A/N: I don't really have an excuse for why this took so long... I just got hit with writer's block! I have a very clear idea for how I want the story to continue now, and the end is actually in sight. So if anyone is still reading this... there is a good chance that it will actually be completed by January or February. (Cross your fingers! :P) I'm just going to try and plow through the story, not necessarily paying attention to writing quality, and then edit everything at the end if I feel the need... so please be nice if the language gets a little spotty here and there. XD

Triforce of the Gods

Chapter 10: Answers

Zanna skidded to a stop behind Colin, barely avoiding slamming into him as they came to the door of Link's room. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest as a near-frantic desire to see him with her own two eyes overcame her. As she reached for the door knob, Colin reached out and caught her hand, his eyes wide.

"What is it?" Zanna asked, almost annoyed. Suddenly there was a tremendous crash from inside, so loud that the door trembled on its hinges. Colin was clenching and unclenching his fists nervously as he stared up at her. "What was that?" Zanna gasped.

"Link's not like the other victims were," Colin answered anxiously. "He's... violent."

"Violent?" Zanna echoed. There was another bang from behind the door, and her stomach twisted. It would make sense, she supposed. Link was a warrior– perhaps even the most talented swordsman in all of Hyrule. While ordinary villagers might seek help to escape their nightmares, Link seemed more likely to attack his head on. That was going to make things difficult...

Standing there debating it wasn't going to save him, however, Zanna thought, shaking her head. "I'll be careful– stay out here," she told Colin firmly. After he nodded, she twisted the doorknob and slipped quickly inside, quietly clicking the door shut behind her.

A large vase came flying at Zanna's head. She barely ducked in time for it to explode into a shower of multi-colored clay where her face used to be. Taking a deep breath, Zanna straightened up and tried to absorb the scene around her.

The bed was overturned, the mattress reduced to a mutilated pulp with its innards covering the room in a blanket of feathers. One of the tables had been smashed to bits, random trinkets were scattered across the floor, and the doors of the bureau were flung open haphazardly. Link was in the eye of the storm, breathing heavily and holding a table leg in one hand like a bludgeon. He seemed to be a vision from one of Zanna's own nightmares– just looking at him in his current state created an ache in her chest that made it difficult to breathe. To see his skin carrying the sickly yellow tint, his usually-brilliant eyes glassed over as if by blindness, his body covered in self-inflicted cuts and bruises... it was the very picture of what Zanna feared the most. Her jaw slackened in a silent expression of horror.

Link's eyes were roving the room, but when they got to Zanna they stopped. They trailed slowly from her feet up to her eyes, until their gazes were locked.

The eye contact caught her off-guard. Without warning, Zanna's barriers suddenly dropped and pain exploded behind her eyes in a dazzle of white-hot stars.

The empathetic connection between them was strong enough that Zanna felt every sensation as if it were her own, rather than merely feedback. She swayed and dropped to her knees, clenching her teeth against what felt like thousands of prickling needles rolling over her skin as wave after wave of terror and hatred washed over her. It was all Zanna could do to remember that she was separate from the pain.

She looked up just in time to see Link charging toward her with the table leg– she dived out of the way and made a dash for the destroyed bed. Once she was safely crouched behind it, she squeezed her eyes shut and desperately tried to focus on a healing spell. Her shields were already down, so if she could just conjure up enough energy...

It was a stunningly difficult task– her mind kept being pulled toward the pain and the fear, refusing to be still long enough to gather up strength for the spell. When the swirling teal light finally appeared between Zanna's palms, it was a weak and flickering thing. She put all of her willpower into the light and sent it toward Link with a mental heave, praying that it was enough.

A surprisingly large amount of energy left her body, rushing toward Link and striking him squarely in the chest. Zanna collapsed against the bedframe and watched.

He stopped dead in his tracks, clearly having felt the blast. There was a moment of utter stillness. Then, slowly, a strange expression lit Link's face– Zanna held her breath as he gradually swept his eyes toward her...

