Chapter 9
I sat on the bed in Catto's old room with my head down. She was looking through old things. She was messing with papers, books, and drawers. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, just looking. Ghirahim hadn't come back into the room, the door was wide open. There was a lot of silence. I still had a lot of questions and concerns. I was tired of thinking and my head was hurting because of it. Yet there were still constant thoughts that clogged thinking.
"He didn't mean it," Catto said, breaking the silence. Her voice had a short echo follow it from the large room. I laughed a little to myself in response. "Ok, maybe he did mean it. But you don't have anything to be ashamed of, Link is a great hero."
"Yeah, but he is a terrible dad." I groaned. She turned around and looked at me confused but then she just sighed and looked sad. "Why did you leave me with him, of all people?"
"I knew him. He owed me a pretty big favor." She shrugged. "I didn't think he would be bad father material. No one else would have kept you if they knew who you were."
"Why did he owe you a favor?" I asked.
"You've probably heard his story a billion times, right?" She asked; I nodded. "Yeah, let's just say that there are probably some details purposefully left out." She chirped and picked up a journal from her desk and set it off to the side with others. "He isn't a Mary Sue. He made mistakes that got him in trouble. And when someone like Ghirahim is watching you, he capitalizes on kicking you while you're down." I thought hard about what she was saying. Link left out two major things from the story now. First, it was that Groose guy, and now this. "At one point Ghirahim brought him back here to finish him off while he knew where Zelda was. If I hadn't let Link go..." Her voice trailed off. It was silent again.
"Why don't we leave?" I asked. "He clearly doesn't want us here."
"He will come around," Catto answered. She avoided the question. "You don't have to sit in here and keep me company. You can go explore the library or something if you'd like." She suggested.
"It's ok, I don't mind talking with you." I insisted. It still threw me off that either of these people could be my parents. While all the facts line up, They were both basically my age... forever. I was probably going to look older than both of them in a few years.
"I am sure you don't, but we have plenty of time to catch up and I don't want to hold you anymore captive than you've already been." She messed with some more papers and journals, looked at me, and smiled sadly. I figured I could use the walk to stretch my legs and look around some more at the house. I got up and walked towards the library. I opened the doors and walked in. I didn't exactly know what I wanted to read, or if I even wanted to read. Regardless, I paced around and looked at shelves with boring titles of history, languages, science, and countless other subjects. I walked over to the close corner of the room and the large grand piano reflected my face in it. I tapped a key and I got a chime. I pressed a few more and realized that it was out of tune.
I was bored for the most part, and this out of tune piano seemed like a simple enough mission. I didn't have any musical talent. So I figured I needed to find a book on music or even a book on how to tune a piano. I walked to a wall with books that stretched several stories up to the ceiling and moved the rolling library ladder to where I needed it. I skimmed all the way up the ladder for a music book and didn't find one. I did this every column of books. To the best of my luck, I found a small shelf of music books near the end of this wall. However, none on how to tune a piano. So I began to climb up the ladder for the twelfth time. I couldn't go any further because the track for the ladder ended and there was a small, old, balcony that was in the way. The entrance to the balcony was on one side with no ladder leading directly to it.
Something felt off from the balcony. It had a very dark old feeling in comparison to the rest of the library. I felt like there were things up there that might be interesting. I noticed a book on instrument tuning on the shelf where I was. I grabbed it and then slowly continued to climb up. I noticed that an old rusted ladder track went along the balcony and lead to the entrance. I studied my ladder track and realized then there was an opening at the end to hop my ladder over to the older track. I quickly climbed down the ladder. Catto walked into the library and looked concerned. Her eyes glimpsed at the ladder and the balcony.
"Wh-what are you doing?" She asked.
"Oh, I was looking for a book," I said holding the book up in my hand to show her. She looked nervous. "I was going to tune the piano. The music books were here." I pointed to the column of the bookshelf I was at. She shook her head and calmed herself down.
"Oh ok, that's really nice." She said. "Listen, I'm going to go talk to your father and sort things out. We all need to be mature together. If anything happens, let us know, but I wouldn't try to interrupt, ok?" Her voice was shaking, but I nodded and pretended not to notice.
"Alright, cool, I'll be here tuning the piano." I grinned, she didn't smile back, she still seemed nervous. She walked out of the library and the door shut behind her. I waited a couple of minutes and then set the book down on the floor. I quickly grabbed the ladder and began shaking it and pulling it off the track. The ladder was heavy and tall. I was able to inch it over bit by bit. My neck strained as I looked up at the top of the ladder and tried to maneuver it over more. I heard a satisfying click as the wheels connected to the old track. I slowly moved the ladder over to the balcony entrance. Once it was there, I quickly climbed up and stepped inside.
