Chapter 13: To Fear Mountain
Wooded area within Zofia
After evading Marla and Hestia as well as finding shelter for the night, Link and Celica cut through the Terrors to get back to the path that leads to the Pegasi stables.
"Why are there so many?!" Link shouts as he cuts down a revenant taking a swing at him.
"I think Marla and Hestia summoned these; in case we were still around!" Celica answers, alternating between slashes and Seraphim spells. "And I'm running low on magic, we need to go-" As she announces, a brown and emaciated hand erupts from the ground and grabs Celica's leg, startling her. The creature's head emerges, wearing what looks like a dark brown featureless mask, and gives a spine tingling shriek, freezing Celica in place. Link notices this and rushes over, decapitating the creature as it emerges and it crumbles into dirt. Within moments, Celica regains control of herself. "What was that?"
"A redead." Link answers as more revenants emerge from the ground, followed by more redeads. Knowing that redead shrieks will leave them vulnerable to the enemy, Link looks over his options as the monsters surround them. "Ok, hold on to me!" Celica grabs on to Link and the latter uses his hookshot on a tree to propel themselves out of the immediate area before the monsters overtake them.
"Ahh!" Celica shouts in alarm at the quick, jerking motion of the hookshots chain.
"Don't worry; I've done this plenty of times!" Link exclaims, assuring Celica as they get back on the ground. "Oh!" Link points to Celica's right arm and she sees a severed Terror hand gripping it and the latter tosses it away in disgust. As the Terrors and redeads shamble over to them, Celica spots sunlight peeking through the clouds.
"Link, over there!" Celica shouts as she leads Link by the hand towards the sunlight. Before they reach it, one of the Terrors jumps on to Link and he shouts in alarm. Seeing this, Celica grabs the both of them and throws themselves onto the sunlight. As they fall to the ground, the Terror drops off of Link; convulsing and shrieking as the sunlight burns it. Celica, for her part, sits Link up and keeps him away from the dying Terror as it succumbs to the damage from the sun. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah." Link answer, feeling his shoulders for any cuts or bites. "They can't take the light."
"Yes. They usually inhabit swamps and mausoleums; but these clouds let them roam." Celica informs before looking up at the sky. "And speak of the devil; we're losing the light. Can you stand?"
"Yeah, come on!" Link states as he and Celica run towards the path as the monsters shamble over to them once again. Along the way, stray Terrors jump out from the bushes in an attempt to grab them and Link swings at them all; also as a means for Celica to not expend any more magic. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally reach the forest limit and the monsters cannot chase them any further as the sun shined outside.
"We're safe." Celica states in relief. "And we're back on the path too."
"Good, I didn't know how much longer we could've gone on with those things." Link adds. "How much longer to the stables?"
"Not long, it's just past that hill. Do you think you can run for a while?"
"Yeah, we just need to pass that hill like you said. Let's go." Link and Celica run off towards the path with the sunlight shining brightly on them. Unbeknownst to either of the two, a Duma Faithful soldier had been watching them from afar and sends a hawk with a note attached to its back towards the opposite direction…
The Pegasi Stables
After a half hour of running, Link and Celica reach a lush green field with a large brown building and an equally large corral. Around the building, several armed and armored people patrolled it.
"Link, welcome to the Pegasi Stables." Celica announces, gesturing to the building.
"Not bad, but where are the Pegasi?" Link asks, looking the area over.
"They're probably still inside; I think the clouds back there had them thinking it would rain. Still, let's speak with the owner." Celica and Link walk down towards the stables where the guards immediately recognize Celica and lead her inside with her guest. Once inside, Link observes all of the interior; several saddles lined up on the walls, along with armor for horses (or rather Pegasi), specialized bridles, horseshoes and many other items for riding. From one of the adjacent rooms, a man in his 30s (black hair in a small ponytail, a rugged beard, a blue shirt that exposes his arms, a black vest, brown pants and black boots) walks out to address the two.
"Your Highness! What an honor to have you visit our fine little establishment. My name's Jack, I run the Pegasi Stables." The man, Jack, amiably greets Celica with a gruff southern accent.
"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Jack." Celica greets with a small curtsy before pulling out a small note. "We were sent by Lady Clair to take one of the Pegasi. Apologies for the mud."
Jack takes the note and reads what he can from it. "Heheh, no worries, Highness; queen or not, this is definitely her handwriting you've shown me. But, who is this Green Boy?"
"Oh, yes." Celica gives a slight chuckle before moving aside to give Link the attention. "The Green Boy would be my associate, Link."
"Nice to meet you, Sir." Link steps up and offers his hand, which Jack shakes.
"Link…Ah, now I remember; you're that guy the Duma Faithful put up that hefty bounty on, Hah! With all that cheese they were offering, I thought you'd be made out of dragon scales!" Jack jovially comments, much to the laughter of his men. For their part, Link and Celica relax at this notion. "Alright then, it says here that y'all need one of our fine Pegasi. Got any ideas as to what you're looking for?"
"Well, we need one that can take us to Fear Mountain."
"Fear Mountain? Heh, tarnation son! What do you need that's all the way over there?"
"We have a friend who, I think, can help us out with our Duma Faithful problem." Celica adds.
"Eh, well who am I to speak on that? Alright, you both come on down and meet the Pegasi before we let them out on the corral." Jack leads the two to the inner stables.
Stables
"Oh wow…" Link exclaims in astonishment; within the stables are over 50 Pegasi anxious to leave towards the corral.
