Chapter 27: Library Town

…

Even if the sky above remained as dismal as ever, Link found some comfort looking at a new landscape. He had never seen such a vast field of grass as the plain the Twenty-Seven traversed, although the unhealthy color of the grass may have robbed him of the sight. It amazed him to see so much land untouched when there had always been such a large demand for the space in the sky above. The forest on the other side of the train seemed to never end, not even as the train pulled into another town. Fishington sat on the edge of a lake bordered by trees on one side and grass on the other. The town itself seemed to be about the same size as Whittleton, although the residents had chosen to build their houses of lumber instead of inside trees. As the Twenty-Seven pulled in, Link could see a number of land paths winding about the nearby plain. Some sported individual carts led by draft animals, one led a large caravan which seemed to stand out against the rather scant surroundings, and a few guided small groups of travelers on foot. There was nothing like a proper road visible from the train, nothing of the cobblestone or brick paths that always made up the large towns and ports which Link had come to know. But there were boats, most of them small sailing vessels. Two or three appeared to be large fishing trawlers the likes of which Link had never seen before. Irleen brought up the possibility of converting one of those trawlers into an airship, but Link shot her down, quick to point out that they needed something that could support a large steam engine. Even with that statement, Link noted the town in his mind as a place where he might want to stop anyway; as they left, he saw another set of tracks leading into the woods.

From there, the trip to Library Town felt like it took only half the time from Whittleton to Fishington. Of course, Link still had not found a working clock to tell time. He and Irleen were the only people in the passenger car; the old man, Link figured, must have gotten off at Fishington. Although it gave him and Irleen the opportunity to talk openly to each other, any conversation they attempted ended on a brief word. They had already discussed the Architects to the limits of Link's knowledge, and any other subject they could think of could not make it past six sentences.

This was likely because Link's mind wandered through the recent past yet again. Reading through his journal made him realize that he was missing memories. Of course, he remembered everything from that day Captain Alfonzo told him about the promotion and the journey and sinking of the Island Sonata. But without the airship's logbook, it felt to Link as if he had lost the events of his first command. There was nothing left of the Island Sonata now, nothing which could make it into a library with the many other airships whose logbooks found their way into history.

If he could find another ship, he would be sure that the logbook would never be abandoned.

The Twenty-Seven's whistle gave a great wail, breaking into his thoughts as his hand stroked the journal. Startled, he shoved the journal into his pocket and looked out the window.

For a moment, Link was not sure what he saw out the window. It looked like a pier made of white stone. A scarlet awning stretched along an occupied walkway lined with maps and food carts before a sheer cliff of brown earth. The stone walkways stretched towards a mess of tracks between the "pier" and the Twenty-Seven. Despite the train's slow speed, Link could feel the car shift under him as the train moved closer. Then the train finally turned. Link saw the tracks and walkways they had passed, but the plain beyond was obscured. Finally, after days among nature, he found a civilization again.

The train gave a subtle lurch as it stopped. The large uniformed man who took Link's ticket at the beginning of the journey opened the side door from the outside. Irleen quickly dove into Link's cap. The man gave Link a crisp gesture to get out, which Link followed immediately. He put his sword belt back on and crossed the car to the door.

Stepping outside, Link met the smell of metalworks, of burning coal known to steam engines, and of cooking food. His eyes examined the cliff face directly behind the train platform (marked 9 by a single post where the platform met the rest of the walkway), and he noticed a number of openings in the rock face, covered mainly by glass. Under the awning, he saw a mix of doors, stairwells, and signs of various sorts. He came upon one of the maps he saw, finding it to be a map of the "Western Railroad Platforms". Following the directions given, he finally laid eyes on a large stone wall to his right some distance away. "Central Library Town", the map told him. Link fished in one trouser pocket until he found the directions Meilont had given him.

—"From the West Platforms, go to the center of town where you will find a fountain. Turn to your left, and you should see the old Hyrule Castle. Go there. ~Meilont"

Link nodded, adding to himself, "Because the castle is now the library." Having memorized the directions, he shoved the note back into his pocket and started walking.

It was almost a relief to him to see so many people again, although he had to admit that there was an absurd amount of foot traffic on the train platforms for a place where people did not travel so much. Looking at the signs in the cliff, he soon realized that not all of these doors and stairs might be businesses after all. They just might as likely be residences. Yes, now that he saw it, laundry lines hung outside some of the doorways unmarked by signs. One particular spot appeared to be some kind of hostel, like the shared apartments of the Skyriders' office building where Link stayed while at port. His ears met mostly the voices of the locals talking to one another, a dialect which he had never heard before on the islands above. There were also sounds of forging going on, along with the sizzle of something cooking over a fire. The air felt warmer than back in Whittleton, making him wish he had brought something other than the lime-green undersuit he wore.

