Chapter Two

Did… did I just die? Everything had gone black; silent even, and yet… I wasn't afraid. What just happened? It wasn't until I finally started hearing birds that my thoughts were drawn away from the depths of my mind. I slowly tried to open my eyes, and was greeted with the bright glare of the sun. I instantly shut them, my face scrunching in annoyance.

"When did I get outside?" Groaning, I tried to open my eyes once again, bringing a cupped hand right above my eyes to shield them from the blinding sun as I sat up. As my eyes adjusted and I let my hand fall back to my side, a wet… wax like feeling met my fingertips. I could feel… grass? I began to take in my surroundings, my confusion only growing more and more, anxiety building up in tight knot right in the center of my chest. Now this, I knew, was not right. I was in a lush field of beautiful green grass. There was no place around my town that had such thriving and vibrant plots of grass. I lived in the middle-of-nowhere; a desert with a small town in the center of it. Yet here I was, staring at flowers and trees.. Trees as far as the eye could see.. No desert. No mountains. This place… whatever it was, was NOT home. Yet to me it felt vaguely familiar.

"I have to be dead..." I rubbed my eyes before glancing around some more. I could see what looked like a worn down dirt path. It seemed to fade away in certain spots, but it was still visibly there. It disappeared up over a hill, which I seemed to be sitting at the base of. I had never imagined Heaven or the afterlife to look quite like this, yet something still nagged at my mind, as if I had seen this place before. I slowly pushed myself up onto my feet and began to shuffle over to the faded road and up the giant hill. Reaching the top, I froze; my eyes glued to the horizon. Against the setting sky sat a magnificent castle. The view sent chills down my back as the feeling of familiarity grew stronger. I felt I had looked towards this castle at this exact spot so many times throughout my entire life. That couldn't be right though… the closest thing I had ever really seen that resembled a castle was the one at Disneyland, and that was much smaller compared to that of the beautiful structure that stood in the distance. What laid before me was… real. There was no way the castle that sat pressed against the blue sky was fake. My gaze shifted from the castle and took in what was around it, straying a bit to my left, where some kind of farm houses stood in a the middle of a circular plot of land, a fence wrapped all the way around. A ranch?. And to the right of the castle...a giant mountain? The mountain range towered over everything, a large ring like formation surrounding the top. Was that a large cloud above-… wait...

My mind screamed at me as my eyes gawked at the gigantic mountain with the fluffy ring of smoke surrounding the very top like a elegant halo. I knew where I had seen all of this. The castle, the mountain… that small ranch...

"I am dreaming… I have to be… there's no way I am… I am… in…"

My hands raked through strands of messy blonde hair, pushing my side sweeping bangs up into the rest of it all as my hands stayed resting there on my forehead. Was I in a video game? Could this be real?! Was Hyrule really just...sitting right in front of me? I was too wrapped up in complete shock to hear the softest thumps of footsteps behind me.

"Looks like you finally woke up. About time, Zelda Master."

I spun to face the voice, it breaking through my frantic pacing as I stopped and just stared. A beaming, prideful expression staring back at me. I felt like I was about to throw up. This was too real and too much all at once.

"Axel? What… what is going on- am I dreaming? That has to be it- there's no way my N64 console just shocked me and dragged me to Hyrule- That's rather ridiculous right?"

Axel just shook his head, chuckling.

"It SHOCKED you? Well gee, that sucks. Didn't know how that cartridge was going to bring you here, but, here you are. Anyway, trust me. This isn't any type of dream. This is what you've been missing out on. Welcome to Hyrule."

He opened his arms, gesturing to the glorious landscape before me. I tried to slow my heart rate, one hand dropping to my side while the other hovered over my chest. I took a deep gulp of air as he continued.

"I've already been here several times in the past month, so all of this isn't new to me at all."

"So this is what you've been up to for a month?!" I squeaked, my anger churning ever so slowly, building up inside me. The anxiety was being pushed out by the overwhelming feeling.

"You have been messing around in Hyrule- literally spending your life living out a video game fantasy... and you're just telling me all of this now?!" With every sentence my voice cracked and went higher, and his grin would grow bigger. My hands moved to the curves of my waist, as I glared at him, a position I obviously often took around the boy. There he was, pushing my buttons once more. He tread a dangerous line twenty four - seven.

"What can I say? Majora kept me busy." Majora? He couldn't mean the antagonist from the 64 title Majora's Mask. My eyes went wide, and my voice practically went to a screech as my hands dropped from my waist, balling into fists as I yelled at him.

"YOU. SAW. MAJORA... WITHOUT ME?!" At this point he was laughing at my anger, his smile wide, almost seeming to reach his brown eyes.

