(NOTE: THIS WAS WRITTEN AT THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY! It's only Gliss's fault it wasn't posted in time...)
Twinxie's Note: Hey guys! Hope you're having a great new year! All I have to do now is become a millionaire to achieve my resolution! Pfft! I'll totally make it there before June! ;D
Gliss's Note: Happy Valentine's Day last Friday! It's funny that Twinxie is talking about New Year's and I'm over a month late on posting this! I'm so sorry! My bad! She did her part and I did not do mine!
PLEASE REVIEW AND ENJOY! For me? XD
Chapter 4: What Festers in the Dark
(Earlier that Evening)
Zelda waked suddenly. Her heart was on fire and her eyes alight with something very close to thrill. It was not every day one got a reason, or rather, an excuse, to escape their palace walls and go unbidden to complete a task. The whispers from her dream echoed in her throbbing head.
"Come to us in body and open these doors for yourself…It is time for the Temple to be awakened…"
Zelda jumped out of bed and ran to her closet, eager eyes fingering each dress inside. Satisfied with one, she changed from her evening gown and chose something a little more humble. A plain white dress at tea cup length, with long, white laced sleeves. She danced over to the mirror, and admired her appearance. She frowned at one small detail, though: Her mother's necklace – a sure give away to her identity.
Zelda furrowed her brow. She had hoped to go in secret and be back sometime in the night. If someone saw the rare, one-of-a-kind necklace of silver and crystal, it would give her away immediately, and she couldn't bear to part with it. How could she possible go on her mini-adventure if she got caught before she even passed the palace walls?
However, ingenuity was on Zelda's side that night. With an enlightened air, she grabbed one of her cloaks – a deep violet one – and tied the fastening string around her neck, and pulled the silk fabric around her body. The salient jewel was now concealed within the shadows of her cloak. Satisfied, she opened one of her windows and peeked out.
During alternate hours guards would be placed on the palace's parapets and certain balconies. Zelda scanned above and below and not one guard was to be seen. Fate must have joined ingenuity on Zelda's crusade, but fate was very unpredictable and not always kind. She smirked. It is probably right between their shifts. The new guards will be coming any moment now. Delighted with her luck, Zelda jumped from her window and landed with an ungraceful thud on the balcony below her.
She hoped no unfortunate soul was inside the room of the balcony she was on. Not willing to find out, she leaned over and gripped some ivy growing on the wall below her. She giggled softly, comfortable that no one would hear, for climbing down ivy was such a cliché.
Father must think I am a foolish and helpless girl, making sure every vine of ivy and tree was out of reach of my window. If only he could see how clever I am now, going to other balconies to escape.
Her shoes touched grass and she released her firm grip on the vines. Grinning, she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and ran into the palace gardens. She weaved silently through the trees and avoided the guards at every turn. She vowed to talk to her father about the security issues in the gardens, the only lacking area. If one adolescent girl could sneak passed the guards, then their kingdom's security was in worse shape than she thought. However, tonight, she would have no qualm against it, as the circumstances were currently helping her and her cause.
She came to the labyrinth of hedges and confidently ran through it. She knew it like the back of her hand. Her father and mother used to chase her through this very maze and if she came to a dead end…she'd get a very severe tickling. Zelda blinked back a tear at the memory. Back when things were so simple…
She came to a point where the green hedge merged with the stone of the place wall. She again made a resource out of the growing ivy and hauled herself over the tall barrier. She picked this specific spot to exit the palace grounds. On the other side of the wall was the lower class part of the city, where the peasants resided. They were all still working their jobs, for they couldn't afford to not work, and would be too busy to notice a simple girl like her.
Zelda sat on the top of the wall for a while, thinking and admiring the beauty. She had seen her city streets before; maybe it was the twilight chill in the air, or the fact that she was seeing them without being ordered to do so, but this evening the city looked much more beautiful and less suppressing to her. She watched the last rays of sunlight run away as the night kissed the clouds, making them blush blue. Forcing herself to get down and continue, she scooted off and landed on the stone pavement.
