Chapter Twenty
Zelda shrieked, flying high into the air. The shuffling, bandaged wrapped monster didn't seem to notice.
"Oh gross, gross gross!" she cried out, shaking her arms as if she could shake off the slimy feeling on her skin. Which she didn't actually have and only imagined she felt. She hadn't meant to accidentally walk straight through the mummy, but she hadn't been paying attention when she walked around the corner of the house and next thing she knew, she had gotten an up close and personal view of what a decayed zombie looked like.
She hated it even more than rats.
Zelda shuddered, looking down at the ground from her safe perch in the sky. She had no clue where she was, no idea what had happened, and both Link and her body were missing.
It was like the day Cole had stolen her body all over again.
Her heart fell as she looked around everywhere. Other than the horrifying mummy monsters, there didn't seem to be anything even close to living anywhere nearby and she certainly wasn't going into that creepy house on her own, whether or not the monsters could see her. She didn't know why they were circling around it, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out.
Zelda turned and flew away in the other direction.
There seemed to be some sort of planet, moon, something, in the sky ahead of her and it looked, well not exactly safer, but the town underneath it was certainly less creepy. Maybe this was simply another ploy by Malladus and Cole, but frankly, she didn't care. She and Link would take care of them…once she found him that is.
Zelda flew as quickly as she could, racing away from the terrifying place she had woken up. Soon the bare rock turned into a field, the green grass stretching out happily towards the sun. Zelda immediately felt herself relax. The large field reminded her of the Forest Realm, which had always been her favorite.
She paused as she got closer though. Now that she had a better view, she could tell that it was indeed a moon hovering above the town. However, it had a face? The evil expression stared down at the town as if it couldn't wait to finish falling and flattening it. The entire thing seemed close enough for her to fly up and touch it, but the moon's eyes seemed to be able to stare straight at her, unnerving her.
She hovered in the arm, arms crossed, as she contemplated it. What exactly had Malladus and Cole done?
Faint yelling reached her ears and she turned to look at the ground. Not far away, two people seemed to be fighting, yelling and throwing punches. Zelda rolled her eyes and made her way over to them.
She paused when she got there, taken back by the sight of them. The royal family had legends of the Great Sea and the people who populated it, legends all handed down from when Tetra and the Hero of Wind had left in search of New Hyrule. However, Zelda hadn't ever thought she'd see one of those races for herself, yet it was obvious that the two men in front of her were part of the Rito Tribe. None of them had chosen to make the trip to New Hyrule, choosing to stay with their guardian dragon.
It was also obvious that these two men were not getting along, one of them throwing another punch and the other dodging quickly. The one who dodged pulled out his bow, knocking an arrow quickly. He aimed and let go, but the other man flapped his wings in the perfect moment, creating enough of a breeze to completely whip the arrow into the other direction.
"Hey! Stop it!" Zelda yelled. There was going to be absolutely no murder on her watch! She flew in between them, holding out her arms to try to keep them separate, "Both of you, stop it! Now!"
The first one flew right through her, tacking the other man to the ground. Zelda groaned to herself, "Right…ghost. They can't see me."
The two of them were rolling around on the ground, still yelling at each other. She didn't even try to decipher their words. At least they weren't brandishing weapons at each other anymore. She'd celebrate that small victory.
Zelda rolled her eyes and turned back to contemplating the moon once again.
A moment later she tilted her head, looking at it in confusion.
"Is someone…dancing up there?"
Link officially hated the desert.
And not just this one, but every one.
It was always way too hot and the sand got absolutely everywhere and there was never enough water.
He hated deserts.
Still, he trudged along, following this strange ladder he'd found on the ground. It seemed pointed towards the pyramid in the distance and he'd hoped to find someone there who could help answer his questions.
The thing he hated most about desserts though, was quite possibly the fact that no matter how close or far away something looked, you could never tell exactly how close or far away you were. The heat made everything shimmer in the distance like it was some kind of illusion. Link had been walking for hours at this point, but it didn't seem like he'd come any closer to the pyramid.
He continued on anyway. He didn't have any other ideas of what he could do.
There was a sharp, piercing whistle and Link jumped back, drawing his sword and shield in one fluid motion. A large contraption was barreling its way towards him, seeming to run along the ladder on the ground.
