Hey guys! Back with the next installment! I am liking where this story is going, and hope you do, too!
Thank you to all my devoted readers for coming along with me on this adventure. It has been such a blast!
Without further ado, here is chapter fifteen. And this time, it is in the viewpoint of your young hero, Link.
Enjoy!
[LINK]
Three days.
This is the longest I have ever been away from Skyloft. I never thought about how used to the sky I was. On the surface, I literally felt heavier, the air is denser, and overall there are significantly more smells of pine tree and earthy materials. It slowly grew on me over the past few days.
For the most part, the three days have been uneventful. Making food, tea, reading a few books of Zelda's, and sitting by the fire have been our main pass times.
I want to go outside.
I feel like a little kid again, begging to go and play, but we agreed on one thing. We think it is safest inside, hidden from sight, so no one knows where we are. Simply the thought of Zelda being in the same room as Ghirahim makes my blood boil. Am I being overprotective? Maybe. Maybe not.
When you love something, you want to ensure its safety and overall happiness.
Especially when that something is a beautiful sixteen-year-old woman.
Having Zelda around has made me a different person. She changed me inside out, and for the better. I used to keep my emotions bottled up inside, but with her I can share anything and she won't judge. She supports me in many ways I am so thankful for, and she has done so much for me. She got me out of my wall I built around myself.
She makes me the happiest I can physically be, and for that I am eternally grateful.
Tonight, as we gaze upward to the sky to watch the meteors shoot by, I don't really pay any attention to the rare occasion, but the woman in my arms as she leans against me, holding my arms to her stomach. We lean against a tree close to her house and watch as the stars streak across the dark sky, lighting up the evening in white-blue brilliant light.
"Link," I hear someone whisper. I groan. Too early.
I hear her laugh softly, feeling her adjust closer to me.
"Come on, sleepyhead," I hear again. I open one eye, looking at Zelda. Even with unruly bed hair, she still is beautiful to me.
"Mmm?" Words are out of the question until I have officially eaten something. I yawn, stretching and rolling over on top of her. She gives a squeal of surprise.
"Link!" She laughs. I begin to fake snore. She playfully hits my shoulder, pushing against my deadweight, and tries rolling me off of her. I am winning.
Then again, she is small.
I roll off of her and back to where I started, laughing.
"Not funny, Link," she deadpans, "you could have crushed me."
"Is that a fat joke?" I ask, kissing her cheek.
"Yes," she responds.
"Ouch," I whisper, "Zel, you're just too small for your own good." She smacks me.
"I'm not small! I'm fun sized!"
That gets a solid laugh out of me. She joins in and we stay there, in that perfect moment, together, for a little while longer.
After breakfast, I take the plates to the sink, and spot something I wasn't expecting.
"Oh! Hey, Fledge!" I look into the stained glass widow, at the reflection of my friend. He smiles and waves.
"Hi, Link! Is Zelda with you?"
"Yeah, she's in the living room. How's it going up there? Are you guys okay?"
I have been wondering about how things were going since we left, but we planned that they should contact us first, since they are the ones now technically on enemy turf it would be easier for them to be taken rather than us.
Fledge stays quiet. He is nervous. Why?
"Fledge?" I prompt.
"Link," he says, uncertain, "None of us noticed when it happened, but Ghirahim isn't here anymore."
I freeze. No.
"Where is he, Fledge?" I place my hands on the counter ledge to lean in, keeping my voice down just in case Zelda hears.
Fledge pokes his fingers and looks down. A nervous habit. This can't be good.
"Fledge." I demand.
"He's on the surface," he submits, "looking for you."
"Any ideas of where?"
"He said he'd start in Castle Town, then move his way toward where you are. He does know where she lives, after all."
"Crap," I mutter. "Thanks, Fledge. Anything else?"
"Yeah, actually—" his eyebrows furrow as if he is even more so unsure of how to proceed.
"Come on, Fledge, we both know you can't hold this connection for long."
"Okay, well, I had a dream that someone appeared to me in and told me to pass along a message directly to you. The message was this: go to the temple. Do you know what that means?"
I ponder. Then it hits me. I know exactly where to go. Curiosity suddenly appears in me.
"Fledge? Buddy, who sent you that message?"
"It was a woman. She was dressed tribally and had really long blonde hair."
