Copyright disclaimer: Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda. I don't even have the letter N in my name.

CHAPTER 6: And the land stands still

There was a grainy, sandy urgency in the air, and as I inhaled deeply, I couldn't help but feel some of the same urgency make its way into my blood, which was steadily flowing out of my arm less and less. I took my handkerchief from my pocket and pressed it gingerly to the cut, then applied more pressure. It honestly didn't hurt much, but I happened to have a high tolerance to pain that I was somewhat proud of. I could take multiple hits before really starting to feel it, which, I admit, led me to be a bit reckless at times...

I looked out of the window that Gear had escaped out of, and saw the smoke rising from the building in the distance. I remembered what he had done and shot up, beginning to look for an exit. I felt the wall up and down, all around the perimeter of the room, until I found what I was anticipating: a switch just like the one on the wall back on the bottom floor; a key that, if directed upwards or downwards, controlled the direction of the moving floor I was standing on. I turned the key so that its teeth were facing downward, and with a groan, the elevator slowly descended.

When the elevator stopped, I half expected it to ding, but instead, my phone began buzzing. It was Fi. "Thank Hylia," she sighed after I'd picked up. "Do you know of the multiple terrorist bombings?"

Multiple? "Ah, no, I don't," I replied.

"They seem to be random, but there were three in Central and then one in each of the other districts. The ones in Central were very close to SkyCorp HQ, and there will be a government shut down."

"Do you know who did it?"

"No, but SkyCorp isn't allowed to look into this one. We have to leave it to the police and private investigators." The bleeding from the laceration Gear graciously left me had completely stopped, so I placed my bloody handkerchief in my coat pocket and walked down the slick stairs of the now drained pool I'd swam in earlier. "Link," Fi started.

"Yes?"

There was hesitation at the end of the line. "Stay safe, okay?" she hung up.
I reached the stairs on the other side of the empty pool and continued walking until I stood at the beginning of the once pitch black hallway I'd entered. There was a wooden door with no lock, and I gingerly pushed it open. Beyond it was a cramped office, with bookshelves chocked full of papers and thick volumes. The door that I came in through seemed to be forgotten, and I stepped over unorganized stacks of books and papers into the room. I scaled one of the bookshelves at random and saw a pocket-sized book entitled 100 Traditional Hylian Prayers. Without a thought, I pushed it into my back pocket and exited the room through another door with a transluscent glass window that stated "OFFICE OF HEAD PRIEST" in black, bulky letters. I found my way back to the altar, only to see the entire group waiting. Karane was the first to spot me.

"Where the hell have you been?!" she said, angrily. I watched her face change from anger to concern as she saw how rumpled I most likely looked, and she gasped when she saw the cut on my arm through the sleeve of my shirt.

"What—" she started, but I put my finger to my lips and shook my head. Keet turned abruptly and marched toward me, taking a hold of the collar of my shirt.

"We were worried, you little shit," he said. He unhanded me and ruffled my hair. "But it's good to see that you're okay," he said with a smile. I was surprised that everyone in the group seemed relatively calm. They probably didn't go on an adventure such as mine, but more importantly, had they not heard about the bombings?

"Did you find anything, Link?" Fledge asked me.

"No," I lied.
"Hey, my 4G isn't working. Let's head out," Keet said, looking down at his phone. The group slowly turned to leave.

"Wait," Pipit said. "I just got a text saying that there were bombings in the city." His face was blank, but his eyes seemed pained. There was a moment then where the group was so surprised that they forgot how to speak, and how to breathe, and what to think. Pipit turned to me. "Do you think we should stay here?"

"We should regroup with everyone else," I said. That seemed to snap the group out of their trance. We walked tentatively to the big double doors that led to the outside. Keet pushed open the two doors and behind them was a scene of utter pandemonium.

People ran screaming through the streets, and their voices resonated with the cacophony of police sirens as well as the pounding of feet on pavement. Even standing there had my blood pumping. Most of the detectives from SkyCorp that had gone out on the scavenger hunt trip were huddled together in groups front of the temple with varying states of unrest on their faces. Impa walked to us—perhaps trudged is a better word. She looked exhausted, and much older.

"It's good that you're all safe," she said. "I—" she began, but there was a deafening boom as the ground shook with intensity. My hearing went out for a moment and my eyes watered ever so slightly. "Get down!" I watched someone mouth, but did not hear. I instinctively got on the ground and covered my head. After a few minutes, I stood. there was a deafening silence as my hearing returned, and I wasn't sure if I had it back. I watched the deep-rooted fear on the faces of many of my colleagues shift into numbness. It was a mechanism taught at SkyCorp's training school: "If it hurts, don't feel it," our weapon-mastering instructor often said. He didn't say it to make us into apathetic, soulless people, he said. He taught us to go numb to protect us from going into cardiac shock.

I startled when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. "The mayor is going to make an announcement," Pipit said into my ear. It was played on many phones, so I didn't have to watch it: I could just listen for it.

"And now," an authoritative voice announced, "Mayor Gaepora will make an announcement."