Link moved to the side, standing firm as there was a large squeal, the contraption slowing down as it neared him.
He waited, watching intently, as the machine pulled into a neat stop. There seemed to be different boxes that made up this machine and a man poked his head out from behind the first one now.
"Hey, you alright?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Link called back cautiously.
"What are you doing way out here?" the man asked, looking around in confusion as if the reason would suddenly appear, "Everyone's been really worried about you! They think you disappeared!"
He dropped down to the ground, approaching Link with a small huff, "Come on, drop the weapons! It's me!"
"I…don't think we've ever met." Link said, still holding his weapons at the ready.
The man's face fell, "Link, come on, it's me, Alfonzo, your teacher! We've known each other for years!"
Link shook his head slowly, "Sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else."
"Alfonzo!" a woman called out, opening the door on one of the other boxes, "Why did we stop?!"
She stepped out, another girl following closely behind, and Link's heart nearly stopped.
"Princess Zelda?"
Her gaze landed on him as soon as he spoke, jaw dropping, "L-Link?!"
"I found him!" Alfonzo said, "But he doesn't remember me! And-"
Something seemed to occur to the man and he looked back and forth between Link and Zelda, finally sighing in defeat, "This is the wrong Link, isn't it?"
"I think so." Zelda murmured, still staring at him in amazement, "I-I knew that we'd talked about this possibly happening, but actually seeing it is entirely different."
"I know what you mean." the other girl whispered, also looking at him in surprise, "There are some differences, but they just look so alike."
"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" Link asked, finally lowering his weapons.
"It's…complicated." Zelda said.
"Let's get out of this heat, then we can explain." Alfonzo said, still looking depressed, "You two can fill him in while I keep driving. I can't just leave the train sitting here while we talk."
The other girl nodded, "Thank you Alfonzo."
"Come on." Zelda motioned to the door in one of the boxes and Link immediately took a step back, "I'm sorry, you want me to get in that?"
"It's perfectly safe, I promise." Zelda assured him, "It takes a little getting used to, but it's actually very amazing technology."
Link looked between all of them one more time before he shrugged, finally putting away his weapons, "Well, I've done weirder."
"I'm Medli, by the way." the other girl said as she held the door open for him. Link nodded politely.
Inside the box seemed to be two rows of benches. "What is this thing?"
"It's called a train." Zelda said excitedly, sitting on one of the benches now. Link and Medli sat with her, "Alfonzo told us all about it. It's a machine that people can ride in to get from one place to another, but so much faster than anything else! Days of walking can now be covered in only a couple hours! Like a mine cart that can go over a whole country!"
"Hmmm, could've used that before." Link mumbled to himself.
The train lurched beneath them and Link watched as the landscape started to fly past them outside the window.
"Alfonzo is taking us to a place called the Sand Sanctuary. There's a man there who we were hoping could help us." Zelda was telling him, dragging his attention away from the window.
"Help you with what?"
"It's going to sound hard to believe." Medli whispered, "But we think that we've all traveled in time."
Link groaned, "Seriously, again?"
The two girls exchanged a very confused look.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean 'again'?" Zelda asked.
"I mean I thought I was done with the traveling in time thing." Link huffed, crossing his arms, "First with Hyrule, then with Termina. I was really hoping to be able to finally stay in one time!"
Zelda looked more confused than ever, but Medli gasped, hands flying to her mouth, "Wait-y-you-are you the Hero of Time?!"
"The what?" Zelda asked.
"Yep." Link said, popping the 'P' and smirking, "The one and only. I think. Depends on what timeline we're in. It got weird for a while there."
"We have so many legends about you!" Medli was almost gushing, "The entire Great Sea knows about your heroics, your adventures!"
Link raised an eyebrow, "The Great Sea?"
She nodded quickly, "Yes! In my time, me and my tribe, the Ritos, all live in the Great Sea, along with the remaining humans, hylians, gorons and koroks! I don't think that there's a person anywhere in my time that hasn't heard about all you've done for Hyrule!"
"So, the quiet life never really becomes an option then?" He asked, his tone halfway joking and halfway disappointed.
"You're taking this remarkably well…" Zelda said.
Link shrugged again, "I have a mask that makes tiny birds march around and then grow up. After a while, I just stopped questioning and learned to go along with it."
"I can't tell if that's good or bad."
