Hello all you anxious readers!
Here is chapter eleven for you lovely folk.
I'm going to go let my hands warm up before continuing because it is frigid here in the midwest. Just watch the news. Negative twenty something tonight. Yuckers.
On a positive note, enjoy! Review, re-read, et cetera. Do what you gotta do.
Cheers.
Half waking up in the middle of the night can sometimes be the worst thing. And sometimes the best.
I wake to find that my arms are extremely cold. Remembering I took off my sweatshirt to sleep with my tank top. I now slightly regret that decision. Moaning, I burrow back into my warm blankets, smiling once I am satisfactorily covered and warmth engulfs me. Wondering what woke me up I get the answer fairly quickly.
Something in the hall made a noise. Not one to be alarmed by, just the pitter patter of little feet. I smile and remember what Link told me. The kids liked to wake up in the middle of the night and play tag. It makes me think of the things Ilia and I did when we were little. Sneaking downstairs to make hot cocoa, and leaving the dishes for our mom to clean up in the morning. Somehow, that our young brains simply couldn't wrap around, she caught on to us and found us in the kitchen. She didn't yell at us, though. She finished making our cocoas and had some with us.
I miss her, even though she wasn't my real mother. She left to visit her sister in the royal city, Castle Town, on the surface, but hadn't returned by the set date. We later found out that she went missing after a slave trader went through the town.
We still haven't found her. My father is devastated.
Why am I thinking of such depressing things this early in the morning?
Returning me to reality, I feel movement beside me and freeze. I remember where I am.
In a hotel room, sharing a bed with Link.
I roll over to look at him. He is sound asleep, one arm under his pillow supporting his head and his hair is completely disheveled. When he is sleeping, I notice, the years melt off of his face and he looks like the eighteen year old that he really is. No worries dragging him down. He looks peaceful.
He also, apparently, sleeps shirtless. Go figure.
I roll back over to look out the window and not at the source of why my stomach is suddenly flipping over and over. The night sky is clear, the stars sparkle in the distance and the moon shines bright. So bright, that I don't need a light to move about the room. I continue to toss and turn, but the light bothers me enough to the point that I can't sleep. I get up out of bed and feel the cold wood floor below my bare feet. Walking to the hearth, I place a few logs inside and use magic to light a fire. I sit down on the rug in front and let the heat soothe my cold, aching body. But for some reason, the heat isn't working as it should. I frown, scooting closer to the fire, but still no heat. I stand up.
Something is off. I walk around the bed, grabbing my sweatshirt and putting on my jeans. I move over to Link and shake his shoulder.
"Link?" I say softly. "Link, wake up," I repeat myself a couple times before he wakes. He is also, apparently, a heavy sleeper.
His eyelids flutter and slowly open, blinking the water from his eyes, he looks my direction and wraps his arm around my waist while he sits up. I place my arm behind his back.
"Zel, why is it so cold?" His voice is still raspy from sleep. I rub his back as he presses his head to my stomach, holding me tighter.
"I'm not sure," I say truthfully. "I started the fire a couple minutes ago, but it doesn't seem to have any effect." I have a theory, and I don't like where it is going. I let that sink in, and if I'm right, well.
"We need to get out of here. Now," I say. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling.
"Yeah, I think you're right," he says eyeing the fire, moving to throw the blankets off of him and getting out of the bed. "But where do we go? Kai can't fly at night." I start formulating a plan, and it seems decent.
"We go untie him from the corral. I'll use the Vanishing Spell," I say, dowsing the fire. Link speed packs his things as we plan. "I have a token in my room at the academy. But," I say, my confidence wavering, "I've never used the Vanishing Spell with anyone but myself. I don't know if I can do it."
"You can," Link says, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I close my eyes to take a deep breath and try to focus as he finishes up the packing. When I open my eyes again, I look to the window and freeze.
There is a black shadow outside.
And, again, we are not on the bottom floor.
"Link," I breathe, backing into the wall. I lost my voice. He still scrambles getting dressed. He just finishes putting his shoes on, using the wall for support, as the figure toys with the lock on the window. He freezes, too, then turns his head slowly to the source of the sound.
"No," he breathes, placing both feet in a defensive position. I hear the sound of little feet in the hallway again, praying that no one gets hurt tonight.