Link felt his stomach growl. "Irleen, can you hear me?" he tried to ask in a low voice. But she did not reply. "Irleen?" Again, no response. Abandoning his idea of getting a quick snack, he continued towards the stone wall.

He found that, on the other side of this stone wall, Central Library Town looked particularly old. The ground switched to a path of red sand cobblestone lined with limestone. With the exception of a few wooden sheds (which seemed to be in disrepair and barren of any contents besides rats), the surrounding buildings had been built of a combination of red brick and white stone with three stories at most. Although these buildings were inhabited, their aged construction had left a few walls fallen, holes where bricks used to be. The higher floors looked newer to Link, and some of them connected with their neighbors. Foot traffic in this part of the town was lighter, although the main road which Link walked sported a fair amount of travelers. Train whistles broke the air on occasion; if Link had read the map right, there were another set of train platforms on the east side of the town. Other than that, the town seemed to go about the daily bustle that Link had seen in many ports in the sky.

He soon came upon a white stone fountain, although the fountain itself seemed to have been shut off for some time. Leaning over the side, he saw that the water was polluted with mud and strands of brown plants. So, he thought, even in abundant water, these plants still suffer without light.

Then Link looked left after remembering what the note said. He was surprised by the library, looking nothing like the Hyrule Castle he knew from the sky. This castle was decidedly square, not having the odd angle or branching design like the sky kingdom's version. The towers in the back sported blue roofs in a strange offset of the white stone walls and faded red banners. There was no outer wall like the other castle; as his eyes followed a small trench dug just before a bare patch of ground in front of the castle, he saw the remains of a wall in between the old buildings.

What caught his interest, however, was the singular tower far to the right and in the distance. Colored a dull grey, the tower looked to disappear in the haze above. Link was not sure he had seen a structure that tall before, not even they sky kingdom's castle. If, indeed, it reached beyond the haze, he might be able to get a good look at the sky kingdom some time.

If he could find a telescope. There was no way the sky kingdom was that close.

He walked to the library. The people who seemed to wander what little remained of a garden wore robes of earthen colors with the waist held together by rope, each one carrying at least one book. They all appeared to be somewhere within Link's age range: some older, some younger. Adults wore similar robes to the younger people, although theirs were of brighter colors and more elaborate designs. No one took any interest in Link as he walked across the path to the front doors of the castle. He put a hand on lacquered wood, recently refinished by the looks of the doors themselves compared to the battered frames which held them in place. His hand slid down to a brass handle of the door in front of him.

The door then proceeded to bash him in the face.

Link took a moment to realize that the grey haze in front of him was only the sky as seen from the surface world up. His forehead and nose hurt from the impact with the door, and the back of his head felt as if it had taken some pain from the ground beneath him. He sat up, both hands pressing against his forehead as if to hold the pain back. Almost on an afterthought, he released an ungracious, "Ow!"

"Oh, saah!" came the voice of a boy barely older than Link. "I-I'm vehry sohry fah that! I'd no idea anyone was behind the dooh!"

"Maybe if you'd try opening it slower," Link suggested, looking up at the young man.

He wore a brown robe without sleeves or any other decoration from the cord of sky blue around his waist. His thick, brown hair looked to not have been well-groomed in some time. Apologetic eyes of dull grey cringed at the sound of Link's heated voice. He swallowed hard and replied, "O-of couhse, saah."

Link reached around and picked up his cap. "Irleen, are you all right?" he asked as he tugged the cap back over his head. When he did not hear a reply, he asked, "Irleen?"

"I-I'm sohry?" the boy asked.

Link picked himself up and looked around the garden. "Irleen?" he called out. With the exception of a few of the library-goers looking up in confusion, no one responded.

"Did you lose something, saah?"

"Oh, no," Link groaned, starting back towards the town. "Irleen?"

"Saah, y-you wouldn't happen to be… Link, would you?"

Link spun. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Madame Seilon sent me to find you," he replied. "J-just this second, actually. She wanted me to bring you to meet haah."

"In a bit," Link replied. "I've gotta find my friend first."

The boy gave him a confused look. "Youh friend? I'd the assumption you'd traveled alone."

"No. D-I mean, yes, I was supposed to travel alone, but… it-it's complicated. I have to find her right away."

The boy nodded. "What does she look like, saah?"

Link's eyes passed over the garden again. "Uh… small… green… flies."

A little confused, Link's conversation partner scratched his head. "Um… a pet bug, paahaps?"

Link froze before spinning on him again. "What? No! She's a Sorian!"

The boy drew back in fright. "A-a what, saah?"

Link growled in frustration, remembering that no one on the surface had probably ever heard of the Sorians. "She's-she's a, uh… a fairy! A little, green fairy!"

"Oooh," the boy droned. "Well then, I imagine she can't be tehribly hahd to find. But I'm afraid I hadn't notice a fahry fall from youh pehson."

