Thank you very much: Booklover13, Link's Ocarina Babe, Quinkilo1055, la Generala, I.K.A.Valian and Princess Mara of the Universe for taking the time to review. You guys are awesome! Now then, who's gonna be reviewer number 100 (cookies if it's you!!) I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint…
Chapter Twenty – Duck Grave-y
The room's darkness was softened by candlelight, their yellow flames creating dancing patterns on the walls. Through the tallest window, the silver moon was visible, sailing high above the clouds, casting her blue light on the silent world below. It was supremely peaceful and silent. It was the perfect night for a secret conference.
Ganondorf had gathered his closest allies to him and now, in the dead of night, they awaited his words. He allowed another moment of pure silence to pass him by before beginning his speech. In a hushed tone he turned to the first of his generals. "You know the situation so far – we are still in deadlock regarding the Judges. They have employed this "Calatian" to destroy me and he in turn is leading the sage on a quest to revive the Chameleon Stone… now then, what would you recommend?"
"…" The General gazed back at the King with large, blank eyes, but did not seem to have an opinion to advance.
Surprisingly, this did not seem to irritate the volatile king. He nodded and turned to the next of his subjects. "Yes, we could eliminate him." He mused, all the while watching the face of his subject closely. "But would that really be worthwhile at this stage?"
"…" Said the subject. Ganondorf frowned and scratched his beard. "If I leave him be…" he began, letting his mind wander through the possibilities, "Eventually they will come to seek me out anyway. However, by doing that, I might be creating a problem. He is clearly a talented soldier, and he has the sage with him. They could overpower us."
"Squeak." Said the first advisor.
Ganondorf allowed a scornful laugh pass through his lips. "Oh I am not worried. I only said it was a possibility. Fear not, we will be prepared if that happens." He reached out his hand to touch the face of his advisor. "Don't worry." He said softly, and picked the advisor up, giving it a quick hug and then lovingly placed it back in the dark bath water. The yellow rubber duck bobbed up and down in the water happily for a moment. Ganondorf nudged it with his foot and it went swimming off towards its seven playfellows, his advisors.
The King of Hyrule watched them with a doting smile on his face. Unfortunately, as he was such a villainous looking man, the smile only made him look more malevolent. If the ducks had been alive, they would have flown off in terror. But they were quite brave creatures, and they did not fear their King. One swam passed, its little motorised feet making a whirring noise. Ganondorf scooped it up and cradled it in his huge hands.
"I know." He cooed, stroking its head with one finger, "It would be much easier to kill him now whilst he sleeps." He gently squeezed the duck's squishy body to elicit a response.
"Quack." It said (It was one of the more vocally advanced of its fellows).
"You're right. It is a good idea." Said Ganondorf. "Perhaps…Kotake would know a spell, or Nabooru could slit his throat, but what about Zelda?"
"Quack-Quack." Said the duck, responding to a slightly rougher squeeze.
"Yes. She is a pest but I need her." Replied the King, calmly. "I would very much like to snap her neck…but…"
His eyes fell back onto his seeing stone and he grimaced. "According to what that Calatian fool inadvertently told us, she really is the key to unlocking the Chameleon Stone and I have no intention of letting that power slip through my fingers..." He gazed into the seeing stone again and smiled benignly. "I suppose their adventure is quite entertaining too," He admitted. Ever since Nabooru had handed over Agahnim's seeing stone, he had found in Zelda and Link a substitute for his lost soaps. Whilst he could not say that their adventures were not nearly as enthralling as the ones in 'Zeroes', or their romance was not as enchanting as the ones in 'Termina Bay', and their conversation was not quite as witty as those in 'Enemies', he did find watching them was addictive. It was like that 'Little Sister' show that had been on a while back – whilst you despised the characters, you couldn't bear missing a moment of their pathetic lives.
"But what if I…" A smirk passed over Ganondorf's face. He had just come up with the most marvellous plan. In fact he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. He returned his gaze to the Seeing Stone and sniggered. "Hmmm, that might just work. I will speak to Nabooru…"
"Quack."
"Humph, I knew this wouldn't work as I hoped."
Zelda awoke with a start; her eyes flew towards the window, her heart rate quick and her breath catching in her throat. She scowled when she saw Link's head there. "Go away." She hissed.
