Nobody noticed at first.
It wasn't unusual for people not to be seen for hours or occasionally days at a time, if they were old enough to ride their Loftwing. There was simply so much empty sky to fly through and islands to explore that a person could keep themselves occupied for that long, especially if they were going off with somebody else. People did notice a rather heavily covered knight flying up with a figure draped over his Loftwing, but that was just him doing his job; not even close to abnormal enough for worry.
Instead, there was celebration. The town's cupboards where empited as bottles of juiced stamina fruit saved for the occasion; the closest thing to alcohol Skyloft had, where broken out half in celebration of the Ceremony and half for the desire to simply celebrate. The noise of clinking glass and boisterous laughter seemed to almost permeate the town, becoming as much a part of it as the rock or the buildings. It gave the whole place an aura of cheer, a bit of urbanism in the otherwise pastoral community.
A vast majority of this sound was radiating from the Bazar, as might have been expected. After all, it was the only building in town large enough to host a party of any real size, since the Lumpy Pumpkin couldn't be reached at night. It was hardly recognizable, after everybody had put their hand to it; the potion shop having had its display pots moved all around, filled to the brim with juiced stamina potion, the gaudy decorations stored in the western side brought out and strung, the gear generally laid out replaced with snacks of all stripes, and Sparrot's crystal ball surrounded by candles, sending out flickering beams of light in all directions. It was the sort of place anybody could go and feel welcome, drown away their troubles, and get a fresh start in the morning.
So, obviously, this is where Cana had decided to go, and watch.
Sitting, slouching over slightly, his eyes wandered about the building from the safety of his spot atop the Scrap Shop's usual counter, taking in all the trouble people managed to get themselves into. Peatrice had drunk at least five bottles of juice by now, and the twitching and fidgeting had already begun, her chair rattling on the slab beneath her. Beedle stood out quite a bit too, having taken the night off and trying to dance around on his already tired legs, though he had to admit there where rather impressive. Even the ordinarily cloistered Greba had decided to attend her son Gondo tonight, her hands still wet and wrinkly from all the laundry she'd done. It was a sport he took part in often, something he called "people watching". It didn't take any special skills or training, just two eyes and a sense of humor.
"Go Beedle!" Pipit gave a good whistle as Beedle swung to the ground, spinning himself on his admittedly bulbous head. The whole dance floor started to attempt the same thing, most of the patrons "drunkenly" failing with rather humorous crashes to the ground, followed by streams of laughter. After Dodoh tried and failed, bouncing back up on his massive belly and his clown-like face giving a grin, even Cana couldn't help laughing along with them, almost falling back off the counter as he did so.
"Thank you!" Beedle graciously joked in his trademark voice as he bounced back to his feet, bowing to much applause, a few green rupees flying in his direction. Convinced by his own participation, Cana jumped up onto his feet, heading in the general direction of the floor and scooping up a serving of juice on his way over, walking firmly and confidently.
"Hey Jakamar," Gondo yelled out to the lanky artist, swinging his surprised mother into his arms. "Let's get us something a little slow for the youngins!" An almost universal call of approval followed, although it sounded like it was fueled by the juice more than anything else. Jakamar, leaning over his fiddle, looked a bit concerned by this, scratching at his temple and wetting his lips.
"Can't say I'm very good at that," he admitted, shrugging helplessly, spinning the instrument on his lap. "You may want to bring in Zelda. She's the one who's good with that kind of thing."
"But she isen't here right now," Peatrice looked up from the table, speaking quickly and amusedly. "Because she's out with Link to get a little alone time, isn't she? I bet she is, that little…"
"Whooo," Eagus's hand slapped down onto her, leading her to look up, eyes a bit too wide for her face. "Maybe you've been hitting it a bit too hard. I'll get you home, ok?" With something that was a half grunt, half squeal, Peatrice set on him, jumping up and pushing him back, laughing slightly hysterically, disrupted only when she stopped to hiccup. It was a rather humorous fight; his fist coming up to her shoulder, her trying to kick him in the shins only to wince when she hit metal, and then Eagus finally putting her down with a solid blow to the arm, sending her spinning giddily into the gear shop, a small pile of Deku seeds falling down and hitting her head in rapid succession, her head rolling back in a sound knockout.
