After a moment, I decided it may be good to be able to actually see, so I conjured a much larger fireball and just held it for light.
"Look at these paintings! Are they all of Ganondorf?" Link exclaimed.
"I think so. Well. makes sense that he'd be a narcissist. Almost every villain is, in one way or another."
"So, would that make you a narcissist?" He asked, with a small twinkle in his eyes. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
"It's not narcissism if you actually are a genius mage," I smirked at him. His laugh was infectious, and soon the two of us broke down into giggles.
"Back to reality, what do you think this boss is going to be? I'm thinking that it may be something painting related." Deep in thought, I silently agreed. There were far too many paintings for it to just be decoration.
"Where's the big lock?" Link's question brought me out of my contemplation.
"Hmm?"
"On the boss door, there's always a golden lock and you need to get the Boss Key. Don't ask me why, but there is."
"Huh. I have a theory, related to what you said before I ran off, but I still need proof. I have a feeling that my proof is going to be through that door." I could feel apprehension coming off of Link in waves. "Don't worry, If I turn out to be right," I was hoping I was not, "I think we have another option." He opened the door, and we were surprised to see that not only was there no boss, but the portal of light was already present.
"Dammit!" I punched the wall, which, in retrospect, was not a great idea. "OW! I think I broke my hand!" Cradling the aforementioned appendage, I . When they enter Phantom ganons arena, there is no boss, just the ring of light you normally go through after the boss, the two of them go through and its just rauru confirming what Zelda said, the other sages never awakened, it's impossible to continue on
glared at the spot I hit. Link just looked at me and handed me a red potion. "Thanks." The potion quickly healed my injured hand and Link watched me suspiciously.
"Vaati. I think you know more than what you've told me."
"I do, thanks to your stalker," He looked at me with even more confusion as I told him about my encounter in Hyrule Field with Sheik/Zelda.
"Wait, Sheik was Zelda the whole time?!" He looked more shocked at that than at the contents of the conversation.
"Yes, did you hear what I said though?" Frustration was not an emotion I handled well.
"I did, I was trying not to think about it." That at least, I could understand.
"Well, we will learn more when we head to the Sage's chamber."
"True, what are we waiting for then?" Link sprinted past me and into the circle of light. Sighing, I did the same thing, albeit at a more measured pace.
We entered the Sage's chamber, and found only Rauru, the Sage of Light we met earlier in our (so far) short journey together.
"So the Hero and the former evil are still traveling together. Why am I not surprised?" Rauru scowled at both myself and Link. "Thanks to you, Vaati, the cycle that our world goes through every so often has been interrupted. Saria was supposed to awaken as the Sage of Forest, and as you can see, she has not. There is no way for us to defeat Ganondorf now. This world is doomed." Link fainted, but I was just quick enough to summon wind to cushion his fall.
"I knew that this would be the case, old man. Do you know the Song of Time?"
"Why does it matter, everything is doomed anyway."
"It matters. Zelda told me that this was most likely the case but she said something odd, that Link and I could prevent the cycle from occurring in the first place, I would just need to learn the song of time." Rauru looked shocked, but agreed to teach me the song.
"Vaati, I don't blame you, I blame the Goddesses for making this cycle in the first place. I hope that song will help you in your endeavor to end the cycle. You two need to head back to the real world now." He snapped his fingers and we were back in the boss-less boss room. To my surprise, Zelda was waiting there for the two of us to return.
"So, Vaati, you see what I mean. There is no hope for anyone in this altered timeline, however, as I mentioned to you," she gestured towards me, "There is another option at our disposal. I did some research and it turns out that the harp I was using while pretending to be Sheik, is actually the same one that you now hold."
"How is that even possible? If this truly is the Harp of the Goddess, there should only be one!" Confused, and angry, I was ready to take my feelings out on Zelda, since I certainly wasn't going to hurt Link again.
"You are actually right. There is no possible way for there to be two of the same legendary instrument. Which brings me back to my original point. Your very existence, the Kinstones returning, Ezlo being back, it is completely impossible. However! The facts remain. You obviously exist, and so does your harp. I visited Ezlo," I must have been showing my emotions on my face because Zelda merely glared at me before continuing, "I visited him and shared my concerns. As it happens, I was slightly incorrect. You are not the issue with the timeline and the prophecy of the hero. It's the harp. Now, I know you like to keep your secrets, but I need to know. How exactly did you get your hands on it?" I thought back to when I was imprisoned. It was a very monotonous experience, and however many years it was, only one moment stuck out to me. A blue and purple... figure, for in my mind there was no other way of describing them, reached out, into the prison I was in, and handed me the harp. She said something to me, which sounded like the ancient Hylian language that I read when trying to discover more about the Skyward Hero, and then vanished. I relayed all of that to Zelda and Link. He looked even more confused, but Zelda seemed to understand almost immediately.