"Citizens of Skyloft," he began. "We have witnessed today a calamity of immeasurable magnitude. Numerous terrorist bombings around the city have left many injured but luckily none killed. May we pray to Hylia for the injured souls of our brothers. The police force is now investigating each bombing and the government will be shut down until further notice." He paused, and there was the echoing sound of papers rustling. "As your..." he started, but the sound faded off.

"We interrupt this program to bring you... chaos," a different voice said. Many people began shuffling uncomfortably and I turned my eyes to Pipit's phone. There was a person sitting in a room with black walls and black furniture. He was wearing all white and had a full face mask on, but it had no holes to breathe. His hair was black and curly, and his skin was tanned. Maybe he's from West, I thought to myself.

"Hello," he began. His voice was amiable and gave the vague image of summer to anyone who was listening. "I don't think I should introduce myself as anyone, because I can guarantee that you won't see me again. I am from a dark place that appeals to nothing but the darkness in the souls of walking skeletons. We incarcerated beings would like to explain our actions. We only blew up abandoned buildings. This is a threat. Dearly beloved police force, criminal psychologists, unsuspecting pedestrians... Ponder. What do these evil-doers want from my peaceful city?" He paused, and pushed up his mask with a gloved hand just enough to show his mouth. "Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes," he said with a smile. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." The image cut off, and Mayor Gaepora's voice faded back on, then the image of him sitting at his desk.

"...SkyCorp is not permitted to intervene in any way on this case and if any detective does so, their license will be suspended. I would like to personally plead to the citizens of Skyloft to stay calm. Please refrain from leaving your homes unless it is absolutely necessary. We will resolve this unfortunate issue as soon as possible. Thank you." The screen cut out.

"Was that live?" I asked Pipit.

"Yeah," he said. He looked as if he was in deep thought, so I left him alone. The company milled around in front of the temple, not knowing whether to stay or go. Impa cleared her voice.

"Detectives, obviously you cannot do any field investigation, but you can use this uncertain time to study up on your cases from the safety of your homes." A woman sobbed quietly behind me. Impa's gaze slid to her, and she became still. "As you've heard, we cannot be involved in the investigation of the... terrorist attacks. I will stress now, we have no need for vigilantes in SkyCorp." She paused, and found my gaze. She tilted her chin up, as if to say, Yes, I'm talking to you. "Dismissed." My distressed peers shuffled quickly away from the temple, whispering comfort to each other, either with stony faces or tearful ones. My phone buzzed: Go home, Fi had texted me. I decided to listen to Fi for once and turned to the direction of my apartment.

"Link," Karane called. I turned and saw that her face was streaked with tears, and she seemed pale. "What happened to you?" she whispered.

"There was a pack of feral raccoons in the basement, and I didn't want to hurt them," I said with a self-deprecating tone. She nodded.

"I'm glad you're okay. Have you had your rabies shot?"

"Yes," I said. "Stay safe."

"Hylia be with you," she said. I walked home, taking in the breathlessness of the city.

The first thing I did when I got home was disinfect and bandage the cut Gear had given me. In the shower, the cold water rolling down my body rejuvenated any parts of me that had felt dull or tired. I got goosebumps from the cold, and I touched my forehead to the wall. The smell of mint soap, the feel of it on my skin and in my hair was wonderful, but I also felt extravagant for enjoying myself so much when there were many things I had to ask myself. I turned off the shower and quickly dried myself with my towel. I got dressed in a white t-shirt and a loose beige sweater I'd had for as long as I could remember as well as a pair of black sweatpants. I clipped back my bangs as they often got in the way and pushed on my thick black framed reading glasses. What I was wearing then was my uniform for all-nighters or intensive case study. I grabbed a cherry lollipop from a jar on top of the fridge and popped it into my mouth. I was ready.

At my desk, I first filed all of the cases I'd worked on in the past two months that I hadn't already filed, which was a grand total of eleven. This took me about six hours because I wrote everything by hand. I never learned how to use a computer and was not an electronically-minded person. To be honest, electronics scared me. I didn't know how to drive, either. To buy my smartphone, which I still only knew how to text and make calls from, Fi and Pipit co-wrote a paper on the importance of cell phones in the modern era and the importance of mass media in investigation. I didn't read the paper, but I got annoyed with how much they pestered me, so I bought one and gave my phone number to Fi. In my opinion, the spoken word could carry much more electricity than modern technology, but that isn't how the world sees it. I separated the cases into eleven manila folders and locked them up in the bottom desk, to bring to SkyCorp on my next trip to the office. I stood and stretched out, taking a ten minute break, drinking from a water bottle and cleaning my glasses. I cracked my back and prepared myself for the next few hours.
I read over the information Keet had given me for the interdependent trade of opium involving gangs in Skyloft City. I'd never seen any of the names of the suspects, so I wrote their names on a sticky note and stuck it in my pocket. I locked up the information, put on my worn-out sneakers, and walked into the night, making sure to lock the door behind me.

I wasn't sure if Horwell would be at the bench he always sat on, but he was there most of the time at ungodly hours. As an information gatherer, he couldn't rest, because there was always something happening in the city, and always an infinite amount of knowledge that he could be pursuing.