"My shop!" Rupin pranced over, hopping angrily as he scooped up several more of his fallen supplies, panting in fright. Taking the bundle of arrows and shields, he looked over at Eagus, spitting a bit with his speech. "Get this woman out of here!" A vain throbbed in his forehead, showing he was serious.
"Alrightly," Eagus smiled, patting Rupin on the head. "Don't get all hopping mad about this." The joke would have fallen relatively flat most of the time, but to the pipped state of the audience, it came off as a riot, nearly everybody falling over themselves. "Now," he looked out, waving to the general area. "Is anybody sober enough to help me out?"
With that, the sound died, as people started to look at one another, half the eyes in the room twitching and the other have sunk. Clearly, nearly the entire place had taken more than their fair share off the bottle, and just decided to ignore him, going back to their revelry. After a few moments, of waiting, Eagus was about to hoist her over his shoulder and go out alone when a hand touched his shoulder.
"I've only had one," Cana looked up as Eagus turned his head, removing his hand from the shoulder and instead lifting up Peatrice's arms. "Somebody's got to keep the Remlit away, right?" Smiling genuinely, he watched as Eagus silently took her feet, hoisting the women up into the air, her middle sagging slightly as they pulled aside the curtain, Eagus leading the way out into the cold dark night.
The air washed over them as they headed out, the light from the torches revealing the river in the distance. "So," Cana finally spoke, trying to start up conversation to distract from the weight that he was starting to feel on his arms. "Link's going to be in the senior class, eh?"
Eagus didn't respond for a moment, though he made a little noise under his breath that made it clear he was worried. "He might be," he mused, trying to sound strong. "I talked to the headmaster earlier, told me Link had gotten into a nasty competition with a tornado and lost." A Chu Chu slid along the sidewalk on the other side of the river, Eagus instinctually trying to reach for his sword before remembering he had Peatrice in his arms. "Still," he continued, Cana recovering his balance from the little maneuver. "He's a strong kid, he'll get through."
"He sure is," Cana nodded, blinking once, catching something in the corner of his eye. What had that been. His head swung to the left, eyes turning downward to the ledges below the Statue of the Goddess. "You see that?" he stopped walking, following the blue light as it floated across the outcropping, a shadow skirting along the edges of it.
"That Chu Chu?" Eagus inquired, turning his own head around, eyes going sharp as he looked at it. "That's," he stuttered out the word, voice tinged with confusion. "That's certainly strange. I better go check it out," Sliding Peatrice's legs to the ground, the Commander drew his blade, taking a single step forward before Cana moved into his way, Peatrice mumbling slightly as he dragged her across the ground.
"Hold it," he almost commanded, feeling a sense of excitement swelling inside of him. This was his chance : he wasn't going to mess it up. "I can't carry her on my own. Why don't you let me handle this one? I mean, how bad can it be?" He spoke persuasively, Eagus listening intently, sword returning to his scabbard as he nodded understandingly.
"Alright," he gave it, slinging Peatrice up into a cradle of arms. "Go on ahead. Take care though." Walking slightly bow-legged from the weight, he took his way towards the river, Cana watching as the chill of the night started to nip at his skin. Turning around, Cana dashed his way up towards the statue, thankful for the extra energy shot his bottle had given him.
The gate was supposed to be shut at night, though Cana had never understood the reason why; there was nothing valuable to steal, and the monsters didn't bother to come near there anyway. Ordinarily, Pipit would close it while doing his rounds, but since he was a little "distracted" at the moment, the iron bars stood wide open, the ground quit and serine. For a moment, Cana paused to absorb the holiness of it all, eyes closed and spirit centered, worries washing away. Then, there was the sound of stone underfoot, and he opened his eyes to see the light vanish into the base of the Goddess statue, the stone melting away into nothingness as a familiar figure watched, running into the hole created.
