notaname: That's right! ;) My week's been going alright. I hate homework - my teachers assigned it over the weekend! Can you believe it?! THE WEEKEND! AND THEY DO IT REGULARLY! ON THE WEEKEND! The nerve of them... anywho... that sounds really cool! The last time I did something like that was... never! It does sound like it would be an awesome experience to have (when you don't think about the chill grip of terror and anxiety that precedes and even attends such events)! TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT WITH THE WII MOTE, I'M BEGGING YOU! I used to main as Link, but I think they made him weaker in Ultimate because I'm not as good with him as I used to be. So I use random characters for the most part. OOH, OOH, GUESSING GAMES! Um... Ganondorf maybe? Um... meta knight is a popular one. Samus? SNAPE- I mean Snake? I DON'T KNOW, I'M BAD AT GUESSING! Have a nice week! XD
notaname (mark 2): Oh, don't worry about that! If I judged you for that, I would be the biggest hypocrite ever XD
Guest: Mysterious furries... or should I say SPOOPY?! Ah, yes, the secret review phrase. Honestly, I forgot about it myself... HOW DARE YOU NOT SAY THE SECRET REVIEW PHRASE? Hah, just kidding. Lonk catches all the colds - just like he catches butterflies in Twilight Princess! Ah, sweet, pure Lonk.
Guest (2.0): No, don't worry about it! I loved that review! DON'T INSULT MY MOTIVATION JUICE!
Now roll the tape! OH SHOOT, NO KITTEN, STOP! DON'T DO THA-
Chapter 33: Gears
A loud squeal echoed from the Sheikah Lab of the castle, heard even from the far edges of castle town.
"We're getting a building! We're getting a building! Did you hear that, Liari? We're getting a building!"
Liari very nearly facepalmed. Earlier that morning, they'd received a letter that informed them of the official Sheikah Tech lab, which was nearly complete and ready for relocation. Purah had been dancing and singing like a lovesick teenager.
To be fair, Purah did claim to be married to science, Liari thought. I wouldn't put it past her to have actually had a ceremony and everything.
"We're getting a building!" Purah sang cheerfully. "A building! A building!"
"We're getting a building," Liari sang in the same tune, "and if you don't stop I'll kill you."
"Hey, that doesn't rhyme!" Purah said indignantly. "OR match the rhythm! It's almost like you know nothing about music!"
"I don't," Liari deadpanned. "Because unlike you, I actually focus on Sheikah Technology and don't read up on completely irrelevant subjects."
"You're so mean," Purah sniffled. "Music is a wonderful art! You're just jealous that I know more stuff than you!"
Sometimes it was hard to remember that Purah was a highly knowledgeable and respected scientist - she acted like a six year old, for goodness's sake! Liari wasn't sure who was supposed to be the adult in their relationship.
"Music," Liari said coolly, "is useless when it comes to research on Sheikah Technology."
"Is not!" Purah huffed. "Studies show that music activates both the right and left sides of the brain," Purah rattled off as if reciting a textbook (she probably was). "The activation of both hemispheres is proven to maximize learning and improve memory. It can also-"
"Purah…"
"-help with stress, decrease anxiety, heart rate, and blood pressure levels. It improves overall performance in high pressure events. It engages the parts of the human brain that are involved with paying attention and making predictions. It-"
"Purah…"
"-is also linked to things like emotion and memory. It can serve as a trigger for receiving lost memories-"
"Purah!" Liari snapped. "I get it. Music helps you focus and whatever. Doesn't mean I have to care for it."
Purah rolled her eyes. "This is why Link is my favorite out of the two of you. He actually appreciates a good tune."
Liari blinked. "What do you mean?" Then she remembered. "Oh! He always liked to sit and listen to the music at all the festivals, didn't he?"
"He actually even helped arrange some of the music too," Purah recalled with a smile. "He kept it quiet - was embarrassed, I think. Shouldn't have been, in my opinion. The ones he helped with always were the best."
"Wait wait wait," Liari said. "Back it up. The music at the festival was arranged yearly? Not like, repeating the same songs every single year?"
Purah shrugged. "Yeah. Sheikah may be traditional, but people can only take so much of that crap before they spontaneously combust. I've always been a fan of the festivals just because of that."
"That makes sense," Liari said. It did - as long as Liari had known Purah, she had hated repetition and routine. That and... "...You got more than enough of that, being raised by Dame Rala, right?"
Purah snorted. "That old hag knew nothing but routine. Every second of every day was exactly the same. One of the reasons I was so quick to ditch her for my apprenticeship."
"Who did you apprentice under?" Liari asked curiously.
Purah hummed thoughtfully as she organized the papers on her chaotic desk. "I trained under two skilled scientists. The first was Doctor Karhi. She was actually not full Sheikah - kind of like you," Purah added factually. "Her grandfather was pure Hylian, and the cousin of the king in his time, fun fact. Anyway, Karhi was incredibly intelligent - knew everything from how the brain functions to how fabric is made.