And swung the bludgeon at her head.

She tried to fall back behind the bed, but it was too late– the blow caught her squarely on the side of the face. Zanna went reeling into the wall, dazed by the intensity of the blow. Her vision became spotty and she could hear her blood roaring in her ears... for a moment she forgot where she was. There was no pain– which she took as a very, very bad sign.

When she regained her senses, she barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid another blow from the bat. Zanna staggered to the other side of the room, bracing her back against the wall as she tried to catch her breath. Panic was blooming through her rib cage, sending an icy rush of fear through her veins. Link's emotions were still rolling over her, but her anxiety over the fact that her spell had just failed was quickly taking precedence.

My Gods... she thought in horror. What if I can't save him?

It was perhaps the second most abysmal moment in Zanna's life. She remembered what it felt like to have Caell's body flung over her shoulder, wanting to run but only capable of taking the tiniest steps... feeling the warmth of his blood seeping through the back of her coat as his heart beat grew fainter and fainter. If she had only been able to move more quickly!

Not again, Zanna decided fiercely. She was not going to fail a second time and live to be haunted by the memory. Either they both made it out of the wrecked bedroom, or neither of them did.

Link was charging toward her again, but Zanna planted her feet and closed her eyes, gathering her energy with a trance-like focus. She was vaguely aware of something striking her shoulder and sending her to her knees again, but it was a tiny thought in the background of her mind. The swirling light collected between her palms, growing larger and larger until there was enough of it to heal an entire village at once... and then Zanna released it all, opening her eyes just in time to see the blinding flash of light hit Link squarely in the chest.

This time, it worked.

Inch by inch, a warm glow spread across his skin, transforming all that it touched. The yellow tint faded, the bruises disappeared beneath his flesh, and the cuts knit themselves back together as if in fast-forwarded motion. Zanna held her breath as the milky cover of Link's eyes cleared away, revealing their natural sapphire color. He blinked, staring around the room in disorientation.

"Link...?" Zanna asked tentatively, clambering to her feet.

He studied her with a vague amazement. "Zanna?" he asked. "You're bleeding."

Zanna's breath rushed out of her in a half-sigh, half-sob, and she shook her head violently in an attempt to keep herself from crying. "It doesn't matter," she said quietly.

Link's brow furrowed, and gradually his face took on an expression of alarm. "I caught it, didn't I?" he said slowly.

Zanna nodded and, unable to restrain herself any longer, threw her arms around his neck in a fervent hug. "It didn't work the first time," she wept. "I wasn't sure I was going to be able to fix you. You promised you'd be safe!" she choked.

Link froze helplessly, startled by her tears. "I'm sorry– I tried to be careful. I stayed as far away as I could," he stammered.

"Don't be sorry," Zanna said. She was flustered as she pulled back and wiped the tears from here eyes, waving one hand dismissively. "I shouldn't make you feel that way– you have nothing to apologize for. I just... I'm so glad you're okay," she sighed with a watery smile.

"Me too," Link said faintly.

They shared a long gaze, and then Link wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her closer.

"Was your village all right?" she sniffed.

Link laughed and swept her long hair out of her face. "Yes, my village was fine. We rode past some plague victims on the way back, though. We stayed so far away from them, I thought there was no way we would catch it." There was a grave pause as both of them considered the implications of that information. A hallucinogenic plague was bad. A highly contagious hallucinogenic plague was exponentially worse.

Link put his index finger under her chin and gently pulled her gaze back up to meet his. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, searching her face for a reaction.

Zanna nodded slowly, and gave him another shaky smile. "I know. I forgive you."

oXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

The following morning Zanna awoke late in the day to the sound of furious banging on her door. It felt like she'd only closed her eyes for a moment, but when Zanna glanced out her window she could see that the sun was already high in the sky. It must have been at least midday.

