The Onyx House had numerous entrance doors. Nearest the bike shed was the door into the House's kitchen; it was open. I lead Zelda and Impa through the door and the kitchen. We walked straight across the kitchen and out its door into the dining room. As it was only 3:00, there was no one there. Those housemates of mine who were on the main floor were in the two-part living room that adjoined the dining room. I was looking for one person in particular.
Finally, I saw her: Kaylee, a close friend of mine since I first moved to the House a week prior. She was about my height (and Zelda's, as it would happen), and sported a blonde-and-brown ponytail. She was the House's biggest Legend of Zelda fan, and (I'm sure) owned all the games, which she played frequently. As I approached her, her eyes lit up all too obviously at the sight of the pair following me. As we came together, she whispered excitedly, "Zelda cosplayers!"
I whispered in return, "I don't think these are cosplayers. They have no idea the Zelda games exist."
"You're telling me they're the real thing?" She asked, still in undertones.
I nodded. "Those aren't implants they're wearing on their ears," I answered, indicating their elongated, slender upper ears, which came to dagger-like points.
As I said this, Kaylee grinned ear-to-ear. "This is so cool," she told me, hardly able to keep her voice at a whisper. "Zelda and Impa are actually in our house."
"Yeah," I replied, "and I have a bit of explaining to do. Would you be able to show them whichever game they're from?"
"Oh yeah," he responded. "I'll go and fire up Ocarina." With that, she jogged across the living room towards the main stairs. Motioning to the two following me, I trailed Kaylee up the stairs.
The four of us hurriedly climbed two flights of stairs, past the guys' floor, up to the girls' floor. It was not the first time I had been up there; "floor hours," which was what we called the times boys and girls could visit each other's floors were from 2:00 to 10:00 at night, and as Kaylee was a close friend, I took full advantage of that fact to visit and watch her play her Zelda games. We now jogged down the girls' floor – Zelda at a slower pace, hampered by her skirt – until we came to Kaylee's room.
As Zelda, Impa, and I entered her room, Kaylee was already firing up one of her profusion of consoles. "Make yourselves comfortable," she said to us. I let the two ladies sidle past me and take seats on the bottom bunk on either side of Kaylee. I asked if it was okay to sit on the top bunk, to which Kaylee readily nodded her assent. I ascended the short ladder to said bunk and sat on it – well, I actually reclined, as I didn't want my legs to get in anyone's field of view – and watched as Kaylee started a saved file on Ocarina of Time. From what I knew of this particular game (which, admittedly, wasn't a great deal), I could tell that it had been saved very close to the end. The polygonal, slightly pixelated Link appeared inside what appeared to be the dungeon of some grim, dark castle.
"Wait, that's Ganon's castle," exclaimed Impa.
I didn't even have to see Kaylee to know that she'd be grinning like a pyromaniac at the Fourth of July. She set her thumbs to the controller she held and played through the area, steering the Link on her screen to an area where a glowing pinkish shell hovered in midair. She thumbed through the equipment screen before finding what looked like an arrow with its head encased in solidified honey. This she selected, and – I guess – fired at the shell. To my surprise, a pixelated, polygonal version of Impa appeared, hovering in midair, before text ran below her and she disappeared.
"I remember that," Impa stated.
I poked my head down and looked at the three ladies on the bottom bunk. Kaylee was, predictably, grinning; Zelda was staring raptly at the TV screen; Impa's jaw had dropped. Kaylee continued to play through the game, repeating the same process six times, each time freeing a different character (whose names I didn't know at the time) from a colored capsule. Finally, she proceeded to a great room. And therein was a video game version of Zelda, encapsulated in a transparent purple prism.
I heard an audible gasp from Zelda on the bottom bunk. "I remember this too," she said. "This was when Ganon trapped me in a crystal, but Link saved me and defeated him. I remember sealing him two years ago!"
I guessed that Kaylee would be grinning wide enough to nearly unlock her jaw. This would have been the biggest geek-out moment for her, to show Zelda and Impa, of video game fame, a game based around their own exploits.
I climbed down the ladder and stood beside the bunk bed. I turned to the two oddly-dressed ladies and told them, "The entire storyline of this game was supposed to be fiction. At least, that's what we've all thought. I hope you'll pardon my surprise that you two actually exist."
"I would never have guessed that what befell us would have been known in another world," said Impa, breathlessly.
I nodded. "Now that we've established that you're real enough, could you tell us what's happened?"
I could tell Kaylee was interested in hearing whatever these two had to say. I was, too. This was so far out of the ordinary that I had to find out the cause of it. Zelda began her tale: "As you two know, two years ago, I, with the help of Link, Impa, and the other Sages, defeated and sealed away Ganon, the king of evil. The seal broke earlier than I expected, and Ganon has broken free. He has kidnapped Link to gain access to the peace of our Triforce that he carries. He plans to do the same to me for the piece I carry, and without Link, it will be all too easy for him to do so. Impa and I have come to this world searching for a hero who can rescue Link and help him defeat Ganon again. By chance, we happened upon you…" She indicated me as she spoke. "…So I must ask if you can come to Hyrule with us and perform this task."
I could see Kaylee was giddy with excitement. I almost wished it had been her that they found; she would have said yes without a second thought. I, on the other hand, had my reservations. "Can I think on it tonight?" I asked. "We have a church service here at the House tonight, and I want to be there."
Impa nodded. "While I cannot say we have much time to spare, I realize that this is not a decision to be taken lightly. We can give you a day or two to decide."
"Great," I replied. "In the meantime, we have a guest room on this floor if you two want to stay the night. Is anyone booked for the spare room, Kaylee?"
Kaylee shook her head.
So I nodded to the other two ladies. "I'll think on it," I told them.
They nodded their satisfaction. So, as Kaylee went to show them the spare room, I went down two flights of stairs to the living room, plopped myself down, and started thinking.