Ignoring this order completely, he hauled himself up onto the sill and slipped through her open window. Zelda glared at him, taking full account of his clothed state, the fact he had all his gear strapped onto his back, and an amused grin on his face. He looked perfectly awake too, which really annoyed her. In one hand he held what looked like a magnifying glass.
Her eyes took in all this sign of life when one should be dead to the world and Zelda sighed. "What are you up to?"
"Shhh. Impa might hear!" Cautioned Link, edging closer to the bed. Zelda watched him a warily. He waited before he was standing over her before raising the magnifying glass to his eyes again slowly. For a long moment he gazed at her, frowning through the lens before sighing and dropping his hand to his side.
"What's that?" Demanded Zelda, keeping her voice purposely quiet.
"It's a 'Lens of Truth'" Explained Link with a cheerful grin. "It's supposed to let you see through things."
"And where did you steal it?"
"STEAL?" Exclaimed Link, in a mortified (and very loud) voice. He cringed as soon as he realised he and darted back towards the window taking refuge behind a curtain. For a long moment they waited for sounds of Furious Sheikah Judge rudely awakened to assail their ears. But the world was silent. Zelda watched the curtain in some amusement as Link's head slowly emerged from behind it. He grinned at her.
"When have I ever stolen anything but your heart?" He whispered as he ambled back towards her bed.
"My heart?" Repeated Zelda, incredulously. "Right. You wish."
"Oh I do." Replied Link fervently. He flashed a mischievous wink in her direction and added, "I wish for nothing but to spend my life protecting you."
"Protecting me from what? You? You're the biggest threat to my safety and sanity I've ever met." She retorted, with a soft laugh.
Link appeared to be rather hurt. "What's that supposed to mean. You know I'd never hurt a hair on your head. Well, not intentionally. I might accidentally stamp on your foot, or pull your hair from time to time, but generally I don't mean to be bad. I like you far too much to want to harm you."
Zelda blushed and looked away, unable to bear his intense scrutiny. He leaned over her and took her hand, an odd smile on his lips. She glanced back up at him and his eyes glinted. "I promise you, princess." He whispered, for a long time he held her gaze, a strange kind of softness lurking in his eyes. Zelda felt her heart bumping uncomfortably in her chest and her hand went out to touch his face and then Link ruined the moment by performing the most ridiculous bow she had ever seen.
"Thanks, I guess." Said Zelda, when she had regained her control over her senses. "So tell me all about this lens thing? What is it? Where's it from? And why have you got it?"
"Oh right." Link seemed to regain his cheery disposition with some difficulty. He coughed and turned to face her, but she could see that his smile was forced. "It was in Impa's room and I…" He noted her look and grinned disarmingly, "I couldn't just leave it there in that little chest all alone now could I! Anyway, it's a sheikah artefact that lets you see things that are hidden. I was kinda hoping it would be more interesting than it is…I mean it can't see through…" Link stopped himself and looked sheepishly out of the window.
After only a tiny pause for thought whilst she remembered how Link had been gazing at her through the lens of truth, Zelda gasped and wrestled it from his grasp. She raised it through her eyes and glared him up and down through the purple lens. "Doesn't let you see through clothes, eh Link? How disappointing for you."
"I know." Sighed Link. "Never mind, I will find a way of doing so one day." He smiled happily, "anyways, now that I have it, I might as well put it to some use. So Amber and I are going exploring in the graveyard, we wondered if you'd like to come?"
"Exploring the graveyard?" Zelda looked passed him to the dark night outside and shuddered. "In the dead of night?" Her gaze fell back on to his face and she sighed. "Why?"
"I thought it'd be fun." Explained Link, not quite looking her in the eyes.
Zelda watched him for a long moment before assenting with a shrug.
"Oh, and wear your sheikah gear." Advised Link, as he slipped back out of the window, a little more cheerfully. "You look cute in that."
Casting another nervous glance at the window, Zelda wondered if Link had any idea how she felt about exploring a haunted graveyard in the middle of a night when the moon was full.
She was right. He had no idea. Not even when she resorted to clutching his hand as Amber growled at shadows did he imagine that she was frightened. He seemed to take great delight in searching out the tombstones dedicated to the innocent victims of murder, or ones who had suffered tragic accidents and insisted on reading out the inscriptions aloud in a soft, slightly nefarious tone. If his goal had been to make Zelda so terrified that she felt it necessary to clutch her arms around his waist just so he had an excuse to hold her in return and reassure her, his plan was working. She held him so tightly he almost stumbled a number of times.