"Honestly? It's easier to not try to figure it out."
"If you are the Hero of Time though, is there anything you can do to help us get back to our own times?" Medli asked him hopefully.
Link frowned, thinking it over, "I mean, maybe? To tell you the truth, I'm not really in charge of how or when I travel through time. I just know what to do to trigger it and hope that it works. I do know how to slow it down some and to speed it up if needed, but actually moving through time? It's more of a hope and prayer than anything? I just tend to have more luck than the average person."
"I'm confused, what do you mean exactly?" Zelda asked.
"Well the first time wasn't even really by choice. I wasn't old enough so I was basically put in a coma for 7 years until my body grew up. Then it was just more magically going back and forth between two points of my own personal timeline than anything else. The second time it happened, I played a song, more of a prayer of 'please let this work because I'm completely out of ideas', and it sent me back in time to relive the last three days all over again." Link explained. "See, I didn't really have any control over what kind of time travel I used. I just knew what to do to trigger the process and hope it worked out. The Goddess of Time is the one who decided exactly what kind of time travel I would get if I needed any at all. At least, that's how Rauru, Tatl, and Zelda explained it."
He turned to Zelda quickly, shaking his head, "Sorry, not you. My Zelda. Well, not mine exactly, but the one from my time."
"I know what you meant." She chuckled, "As far as we can tell, me and you are both ancestors or descendants of other Zeldas and Links throughout time. It's the only way we can explain the resemblance."
"That makes sense."
"Could the Goddess of Time help us out here?" Medli wondered.
"Maybe." Link stared at the ground thoughtfully, "It depends on why we traveled to this time in the first place. If the goddess is the one who sent us here, then she won't send us home until we finish whatever it was that she needed our help with. If she wasn't the one who sent us here, then someone else is using time magic and we need to figure out who and why…and then possibly stop them."
"You'd be the expert on that." Zelda said, "You know more about time magic than anyone else we've met."
"The man we're going to see, Rael, has supposedly studied it a little and we were hoping he could help." Medli told him.
"To be honest, I'm not really an expert, not compared to the guy who taught me. The thing about time magic is that the best way to learn about it is through experience, but even that can be dangerous."
"What do you mean?"
Link sat up straighter, holding out both of his hands, "Ok, so time travel and time magic are two different things, while being so heavily influenced by the other that people assume they are the same thing."
He raised his left hand, "Over here we have time magic. You can use this to speed time up, slow it down, age someone, pause time, things like that."
He raised his right hand, "Now over here is time travel. This lets you go back to the past or to the future."
"Right, two separate things." Zelda said and Medli nodded.
"But heavily influenced by each other." Link reminded them, "You cannot travel in time without using time magic to do so. By the same token, you can't use time magic without understanding time travel and how it works, in order to fully understand the time spells you are casting and what the ramifications might be."
He put both of his hands together, interlacing his fingers, "Because of how intertwined they are, people always assume that there is no difference between the two, but there is. When people don't fully understand that, they can cause lots of ripple effects throughout any of the possible timelines."
"Any of the possible timelines?" Medli's brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to work it out, but Link just nodded.
"That's the other part about time travel you have to understand. You can travel to the past or the future, but you can't actually change it. Time is fluid, every moment is always changing, but at the same time, it's set in stone. When you travel to another time, you aren't really changing the timeline, you are more creating an alternate reality of what could have happened from that point on. Therefore, both realities are true at once, a time where you time traveled and a time where you didn't."
"My head hurts." Zelda groaned. Link patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"You get used to it."
"That doesn't help."
"Maybe this will," Link suggested, "Picture time as a tree. The timeline you live in is the trunk of the tree and every time you time travel, a new branch pops up. The trunk is still there, so the time you live in is still there, but so is the branch. Both of them live at the same time, even though they belong to the same plant."
"That helps a little." Medli muttered, "Could each branch have its own branch, like a regular tree?"
He nodded, "Yeah. Technically each branch could have an infinite number of branches, depending on how much time travel you do."
"And so every time you use time magic, you could be affecting that branch you are currently in or any of the branches around you." Zelda muttered, slow understanding dawning on her face, "You don't know if it will sprout leaves, a new branch, rot out the current branch, or anything else, unless you understand the tree itself."
