Chapter 16 - Hidden in Plain Sight
Castle Town was bustling with activity. After a long day's work, the people within its walls were hurriedly returning back to their homes before nightfall fell upon the city. Shoppers and storekeepers alike roamed the streets, ready to call it a day. The number of people in the streets made it slightly more difficult to weave through the crowd without drawing any unwanted attention, but Link still had no trouble. What was slightly more troubling, however, was sight. He had drawn his hood over his head in an attempt to hide his face, but in doing so, also hindered his ability to see.
In any case, Link led the others across Castle Town, where the people were too busy and carefree to notice the shadow that walked amongst them. Link silently wondered to himself whether these people had even noticed the "meteor" (as it would have appeared to them) that had crashed into East Hyrule Field just a few days prior. It certainly seemed close enough for them to see, but the people seemed too unconcerned. Wouldn't something like that cause some panic? Perhaps the city walls shielded the people from view. Or maybe it was late enough in the evening when it had occurred that the object was shrouded by darkness this far away.
Once they entered the dank, deserted alley where Telma's Bar resided, Link felt safe withdrawing his hood. However, he still held Midna in one of his arms under his cloak as he opened the door with his other.
"Link!" Telma exclaimed, greeting him with her usual gusto. "And friends! Come in, come in, have a seat!"
Link gratefully stepped into the bar first, with the other two right behind him. "Evening, Telma." Link said politely as his took a seat at the bar. Colin seemed to be hesitant to enter at first, but when he saw Telma's familiar face, his hesitation was lost. He did not say anything but his face seemed to light up a degree as he took a seat at the bar.
"I've heard some strange things since you were last here." Telma said quietly as she fetched some clean soup bowls. "Now they say it is because of you that the princess has acted so strangely!"
"It is an entertaining tale, Telma, I am sure you will enjoy it." Link said quietly with a small grin. "But I am afraid that it is a tale for another day. I do not have much time."
After he said that, Link leaned over and whispered into Aaron's ear, "Now." Aaron nodded ever so slightly before rising from his seat and disappearing out of the bar.
Telma watched the strange man leave with an ounce of distrust, but she made no comment. However, in doing so, she caught a glimpse of Colin's bandages for the first time. "Oh, dear! What happened to you, Colin?" She said with concern.
Colin seemed hesitant to respond so Link jumped in for him. "Ordon was attacked, Telma. Colin and I are the only ones left. The rest have been taken as prisoners."
"Attacked?" Telma asked, slightly confused. "What do you mean? By goblins?"
"Whatever it was, I think it was worse than goblins." Link replied grimly. "But, as you can see, Colin took some injuries. I did all I could but I don't think they will heal completely until we get him to a doctor."
"Of course, of course." Telma replied hastily. "There are plenty of them around here, you must do so quickly."
Link took a wary glance at Colin before he replied, "Actually, Telma, I was hoping that you would be willing to look after Colin for a while."
Colin immediately turned to Link with a look of fear in his eyes. "Link?" He said quietly.
"Colin, listen to me." Link said apologetically as he reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I will find everyone and I will return them to Ordon. I will find your family. But it will be very dangerous. I cannot let you risk yourself, knowing what lies ahead. I will not lose you, too."
"But…" Colin said with a tear welling up in his eyes.
"Please, Colin." Link replied, and he could almost feel a tear coming to him too. "Do this for me. Telma will keep you safe. You know you can trust her."
Colin turned his head hesitantly to Telma, then back to Link again. Without saying another word, he jumped off his chair and engulfed Link in a large hug. "Come back soon." He said quietly as Link began to pat his back softly with his free hand.
Link gave him a reassuring smile and said, "As soon as I can."
The two remained embraced for a long time, at least ten minutes, until the bar's front door opened once again, revealing two, black-robed, hooded figures. They stepped into the bar quickly and one of them pulled back his hood to reveal his face. It was Aaron and he said hurried, "Link, we have to go."
Link looked from him, to Telma and back to Colin again. "I'll be back, I promise." Link said quietly before turning his attention to Telma. "Thank you for everything. It isn't much, but please, take this." Link reached into his pockets, took out three orange rupees and placed them on the bar counter.
"I can't accept this, Link." Telma replied, slightly taken-aback.
"It's the least I can do. Get a good doctor for Colin." Link replied with a smile as he, once again, drew the hood over his head. "Good-bye, Colin." With that, Link joined Aaron and the other black-robed figure who he assumed to be Princess Zelda at the door. They left the bar and Link closed the door promptly, before he got a chance to look back.
