Chapter Twenty: The Temple of Time

"Navi?"

Link stood alone in the uniform whiteness of, well, wherever he was. Magic had brought him here, magic that had come from the Ocarina of Time that he still held. He turned about, searching for his partner. She was nowhere in sight, and there had been no reply. Was he alone here? Not even a minute passed before he was forced to shut his eyes. Without anything to draw focus on, he had quickly become disoriented. He couldn't even see the surface he was standing on, which increased his sense of vertigo.

"Anyone?" he called out, and was startled by how hollow his voice sounded. There had been no echo in his voice, and when he shuffled again, attempting to ground himself, he was unnerved by how little sound came from it. Wherever here was, it was definitely unnatural. Despite that, he found himself unafraid of it. There was nothing here threatening him, he was only reacting to this place's state of existence. It almost felt like his visions, except he was physically present here. Perhaps that was why he felt so strange.

"Link, can you hear me?"

"Zelda?" He opened his eyes, searching for the source of the princess's voice. The light about him faded, and a room emerged, one of the biggest rooms he had ever seen. Towering walls with stained glass windows and an arched ceiling of stone surrounded him, and the floor beneath him was a polished smooth white marble, tiled in a diamond fashion along a wide path, while on either side of it the marble floor became checkered black and white. On reflex of taking this all in so suddenly, he took a small step backwards, and his heel touched upon a raised surface. Turning about, he found on the floor a slightly raised platform, perhaps no more than a foot, in the shape of a perfect hexagon, with a darkened outline of the Triforce within, the topmost triangle pointed at him. Within the triangles, a curious circled emblem was engraved, bearing an unfamiliar pattern to him. Beyond that, a square arch led beyond into whiteness, which he suspected was the same whiteness he had found himself in. Returning his attention to in front of him, he found the princess standing before a stone, black marble-topped altar, with marble steps leading behind to a stone image of what looked like a sun with rays beaming down, centered and set into the wall, directly behind and the same length as the altar. Above it, the mark of the Triforce displayed, darkened considerably compared to the white walls.

Princess Zelda faced away from him, facing the altar and mosaic. Her hands were hidden from view, as if she held something within them before her. She spoke again when he began to walk toward her, his steps echoing within the expansive room.

"Link…I am sorry we could not meet again. There are so many things I want to tell you, but this will not last long, so I must be brief."

"What is this, where are we?" he asked, stopping a few feet behind her. From here, he could see there was more to the altar than what he had been able to witness from afar. Engraved text was centered on a raised slanted surface, but he was too far away to legibly read it. In front of this, where the altar's surface was flat, there were three empty bowl-shaped depressions.

"We are standing in the Temple of Time, as it is in my memories. This is an illusory place, and even I as you see me am only a projection of my self. Essentially, all of this, including me, is merely a copy that I placed within the Ocarina you now hold, and only you would be able to see this, as was my will when I placed this magic on the treasure."

"So, you're you, but not you?" he asked. If he understood what she said correctly, that was some incredible magic. Or he thought so, anyway. She nodded.

"This was the only way I could speak with you to explain myself," She turned then to face him, and she gazed at him with sad eyes. "As I'm sure you've already guessed, Hyrule Castle has fallen. I am the last member of the Royal Family. Ganondorf betrayed my father as I knew he would, and Impa and I barely escaped. I am sure he is pursuing us even now as well."

"He is," Link replied. "I had my own brush with him. He knew who I was and that I had the stones, but he didn't know I had your ocarina." He lowered his face, still ashamed at how weak he was compared to that man. "I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I'm still here."

"His confidence and ignorance saved you… I understand, it was those very same traits that allowed us our flight." The princess bowed her own head, sharing his emotions. "He is more frightful than I imagined."

"What am I supposed to do against him, Zelda? I'm too weak to face him."

"That is why I entrusted you the ocarina."

Link looked at the princess, unsure what she meant. She had given him the ocarina for a reason, and now he was going to know why.