"Once you're here, you don't leave till you are done with whatever they want you to do. And they wanted me to do a lot." He shrugged, and I lowered my guard somewhat. Huffing, my arms folded across my chest, my gaze drifting away from him, staring at a close by tree.

"Who is 'they'? And what about your life then? Didn't anyone notice your absence?" I looked at him for a bit, awaiting some type of response. He shook his head and glanced out over Hyrule field as well.

"Time essentially just… moves very slow while in here. It's quite interesting actually- all that time in Termina and I came back to things almost exactly as I had left them. I don't think even an hour had passed. I come here, doing small little errands for them and yet nothing really changed back home." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I began to pace, something I typically did when I was frustrated. Not necessarily a rare occurrence around this boy...

"You aren't answering the 'who', Axel; why did you decide to tell me this grand secret if you were having so much fun here by yourself?" He walked out onto the faded dirt path, closer to me, shrugging.

"Come on. Do you really think I would hide this from you on purpose? I'm not THAT mean. Besides, I was told I would be needing help on this little quest of mine, and what better way to finally tell you?"

I glanced back at him again, his avoidance of my question beginning to give me a headache from the prolonged frustration.

"You were told by WHO?! Who is 'THEY'?!" He walked past me, looking towards the castle before glancing over his shoulder at me, his trademark smirk letting me know that whatever he was about to say… I was going to love hearing.

"Oh you know… the Goddesses." My mouth fell agape, and I couldn't quite remember just how to close it. I'm sure I looked pretty dumb standing there staring at him with it just hung open like a broken nutcracker, but I was too surprised to care. He laughed and turned back to the path, continuing to walk.

"G-Goddesses… ? Like… Din? Nayru? Farore?" He stopped and looked at me as if I had said something stupid, and my mouth finally deciding it was time to close on up immediately, my gaze turning to look anywhere but him.

"What other goddesses do you know?" A spark of happiness slowly began to push past the lingering anger, as I saw more of the world in front of me. Could this actually be real? My childhood dream escape was just standing before me? My hands went up to squish my cheeks as I laughed, a bunch of feelings other than happiness and anger now running through me all at once. I had to tell myself over and over again. This was real. It was all real! The world I had dreamed of and fantasized about all my life. It was right here! There was no way this was a dream anymore, it was way too… real. My mind brought me back to where I was, and who had told me all this. My hands fell to my sides as my happy expression fell into a gloomy frown. Why Axel? Why had they not brought me? Why talk to him, and not me?

"Why haven't they talked to me?" He just shrugged, turning to look at me again, pride and joy emanating from him in waves as he smiled.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because I happen to hold the Triforce of Power?" I was just left staring at him like an idiot again. At least this time I had the decency to keep my mouth shut. Triforce? He had a piece of the Triforce?! How? Was that even possible? I suddenly felt very small and weak. Was I not good enough to be the Zelda Master I had claimed to be? I had fought Axel for this title since the first grade, constantly trying to best him at anything and everything. Video games, card games, running- all of which I've come short. I was determined to prove I was just as good as any of his guy friends, and possibly better. That's what my childhood consisted of; me trying to prove I wasn't just some... girl. I oddly took pride in how I was drawn to video games and shows most girls wouldn't give a second glance at. I had spent all my life proving who I was. I deserved to be here. My fists clenched and a determined look spread across my face. Why was I going to let THIS stop me? Just because he got to it first? So what? I could still prove myself to the goddesses; to him. I'd show them I was worthy of this world, and of their power. I would prove to them all I wasn't just some girl who couldn't control her anger.

Axel had kept walking down the path, and I jogged to catch up.

"Where are you even going?" He shook his head and rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious.

"To vanquish Ganondorf. Duh." Hold on a minute; what?!

"Ganondorf? Seriously?!" I puffed my cheeks, and let out a breath of frustration. I was going to have to work hard to catch up if he could just waltz into this world and go up against the King of Evil.

"So, what- you have the Master Sword already?" I glanced him over, seeing the sword slung across his back, and squinted slightly. It definitely didn't look like the sword of the hero. He frowned, and stopped walking, folding his arms.

"Well... no. I don't." I shook my head, not understanding how he was going to go up against Ganondorf. That was when I realized it. My eyes widened a little bit before my lips grew into a small smile. I couldn't help but giggle a bit. That was so like him; to skip through things and barge right through. This was it. This was why I was here. It became clear as to why the goddesses told him he needed me.

