand, but I rather think-"
'I must explore! It's a shrine!'
"Link! You can't explore the shrine! This place is… uh…" Sidon looked at Festari pleadingly.
"A sacred cultural relic of our people", Festari supplied. It seemed they had gotten over their shock at Link's signing. They looked rather amused even, like they were watching a sword fight for sports.
"A sacred cultural relic of the Minish! You cannot just go in and explore it simply because you want to. This is not an abandoned Shrine that nobody will mind you poking in. This is an important, guarded place", Sidon said sternly.
Damn it. This is why he traveled alone; nobody disagreed with his choices. Slightly fuming, he gave Sidon a mulish look. 'Translate me. I'll negotiate for myself.'
Sidon blinked rapidly, and then sighed. "Of course. But do keep in mind that we are also in a bit of a hurry, so this is a bad idea all around."
...Double damn it. He didn't want to be reminded of that. He crossed his arms and took a moment to think.
They were in a hurry, but he wanted to explore the interesting new kind of a shrine. Festari didn't seem keen on the idea, but they wouldn't be the first person whose mind Link had changed for the sake of adventure or necessity. But they really were in a hurry and exploring a shrine thoroughly would take hours, maybe even a whole day.
...He could pave the road for his future self, though. He let out a small sigh of defeat, glanced at Sidon, and then turned to Festari.
'We're in a hurry now, but do you think I could go into the shrine sometime in the future? I'm the hero who defeated Calamity Ganon and who carries the Master Sword. I have experience in shrines. Make an exception for me?'
There. He played the hero card. Surely now-
"GUYS! WE HAVE AN ACTUAL HERO HERE!"
What-
Suddenly an avalanche of children stampeded from the doorway towards them and Link tensed in a defensive pose automatically. He couldn't harm children, however, so he couldn't parry or dodge despite having plenty of time to do it. The end result was that he was literally tackled to the ground and then dog-piled by the smallest kids while the slightly bigger ones jumped and skipped around him in a weird dance, and every single kid was yelling questions at him in an incoherent cacophony of high pitched voices.
He decided that he would have preferred a camp full of Bokoblins. They were gentler.
This lasted for what felt like forever, before the adult Festari's voice boomed out. "Children! Orderly row, now! Hop to it!"
Like magic the children scrambled off of him and stood up, forming a row that went roughly from smallest to tallest, with a few exceptions. Perhaps sorted by age?
"Link, are you alright?" Sidon asked, wearing a worried frown, but the corners of his mouth twitched all the same. Clearly he was fighting a laugh at Link's expense. He extended a hand to him, and Link let him pull him up. His back felt a little sore from landing on his equipment and being squished against them, but he had had much worse.
'Ruta wasn't as rough', he replied, and Sidon finally let out a laugh.
"You're fine, then."
"Listen up, every Festari", the adult Festari said with a stern voice, looking at the row of kids. "We do not tackle people. Someone could get hurt. Apologize to Link this instance."
Most of the children looked contrite, while some were clearly not particularly sorry. However, they turned to Link as one and he received a chorus of varyingly sincere sorrys.
At least they obeyed orders – from Link's understanding that was a difficult trait to teach to children, especially a group of them. Kudos to Festari and whoever else raised them. Ah, the adults were likely all named Festari as well. Link was glad he didn't have to stick around for long because that'd get confusing really fast.
He smiled and nodded at kids, accepting their apology. One of them raised a hand immediately after, much to his confusion. What-
"You may speak, Festari the Eighth", the adult Festari said. Oh, so it was a request to speak then. ...Actually, a half-memory from his completely hazy childhood rose to the surface – they did this kind of a thing in school, didn't they? Potentially in the military sitting as well?
"Can I see the sword?" the kid asked, and now all of the children gave Link a very, very keen look, clearly equally interested.
He knew what was happening. He smiled and pulled the Master Sword out of its sheath, held it out in front of him for the kids to stare, and then did a few easy strikes with it. As expected, the children were completely captivated. Anticipating the next request, he wielded his shield and parried a few imaginary enemies. Then he took out his bow and did a heroic pose or three. Finally he bowed, and received ecstatic applause.
He had been a hero for a while, after all – he knew what his fans wanted.
What he didn't expect – especially given the scolding just a few minutes earlier – was to be tackled back to the ground as most of the kids rushed to hug him violently in their hero worship.
"Children! Didn't we just discuss this?"
This was apparently his life now.