Purah leaned back in her chair. "She got killed by the Yiga - they started targeting the scientists for info about six or seven years ago," she added as Liari's face morphed into one of confusion. "The murders only lasted around two years before the king gave scientists more protection. After that, they stopped pretty quickly."
Liari's face twisted into something between fear, pity, and disgust. "That's horrible," she said quietly.
Purah shrugged. "It is how it is. Probably easier up in the Sacred Realm than it is down here. They've got heroes of legend and goddesses - we've got a bunch of idiots running around like cuccos with their heads chopped off."
Liari chuckled. "Surely there's a lot of idiots that got themselves killed doing idiotic things, right?"
"They didn't make it to the Sacred Realm," Purah said absently as she pulled down her goggles to examine a stray circuit. "Too dumb to even follow the giant glowing arrows that say 'Sacred Realm - This Way!'"
Liari laughed a bit at that one - ah, she could just imagine such a thing. But then she remembered something. "You said you trained under two skilled scientists," Liari noted. "Who was the other one?"
Purah pushed her goggles up and looked up at the ceiling. She leaned back in her chair yet again, looking thoughtful.
"The other… that would be Doctor Yorin. He was a prodigy - started working on Sheikah Technology at six or seven, acknowledged as a full fledged scientist at age ten. I myself was considered a prodigy when I was acknowledged at sixteen, so that shows just how impressive that is. I went to him for a couple years before I officially graduated. Definitely a skilled mind if I ever knew one."
Liari frowned. The name sounded familiar… but she shrugged it off. She had probably heard about it from another scientist in passing, or read a research paper by him. Now that she really thought about it, she could remember reading the names Yorin and Karhi - of course, Purah had probably trained under the best. The Sheikah scientist wouldn't have settled for anything but the best - that's just how Purah was.
"Interesting," Liari said. "Did you ever train alongside any other apprentices?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Hmmm…" Purah stood up from her seat with a stack of papers in hand, all covered in her messy handwriting. She went to one of the file cabinets and dumped them carelessly inside. "A few," she replied absently. "They were only there for temporary apprenticeships - for the most part, they decided they were interested in other subjects after awhile and transferred to new mentors."
Purah walked back to her desk and plopped down into her chair. "Let's see… there was Robbie - he didn't switch subjects like the others, of course - just found a different person to apprentice under in Sheikah Technology. There was Akira… she became a poet, strangely enough. Then there was Vald. He decided to study architecture instead."
Purah continued speaking, saying something about an "Arduum" person, but Liari stopped listening. Vald, huh? The Sheikah man that had asked her for information on the guardians… he, of course, gave lots of interesting information on a Zonai ruin and Arbiter's Grounds… he'd even shared some stories on the seven heroines, and his theories about a supposed eighth.
Now that Liari really thought about it… it was a bit suspicious that the incomplete circuits that had gone missing a few days earlier were connected to the information that Vald had first asked her about.
It's just a coincidence, Liari thought with a shake of her head. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the kitten that got ahold of them. It wouldn't be the first time the fluffy poof of a beast had gotten ahold of something it shouldn't have. Or someone that really just snuck in and stole something that looked shiny. The wires for those incomplete circuits had been plated in gold… that, plus the copper and other minerals must've brought about some interest or sense of worth.
But maybe the next time that she saw Vald… she would be more careful with what information she gave him.
Then a spark, and an idea began to form in her mind.
"It's getting late, Purah," Liari said. "I think I'm going in for the night." After all, she had a master plan to put together. Because when gears began to turn, they weren't so quick to stop.
Two days later...
"A building?!" Zelda squealed. "Really?"
She didn't care if she was acting un-princessy or undignified. That didn't matter right now. Instead, she focused on the excitement she felt as she bounced up and down with Purah in the courtyard as they observed the guardians.
"I know, right?" Purah exclaimed. "Liari was such a downer about it. So unenthusiastic! Almost made me want to go watch paint dry instead of listening to her emotionless drawl!"
"I'm right here," scoffed Liari.
"Did you hear that, Zellie?" Purah asked.
"Sounded like the wind to me," Zelda hummed. "After all, only an inanimate object or force such as that would be so blase about a momentous occasion."
Zelda felt something brush up against her ankle, and looked down to see a black ball of fluff rubbing itself against her leg, purring.
"Don't try and pick him up," Liari warned. "He'll claw your eyes out." The apprentice pointed at the cuts that marred her cheek.
"Atta girl, Liari!" Purah said, patting her apprentice on the back. "Finally accepted that the vicious beast isn't what it seems!"