"That's it!" Link burst out excitedly, "I have to say, it took me a lot longer to grasp the concept than it took you two."
"I wouldn't say that we've fully grasped it quite yet." she muttered.
"You've got the basics and that's what counts." he smiled, "The main thing is that time magic and time travel always work this way, no matter what branch of time you are in. The only exception I've ever seen to that rule is Termina."
"Termina?"
"Termina. Apparently, based on some sort of universal definition of the word, Termina isn't another timeline, but something called a realm. I'm not quite sure what makes it a realm, but because it is one, then everything works differently. When it comes to realms, you basically throw the rulebook out the window because they have their own rules which are constantly changing. Sometimes they follow the standard rules, sometimes they don't." Link grumbled, staring at the empty seat across from them, "It's a massive headache most of the time. That's how I was able to relive the same three days over and over again in Termina without creating any new timelines."
"Wait, how do realms fit into the metaphor?" Zelda asked.
"They're more like the acorn that fell and sprouted on the ground. Not technically part of the tree, but related to it. However, instead of sprouting a tree, it sprouted a single branch that doesn't follow the rules of nature or the seasons."
"I'm really glad I don't have to use time magic." Medli sighed.
"Me too." Zelda smiled at her before turning back to Link, "How exactly do you know so much about all of this? Was it all just from your own time travel?"
"Some of it." Link said, "You can only time travel so much before you start picking up on things. Rauru, Zelda, and Tatl were able to fill me in on some of it. Most of it was taught to me by a friend in Termina though. He was super creepy, but super knowledgeable. I spent more than a couple of my three day rotations just learning from him about all of this. He never explained how he knew all of it, but that's part of what made him so creepy. He never really talked about himself."
"Well, I'm very grateful that he taught you so much." Medli smiled, "If he hadn't, all of us would be much worse off right now!"
The other two could only nod in agreement, Zelda chuckling a little.
"So, what should we do?" Zelda asked.
"I think we go with Medli's first idea, reach out to the Goddess of Time and see if she can help." Link said, "At the very least, we might be able to figure out if she sent us here or not."
"How exactly do we do that?"
Link reached into his bag, pulling out a blue instrument, "This is the Ocarina of Time. My Zelda gave it to me before I left Hyrule. If I play the Song of Time on it, maybe she'll hear us and help us out?"
"Do you think she will?"
He shrugged, "Won't know until we find out."
Exchanging one last look with all of them, Link put the instrument to his lips and began to play.
Two tall blue figures, fins and gills adorning them, stood on the beach, watching a third figure, tiny and blonde, at their feet. They enhanced an uncertain look.
"Should we do anything?"
"Probably. At the very least we should get them somewhere safer."
"Where though? Should we take her home?"
The other one immediately shook their head, "They're human, they'd never survive the swim back to the Domain."
"Link did."
They sighed, "Need I remind you that not only was Link the hero, but he was also conscious? Have you ever seen an unconscious human survive that trip?"
"Well, what do we do then?"
"There's a house over there. We can take her there and hope they can help her more than we can."
"The Laboratory?"
"Hopefully they have a doctor there."
They reached down and gently picked up the small girl. Her red bandana fell in her face and her blonde hair fell out of its usual bun. Together, the two Zora carried her over to the Lakeside Laboratory.
Link was jerked awake by somebody slamming into him. His head snapped back into the stump that he'd accidentally fallen asleep against and he immediately groaned, pain blossoming and spreading from the impact.
There was an answering groan.
Link opened his eyes slowly, seeing a green blur lying on top of him.
"Ouch."
"Sorry. I didn't see you there." a voice muffled in response. The green blur moved around, lessening the pressure on his ribs. Link rubbed his eyes, the world slowly coming back into focus.
"Woah…" the person who had fallen on him whispered, staring at him in shock.
Link couldn't blame him.
"Perfect timing. I don't suppose you're the Link of this time, are you? I told your Uncle I would keep an eye out for you." Link took it in stride and stood up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes. This was exactly what he needed after his failed search for the Picori! Finally, something seemed to be going his way!
"Excuse me, what?" the other Link sputtered at him. "The Link…of this time?"
"Yeah, long story, I promise I'll explain. But first, I think Link's Uncle mentioned something about a talking hat. Does your hat talk?"