A smile spreads across my face.
"Do you know her or something?" Fledge looks confused. I would be, too.
"Yeah, it's a long story, though," I look over my shoulder to see if Zelda had appeared to listen to any of that conversation. Luckily, she is nowhere in sight. I turn back to the window.
"Well, maybe when all this is over you can tell it, but I've got to go. Class starts in five minutes. Good luck, you guys!"
"You too, Fledge," I wave. "Don't worry about us. Now that I know Ghirahim is gone from the academy, we'll contact you if anything goes wrong. Contact us first if anything changes."
"Sounds like a plan. Bye, Link! Tell Zelda I say hi."
"Will do, bye." The connection fades into nothing.
Both relief and stress find their way into me. Relief that Ghirahim is no longer at school; stress that he is after us, knows we are on the surface, and plans to end us in some way. I also have no clue how long he has been on the surface looking for us. He could be five minutes away, or he could still be in Castle Town. He could be anywhere.
What a cheery way to start the day.
I turn around to enter the living room and find Zelda lying on the couch in front of the fire. Seeing her lie there in a picture of ease helps settle my busy mind. It also makes me happy. Really happy. Like one day maybe things can be normal for us.
One hand supports the back of her head and the other rests on her stomach. Her eyes are closed, but I know she is not sleeping. I walk up to her and run my hand through her soft hair. She smiles opening one eye and sitting up, letting her silky hair fall over her shoulder, she grabs my arm to sit me down next to her.
"Hey," she says, "you look troubled. What's up?"
I can't let her know Ghirahim is on the surface. I can't. Not yet.
"Oh, nothing," I wrap an arm around her and kiss her forehead. "Just thinking how nice it would be to go for a picnic today. You know, get out of the house for a while."
She thinks about it, a smile slowly spreading over her beautiful features. I know I have piqued her interest. This could work.
"I could be persuaded, for a little while, at least" she says finally. "When would you like to go?"
"How about in a half hour?" I say.
"Just after eating breakfast?" She asks skeptically.
"Well, by the time we get to where we're going, it'll be closer to lunch. Plus, we still have to pack it and saddle up Epona."
"Fair point. And where would we be going?"
I feign a pondering look.
"Have you ever heard of a surprise?" She laughs.
"Oh, I see how it is," she scoots from my grip and playfully ruffles my hair. "Fine, surprise me then, mister chivalrous." She leaves to start packing the picnic. I heave a sigh. I can't have her figuring out where we are really going. Then again, she might not know about it, but regardless things are going to change for the better of the world.
I'm ready.
We saddle up Epona and head out, not before I sneak over to Kai's stall and untie him quick just in case an emergency arises. We ride the familiar path to the meadow. I think she is slowly catching on to where we are going.
Or at least her idea of where we are going.
We ride up to the ruins and she hugs my waist tighter. She has been giving me riding lessons and is surprised at how well Epona trusts me already. She says that Epona is extremely picky who she lets ride her.
I'm a lucky guy, I guess.
I pull on the reigns, stopping Epona, and let Zelda down first. I then swing my leg over to dismount, my feet landing on the cold ground. I grab the bags and blankets while Zelda takes care of Epona. She ties her reigns and turns back to me.
"Ready?" She asks. She has no idea what she is getting into.
As I'll ever be, I think to myself.
"Yep," I say aloud, "let's go." I hold out my hand for her. She grabs it and we begin walking to the ruins. I then think of something. I turn and pull up my shoe making it seem like it was falling down, but I release a magic spell to untie Epona's reins from the tree. She's a smart horse, and we don't want her trapped if Ghirahim really is on our trail.
Continuing, we walk through an old archway and into the center of the meadow. Zelda begins to grab the blankets from my shoulder, but I cut her off.
"Actually," I say casually. "This isn't where I had in mind."
"Oh?" She gives me a questioning look.
"Follow me," I say, grabbing her hand again and leading her to another archway.
"So, where are we really going?" Zelda asks after a while.
"Really, do you not know the definition of the word 'surprise'?"
She removes her hand from my grasp to fold her arms in front of her, playfully pouting. I laugh.
"Okay," I say, "I promise you'll enjoy where we are going." Maybe.
