"Autum!" Link sat up panting, he was sweating. Looking around to see were he was. Letting out a small sigh of relief, it all was a dream. His attention went to Navi who was flying in front of him. "Ar-are you ok?" she asked him extremely worried.
Link nodded as he looked away. He was trying to sort through the dream. It felt like it left more questions than anything. But he remembered her name now and her connection to Eznik. She was his sister. What more there was Celtic, the demon as well. He was…. He shook his head not wanting to think about that horrible repeating sound again. Not wanting to think about how Celtic had died and what worse it all had been in vain. Celtic risked his life to keep him safe but he ended up getting caught so that meant that the demon's death was meaningless.
Navi frowned watching her friend thinking so pensively. It was clear his mind was elsewhere. She looked over to Epona who had gotten up earlier and was grazing in the grass nearby. "We can head out whenever you're ready." she offered while thinking how she still had no memories of anything.
She watched as Link stood up. He rolled up the blanket not saying a thing. Walking up to Epona he latched the blanket back onto her saddle. He glanced at the bag that the witch had given them. He couldn't even think of eating. He let out a small disparaging sigh as he looked back at Navi.
"Do you want something to eat?" he asked her as she flew up to him. "We can just eat and ride." Navi suggested, she could tell how hard this was hitting him. She didn't want something bad to happen or someone to die just because they took time to sit and eat.
Link studied her and nodded. He opened the bag and pulled out a piece of bread. He pulled off a piece and held it to her. Navi snatched it and flew up onto his shoulder. "To the faerie fountain!" she sang out as she pointed to the direction they needed to head in.
Link smiled feebly at her, at least she was trying to keep in spirit. He put his foot into his mount and climbed up onto Epona. "Please, we must be swift Epona! Keep following the river." he instructed as he clicked his tongue and raised the reins. Epona took off.
After a few hours the open field that followed the river became a canopy of trees. Link looked up as shimmers of light from the sun could be seen penetrating through the thick canopy. Epona slowed down to be able to navigate the forested area.
Navi studied Link as she sat on Epona's head. She let out a small sigh, this has been a very silent and sad trip. She never had any trouble striking up a conversation with Link, but she had nothing. For once, the small faerie had nothing to say as she felt useless in this, then there was the fact Link said she could teleport and he needed her to. Her eyes trailed away from Link looking into the forest wondering if she possessed such power..
Suddenly, Navi felt a rush of energy. Standing up, she jumped off Epona, flying ahead. "This way! I can feel the fountain!" she shouted. It would be the first time Link and her went to a faerie fountain. And what more to meet a Great Faerie, she was excited and hopeful.
Link looked at her and then to Epona, it would be hard for her to navigate through the direction Navi was going. Link jumped off and grabbed the bag off of her. He looked to the knapsack and snagged it as well. He smiled at her as he pet her snout. "Head home, Epona...and thanks!." The horse neighed nudging him to go as if she knew that he was in a race with time. Link looked at her and smiled. "Safe journey home." He turned and chased after Navi. Link was feeling some hope forming as they now had reached their destination.
Link tried to follow as close as possible fighting the foliage that was in his way. "Navi!" he yelled out as he seemed to have lost track of her. He let out a sigh as he climbed over a large fallen tree. He looked ahead seeing her observing something. He hustled up to her.
Link looked at her and then to what she was looking at. An opening in the woods revealed a small pond. Small little lighted orbs of magic floated above it like large rounded lightning bugs. Water squirted up out of the middle of the small pond. Thick vines covered all the trees surrounding the pond like a bushy tapestry making this the only entrance and exit.
"This is it!" excitedly exclaimed Navi. "The Fairy Fountain!" The two stared in awe at the beauty of the small nature sanctuary. Link cautiously walked up to the fountain looking into it. It was odd to find he had no reflection in it. He looked up to Navi who flew up next to him. "Great Faerie! Please we need help!" Navi yelled out hoping that her call would not fall on deaf ears.