"No wonder they told an idiot like you to bring me! Did you not even think about this?" My confidence was back full force as I folded my arms and tried on his trademark smirk for myself

He narrowed his eyes, and folded his arms across his chest as well as we stared each other down.

"What do you mean? Of course, I thought about this. We come in, storm the castle, kill Ganon, and save Hyrule. What more is there?" I walked ahead of him a little, my hands clasping behind my back as I tried to keep myself from laughing at his neglect and arrogance.

"First of all, how are we going to get to Ganon's castle? Can you fly over that lava moat, Mister Hero?" He grumbled slightly as he started realizing where I was going with this.

"The Seven Sages. Dang it... I forgot about that." He grumbled.

"Alrighty, so how bout this? We go to the temples and awaken the sages. You'll go to the Water, Fire, and Forest Temples. I'll grab the Master Sword, retrieve the Medallion from Rauru, and then head to the Shadow and Spirit Temples." Axel's confidence returned, I could hear it in his voice as he began to speak and I even had an idea of what he was going to say.

"You're leaving me with the Water Temple? What- you think you can't do it?" I smiled sweetly at his attempt to challenge me again. I turned back to him, stopping to poke his chest, looking up at my much taller friend.

"No, because I know if I leave the Shadow temple to you, you'll kill yourself. You would just barrel through it- no thinking, no patience, no nothin'. The Shadow Temple takes a careful eye- looking for what isn't there." He grumbled again, looking defeated, his hand reaching into his pocket as I turned and took a few steps forward, placing my finger to my chin.

"Now, to get into the Temple of Time, we'll need-" A soft sound came from behind me, followed by more right after as it formed a tune I knew too well. I turned around quickly to stop him, but it was too late. Our eyes met as he finished the Minuet of Forest, and a green light started to envelop him. I spotted the small blue instrument in his hands right before a light engulfed him. He had the Ocarina of Time. The dancing green bulbs rose into the sky, darting off towards the forest. I groaned in frustration and stomped around in a fit of anger.

"The Spiritual Stones, Axel! We NEED the Spiritual Stones!" I pinched the bridge of my nose again; trying to think about this more. I would just need to do it myself. There were only three places I needed to go, and I could get this quest done quite easily. The dungeons were fairly simple, after all. Maybe I could even knock out the first two before he finished the Forest or Fire Temple! I would just need to turn around and walk towards-

Turning around, I spotted the archway made of trees, leading to the Lost Woods, a forest that any normal person would just get lost in. Only Fairies, and the children of the forest could successfully find their way through. I sighed, as I realized he had an easier means of transportation. He could warp to any temple with the Ocarina of Time, whereas I would have to walk everywhere, and that would not only be a pain but kind of difficult, especially if I was to head for the Lost Woods. If I could find my way through though… there were shortcuts between The Lost Woods to Goron Village, a mountain village inhabited by Rock like Creatures who ate.. rocks..., and from the Lost Woods to Zora's Domain, the water cavern of the fish like people of Hyrule! My determination began to kick in as my feet moved beneath me, heading on back down the hill. I had barely made two steps when a very bright flash of light passed over my eyes, blinding me for a mere second. I shielded my eyes as I waited for my eyes to once more adjust to the normal lighting of the afternoon sun, before glancing around me. I slowly let my hand drop from my face as I noticed small leather belt with a pouch attached to it. I bent down to pick it up, slowly buckling it around my waist. It was then I noticed my attire. I had a simple white cotton shirt on, and a breathable brown fabric woven into shorts. Simple brown boots adorned my feet, and that was...it. I was going on an adventure in just...this? My fingers skimmed across the belt, reaching the pouch as I flipped open the flap. At first I saw nothing inside, and I reached in to feel around. My eyes grew wide as my hand seemed to dive into a never ending hole. I couldn't feel the sides of the pouch at all, let alone the bottom of it. I twirled my hand around inside, kinda laughing to myself at such a magical find, before my hand bumped into something and I slowly enclosed my fingers around the round, smooth object. I slowly lifted it out, and a small gasp escaped my lips. In my hand was a small, pink ocarina, something I recognized as the Fairy Ocarina. As I tried to recall just… where I knew it from, I realized my vast Zelda knowledge was strangely… limited. Did something happen to my memory? I smiled a little bit and glanced at the sk, knowing this little gift was not just left here for no reason..

"Thank you, Goddesses. I will do my best." I placed the ocarina back in the pouch and headed off to the Forest.

