Chapter Fourteen: A Startling Occurrence

Link was led into the famed Temple of Time and was immediately overcome by memories of the temple. He recalled when he had placed the three Spiritual Stones on their altar and played the Song of Time. He remembered the cracking of the Door of Time as it slowly widened, allowing him access to the chamber that held the Master Sword. His next vivid memory was removing the Master Sword, opening the gateway to the Sacred Ream, and then hearing the demonic laughter of the evil Ganondorf. It was when he heard that laughter that he realized what a mistake he had made. After that there was only blackness until seven years had passed and he was returned to the temple as an adult.

His first meeting with Sheik and then his realization a month later that the Sheikah was in fact Zelda were another pair of memories that Link would never forget, only made more potent by the imprisonment of Zelda soon after in a gigantic pink crystal. Ganondorf had caught them. His final memory of the Temple of Time was after he was returned to his childhood by the powers of the Ocarina of Time. His return was not without sadness though. It was then that Navi left his side. She fluttered over the Master Sword toward the ceiling of the Temple of Time and out of its high windows. He had been worried that he would never see her again, but he had finally found her.

And now he was back in the temple only months after his last memory, and he could see that the Spiritual Stones were still upon their altar. Astralose forced him down a stretch of red carpet with golden lace, around the altar that held the stones, up a small platform ringed with steps, through the still open Door of Time, and into the chamber that the Master Sword had rested in peacefully for centuries. The room had always been darker than the entrance chamber of the temple, but Link had forgotten how much so. He could hardly see through the shroud of darkness that lay within the room; yet mysteriously, the Master Sword still shone as if outdoors under the midday sun. Link did not remember it doing that the first time he had seen it in its pedestal.

"Here we are Link," said Astralose, interrupting the hero's brief reflection of the past. "We are in the Temple of Time and the Master Sword—the very gateway to the Sacred Realm—lies before us."

"I will not touch the Master Sword; it will remain its pedestal for all time."

"We shall see about that," declared Astralose with a chuckle. "Ah, and here come my men, with your fairy intact." When the men were before Astralose, he said, "Remove the fairy. Make sure she can clearly see us but also make sure that you have a hold of her. She cannot escape!"

The man holding the bag that contained Navi removed her from it. She fluttered violently, trying her hardest to escape, but she had no chance of breaking free from the man's powerful grip.

"Navi the fairy. It is good to see you well," said Astralose. "I assume that you know why you're here."

"I will never-," she began before Astralose interrupted her.

"Oh yes, you will. We have ways to convince you. Why do you think we brought the boy? It would have been easier to just kill him in the desert and toss his body into the ravine."

"Navi, what is he talking about?" asked Link.

"I'm sorry Link."

"Sorry for what? Astralose! You can quit your game. I know that you need me to remove the Master Sword. I don't know what your ruse is, but the only way the Master Sword can be removed from its pedestal is by my hand. That is the truth."

"Link. Link. Link." Astralose shook his head. "But you are partially right. It is somewhat the truth. As it stands now, you are the only one that can remove the Master Sword. But that can be changed. All we need is your beloved fairy to comply."

"Why do you keep mentioning Navi? What does she have to do with this!"

"Everything! It is by her will that you are the only one able to remove the Master Sword."

"Navi, what does he mean? Is this true?"

Navi fluttered quietly in her captor's hands for a moment before finally speaking. "It is true. The reason you are the only one who can remove the Master Sword is because I sealed it with my magic."

"When?" asked Link, not believing his ears.

"When we returned to the past and I left the temple. As I fluttered up into the air towards the window, I went over the Master Sword. You didn't notice but I placed a simple sealing spell on it that would keep anyone from removing it except you."

"And as the one to place the spell, only she can remove it," interrupted Astralose. "Which is why we are all here today."

"I'm sorry Link," said Navi, interrupting the old man. "I would have told you, but I didn't want anyone to accidentally find out about it. I don't know how he did."

"As if I don't have the ability to detect a simple sealing spell," scoffed Astralose. "All I had to do was grab the Master Sword to realize that a spell had been cast. And it only took me a moment to realize that it was the spell of a fairy. And what fairy would that be, I asked myself. Why the boy's fairy of course. I immediately left the temple and who do you think I saw leaving the castle. The very same boy.

"I suppose he must have gone there to say goodbye to the princess Zelda, because she had given him her ocarina. Out of curiosity, I followed him. He went to Lon Lon Ranch and I heard him speaking to the young girl there. I overheard him saying that he wanted to find his fairy. Naturally, that gained my interest, considering what I had discovered only moments before. He purchased a horse and left the ranch. I quickly mounted my own steed and followed him, from a distance of course. I had hoped he would lead me to you Navi, but I admit after his detour in Termina, I was worried he would end up never finding you.