"I…don't think so?" the other Link turned, trying to look at it, before finally whipping it off his head and staring into it intently. "Yeah, no talking here…why would my hat talk again?"
Link sighed in frustration. Ok, maybe not everything was going his way, but at least this was progress! He would be optimistic, he would! He put a smile back on his face and held out a hand, "Like I said, long story. Anyway, I'm Link!"
The other Link looked at him as if he was insane, "That can't be right, I'm Link. Why do you have my name? And why do you look so much like me?"
"Apparently there are a bunch of us." Link said, finally putting his hand down. "People kept treating me like I was the Link of this time, but I honestly wasn't expecting to meet a third Link. That did throw me off guard a bit."
"I'm sorry…what?"
"Long story."
"You're going to have to start explaining eventually! You can't just keep saying 'long story' and assume that's a good answer!"
Link looked at the other Link critically. His tunic was different than the one Link himself wore and his hair was bushier, especially with his bangs. A weird looking bracelet sat on his wrist and the Master Sword was slung on his back. This was definitely a Link, but that gave him more questions than answers.
Ok, time for a new theory. Obviously his old one wasn't working anymore. Not that he had much of a theory to begin with.
He had been fighting Ganondorf. Then he woke up with Hailey and Gale only to then go and meet the Uncle of the Link from this Hyrule. Now there was a third Link standing in front of him, obviously more confused than he was.
It was also obvious that he was in a different Hyrule than the one he knew.
He'd said the phrase 'the Link of this time' for simplicity's sake, but what if it was more true than he thought? What if he hadn't just traveled to a different Hyrule, but also to another time?
"I have an idea." Link said cautiously, waiting to see how the other Link would react. They seemed to be open to listening, if wary of him. "I'm not sure if I'm right, but my best guess is that we are both in another time."
"Another time?" the other Link scoffed, "You really think that's what happened? And what, you are myself from the future?"
"No, obviously not." Link shook his head quickly, "I would remember being you. You don't know who I am so it's obvious that you aren't the future version of me. And you didn't mention anything when I said 'Uncle' earlier, so I don't think you have anything to do with the Link that I've had people telling me about since I got here."
"Then why in the world do you think that we've traveled in time?"
"It's the best idea that makes sense."
"So what, I just fell onto you and now we're time travelers?" He raised an eyebrow.
Link shrugged, "I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but here is some proof if you want it."
He reached behind him, pulling out his own Master Sword and holding it out between them.
The other Link gasped, eagerly pulling out his own sword and holding it parallel to Link's.
"They're completely identical!"
"The Master Sword cannot be duplicated. At all. People have tried, at least, that's what I've been told. They've never come close though." Link said, smiling at the two weapons. "Therefore, the only way for us both to have the Master Sword would be if we had it at two different points in time. It's the only thing that makes sense to me."
"So if we are really in different times, then-"
"Something went really wrong with someone's time spell-"
"And our times are left without us which means-"
"We should really look at how we can get home."
The two Links stared at each other for a long moment before they burst out laughing.
"I know we're supposed to be taking this seriously, but that was perfect!" The other Link clutched his sides.
"Talk about timing!"
"Ok, puns are not allowed!"
"But I clocked it perfectly!"
That sent both of them into another round of laughter.
"I think I'm going to like having another me around." Link joked.
"Why, because someone else can finish your jokes?"
"And read my mind!"
The other Link let out another laugh, "Ok, ok, we have to get back on track! If we really have time traveled, how exactly do we get home?"
"Well I was looking for the Picori, I was told they might be able to help, but I think that's a dead end." Link looked around critically.
"Do you know anyone who has time traveled before?"
"Technically me." Link sighed, "But that's an even longer story."
"Maybe it'll help?" the other Link suggested with a shrug, "Exactly how did you do it before?"
"It was by accident. I played the Oc-" he cut himself off, eyes going wide, "I'm an idiot."
"I'm not disagreeing…but why?"
Link groaned, pulling out the Ocarina of Time, "I played the Song of Time on this, the Ocarina of Time, in order to open the Door of Time so that I could pull the Master Sword out of the Pedestal of Time and it-"
"I'm getting the picture." the other Link assured him, "Lots of things to do with time, but how does that make you an idiot?"
"I never played the Song of Time after I woke up here! I played all the other ones I knew, but not that one!" he burst out.
"Could it send us home?"