"You already know the legend of this temple, and of the stones and the ocarina. Ganondorf is after the sacred power of the Triforce, within the Sacred Realm. Because of your efforts, none of the keys have fallen into his hands. However, we both know, if not before, certainly now, that that is not enough. He will stop at nothing to achieve his end. The only way to stop him then, simply, is to beat him to it."

Link had wondered if that had been her aim before, but hearing her say it, confirming his suspicion, still struck him.

"You want me to enter the Sacred Realm?" He asked, perhaps more calmly than he felt. She nodded.

"I honestly believe that you, Link, can attain the Triforce."

Now he was shocked. He stared at her, incredulous. She allowed a small smile to grace her appearance.

"You think I am mistaken? You have shown admirable courage and remarkable strength, and you demonstrate wherever you go your kindness and selflessness. You are a better man than you realize. With the Triforce in your possession, Ganondorf would be powerless, and Hyrule would be saved."

"You say it like it's so easy," Link wasn't sure what to make of this. Him, bearing the Triforce? He was just a Kokirian child! What merit did he have that the sacred relic would fall to him? Surely there were others more worthy of such a power.

"Isn't it though? Did you already forget the legend I told you when we met at the castle? No legend of the Triforce I know says the Triforce chooses who touches it. If it only chose those who were the most good, do you think a man like Ganondorf would set his eyes on it? The Triforce will grant the wish of even a man as twisted as he. But you would surely put the world right, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes you would."

He listened to her words, and realized she was right. The Great Deku Tree had said so as well: The Triforce, and the Sacred Realm, reflected the heart of whomever touched it, and the world would be influenced as well. That had been part of their reason to gather the stones, all to stop Ganondorf from having them, and to stop his evil desire, which would have shrouded the world in his darkness. With his betrayal, their endeavor would have failed, were it not for Zelda's quick thinking. Giving him the ocarina, and Ganondorf's overconfidence, gave him the time and opportunity he needed to stay a step ahead of the evil king.

"Then…what do I do?" he asked, no longer uncertain. He had come this far to thwart Ganondorf, he would now see it through. The princess nodded and held up what had been in her hands. It was the Ocarina of Time. Or rather, her projection of it, he reminded himself, as he held the real one now.

"You must go to the Temple of Time, and place here on this altar the three Spiritual Stones. With this ocarina, a certain melody must be played. Another song passed down, that possesses magic in its notes. Only with this instrument will it work. I will teach you this melody. Once this is done, the door behind the altar will open, revealing the path to the Sacred Realm. Or so I've learned; I do not know what is beyond the door, that knowledge has been lost to the ages."

"Diving into the unknown, huh? I suppose that's not any different from what I'm used to so far." He managed a smile, which she returned.

"Then play with me, and learn now the Song of Time." She brought up her ocarina to her lips, and he did likewise, and note by note, they played. After the fourth attempt, Link was able to play straight through. Perhaps it was the song, or maybe it was the magic within the melody, but he found himself moved by its sound, as if it really did hold within its notes the mysteries of time. When he had finished, the princess nodded in satisfaction.

"Now you are ready. I wish I could help you further, but I have done all I can."

"So, one more question," Link said, putting away the ocarina. "If this is all just imaginary, will your real self know about this?" The princess smiled.

"I wouldn't say imaginary is the right word. Since I am a projection of my consciousness, the short answer is yes."

Link wasn't sure if he understood the difference well enough, but he had his answer, and even better, it was the answer he wanted to hear.

"Alright, then, thank you Zelda. I'll stop Ganondorf for the both of us, and for Hyrule."

"Thank you Link, you give the world hope. I'll be waiting for you." She came forward and embraced him. "May the goddesses watch over you and light your path. Until we meet again."

Before Link could say anything in return, the world around him faded to whiteness again, and a moment later he found himself back in Hyrule Field, wet from the rain, with Navi floating beside him.

"What was that flash?" she asked, curiously eyeing the blue ocarina that was now back in his hands, as he had been holding it before.

