Chapter 62: Office of Professor Scarab
Upon reaching Professor Scarab's office, Link politely knocked on the door. To his surprise, no one answered. So he turned the handle, which caused the door to open. Inside, the office was empty but completely ransacked. All the books were knocked from their shelves, the drawers were taken from the desk with papers scattered about the floor, and the glass displays of insects were smashed to pieces. The only thing that wasn't out of place was a gold scarab beetle that lay inside the tray of a potted plant which was the only thing that hadn't been smashed. Link picked up the beetle to examine it and then its wings suddenly unfurled revealing a piece of paper that was glued to the beetle's abdomen. Removing the paper, Link unfolded it.
Dear Link,
By the time you read this the Clockwork Policemen will have already taken me, Mister Penman, and Wittia to the Skyloft Prison. Somehow Mayor Zelda found out that I was in possession of the Ocarina of Time, the essential tool needed to summon the Wind Sages from the Sacred Realm once they had awakened so that they can stop the moon from crashing into Skyloft. This confirms a theory I've been working on regarding Zelda's behavior, but I have no time to explain it here. You'll find the Ocarina of Time inside a hidden compartment in my desk along with the song that's needed to summon the Sages. Play it just as the moon is about to hit Skyloft, which Skull Kid said would occur at 6 PM tonight, and the Sages will take care of the rest. Good luck, and may the Goddesses protect you.
Sincerely,
Professor Scarab
With a determined look on his face, Link throughly examined the Professor's desk. After several minutes, he discovered what looked to be a hidden drawer beneath the desk. Unfortunately, the drawer had a lock on it with letters inside small rotating boxes instead of a keyhole.
"What is this?" Link asked out loud.
"That's a combination lock," Proxi answered. "Lana told me that they're used to lock up something really important. You can only open them if you know the right combination of letters, though."
"Well, that's great," Link said irritably. "What do you think I should try?"
"I don't know," Proxi replied. "I'm worried that if you try a word and it's wrong, then we won't be able to open it."
"But we can't just leave it locked. It's 3 PM now, so we only have three hours to figure out the combination, Proxi."
"Let's see if the Professor left any clues, and if we don't find anything in an hour then we'll take guesses on the combination."
"Fine."
So for an hour, Proxi and Link searched what was left of Professor Scarab's belongings. But due to the mess that the Clockwork Policemen had created, it was difficult to tell what was a clue and what wasn't. Yet among the Professor's papers, there seemed to be a few common words that were circled in red ink.
"Okay, I think there are three possible answers for the combination," Link said as the grandfather clock in the office struck five times. "Based on the number of blocks, there are six possible letters. So the combination has to be a six-letter word, right?"
"Yeah?" Proxi chimed in.
"So of the words we've found to be circled, only three have six letters. Therefore, the combination must be one of them."
"But which one could it be?"
"That I'm not too sure about. The word 'Medley' would certainly fit since I have to play a song to summon the Sages, but to me that's too obvious. If the Professor didn't want the Ocarina of Time to be discovered by the wrong people, he would've chosen a less obvious word."
"Then that only leaves us with the words 'Farore' and 'Statue.'"
Link thought for a moment and then his eyes widened. "Of course! The answer is 'Statue'!"
"How do you know that?"
"He's referring to the Goddess Statue, a place he describes in his notes as having the 'strongest connection to the Sacred Realm' so summoning the Wind Sages should be a breeze once I play the song there."
"I guess that makes sense, but won't Zelda be there?"
"Maybe, but my biggest priority is getting there before the clock strikes 6 PM," Link said as he turned the lettered blocks on the lock to spell out 'Statue'.
He heard a click and then the compartment opened up to reveal a blue ocarina decorated with the yellow Triforce and a scroll. Unrolling the scroll, Link discovered a short message followed by a set of musical notes beneath it.
"It says, 'To Summon the Sages of the Four Winds, Play the Song of Rising at the Effigy of the Goddess Hylia.'" Link then turned to Proxi with the ocarina and scroll in hand. "Come on, Proxi, we haven't got much time!"
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As the moon moved slowly down toward Skyloft, Link had just reached the Courtyard of the Goddess which was surprisingly devoid of guards. Then at the feet of the actual statue, Link took out the Ocarina of Time and while Proxi held the scroll before him he played the Song of Rising. It was a quiet but pleasant tune that made Proxi partially sway from side-to-side, and then Fi suddenly emerged from the Master Sword's hilt.
"Keep playing, Master," Fi said as she rose into the sky. "I shall open the way for the Sages by appealing to the Goddess herself."
So Link did as Fi said and kept playing the Song of Rising. Above him, Fi raised her sleeved shoulders to the sky as a golden circle appeared above the folded hands of the Goddess Statue further up. It was there that the Wind Sages Darak, Raoole, Agnes, and Sylvan emerged onto holding the four tablets in each hand along with their respected instruments. Then together, they combined the tablets into one which floated in the air as they picked up their instruments and began to play the Medley of Winds. It started with the Bolero of the Western Gale which was dramatic but subtle, then the Merengue of the Eastern Torrent chimed in with its smooth but energetic notes, followed by the hoppy but low tune of the Guaracha of the Southern Storm, with the Conga of the Northern Blizzard finishing off with a lively verse that rang out across the sky. When this happened, a strong gust of wind swept across Skyloft creating an invisible barrier that stopped the moon during its heated descent.
While the Sages kept playing, Skull Kid abruptly appeared and cackled mockingly at them. "You think you're going to stop me with those puny instruments of yours? How cute!"
With dark energy pouring from his hands, Skull Kid turned the Sages into stone statues. As a result, the wind ceased and the moon continued to descend onto Skyloft.
"No!" Link cried.
"We failed!" Proxi chimed in. "We're all going to die!"
"Not quite, Master," Fi said as she floated down to Link's level. "The Goddess Hylia spoke to me, and says that you must play the Song of Time if you wish to save Skyloft from its imminent destruction which I shall teach you now."
Then Fi sang a tune that was both bittersweet and powerful. Link imitated this tune on the Ocarina of Time, which caused a circle of white light to appear beneath his feet. Afterwards, Link saw images of clocks turning back in the process of falling through an endless void.
To be continued…