"Hold your horses!" she grumbled, crawling out of bed wearing an oversized men's shirt she'd swiped from one of the other guest rooms. The soft carpet felt luxurious underneath her bare feet as she padded toward the door, blearily rubbing her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair a few times, untangling it and shaking it out in the hopes that it wouldn't look like a bird's nest.

Zanna yawned as she pulled open the door, revealing Link's startled face. He stared at her right cheek, eyes widening with a strange, agonized expression. "Gods..." he breathed. "It's true!"

"What's true?" Zanna asked in bewilderment, stepping aside so he could come in, and then closing the door behind him. When she turned around, Link was barely a step behind her, and he gently took her face in his hands and turned her head so that he could look at her cheek bone.

"I'm so sorry, Zanna," he said miserably. "I didn't know–"

"Didn't know what?" she asked, batting his hands away. "What are you talking about?"

"Look in the mirror," he said.

Zanna gave him a look that was half skepticism, half irritation... but she obliged him by walking over to her vanity and glancing at herself in the mirror.

She did a double-take.

"Gods in hell," she muttered, leaning in closer to stare at the truly grotesque bruise that had blossomed along the side of her face. "I forgot about that... Not a very charming look for me, is it?" she asked over her shoulder, grinning crookedly at him. "I hope it's not broken..."

"How can you joke about this?" Link asked, aghast. "I could have killed you!"

Zanna just shook her head. "I seriously doubt that."

"I bet you do," he said tersely. Link glared at her in exasperation, pacing once or twice down the length of her sitting area. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have left you unprotected in the first place. But you should have asked for help– what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking– and it's not your fault," Zanna said a little pleadingly. "Colin told me you were ill, and I went to your room to fix it. It was a very straightforward process."

Link ran his hand over his eyes. "Gods in hell, Zanna!" he said in frustration. "Don't you know what it would have done to me if I'd have killed you? Do you have any idea how I would have felt?"

"Yeah, I do," she answered angrily, her composure dropping. "You would feel crazy. Because you would still be out of your mind with the plague! Or worse– you'd be dead and feel nothing at all!"

"I'm not saying that I wouldn't have wanted you to help me," Link said, "but you could have taken Rowan and Resha with you, at least. They depend on you– doesn't that count for anything?"

"Of course it does!" Zanna snapped, pain evident in her voice. "But I was not going to lose another person because I didn't act quickly enough," she said fiercely. "I will never let that happen again!"

Zanna took a quivering breath. "When you struck me–" Link started to interrupt with another anguished apology, but Zanna held up a hand to stop him. "When you struck me, I knew I could be in danger. But I didn't feel afraid for myself. I was only afraid because I hadn't been able to heal you, and because you might be gone for good. I care about you," she said softly, unable to meet his gaze. "I could never have forgiven myself if I lost you."

For a moment, Link looked shell shocked. "Zanna..." he sighed in exasperation. He slowly crossed over to her and placed his hands on her arms, sliding them up her body until he was cradling her face in his hands, gently lifting her chin so that she was looking up at him. Zanna's heart began working overtime, and she hoped she wasn't blushing. Link's eyes settled on her bruise, and his expression became so distraught that Zanna actually felt guilty.

"I would never want you to put yourself in danger for me," he said, and despite his slightly pleading tone there was a confidence in his voice that said he expected her to respect his wishes. "If I were to seriously injure you by accident, or worse..." He shuddered, unable to finish. Link ran his thumb carefully down the line of her cheek, studying the bruise intently.

He bent his head toward her and– so gently that it was barely perceptible– laid a kiss on the darkened flesh. Zanna held her breath as his lips moved downward, tracing over the length of the bruise until he reached her jaw line. She could feel his regret in every movement, as if he wished he could kiss away the injury. When he finished, he moved upward until their foreheads were touching, their mouths so close that she could feel his breath on her mouth.