"Flash?"

"Uh, yes? The one just now?" Navi stressed, now eyeing him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Nothing had happened to her, he realized. Not only had she not been with him, but she hadn't seen anything at all other than the flash of light. While he had spent nearly an hour within Zelda's memory of the Temple of Time, next to no time at all had passed in reality! He could swear it was real though; it had felt like one of his visions, but he had been there, physically. What kind of magic could do that?

Link quickly explained what had just happened, which Navi found just as amazing and perplexing as he did. He explained his conversation with Zelda and their next course of action. Navi took the news better than he had expected. When he had stated Zelda's intent for him to enter the Sacred Realm and secure the Triforce, she had been surprised, but had accepted it without question.

"To think that we would do something like this, the Great Deku Tree would be proud, I bet," Navi said, coming to land on Link's shoulder. "We should hurry, the princess is counting on us now."

"I wonder what the rest of Castle Town is like," he mused, walking quickly towards the city gate. "Do you think they know what's happened?"

"I imagine anyone who saw what happened to the castle and those three race by has suspicions. I'm not sure if anyone actually knows though. We'd probably be better off not telling anyone until there's any official word, so we don't cause any panic." Link nodded his understanding, agreeing with her.

When they arrived in the market square, they found it subdued, and many people spoke in hushed voices. The road leading to the castle was blocked off, with several soldiers standing guard, one of them speaking with the gathering crowd. There were hardly any people who weren't eyeing the castle as they made their way about the city.

"I guess everyone's noticed then," Link muttered, standing underneath one of the now empty stalls to shield himself from the rain for a few minutes. The rain was light, but he had been in it for a while by now, and his tunic was beginning to soak through from his shoulders.

"I'm going to go hear what they're saying over there," Navi said after a minute, pointing towards the crowd and the guards.

"Alright, I'll wait here."

She took off, leaving Link alone. Making himself a little more comfortable, he hopped up onto the table, and while he waited he took the time to observe the rest of the market square. Other than the crowd at the far end, there were much fewer people out than the last few times he had been here. Some of the people came near to where he was, and he was able to pick up some snippets of conversation.

"—horse took off from the direction of the castle."

"I saw another one follow behind, they both tore through here like they'd seen—"

"—something's happened at the castle, but the guard won't say anything about it…"

"—should leave town soon, it might not be safe here anymore. Maybe Kakariko—"

"—horse belonged to the princess, didn't it? What the hell happened?"

The rest of the bits he heard were more or less on the same lines. People were already talking about it together, piecing together their eyewitness accounts. Rumors were sure to follow soon, if they weren't already. He tuned himself out from the conversations, and waited for Navi's return. He didn't have to wait long; she was back within a few minutes, and she landed beside him with a long sigh.

"Well, that was almost a total waste of time."

"Almost?"

"Yes. Other than the standard reassurances and vague non-explanations, I did pick up one piece of information. Apparently a bunch of soldiers went to the castle to find out what was going on, but no one has come back yet. This happened minutes after the smoke appeared, so it's been a while now. No one has come from the castle except for the princess and Impa, and Ganondorf."

"So even the guards here don't know what's going on?" Navi nodded.

"The soldiers here were smart enough to set up a new chain of command and quickly reach out to the citizens, I'll give them that, but I fear at the moment it's the blind leading the blind."

Link frowned, looking back towards the castle. Both of them understood without saying so what else that news had meant. Those soldiers who had gone to investigate…they were probably no more. As Zelda had said, the castle had indeed fallen, perhaps completely, and there was no leadership any longer. With the only surviving member of the Royal Family having fled, there was no monarchy either. Once word finally got out, there would likely be chaos.