He sighed softly before following the other two out of the alleyway and back onto the main streets. Before, when he was the only one who was wearing a full-body robe, the people did even take a second glance at him. But now that there was three of them walking together, the people seemed wary, scared even. Link grinned inwardly to himself; he supposed that they did look like some kind of mythical cult or something.
The three of them navigated through the crowd and before long, they were crossing the bridge that led to the interior gates of the castle. "Halt!" One of the guards said as they approached. There were two guards, one at either side of the interior castle wall door, and one of them stepped forward. Link's heart stopped when he noticed that the guard was walking right towards him. The guard reached out his arm and Link closed his eyes fearfully. Any second now, the guard would remove his hood…
"They are with me!" Zelda growled as she removed her own hood.
Link whipped his eyes open to see the guard's hand mere inches away from his hood. But the guard quickly withdrew his hand and exclaimed, "Princess! I'm sorry, I did not recognize you." He bowed fervently and took a step back towards his post, and Link sighed in relief. "Open the gates!" The guard roared, and another guard on the other side of the door unbolted the door and opened it.
Zelda led the way onto the castle grounds with Aaron and Link right behind her. There were many guards out and about in the courtyard, many of whom were hidden in the shadows, but none of them caused any trouble. They allowed the Princess and her two strangely-dressed acquaintances to pass through unopposed. A guard stationed at the entrance to the actual castle opened the door for them as they approached, and closed it again once they entered the castle's main foyer.
Zelda continued to lead on through the maze of rooms and hallways within the castle, and thankfully too. Link had been to the castle a couple of times, but only once had he entered through the front door. And it was for that reason that Link soon became completely lost and utterly dependent on Zelda's direction.
They zigzagged through rooms, hallways and staircases, slowly but surely climbing higher and higher up until they entered the area of the castle where most of the bedrooms were located (which, to Link's displeasure, was near the very top). There were very few guards around this area of the castle, and for good reason, too. There wass no way to get to these rooms without going through the heavily-guarded lower levels, so to heavily fortify this area with guards seemed highly redundant. There were, however, still a number of butlers and servants who wandered the halls, even at this late an hour.
These people did little more than turn their heads as Zelda, Link and Aaron walked passed. Link and Aaron followed Zelda until she stopped in front of one of the numerous doors that lined the hallway's walls. She opened the door quietly and hurriedly urged the other two inside. After they did, she too stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
The room, as it turned out, was a vast bedroom. It housed two, four-poster beds, but in reality, it could have comfortably held at least five more, with more room to spare. The carpet was a forest green that matched the sheets on the beds and the curtains that led out onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. The room was abundant in all kinds of furnature; ornate wardrobes, night stands, mantelpieces, bookshelves and other pieces of furniture that Link could not even begin to describe. In the middle of the room lied a large, wooden table, big enough to seat eight.
As Link continued to take everything in, he heard Zelda say, "It's safe now."
Warily, Link removed his hood and Aaron did the same. He could not help but feel slightly cautious. The door did not have a lock and it just seemed too easy for someone to open the door without any of them knowing before it was too late. "Zelda…" Link said quietly as he shot a wary glance at the door. "Are you sure that it is safe here?"
"I just had this room booked under a false name." Zelda replied as she took a seat at the table. Aaron and Link did so as well while Zelda continued, "And I requested that no one come to disturb the room. You will be safe here for tonight and much of tomorrow. I am afraid to say that I will not be able to do that again tomorrow though."
Link nodded. That could become a problem. A few measly hours did not seem like enough time to convey to Zelda everything that was going on, and to come up with some kind of plan with her as well. "Alright, that will do for now." Link said after a minute or two. "We'll figure something out."
"What's going on, Link?" Zelda asked. "Why have you returned so quickly? The people are still on edge, you are lucky you were not caught."
"I know but this is a matter that cannot wait." Link replied grimly. Slowly, Link used one of his arms to pull up his robe slightly and the other to lay Midna down gently onto the table.
Zelda gasped. "Is that…?"
Link nodded, knowing who she was referring to.
"But…how?" Zelda said with disbelief. She was closely looking at the black figure on the table, as if trying to assert to herself that it truly was Midna.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Link said quietly, with a wry grin. "But there is something that you must know. The Prince of Darkness has returned."
"What?" Zelda said with a gasp. "How?"
"I am not really sure." Link said frown.