"Here's hoping!" Link said excitedly.
"Let's try it then!"
Link lifted the ocarina up and fell into the familiar notes of the song.
Lake Hylia stretched out in front of them, the water almost as blue as the ocean that Link had grown up with. He smiled at the sight. Hyrule was nice, but he felt more comfortable near the water, even if it was just a small lake like this.
"Ready to meet the last spirit?" Rusl asked.
Link nodded, holding on tightly as Rusl walked his horse on the wooden planks that lined the lake. Auru and Ashei followed close behind. The walkways seemed to line a lot of the lake, but also connected random bits of land around the edges. It was like they had popped up and tried to become islands, a thought that made Link laugh.
Ahead of them was a cave, guarded by what looked like large statues of snakes.
"This is the spring of the Light Spirit Lanayru." Auru said, "Many citizens of Hyrule come here to leave prayers."
Link hopped down off of the horse, happy to be back on his own two feet, and pulled out his map. Only two glowing dots were left, practically on top of each other.
"According to Eldin, one of the other time travelers is here too. Or they were."
"Hopefully Lanayru told them to stay here and wait for you." Ashei said, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Link smiled up at her. Ever since he'd met himself at the hidden village, he'd noticed that she'd become warmer towards him. Maybe she trusted him a little more after seeing what happened?
He still wasn't sure how he felt about what happened, having two versions of his memory overlapping each other like that, but every day it got easier. He was still him, just him with extra experience now. He was adjusting.
"Let's go." he led the way into the cave, happy to be so close to getting home.
Lanayru's spring had the same atmosphere as the others, as if the place was sacred. A ledge overlooked the spring itself, the water deeper than any of the other springs. Unlike the other springs that Link had visited, Lanayru was already summoned, leaning forward towards the ledge and speaking to someone there.
Sitting on the ledge, dangling his feet over it, was a tiny boy in a green tunic with bright blond hair. His head was bare, he wore no hat, and his supplies were laying on the ground behind him.
Link felt his heart deflate a little, "Not gonna lie, I was hoping for someone from my time."
The other Link spun around at his voice, eyes lighting up at seeing them. "Hey, you're finally here!"
"You were expecting us?"
The other Link nodded, jumping up to gather his things, "Lanayru told me you were coming." He turned to give the giant glowing snake a wide smile, "They also filled me in on everything that's been happening. I was really confused for the first couple days without her. Thanks again!"
"You are welcome. I enjoyed the company." the snake said, nodding her head towards the tiny Link. Now that he was standing up, Link saw that this other Link was incredibly young. He couldn't be more than 9 or 10 at the most.
"Auru…" Ashei whispered.
"I know."
Link turned to find all three of his friends staring in amazement at Lanayru. "What is it?"
"None of us have ever seen a Light Spirit before." Rusl explained in an awestruck tone, still staring up at Lanayru.
"Most mortals have this reaction. In truth, if you reacted like this less, we would appear more." Lanayru almost sounded resigned. Link smirked. The other spirits were more ethereal. Lanayru seemed to be trying hard not to be.
"So you've just been waiting here for us?" Link asked.
"Kinda?" the other Link said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, first I woke up in this floating city. There were a bunch of bird people there. They called themselves the Oocca and I stayed with them for a couple days. Then they helped me get here and then I met Lanayru. She said that you have a plan to get us home?" the other Link explained before running to his side.
Link's eyes flew wide in a panic and he jumped back before the other Link could get close. That also seemed to shock his friends out of their stupor, Rusl grabbing his shoulders comfortingly.
"Did I do something wrong?" the other Link asked, looking worried.
"N-No, sorry. Just, the last time I met myself…well, it grew painful." Link winced. He'd been stuck in bed for three days waiting for his strength to come back. All they had was healing potions, not stamina potions, so it had been a very slow process and one that he wasn't ready to repeat.
"I know of your concerns, Hero. I can assure you, that will not occur again."
"How do you know that?"
"That was yourself from your own future. This is not. This is a version of your soul from the past."
"So, Impaz was right? Time was just trying to repair itself when they met before?" Ashei asked, glancing at Link. A line appeared between her eyebrows, showing her concern.
"That is correct. Small issues can be repaired on their own. Bigger issues require more help."