There was an old, dark, wooden table in the middle with piles of dusty old books opened and lying about. Many pages either faded with age or were caked with dust. There were a few old shelves that sat mainly empty. The titles ranged from prophecy and future detecting to soul sacrificing in dark magic. I tried to read some of the open books.
Interspecies offspring exists. It is often considered taboo through many cultures. It should not be practiced and avoided by all means available. It has been forbidden by the gods. This section will cover all known cases of interspecies offspring and what is known. This section will cover Human parental interspecies offspring. Many consider interspecies breeding with humans as homunculi, however, this is a misconception...
The words got too faded but I was able to make out some subheadings.
Humans and Gorons offspring
Compatibility: Goron Mother
Risk: Low- Maternal Mortality Rate: 13%
Offspring State: Will develop an iron and mineral abundance/deficiency and will cause health difficulties
Offspring life expectancy: Seven years
Compatibility: Human Mother
Risk: High- Maternal Mortality Rate: 93%
Offspring State: Will develop an iron and mineral abundance/deficiency and will cause health difficulties
Offspring life expectancy: Two years
I was a bit uncomfortable but I figured I should keep reading
Humans and Waterfolk offspring
Compatibility: Waterfolk Mother
Risk: Low- Maternal Mortality Rate: 23%
Offspring State: Will have difficulty secreting mucus to maintain skin health. Will likely collect an infection before the immune system finishes development
Offspring life expectancy: One year
Compatibility: Human Mother
Risk: Moderate- Maternal Mortality Rate: 40%
Offspring State: Will not survive
Offspring life expectancy: No known cases of infant survival
Everything got faded and hard to understand so I began to turn some pages and then my eyes locked on to what was on one page.
Humans and Demon offspring
Compatibility: Demon Mother
Risk: Low- Maternal Mortality Rate: 0%
Offspring State: Will not survive. Demon wombs are too hostile for the fetus
Offspring life expectancy: No known cases of infant survival
Compatibility: Human Mother
Risk: Moderate- Maternal Mortality Rate: 100%
Offspring State: Will not survive, Offspring will eat the mother from inside out. Once the mother is dead offspring will not survive
Offspring life expectancy: No known cases of infant survival*
*This is the most dangerous and forbidden relationship within the laws of nature. The strength of the human soul combined with the capabilities of demonic magic and has an unknown relationship. Their combination with each other creates an Ako-
The page was torn out in half and the next one was torn out. I groaned frustratedly. I slammed the book shut and looked around. There were prophecies for the apocalypse and other useless shit. One was titled "The most powerful human" which I got frustrated with. I knew that story already. Link already thwarted that prophecy. The only thing related to me up here was torn out. I realized I had been up here a while. I could hear shouting in the distance with Ghirahim and Catto. I knew that Ghirahim or Catto probably had the other papers hidden somewhere. I just needed to work on the piano some so they aren't suspicious when they come in here. I quickly climbed down the later but one of the steps broke under me and I fell onto the floor. It was loud and I groaned loudly in pain. I realized I needed to move fast.
I quickly stood up and rolled the ladder back to the end of the old track. I needed to move it over to the other track again and I needed to do this quickly and quietly. The older track for the ladder was rusted and wasn't budging. I shook it over and over to try and loosen it but it wouldn't move. My heart was pounding. I thought I heard footsteps walking down the hall. So I did what I could and with all my force pushed the ladder off the old track and I saw it come loose. I snapped it right back onto the original track and heard the click of it in place. I snatched up the book and sprinted across the room and leaped over the back of the reading couch right as the doorknob was turning. I lied there casually pretending to read. Catto poked her face in.
"Is everything ok?" She asked. I nodded looking up from the book. "Sorry, we thought we heard you fall." She looked around. I shook my head and shrugged.
"Must have been a bird," I said. She furrowed her eyebrows in suspicion. That was a dumb thing to say. "Like from outside?" I clarified. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't seem mad.
"Okay..." She hummed to herself. She closed the door and left.
I shot up quickly and began doing everything I could to tune this damn piano. I picked up some tools that were placed inside the piano and began to use them. I had no idea what sounds I was looking for. I just did what I felt was right. I was doing a very poor job but it was sounding nicer than before. I don't think this was a job meant for a non-musician. I had grease and dust all over me. After several minutes of tuning and playing random annoying notes the doors to the library opened again. Ghirahim and Catto were standing there. I sat up quickly to look at them.
"Is it tuned yet?" Catto questioner and walked over to the piano. Ghirahim quietly trailed behind her with his head down looking away from me.