"But then, how can you be sure that he has returned?" Zelda asked.
"I saw him myself." Link replied. "I assure you that what I say is true."
Zelda took a minute or two to think. "I thought that this day would come."
Link nodded but he said nothing. Truth be told, he had also thought about the possibility of Ganondorf's return. As Zelda had remained quiet, Link said, "Ganondorf is the one who placed this curse on Midna. Aaron told me about a curse, the Eternal Slumber curse, and said that it is possible that it was this curse that Ganondorf had laid on her."
"It certainly looks like it." Zelda said with a frown.
"Well, Ganondorf also left a note on her body." Link said, taking the note out of his pocket and handing it to Zelda. "And in it, it sounds as if Ganondorf has made some new modifications on the curse."
Zelda took the note and quickly read it over. "I wouldn't be so sure." Zelda said with a frown after she glanced over the note.
"What do you mean?" Link said quietly.
"It almost sounds to me like this is a new curse altogether, like this is a unique curse that he created himself." Zelda replied. She then placed a hand on Midna's exposed neck and held it there for a moment or two, as if she were trying to determine if she had a fever. "And that aside, I can still feel traces of Midna's soul in her body. If this were the Eternal Slumber, her body would be utterly lifeless right now."
"Erm..can you explain?" Link asked.
"When the Eternal Slumber curse is cast upon someone, his or her soul is sent to a spiritual realm to live in solitude until a cure is administered to the body." Zelda replied. "But I sense that is not the case here. I can still feel her soul, although it is very faint. I can only guess that it has been warped, twisted or trapped in some way."
"So, what does that mean?" Link said hesitantly. He had no idea how she could sense something as intangible as a soul, but he did not question her. "Can she still…hear us?"
"Yes, I think so." Zelda replied. "She is immobile but I believe most, if not all, of her senses are still intact."
Link could only frown as he looked at Midna's still body. Ganondorf wasn't satisfied with her just being asleep. He wanted her to feel everything that he put her through, and he wanted her to see her friends struggle to comprehend what was wrong with her.
"Can you revive her?" Link asked, although he already knew the answer.
"Not without knowing exactly what he did to her, no." Zelda replied apologetically, confirming Link's suspicions. "Without knowing what spell he has cast upon her, I would probably just harm her further if I tried to cure her. I will look through all the magical records that Hyrule has to offer; maybe I can find a past occurrence of something similar to what Midna is going through. I wouldn't get your hopes up, though."
Link nodded silently and said no more. In the silence, Zelda rose from her chair and said quickly, "I really must get back to my room. I fear I may have stayed here too long already. Rest up; we will discuss this matter further tomorrow."
Link nodded once more and watched as the Princess left the room. In the subsequent silence, Midna's faint breaths were clearly audible. They were short and perfectly regular, almost eerily so. It truly did look like she was fast asleep.
Link looked over at Aaron, who had remained silent up until this point. He was staring off into space, apparently lost in thought. Link, slightly sarcastically, said, "Any ideas?"
Aaron shook his head slightly. "I've got nothing." He said.
"There's got to be something we can do…" Link muttered rhetorically.
"Not to be rude, Link, but you have absolutely no clue what's wrong with her." Aaron said bluntly. "Even if you did, you'd need to match Ganondorf's power to have a chance of reviving her. And no disrespect, but Ganondorf has trained many years to perfect his magical abilities, and I doubt you even have any."
Link should have felt insulted, but one part of Aaron's small rant stuck out in his mind. "Ganondorf's power…" Link muttered, and his thoughts instantly raced back to a couple of days ago, when Ganondorf had made his presence known to the Hero. Ganondorf would not give a straight answer as to how he was able to come back, but he heavily hinted at the Triforce as the source of his power.
"Of course, he is incredibly powerful." Aaron replied, slightly annoyed. "That kind of power isn't something that can be taught or learned."
"Maybe so." Link said quietly as he looked down at the back of his hand, where a faint outline of the Triforce was visible. "But I draw from the same source of power as he does."
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked, perplexed.
Link lightly traced the Triforce's outline with a finger from his other hand, silently wondering how he could draw from its energy. With no discernible answer to that question, Link answered Aaron's. "Ganondorf claims that the Triforce is the source of his power. I, too, possess a fragment of it. Perhaps, if I can learn how to control it, I could reverse the damage that Ganondorf has done."
"But where could you learn to do that?" Aaron asked. "It's not like you could consult any master. You, Ganondorf and Zelda are the only ones who have ever possessed such a powerful object, and Ganondorf is the only one who has managed to exploit it."