Zanna leaned in and slowly closed the distance between them, pressing her lips lightly against his. They were much softer than she expected. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and there was a rightness in the way they fit together... like snapping in a piece of a puzzle. She let her hands slide up around his neck as the kiss deepened and she felt it not just on her lips but all the way down to the tips of her toes.

Even with her shields up, she could feel his emotions swell– a tide of warmth and affection that made her feel light-headed. Zanna sighed as one of his hands traced a line up her neck and then buried itself in her hair, easily sliding through the dark locks.

When the kiss ended, Zanna could not resist a tiny, breathless laugh.

"Not the response I had in mind," Link said with a wry smile, but as he said it he nuzzled her ear and the sound sent a shiver down her spine.

"Since when do I behave the way you expect me to?" Zanna asked dryly. Link smiled.

"No more reckless solo stunts," he said, kissing her temple. "If you decide to do something stupid from here on out, I'm going in ahead of you."

"Recklessness is kind of my thing," she observed. "What you're proposing will be a full-time job."

"That's the idea," he said, and kissed her again.

oXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Zelda had been right: Zanna did like the library. It had taken her awhile to get around to checking it out– with so many bizarre things going on, she hadn't really been in the mood to research. She was sorry she'd overlooked it for so long, however. It was the most beautiful thing she'd seen since leaving the mountains.

The library took up at least 3/4 of the third floor. Enormous wooden bookshelves lined the entire room, and it would have taken two grown men stacked on top of each other just to read the top shelf. History, mathematics, physics, biology... the resources seemed positively endless. Zanna even found an entire corner dedicated to court etiquette! Sunlight shone through the enormous arched windows on either side of the hall, allowing long beams of light to pour into the aisles. All around, the air smelled of leather, ink, parchment, and the faintly musty smell that can only be described as the "book smell." It was heavenly– Zanna considered dragging her blankets upstairs and living out of the library.

Even in such a large collection, however, finding information about the Sheikah or sorcery was not an easy task. As for the Sheikah, they could only be found in the shadows of some unrelated text– a footnote or the passing mention of a name. That was the nature of the Shadow Folk: they cloaked themselves in every avenue of their lives... it was part of their very essence. Sorcery, however, was another matter entirely. There were a few books dealing directly with sorcery, but they were scattered about, and many were badly censored or damaged– often by fire. There had been several anti-magic movements in the history of Hyrule, calling for the destruction of anything– and anyone– having to do with sorcery. Magic was perfectly legal in present times, but it had been so effectively wiped out that there was hardly anything of it left. And finding records of it was difficult because the only way to preserve a book of sorcery during the magic ban had been to break it up, scatter it, and hide it amongst other things where it wouldn't be noticed. Digging up those records now was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Hey, Zanna– what about alchemy?" Rowan called from somewhere far across the room, tucked away between the shelves.

"Leave it," she answered. "It's all theoretical nonsense. But check it to make sure it's not hiding something to do with actual sorcery."

"Will do," Rowan shouted back.

Centuries ago, before the first anti-magic crusade, the castle had royal conjurors who taught, researched, and performed magic. It was common for them to keep records or memoirs of their experiments and creations. Zanna was hoping that at least one of these records out of the dozens written still survived. The idea was that if they could find one of these books, it might explain the power contained in the cavern Zelda had shown Zanna. Zanna had not told Rowan, Resha, or Link why they were searching for sorcery texts. She planned on avoiding explaining the situation until the last possible moment... She needed time to decide how she felt about the shrine and what it meant.

Zanna spotted a thick black book above her, its spine worn down to the point that it was illegible. However, there was a bit of the golden title remaining– just enough that she could make out a rune the Old Gerudo had used when writing out spells. Very strange.

The wheeled ladder was far on the other side of the room, where Rowan was, but the book was just a couple of feet above Zanna's head. If she stood on her tip toes and stretched her arm as far as it could go, she might be able to pull it out...

She lengthened her body as best she could, eyes locked on the tome. "Come on," she muttered, biting her lip in concentration. She could almost get it...