Still hooded and cloaked she blended in with the night crowd. People were lighting their lanterns and mothers were calling their children inside to stop their play till tomorrow. She apologized to a few beggars for not having money, thanking the goddess they didn't recognize her, which was surprising. She attributed it to the darkness of the night and her cloak.
After a walk of twenty minutes or so she was inside the more noble, or richer, part of the city. There were more lights, so it was less dark, and these people didn't have to wake up early in the morrow, so they stayed up later. The night was only just beginning and a few musicians came out to play, while the well-dressed children enjoyed a later curfew. Zelda never knew it was this exciting! A few people even started dancing to the music.
Yes, this adventure was turning out to be quite perfect. But it seemed that fate was still tagging along, and as was said earlier, fate is not always kind.
Zelda spotted the high spires of the Temple of Time in the distance. Seeing as it would be quicker than the crowded main roads, she decided to take the back way. There were still lanterns in the back ways so it was not so dark and intimidating as she often heard of in stories. In fact, it was more peaceful. The wind seemed to propel itself more forcefully as the narrow alleyways acted like a tunnel. The chill air sent a wonderful sensation of trembling shivers across her skin, making her heart beat faster with titillation.
The spires and towers grew larger and the opening from the back ways to the Temple was drawing nearer. She breathed in and watched as clouds came out past her lips. "I love tonight." She whispered to herself.
"Then you'll love it even more." A deeper voice answered back.
She gasped as she whirled around. No one. Her breath came out tremulous and shaky. "It is no one. I am alone. I have just had too much excitement tonight, that is all, nothing more." She continued onward, trying to feel the ecstasy she did before, but the nagging feeling of being watched never left her. "That is all, nothing more…" She whispered repeatedly to herself.
The voice, if it was ever there at all, didn't answer back. Instead, Zelda's imagination spoke up, and she began to dream horrible things with her waking eyes. What if there was something or someone there? No one would know where to look for her! What if they took her away or killed her or worse? What about Link? Her father would never forgive him! He'd be exiled! And if Zelda died, what would happen to the kingdom? Who would be the heir? And more importantly, why did she ever leave her room-?
"No!" She said firmly out loud. "I won't ever regret leaving the palace for this night. I have a duty to do; the dream people told me! I have to make it to the Temple of Time! I must open that door, and I'll be darned if I let anyone stop me!" She huffed with determination, a fearless (or was it reckless?) spring in her step. If she wasn't feeling so determined, she may have stopped and wondered about how crazy she must have sounded, talking about dream people and such…
She was nearing the exit of the narrow ally that led to the main road bold and strong, when her power stride was interrupted. She began to hear whispers, and at first she was glad, thinking it was the unisex whispers from her dream, coming to her to offer support. But then as she recognized the whispers as incomprehensible male voices, she began to panic.
Again she whirled around and saw no one. The whispers in a foreign, harsh and discordant tongue continued. She tried to recognize any words but she understood none of the horrid language. She didn't call out and ask who it was, for she was paralyzed with fear. And quite frankly, she didn't want an answer from those cursed voices. She just stood there, wide eyed.
"Be quiet, you idiots, she can hear you!" The one voice from before sounded again. It was in Hylian and a lot smoother. Zelda gathered her courage.
"Show yourself!" She instantly regretted commanding, terrified by her own daring. Now she was going to see the horrid creatures who owned the voices. Darn it Zelda! A simple 'Who's there?' wouldn't have sufficed? She reprimanded herself as she wrung her hands. It grew silent.
A dark figure jumped from the rooftops above the ally way and landed in the center. More followed and jumped behind him; others jumped behind her, blocking her path and utterly dashing her hopes of reaching the Temple.
