"Okay, let me get this straight," Shade said slowly. You'd think he was talking to a first grader. I mean, sometimes, sure, but usually I'm better than that. "You and Zelda fought your way through a weird, subterranean maze thing filled with demon spiders and living slime blobs, almost died half a dozen times, got a magic fire stick, killed a spider the size of a bus, found some centuries old money, and, to top it all off, Zelda blew up a…Slime Behemoth thing with her goddess magic, practically resurrected you with a magical Heart Crystal, and found an also magical, indestructible shield, which you will be taking on your quest to kill a reincarnation of evil atop a super old motorcycle that shapeshifts and turns into a tablet. Anything I missed?"
I scrolled through the last six hours and couldn't think of anything we missed. Zelda didn't bring anything up either. "No, I think that's about it." Shade didn't seem comforted.
"You know Link, high school grads usually spend the summer working, partying at night, getting laid, and drinking until they can't stand up." I shrugged. Honestly, an epic quest to save the world sounded like a lot more fun than that. Shade rolled his eyes and slumped back on the couch. "Seriously. Oh, and apparently our uncle and cousin are part of a super old secret order of guardians and know all about this stuff." He sighed again. "So, what's my role in all this? I am your twin, after all. What am I supposed to do?"
"I honestly don't know," I said. "No one has mentioned anything about another Hero or anything like that. As far as I can tell, its just the Hero and the Goddess. They get some help along the way, but I just don't know." My voice dropped to a lower, quieter tone. I knew this was going to go over poorly. "You might not have a role in all this. You might just be a bystander." Shade sat quietly, but I could tell he was seething.
"You're telling me that, while you're out there saving the world and fighting who knows what kind of evil, I have to sit here and just hope you come back? Are you insane, Link?! You're my goddess-damned brother, the one person who has had my back every day of my life, and you think I'm going to let you waltz out of here and go on some epic quest without me? You must have really gotten messed up in that dungeon, because what you are saying, Link, doesn't make any sense."
"Then what would you have me do?" I asked, my own anger rising. "How are you going to help me? This is something only I can do. Zelda is helping, but at the end of the day, I'm the one swinging the sword, I'm the one killing shit, and I'm going to be the one to kill this evil monster. Because if I do it this way, chances are everything works out. And don't think I don't know the risks," I quickly said, seeing the argument rise in Shade's eyes. "I know perfectly well what could happen. Headmaster Rauru told me what's happened in the past. Evil is always defeated, but the Hero doesn't always survive. I know that could happen to me. And I don't want to die. I certainly don't want to die before I hit seventy, much less twenty. But if that's the price to be paid to save thousands, millions of lives, how can I say no? How could I possibly sacrifice even one life to save my own? This is something I have to do."
"You fucking idiot." Shade was literally shaking with rage. "You fucking, goddess damned idiot. I'm not saying you run and hide. How could I ever say that? I've known you all your life, and you've never once turned your back on someone who needed help. There's no one better to save the world, because you'd never give up. Not if you were missing an arm and bleeding out on the floor. I'm not telling you to abandon this quest, I'm just asking you to let me help! I'm your brother, and as much as I hate you sometimes, I want to help you with this! And I know Zelda feels the same." I turned to look at Zelda, who was glaring fiercely at me.
"This entire time, I've been thinking it was obvious I was going with you. Are you telling me I was wrong?" Zelda was incredulous. I didn't blame her, but I was hoping to put this conversation off as long as possible.
"I'm going alone, guys." I could see that Zelda was about to say something, but I cut her off. "I don't want more people risking their lives than necessary. And as far as I can tell, that number is one. Zelda, I could barely protect you in that dungeon. Add anyone else, anyone who can't completely handle themselves in any situation, and that's someone else I have to protect. I can't take that risk."
"You think I'm helpless?" Now Zelda's fingers were twitching in anger, golden light flickering over her hands and up her arms. "Maybe before, but not now. I have this power now." She took a deep breath and I could see the steel in her eyes. "I'm a goddess reborn, and I will not let you run all over this country alone. I don't care what you say, what you think, or what you do, nothing will change the simple fact that I'm going with you." I wanted to argue with her, but I had seen the look in her eyes before. It was one that invited no argument and wouldn't be budged.