The streets were absolutely deserted, and the air was stuffy. The summers in Skyloft were hot, but they never felt asphyxiating like this. I shivered from the desolation stuck to the buildings and sidewalks reaching out to me. Eventually, I made my way to Horwell's park and let out a sigh of relief to see such a familiar sight. He sat alone on the bench with his cat Mia sleeping on the seat next to him. When he spotted me, he looked me up and down. It made me uncomfortable.

"This is the first time I've seen you without a suit," he said. I plopped down on the side of him where Mia was not sleeping. "I'm still working," I replied, punctuated with a yawn.

"What can I do for ya?" he asked, lighting a cigarette. He offered me one.

"No thanks," I said. I pulled the sticky note of names I'd written earlier from my pocket.

"Do you know any of these names?" He skimmed it quickly.

"I know all of them. What do you need them for?"

"I've got a case," I said. It was forbidden to share the details of our cases.

"These are rather dangerous individuals. I think I have their mugshots," he said. He reached into the black canvas bag at his feet and pulled out a very unorganized folder.

"Do you have a pen?" I handed him the pencil I had in my back pocket. He took out four half-page pictures and wrote the names, ages and gangs each suspect was associated with. I wasn't surprised that Gear's face was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to ask Horwell about him, but didn't want to give anything up. "Do you know about the attacks today?" I asked.

"Yeah," he responded. "I'm not telling you anything."

"How old are you?" he looked alarmed that I was asking. "You're twenty-nine, aren't you?"

"Why?"

"I was trying to figure out whether you are more like a dad or a brother," I said with a smile. I stood. "Thanks for the info," I said as I folded the papers he'd given me. "Keep safe." I turned to leave, but Horwell grabbed my arm, right where Gear had cut me. A sharp intake of breath found its way to my lungs-the unexpected pressure on it was just a bit painful. That definitely reopened the gash, I thought.

"Are you okay?" Horwell asked.

"Yes, you caught me by surprise," I responded.

"I was going to say that I'm neither." He let go of my arm. "I'm neither," he said again. I didn't know what to say, so I said "See you later" under my breath and walked back home, pushing down on my reopened injury.

When I returned home, I rewrapped my bandages and set to work on researching the names of the suspects. They were each from a different district, but none of them were from Central. After I gathered all of the information I could on each person, the sun had come up. I looked at my clock: it was nine in the morning. My stomach grumbled endlessly and I felt listless. I took a candy bar from the pantry and decided to take a walk.

It was much cooler than last night, and the air was clearer. The occasional car passed, but people stayed off of the streets for the most part. I felt good about a few things: no one died in the attacks yesterday and I finished a huge pile of work in the past 24 hours, meaning I was now free to slack for at least a quarter of the day. If the city was still running normally, I'd go buy ice cream or drop by one of the orphanages, but everything was on lockdown. I decided that later I'd check the internet to see how much money we would lose daily if we were shut down for a week. I unwrapped the bubblegum that I always kept as a backup in my pants; the candy bar was long gone. I began to hum and continued to stroll down the street until I found one of the local playgrounds. I sat on a swing and took in the good vibes. The police would take care of the terrorist case... Oh. The police in Skyloft were pretty ignorant according to almost all of SkyCorp. They just pushed their cases onto SkyCorp if they felt incapable, which they felt often.

I fell into thinking deeply about the possibilities for the case. I was motionless, and stayed that way unconsciously until the sun disappeared.

When I came to, I was soaking wet. It couldn't be called raining, it could be called wet hammers plummeting from the sky. I had no idea that it would rain, especially because the weather was so nice earlier in the day. I didn't know how long I'd been sitting in the rain, but I had left my phone at home, so I wouldn't know anyway. I sneezed, which reassured me that I'd been there for quite some time. The streetlights flickered on, meaning it was around seven o'clock. I stood, stretched, and jogged home. When I got there, I stripped off my clothes and wrung them out, then hung them to dry. I was shivering, so I pulled on a clean pair of boxers and another t-shirt. I only had sheets on my mattress and a sleeping bag, so I curled into fetal position under their warmth.

I awoke in the morning, feeling like I hadn't slept for years. I felt sicker than I ever had in my life. While I was sleeping, I threw off my covers because my temperature had increased drastically. I was dizzy, nauseous, and coughed constantly. I was also somewhat delusional, so I got dressed for work. I took a seat on my bed because I became winded just from getting dressed. My joints were sore. Who knew rain could do this to someone? There were two knocks on the door, so I pulled myself up-not without difficulty-and tried to look through the peephole, but I was too short. I was too tired to think about it, so I just opened the door.

"How pitiful you look," the person said. It was Gear.

Author's note: Thank you so much to new followers of Aphelion: a Case Study! And also sorry for the really late update. But I'm on spring break now, so from today to next Friday, expect at least four chapters. I have really good news for you all! Firstly, I bought the Hyrule Historia (holla) on ebay for eight dollars. Mwuahahaha. I know how to haggle. That wasn't actually all that important, the big news is that there is sexual content in the next chapter. I feel like I should give a heads-up, because I know the reason most of you guys are reading this is for the PORN! That was a joke. Please don't be offended. Anyway, be excited for some weird kinky stuff C: