Chapter 41: The Sky

While her alternate self was busy firing Light Arrows into Ganon, Zelda ran from the courtyard to the back of the Goddess Statue. She stopped there to take a breath, and noticed that her hands were becoming see-through.

"I was afraid this would happen," Zelda muttered. "Being close to my alternate self is causing the universe to erase my own existence since two of the same person can't exist in one place physically."

So she charged up the Infinity Gauntlet and then after concentrating really hard Zelda made a Puncture which depicted Link trying to keep Cia from stabbing him. She also saw herself picking up the Fused Shadow and running toward the Puncture. Without hesitation, Zelda entered through the Puncture causing the Zelda that was running to vanish into her. As the Puncture closed behind her, Zelda stood on the walkway leading up to the Ralis Temple for a few seconds before pulling out the Crossbow and firing a Sleep Arrow at Cia. The arrow punctured Cia's neck and made her collapse into Link's arms.

Link stared at Zelda with a baffled look and said through Proxi, "I thought I told you to leave."

"But I did," Zelda insisted, helping Link place Cia on the floor of the walkway. "I used the Infinity Gauntlet to create a Puncture but instead of going to another place in this universe I ended up going to a different universe altogether."

"And what happened there?" Link asked.

"A lot of things," Zelda cringed. "In that universe, you had joined the Twilight Wolves and gotten killed by Cia. Then Midna decided to order her non-Twili allies to attack Ganon's forces and ended up causing more destruction when I gave her the Fused Shadow in exchange for the captured Rail Riders' lives. So I fixed my mistake by teaming up with the Impa and Lana from that universe as well as a version of myself though I didn't know it because she was disguised as a male Sheikah named Sheik. Together, we collected the four Wind Instruments needed to summon the Spirits of Light which repelled the Twilight Realm that was spreading across Skyloft and they even aided the other Zelda in defeating Ganon."

"Sounds pretty crazy," Link said, scratching the side of his head.

"It was," Zelda said, and charged her Infinity Gauntlet once more.

"What're you doing?"

"Bringing something that'll get us out of here."

"So we're leaving Skyloft?"

"For now," Zelda replied as she opened a large Puncture further down the walkway. "We need to get rid of the Fused Shadow so Midna can't cause the same amount of destruction that she did in the other universe, and then we'll come back once we figure out how to defeat Ganon."

"Then we should probably find Impa and Lana," Link suggested. "I bet they're still in Hyrule."

"I'm not sure about that," Zelda said, concentrating on the Puncture.

"Why?"

"If you haven't noticed, Cia has the exact same face as Lana's. So there's obviously some kind of connection between them, but the other universe Lana wouldn't tell me anything. Instead, I had to listen to alternate universe Ghirahim telling me how they used to be the same person but then something caused them to split into two people. All my life, I've never trusted Ghirahim but now I can't trust Lana either so we need to figure this out by ourselves."

Link said nothing as Zelda summoned the Loftwing through the Puncture and onto the walkway.

"What is that?"

"It's a Loftwing, a flying machine that the alternate universe Lana invented," Zelda answered. "She apparently named it after the bird species that used to live on the floating islands before they went extinct."

"I see."

The two got into the cock-pit and while Link held onto the overhead bar Zelda pulled a lever which caused the Loftwing's wings to flap vigorously. With the edge of the walkway before her, Zelda pulled a second lever which caused the Loftwing to move forward. Then she pushed the wheel up causing the Loftwing to become airborne. Gliding over Sunrise Bay, the Loftwing gained enough altitude to fly above the beach toward the floating islands. So Zelda banked the Loftwing to the left and guided it northeast. They flew to the edge of the artificial sea and Zelda was about to dip the Loftwing downward when another flying machine appeared behind the Loftwing. It resembled a metallic bird with red lights for eyes and talons curved like wheels. Once the two machines were a few yards from each other, the metallic bird opened its mouth and produced a flaming cannonball that flew over the Loftwing and exploded.

"Where did that come from?" Link wondered, holding on as the Loftwing wobbled.

"The Courtyard of the Goddess," Zelda said glancing over her shoulder. "It must be Ganon."

"How could he spot us from all the way back there?"

"A few years ago, Ganon confiscated all the flying machines in Skyloft and then he had Cia set up a system that detects any flying machine while it's in the air called a Flight-Motion Detector."

"Great."

Zelda steered the Loftwing down toward the clouds below, but the metal bird followed. It continued to throw more cannonballs from its mouth until one exploded close enough to cause the Loftwing's tail to fall off. This in turn caused the Loftwing to nosedive straight down until the metal bird caught it in its metallic talons which uncurled. Link and Zelda sat perfectly still until a menacing voice came from inside the bird through its unseen earhole.

"You've been a bad girl, Zelda," Ganon's voice echoed. "Now come home with me along with the gauntlet and the Fused Shadow, or your friend dies."

Zelda looked at Link, who shook his head, and then up at the ceiling. "If I do, will you promise to spare Link?"

"Of course," Ganon said after a pause.

"No, Zelda," Link said, holding Zelda's hand. "It's a trap."

"Then what would you suggest I do?" Zelda asked. "We're stuck here, Link, and there's nothing we can do about it."

As Zelda got up from her seat, she looked back and said, "Come back for me soon."

Without anything to say, Link watched as Zelda got out of the cock-pit and climbed onto the roof of the Loftwing. He heard the sound of a metal hatch opening and Zelda's footsteps. Then when the hatch closed, the metal bird's talons released the Loftwing causing it to plummet toward the clouds below. Link tried to steer the Loftwing up, but then a Puncture abruptly appeared below him and the Loftwing flew right into it.

To be continued…