Amber walked slightly ahead of her master, as Zelda had noted, every so often the wolf would stare into the darkness and growl. Of course, there was nothing to be seen. This made things doubly worse. When they trod on soft ground, Zelda was convinced they were walking across an open grave. When Amber suddenly stopped they were about to be ambushed by a host of ghouls. When the breeze lifted her hair, it was the ghostly baton of one of the Hyrule's Royal Composers (who had been executed for desecrating the Hylian National Anthem when they had sold it to Termina).
They were heading to the Royal Crypt. They would be, thought Zelda irreverently, as she recalled that Ganondorf had murdered the last King of Hyrule in some hideous manner whilst he had slept. Such was the state of her nerves that when Link stopped and whispered in her ear, she screamed and shot out a huge bolt of lightning from her hand.
"Link! Don't scare me like that!" She shouted, whilst recovering her breath. Her heart was beating ridiculously fast and she felt faint. She realised that Link had clamped her to his side with one arm and that this sort of embrace actually rather nice. She blushed again and struggled her way out of his hold.
"We're here." He announced as he allowed his torch to linger on the cold stone of the grave. It was marked with the holy Triforce and had a long list of names of past kings, queens and their royal progeny scored into its whiteness. Amber was growling at the tomb with all her hackles raised but Link disregarded that. "Now then," He said, brushing some dead ivy from the wording, "According to Calatian legend Lord Tolmei was the most loyal of Hyrule's knights. He had the Kings ear and ended up marrying one of his lesser daughters. This was of course before he sided with Lefestra in the war."
The yellow lamplight flickered over the white stone and a cold wind passed through the air. Zelda shuddered again. Link studied the stone again and frowned. "His name should be here but I only see the name of his wife – the Princess Zelda…"
"Zelda?" Exclaimed Zelda, suddenly interested.
"Yes. For a long time every woman born into the Royal Family of Hyrule was named 'Zelda' it was a law but as you can imagine, it did cause some confusion so it was then decreed that each Zelda would have a secondary name. In Tolmei's case his wife was named Princess Zelda Emalia Harkinian De Hyrule and here she is…" Link pointed to a small name carved into the white stone and smiled slightly. "All our records suggest that he fled to his wife's side when he was cursed but after that, there is nothing. I thought it would be a good place to come and look for him."
"I see your point." Admitted Zelda, as she traced the name of Zelda Emalia with a gentle hand, "But why did we have to come here at the dead of night?"
"For effect." Said Link. "That and also there's no way any one would let me break into the tomb in broad daylight. I need to find her corpse."
"What?" Zelda's face went deathly white.
"Well it'll be more of a pile of dust now I guess, but still it should be a fun place to look at. I wonder if we'll meet any ghosts… I hope so!"
With these comforting words Link suddenly pressed his whole body weight against the marble slab. Zelda could only watch in growing horror, as the stone slowly rolled back revealing a dark awning, like a mouth in the earth, with a flight of shallow steps leading into the darkness. Link grabbed his torch and whistled Amber. Neither dog nor owner seemed at all concerned as they disappeared into the darkness. Zelda was faced with two choices – facing the haunted graveyard alone, or braving the mysteries of the Royal Crypt. A cold wind brushed her hair and kissed her neck. She screamed and ran after Link.
The catacombs were every bit as horrible as she had imagined. Although they did not run into any ghosts, there were plenty of gravestones, effigies and old bones lying around in the darkness. The only light they had was from the torch Link held, and occasionally that would flicker, even though there was no wind. Zelda had resorted to clutching at Link again. She hated the whole atmosphere of the place, the damp, cold smell of death, the decaying bodies swathed in silks and robes and the dusty spider webs everywhere, the way the noises of the outside world that permeated the tomb were distorted and weird. Even their footfall was cushioned on strangely spongy ground.
Amber still led the way, padding softly ahead. Occasionally she would look back at Link, but Zelda noted that her tail was well down and her ears were pricked. The wolf was very much on the alert.
True to form, Link was the only one of the trio that seemed to be enjoying himself. He dragged Zelda from one tomb to another, taking great care (and enjoyment) in examining the remains of the past monarchs, reading all the inscriptions, occasionally touching the armour of a knight, or bowing his head in respect to another. All the while hoping that they would come back to life so he could have a go at Zombie-Slaying (which was something he'd always dreamt of doing).