"I have to try." Link replied quietly, and it was true. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Ganondorf would let evidence of his curse escape his clutches. The paper on which he wrote down the curse, if he ever actually did write it down, would have been burned or locked away somewhere safe by now. Ganondorf wouldn't risk something like that getting away.
Slowly, Link reached out with his hand and placed it on Midna's forehead. Aaron watched on with anticipation, but nothing dramatic happened. Link did not feel any different and the Triforce on his hand remained as impassive as ever. And Midna remained motionless.
But then, Link began to hear a strange, faint noise. Well, not so much heard it as he could feel it, reverberating through his soul. It was Midna, and she was screaming. For what reason, Link had no idea, but her voice seemed distant, as if there was a stone wall separating her and Link. The high-pitched scream soon became difficult to listen to, so Link withdrew his hand.
"Anything?" Aaron asked quickly. Evidently, Aaron was not aware of anything that had just transpired.
"Nothing." Link lied. He was actually surprised that Aaron believed him, for he had made no attempt to hide his expressions while he was listening to Midna. Even now, he was distracted and lost in thought, and personally, he thought he must have looked very strange.
But Aaron still believed him, or at least chose not to question him further. Instead, he said, "Worth a try, I suppose. Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed, don't stay up too late."
Link glanced at Aaron as he walked over towards one of the beds before turning his attention back to Midna. What did it mean? Link wasn't even sure that the Triforce had anything to do with this. Maybe this was how Zelda knew that Midna's soul was still inside her body. That was Midna's soul that he just felt, he knew it, and she was suffering greatly. Her soul seemed so distant, suppressed even. As if it had been locked away in some kind of prison cell.
But whatever it was that confined her, Link was powerless to stop it. He still had no clue as to how he could use the Triforce to help her, and his touch only passed on some her agony onto himself. Link desperately thought back to the few, subtle hints that Ganondorf had given him but they did not seem useful, or even relevant for that matter. Ganondorf had told him that he simply needed to wake her up as if she were sleeping, but it was quite clear by now that Midna was not sleeping in the traditional sense. How can someone who was forced asleep by supernatural forces be made to wake up?
Link's head hurt just trying to think about that question. Link gave Midna's body one last remorseful glance before he decided that it was time to call it a night. After attempting to put this matter in the back of his head for now, Link lied down on the bed, closed his eyes, and began what would become a long, restless night.
Link awoke with a start the next morning. Somebody was tapping his shoulder lightly and saying something, but Link was making a valiant effort to ignore it. He was still very tired and understandably so, as he had spent much of the last night tossing and turning. And when he did manage to fall asleep, his dreams were haunted by strange, distorted figures, all of which had glowing Triforce etchings on their hands, as if taunting him.
Whoever was trying to wake him was persistent. Link grunted and rolled over to his other side in a vain attempt to elude the constant prodding. Finally, after hearing an excessively-loud "Link, get up!", Link finally resigned himself to the fact that this would not disappear if he just ignored it, and he began to get up. He sat upright at the edge of the bed and yawned, looking the two people who had gathered at the side of his bed. Aaron was standing closer so Link had to assume that it was him that was trying to wake him, and Zelda was standing a few steps behind him.
"'Morning." Link said casually as he yawned again. Although, when he took a look outside through one of the nearby windows, he had to guess that morning had already come and gone. The early-afternoon sun glared down on him from above his head.
"They've found Epona." Zelda said quietly.
"Huh?" Link said distractedly. He had noticed a small tuff of his hair was standing up out of place, and he was carefully trying to get it to lie down.
"They've found Epona." Zelda repeated, a bit sharper. "They know you're here."
"What?" Link gasped as if he finally understood what she was saying. "What are you talking about? Who knows?"
"My guards." Zelda replied carefully. "They found her tethered outside the city walls and presumed that you had entered the city. They are actively searching for you now."
Link silently cursed to himself. Retrospectively, he probably should have been more careful with Epona. But frankly, he had no idea that anybody would even be able to recognize her as the steed of the Hero. "What have they done to her?" Link asked quietly.
"They are keeping her under watch with the rest of the guards' horses." Zelda replied.
"Is there anything you could do to get her back?" Link asked hopefully.
"Without drawing a lot of suspicion, there is nothing I can do." Zelda replied.
Link clenched his fist and vehemently pounded the side of his bed in his frustration. "I can't leave, Zelda, not now." He declared stubbornly. "Not yet."