They stood waiting in silence... and nothing. It seemed as if they waited an eternity considering the urgency of their needs. Link began to give up hope at this juncture and let out a small sigh as he turned to leave. A woman stood there blocking his way. He was startled backing up, dropping the knapsack he was carrying that held all their supplies. He glanced back to make sure he and the bag did not end up falling backwards into the fountain pond. He then looked back at the woman who stood there in front of him.
The woman smiled at him as she asked. "Young hero, what has brought you here?" Link observed that she appeared to be in her late 20's. Her beauty was indescribable. She had long blonde hair with intricate vines intertwined in it. She was wearing a long dress made of the same vines along with other plants and small colorful flowers. She had large delicate green wings that fluttered lightly behind her. Her emerald green eyes with ravishing long eyelashes studied him as he studied her.
"I-i-I-I"stammered the hero. Link's face was flushed red and he had an uncomfortable lump in his throat, never had he been around such extraordinaire beauty.. He was trying to battle through his swamped senses to express what he needed to say. He closed his eyes trying to give himself a moment to clear his mind and find his composer. "We need you to help Navi remember how to teleport." he recited as he then opened his eyes looking at her in his urgency. "She teleported us to a ship that sailed the stars. We need to get back there quickly as people's lives are on the line."
The Great Faerie observed him and then walked past him and the small faerie. She walked over to the fountain. She stared into the pond thinking. She next walked out onto the water, walking across it as she then sat down in the air crossing her legs Indian style as if there was an invisible floor there. She sat looking at the young man and his friend wondering, how to explain to these two what had truly happened.
"The faeries of Hyrule are not blessed with the powers of teleport." she noted speaking to the two visitors. Link shook his head as he imparted. "I remember that she asked for the goddess to allow her to help her friend. She felt a rush of energy through her and she said she teleported."
The Great Faerie listened to him. It was filling in the pieces for her. Letting out a small sigh, she looked at the two of them once more. It seemed the goddesses helped the faerie use the powers she already had. She now understood.. "Navi." she said as she then paused to look the small one over. "You are not of Hyrule. You are from a place amongst the stars." After saying such she held up her hand..
The small sanctuary became dark and now was filled with stars and other planets floating in the air all about them. Link swung around looking at it all, trying to take it all in. It was the same as he had witnessed from Eznik's ship. He looked back at the Great Faerie.
Navi looked around at the change of the environment, it was so awesome and beautiful it sent chills through her. She could easily get lost in it, but then she remembered time was one thing they did not have to lose "What do you mean I am not of Hyrule?" Navi questioned the Great faerie shocked by such a claim.
"The goddess, Nayru, and Destiny, herself came to me long ago with a small faerie from the place amidst the stars. I was told this faerie had lost her world, and Hyrule would be her new home from then on. Nayru said that the faerie was a dimensional faerie, which they are indeed blessed with the ability to teleport through the stars. But the faerie had no memories of her past, as Destiny said that she locked those memories up. It would help keep her be safe in Hyrule. She said that here in Hyrule would be a chance for her to make new memories. A new life protected from her pain and loss of her old life." the Great Faerie explained to the two of them.
Navi fluttered down onto Link's shoulder as she took it all in. She looked to her hands, she was from the stars. She thought she was someone else, she thought she was the one from Link's memories. She thought she was that Navi who aided him in battles. Yet here she was being told she wasn't even from Hyrule, what more it seemed her memories of her true past were locked away.
Link looked to his friend who clearly was distraught from the news she just got. He bit his lip knowing this was a lot for her to take in. Things were kind of going a whole different direction then he thought it would go. They sure weren't expecting this news. He looked to the Great Faerie. "Is there a way for her to have her memories back?" he asked her.
