Hey guys!
Sorry for not updating sooner. I got terribly sick with the flu to a point where I got bedridden for a week and a half, so my writing was was thrown off. Also, it was tough to figure out what I was going to do with this chapter anyway. I had a bunch of ideas as to how to take this, but I wasn't really feeling any of them. Thankfully my brother sort of helped me out! Shout out to him! :) (Okay, so maybe I was being lazy. Screw deadlines! I suck at them! I planned to finish this stupid thing two days ago - you can see how well that went!)
I'll be updating chapter four sooner to make up for it, though. I don't have too much to say, other than if I get off track or start sounding like I'm speaking a random language that isn't English, feel free to let me know. And I'm kinda nerdy, so if you start somehow getting spasms of fanboy/girlyness (my bro fanboys all the time, so I won't judge), feel free to explode them onto me. Did you catch the Sherlock reference? *snickers* I'm so clever!
*ahem* Review, Follow, Favorite! Thanks for the reviews!
~Blaze
Chapter 3: Detective
Week 5 - Monday, December 19th
8:02 PM
Metropolitan Clock Tower - Downtown
"I really, really don't think you should've kicked down the door."
"Oh, come on. Don't be such a spoilsport."
"Were you one of those kids who used to beat up all the guys to prove that girls were better?"
"If that's what you want to believe, I'm not stopping you."
Link had met the strength of Zelda's demonic hand, but never did he think that she could possibly kick down a metal door in one go. Granted, the hinges were slightly rusted, but the door had been set pretty much in place when Link had tried it.
Man, this woman was scary.
Tightening the grip on his leather bag, Link cautiously followed said woman into the clock tower - or what was left of it, anyway. Broken gears and torn wires were scattered all over the floor. An elevator was in the far back, but it looked out of service. Some of the windows were tinted dull pinks and blues, fitted with bars that made the place look like a prison. Though the hall was big, the walls were all chipped and slowly crumbling, the metal stairs completely covered in shavings of orange rust. Zelda seemed to be contemplating whether or not they should climb them, her one foot on the first step.
"Try going up a couple," Link urged. With a shrug, Zelda obeyed, cringing when it gave a rather unappealing groan.
"It sounds bad," Zelda informed.
"Thank you, for stating the obvious," Link said, joining her on the stairs, "but we gotta keep going. If we can find any sort of clue... I'm willing to bet these stairs aren't going to break on me that easily."
Aren't you brave?" Zelda said with a roll of her eyes.
They were spiralling upward as they went. The tower was huge, but most of the floors were empty. Link found the huge mechanical parts that traveled all the way to the top floor somewhat unsettling. Weirder still was that the wheels were still turning, a continuous clanking sound getting louder as they climbed. They past the first floor, then the second - they made it all the way to the seventh and eighth without any problems, but Link swallowed hard every time one of the stairs made a sound.
At one point, it actually snapped.
One of the stairs gave off a monstrous moan, and the stair under Link's higher foot gave from under his weight. He could only see a flash of red as his heart dropped to his stomach, his body going rigid. "FU - " Link started as his foot went straight through, his body unsuccessful at defying gravity as he was pulled down almost instantly. Zelda instinctively lunged forward, hooking her arms under his shoulders and going down with him, slamming her chin off of the railing.
"Ow ow ow!" She hissed, straining under Link's weight. "Link, try to grab on to the next step. I - you're too heavy!"
"Rude much?!" But Link knew he sounded absolutely terrified, his legs flailing and his hands shaking as he reached for the metal stair. He had never been akin to heights, and hanging fifty feet off the ground wasn't exactly his idea of fun.
"Don't be a smartass and save your own goddess-damned ass!" Zelda shrieked, attempting to yank him up. Link finally grabbed on, pulling himself up by the railing. Panting, he collapsed, staring at Zelda from the other side.
"You said Goddess," he finally managed, helping her across.
"Shut up. And you owe me one."
Link was surprised to find her hands shaking as well.
They continued, seeing no point in turning around - the previous stairs would probably give under their feet after going by them again. This time, Link had his grip tight on the railing, his foot testing every other stair. A couple fell apart, others snapped, others bent dangerously, but somehow they managed to make it to the final floor.
There was something strange about the top floor that made Link's hair stand on end. There was a point where there was a bright blue line that circled the area, starting at the last couple stairs. At that line, the old rusty stairs ended, inconsistently becoming newer, sturdier, heavier steel stairs that looked like newer versions of the dilapidated staircase they had just climbed. The doorway looked like it had just been built, the walls were flawless and not chipped at all, and the windows were a beautiful royal blue instead of a dark navy.
"Weird," Link observed, sweat building on his forehead. "Really weird."
"We've seen stranger," Zelda said honestly, pushing him into the circle. "Now let's go."