The trees grew thicker as I delved further into the forest. I had know idea which way was out.. Or which way I should go. The air was heavy with scent of the damp earth and fallen leaves, twigs and branches snapping underfoot as I tread carefully. I was...utterly lost. I sighed as I leaned against a tree, brushing the stray blonde hairs that fell into my face. I turned around, thinking that I would start retracing my steps, try to find a way back out..when a small bell like sound caught my attention. I turned back around, glancing around tree to find a flash of blue dash behind a tree in the distance. What in the hell was that? I moved through the forest, until reaching the tree. Nothing was there… I hadn't seen any more movement either. That was weird… Another jingle of bells came from my left, and quickly turned to see that same streak of blue dash behind another tree. I made a dash for the tree, trying to catch the thing before it disappeared again. To my disappointment, as I rounded the true.. It was no longer there. This continued to happen several times, and finally I grew tired. I slid against a tree, trying to slow my breathing as once more, the bell like sound chimed through the earthy air. I groaned, and leaned over till I could see behind the tree I sat at. My brow furrowed though when I saw… a giant hollowed out log? I hadn't seen that as a ran to the tree. I would have ran past it.. How did I miss that? I got up and walked to the strange tunnel the dead tree had created, slowly stepping inside. It was quite long, and seemed to curve. What tree bended like this? What tree was this big? It grew dark inside the giant log structure before it began to lighten up as I arrived towards the exit. It opened back up to small wooden bridge, the other half of the giant tree tunnel sitting on the end of the bridge. I was definitely getting somewhere. I jogged past the bridge and back into the tunnel of wood, my fingertips running along the wood as my footsteps quickened as my excitement began to swell in my chest. I could see the end now, small lights beckoning me in as I burst out of the wooden space. I stopped as I took in the scenery around me. I was in rather large glade, specks of bobbing light flitting around before my eyes. A figure passed by, and I gave a soft gasp as I realized it was a child. The child turned towards the sound, his messy reddish-blonde hair barely covering his wide blue eyes as he looked at me. He wore a simple green pointed cap, and a tattered tunic that matched. He tilted his head, confused as he looked me up and down.

"You are not a Kokiri? How did you get here?" I scratched my head, not entirely sure myself.

"I heard bells?" He grinned, putting both hands behind his head in a laid back expression.

"The fairies led you here? Boy, you must be special! No Hylian has ever made it here! Well, let's find you some better clothes. Those look torn up."

I hadn't realized it, but the kid was right. My clothes were dirty and torn from my run through the forest. He began walking away and I dumbly followed, looking around at the small village. The houses were huge trees, hollowed out to provide a living space. I saw more small green-clad children as we walked through town, each one staring at me as we passed by, small hushed voices could faintly be heard now over the sounds of nature. We finally arrived at a red roofed tree home, and the small boy ducked inside. Stepping through the doorless structure, she found herself in a miny shop of sorts. The kokiri behind the counter stared her down with childlike wonder as the other spoke to him in whispers. The boy behind the counter nodded, and pulled aside a kokiri girl who could not tear her eyes away from me, the blue iris's locked on mine. She registered what the boy told her though, and disappeared. The boy behind the counter left with her behind the shelves, and my guide turned around.

"They will work on something for you! Let me show you to a place you can rest!" I nodded and let him take the lead once more, heading back out into the moss scented air. He walked back towards the other home structures before arriving at one that was a bit different the others. It was taller, and to get to the entrance you had to climb a poorly made wooden ladder.

"We use to have a brother who lived here! But he left long ago, to the world outside the forest. You can use it for now." And with that, he left. I tested the ladder, checking to make sure it could hold my weight, and up into the small tree house to wait.

I ran my fingers all down my clothes and through the dusty strands of my hair, shivering in disgust after dropping through that last web netting. I had made it to the deepest part of the Great Deku Tree, who was long dead by the time I had arrived. The Kokiri children had informed me that the Kokiri Emerald was long gone, that their brother… Link.. had taken it as a child after defeating a sickness in their father, The Great Deku Tree. He had died though, and somewhere deep in the depths of his roots, the sickness Link had defeated had left a remnant of itself. This remnant grew and became the same sickness, slowly killing the sacred grove of the Great Deku Tree, stopping the seedling of the forest deity to burrow into the ground to be rebirthed. I was disturbingly becoming aware just what that sickness was as webs clung to the wooden insides of the dead tree. Some still clung to the small dagger at my waist, the Kokiri Sword. I dusted off the small blade I had taken from the village of the small elf-like children. They had been very kind to me, and even fitted me with a simple new cotton shirt, and a green tunic to fit over it. I felt like I fit in with the world around me now, and it made me slightly giddy.