"Okay." She settles with my uninformative answer and grabs my hand again. The path we are walking on starts to curve upward. After a while of walking up a hill, it opens up into a clearing. More ruins surround it, along with a few statues. Zelda inhales and gapes in awe.
"Link," she whispers. "What is this place?"
"It's an old temple—really old—from around when my ancestor, the Hero of Time, was alive. I wish we could see it in its full state, though. It would be something else."
"Yeah," she breathes, taking it in. I set to work, shaking out the blankets and placing the bags with food on them. We unpack the food and begin eating, with added gusto thanks to the long walk here. Once we finished we both lie down and soak in the sun. Zelda eventually falls asleep. I can't. For some reason I have a bad feeling. Like Ghirahim is right on our tails.
A sudden cold appears out of nowhere. I open my eyes. The sun isn't blocked by a cloud, there is no wind, and unless Zelda has suddenly gone cold, I don't know where the source comes from.
Then it hits me.
"Zelda," I say urgently. I sit up, bringing her with me. She moans. "Zelda," I shake her.
"Link," she says, opening her eyes, "Wha—"
"Ghirahim." I say flatly. She is suddenly awake, standing up with me and folding up the contents of our picnic into the blanket.
"How?" She asks.
"I don't know, but come on. Let's get into the temple."
"Where?" She looks around.
"There," I point to the main set of ornate doors.
"Link, I don't think those doors will—"
"Trust me." I grab her hand and we start running.
Ten feet to the door.
Five.
The next thing we know is we are hitting our backs on the ground from a rebound. I sit up and look at a transparent wall. It's magic. It glows an ethereal dark gold color. I look through it to the direction of the door and find Ghirahim standing in front of it. His arms are folded and his demeanor is overall intimidating. I turn to Zelda to find she is already standing on her feet, backing away. Fear written all over her features. I back up with her, holding my arm protectively in front of her.
Suddenly, I remember why I untied Kai today. I whistle as hard and loud as I can. Zelda snaps out of her frozen state and looks at me, grabbing my free hand. I continue whistling, and look over to Ghirahim. His mouth dropped to the floor in amusement. I stop my whistling and glare at him. Suddenly he bends over in two and begins laughing, slapping his knee for extra emphasis.
"What on this good earth do you think you're doing, kid?" He says, straightening himself, and adjusting his hair and clothes to lie perfectly. "Who do you think will respond to that? That mere whistle! Do you take me for a fool, boy? I—"
I hear a mid ranged bird call not too far off and smile, turning to find Kai already swooping down to the rescue. I spin back around to find Ghirahim glowering and making fists with his hands. They are shaking with anger.
"Kid! You will regret this!" He says before he disappears into thin air.
If I know my spells correctly, this wasn't a simple vanishing spell. I don't know of any types of spells that leave behind magical evidence. There were, in Ghirahim's place, little diamonds of residual crystallized magical energy. I frown. There has to be something else to this spell. Preparing myself for anything, I bring Zelda close to me and wrap my arm around her waist protectively. I look to Kai as he lands. I help Zelda up then climb on after her. We take off and fly higher than the wall—
Or I thought that would be a good idea. Turns out we are in a vertically never ending wall. Literally, in our own tunnel prison.
We have to break it. But how?
"Zel," I say over the winds, "we need to break down the wall. Have any good ideas?"
She grabs my shoulders, leaning to look over the side. She takes in the wall and furrows her brow, thinking. An idea must have come to her shortly after because she takes in an excited breath, eyes widening.
"Link," she calls, "does Kai know how to 'Spiral Charge'?"
I look to where she is looking, wondering where she is going with this.
"Yeah, but he's never done it with two riders. Only with me."
"Well, he's going to have to learn. With me as added weight, we can fly straight toward that section," she points over to one of the quadrants, "and use a 'Spiral Charge' on its weak point to break it."
I look where she is pointing, but I don't see it.
"What weak point?"
"You don't see it? That chink in the wall?" She asks, almost a little crestfallen. I'm only more confused.
"No," I respond.
"Well, if you can't see it, then there is only one way for this to work. Switch places with me."
"I don't know if you are aware of this, but we are currently fifty feet off the ground. It's a bit tricky to switch places mid air."
"Then catch me," she says before sliding off of Kai's side. I turn him around and force Kai into a dive, reach out my arms to grab her bridal style, and pull him back up.