Link felt a warm tingling shoot up his back as he entered, pulling the heavy iron door open. He blinked when he saw the inside, his eyes scanning the stone walls and the large glass clock that made up the back wall, the gears clanking rhythmically as if they had just been installed. The blue circle enclosed every corner, filling the room with a warm light. In the center was a large blue orb set on a pedestal.
"...what is that thing?" Link asked, approaching it slowly. "I mean... It looks like everything inside the circle is... Newer. As if time is on a rewind in here."
"Look." Zelda pointed to the far left wall. "Bookshelves."
Link walked forward and pulled some off of the shelves, flipping a couple pages. "Well, this isn't standard script, that's for sure."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Zelda muttered.
"We'll need reference books. There probably is a library around here." Link yawned. "What time is it?"
Zelda checked her phone. "Oh, wow. It's 10:30. We've been here for hours."
"No way we'd be allowed back on campus this late," Link said quietly. "By the time we get back, the seniors will be on night-duty. There aren't any late night events tonight, so they could turn us in."
"Damn strict curfew," Zelda cursed, gritting her teeth. "Why can't it be a normal college?"
Link shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I guess we could either find a hotel, or... Stay here."
Zelda was quiet for a moment. "As long as we don't share a bed and I get a warm blanket, I won't complain."
Surprise made it's way into Link's blank expression. He wasn't expecting her to just go along with it - they didn't even know each other. How was she okay with any of this?
"Zelda."
She looked at him, blinking rapidly. "What?"
"Zelda… it's okay." He exhaled deeply, forcing the air out of his lungs. "I - you - we barely know each other. If you don't want to go through with this, or - "
Her hand on his shoulder made him realize that he had been staring at the floor, and he looked up to meet her deep blue eyes. Zelda was gripping his sleeve, her other hand clenched at her side.
"I'm scared shitless, Link," Zelda admitted. "I really am. I don't know what's going on, and I really am worried that this isn't going to end well. But," she said, raising her voice, "I'm doing this of my own free will. And on top of that, you'd be helpless and probably dead by now if I weren't here." Link wanted to retort, but he was too stunned to do anything. "I don't want to be stuck doing the same thing over and over forever, and I highly doubt you do either. You were forced into this as much as I was, and you aren't responsible for any of it, okay? It's true that I don't know you, but I - " she stopped abruptly, swallowing hard.
"But you…?"
"This may sound stupid, but I - " Zelda blushed, pushing some of hair back behind her ear. Her eyes flashed with determination. "I have this feeling."
Link stared at her, unable to breathe. Suddenly she sputtered, covering her face with her hands. "Agh! I'm sorry, I'm just - "
"No," Link said, finding a small chuckle working it's way through his throat. He laughed, slightly out of hysteria, slightly because he was genuinely grateful although he couldn't exactly place why. His body felt incredibly warm even though he could see his ended up startling her with a brilliant smile.
"You're fine," he said breathlessly. Shaking his head, he shoved his hand in his pockets, nudging his head towards the pile of books. "I'm gonna go check those out. Feel free to join me."
As he turned his back on her, he sort of considered the possibility that he might have scared her off just now. Her hurried footsteps from behind were enough of a consolation.
Week 5 - Tuesday, December 22nd
9:03 AM
Metropolitan Clock Tower - Downtown
Link woke up to the smell of dust and vanilla and morning breath, waking him instantly. What time was it? Where the hell was he? Rubbing his eyes, he slid his hand over the drool that had dribbled down his chin and consequently on the book he had been reading.
Memories came rushing back like a migraine. Zelda and he had both scoured the bookshelves to find things to read, and he had probably fallen asleep in the middle of reading. Studying hadn't ever been one of his fortes, anyway. Sighing, he slammed the book shut, his eyes wandering to the notebook he had scribbled all over. He then caught Zelda with her eyes closed and her face peaceful as she quietly breathed with her chin against her chest, her eyes fluttering slightly.
Link tipped back in his chair. He could go and wake her up, but he would risk waking her up. He could discreetly slam a book on the ground, but he didn't exactly want to piss her off, either. So how exactly - !
Apparently he had tipped back just a little too much, because he felt his stomach lurch as he fell backwards against the ground with a terrible crash. He fisted his hair as he groaned, a string of curses escaping his lips.
"Whazzat?" Zelda mumbled, shooting up with surprise. Her eyes lazily trailed the room until they fell on Link's body. "Holy shit! Are you okay?"
Well, it was efficient, if nothing else. Link rolled over onto all fours, slowly getting up and cringing as his muscles stretched. "Rise and shine, princess," Link muttered, patting the nonexistent dirt off of his pants. "You ready to go do some - ow - detective work?"
Zelda just stared at him before bursting into a fit of giggles, rubbing one eye with a smile. "Why are you the one who gets hurt all the time and I'm the one saving you?"