"Link?" Cana mumbled quizzically to himself as he followed, walking slowly towards the opening, sticking in one hand first, and then stepping in, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the tunnel. For a moment, there was only darkness, before he emerged into a great lit chamber, Link standing before the source of the light; A cerulean, caped, flawlessly smooth figure, hovering in the air before him, Link bending over slightly as if to grab something.
"Link!" Cana yelled out forcefully, arms pulled into himself. The sound reverberated across the room, returning to his ear several times, the sound dying out only to be replaced by that of cracking somewhere above them. One hand remaining on the item, Link pivoted to look at him, eyes meet as Cana noticed it was a sword he was gripping, wedged into the pedestal at the center of the chamber, the entity floating there, seemingly uninterested. Then, as they all stood as if frozen, a large stone descended from the ceiling, spinning slightly as if fell, landing directly on top of Link's head, one edge wedging itself into his skull.
Link spun through the air with a sort of morbid grace, pulled by the weight of the stone, rose-colored blood sprinkling from his wound and shimmering in the light cast by the figure. When the stone landed, he was swung off, a rag doll flung to the side before landing discarded towards the back wall, Cana's eyes locked onto the gap in the upper portion of his head, the stone stained red and slightly grey on one corner. A bit of vomit crept up in his throat before the reality set in, and it took all he had to swallow it back down, the glowing girl gliding onto him, feeling the wound with her shining, perfectly crafted hands.
"Master Link," her voice seemed… cold, almost as though it came from the stone rather than her. "I estimate your probability of survival at 2% and dropping. Please respond." Deathly silence filled the room as she waited for a response that would never come, Link's face rushing clear and white as the blood seeped out, minutes on end with Cana frozen in shock.
Finally, after what could have been hours for all he knew, the girl looked up, her eyes pupil-less, yet… seemingly a little sad. He wasn't quite sure how, only that she gave that impression. Her face was directed at his, hands lingering on Link's cooling body for a little longer then might have been deemed prudent, before floating back up, putting air between her feet and the now bloodied ground.
"Male human," her voice was… different somehow, though it was more of an empathetic feeling then any real intonation. "Please grant me name recognition."
Swallowing a bit of built up spit, Cana looked on with a bit of reluctance, eyes flicking back to Link's corpse. "Cana," he finally spat out, trying to compose himself. "My name is Cana."
The girl did not move, though she did seem to focus on him a bit more, arms folding in front of her. "Cana," she said, as if trying to get used to the word. "I seems that the fulfillment of my primary function will require your assistance. Please step up to the pedestal in the center of the room and remove the sword." It sounded more of an order then a request, since she couldn't really change her tone, though judging from her stance it was just the opposite. Forcing his muscles to move, Cana pushed himself forward, a bit dizzy, before laying one hand onto the hilt, savoring the feeling.
He'd always wanted a sword.
He laid his other hand around it, something swelling deep within him as I slowly pulled the metal blade out of its stone prison, the light glinting off the perfectly crafted metal. As the tip finally removed itself, itself having a bit of its own light, Cana raised it up, looking at himself in the polished metal, the weight feeling odd in his hand, though his heart leapt at it. A sword…his own sword.
"The sword you hold in your hand is known as the Goddess's Sword," the girl's voice seemed half a dream, sounding sweet and flawless as is emotions flew. "It is destined to be held by the chosen hero of The Goddess, to cleanse the world of the darkness infesting it. I am its spirit, created with the primary function of aiding the sword's wielder. I believe social custom dictates that I have a form of address. You may refer to me as Fi."
Running his hands along the smooth part of the blade, he looked forward as Fi flipped over him, landing in front with her eyes looking up into his. "As I shall refer to you as Master."