My fingers reached to the other side of my waist to dust off the small wooden shield that was connected to my belt as well. The sword and shield were small, but they would have to do for now. I stepped forward and dealt with three Deku Scrubs I had to hit in the correct order. "Twenty-three is better than one", I sang softly to myself as I left the last scrub cowering in the corner. It was strange as to how my memories worked in this world. I knew the names of places.. People.. And small details about like the order of these deku scrubs, but some other important things...eluded me. As I approached the quivering wood creature, it squeaked something about 'Its Queenie', then scurried away. The stone door slowly rose, and a chill ran up my spine as I slowly walked inside the dark room, taking baby steps.

"Come here ugly, Don't want any jump scares, okay?" My eyes scanned the ceiling as I heard the rock door slam shut behind me. I swallowed hard, knowing there was no turning back now. I knew what I was looking for, I squinting in the darkness for any sign of the Queen of Spiders, but came up with nothing. I heard her rustling right before the thud of her hitting the ground behind me resonated throughout the room. A small yelp erupted from my lungs as I rolled away from her, kneeling slightly as I turned to face the disgusting creature. I stood, slowly drawing the dagger at my belt. Before me stood the former queen's offspring, just as revolting as I vaguely recalled her mother to be. Before me, stood Gohma the Second.

"That wasn't very nice. You shouldn't scare people… Now you are going to get it." She charged and reared up as I rolled underneath her underbelly. As she came crashing down to crush me, I thrusted my sword up into her stomach, the sword piercing her skin. Greenish liquid flowed freely from the wound, splattering down on me. I cringed in disgust as I watched her rear up again, saving me from being squashed like a bug. Gohma's agonizing screech rang in my ears as I scrambled sideways, escaping the impact of her enormous body as she fully dropped to the ground. She struggled to get up as small, scratchy breathing noises came from her trembling form. As she regained a bit of footing, she came to charge at me again. I reached into my pouch, my blood covered fingers grasping shakily around the round object I sought after. I had come to find throughout my journey in the Deku Tree that this pouch was more than just a place the goddesses placed gifts. It could hold everything and anything I put into it without fail. Now I knew how Link did hand slid out of the pouch as I threw my arm up, letting out a small yell as I threw the object to the ground. I covered my eyes as the Deku Nut I had pulled out exploded in a bright flash, blinding the arachnid queen. She stumbled backwards, dazed and confused for several seconds as I ran at her, the small dagger in hand. Just as she shook the dazed spots in her vision away, her one eye focused right on my approaching form as I drove the dagger deep into it the orb. She thrashed and made awful noises that reverberated around the stone walls, before falling to the ground once more. Her shaky breathing sounds slowed to a stop, as my small side quest was finished. Before leaving the dark room, I inspected every inch, before seeing the thing I desired to find. An egg the size of my upper torso was buried under a thick layer of web behind a pillar. The remnants of the new sickness. A new spider queen ready to rise in the coming years. My dagger quickly cut a different ending into existence, one without a new queen infesting this tree, as it tore the webs apart and found itself buried into the soft pouch. I twisted the handle and slashed at the thin membrane, making sure my job was finished. Standing back up, I hurried back out of the tree quickly, already feeling like I had spent enough time in the spider infested place, and having no desire to continue to look upon the dead corpse. It wasn't disappearing like it thought it would, and the fact that this was no longer a game stuck horribly in the pit of my stomach. Outside once more, I found the darkened grass that had once covered the earth outside the Deku Tree was springing to life once more, as the dead tree shuddered.. A branch falling. The tree was beginning to fall apart, the evil within it completely vacant. The Kokiri peaked out from the passageway back to the village, their faces beginning to break out into smiles. They came running in triumphantly, Some coming to hug my legs. I laughed, happy I could help the small children. I glanced up to see another group of Kokiri bringing in a small seed.. Something they had showed me much earlier when telling me of the darkness that still plagued them. Apparently after Link had up and vanished… the seed had dropped from the Deku Tree's towering branches. They left it alone, checking up on it everyday, until they realized it was not sinking into the ground like it should. It wasn't until the grass started to turn black that they decided to take the seed into the safety of the village.

"I am sorry I could not save your life… but maybe your seedling will have a chance now" I spoke softly, glancing up at the great tree behind me.

After bidding farewell to the Kokiri, I turned to walk away, a small bundle of emotions tugging at my heartstrings, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I wiped at them with the back of my hand and made my way into the Lost Woods, taking a deep breath as I tried to focus on the task at hand. I couldn't let my emotions get out of control, no matter how sad the moment was. I continued on, one of the Kokiri's fairies guiding me to the path I told them I needed to take, until I found the grayish-white stone doorway that I had been looking for. I bid the fairy farewell before stepping down into the entryway to the tunnel that would lead me to Goron City.