"Okay, okay, fine." To be honest, I was a little relieved Zelda would be coming with. Her magic would undoubtably be useful, especially once she learned to use it better. "I don't really think I can argue with that. But Shade," I turned back to point at him. "There's no way you're coming." He raised his hands in surrender.
"Not for the dangerous parts, but I can still help. You mentioned two other fountain-dungeons you had to go to? I'll go to one of them and scout it out. I don't need to do much Link," his voice dropped to be more serious, "but I have to do something. I'm not as selfless as you and I know I can be a bit of an ass, but I have to at least do something."
"Glad you could talk some sense into him," Hunter said from the doorway to the kitchen. "Really Link, did you seriously think you were going to do this alone? We may not be able to fight much, but not everything is solved through violence. You've got plenty of people here who are more than willing to help you, and frankly, you're going to need all the help you can get." Zelda, Shade, Hunter, and Sheik, who had reappeared at some point, all stared at me, awaiting my verdict. As if I actually had a choice in the matter. I exhaled heavily.
"Well, I'm clearly not winning this argument, so fine. Zelda's with me doing the dangerous shit and you three are reconnaissance slash informants slash moral support. Happy?" I got matching nods from everyone in the room. "Alright, in that case, I'm going to eat something and take a nap. I'm so damn tired."
When I woke up, I found that I had slept right through the night and it was about 6:30 in the morning. Feeling fully rested, I got up and decided to go for a short run around the neighborhood and past Nayru Park. I stopped near the fountain to see if there was anything abnormal, but it had gone right back to being a regular piece of masonry and gave no indication there was a formerly spider-infested labyrinth beneath it. I heard footsteps behind me and was unsurprised when Zelda joined me.
"I never thanked you properly," I said, my voice breaking the companionable silence. "For saving me. I would have been killed that Slime Behemoth, as Shade called it. Plus," I looked at her with a grin, "that fire blast was pretty cool."
"Yeah…" Zelda trailed off, twirling gold energy around her fingers. I had noticed she was doing that a lot. "Is it wrong that doing this feels natural? I don't feel like this magic is something foreign forced on me. It's more like its always been a part of me. Now I can just use it. It's disturbing, but comforting at the same time."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, at least a little. Like I said after we killed the Behemoth, I don't always know what I'm doing, but I can still do it. Acting on instinct, without thinking. It's exhilarating and a little unnerving." I stared at the dancing lights in her palm for a moment. "Have you been experimenting at all?"
"Yeah, every chance I get." She forced her hands together like she was packing a snowball, light leaking from her fingers. Her hands came apart to reveal what looked like a ball of light, which glowed brightly in the morning stillness. Zelda threw the ball into the nearby grass, where it seemed to explode, scorching the grass. "I haven't pushed it too much, but I haven't found anything I can't do with a little concentration." The lights faded from her hand and she sat down, leaning against the fountain's base. I settled myself next to her. We sat there for a while, just enjoying each other's presence. Finally, I spoke up.
"So, when do you want to leave?" Zelda didn't answer immediately. "We can't exactly sit around. I figure since this fountain opened, the other two will be too."
"You're right, but…" Zelda seemed hesitant to continue. "After you went to sleep last night, Hunter was telling me about the Order of the Goddesses. Apparently, they might know more about me and my powers." The Order was tasked with the worship of the Golden Goddesses and the maintenance of the Temple of Time near Lake Hylia to the south. If they knew more about Zelda's powers, they might be able to teach her something and might even have an idea of what we were ultimately facing.
"If we can get information from them, we might have an edge on whatever it is we're fighting. But we'd have to postpone visiting the other fountains and getting the treasures they're guarding." We continued sitting, deep in thought.
"Either way, I think we should leave tomorrow," Zelda finally said. "Like you said, we can't afford to postpone this any longer. I'll talk to my father today, make sure he knows that I'll be gone for a while." At the mention of her father, I realized something.
"Hey, I've never met your parents. Any chance of that before we leave?"
"No." Zelda was quick to shut the idea down, looking startled and a little fearful. "I mean, my mom died when I was younger, so you can't really meet her. But I don't think you need to meet my dad yet." I immediately felt bad. I knew what it was to lose a parent.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize. How old were you?"