No one other than me. This is my problem, after all, and I don't want anyone innocent to get in between. Including Link.
Link summons the power to execute a spell I have never seen. It freezes the window solid, including the lock. He just might have bought us enough time to get out.
I feel him grasp my hand in a firm grip, and that brings me back to reality. He shakes his head and pulls me to his side.
"I know that look, Zel," he whispers, starting to pull me toward the door, "don't stand up to problems you can't handle by yourself. I am here for a reason," he adds. "Don't leave me," his voice is almost gone. He grabs my face and bends down to give me a fiercely passionate, but quick, kiss. I grip his wrists as he pulls back and brings me with him to the door. We lock it and shut it behind us as we leave. There are no kids to be seen, thankfully. I hope they went back to bed.
We descend the stairs as quietly as we can in record time and make our way to the entrance, both of us on guard. As we cross the lobby, Link says he will go untie Kai while I prepare for the Vanishing Spell. Once we cross the lobby, we both take up positions on either side of the door. Link holds up three fingers. Then two. One.
He bangs the door open and makes a break for the corral. I also run that direction, but am cut off by Ghirahim. I try to remember everything Link has taught me so far during trainings. About finesse, rather than brute strength. I focus power behind my kick and whip my leg around. Ghrirahim can see right through it, though and ducks out of the way, but not in enough time to have his hood caught on my foot. He faces the other direction, unmoving more out of shock than anything.
Needless to say, I am shocked to say it isn't Ghirahim. But rather, someone that I know. Someone I trust. Rather, trusted. He was my favorite professor, after all.
"Professor Owlan?" My voice sounds shaky, but infinitely more confident than I currently feel. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Zelda," he says, standing to turn and face me, but it isn't his normal voice. It is the voice of Ghirahim. As the professor turns around, I notice that his eyes have severely sunken in and are covered in shadows. Dark veins surround his eyes as well. In addition to that, his skin is a pale white even in the moonlight. He looks dead, but my gut tells me otherwise. "Professor Owlan has been away for a long while. And by away, I mean he has been mentally absent for months. He is a vessel for my powers. Now," he lifts his hand and beckons to me. I back away. What is taking Link so long to untie Kai? I look over the professor's shoulder and don't see any sign of him. I begin to panic.
"Now, we don't want your little boyfriend involved, do we?" He smirks. I swallow hard. He knows that I would do anything to not have anyone hurt for me. He knows my weakness. He also knows that I wouldn't dare hurt a professor.
Evil bastard.
He has me cornered and, from what it looks like, with no aid forthcoming. I back into the wall of the hotel, shivering. He pins me there, placing a hand on the wall by my head and leaning close. I press my palms flat against the wall behind me, turning my head to the direction of the corral. Still no sign of Link.
I begin to worry about him.
The professor—Ghirahim—chuckles.
"Don't worry," he says in his snakelike voice, "Little—what was his name? Lank? Whatever—your boyfriend is no longer a concern of ours. Just relax and let me kill you."
He brings a hand up to grab my hair, bringing it to his nose to sniff it. I taste bile in my throat, but also have a swelling anger building inside. I summon magic into my hands and push them out in front of me releasing it. His chest meets the full force of my spell and I duck under his arm, running for the corral. I summon earth mounds behind me to form walls between me and him. I make it to the corral and see Link lying on the ground, head bloodied. He had been bludgeoned in the back of the head. I kneel down to see if he is okay. I feel a pulse. Barely, but it's there. I look up to see that Kai has been untied. Kai squeals. I think he is worried about Link.
"Don't worry, Kai," I soothe the creature. "I will take him back to safety. He'll be fine." I bend down and place my hand around his wrist. I focus on the Triforce shaped key chain in my room and nothing else. Then I hear a noise from behind me. The professor stands at the entrance to the corral, slowly walking in with all his intimidating presence. I cringe, turning back to Link and focusing. I feel the tug of magic and let it pull me toward the keychain. I feel a heavy weight in my hand, hopefully meaning that that is Link, and continue to think about the key chain. I feel the floating sensation of the actual transport of the spell. Just as suddenly as I felt weightless, I feel the world re-solidify around me. I open my eyes to see my room. Relief instantly floods me, and I turn to see Link. What I see, immediately removes the relief I just felt.