"I mean, not really." I sighed. "I'm probably not the best person for this. Music wasn't a skill I mastered while growing up shunned and sheltered." I heard Ghirahim exhale loudly in amusement. I didn't let it bother me.
"It's alright, we can teach you. And I am sure we can play with whatever you have tuned up." Catto sat at the piano and grinned. She began to play a scale that sounded good but was very out of tune. The high notes were on a cringy frequency that made our heads hurt. Ghirahim picked up the violin and began to tune it as well. "You can keep a beat for now if you want?" Catto suggested.
"You guys get started, I'm going to head to the bathroom and join in a few minutes." I took some steps back and exited the library. They began their duet. I quietly slipped into my bedroom and went to Catto's old desk. She had organized a lot of the journals and books on it. I began to quickly flip through the pages and shaking the covers to hope for something to fall out. I opened some drawers and dug through any papers I could find. None of them were from the book I was reading. I knew that Ghirahim must have it then. I could still hear the music playing so I slipped right back out the door and went down the hall to the master bedroom. I quietly opened the door and shut it behind me. I went over to Ghirahim's desk which was covered in books and papers like always. Most of the things on his desk were about magic and spells though. I shifted through his books looking for anything torn or super old. I was going to open one of the drawers on the desk but it was locked.
Where would I keep a key? Where would I keep a super-secret key? A shoe. I didn't know if it would work but it was worth a shot, we were related after all. I went into the closet and began shaking every one of his shoes I saw, hoping something would fall out. I shook every single shoe on his side which I then realized was dumb when I saw all of Catto's old shoes on the other side of the closet. I took the first pair of really fancy blue heals and shook them, out popped a key. I could still hear the music playing across the house which gave me an estimate for how long I had.
I took the key and ran back into the room and put it into the keyhole. I turned it and a click unlocked the drawer. I pulled it open. It wasn't quite as messy but there were a lot of papers inside. There were also a handful of vials with a dark crimson substance. I made out a vial that said "Hero", but when I saw the one that said "Catto" I got more uncomfortable with what I was finding. I shifted through papers. There were so many. A lot seemed like letters from a very dark time, but I only skimmed a few works to see if it was from the book. In the back corner was a leather-bound journal. I pulled it out and flipped through the pages. Inside there were a few pages cleanly folded marking a section of the journal. I unfolded the pages.
...mus, which has only had one recorded being. Due to his immense power, Demon King Demise was able to thrive off of his genetic makeup. He was able to survive after killing his mother in the third trimester. How this was possible is unknown. This made him the only recorded Akomus know to history. For this reason, Hylia did not want to endanger-
I stopped reading because something else locked my eyes. On the pages in the journal that I was at there was something that I couldn't get my eyes to leave. It was a bunch of bulleted thoughts written down.
Week 35
Catto is healthy as normal
Baby has heartbeat as normal
Going to need to have ice and water ready... the peak of summer is approaching.
The pregnancy has a 90% success rate
It will be an Akomus
Akomin
It didn't seem super correlated, just a quick entry for the journal. But the last word was circled and underlined with harsh lines. Something about that kept my eyes locked to it. I stopped looking at it when I heard the music stop. I quickly closed the book and shoved it in the drawer, I began fumbling with the key but right as I put it in the lock it poofed away from my hands. I spun around. Ghirahim held the key. I heard running down the hall and Catto busted through the doors. Ghirahim held the key tight.
"And I thought you were a bad liar, Catto." He spat without turning to look at her. He snapped again and the journal was in his other hand. "The women in my life are little less than disgraces." I thought that was a bit sexist but I didn't want to say it. He opened the book to the page I was on. "Week 35, I realized I married an idiot and I was going to have a dimwitted baby that was going to disappoint my name in every single way." Wow, that stung. He slammed the book shut.
"Ghirahim, we talked about this, you said-" Catto started to talk to him and take some steps towards us.
"Catto, I told you that if she was going to be a dumbass that I would treat her like one." He was still staring at me, nothing broke his gaze into me.
"Yeah, but she doesn't know-"
"Seventeen years later this baby shows up at my door with a pathetic costume and a head full of dreams. I gave her sympathy, food, shelter, and she can't even respect some simple privacy." His voice was low and sharp. his words stung. "She thinks she's so smart and grown even though she can't even use her powers yet. All she can do is run and cry and burn a few hands. So she tries to sleuth her way through everything to make up for her failures in everything else." Tears were falling down my face. "Guess what, I'm giving you the answers you want. Do you want to know your name? Congratulations, you figured it out. Now you can move on from the first seventeen years of your life and become the renewed daughter of the demon lord that you were meant to be, AKOMIN!"