"Well, it looks like there is a very interesting situation developing. Everything seems to lead back to the events of thousands of years ago. This is going to sound crazy, but we, meaning all three of us," she said with a pointed look in my direction, "Need to play the Song of Time. Link, I realize it hasn't been much use to you other than removing some blocks, but it's probably the most important, and powerful song that you know. Give me a minute, and I'll come up with an arrangement that allows for two harps, and your ocarina." She walked off without another word, and a quick glance in her direction showed that she was deeply engrossed in some sheet music.
"Well, Link, this is not how I expected things to be. Still glad that you rescued me?"
"You're an idiot. Of course I am. I would have done the same thing even if you were a minion of Ganondorf trying to kill me."
"You are far too altruistic."
"I'm supposed to be, I am, er... I was the Hero." With that, I merely sighed, and conjured a small basket of fruits, bread, and cheese that myself and the Hero could eat while Zelda worked her composing magic.
"So, what do you think her plan is?" Link asked, in between bites of bread.
"I have an idea, but I don't know if you are going to like it..." I paused, waiting for some kind of response from Link.
"Just tell me, please, Vaati. I'm your friend now. Friends don't keep secrets."
"Cut it out with the guilt, I'll tell you. I think that since we have two of the same instrument, it should be quite simple to return to the point where they became important, as in, the beginning of the Skyward Hero's Quest. From the little I was able to translate from the ancient texts, the actions of that Hero caused the endless cycle of Ganondorf's resurrection, as well as the continuation of the three Triforce pieces being placed in the three of you. You have Courage, Zelda of course has Wisdom, and Ganondorf has power. But it wasn't always that way. I don't know much more, but from what I gather, the events of that time caused an echo, if you will, in time itself, dooming the repetition of Ganondorf attempting to seize the pieces of the Triforce from you and Zelda."
"So, this whole Song of Time business, we are going to be the main players in that time period, and try to prevent the cycle from starting."
"Very good, Link. I've arranged your, and Vaati's, parts as well as my own. I believe that due to the nature of time, we should, with the exception of Vaati, become the Link and Zelda of that time period."
"What's going to happen to him?" Link asked concernedly.
"He will travel with us, again, we need some way of changing fate, and he's already done it once, so I'm sure he can manage to find us and help avoid the inevitable."
"Alright." That answer seemed to have mollified Link somewhat.
"Are you two ready? I have a feeling that once we play this song, we will never be able to return."
"Quite." I answered, looking right into Zelda's eyes.
"I'm ready." Link answered as well.
"Okay. I will tap out the beat, and start things off, but you two will need to start playing the instant I do. Ready?"
"Let's get on with it." With my words, Zelda began tapping out the tempo with her foot, and got her harp ready. I did the same with mine, and Link got his ocarina out of that rucksack that seemed to me to have an almost infinite capacity. From the first note out of Zelda, our tercet started to play the recently rearranged song of time in near perfect sync with one another. By the time we finished, my fingers were almost bleeding, and Link looked to be out of breath. There was a brief flash of light, but nothing else seemed to happen. I looked at Zelda.
"Is that it? It doesn't seem like our playing did-" At that moment I lost consciousness.
Link woke up with a start. He was having a nightmare, which was rare for him. Him, A hero? Not likely. He jumped when he heard a tapping on the window, though it turned out to just be Zelda's Loftwing with a letter in its beak. He took the letter, and went through what Zelda, his oldest friend and the Headmaster's daughter, wrote to him. Strange, he thought to himself. The letter was written in a language he didn't understand, but chalked it up to a prank done by his friend. Heading back to his bed, he found that there was a nicely carved, blue wind instrument in his pocket. Another one of life's mysteries, he supposed. Still, it was a nice item to have, even if he hadn't ever played or seen anything like it. Except in your nightmare, the voice of reason in his head reminded him, but when had he ever believed in nightmares or dreams as anything more than what they were.
"Link! You haven't forgotten about the Wing Ceremony, have you?" A familiar voice called to him, and then there was a knock on his door.
"Of course not, Come in, Instructor Horwell!"
