Chapter 14
Time Warp
Link and the two girls stepped through the invisible portal and were in Hyrule of the past. From the looks of things, it wasn't that long ago. Malon and Saria let out a gasp.
"This was last month!" Saria whispered.
Link looked at her quizzically.
"How do you know?" he asked with a frown.
"For one thing, the Twilight isn't here. For another, I see the King of Twilight riding to Hyrule Castle!" Saria said with alarm as she pointed to great black figure riding with haste to the castle followed by a great black wisp of smoke.
"We'll follow at a distance to see what really conspired here to force Zelda to turn sides." Link whispered as he led them towards the Twilight.
They soon reached the gates of the castle and witnessed something they never would have expected. Zelda was at her throne surrounded by a small wall of guards. Further down the great blue carpet were more guards facing the gate. All of a sudden the great wisp of the black cloud of Twilight blew in and great creatures of Shadows appeared and pounced on the guard killing all of them except the few by the princess. There was a dramatic pause and out stepped the Twilight King out of the cloud. He strode down the carpet with two monsters flanking him, and stopped a foot away from the princess.
"It is time for you to choose: Surrender or Die. Oh, yes, a question for all the land and people of Hyrule…" he paused dramatically looking at the guards choking in the grasp of the fearsome twilight creatures.
Zelda gulped in fear.
"Life or Death?!" the king cackled.
Zelda gulped in fear once again and slowly let her thin rapier-like sword clang to the ground.
"I, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, hereby surrender to the Twilight. I am your servant." She proclaimed to the Twilight King.
"You may call me Zant, if you wish.
Link gasped in bewilderment. He truly had never heard of this guy!
"We should be going now." Link said as he grabbed the girls' hands and quietly walked back to Hyrule Field.
They ran right into, none other than Jacen Solo.
"Jacen, why are you in Hyrule? You're supposed to be with Mara and Ben Skywalker in Middle Earth tracking the Halflings!" Link gasped in shock.
Jacen merely smiled and held out a hand for the young hero to relax.
"Relax, Master Link, I have mastered inter-dimension time travel. Mara and Ben Skywalker believe me to be asleep. We're making good progress in our search for the Halflings, but have spotted several Nazgul on their tail. Mara is in the process of using a highly advanced Jedi Mind Trick on them to dissuade them from traveling any closer. Oh, before I forget, Radagast has Force potential. We've sensed it from afar. Well, how has it been with you?" Jacen finished with a smile.
"Hyrule has taken a turn for the worst, I'm afraid, Jacen. My sister, Princess Zelda, has turned to the Dark Side." Link whispered.
Jacen paled as he heard the news.
"You're joking, right?" he chuckled nervously.
Link shook his head. He began to tell Jacen the tale of the Zant, the Twilight King, and how twilight was devouring the whole land.
"Do you want us to send help?" Jacen asked after he had processed the tale.
"We'll be fine, trust me." Link reassured the young Jedi.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Jacen began but was caught off as he noticed something amiss in Middle Earth.
"Nazgul!" he exclaimed as he vanished with a flash into midair.
The three companions gasped in fear.
"They got him! Do something Link! He's done for! We're all doomed!" Malon cried as she tugged his shoulder.
"Malon, relax! I'm a Jedi Master, remember. Not only that, but I am the Hero of Hyrule. Now, do you think that I could be caught off guard?" he said as he eyed her with one of his infamous smirks.
Malon had a smile playing on the edges of her lips.
"Of course not, hero!" she chuckled as she started to scan the horizon for some athelas leaves.
"Now, where have I seen that plant before?" Saria pondered as she scratched her head.
Link began playing Saria's song on his ocarina for inspiration. As the song reached the Kokiri's ears, her eyes lit up. She began to jump up and down with joy as the song reached its climax.
"Faron Woods, of course!" she breathed as she grabbed her two companions' hands and led them at a mad dash to the forest near Ordon.
"Where are you taking us?" Link laughed as Saria pulled him along.
"To the forest where you were born." Saria teased as the wind ruffled her hair.
Link's eyes lit up.
"We're going to Faron Forest? We should advance with caution. I hear Twilight has engulfed that area." He whispered.
His companions nodded. Malon took Link's hand, and Link felt a slight tremble.
"The Force shall be with us, Malon. Stop your fretting." He whispered as he sent forth a sense of calm through the Force. Malon relaxed. Link led them on and they soon reached the woods of Faron. As they were passing another fountain in the woods, Link sensed he was being called to the fountain.
"Brave Youth, take this vessel and fill it with my scattered tears if light. Destroy the bugs of Twilight and restore light to the provinces of Ordona and Faron!" a voice said from the direction of the fountain.
Link was astonished to find a vessel in his hands. So he wasn't daydreaming! He was being called to drive back the Twilight in Hyrule, starting with the provinces of Ordona and Faron. He would track down all the Twilight Bugs and destroy them, thus collecting the tears of light he needed to restore light to the area.
Malon looked at him in utter confusion, with the exception of Saria, who knew the ancient language.
"Who said that, and what did it mean?" Malon asked him.
"I believe that it was Faron the Spirit of Light who watches over this province, the Faron Province. He told me to collect the scattered tears of light in the province of Ordona and Faron and kill the bugs of Twilight to restore light back to the area." Link explained.
Malon nodded. Saria was beaming now.
"What's the matter, Saria?" Link asked, puzzled.
Saria opened her hand to reveal a few leaves. They were of the Athelas plant! Link jumped for joy.
"Great job, Saria. Now to return to the present, heal Ilia, and drive back the Twilight in these regions!" Link smiled as he took their hands and led them through time back to the present.