"No," Liari said with a smile. "Just that it doesn't like to be manhandled. How'd you like it if a hinox picked you up off the ground and tossed you around?"
"Wouldn't previous information on or encounters with a hinox make that a worse experience than the kitten's?" Zelda asked, chuckling. "We've grown up hearing stories about people getting viciously murdered by them."
Purah shrugged. "Well, considering that the foul beast was found abused and left for dead on the streets… it has more than enough reason to be distrustful."
Zelda hummed in agreement, before…
"Wait, what?!" both the princess and the apprentice exclaimed.
"You know the person I'm watching the cat for?" Purah asked. Both of them nodded. "He found it being chased down an alley by a dog - which had clearly been trained and commanded to do so. Kitten showed signs of abuse, and it was starved. The boy said that he chased the dog off and brought the kitten to his place in the ba- castle town," Purah corrected herself quickly, and Zelda silently noted the slip up.
"His job keeps him busy," the scientist continued, "and the people in his building wouldn't like it if they found out he had a cat. So I've been watching the cat for him."
"Well that explains a lot," Liari snorted. "That cat would be dead by now if your pride would let you go back on your word."
"Wait," Zelda said, scrunching up her forehead in thought. "Didn't Link pick up the kitten just fine?"
Liari stared at her with wide eyes. "He did, didn't he?"
"Ah, that's just Link for you," Purah said, drawing their attention back to her. "He and his mother always had the magic touch when it comes to animals, you know?"
His mother… Zelda felt her heart sink a bit. "Oh," the princess said quietly.
"So you found out about that, didn't you?" Liari asked with a small smile.
Zelda replied with a silent, somewhat shy nod - not unlike a young child caught red-handed.
"Yes, his mother died a few years ago," Liari explained sadly. "About… six years back, right Purah?"
Purah nodded, seeming a bit more… subdued than usual.
"If I may ask…" Zelda paused. Please don't let this come out awkwardly or something, she pleaded. It would be best not to ask in the first place, but she couldn't help her curiosity. "How did she die?"
Both Purah and Liari winced dramatically.
"Well…" Purah started, her normally cheery eyes dark before they were cast downward. The Sheikah scientist fell back into her chair. "...she was killed," she finally answered.
Zelda felt a numb sort of shock and horror. "What?" she breathed.
"Yeah…" Liari said quietly. "See, the Yiga-" (Zelda didn't miss the sharp glare Purah sent her apprentice, but Liari continued as if she hadn't noticed) "-had an unfortunate... obsession with Link when he was younger. They chased after him for years to try and kidnap him or... something. On the first attempt, they managed to kill his father. Link was six or so."
Zelda quickly came to the conclusion that yes, she would've prefered not getting an answer. "...I think I'm going to go to my room," Zelda said a bit too quickly. "I have some notes to arrange, powers to pray about… the usual."
And the princess scurried out, the gears in her mind clicking into place, making the connections that she had suspected, but now had good solid evidence to back them up.
Link Equitem… or perhaps Link Lycanthryn?
Oh gosh, I can hear the squealing from here - my ears are ringing!
I'm not super happy with how this chapter turned out (mostly the last scene). It's very dialogue heavy, very little on the scenery and such, a bit awkwardly written, all that fun stuff. I had a very strange two weeks, so I wrote this chapter without quite as much thought as usual. I also didn't do nearly as much editing as I'd have liked, so this chapter might become very different in the future (because I will be doing a mass edit of Before (The Rewrite) eventually). BUT I FINISHED IT, IT'S NOT COMPLETE CRAP, HALLELUJAH!
Despite some of the bigger stuff that happened in this chapter, if you look really closely, you may find some hints about future events/stories/reveals. If you've read Weapon, the name Yorin might mean something to you. If it doesn't... you haven't read Weapon, and I suggest you do it! There's a lot of things I wanted to include in Before (the much much better one that doesn't need to die a fiery death) that I don't think I will be able to fit in. LOTS AND LOTS, I SAY! NOW READ IT OR FIGHT ME (I'm kidding, you don't have to, don't kill me please)!
WAIT I JUST REALIZED - September 25th was the 1st anniversary of Before! (Secret Review Phrase = celebration) And I didn't even notice! Because of that, I'm posting the new part of Weapon a week earlier than I planned (I had wanted to get a bit ahead on the next part but... ARGHHHHH HOW COULD I FORGET?!)! To those of you that have been here since the very start, I just want to thank you for sticking around! I'm not sure I'd have the patience to do that for someone else. And for those of you that have joined the party farther down the road, thanks to you to! Your support (silent or otherwise ;) has meant a lot to me! And to those of you that are new - welcome to the chaotic train of Before! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! Maybe leave a review or two!
All of you, have a wonderful two weeks! I wish you joy and happiness!
Most Incredibly Sincerely (wait, what do those words mean again?),
Ari~