"Correction - you're the cause of said incidents half the time," Link replied grumpily. "I'm pretty sure I passed a library around here, and we need to figure out how to decipher half of those books. Let's go."
Week 5 - Tuesday, December 22nd
11:59 AM
Metropolitan Clock Tower - Downtown
He was watching Zelda as she sipped her coffee - which he had payed for, by the way - and read her textbooks intently, scratching her chin every now and then. He noticed that she had a habit of doing so whenever she was thoughtful. Her left hand was trailing sentences and skimming passages, while her right hand rapidly wrote perfect letters exactly between the lines. She was probably a rapid studier. Maybe he should ask her to teach him how she did it later.
She noticed his staring, and her eyebrows furrowed. "Shouldn't you be helping?" she murmured, her eyebrows furrowing. NO doubt she was trying to keep her voice down in order to avoid catching the attention of the somewhat creepy librarian over in the corner.
"No," he replied coolly, boredly examining the scone he had bought as a makeshift breakfast. "I'm leaving the boring stuff to you. I think I'll be fine with the whole beating people up bit of this adventure."
"Link," she said testily - or was it sternly? really, he was enjoying this more than anything - "for the record, I've been beating you up over the past couple of days. Shut up."
"Maybe I'm just going easy, you know. Maybe I'm just following the chivalric code." He smirked at her with that condescending smirk from her.
"Goddesses, you're a real turd, you know that?" she said, rolling her eyes.
"That's another thing," Link interrupted. "Is that some sort of religious thing, or… I mean, I'm pretty sure the common term is God, not.."
"Oh," Zelda said, taking a moment to take another sip of her coffee. "That's, um, something my mom used to say. She told me stories about these supposed Goddesses who created the world and this strange symbol called the Triforce." Zelda put her right hand on the table. Faintly, Link could see three triangles etched onto the back of her hand. "I got this thing when I was born. Mom told me that it meant that I was destined to save the world or something. I used to think that it was some stupid story she made up until - "
" - until now," Link said quietly. Zelda gave him a strange look as he pulled off his glove from his left hand, raising it up for her to see. The same exact symbol was etched into his own skin.
"...okay," Zelda said, taking a deep breath. "Either my mom was psychic, or I'm the one going insane."
"The last time I went with my father to his site, this very symbol popped up all over the place," he said slowly, taking a bite from his scone. "My father told me it was yet another sign that we had connections to the Harkinian line. I just never realized… I never realized it actually meant something."
"Hmm…" Zelda tapped a finger against her cheek again before pulling out another small notebook from her purse. She began scribbling over the thin paper, careful not to tear it. "I write things down to collect my thoughts," she explained. "So our main objective would be - "
" - to investigate about this… time inconsistency," Link finished.
"Right. We have pieces - a clock tower, a strange note with directions to said clock tower -" Zelda drew an arrow connecting the two. "That means we have a third party who is willing to help us with our objective. We have our family line which dates back at least a millenia, and we have this strange symbol on the back of our hands." Zelda looked up. "Do you remember anything else about this Triforce?"
"Yeah, I know it was considered a perfect symbol to the, uh, Hylians, as the people of the Hyrule Dynasty were once called. There was always some sort of hero mentioned, along with the queen - the people used to worship them as though they were supreme beings as well. There was always a dark entity that tried to abuse the power of the Triforce. They must have had strong views on the triumph of good over evil."
"Huh." Zelda huffed, tapping the pen on the triforce. "If what you're saying is true, then there must be a third bearer of this mark. See? Three triangles. So who… who could that be?"
Link shrugged, finishing his scone and wiping his hands half-heartedly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better…" Link pulled a couple books out of the bottom of the pile he had brought, just hadn't touched. "I asked one of the younger librarians if they had any books pertaining to time during the Hyrulian era. Turns out, they actually did - and most of them were about something called, "The Gate of Time."
Zelda frowned, showing the cover and pointing to the stamp on the bottom. "This says restricted. How did you get these?"
"Keyword: younger," Link said triumphantly.
"You flirted your way through, didn't you," she said in silent fury, her scowl deepening. Link clicked his tongue, leaning forward and putting a hand on her book.
"Don't tell me you're jealous," he breathed. Zelda immediately straightened, her scowl disappearing.
"What? You? No way! Not in a million - "
"SHHHHHH!"
Both heads turned towards the librarian, who had a finger against her lips, shaking her head furiously.
" - years," Zelda hissed before burying herself in the book Link had handed her. Smiling in victory, Link picked up a book himself, flipping through it with sudden motivation.
Link waggled his eyebrows. "So you had a feeling, huh?"
"What - OH, SHUT UP!"
Unbeknownst to them, a pair of bright red eyes were watching.