The Great Faerie moved her hands and the space around them faded. "As for the memories…" she started. "If I unlock those memories of the young dimensional fairy, her body might not be able to take the mental stress. She might not even be able to make it through the ordeal. It is far too complicated and too much to deal with without the proper timing, support and instruction. Not something to be hurried through, despite the dilemma that I can tell is at hand. And furthermore,I would not be able to aid in showing her how to teleport. I know so little about dimensional faeries but I fear the return of her memories would cause such stress and mental strain it would affect her ability to teleport as well."
Link and Navi looked at the Great Faerie. Link shook his head. "I hate to throw all this on Navi...old memories and the like, the stress and strain of such but I don't see another answer to our dilemma otherwise. Isn't' there some other way you can do it? There has to be a way." He tossed the question at her. He didn't want to force this upon Navi, because it sounded like she could even die from it yet he prayed there was another way, one less detrimental. "Isn't' there some other way you can do it, as time is not on our side?" He tossed the question at her once more. He hoped there might be some other way. A way to get them what they needed yet of no or little harm to Navi.
The Great Faerie looked away searching her mind for spells she knew. "I could do a spell that would slowly release the memories, but what memories awaken we have no control over. You won't know until they are; Navi. And there will be no way to prepare for such as of how such a memory will affect you. As for time… it is not your time and so the memories you need may not be the first thing that you'll remember. So in some ways, it is just as risky as remembering everything all at once, for memories you are not prepared for could overload you emotionally whilst at the same time you worry for the memories still needed."
Navi stared down at Link's hand as she sat upon it. It could risk her life trying to remember everything at once, but on the other hand she would know what happened and be able to save someone. Or she could go the other way, not quite as risky and remember everything slowly, but risk another's life if the correct memories do not surface. She ran the equations and possibilities through her mind. What was she willing to sacrifice? What was she willing to give? What was she willing to risk? These other memories that she didn't even know were missing…what were they even about? What would she gain? What would she suffer? She also was very curious about being a dimensional faery. Her mind was overloaded with so many questions and no clear answers. Still she needed to make a decision.
Navi stood up awkwardly and looked over at the Great Faerie. "I want to remember everything now…" she asserted nervously. She surprisingly found that she was willing to sacrifice herself for someone that she didn't even remember for Link's sake as it hurt her so deeply not being able to help him through this. It made her feel valiant and at the same time she felt like she owed it to Link. Besides; now that her curiosity had been stirred she wanted to know the truth about who she was and just who were the dimensional faeries.
"No…" Link said quietly. "You're very brave but I'm not going to let you do that, Navi... Someone else's life might be on the line, but I'm not willing to let you risk your life because of such. Take your memories back slowly and we can pray to the Goddesses that the right memories surface. We can put our trust in the higher forces." Link outlayed as he looked to the Great Faerie avoiding eye contact with his friend. He learned a lot more about Navi in the time he spent on Eznik's ship and he was still trying to sort out his feelings for her. All he knew was his heart wouldn't let her sacrifice herself. Now he truly understood Celtic's dilemma; choosing one life over another; it's impossible. There had to be another way and hopefully their choice would not be in vain as Celtic's was.
Navi looked at Link. She knew that time was running out just by his expression. She wanted to help him by remembering the things she needed to remember so to help those she had forgotten. "But Link, time is the utmost of importance. I don't want someone to die when we could be helping. I feel like this is somehow my entire fault anyway."
"I don't know why you think that... because it is not true." Link said looking at her a little confused by her guilty feelings. "Besides Navi even if you remembered everything right now and didn't die from it you still risk not being able to teleport where we need to be. You still wouldn't be able to help and that would only make you feel worse. I know learning everything as fast as possible seems like it's the answer, but it could instead hamper helping those who need your help most." Link clarified. And though he didn't say it he just couldn't risk losing her. They had been through so much together, he just couldn't lose her.
Navi looked into his blue eyes as he looked at her. She could feel her heart pounding. She wanted to risk it all, but he was right. She looked to the Great Faerie. "Ok, let's do it the slow way and we pray for Nayru and perhaps even Destiny to help guide my memories to be the ones that can help."