"We should hurry then," he said after a moment, and he hopped off with a quick push. Navi fluttered to his side, and together they crossed the square towards the largest building in the town. The closest Link had been to the temple was when he had visited the Happy Mask Shoppe, with the stairs leading up to the property's front courtyard and dirt pathway on the mask store's right. The stonework of the temple attested to its age; compared to the rest of the town, it appeared to be far older, with many of the stone ledges and outcropping worn and some spots were even chipped. Having not seen another building like it, he wondered if it was perhaps one of the last structures that stood as a testament to the skill of those who had come before long ago. As he walked the dirt path, he took the time to appreciate the simple flowerbed on his left, stretching from one end to the other of the ledge that separated the temple from the rest of the town. On his right, on either side of the path leading to the stone steps of the entry, were pools of clear water. Care was given to this piece of land within the city, and he wondered as he passed by who it might be.

When Link entered the temple, he found it exactly as he had seen from Zelda. Seeing it in reality was still impressive however, and it was Navi's first time seeing it as well, so the two of them took their time two observe their surroundings as they made their way to the altar that was placed at the far end. He found it strange that there was otherwise nothing else within the temple. With all this extra space, what was done with it? The Kokiri generally adhered to a policy of practicality when it came to such things. While it wasn't frowned upon to waste space, it was avoided in order to preserve the forest and the habitats of the many animals that made it their home.

When Link arrived in front of the altar, he placed a hand on its surface, and was impressed by how smooth it felt for stone. From where he stood—where the princess had stood before—he could read the inscription set within the stone.

Ye who holds the Three Spiritual Stones

Stand here with the Ocarina of Time

And play you the Song of Time

"Pretty straight-forward, isn't it?" Navi remarked upon reading it herself. "How kind of the sages who built this place to leave instructions."

Link said nothing, looking beyond the altar. It was now he realized that the inset piece of wall was not a wall at all, but a door. The Door of Time. Beyond there, no one knew for sure what lay within. Zelda had said that that knowledge had been lost to the ages. One thing was certain however. Whatever was beyond, the point that connected the realm of Hyrule with the Sacred Realm was also there. How strange he thought it was, how close that point was. Literally anyone could walk in here, stand in front of that door, and be closer than anyone to the Sacred Realm. But without all of the keys, all closely guarded secrets and treasures hidden from general knowledge and public eyes, one could never get closer. He would be the first since the ancient sages had built this temple to witness that sight. That knowledge magnified the awesomeness of what he was about to do, and to him, it was humbling with the responsibility he now bore.

Silently, he opened up the pouch that carried the three gems, and one by one, placed them carefully on the altar, in the order he had been given them. Navi remained silent beside him, watching. She understood as well as he did that this was an historical, momentous occasion. She and her partner were more than lucky to be not just witnesses, but facilitators of this event. She silently thanked the Great Deku Tree for choosing her to be this child's partner once again.

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time from another pocket. Rather absently, he thought to himself he would need to find a better place to put it than a worn pouch on his belt, for a royal treasure. Like Saria's ocarina, there was a hole placed near the mouthpiece to allow a cord through, perhaps he would switch the two out with each other. While he still counted Saria's gift as precious, and to him it was more valuable than the Ocarina of Time, the instrument in his hands held far greater importance, and it wasn't his to own. Eventually, once this was over, he would return it to Zelda.

As he brought it up to play, he could feel himself almost shaking with anticipation. He had no idea what was going to happen next. His fingers practiced their placements for the melody he was about to play, making certain he would get it right the first time. In that silent temple, where even small sounds were magnified by an echo effect, that first note resounded. As he played, he again felt the music stir a reaction within himself, stronger here than before. For the first few notes, nothing happened, but then he felt magic at work, and he nearly faltered while Navi gasped and almost dropped when they saw the Spiritual Stones move on their own, lifting from the altar and then hanging suspended over their places, rotating slowly. The Triforce symbol above the door flared to life, emitting a golden yellow light, and as the final note faded, there was a rumble, and then a crack appeared down the middle of the Door of Time. With grinding protest, the two halves slid away into the walls, revealing a passage deeper into the temple.