"And then he wanders into the Forest of Gormoth, where me and my men's quarters are located. I told him there that I was friends with the wizard that told him where you were located. Of course, that was a lie. I knew him not. I merely pretended that I did to explain how I knew the boy was looking for you Navi. When he led me to you, I had planned to kill him, but then I realized he could be of some use still."

"And what use is that?" questioned the hero, in shock of all of the events that had been going on behind his back.

"This use." He tightened his hold on Link and ordered his men to come to his side. "Pin him to the ground. I want you to hold him down so tight he cannot move in the slightest." The men threw Link to the ground and then sat upon his legs and arms, while another pinned his head down. "Navi. I will ask you nicely just once. Will you remove the spell on the Master Sword?"

"Never!"

"Then so be it. The boy will die."

"What!" cried Navi.

Astralose removed a long, shiny dagger from behind his cloak. He slit Link's tunic open from its collar to his belly button and spread it apart. He pressed the ice cold tip of the blade softly against the base of the hero's sternum.

"You can't do that!" shouted Navi.

"I can and I will, unless you remove the spell. I care not for this boy's existence. If you will not help me fairy, then you will see your beloved companion die here today."

"Don't listen to him Navi! Whatever happens to me, you cannot let them get the Triforce! You must not remove the spell!"

Navi began to tremble violently as she saw the tip of the dagger slide through the first half-inch of Link's flesh, like a knife through butter. Link screamed in pain as he felt the blade pass farther into him. Astralose was making sure to push the knife through as slowly as possible, ignoring Link's shrieks of pain. It was almost an inch into the Hero of Time's abdomen when Navi finally cried, "No! Don't! You can't kill him! I'll remove the spell! Please! Just leave him alone!"

"No Navi! Don't do it!"

"I can't let them kill you Link. I'm sorry."

Astralose ripped the knife back from Link's body, stood up, and then turned back to the fairy. "You've made the right decision. Now remove the spell."

"All right," sighed Navi. There was a brief pause before a sparkling trail of lights passed from the Master Sword into the fairy. The blade immediately lost its radiant glow.

"Is it done?"

"Yes," sobbed Navi lightly.

"Good then. Give the boy some red potion. I am not ready for him to die yet." Link was shaking in pain but when he felt the liquid pass down his throat, he noticed the throbbing begin to recede. "It is time men. This is what we've all been waiting for." The old man approached the Master Sword, looking down upon its majestic beauty lovingly.

"You shouldn't have removed the spell Navi," muttered Link. "I hope you realize that this could very well be the end of Hyrule."

"Not with you alive Link. I couldn't let them kill you. You are the hero for this land. Hyrule needs you alive for whatever evils may come upon it. There is no telling what could happen in the future."

"Well, there will definitely will be evils upon it in the future now."

Navi was about to speak before Astralose screamed, "Silence! This is my moment! I have been waiting for this for months. And I will not have some confounded fairy and foolish boy spoil it for me." Link did not speak again, but not because he was following Astralose's demand. He wanted to make sure he saw everything that was about to happen. Astralose placed his hands upon the hilt of the blade of evil's bane and pulled upward. It was proof that Navi's sealing spell had been removed when the sword easily slid upwards from the pedestal.

Suddenly, Astralose shrieked with pain and dropped the sword. "Ah, it burned me!" he yelled. He turned around to address his men but a wave of blue light radiating from the Pedestal of Time immediately cut him off from even a sight of his men. The blue gradually transitioned into a blinding white light. The light filled the chamber so that everyone within it was blinded by its brightness

Link looked around from his place on the hard stone ground, but all he could see was whiteness. He felt his captors' hands still holding him down, but he could not see them through the vivid whiteness that had filled the room. He heard Astralose cry, "Yes! It is just as I had foreseen!" A moment later a black dot appeared in the distance. The black dot slowly grew until it was the size of Link's head. It continued to increase in diameter until it was the size of a house. Link felt the ground begin to rumble as the shroud of darkness continued to spread.

Eventually Link noticed that the blanket of shadow was now approaching him, the rest of the men, and Navi. Suddenly a deafening boom occurred and the blackness expanded instantaneously. They were now all engulfed within it. Link still could not see anything, but he heard a chuckle of laughter. The laughter grew into a brutish guffaw. Then a light thud came to Link's ears. The darkness began to dissipate and Link could vaguely make out the hands that were still grasping him tightly. A moment later, he could make out their faces. He turned to the side and realized that Navi was now in sight, along with the gaping Door of Time behind her.

"Look Link!" shouted Navi.

Link turned around and looked back towards the Pedestal of Time. The first thing that he noticed was the Master Sword lying on the ground only feet away. Near it was Astralose huddled on the floor, trembling. And just on the other side of the old man—standing seven feet tall and clothed all in black—was the King of Evil, Ganondorf.