Chapter Three Just When Things Were Going Great
Weeks had passed since Link had adventured through the deku tree. Zelda had been reunited with her family and returned to school a few days later. She refused to talk about what happened to most people, but confided to Link that she couldn't remember anything. She joined Midna and Sheik and him in the project and together they managed to scrape a solid A. Link hardly did any of the work, but his friends refused to admit that. The four settled into a routine as middle school started to wind down.
Oh, and the ghost was still there…
"Just because your friend is safe now does not mean she will be for long." The dead hero reminded him.
"I know, but we already tried going into the mansion a week ago." Link leaned back in his desk. "The entrance was destroyed remember? I can't get in." On top of the entrance being destroyed, Link swore he was being watched…
"There is a way in." The ghost insisted.
"How?" Link crossed his arms and glared at the ghost. The old hero didn't answer. "Exactly! So we're stuck until the field trip this weekend." As a tradition, the eighth-grade class always took a weekend field trip to somewhere in Hyrule. This year they were going to see the old mines and explore Death Mountain.
"You should be taking this time to learn about the next temple."
"I don't even know where to start! We have no idea where the next temple is!" Link pushed his chair out and left his room. He learned from Impa that ghosts couldn't pass barriers that had the symbol of the shadows on it so he drew the symbol on his walls, window sill, and door to lock the ghost in his room. Link needed a few moments of quiet. Aryll was sprawled on the couch eating popcorn and watching tv. "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead." Aryll made no indication of moving. Link rolled his eyes and plopped down on the floor. A few minutes of mindless television should clear his head.
"Why are you watching educational television?" He groaned. It was a documentary about the history of Hyrule.
"There's nothing else on." She shrugged. "This episode's about the Gorons. Maybe you should watch. You don't want to be crushed by one of them on your field trip."
Link pried a pillow from the couch and threw it at her head. Aryll caught the pillow. Link slumped onto his arms and sighed. "I'm not gonna get crushed by a Goron." He pouted. Aryll took the opportunity to throw the pillow at him, nailing him in the head. "OW!"
The front door opened and their grandma appeared with groceries before Link could put Aryll in a headlock. "Go unload the car, both of you." Aryll huffed and slid off the couch to do as she was told. Link rubbed his head and pushed himself off the ground.
"A mysterious gem, the Goron Ruby is said to once have been a key to opening the sacred realm." Link found himself staring at the tv. "It is now lost to time along with the other Spiritual Stones, the Kokiri Emerald and the Zora Sapphire."
"Link. Groceries." His grandma reminded.
Link blinked. "Mmhmm," he mumbled and went to grab the last of the groceries. Something wasn't sitting right with the whole "lost to time" thing…
That night Link tossed and turned. His nightmares were filled with fire. A giant dodongo was chasing him, but directly in front of him was a serpentine like dragon. Fire hurtled toward him from both sides while an evil laughed sent a chill to his bones. Link awoke with a start.
"Another nightmare." The ghost didn't have to ask. He knew.
Link stretched and looked over to his alarm clock. He'd have to wake up in another hour anyways. "Can you tell me anything about the Spiritual Stones?"
"They were entrusted to three races to be protected; the Kokiri, the Gorons, and the Zoras. But I do not recall much else. Their importance and creation was after my death."
Link yawned. "But did you come across them in another life?"
The ghost paused. "I am sure… I just do not remember which one."
Link reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. He flipped to the back and opened the notebook. "What do you remember? Maybe it'll give me a clue." The ghost shook his head.
"I may be the original hero but my life was nothing like the others." The ghost crossed his arms. "My life is not a pleasant tale. There is a reason why it has been forgotten."
Link sighed, too tired to deal with the ghost's angst. "What was Hyrule like?"
The ghost thought for a moment. "Hyrule… How best to describe it… Hyrule did not exist in my original life. It was a beautiful land protected by the goddess Hylia, until the demon king polluted it and made it all rot away that is."
"Hylia? The fallen goddess? Didn't she fall from the heavens because she couldn't do her job or something?" Link tried to recall the legends his grandmother had told him. There was a story about Hylia's fall, she was known as the fallen goddess after all, but he couldn't remember all the details.
"She did not fall from the heavens." The ghost's voice was laced with more venom than usual. "She fell in love."
"With you?" Link raised an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine anyone falling in love with the dead hero, much less a goddess. He was angry all the time and rude. The only time the ghost had been somewhat nice to him was when he went into the cave and got the sword. Even then Link was pretty sure he had hallucinated that whole thing since the sword was nowhere to be found. The only indicator that the event happened was the strange green stone he kept on his dresser.