The path they trod led deeper and deeper underground. The air crew colder, the cobwebs thicker and the noise from outside even stranger. Somehow it seemed even darker. The ground at their feet was covered in centuries of dust and decay that seemed to clutch at their garments and linger in the air. The effigies and memorial stones were broken and fading. The corpses on display more wretched and putrefied, twisted into unnatural poses, a few faded rags the only part of a once glorious costume that had not been eaten away.
Zelda could not bear to look at the remains. Even Link did not appear to be as curious or talkative as he had been. He focused on the path his dog was taking and walked on in silence. Only occasionally would he stop to glance at a mausoleum to check the date of death. They walked on in silence.
Further and further into the catacombs they crept. There was a distinct chill in the air and no noise penetrated the depths of the crypt. Few tombs were left in tack now, and even fewer of the remains could be clearly identified as human. The dust and cobwebs were so thick they almost filled the air and the torchlight could barely cut through the darkness around them. They were in the deepest, darkest vault. The walls were rough and the tombstones were crudely made. They were memories of a forgotten era.
At the furthest wall, Link finally stopped. Zelda tried not to think of how far it was to the exit, nor dwell on the imposing silence that pressed in on her. Even her grip on Link's arm offered her little comfort. She couldn't shake the feeling of cold dread she had.
"Stay here, I'm going to look for her grave. She should be in this part." Whispered Link. He gently detached her arm from his and took a step away. Barely a second later, Zelda had reattached herself to him, trembling violently, her face as white as a fresh-laundered sheet.
"Don't leave me here." She begged.
"You're not scared…" Began Link, giving her a puzzled look before realising that she really was afraid. His frown gave way to a smile (which in the dark torchlight looked quite sinister) and he shook his head. The next moment he softly called Amber to his side. "Amber, stay here." He ordered. The wolf gazed up at her owner for a long moment, before whining slightly and sitting down. He turned back to Zelda. "I won't be long, I promise and Amber will keep you company. To be honest, if anything does happen, she'd be far better at protecting you than I."
"What do you mean if anything happens?" Shrieked Zelda but it was too late, he had already wandered off into the darkness. Only the faintest of glows in the distance reminded her that she was not quite alone. She felt something soft and warm press against her leg and remembered Amber's presence. Zelda was surprised, for she had thought the wolf would wander off after Link, but it seemed his orders had not been disregarded. She heard the wolf yawn and then settle down onto the floor. After a moment, Zelda sat down beside the dog and after only a slight pause whilst she built up her courage, she buried a hand into Amber's long fur.
Amber sighed happily, and rolled slightly so she was half sitting on Zelda. Although the dog weighed probably as much as she did, her elbows were sticking into her legs painfully, and she was still slightly wary of the beast, Zelda felt comforted.
Zelda Emalia had last been seen alive six years after Lord Tolmei, her husband, had been cursed. Of Tolmei himself there were no accurate sightings, although most of the legends pointed the finger firmly in his wife's direction. At about the same time as his curse, her pet raven, Rasha, appeared to change. The assumption (and generally accepted theory) was that the raven was actually Tolmei in his cursed form and that Emalia had kept him by her so that they could lift the curse together. As to why he had been turned into a raven, nobody knew. In any event, Emalia and her raven had last been seen entering the Royal Crypt in Kakariko Village, one rainy evening. She never came out. Several years later, her corpse had been found, lying in the deepest of the tombs, her neck broken. At her side lay the bones of a bird.
Link contemplated this story without a concern as he gazed down at the bones of a princess. She was surprisingly well preserved. Zelda Emalia's neck had been snapped, it was assumed she had hanged herself. The body of her beloved pet Rasha had long since disintegrated. In the dim, flickering light of the torch, Link examined the grave for any hint of Tolmei's presence. He was a Dream Snatcher, and therefore immortal. If both Emalia's bones and the bones of Rasha (Tolmei's supposed alter-ego) were, or had been, here, then that meant that Tomlei had not fled to his wife's side.
So where was he?
Zelda shuddered again as the temperature of the room dropped another degree. It had been getting steadily colder, and she felt uneasy. Amber had rolled back to a sitting position, she was softly growling at something. She was looking in Link's direction. Zelda gulped and tried not to let her eyes close. Why wasn't Link back already? She felt panic and fear gripping her throat.