Blood. Lots of blood was coming out of his head wound. I kneel down in it, not caring about my jeans. I can buy new ones. All I care about at the moment is stopping the blood. I rest his shoulders onto my knees and his head on my thighs. I then focus the magic to my hands and release slow pulses of healing techniques to his skull. I slow the blood flow and he groans in pain. I try to coax him awake, but all I get from him is another series of groaning. I lift him up to place the majority of his weight on my shoulder, and grab his arm for added support. I drag him over to the edge of the stairs when I hear Karane rustling in her room. I turn back to knock on her door. She comes out in about a minute and opens her sleepy eyes wide, about to dive into a series of questions. I give her a look and shush her before she can even begin. She takes in our state and her eyes get wider, she offers to support Link's other side. We walk in silence to the hospital wing. My ears begin to ring due to the almost overuse of magic, but I'm in better condition than Link at the moment. He wins.
We get to the desk at the hospital wing and knock on the glass to get the attention of the worker. Her eyes widen and she immediately sets to work, grabbing a bed and wheeling him off to get him examined. I plop down on one of the chairs and truly feel how cold I am. I begin to go over details of the night.
Ghirahim was using people. That was scary. If he, as he says, has been in Owlan's mind for months, he knows everything about the defenses at the school. We won't be safe here for long. It's only a matter of time before he discovers where we went. And if Owlan has been possessed, who is to say that all the other professors are fine? Including the Headmaster? And what about the students?
I cringe as I slowly realize the reality around me. Nowhere is safe. Link and I will have to do tracing enchantments to see if Ghirahim has infiltrated our friend's minds. I can't believe it. Ghirahim has shaken my entire sense of security in one night. What are we going to do?
I plan on giving Impa a call later, then remember that she will be out of commission for a while. She is gathering information from the original source.
Whatever that means.
It also actually means that Link and I are practically alone in this big mess unless we discover that our friends were somehow unaffected by Ghirahim, or until my mother gets back. Rude, universe.
For now, while I know we are somewhat safe from him, I sit in the waiting room chair. I'll go in and check on Link in a while when I feel less numb.
I don't know how long goes by until Karane sits next to me and tries to drill out information, but when she sees that none is forthcoming, she decides to give up and get me a steamy mug of tea. While she is in the kitchen, the nurse comes out and brings me to Link. I don't really process the walk there. My brain is moving my body for me.
Once the curtain is pulled back, I see link's head bandaged and some other minor wounds treated to. It also brings be back to reality if only a little. I walk over and grab his hand. He is in a deep sleep. I feel his pulse and find it much stronger than earlier.
I didn't hear the second nurse come in until she started speaking.
"There is a chance that he might not wake," she says solemnly. "He lost a lot of blood, and the trauma to his head was enough to potentially knock him into a comatose state. I've done all I can with the medicine I am provided here. I can get in a shipment of new supplies that might help, but it isn't guaranteed. I'm telling you because you care for the boy. And he cares for you. I've seen it, when you were here after Ghirahim attacked the other day." She looks over to me and gives me a sad smile.
"But don't lose hope, dear. He can pull through. It's on him, now." She turns to leave me with him, and my gradually slipping grip on my happiness.
Over the past hour, or what felt like an hour, I have been trying to come up with a plan. To somehow escape Ghirahim. The only one I can think of that would remotely come close to working if everything worked without a hitch is the one my mother recommended.
But it's too soon. And without Link—
I look at him and squeeze his hand, planting a kiss on his forehead. He smiles and mumbles my name in his sleep. Even unconscious, he has the capability of thawing me out. I wish I had more confidence with my magic like he does. Even with the knowledge of the Sheikah in me, it's just a matter of fine tuning it. I'm sure if I asked how, Link would show me when he wakes up.
No. If he wakes up.
Simply the fact that he called my name in his state gives me hope. I focus my magic and give it a go. I place my hands on his head, and let it flow. Slowly it drains out of me, but some color did return to his face. Or maybe I imagined it because I wanted to see it.
I hope not.
I sit on the edge of his bed, looking at him and rubbing my thumb along the inner part of his arm.
What am I going to do? He told me not to leave him.
But what if he leaves me? Tears begin to fall down my face as I lay myself down next to him and wrap my arm around him, willing him with all my might to have him come back to help me. To fight with me.
Simply to me.
Please.