"What are you thinking?" I yell on the way back upward. "That was fifty feet in the air, if I didn't catch you—"
"It worked, didn't it?" she yells back.
Wow, our first fight over Zelda jumping off of a bird midflight. It's almost laughable.
"Yeah, let's just never do that again. So, you lead Kai the direction of the weak point and tell me when to do the 'Spiral Charge'. That's your plan, right?"
She simply looks over her shoulder and smiles.
"It's almost like you know me or something."
"Yeah. Weird. Let's get moving, before Ghirahim shows up again.
I help Zelda steer Kai and get ready for the 'Spiral Charge'. Just before I execute it, Ghirahim reappears, floating mid air and throwing heat seeking knives our way.
Wait. Floating mid air?
I turn to look, amazed at the magic level he has achieved, just as Zelda yells 'now'.
I turn my attention back to the task at hand and execute the 'Spiral Charge'. I clutch onto Kai's saddle around Zelda's waist so she has an anchor. She also clutches to the front of his saddle and lays almost completely flat. I press against her to hold her in place as the world begins to spin around us.
Blurs of colors appear and smear across my vision. Gravity pulls from all sides, but Kai is a smart bird and counteracts the extra weight that is Zelda perfectly, and we make contact with the weak point.
The wall shatters around us. Chunks of glass fall, catching light on their way down, and disappear as they hit the ground. It is like a shockwave. It started where we collided and slowly spider webbed around the entire wall, crumbling down in millions of pieces. Kai flies to the entrance of the temple and we dismount. I turn to see Ghirahim cover his head and fall slowly to the ground. A bigger glass chunk hits him square on the head and he falls significantly faster. Smiling, I turn to the task at hand, opening the door.
Zelda is pulling on one of the handles, but it doesn't budge. I try my luck with the other door's handle, but no luck. Resting my right hand on the door, I feel a burning sensation on the back of it. Looking up, I see there something that I thought I only dreamed.
The Triforce.
That was real? I don't have time to think. I just do what my gut tells me and put my right hand to the handle to pull. Like a sword being pulled out of a perfectly crafted sheath, the door swings on its ancient hinges and opens easily. Zelda looks at my hand in awe and a little fear.
"Link, what—"
"No time," I say, finishing opening the door, "get inside. Now. I'll explain everything once we're in."
She nods, seeming to accept my answer. I pull Kai's reins and let him enter before me. As I push on the handle to shut the door, I see Ghirahim stand, lift a hand to his head and look at me. Pure hatred covered his features and he takes off in a run straight for me and the door. I push as hard as I can and barely shut it before Ghirahim makes it. The door lets off a blinding light and seals itself. I step back, bumping into Zelda, and she wraps her arms around my stomach, pressing her head to my back, cowering.
"Hey," I say, turning and wrapping my arms around her.
We stay like that for a while. Her tears begin flowing and stain my shirt, but I don't really care.
We're alive to fight another day.
"Where are we, Link?" Zelda's voice echoes throughout the chamber, even though she spoke quietly. It was a huge room. We look around. The architecture is that of the ancients. Huge arches form at the ceiling and grow into long pillars toward the floor. All the material, from what I could tell in the dim light, was some sort of stone. Gray tones cover everything and the rest we can't see is covered in shadow.
"I don't know if it is my place to tell you, Zel," I simply say. She looks over to me and quirks an eyebrow.
"Oh? You know where we are and you won't even give me a hint?"
"Nope," I say.
"Stingy," she mumbles. I laugh. "Seriously though. Why did he suddenly show up out of the blue? How did he find us so fast?"
"I don't know, Zel," I say, "but I do know that he is no longer infiltrating the school. Since we are no longer there, the school is no longer an interest of his."
"Really?" She sounds relieved. "So all our friends and professors are safe?"
"Yeah," I say. "Turns out he's only interested in us individually."
"Why is that?"
A subtle noise cuts our conversation short. The dim light doesn't help our situation at all, but I would say it sounded like another living thing. Human or not, I'm not sure. It also came from really high up. I pull Zelda close to me and try to make out what it was that made the noise. I suddenly hear something thud right next to me and turn to see who or what is there.
"Because," I hear a familiar voice say as she stands, "You two are in the way of his final goal."
"Impa," we both breath. She smiles.
"Welcome to the Temple of Time, chosen ones."