-Link-

"...*GASP!*"

I wake up in a cold sweat, complimented by the lingering pain of Bryn's punch. Adrenaline starts to rush to my head, but I quickly notice that I was in a room, not lying on my face on the ground. After realizing this, I see Zelda's teacher standing a few feet from me. He cries out, "Oh, Link, you're finally up! I must say, it's a relief to see that you're alright."

I rub my temple, still feeling very confused. "What happened…? How long have I been out for?"

"Well, the time that has elapsed since the guards found you and Alfonzo is is about… Five minutes, give or take."

"FIVE MINUTES?!" I was dumbfounded that Bryn's punch, which was strong enough to send Alfonzo flying a few dozen feet, only knocked me out for five minutes. Either I was even more inhumane than I thought, or Bryn was more merciful than he seemed to be. I was betting on the former, though. "How… How did you find me and Alfonzo?"

"Ah, that. You see, there was this huge noise outside, so I decided to go see what it was. All of a sudden, the Spirit Tracks disappeared, and the Spirit Tower broke apart! The guards then investigated the area to see if they could catch the culprit, and ended up finding you two passed out on the ground. They took you back here, and you've been resting here since then."

"...Wow."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, just…" I didn't think that any of the guards could actually do their jobs correctly, considering how dumb they were earlier.

After taking a moment to collect my bearings, I see that the bed next to me was occupied by Alfonzo, who was still unconscious. Guilt wrings my heart, stronger than I had ever felt in my life. I'm so sorry Alfonzo. You got hurt for me and the princess, and I let you down…

...Wait a minute, the princess!

I leap out of bed and run out of the room, ignoring the calls from the teacher that I still need to rest. I almost forgot that Zelda was taken by Bryn and Cole! I HAVE to get back to the Spirit Tower as fast as I can! With Zelda kidnapped, who knows what the two have-

As I turn a corner, the sight of a blue ball floating in the middle of the hallway makes me come to a stop. I stare in confusion of what it was, and contemplate if I should alert the guards when it starts to morph...

...Into princess Zelda!

She was looking just as confused as I was. Zelda says in a shaky tone, "Hello…? Can anyone hear me?"

I call out to her, which was the obvious and practical course of action in this situation, "Zelda? Is that you?"

She immediately turns to me, her face in shock. "Link? You... You can see me?"

"Y-yeah, I guess, but… What happened to you?!"

"Well, I-"

"Actually, wait. We should probably talk somewhere more private. The guards are starting to give me strange looks."

"O-oh, alright… In that case, let's go to my secret chambers. I have something there to give to you anyways."

I say to her, "Actually, it's not as secret as you might think it is…" Zelda, however, doesn't seem to hear me, and continues to float to her chambers. I let out a big groan, and quickly run after her.

The two of us quickly make our way to her chambers. As soon as we get there, she starts to rant, "Okay, to be honest, I am really freaking out right now! I mean, I got zapped by chancellor Cole, who I thought was a normal person for years, and all of a sudden I'm separated from my body! Now I'm floating, none of the guards can hear me or see me, and I'm craving to eat something very very unhealthy right now!"

"Whoa whoa, hang on! Take some deep breaths Zelda. I know this is scary, but if we don't have a cool head, we're not going to get anywhere."

"Uhh… O-okay, I'll try to calm down…" She takes some deep breaths. At the same time, her body starts to sink through the floor.

"H-hey Zelda!"

"Whoops!" She quickly floats back up. "I'm sorry. I got a bit too into it there… But yeah, I do feel a bit better now. Thank you Link"

Her words make me smile... Just a bit though. "It's nothing. Now, where do we go from here? As far as I can tell, only I can see you."

She crosses her arms together. "I am a bit curious why you're the only one who can see me though. Are you perhaps related to the hero of the seas?"

"You mean the Link that Tetra traveled with? No, that's impossible. If that was the case, then I would be part of your family, and there's no records of that marriage of ever happening." The thought of Zelda and I being related makes my stomach feel sick for some reason.

"Well, who your parents are HAS to be some kind of connection of being able to see me!"

Her questions strikes a nerve. A very sensitive nerve. "Well, I can see you," I say in a tone that held a hint of aggression. "That's all that matters."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Your parents may be a very big connection to-"

"I SAID THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

My anger hushes Zelda instantly. She looks down in guilt and mutters, "...I'm sorry."

Great. Now you've done it, Link. I take a deep breath and say, "No, no, it's not your fault. I'm sorry too."

A few seconds of awkward silence passes. Since I was the one who started it, I bite the arrow and break the silence. "So… You said you wanted me to have something?"

"Oh, that's right! You see that flute over there?"

I look at her drawer, and see the flute that she was playing when I first came in here. "Yeah… Is that what you want me to take?"

