Chapter 4: The Denial

Gill heaved Japas onto his shoulders and left the Pirate's Fortress. Crying on the way, he headed over to Mikau's and his mother's graves and he got a nearby shovel. He dug out Japas' grave and placed him inside. He then got a stone and chiseled out the following words: [i]Here lies a friend, father, warrior, and musician, Japas.[/i] It took him about two hours to do this, and when he got finished, he placed it on the ground at the head of Japas' grave and he put the dirt back into it.

Just when he was about to leave, Gill saw someone come onto shore. When he came closer, he noticed that the person was Evan.

"We got the photos and the manual." Evan said. "With those, we can make some pretty good plans."

Gill just stood silent and looked at Japas' grave.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Gill asked.

Gill pointed to the chiseled rock at the head of the grave. Evan read it and nodded.

"I see, it was truly supposed to be this way." he said. "I expected this, but not this soon."

"He could have warned me." Gill said. "I could have changed it."

"Nothing you could have done would have stopped it." Evan replied.

"I'm not the Ocean Master, so just stop bugging me!" Gill shouted.

"You have yet to see it, but you are. You just need time to realize that." Evan said.

"By the way, how did the battle turn out?" Gill asked.

Evan paused and looked to the ground, not wanting to tell Gill what happened.

"Evan, how did the battle turn out?" Gill inquired more forcefully.

"Well, out of the three hundred that went into battle, only fifty came out alive." Evan reluctantly answered.

"You won?" Gill asked.

"No, we retreated." Evan said. "They were too strong for us."

"Thanks to Japas saying that I was the Ocean Master, he had the Zoras pick a fight they could not have won." Gill said. "I wonder if it was really worth the effort."

"You forgot that you got us some valuable information from that fortress." Evan told him.

"True, but I don't think that I will be any part of it for a while." Gill said.

"Fine. I will see you when you change your mind." Evan said.

And with that, Evan left Gill to pay his last respects to Japas and he visited his mother for a while too.

When Gill got back to Michael's cave, he told him the story about what happened that day at the Pirate's Fortress. When Michael finished listening to Gill's story, he could see that Gill was not exactly ready to take on the role of the Ocean Master yet, so he left him to his training once again.

For the next few months, Gill was training harder than he ever realized. When Michael asked if he was trying to make himself stronger to fit the role of Ocean Master, he just told him that he felt that he needed to train a little harder and make sure that nothing like that ever happened again. He also tried to act normal during the day, practicing Zora-kai and working on his projects in his forge, but when it came evening, he just got something to eat and went to his room.

One evening, Michael got curious as to what Gill was doing in his room, when he cracked the door open and he saw Gill looking at a picture of Japas with his bass guitar and he was crying. He decided that it was not really any of his business to know Gill's feelings at the moment, himself having to deal with Japas' death.

The next day, Gill decided that he was going to take a trip to Clocktown. It was a month before the Carnival of Time, so Michael let him go, hoping that he would have enough fun to take his mind off of Japas. What Gill was really doing was trying to get a business started in Clocktown selling some of the things he made in his forge. He set up an outdoor shop where he could sleep, work, and sell over in North Clocktown. At first sales were slow, but when people saw how good the tools that Gill made, they came back and bought more. Soon, word got around about Gill's workshop where he could make anyone just about anything they would ever need and he was soon working nonstop.

One day, a girl just a little older than he was came over to his workshop and placed an order for him to make a sword. Gill looked at her and saw that she had the prettiest red hair that he had ever seen. She had a bow and a quiver of arrows with her.

"Hi." Gill said. "Now what kind of girl needs a sword?"

"A girl that needs it to fight some monsters." she said.

"I think I know what I need to do." Gill said. "I tell you what, I will make you the strongest, lightest sword you have ever seen free of charge."

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "How often do you make things for free?"

"This would be the first." Gill replied.

"Then I thank you." she said. "When will it be ready?"

"On the morning of the carnival." He replied. "Three days."

"That would be splendid." she replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Gill said.

"I would do anything for you." Gill thought to himself.

"Wow! That guy is so nice! Too bad I can't go out with him, though." thought the girl. "I have to attend to things at the ranch."