The Great Faerie listened to each of them, it seemed they had agreed on this option. Standing up on the water she spoke up "Come to me small one." She directed holding out her hands. She watched as Navi flew over and landed on her hands. Looking at the small faerie she closed her eyes. She started chanting silently. A drop of water rose from the fountain and maneuvered over the top of the small faery and dropped down on her splashing all over her body.
Just then the water turned into light and Navi was now encompassed by this bright energy as the spell the Great Faery was casting started to take effect. Navi let out a small cry and held her head as she sat in the Great Faerie's hands. She could feel some memories starting to rush back into her head. It felt like a fast and powerful locomotive tearing through her opening long closed avenues within her mind. As the memories began to surface she could see what was happening as if it was happening right then; as if it was the first time she was experiencing such. She felt the emotions of such experiences as well like it all just now taking place..
The light then dimmed and vanished as the Great Faerie stopped chanting. She looked down at the small faerie in her hands. She had a concerned look on her face as Navi stared downward at the hand she was sitting on. She knew whatever Navi was remembering had consumed her, pulling her into its force so mesmerizing.
"Navi?" Link called out as he ran up to the fountain. He waded into the water up to the Great Faerie. He reached out and gently picked Navi up. "Navi?" the blonde pled to his friend afraid of what was happening; afraid of what memories were invading her. So afraid they had made a big mistake in all of this.
After a few drawn out seconds Navi looked up at Link. Her eyes showed how lost she was. All she remembered was waking up in a weird place. Also meeting an older man, Eznik, who was helping Link who was terribly injured for some reason? All she had was fragments of memory that haunted her. She had the sick feeling that something was wrong, but there was no memory of what it was. All the memories had not come back. It was frayed in bits and pieces parts of this life and parts of another.
"I don't know how to get back there, Link… Eznik's going to end up dead, isn't he… if I can't figure this out?" Navi spoke panicked as she looked up at Link. She shook her head. She started to whimper. Just their luck she wouldn't remember how to get there! Why weren't their prayers answered?
Closing his eyes, Link spoke calmly to her. "I don't know Navi, what's going to happen to Eznik. Although I'm pretty sure his sister will be killed… But even if we were there I'm not certain we could stop it. We were definitely out of our zone even within that place." Link offered as he looked at her wishing he knew what more to say to her. He was just as much at a loss as she was, it seemed. He didn't want someone to get killed, but he truly had no answers; he only knew that time was ticking away while they were stuck in the uncertainty of all of it.
Link looked up to the Great Faerie, wondering if there was anything she could do? He doubted it, it was clear that Navi was her first introduction to dimensional faeries. "Navi…" he spoke quietly to her. "Do you remember my fight that led to you teleporting?"
Navi shook her head. " I just remember you were dying, I was praying so hard. Praying for the goddess to bring you somewhere safe." She looked up at him as tears ran down her cheeks. "Navi." He looked at her expression wishing he could help her.
"Close your eyes, Navi. Think of Eznik's ship and pray, pray hard to the goddess to help you again. Pray that she can take us back there." Link suggested to his friend, as it seemed it was the way they got there the first time. Maybe, just maybe it might just work again.
Navi thought it seemed like it could work, definitely worth a try. She so needed this to work for she felt so useless otherwise. She closed her eyes but with her memory being limited the only thing she could remember was the room where she first met Eznik. Still she knew she needed to get them there, even if it wasn't where Eznik was now. Maybe once there, it might refresh her memory more so she could get them to where they needed to be.
Navi clenched her tiny fists trying hard to concentrate. She pictured everything within the room with all her power of attentiveness and focus as she knew Eznik and his sister were depending on her. And she knew Link was taking all of this rather hard; a hero that can't get to the people he needs to save, she couldn't let him down. She took a deep breath trying to calm her mind. She began to focus harder. A sensation ran through her, it felt like she was floating. Navi's eyes shot open, with that her and the teen vanished in a flash.