She nods. "It's been in my family for many generations. Since it's an ancient artifact, I thought it might help us in our quest."

"Wait, you left something that important here? Why didn't you bring it with you the first time we went to the Spirit Tower?!"

She chuckles nervously. "I, uh… Forgot."

"..."

"H-hey, don't give me that look! I was under a lot of stress at the time, okay?!"

I sigh. "Whatever." I then pick up the flute, and take a moment to look at it more closely. It looks pretty nice. This flute… Also seems to be in pretty good condition. Seriously, it doesn't even look like it's been made a year ago. I was tempted to ask Zelda when the flute was made, but I didn't have the energy to deal with another clueless answer. Instead, I put it into my bag and ask Zelda, "So are we going to head back to the Spirit Tower?"

She nods her head with a look of determination. "I'm ready to get some payback for those two stealing my body!"

"That's not a very princess-like thing to say, but… There's a score that I have to settle. Alfonzo put himself on the line for us, yet I failed to do my part. I failed you too." I look at Zelda with the same fierceness that was she giving me. "I promise that I'm going to fix my mistakes."

Zelda and I look nod in union, the both of us ready to do the job right this time.

However, I quickly realize that we had a problem. "Hang on a second. I don't actually have a sword of my own, so we… Well, I don't have a way of protecting myself. Do you know where I can get one?"

"A sword? Well, you can always ask the head of the guard. If you pose as a new guard and pass his training, he might give you one. I think I still have that tunic in my dresser..."

I groan at the thought. On one hand it was a decent plan, but on the other hand, if I were to try to pose as a new guard, then I would immediately be put on patrol instead of just being able to grab a sword and leave the castle without special permission... Assuming that the guards were actually competent doing their job, of course. Plus, I like wearing my engineer uniform much better than a green tunic. It looked cool on me, and I think that a different costume design on a hero who always wears the same green tunic throughout centuries is a nice change of pace. Is there any other way I can get a sword WITHOUT doing that whole process?

...Wait, maybe there is!

I walk to the training room in my engineer outfit, although it made Zelda pout that I refused to wear that green tunic again. The head of the guard was there, and he immediately looks at me in confusion. "Hey, who are you? You can't be in the castle!"

"Actually," I say as I pull out the letter Zelda wrote earlier, "I can. I have Zelda's permission to roam the castle today."

He looks at it, and after a few seconds, he nods in approval. "That's the princess's signature alright. Well in that case, what brings you here? Did you come to watch some of us guards in action?"

"No, I'm not. I came here for a favor. You see, I'm friends with Alfonzo. He's my engineer mentor, actually."

The head guard's eyes suddenly bulges out of his sockets. "Wait, you mean THE Alfonzo?! The previous captain of Zelda's guard?!"

I nod. "I'm sure you've heard the news about his injury. I was actually there with him at the time of the accident. I can't say why we were there, but… Well... I let him down." My fists tighten in anger, and I could feel myself getting frustrated again. "I want to do good by him and redeem myself. To do that, I need a sword. Please, for the sake of Alfonzo... No, for the sake of my friend, can you lend me a sword?"

The guard stares at me in silence for a few moments. Then he bursts into laughter. "You may be small, but I can tell from that look in your eye that you're a tough kid. Besides, I could never say no to a friend of Alfonzo. In fact, I'll do you one better: You can have one of our swords!"

My mouth is agape, even as he grabs a sword off the shelf and hands it to me. "Wow, I… Thank you. I deeply appreciate this."

"Don't mention it kid! Whatever thing you messed up on, I'm sure that you can fix it! Knock 'em dead, kid!"

I smile at the head guard. I guess not all of Hyrule's guards are bad...

Zelda says estatically to me, "Great! You got a sword now!" She suddenly pouts again and says, "I don't know why you were so stubborn about not wearing that tunic though. I think that it's cool…"

"Hey, can you blame a guy for liking pants instead?"

She sighs, but still smiles. "Anyways, now we can go back to the Tower Of Spirits!"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

"...Although, could we… NOT, perhaps, take the secret entrance to the Tower Of Spirits?"

"Huh? Why not? The tracks leading there are gone, so it's the safest way to get back there."

Zelda looks away, an uncomfortable expression on her face. "It's just that… Well... I don't…"

I look at her in confusion, but it quickly clicks in my mind of why Zelda was acting so nervous. "Zelda," I say with a groan, "You've really got to get over your fear of rats."

"D-don't make fun of me, okay?! Their eyes are lifeless, and their skin is all moldy and gross! It's like they're a dead person walking!"

"Kind of like you…"

Zelda glares at me with a rage that could make a Stalfos sweat. "What was that?!"

"Nothing!"