"You have the entire city looking for you." Zelda said shortly. "And the longer you stay here, the harder it will be for you to get out."
"And outside the city, I have Ganondorf searching for me!" Link countered hotly. "And no disrespect to your guards, but I'd rather take my chances with them while I come up with a plan than try to face Ganondorf unprepared."
Zelda seemed taken aback, perhaps because it wasn't often that she was spoken too with such emotion. But if that did bother her, she did not say it and she just said, "I was afraid that you'd say that."
"Will you be able to hold us here a little longer?" Link said softly, his voice easing up dramatically.
Zelda sighed and turned to leave. "You should be safe here in the castle for a couple more hours." She said as she opened the door. "I'll be back before long to take you somewhere that you can get some privacy. After that, I suggest you leave the castle."
"Thank you, Princess." Link said hastily, bowing his head slightly.
As soon as Zelda left the room and closed the door behind her, Aaron asked quietly. "Are you sure you're making the right choice here?"
"It's the only choice I have." Link replied with a sigh. "Zelda must be informed on this. And that aside, this may be the best shot I have of finding a cure for Midna. The only other option would be to beat it out of Ganondorf, and I'd rather not try that."
Link looked up and saw that Aaron did not seem entirely convinced. "You don't need to worry." Link said reassuringly. "It's me whom they are after. You'll be fine."
"I doubt that they will kindly let me walk if I am found to be traveling with you." Aaron said with a frown.
"You won't be traveling with me." Link replied simply.
"What?" Aaron said with a gasp. "Why not?"
"First of all, because of the reason you just mentioned. Anyone caught and found to be associated with me will also be locked up, I presume." Link said. "But, more importantly, because I still don't know if I can trust you."
"Don't know if you trust me?" Aaron replied angrily. "I gave you all that information, I traveled with you all this way, and you still don't trust me?"
"You would be traveling with me even if you were planning on turning on me." Link replied sharply. "And, let's be honest, your information hasn't exactly lived up to expectations."
"Ok, I admit it." Aaron sighed. "I lied. I do not have a lot of information for you. Ganondorf never trusted me to begin with, he never would have given me any information other than what he considered essential to my mission. But, that aside, I did what I had to do to gain your trust. You saw what would have happened, Ganondorf sent an assassin my way because of my treachery. I was a dead man if I could not convince you to help me. And now that you have spared me, my live is yours to command." Aaron finished his sentence with a small bow.
"I don't want to command you." Link said dismissively. "All I want is to know that I can trust you."
"What the hell do I have to do?" Aaron replied, growing frustrated.
"You could start by respecting my decision." Link shot back.
Aaron's face visibly dropped. "Fine." He said with a frown. "You want to do this all on your own, fine. So, you just want me to sit back here and wait for your valiant return?"
"Perhaps." Link replied indifferently. "I must speak with Zelda, perhaps she will have a use for you."
Aaron laughed mockingly. "Oh, so now I'm not even welcome to sit with you while you meet with the Princess. What about last night? You allowed me to stay with you then."
"Nothing was said last night that you did not already know." Link replied deftly. "I must now speak with Zelda about moving forward. And that is not something that I want to end up in the wrong hands."
At first, Aaron looked to be on the verge of exploding. His cheeks were growing redder by the minute and his entire body was becoming flustered. But after a minute or so, he let out a great sigh and the color faded away from his face. "Well, I'll just go take a nap then, seeing as I have nothing else better to do." He said tartly as he plopped himself on his bed.
"I'm sorry." Link said with a frown. "But it must be this way."
Link sighed lightly when Aaron did not reply. He lay quite still on his bed, but Link knew that he wasn't asleep. His breaths were short and erratic, much too irregular for a sleeping man. All the same, Link acted as if he was asleep and got up from his bed as quietly as he could. He saw his black full-body robe resting on the back of a chair and picked it up. He probably wouldn't need it, at least not until Zelda returned, but he decided to put it on anyway.
After he had done so, he took a seat at the table. Midna was still on top of the table in the same position as last night, but Link hadn't expected any different. Slowly, he picked up her unmoving form and placed her in his bed and covered her with the sheets. It was a stretch, but if anybody walked into the room with her laying on the table, they would surely notice right away. With her under the sheets, perhaps they would never see her.
Just then, he heard a knock at the door. The door opened slightly and Zelda poked her head inside. She said in a hushed whisper, "Come quickly."