Chapter 8
When I arrived in the library, I tracked down a librarian to help me begin my search. He had seemed a little confused as to why I wished to view old incident reports from the Faron Woods area, but, no matter his feelings, he made himself useful. He managed to find several documents and books pertaining to the subject, going back from last year to two decades in the past. I sat down at a table near the less visited section of the library and began sifting through the reports from past to present as quickly and thoroughly as I could manage.
Many of the reports had little to do with Poes, instead having to deal with minor disagreements between farmers or where Deku Babas had been sprouting up uncontrollably. Occasionally there would be mention of a stray Bulblin wondering into town, a Poe seen outside the graveyard, or other relatively small monster attacks or sightings. The Faron Woods two decades ago had been a peaceful place for the most part.
It was when I reached reports dating to twelve years ago had I found something quite interesting. I had not considered, even though I was only five years old, that I would not remember something that had devastated Ordon to such a degree.
The report detailed the sudden attack of possibly twenty or more different Poes on the village. They had come without warning, destroying everything in sight, killing anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path. Lanterns lighting the houses aflame, scythes slashing people apart, bodies rising from the graves as ReDeads; it had been complete chaos. About half of the population of Ordon had been killed, explaining why the village had been so small when I had lived there. And, as sudden as the attack had begun, it had simply stopped. The Poes just left after a few hours of senseless terrorizing.
I laid the report on the table, staring at the print with a frown. The final line had called the event nightmarish. The exact word Vaati had used what seemed an eternity ago, but was only two nights ago. He had been alluding to this incident, perhaps even this very document. Because the village had been decimated by a sudden onslaught of Poes, my looks would brand me suspect. And, the moment I foolishly reveled I could communicate with Poes, I had shown myself to be a possible threat. With this knowledge, I could see much of my problems with villagers had been created by my own actions. I felt almost foolish to think that they had merely singled me out without reason when I had clearly presented myself as a danger.
Another minor detail that bothered me was why the Poes would bother to attack Ordon. Unlike Bulblins or Bokoblins that raided for supplies, to establish territory, and occasionally for sport, Poes had no reason to attack on such a large scale. Poes are incorporeal creatures that wandered about alone or in small groups rarely exceeding five. They are also intelligent. Every Poe I met could communicate and used complex thought-processes to come to decisions. Other monsters simply relied on instincts, while Poes would strategize. There had to be some purpose to the attack, but finding an answer in a human-made report would not be possible. The way Link and others spoke of monsters showed little understanding of monsters' motives.
I shuffled through the pile, not paying much attention. I doubt that there was anything more for me to read. I felt that I remembered much of the recent past from ten years onward, giving me little reason to continue reading the documents before me. For some reason I had expected to find more events specifically relating to Poes. While I had learned a very interesting fact, I was still disappointed that I had not found more.
With a sigh, I stacked the books into a neat pile to return to the librarian. I sought out the helpful man and gave him the books with a short "thank you" for his help. With not much else to do, I decided to search through the library for anything related to monsters. The librarian directed me to a section, once more giving me a questioning look about my topic of interest. After he disappeared around a shelf, I lazily picked out a book and paged through it.
I heard light footsteps, but chose to ignore them, figuring it was a scholar or librarian. It took a moment for me to acknowledge I knew the person who now stood beside me.
"Hello, Eivie." Zelda smiled, adjusting her hold on a small stack of books.
"Zelda," I said with a slight nod and smile.
There was a pause as she seemed to stare at me, her eyebrows coming together. "Are you feeling ill?"
"No," I mumbled, catching myself as I went to rub my eyes. The dark circles of sleep deprivation were still plaguing me. "I have not slept well, is all."
She nodded her head once, but seemed to be considering my answer.
"How have you been?" I asked quickly, just to get off the subject of me.
"Oh, well, but also very busy. We have been having some problems with the Gerudo again, and, well, negotiations can be difficult."
"What is it they want this time?" I remember Zelda having mentioned the Gerudo a few times before. The dessert-dwellers liked to be difficult when it came to working with their Hylian rulers ever since the area was annexed nearly a century ago.
"This time they are asking that we return the Arbiter Grounds to them. I know that it used to be a temple, but moving all of those prisoners to a new location would be very difficult and, overall, impractical." She gave a heavy sigh, continuing with, "And it does not help that they sent their king. In truth the whole matter has become an attempt to reestablish separate nations."
"Politics are as complicated as ever, I see."
Zelda laughed once at the comment. "Some things never change." After a brief pause, she asked, "What are you reading today?"
"Would you happen to know any old books describing monsters?"
Her eyebrows came together and she tilted her head to the side. "Well, I might. There are some books that were recently found in the castle basement that may be what you are looking for. They are in a very old dialect, though. I can try to read it, but, honestly, I know very little Old Hylian."
"Can we take a look at them?" I caught my excitement and added, "I mean, if you would not mind showing me them."
