Link had been admitted to hospital to get his nose bandaged up a good thirty minutes later, thanks to the slow school system.
The bell rang and Vio walked out of English with Saria, Red, Green and Blue silently, looking at his feet and a hand supporting the bag strap on his shoulder.
"You think Link'll be OK?" Red asked timidly. He had been depressed in that childish sort of way for the last few weeks.
"He'll be fine!" Blue tutted, "This is Link!"
"Yeah." Green nodded, "Remember that rugby game we played in year seven and he broke his leg? He kept on bloody well running! Honestly, it's as if he has multiple hearts or something."
They all looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Ha!" Saria looked over at Vio, "That give you another idea for your book, Vio?"
"I guess."
The other four all looked at each other again, though their reaction was much different from the last. His tone had been downhearted, almost sickened.
"Hey, Vio, you know he'll be fine!" Green patted his brother on the shoulder, "He's strong."
Vio shook his head, "It's not that... Just... I'm trying to imagine how he must feel... Father in the army, hundreds of miles away from here... Mother dead... No home of his own... It's terrible... And it's all this Ganondorf's fault. If it wasn't for him... Link would still be his happy self... Why? Why would anyone do that?"
"Come on, mate!" Blue huffed, "Pull yourself together, bookworm! There's nothing you can do which can-"
"Shut up, Blue!" Vio snapped.
"What did you just say to me?!"
Vio was staring into space, his eyes wide, "Ganondorf... I've heard that name before..."
"Don't tell me to-" Blue was cut off as Saria held a hand in front of him to stop his jabbering.
"He's on to something." Green muttered.
"One of you come with me to the library!" Vio gasped, starting to run.
"Wait! VIO!" Saria shook her head then followed, "You guys go home, I've got this!"
His feet hammered on the old stairs as he thundered up to the library and burst through the door.
"Hey, Miss Maple!?" Vio puffed to the librarian.
"Oh, hello there, Vio!" She turned to him, her witchy-like looks standing out in the light from the windows as she smiled warmly.
"Do you have anything on the Legend of Zelda?" Vio cut to it, desperate for a book to help him with his hypothesis.
"Why yes I do! But why would a studious young fellow like you want a children's bedtime story?"
"It's… Complicated… Where is it?"
"It's through here."
Once he had obtained the book, he sat down and flicked it open, just as Saria entered.
Saria frowned as she approached her friend. Honestly, he was muttering to himself again!
He turned this next page and yelled, "AH!", making Saria give out a little shocked noise.
"What is it?"
"Here!" Vio ran a hand gently across the page and traced the lines of a picture – a triangle, the triangle Link had described from his dreams.
"And?" Saria asked, her brow furrowed.
"'Ganondorf…'" Vio started to mutter the story out loud, "'The evil king of darkness tried to obtain the triforce through force though in doing so ripping the divine power into three shards – power, wisdom and courage-" He turned the page, "The hero clad in green however rose once again and sealed the wrong-doer away in a timeless prison, to be imprisoned for evermore.' But there's more, there's always more!" Vio went to turn over the page only to discover that there was none to turn, "COME ON!"
"Vio," Saria said, almost fearfully, "Vio, that's the end of the book… I know you like to read but-"
"No! No, it's not the end!" He huffed, "Here! The paper which is fastened to the hardback cover is peeling… If I could just-" With a loud ripping noise, Vio had separated the paper from the cover and turned it over, his eyes darting around the page.
"But… That's insane!" Saria gasped.
"No… No not insane…" Vio muttered, "It's… It's the truth… The true legend… I knew there was more – the story can't just end all happily, no! No, because that's not how reality works…."
On the page was a fading copy of a painting, a painting of a family tree.
"This isn't just a family tree, look!" Vio leant in closer, pointing to a father and a son, "They have different last names… Oh…" He sighed, "It's not transfer of genes – it's a transfer of power! The triforce! And look-" He tapped a tiny picture of a blond haired boy, "That's Link – our Link."
"But… but this is just a story! A kid's bedtime story!" Saria laughed nervously.
There was a few moments of silence in which they looked at each other and the gaze which Saria received sent shivers down her spine.
Vio blinked slowly and said in a low tone, "Then why was it in the history section?"