Zelda awoke around the same time that Link did. She vaguely remembered that she had written a letter to Link for her Loftwing- Wait, what's a Loftwing? We never had those in Hyrule? She thought, and took a look at her letter. I wrote this? I can't even read this, she thought, as she began to write another letter, and then it hit her. What had happened, with Vaati, and the Song of Time, Hyrule, Ganondorf's return, and everything else that happened in her past. Well, I guess in the past that was mine before we took over the roles of the first incarnations of the hero. She got to writing a letter, explaining everything in case Link was suffering the same sort of memory loss as her, and called for a Loftwing, whatever that was. To her surprise, and shock, it was a giant bird. After she got over the first of many shocks of the day, she handed the letter to the bird, and told it to go and give it to Link. This is going to be one confusing day, she thought... not knowing the half of it. She took the time after that to go to the library in what appeared to be a school of some kind, to learn up on the history of the world she found herself in.
Zelda and Link weren't the only ones confused. I awoke with a start and found myself in an abandoned temple. Somewhere in the Desert, most likely, I mused. Of course, not that crazy of a guess, considering that everything was made of sandstone, and in the middle of it all, was an upside down image of the Triforce on a pedestal that had a large black sword thrust in it. One would have to be crazy not to be interested in that sword, since it was the only thing of note in the temple area that I was in, besides what looked to be a door to the outside. Against my better judgement though, I started to walk towards the black greatsword with a red diamond set into the hilt, and before I really processed what was happening, I pulled the sword out of its pedestal. I had thought that such a massive greatsword would be unbearably heavy, but when I looked back at it, now in my hand, I realized that it was now a very light, and sleek, sabre.
"Who dares wake me from my slumber!" I looked around and couldn't determine the speaker.
"Uh, Who exactly is speaking?"
"It is I! The Great Demon Lord Ghirahim!" The diamond on the hilt started glowing, and seconds later a very lithe male, who appeared to be clad in nothing but a tight fitting white outfit, with diamonds cut out of the fabric, presumably to highlight the man's skin.
"Ok. Sorry I yanked your sword out, Great Demon Lord," I said his self proclaimed title with a roll of my eyes.
"That is not the problem!" He sounded suspiciously close to whining at this point. "Only my true master should have been able to pull the sword from the pedestal. Who are you, but more importantly, what are you wearing?"
"I am Vaati, the wind mage. I have come from the future to prevent a disaster from occurring. Do you know where I can find someone named Link, or Zelda?" He was sitting cross legged on a piece of stone but when I asked him this, he nearly fell over. "That Goddess serving dog, and the Hero? My master will deal with them!" I merely raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, I had the forethought to bring this with me. Can you read this writing?" I handed Ghirahim the texts related to the Skyward hero. "Of course, give me a few minutes to read this though." With that, he snapped his fingers, and the book and the self proclaimed demon lord disappeared into a flash of black and red diamonds.
A few moments later, he popped back into the room, looking even more pale than usual, and that was saying something, considering his skin was almost white.
"You really are from the future?"
"I believe I told you that. What did those texts have to say?" I was almost more curious about his reaction to whatever was in them, versus the actual content of the text.
"While many passages were unreadable due to time or carelessness, I can't say. However, what I was able to read was... shocking. Apparently, my master," I noted he almost spat the word, instead of speaking of him in almost frenzied adoration as he was earlier," was brought back to this world through my actions, but he didn't have a weapon he wanted to use, so he forced my spirit back into the sword you now possess, and used my soul, when he was defeated by the hero, to ensure a curse fell upon each reincarnation of the hero... THAT BASTARD! I go through all the trouble of resurrecting him, and what do I get? I get to be his weapon, and I get killed all because he couldn't fathom being defeated by the Goddess' chosen one. Well, Vaati. Looks like fate is going to have to change what her plans are, since I will not be treated as some tool to be discarded when things are going rough. Besides, you pulled the sword out, before I was to be awakened, so you are... Technically... My new master." He said the last words with a grimace. "Anyway, let us go, and find those Goddess-serving dogs, er, Link and Zelda."
"Agreed, though, I think that you'll find that none among us are keen to serve anyone. The fact that we all came back in time to this point was all due to the fact that none of us wish to be pawns in a game only the Goddesses know about... Actually, since we came back at the same time, shouldn't we all still be together?" I mused, though, it was odd that the time magic would separate us physically.
"Well, boy, if you'd thought about what you were trying to do, you'd know that both Zelda and Link exist in this time, whereas you do not."