"With who I used to be." The ghost looked at one of the symbols Link had drawn to keep him trapped in the room.
"You're so cryptic." Link sighed. He dropped the pencil and the notebook back into his bag and threw the covers off his bed. "I'm getting ready for school." Link opened his phone to find a text from Zelda. He opened the message and frowned. Tapping filled the room as Link typed out his reply. Zelda replied soon after, and her response made Link chew on his lip.
"Something is bothering you." The ghost noted. Link left his room and slammed the door close in response. He went to splash water on his face but when he looked up he found someone who wasn't quite him… This face had jagged blond hair, like it had been cut with safety scissors, and heavy bags under his light blue eyes, eyes that looked as if they had seen a thousand terrors but couldn't be phased by one. The face was younger than his…
Link blinked and rubbed his eyes. Staring back at him was his bed head and bleary eyed self. Link went downstairs and began going through the motions of getting ready for school. Soon Aryll woke up and joined him and soon the two were leaving for school. Link left the ghost locked in his room.
Link entered the library and looked around the bookshelves for his best friend. Eventually he found her sitting in the corner, knees drawn under her chin and looking at her shoes. Link set his backpack down and sat down in front of her. The two were silent for a long time.
"How long have you known?" Link winced. It came out harsher than he wanted.
"I just found out yesterday. Tetra found out and was yelling at Gonzo. She said it shouldn't have been kept from me." Link chewed on his lower lip.
"A-at least we have the next month." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He had a month to tell her how he felt. "A-and we can still text each other and talk on the computer…"
"Link I'm scared." Her brows knitted together. "What if he's all stuck up and mean? What if he hurts me? What if I'm not the daughter he wanted?"
"Zelda, you're a perfect student." Link found his voice catching in his throat. "Why wouldn't he want you?"
"What even happened for him to have disappeared like that in the first place?" Tears started to well behind her eyes. Link leaned back on his hands and sighed. Now or never.
"Zelda I… I have something I have to get off my chest." What he really about to do this? Zelda looked up at him confused. "Zelda, for the past four weeks I have been haunted by a ghost who has the same name as me and he told me that I'm the legendary hero reborn and that I have to purify a bunch of temples or else you'll be in danger." That… isn't what he wanted to say…
Zelda looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Zelda I-"
"Link ghosts aren't real." Zelda sniffled. "If you're trying to distract me-"
"No! Goddess no I just…" Link sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't… Oh I shouldn't have said that. That's not what I wanted to say."
"What did you want to say?" Link sighed and looked at his friend. He wanted to remember her like this. The girl who wore ratty old jeans and climbed trees to read books in peace and cut all her hair off herself because she was tired of it getting in her eyes and wore blue jackets and pink sneakers and funny socks and had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The girl who helped him with school work and snuck into R rated movies with him and sat next to him during assemblies and made fun of them with him. The girl who tried so hard to get him to join band and even let him play her flute and the girl who once punched Groose square in the face for tripping him and who cried whenever she saw a baby bunny. The girl who loved birds and going into the woods with him to find bugs and had kissed him but not really on the bus in third grade. The girl who had been his best friend since elementary school.
"Can we take a picture together?" He chewed on his lower lip. "I want a picture to remember us like this."
Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Something to remember the real world before they cart you away to a mental hospital ghost boy?" Link rolled his eyes and scooted next to her.
"Sure." He fished his phone from his pocket and opened up his camera as the bell rang. "Hold on." He turned his phone around and held it out as far away as possible and clicked. When he looked at the picture Zelda started laughing. The picture was blurry and dark, there wasn't much lighting in her favorite corner. Both their faces were red and they just looked goofy.
"Link that's a horrible picture."
"It's a great picture." Link stood up and offered a hand to help her up. "Come on, we'll be late to homeroom." He tried to ignore the queasiness in his stomach. Giving the news to Midna and Sheik at lunch sucked and made the queasiness grow tenfold.
His best friend was leaving him after this school year. Her father was alive and she would be moving to Castletown with him after the school year was over.
I know I'm late. I had to close last night.
This chapter is the shortest one so far, but the next chapter is getting to be huge so I might split that one up. (This chapter was supposed to be part of the next chapter but that didn't happen obviously.) Zelda's situation is explained early in the next chapter and through out the next few chapters so please be patient about it.
And for a fair warning, this story is going to take place over a period of seven years ish, so there will be timeskips between chapters.