"Eleven. She had a nasty kind of cancer, very fast and very lethal. I won't pretend it doesn't still hurt, but I'm past it." I gently took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Losing a parent was hell. I had my brother, Hunter, and Sheik to help me through it. I couldn't imagine going through that with anything less. "My dad and I are close, but he works a lot and I do my own thing, so we don't see each other super often. I'll say I'm going on a road trip with friends from school or something. Not entirely a lie," she said with a slight grin. I snorted with amusement.
"I suppose we just need to figure out where we're going first and to pack. We'll have to pack light to fit everything on the Master Cycle."
"Or have Hunter put it in his car for when we meet up."
"…You know, I think I'm starting to figure out who the real brains of this operation is." Zelda laughed.
"You're only now figuring it out?" She squealed as I tossed water from the fountain at her and was quick to return the favor. And for a little while, we forgot about the heavy weight of destiny crushing down and us and played in a fountain like the teenagers we were.
You know, it's kind of hard to find different ways to greet you all with these notes. Oh well, I figure if I just get into it you won't have time to realize I totally skipped it. And that it's a bit late. Oops.
As promised, in this chapter, nothing happens! Hooray for filler! Link gets a talking to that he really shouldn't have needed (and didn't originally, but manufactured conflict is fun), we get a little explanation for where Zelda's parents are, and we get just a hint of fluff.
Now, I have information for those concerned. This is the last of my backlog chapters, largely because I've had to work a lot and haven't had a ton of energy or desire to write. Sorry. I have the next one in the works, but it's not ready yet. I'm also going to be going on vacation for about a week, so it might be a while before you get another chapter. A shame, but that's the way it is. Just thought I'd let you guys know.
On to the massive review paragraph. Maya, glad you approve. That is one of my favorite scenes, right up there with Link and Shade tag teaming stealing Sheik's lunch. Sand seal, yeah, consistency. Props to you for actually playing Master Mode. I'd like to, but I'm afraid of the massive time sink it would be. Plus I'm not ready to replay BotW. And thanks for the well wishes, I'm working on it. Shadowlord, that'd be telling, and I can't do that. Stay tuned to find out though. Ultimate, heck yeah it is. And technically, Dark/Shade didn't really know anything. Everyone else listed though...yeah, to varying degrees. Midnaisbae, I decided to go into a bit of detail for you, please look below. Sand seal the second, thanks for the light defense. It is indeed a non-canon (duh), but I do want to have the whole thing make sense inside the Zelda universe, so the concerns are valid. Your use of puns is on point as always. Salty man, I don't know what you mean, but thanks for weighing in.
Now, Midnaisbae, I really appreciate your passion. There's nothing I love more than a devoted Zelda fan. My reasoning for the Sheikah not knowing immediately about Hylia is due to a couple things. First, it has been roughly a thousand years since the last round of incarnations. That's a long time, stuff slips through the cracks. And its not like they don't know about her. Hunter says he's seen the name before. He just doesn't know it immediately. He's also not the top dog of the Sheikah, just a guardian. As far as the whole "from the shadows" thing, that is how I see the Sheikah. More like secret agents than a fighting force. After all, a good ninja is the one you don't know is there. I also haven't said anything, read it, anything about the governing body of Hyrule at this point. We'll get into that later (next couple chapters probably), but, slight kind of spoiler, Zelda isn't a member of royalty, so there's no real reason for anyone to be looking for her. Hope that's answered your concerns, thank you for your attention to detail, it made me consider bits of the story going forward that I hadn't thought of yet.
Okay then, hopefully no one is too offended. As usual, thank you to everyone who takes the time to write a review, long or short. They really brighten my day. And don't forget everyone reading this far too long author's note, I respond to every review (at least for now), so please let me know what you think. Even if you're reading this at a later time, I love to hear from you.
Now, got a lot of stuff to get to. Like...stuff. It's important, I swear. And no, it's not just video games! ...Mostly though. Hey, Hollow Knight is an amazing game shut up. So, if you're all done judging me, I'll be going. Cheers all!
-Aro