"True. So, where are they?"
"In Skyloft? Where else would they be?" I merely raised an eyebrow, refusing to be angered by this Demon Lord or whatever he claimed to be. "I suppose you wouldn't know about this world, considering you can't even read."
"It's not my fault that everything is written in another language!"
"Well, anyway, we should head up there. Ah, to practically be invited up to the Goddess' Sacred land, the thought fills my heart with rainbows!"
Link was having a confusing day. He had gone through his closet for something appropriate for the Wing Ceremony, but instead of his normal Skyloft attire he instead found a green tunic, like the knights wore, as well as a blue and red one. There were also some strange artifacts, such as a bow, and a blue mechanical device that he was wary of testing. I'm sure it must be some sort of prank Groose set up, he thought. In the other corner of his room were his usual clothes. He decided on an off-white tunic and a dark green pair of pants. Horwell had told him that the Wing Ceremony was to begin shortly, so he rushed out of his room to go see Zelda before it started. He ran to the base of the statue of the Goddess where Zelda was waiting for him.
"Finally, Link. I see you got my note."
"Lot of good it did though, why did you write the whole thing in some nonsense language?" He scowled, but noticed that Zelda went pale at his remark.
"You... couldn't read it?"
"Of course not, what are you getting at?" He blinked in confusion. Zelda was never this forward, or aggressive when they were younger.
"What I am getting at is, we need to be attempting to abort the coming prophecy, or we will have come all this way for nothing!"
"What prophecy?" Link was looking down at his feet, and ended up looking up a moment too late as Zelda was already mid swing with her harp. She hit her mark head on, and Link fell unconscious.
"Where are we?" I asked, to try and get Ghirahim to come out of the sword I was carrying on my back. He seemed to enjoy hiding in it since I was obviously not his true master even though apparently no one except the true wielder of the Demon Blade was supposed to be able to remove it from the pedestal. He appeared in a flash of diamonds.
"Surface. Lanayru province." I didn't understand either part of his answer but I knew well enough to keep my mouth shut when it came to events of the timeline I was now part of.
"And how are we going to get to Link?"
"From the documentation you have, apparently the... Hero... was able to use bird statues to return to the sky. Ah! Like the one we are coming up on now." It was indeed a statue of a bird.
"But how can we fly? I can do enough wind magic to levitate, but not enough to basically fly."
"You'll use one of those damned birds that the people of Skyloft love so much. Well, you have to have one bond with you, but," he smirked and shook his head, "details, details." I was not happy with his explanation but before I was able to say anything else, he touched the bird statue and it glowed with an orange light, and before I knew it I was shot up into the sky. I was doing my best to slow my fall, and of course Ghirahim was hiding in his blade, but slowly, I could tell I was still falling towards the cloud barrier that I had just come out from. Out of nowhere, however, a large bird flew out towards me, and I held on for dear life. Thankful that I had been somehow saved, I decided it was time to find Link. I did my best to direct the bird, and I was glad that she, How did I know this bird was female? listened to me and we flew towards Skyloft.
Link woke up an hour after Zelda had knocked him unconscious with the side of the Harp of the Goddess.
"Dammit Zelda, did you have to hit me? I don't even know what I did. All I remember was being happy to see you since I was uncertain if the Song of Time would work like..." He paused.
"I'm glad it was that easy."
"I didn't remember anything other than what happened in the life of this reincarnation at first, I'm assuming. Still, that hurt!" They were going to continue talking about what to do, especially in regards to Vaati and the prophecy, but were interrupted by one of the residents of Skyloft running towards them and screaming about the end times.
"Things never can be peaceful when it comes to our motley crew, can they? What's wrong," Zelda searched her memories, well, the previous Zelda's memories, for who this person was, "Pipit, calm down and tell me what's wrong!" The boy stopped and took a few breaths.
"My gran used to tell me an old Prophecy about Skyloft when I was being a nuisance to scare me. A dark sorcerer would turn our home into rubble, and come in riding a Voidwing. They're thought to be a myth, but I saw one with my own eyes when I was doing my patrols."
"What's a Voidwing?" Zelda asked curiously. Her reincarnations' memories had no knowledge of this creature so she was doubly intrigued.
"It's supposedly like our Loftwings, but instead of being friendly or helpful, it is a vicious creature that thrives on chaos. It is supposedly attracted by forces of great change and chaos, hence why in that story the dark sorcerer is riding one. What can we do?!" Pipit, normally the calm one in situations, almost begged Zelda and Link.