"I must've lost her back at the western platforms. She didn't say anything after we got off the train."

"Shall I come with?"

Link shrugged. "It'll make things easier."

…

The two boys walked to the western platforms within the hour and split up to search along the main body of traffic. Link took the area closer to the cliff while his companion (whose name he still had not heard nor really thought to ask for) searched along the tracks and individual platforms. Link was not sure if calling her name would help, so he resorted to uttering her name every few steps.

This side of Library Town held a lot of peculiarities now that he was able to examine them closely. One booth claimed to sell magic potions, although the one man Link saw trying to take a particularly long drag on supposedly a strength-enhancing potion immediately keeled over and scurried away on all fours whimpering like a wounded animal. Another sold goods in glass bottles, and, for a moment, Link thought someone had captured Irleen and imprisoned her on the back shelf. Fortunately, the fairies the man sold for 50 rupees each were all red. A stall near an awning support halfway down the main platform sold Ropes. Link had just half a moment to retract his neck before realizing that the Ropes resting in the basket were alive, narrowly avoiding having his nose bitten off by a particularly irate red serpent. Similarly aggressive creatures were kept in iron cages up and down the platform, although the presence of broken cages suggested that a few might have escaped.

No one said anything to Link. It did not trouble him because Link was not sure if he wanted to announce that he was trying to find a fairy wandering about the platform somewhere, especially after seeing the booth holding fairies for sale. Not many of them seemed to be in the mood to talk as it was, bustling about trying to take care of the day's business. Link's shoulders never hurt more, having bumped into a number of things trying to avoid people charging past him. Unlike towns in the sky, Link saw no outward signs of militia, the local policing forces of each individual island. Instead, the residents wore some kind of weapon openly (men mostly), often a sword or knife. Children ran about like Link had become used to seeing in Whittleton, although these ones did not wield anything more elaborate than the occasional stick.

"… kàwoot oh. Hook! Hook kool hih 'akuh, tah nolàk hih kahnaach? Pa!"

Although Link's exposure to untranslated Sorian had been brief, he recognized enough of the sounds made by this deep, male voice to identify it after some thought. His hand felt the outside of his trousers, his fingers curiously finding the translating stone where he had left it. If this was the case, why would he be hearing Sorian right now?

Regardless, where audible Sorian was to be heard, Link felt it likely that an actual Sorian might be there as well. The voice was boisterous and carried quite well, so Link took a bit of time locating the source. He eventually found an open area on the edge of the platform not too far from where the Twenty-Seven had settled, which might have explained why Irleen had noticed it while Link had not. A large, circular rug lay at the head of the number 11 platform. There, a man wearing a brown cape and hood sat in the middle, a dark-skinned, bony hand wrapped around a tall, coppery block. Although his face was hidden from direct sight by the shade caused by the hood, Link could see a sharp, prominent nose in the shadow.

Link's eyes passed over the heads of the crowd until he saw a green ball floating near the awning. He stepped under her just as the boy he met earlier drew up beside him. "Psst. Irleen."

"Link," she replied, floating down to him. "Where'd you disappear to? I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Where did I disappear to?" Link asked in a confused tone. "I went to the Library. Where'd you go?"

"I thought I heard someone talking in Sorian, so I came to check it out. It was a little hard to find them until I lost you, so that just made it easier."

Link craned his neck so he could see the hooded speaker through the crowd. "Do you know him?"

"Afraid not. Whoever he is, he isn't a Sorian."

"How can you tell?"

"His dialect's too weird. Nothing sounds right."

"Know what he's saying?"

At this, Irleen sighed. "I've been trying to make out what he's saying. Either he's telling a story, or he's raging against the deities of Hyrule. It would help if his language didn't suck."

Link moved his head around a little. "What about that thing he's holding? It looks like it has Sorian writing on it."

"I think he's mistaken it for a piece of ancient ruins."

"You mean it isn't?" the boy next to Link finally spoke up.

"If anything, it's probably a piece from a failed island. Either it never got off the ground, or it fell. I wouldn't call it 'ancient', though." Irleen's form gave a small jerk as she realized that she was not speaking to Link. She turned and asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I-I'm Cale," he replied.

"Uh, yeah," Link said, scratching the back of his head. "Irleen, uh… Cale. Cale, Irleen. I met him at the Library."

"Oh, deah," Cale said. "Yes, I'm afraid we must retahn soon; Madame Seilon still expects you."

"Who?" Irleen asked.

Link shrugged. "If I had to guess, it's probably Meilont's mother."

"With all haste, saah," Cale implored, using a hand to indicate the central area of town.

Link sighed as Irleen ducked back under his cap; he was slowly getting hungry.

…

Cale led Link through the double doors at the front of the Library. The front area sported narrow passages which might have been passable if not for the bookshelves on either side and the tables in the middle. They turned left just after the entrance, walking among the bookshelves until they reached a door of bare wood. Cale paused before this door to knock.