Suddenly Amber jumped to her feet and barked loudly. Zelda screamed and pushed herself back against the wall behind her. Amber crouched low and then sprang forward into the darkness. Through the gaps in her fingers, Zelda watched in horror as she saw Link's lantern swing around and then the light vanished. And then she was alone. So she did what she did best in these situations. She fainted.
Ganondorf gasped in amazement, one hand clapped to his mouth. Really this was rather exciting, he thought as he saw Zelda slump forward. He grabbed the Seeing Stone and shook it violently yelling "Wake up! Wake up! You're missing the best bit…!" Unfortunately she was out for the count and in any event, Koume had enchanted the stone so that the Hylians wouldn't hear his voice when he was spying on them. Ganondorf screeched in fury.
There was a soft tap on the door.
"My Lord, is everything alright?" Nabooru's voice echoed through the chamber.
"Er, fine, fine." He lied, quickly placing the Seeing Stone back on to its pedestal and hopping back into his warm bed and picking his wine goblet up once more. He had forgotten he had commanded Nabooru to come to his chambers. "I was just watching the Hylians."
"Oh." Nabooru sounded amused. "What are they doing up at this time of night? Nothing improper I hope."
"If they were, do you think I'd be watching?" Retorted Ganondorf.
Nabooru chuckled but did not reply.
"It's nothing! Come see for yourself!" He offered, nettled by her assumption of his character. There was a long moment of hesitation. The rules of interaction between the Gerudo were clear. The King was only to be approached on his say so, on his terms and when one was accompanied. Nabooru knew she was the only one around in this part of the tower and that Koume and Kotate (Ganondorf's surrogate mothers) would have her blood if they found out she had even been there. She closed her eyes, praying for a sign – a Yay or Nay – but the world was silent. She sighed and frowned. "I'm sorry, Sire, but I must…"
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?" Ganondorf's excited cry suddenly changed her mind. Without another thought, she dashed into the room. She barely noticed the fact that her lord was once again naked, apart from one inadequate blanket, there were rubber ducks strewn across the floor, his hair was a mess and that his glass of wine had spilt down his glorious beard. He was staring in amazement at the Seeing Stone. "Nabs, you've gotta see this!" He squealed, without taking his eyes off the images.
Silently thanking Koume's foresight in disabling the Seeing Stone's power to convey speech to its' target, as Ganondorf began shouting at the images again, she rolled her eyes and smiled before gingerly taking a seat besides him.
"See! See!" Said Ganondorf, prodding her in the legs, hoping to make her look quickly at the stone. "What's that?" He asked, breathlessly.
Nabooru smiled at her king before turning to the Seeing Stone. She tilted her head and gazed at the image. Slowly it became clearer and brighter. Nabooru gasped as she realised what it truly was. "Why…it's a woman!"
"Ah, you are finally awake." Came a soft, amused voice.
Link's eyes opened sluggishly, he struggled to remember what had happened. He heard the sound of soft laughter in his ear and felt a cold hand on his forehead.
"Zelda, is that you?" He asked.
"Yes," Came the gentle reply. "Although I do not know if I am the Zelda you are seeking."
Link shook his head and struggled to open his eyes properly. At first all he could see was darkness, his lamp had gone out and he couldn't recall what had happened. Slowly he became aware of a soft light illuminating his body. It seemed to be coming from someone, or something. His mind felt cloudy but as he turned to see the light, his eyes widened and he gasped.
Kneeling before him was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen (and he had seen a lot of beautiful creatures). Her eyes were pale blue and were almost too large for her face – they seemed immeasurably sad and slightly cold. Her lips were thin and dark, slightly parted to show a row of perfectly formed, sparkling white teeth. Her pale hair shone like silk and fell in long, neat spirals to her waist. Her face was thin without being angular, her body slender and shapely. She was the embodiment of ethereal femininity. She smiled sweetly.
"Who are you?" Asked Link, a little breathlessly.
"I…I am Princess Zelda Emalia." She replied, with a slightly nervous inflection in her voice. "Why are you here?"
"I came to find you." Said Link.
"You did?" The girl's lips twisted into a smile, but her eyes glinted oddly. Link couldn't seem to tear his focus away from her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear a voice shouting a warning, but he could not hear the words so he disregarded them. He smiled up worshipfully at the goddess personified before him. She tilted her head and cradled his head in her cold hands. "Then I welcome you into my heart…Link…"
Next chapter will contain the "never before seen power" I promise!! Please review if you have time. Bye XX