All Gill could think about for the rest of the day was the girl who wanted the sword. He intended to keep his promise to her and he was thinking on adding some magic to the sword as well. He had never done this for any of his customers, but there was something about that girl that made him think that she really needed it. The next two days, he worked on the girl's sword without rest. He decided to use the same metal he used to make his fins, which he brought along with him from his forge in Great Bay. With every strike from his hammer to the metal, he sent a surge of magic to the weapon. He also made the sword blade retractable, just like his fins. He finished it off with a hilt that he had modified to become a knife when the sword blade was retracted. To anyone else, it would look like a normal knife until the sword was activated. It was the perfect gift for the red-haired girl.

On the morning of the carnival, a group of women came by the workshop. They wore clothes like the people of Clocktown, but there was something that was not quite right. When the leader spoke, she said "Hey kid, can you make swords?"

Gill noticed their accent and he realized that they were Gerudo Pirates. Memories started to resurface and he started to breathe slowly.

"I'm sorry, but I am out of metal right now." he told them. "Give me a few minutes and I will go buy some."

"We will be waiting." the leader said.

"I will be back soon." he said.

Gill went to his little room where he slept and got one of his bags. In it, was his black and blue suit given to him by Japas and the fins he had made as well as the sword-knife he made for the red-haired girl. He quickly got a bag of rupees and left his workshop to go look for her. He got to North Clocktown and he saw that there several Gerudo roaming around. He avoided them easily and made his way to East Clocktown, going to the Stock Pot Inn. He guessed that the red-haired girl was staying there while she was in Clocktown, so it seemed to him that it was the first logical place to look.

Gill went in and Anju greeted him. "Hello sir, may I help you?"

"Yes, have you seen a red-haired girl around my age staying here?" Gill asked.

"Yes, she just came back in a hurry." Anju said. "I don't know why though."

"Do you know what room she is staying in?" Gill asked.

"Yes, Room 5. Do you want me to show you the way?" she inquired.

"I think I can find it myself, but thank you." Gill replied.

"If you need me, I will help." Anju said.

"Thanks." Gill replied.

Gill went down the hall and found Room 5 and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" the red-haired girl asked.

"Gill, the one who you asked to make the sword." he replied.

She opened the door and ushered him in quickly. She had a serious face on and she had a garment laid out. It was a black outfit with white highlights that kind of looked like Gill's. She quickly asked him to sit down.

"What's wrong?" Gill asked.

"There is something I did not tell you before." she said.

"Was it your name?" Gill asked. "Mine's Gill."

"It's Romani, but that's not what I wanted to tell you." she said.

"Wow, that's a nice name." Gill said.

"The point is, I am one of five warriors from an ancient prophecy who are supposed to stop an evil force from taking over Termina." Romani said.

Gill thought for a moment and figured that she was related to the Ocean Master somehow.

"What does this prophecy name you as?" he asked.

"I am called the Time Master." she replied.

"How exactly did you find this out?" Gill asked.

"The part of the ancient prophecy pertaining to me stated that a hero from another world will help the Time Master fend off evil creatures that aimed to take away something precious to her." she explained.

"And what happened?" Gill asked. "What does this have to do with you?"

"My sister doesn't believe me, but evil creatures came to our ranch, Romani Ranch, and tried to take our cows, but a friend that I made earlier that day helped me stop them. I found out before he left Termina that he came from a parallel world." she replied.

"I brought you your sword." Gill said. "I hope it will help."

"It will, because I am going to use it today." Romani replied.

"Why?" Gill asked.

"Because there are Gerudo Pirates here and they need to be stopped." she said. "They are trying to take Clocktown under siege."

"That is why I wanted to come here today." Gill replied. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me stop them."

"You are a warrior too?" she asked.

"I was told by a Zora that raised me, Japas of the Indigo Go-Go's, that I am a hero that is supposed to save the Zoras." Gill replied. "He told me that I am the Ocean Master."

"The human that is also a Zora?" Romani asked. "The one that can control the ocean?"

"That is what he said." he replied.

"It fits, but you must only have found out recently or you are in denial." she said.

"I am not in denial because I am not the Ocean Master." Gill said. "Being in denial means that you are saying something about yourself that is contrary to what is true."

"Well, there is one way for us to find out if you are the Ocean Master." Romani said.

"How exactly is that?" Gill asked.

"We need to see the Great Fairy." she replied.

So they got dressed in their respective Time and Ocean Master outfits and quickly evaded all of the guards and went back to North Clocktown to see the Great Fairy of Magic.