"Come in," called a female voice from beyond.

Cale opened the door into a stuffy, office-like room. Link was sure he smelled mildew from some source. The wall was lined with a long, wooden desk mounted to the wall. The room's occupants, three men and five women, sat at small stations along the desk, divided by the piles of books between them. One woman, seated on the wall directly in front of the door, looked over her shoulder. "Who is this, Cale?" she asked in a scratchy voice.

"Saah Link, Madame Vean."

"'E's fer me, Ma'am," said another voice in a dialect Link knew for certain to be no one other than a Whittleton resident. His gaze turned as another woman stood. She wore a robe of bright green with the name "Whittleton" sewn into the left breast below embroidery of three leaves. On first look at her face, Link could swear he had just met an older Meilont; this woman had the same bright red hair, albeit cut to about shoulder-length and tied back, and dark eyes behind a pair of circular spectacles sitting on the end of her nose. He was surprised to find that, as she stood, she had the height of Captain Alfonzo as well as his strong presence despite her slenderer form when compared to the captain. "Ma daughter vouched fer 'im. 'E's jus' 'ere ta learn."

Madame Vean gave a nod. "Very well."

She approached both boys and ushered them back out of the office. "Come now, let's ge' yeh taken care of."

But once the office door had closed—

"Hagh!"

"Yah!"

"Huh?"

"Oh, yer jus' the cutes' little fighter I ever seen!"

—Link found a pair of arms cutting off his circulation. Madame Seilon's strength had surprised him when she decided to hug him, pulling his feet off the floor for a moment. The sudden jerk backwards surprised Irleen as well, and she dove out from under Link's cap only to bounce off the back of Cale's head. Cale could only look back on the sight in confusion, feeling his head for that bug he thought he had felt.

When Madame Seilon let go, Link leaned against the nearest bookshelf to catch his breath as she spoke. "Sorry, Link, bu' Meilont asked me ta give yeh tha' when yeh go' 'ere."

"When?" Link rasped.

"Letter came a few minutes ago. Reminded me yeh were comin'. Now, where's tha' little Irleen she told me 'bout?"

"Up here," came the Sorian's response.

Madame Seilon looked up at her and grinned. "Well, o' course. An' she was righ', too; yeh go' yerself turned inna a fairy right."

"It wouldn't have been my first choice," Irleen said, dropping to eye-level.

"No' very convenient, I'd say," Seilon nodded in agreement.

"Was it a cuhse?" Cale asked.

"An accident," Irleen answered in an irritated tone.

"And, in order to correct it," Link said now that he had his breath, "we need to return to the sky kingdom."

Madame Seilon nodded. "An' ta do tha', yeh need ta look fer the Architects, right?"

"Ahchitects?" Cale asked.

"Ship builders," Link said. "The ones who put together the first airships. We know they used to be Royal Engineers before the Royal Family of Hyrule moved into the sky."

"Ooh," Madame Seilon replied, a look of surprise on her face. "Tha' information sure makes a difference. Been tryin' ta find 'istory o' the airship builders when lookin' fer the Royal Engineers would'a been easier."

"Really?" Link asked.

"O' course. In case yeh hadn' noticed, Library Town's a central location on the whole land's railway. There're a number o' records abou' the trains an' such aroun' 'ere."

"This is true," Cale added. "A lot of ouh librahry featuahs many facts and histohries of the railways. If these Ahchitects had anything to do with the trains, we should find them there."

"Come on, then," Madame Seilon said, ushering the boys back down the hallway.

"So, have you found anything concerning the Architects?" Irleen asked, fluttering above Link's head so that she was directly in Madame Seilon's path.

"No' really," Madame Seilon confessed. "An' because I been the only one doin' the research, I didn' ge' much chance ta find anythin' before yeh showed up."

They came to the junction towards the front of the Library, and Cale led them down the center path deeper into the old building. "Madame only infohmed me today," he said.

"I didn' think it'd be such a pain," Madame Seilon replied. "So many books 'ere, an' no' one o' 'em can give a straigh' answer."

The group stepped through a set of doors into a larger room. Shelves here formed individual rows which could easily be navigated. Reading tables, mostly empty at the moment, sat on either side of the door. Link also noticed that this was the only place with enough height to require ladders for the higher shelves.

"Right," Irleen said, starting forward. "How hard could this be?"

"All these books concehn the histohry of trains, famous people in trains, manuals of train opehrations, directohries of trains, train models… you know, stuff like that."

Irleen froze in place. "This… this'll probably take a while, won't it?"

Link craned his neck to get a count of the bookshelves. "Yeah, probably."

Irleen's form dropped a bit as she replied, "Aw, crap…" Link could only sigh in agreement; he had been thinking the same thing.