"This 'Dark Sorcerer', What did he look like?"
"Well. He was wearing purple robes and had lavender hair and red eyes..." Link and Zelda exclaimed at once.
"Vaati! He made it!" The both of them breathed sighs of relief.
"Who? This is bad!"
"Pipit, sorry about this..."
"What?" He turned to see an already slightly bloody harp being swung at his head.
"Zelda! You can't just hit everyone!" Link said, though there was a tone of resignation in his voice. She just shrugged.
"I spent too much time as Sheik to go back to being the non-violent princess everyone expects of me. Hopefully he will wake up and think that this was all some bad dream after he tripped and fell. I get the feeling we won't be here too often anyway," she looked pensive for a moment, "Do we uh... have any money?" An expression of fear flashed across Link's face, and he chose his next words very carefully, as Zelda still had her dented and bloodied sacred instrument in her hands.
"It may have all disappeared when we went back in time..." No sooner did he get the words out then he saw Zelda winding up to swing at him with the harp. "Wait! There has to be a way to make money! We should head to the market and ask around!" Zelda sighed, and reluctantly agreed with him.
"Oh, wait, we have that stupid ceremony today. We know Vaati is on his way, so that's one problem taken care of, but we should still keep up appearances. Head to that platform," she glared at him, "Don't ask which one, it's the one that everyone is standing on, and you should know how to ride the damn bird, you do still have both sets of memory, right? I would hate to have to hit you again..." She raised the harp menacingly, but luckily (for Link at least) he did remember how to ride a Loftwing. "I will be on the top of this statue of the Goddess, and according to what I can actually read, I will get thrown beneath the clouds, at which point the prophecy kicks in and you try and rescue me. Do not make me wait, because the second I get to the surface, I am finding a real weapon, and getting out of this stupid costume dress." Link looked rightfully frightened. Zelda was scary enough wielding a musical instrument, but a real weapon could cause permanent damage. His only hope was that after the ceremony was finished Vaati would arrive in Skyloft. At least he could protect him from the violent princess...
Link walked up to the platform where Groose and his lackeys, and his own instructor, were.
"Scared, Link? Where is that ruddy bird of yours anyway? Did it run off because it couldn't stand flying for a weak and cowardly rider?" Groose was preening himself as he spoke, of course, he didn't know that Zelda already rescued his bird.
"Save it, Groose, we already rescued him from under the waterfall someone hid him under..." Zelda's eyes flashed dangerously.
"Oh, uh, well, I hope I win so we can be alone on the top of that statue, Zelda." he said, leering.
"If you win, both you and Link will not be able to walk again. Good luck!" Skipping away, she knew exactly how scary she was.
"Alright gentlemen? Ready for the Wing Ceremony?" His instructor spoke, still a little frightened by the threats of violence from the normally serene headmaster's daughter.
Link nodded his assent.
Groose and his lackeys nodded as well.
"Well, then, on your marks, get set, Go!"
The four men went sprinting off to the edge of the platform, and each called their bird. The goal of the ceremony was to grab the idol of the Goddess from the bird flying away from them. Link and his Crimson Loftwing easily caught up, only to be shunted out of the way by Cawlin. He had lost some ground, but no one was any closer to grabbing the idol, thankfully. He definitely didn't want to see what Zelda would have in mind if he lost.
Eventually he got close once again, and managed to grab the idol and shot off towards the statue of the Goddess, unaware of the glares he was receiving from his rivals.
When he touched down on the statue, he was ready to kiss the ground. He was not someone who enjoyed flying despite it being the only method of transportation viable in this world. A stray thought crossed his mind about it being better than a boat, which left him wondering where that came from. It wasn't like the Hyrule he came from had much water.
"Link, apparently I was supposed to give you some piece of cloth that you could use as a parachute, but I doubt that would even work, so I made some modifications and made a glider of sorts." She handed him the newly dubbed Sail-Glider. "Well, time for fate to kidnap me." As she said that, a tornado whipped up and flung her under the clouds. Link, expecting this in this timeline, just shrugged and explained what happened to the headmaster.
"This is terrible, my daughter, lost!" The man was close to tears.
"Sir, things will work out, so stop worrying. I just wanted to give you the news. Somehow, I will find her."
"Oh, Link, you're truly so selfless!" Smartly, he chose to accept the compliment, and didn't say that he was just terrified over what Zelda would do to him if he didn't get down there soon. With that, he left the Knight's School, and waited outside for Vaati to arrive.