The first figure to jump down came into the ally light. Zelda gasped as he was obviously not Hylian, or human for that matter. Her crystal blue eyes met the stormy gray eyes across from hers, cold and hard as steel. While her hair was as golden as the sun, his was as shadowy and dark as the night, blue and true. While her skin was sun kissed, his seemed to be moon bitten. His canines peeked out slightly between his pale lips, whereas Zelda's were safely hidden behind her pink ones. Her dress was white and long sleeved, his shirt was black and sleeveless. She had a modest neckline, and he had a low cut V-neck with black cargo pants. She had dainty shoes of decorated leather, he had metal boots and a metal belt. She was good to the heart and he was bad to the bone.
Zelda's death sentence ringed in her ears. "Show yourself!" Why had she been so foolish?
This mysterious youth smirked. "Happy?" He gestured to himself and the grotesque beings behind him. They looked nothing like him. They're skin was black and oozing a dark slimy substance. Their yellow (some red) eyes leered at their prey as they licked their black and vulgar lips, disorderly and sharp yellow teeth joining the mouth in a snarl.
She almost fainted at the sight and turned to run, but she was reminded that she was trapped by the barely contained hunger from the beings flanking her from behind. Utterly lost and terrified, she let out a blood curdling scream. She looked beyond the dark figures to see if someone was coming, where the ally joined the main street, but everyone went on as if they heard nothing. Because they did hear nothing.
Now the question that should have come first flowed out. "Who are you? What are going to do to me? Leave me alone! I am Princess Zelda, you demons! My father will have your heads on a plate! Guards! Guards! Help! Help me, please!" She turned to hysterics and was soon blinded by her tears and sobbing. She sank to her knees and covered her face, bawling loudly. She began to feel physical pain from her own fear and wondered if she was having a heart attack, and if it truly was possible to die of fright.
The mysterious leader of the hellish mob's eyes became the embodiment of consternation. He knelt in front of her. "Hey, hey, calm down for a sec, alright? We're not here to hurt you. Well, unless you struggle."
Zelda didn't even stop crying and she let out a loud wail at that last part he added on. She tried to look up at him to see what he was going to do, but she all she saw was dark colorful blurs. For the life of her, she began frantically wiping away her tears, feeling even more unsafe and vulnerable being blind. When she accomplished this she looked around her.
The yet to be named youth was kneeling on one knee before her, and the hellish creatures had encircled them tighter. She stayed her tears and thought calmly and rationally while the unnamed man began giving orders to the creatures around her. Think Zelda. You are obviously not getting out of this and no one is coming to save you. She chocked down a sob at the thought, causing the stranger to look at her in concern for a second and then go back to giving orders. This…thing says that if you struggle they'll be forced to hurt you. Although, I bet they would all do it willingly. So it is best to just do as they say and go with them. That is how you'll survive. I will get out of this. As the goddess as my witness I will make it out of this alive and I will walk these streets again! She vowed to herself.
"I'll go with you." She said quietly, interrupting the youth giving orders. The strange being paused and looked at her.
"What did you say?" He asked.
"I said," Her voice grew stronger and more powerful, almost with authority, as if she had a choice to stay or leave, "I shall go with you!" She stood as she finished and glared at every last one of those demons with all the hatred she had in her heart.
Zelda thought she saw a flicker of relief in his eyes at her compliance, but it was gone so quick that she thought she imagined it, for his eyes regained the power and hardness they had before. "Good choice." He shouted one more order in the foreign tongue and then yelled out in Hylian, "Let's go!"
The hellish figures roared in sick victory as they studied their prize. Zelda felt uncomfortable with their eyes on them, but she ignored them for the time being as she took in the gravity of what just happened.
She just set herself on a hard journey in which she may never return. What horrors awaited her in the dark? Who was this stranger? Where were they taking her and why? What about Link and her father? Could they ever forgive her? And most importantly, why did she ever leave her room?
Without warning, the unnamed youth grabbed Zelda and together she and him disappeared with the creatures of hell into the shadows of the night. Then all of the ally lanterns flickered out.
Twinxie's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stick around to find out what happens next, and as always, PLEASE REVIEW!