The two of them stood before the altar with the floating stones and now open door, amazed at what they had accomplished. But the task was not yet done, and slowly, Link stepped around the altar and up the small flight up the stairs, and tentatively crossed the threshold.

The chamber they entered was dark, and climbed so high he had to strain his neck to catch a glimpse of the ceiling. Eight walls in a perfect octagon rose high, and the only source of light in the room was a single window on the far wall, high above near the very top. The light from the window fell across a large terracing platform in the center of the room, which appeared from where he stood to be a hexagon in shape, much like the platform he had first seen, but this one had not one level, but three, the topmost, and considerably smaller, level raised twice as high as the others. In the center of that platform, the light shined down upon a pedestal, and a bare sword thrust down into it.

Link peered around the room again, searching for anything else he may have missed. There was nothing. This was the entrance to the Sacred Realm? Where was it? Navi flew forward a few feet, then he heard her gasp.

"Link! That sword!" she cried in astonishment, turning about to face him. "I've only ever heard of it from the Great Deku Tree! It's the legendary Master Sword!"

If she had expected some kind of exaggerated response, she was sorely mistaken. He had never heard of such a blade, from Father or anyone else. From her reaction though, he could tell it was something incredible.

"I've never heard of it," he admitted to her.

"Really? It's a sword of near mythical renown, and you've never heard of it?"

"No. Why is it so famous?"

"Because legend says it is a weapon forged to combat darkness, it's been said in the past it was used to destroy a great evil that threatened the world by a chosen hero, before it was sealed away. I can't believe I'm seeing it here, this is where it's been all this time?"

She flew ahead of him to the pedestal, circling around the sword resting there. The master Sword, a weapon capable of destroying evil. Could he use such a weapon against Ganondorf, and stand a chance against him? He followed after her, wondering about it. If it was such a great weapon, why had it been sealed away? And she had mentioned a chosen hero. Did one have to be chosen? By whom? And was he worthy? He knew none of these answers, but looking at the sword as he approached it, he felt that, perhaps, it didn't matter. He had been told this was the only option left to face the man who wanted to claim the world as his own. He would have to try.

The platform before the pedestal was wide, and at each angle there were other emblems like he had seen on the platform in the room behind them. One of them matched it, even. Were there other places that had these markings as well? What did they mean? Passing over one of them, he took the final steps to stand before the Master Sword. Despite being as ancient as Navi claimed, it looked to be in perfect condition, as if it had never been used before. The hilt was long enough for him to fit both his hands comfortably, and he imagined for an adult's hands it would still allow for two hands, if tightly. The pummel was a simple one, but the hilt of the blade was ornately designed, with the crossguard extending elaborately out and upward, reminiscent of wings, and embedded into the crossguard was a yellow colored gem of some sort. The whole piece from the crossguard down was colored a royal blue. The blade itself at its base was slightly thinner than the rest of its length and was unsharpened, and etched into the blade was the Triforce symbol. Standing in front of it, he could see the sword was quite large in proportion to his size. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to wield yet, but at least having it would offer him a chance.

The Master Sword was indeed a magnificent weapon, but he still wondered, and voiced to Navi, what about the Sacred Realm? Navi was silent for a moment, looking about as he had. She returned her gaze back to the blade before them.

"Perhaps…was the Master Sword sealed here to guard it?"

The idea was odd, but it made more sense to him than it would have before this adventure began. After all, Zelda had used magic to speak with him through the Ocarina, maybe this was similar?

"I guess we'll find out," he said, and placed his hands about the hilt of the weapon. It was surprisingly warm to the touch. He could feel his heart racing, and hear it within that silent chamber. Steadying himself, he tightened his grip, and pulled hard. The stone gave way, and the blade slid out easily from the base. He held the Master Sword! He was about to speak to his partner, when suddenly the Triforce symbol beneath them flared to life white, and surrounding the platform a shining blue light rose up about them. Before either of them could say anything, white light enveloped them, and he felt himself slipping away.

Before everything faded, he swore he heard a coarse laughter.

~0~

~ End of Part Two ~