Suddenly arms grabbed her around the middle from behind, making Zanna jump. She gave a startled cry.

Laughter erupted in her ear, and she could feel the vibrations of the sound on her back. Link planted a line of fluttering kisses along her cheek, pulling her back against him.

"That is not funny!" Zanna fumed, but when Link's lips trailed down to her neck and he still kept her locked between his arms... she couldn't help herself. She laughed, trying to squirm away from the ticklish embrace. "Sneaking up on people is a good way to get killed," she said, managing to wiggle herself around until she was facing him.

"Maybe for the person being snuck up on," Link said.

Zanna opened her mouth to give a heated retort, but he cut her off by leaning in as if he were about to kiss her, and stopping when their lips were millimeters apart. Just when Zanna had forgotten her argument and closed her eyes, Link stepped away and went to pull the book off the shelf for her.

"Let me get that for you," he said with a cocky smile. Zanna crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him.

"I will get you back for teasing me... you know that, right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and accepting the book grudgingly. "I'm very good at revenge, and I can wait a very long time." The threat was half-hearted, as most of her attention was focused on carefully skimming through the tome.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm the hero best known for foiling plots of revenge."

"You're about to become the hero best known for... Gods in heaven," Zanna breathed as she trailed off in mid-thought.

"What is it?" Link asked. His playful smile faded, and he moved to hover over her shoulder to look at the book in her hands.

Zanna shook her head, thumbing through the pages excitedly. "You may not be able to appreciate this at the moment, but... It's an honest-to-Gods instruction manual."

oXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"So why is this book written in Old Gerudo and not Old Sheikah?" Zelda asked as they finally finished reading through the main parts of the book, a mammoth project which had holed them up in the princess's quarters for the entire afternoon. Link had not left Zanna since she found the book, and had handled the news of the shrine surprisingly well. In fact, he was eager to support any effort to reassemble the Triforce and return Hyrule to a period of peace.

"That's the genius of it," Zanna answered, respectfully closing the front cover of the volume and running her fingertips over the golden lettering. "The goal of this shrine was not to protect the Triforce from everyone except the royal family. It was to protect the Triforce from everyone– royal family included. In early history, Hyrulians were much more fearful of the Triforce than they were reverent. They recognized it as a potential tool of evil, and wanted to seal it away as permanently as possible.

"The sorceress they chose to design the shrine was a great Sheikah empath– probably even more powerful than me, and certainly better versed in magic. She created the shrine so that only an empath could truly harness its power... and empaths are only born into Sheikah lines."

"Really?" Zelda asked, a unique expression of genuine surprise alighting her usually composed features. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Zanna said confidently. "Other cultures have given birth to incredible sorcerers, but only the Sheikah produce empaths. So the sorceress only had to protect the shrine from other Sheikah. That's why she wrote this manual in Gerudo– at the time, the Gerudo were the sworn enemies of the Sheikah and of Hyrule as a whole. No self-respecting Sheikah would know how to read it."

"And yet you are a Sheikah empath of incredible power, who can read a number of archaic languages, including Old Gerudo..." Zelda observed suspiciously, leaning back in her high-backed chair and examining Zanna through half-lowered lids.

"Of course I can," Zanna said indignantly. "I'm a historian. It's very lucky that you captured me when you did."

"She doesn't believe in luck," Link said at the exact same time Zelda said, "There's no such thing as luck." They looked at one another and smiled.

"It must truly be time to recall the Triforce, if all of these unusual circumstances have aligned so perfectly," Zelda said. Backlit by the room's tall windows, she looked unusually beautiful in the warm afternoon glow, her cheeks blossoming beneath pale blue eyes that mirrored the sky. Zanna wondered if Link had noticed, and felt a twinge of jealousy– but she immediately banished the thought when she realized how inappropriate it was at the moment. Saving the world came first, then she could worry about how pretty Zelda was.