"Oh, no, I can show you." She adjusted her hold on her books once more before beginning to lead me through the library. "To be honest, I would rather not go back to studying just yet. What are you hoping to find?"
"Nothing in particular. I am just… curious, I guess. After all of the recent incidents, I wish to know more about the threats monsters pose. "
Zelda's expression became grim. "I know, the monsters returning in such numbers is very worrisome. In fact, I was informed there was an attack in the city. I fear for the safety of Hyrule, especially if the monsters' numbers continue to rise."
I was quick to agree with her. I then quietly followed Zelda to the other side of the library. The shelves in this area were filled with ancient looking books, scrolls, and even a few stone tablets were on display. The old books were likely only available to scholars and, well, people of power. If I had not been in the company of Zelda, I doubt I would even be allowed into this area.
Zelda stopped abruptly, making me stumble into a stop before I crashed into her. She lightly ran her fingers over the spines of a few books, studying the titles carefully. "This one, I believe," she mumbled as she gently pulled a book from the shelf. She walked over to the nearest table and sat her pile of books to the side and laid the other in front of us.
The book was quite thick with a dark yellow cover and many intricate, sewn designs. The writing on the book was the ancient symbols of old Hylian. With time the language and writing had changed to such a degree that barely any common person could make out a single word among old texts, myself included. Zelda began turning through a few of the aged pages. I caught sight of a few drawings.
"Wait," I said, not sure why the picture we had just flipped by seemed oddly familiar. "Go back a few pages, please."
She nodded and slowly turned the pages back.
"This page," I mumbled, staring at the drawing curiously. It was a very large, single eyed bat with numerous wings and a pair of vicious claws. It looked similar to the sentries Vaati controlled. "Are you able to read anything on this page?"
"I can try." She squinted at the letters on the page, concentrating on trying to find anything she could understand. After a few minutes, she gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, I cannot read anything of much importance."
I shook my head. "That is no problem. I only found the drawing interesting. Thank you for showing me this book." I leaned over the book, looking at the drawing as if it would explain itself. "Would it be all right if I look at it for a while longer?"
"Oh, yes, that should be fine." She grabbed her books once more. "I should probably be on my way. It was nice seeing you, Eivie." She smiled.
"Likewise and thank you once more."
She nodded and went on her way.
I sat down at the table and delicately traced over the ink drawing, closely studying the creature depicted. It had to be related to Vaati, I concluded once more. The monstrosity of a bat looked like a more stylized version of the sentries. Because I had no hope of reading it, though, I decided to give up and surrender the information to him.
I glanced around, looking to see if anyone was within hearing distance. After confirming no one was near enough to hear, I whispered, "Vaati, I found something interesting." As I expected, the little sentry eye suddenly landed on my shoulder. I had a feeling the bothersome creature was still watching me. Addressing the small bat as Vaati still felt ridiculous as well, although it was humorous in a way.
I pointed to the book and the bat followed my movement. After a moment of it narrowing its eye and examining the pages, it squeaked, almost sounding happy. It flew off of my shoulder and grabbed hold of the edge of the book, closing it to study the cover.
Then it vanished in a puff of purple smoke. I gritted my teeth. Of course he would not tell me what the book said. He did not even give me a chance to ask him anything! I stood up, the chair making a horrendous noise as it dragged across the floor. My face flushed when people looked at me, wondering why I had caused such a commotion. I quickly sat back down, remembering that I had planned to look through the entire book simply to see the drawings.
What I found was not very interesting. While I eventually come across a picture of a Poe, I quickly learned that not being able to read any of the information was quite irritating. I had finished looking through the book and had returned it to the nearest librarian to reshelf.
I decided it was time to go back to the shop and perhaps help Syrup with customers. I groaned quietly, remembering that I had no idea if she knew that I left last night. I would actually like to think up a few plans to get in contact with Vaati, especially considering the sentry seemed to leave me for good, as well as how to earn Link's trust back.
A/N- This chapter was meant to be part of seven, so it's sort of short as well. But, hey, Eivie learned Ordon was attacked by Poes! She knows a bit more now, even if it is not the full story yet. Soon, though, it shall all become known… I also feel I should mention the "Old Hylian" is simply there because different games in the series use different alphabets and I felt like including it. Once again, thank you all so much for reading, faving, following, and reviewing!
Lady Fai- A guess! I love guesses, although I will never tell anyone if they are right or wrong. "Wait and see" is more my game. I hope you're enjoying the story and thank you for reviewing!
Awkward passerby- Yeah, Link is not very happy with Eivie, but, you know, keeping secrets can be quite upsetting. I could not let her get away with it so easily. And thank you for being understanding about the late updates. Thank you for reviewing and reading!
Miss Ominous- How did you know it was math-related studying? Math of any sort makes my head want to implode and a comprehensive midterm had me horrified, but I passed and don't have more tests until finals! And thank you for being understanding with updates. Also, don't worry too much about not having an account. Reviews and just reading are perfectly fine with me and much appreciated! Thank you for reading and reviewing!