Link reached out cautiously, gently poking the other Link's shoulder. The other Link raised an eyebrow, but didn't move. When nothing happened, Link sighed in relief and slung an arm over the other Link's shoulder, "Ok, we're good then. Sorry, nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too!" he smiled, "Out of curiosity, have you guys seen anyone else from my time? Lanayru said no one else from my time landed here, but-"
"But it doesn't hurt to double check." Rusl smiled.
Link shook his head, "Sorry, no one else. I do have a mask though. Ordona gave it to me. Was it yours?"
The other Link shook his head sadly, "No."
"Sorry."
"We're working on getting you both home though." Auru assured him.
"Speaking of which," Link turned to Lanayru, digging in his pocket for the vessel. He held it up, "Would you be able to help? All we need is your blessing and then we can contact the Goddess of Time."
"I would be glad to."
Lanayru glowed brighter for a moment before the flower in his hand began to glow. The final petal unfurled, the full flower in bloom.
The group smiled at it, a pearlescent sheen surrounding the small token.
"What do we do now?" the other Link asked, looking at it curiously.
"Both of you hold onto it and focus on the power held inside. Since you both fell through time, you have the greatest chance of making this work. Focus on the power and on the Goddess of Time. She will hear you." Lanayru explained before fading away.
The group watched her go, the Resistance members looking on sadly as she left so suddenly.
Link turned to his other self, holding out the flower, "Ready?"
He nodded, grabbing part of the stem.
Link turned to the other three, "I don't know what exactly happens next, but just in case, thanks for everything!"
Auru smiled, "We're just glad to be of help."
Rusl and Ashei nodded their agreement and Link turned back to the flower in his hand.
The other Link looked at it, determined. Taking a deep breath, Link closed his eyes, trying to do what Lanayru had said. It wasn't hard to feel the power inside the vessel. Holding onto that feeling, Link whispered, "Goddess of Time…"
At the same moment that the two Links sent their message to the Goddess of Time, holding onto the vessel and focusing on getting their message through, the final notes of the Song of Time echoed, not only around the forest that another two Links stood in, but also in the otherwise silent train car.
All three events occurred at once, reaching out through time, turning into pure magic. Magic that stretched and reached and combined together, weaving its way through the rips in the very fabric of time itself until…
"I…hear you…Heroes."
Someone exhaled, light leaving in their breath. The light met with the magic, once again twisting and turning until it swirled together, leaving back towards the rips in time. It spread out, reaching into all of them.
All at once, everyone who had fallen through time, Heroes and princesses, soldiers and Sages, friends and companions, they all felt a chill. A tugging deep in their chest.
Before they knew it, all of them were falling once again, back through the cold, dark water that had brought them here.
Professor: Ok, I didn't plan on this chapter being so long, but I blame MM Link. He just had to go and get complicated with the time travel and time magic explanations! All his fault, really.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter is going to be everyone finally meeting and introducing the plot! Also, nicknames! Cause I can only type 'Link' and 'the other Link' so many times before I go insane! I've got most of the nicknames figured out by now, but if anyone has any suggestions, please go ahead and include them! If I decide to use them, I promise to give you full credit for it!
Speaking of credit, I would like to once again give out some thanks to two authors, ChangelingRin and Ferngirl!
ChangelingRin's story (Dimensional Links) inspired MM Link's kind of, go with it attitude? Where he says he just stopped questioning things and has done weirder. Their MM Link has the same kind of attitude. I promise that I am not just going to copy and paste the personality they use for MM Link, but it did make me realize, 'Hey, after everything that particular Link has gone through, he really would have stopped asking so many questions and are just going to go along with most things at this point.'
Ferngirl inspired the use of the Ocarina of Time in this chapter. I honestly forgot about it until I went back and reread her story (Shadows of Time). In her story the characters use the ocarina to travel to different time periods and I realized that yes, Link would definitely attempt to do that if he got lost in time like this.
So, thank you both for the inspiration! All credit goes to them!
One last piece of credit, the metaphor that MM Link uses for time travel, the 'picture time as a tree' thing? I actually read a book that used that metaphor to explain a version of alternate realities. The book series was called 'The 13th Reality'. I really liked it and the metaphor and it worked out perfectly to use here. But, I did not come up with it, so full credit to 'The 13th Reality' for that idea!
Thanks again for reading! Have a great day!