"When can you perform the spell, now that you have the manual?" Zelda asked, sitting up and folding her hands on the table.

"Now that I understand how it works– which is, by the way, amazing and horrific at the same time," Zanna said, interrupting her own sentence. "The cavern traps the soul of every person who tries to steal the Triforce, sealing them inside the walls for all eternity. Their greed for the Triforce leads them to protect it at all costs– which is why you can feel such strange energy inside the cavern. It's the restless spirits of the dead. Every attempt to desecrate the shrine simply made it stronger."

"That's very... Sheikah," Zelda observed, wrinkling her nose.

"It's ingenious," Zanna retorted, shaking her head. "I wish I knew who designed it– she must have been one of the greatest magic-wielders in all of history." She sighed, running her hand over the book again, almost regretfully.

"When can you perform the spell?" Link prodded gently, and Zanna jumped as if startled, snapped away from her own thoughts. She withdrew her hand from the book and shrugged.

"Well... I need at least 24 hours to prepare, but... now that I understand the spell, I can cast it whenever you're ready," she said.

"I fear we have no time to waste," Zelda said heavily. "With the plague advancing every day... it would be irresponsible not to do this as soon as possible, if there is any chance it could help save my people." She studied Zanna gravely. "I'm sorry to ask it of you, but... Can you begin preparing tonight?"

Zanna was ready for the question, and she took a deep breath to steel herself for the answer. "On one condition," she said.

Zelda's eyebrows rose, but she nodded swiftly. "Name it, and if it is in my power to grant it, it shall be yours."

"You have to promise that if everything goes according to plan and the plague is cured, you will let me destroy the Triforce."

"The Triforce is indestructible," Zelda said, unable to hide her shock.

"That's what I thought," Zanna answered, shaking her head, "but after reading this manual I'm not so sure. The way it's protected makes me think that a powerful enough spell could destroy the Triforce for good. There's obviously no way to permanently protect it– destroying it is the only real way to ensure balance in the world." She straightened, her face a carefully blank mask. "I feel strongly about this. It's the only way I'll help you."

Zelda's eyes narrowed, and she leaned back in her chair again, shrewdly eyeing the Sheikah. The princess's mouth was downturned very slightly at one corner, betraying her displeasure, but she did not frown outright.

"I agree with Zanna," Link said.

"Do you really?" Zelda asked, her brow furrowing.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "We weren't the first to have to fight Ganon to save Hyrule, and as long as the Triforce of power exists, we won't be the last. Destroying the Triforce is the only way to defeat Ganon once and for all."

Zelda crossed her arms over her chest, looking forlorn. "And yet without the Triforce, we will have no way to secure the favor of the Goddesses. What would happen if evil threatened our land? How could we make sure that good triumphed? At least with the Triforce, we know that wisdom and courage will always outweigh power alone. The Triforce is our greatest defense."

"Evil like that won't exist without the Triforce," Zanna insisted. "Men will always do evil things, but pure evil exists because of the corruption of the Triforce of power– I'm sure of it." Well, the Triforce of power and me, apparently... Zanna thought, thinking sadly of the plague. She shook her head and attempted to clear the thought. I am not the Winged Sheikah. I am not responsible for the deaths of thousands– I could never cause such a thing, she told herself. A shadow of guilt remained, however, even as the idea lifted.

"You are the only person capable of controlling the shrine, correct?" Zelda asked, her tone steely.

"Well... yes," Zanna said slowly.

"Then I fail to understand why we are even having this conversation," Zelda said tersely. "Reassemble the Triforce, Zanna– save my people. I can't control what you do after that. I would prefer you find a way to strengthen the defenses of the Triforce– to protect it from evil– and leave our country's oldest heirloom intact. But if you truly want to destroy it, I don't see how I could stop you without killing you, which I am not willing to do."

It wasn't exactly a blessing, but it was enough. "Good," Zanna smiled, feeling genuinely hopeful for the first time in years. "Then I'll get started immediately."