"Well, someone's already picking out his dance partner." Jack states in a playful tone. "You've ridden before, yeah?"
"Uh, kind of; I've ridden horses before, but yesterday was when I first rode a Pegasus. Clair's Pegasus to be exact." Link briefly explained.
"Odette? Huh, you must've been some kinda special to ride the owner's Pegasus! Even I couldn't get that close to Odette."
"But, I thought you were the owner?" Celica asks in slight confusion.
"Nope; I'm the one that runs everything here, but Clair's the actual owner." Jack explained. "Well, down to business; you both need to get to Fear Mountain, so you need a Pegasus with speed, stamina and resilience. Lucky for y'all, we've got a fair few large ones itching to get up and out." Jack leads the two to one end of the stables where the large Pegasi reside. "Well, take your pick."
"Go ahead Link, I think you're better at this than me." Celica nudges Link towards the Pegasi.
"Got it, let me in." Link requests and Jack opens the fence door to allow Link inside with the five large Pegasi. Once inside, one of the Pegasi (dark blue with white patches) immediately walks away from him, clearly not interested. Undeterred, Link approaches the remaining four; first one with a light brown body with a black muzzle, mane and tail that quickly shakes off Link's hand, not wanting to be stroked.
"Yeah, Roughshod and Striker have never been too keen on casual touching, heh." Jack comments briefly.
"Hmm." Link continues with the rest, deciding to go with his gut instinct this time; a white one with black spots, a dark brown one with a hazelnut colored mane and finally a black one with a white stripe on its forehead that goes down its nose. After a moment of intense staring from Link, the black Pegasus makes eye contact with him. With a confident smile, Link makes his choice. "That one."
"Ah, you picked a good one; that there is Zenith. He's one of our best and he's got quite the strength to go on for hours." Jack states in a proud tone.
Hearing this, Link walks up to Zenith and strokes his mane. "I can tell that he's the one for us."
"Mr. Jack, I do believe we've found our steed." Celica declares in satisfaction.
"Heh, I do concur, Highness." Jack states, looking at the interaction between Link and Zenith. "Alright then, let me get his saddle and bridle ready for you both. Hey Link?"
"Yes?"
"Are you good with a bow?"
"I'd think so."
"Good, I'll set you up with one; maybe keep those Duma nutcases at bay."
"Oh, thanks." Link responds with a confident smile.
20 minutes later, out in the corral
"Well, he's ready for the trip." Jack brings out Zenith, wearing a brown leather saddle and bridle. "That saddle is made to seat two people. Don't you worry about burdening him; he weighs a lot more than the both of you combined. So, he should get you to Fear Mountain without much hassle."
"Mr. Jack, thank you so much for providing us with this Pegasus." Celica graciously offers her thanks.
"Yeah, we really owe you one." Link gratefully adds.
"Don't you two worry about it; just make sure you keep him safe." Jack states with a smile.
"Regardless, your kindness will be-" As Celica continues her dialogue, an arrow strikes her left pauldron, throwing her to the ground.
"Celica!" Link shouts in alarm, kneeling to get Celica back on her feet. From the direction of the arrow, Link and Jack spot a group of Duma Faithful soldiers on horseback barreling towards them.
"It's them!" Jack shouts, trying to get Zenith to calm down from the commotion. "Y'all need to go now!"
Getting Celica back up, Link pulls off the arrow and tosses it away as it thankfully had not pierced her skin. "We have to get out of range!"
"Let's go!" Link jumps on Zenith's back, hoists Celica behind him and rides off towards the field. "Hang on!"
"Take care now, y'hear!" Jack shouts before retreating back inside the stables as the Duma Faithful give chase.
Open Field
Link and Celica ride off with the Duma Faithful in hot pursuit, shooting their arrows in an effort to stop them.
"Celica, put my shield on your back!" Link commands, wanting to protect her from the arrows.
Complying, Celica quickly equips the shield before grabbing his waist again. "Why don't we just fly off?!"
"Those arrows are too close; they might hit his wings! We just need to out run them before we can fly!"
"So, what's the plan then?"
"For now; don't get hit!"
"I like that plan!"
As they both ride off to stay ahead of the arrows, the Duma Faithful stay on their heels.
"Remember; Anthiese and the animal are fair game, but don't hit the Hero of Time!" Fallon, Matias' second in command, shouts to the troops. "Understood?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Now then." Fallon blows on a horn and a few riders emerge from the trees to the left and right of Celica, ambushing them as they bind Zenith's neck with ropes, slowing them down and making him neigh in discomfort.
"Hah!" Link shouts, directing Zenith into running faster and the riders are forced to hold on tighter. Celica stretches out her leg at the right rider, stomping at him while Link cuts the ropes with his sword. As the right rope is cut, Celica manages to kick the rider off while he was fruitlessly pulling on it. The left rider tosses the rope and brings out his lance and moves to impale Zenith, but Link manages to grab it and with a strong pull, dismounts the rider and keeps the lance. "Head down!" Link shouts as he and Celica hunker down and he leaves the lance on a tree that they pass; for one of the riders to collide with it and then be thrown off of his horse while the others zip past him. "Hah! That got him!"
Celica looks back and gasps. "Link, you might want to look at this…"
"What?" Link looks back for a moment to see Fallon's riders still behind them…with Marla and Hestia zooming past them.
"Hello." Marla greets with a devious grin.
"Oh…" Link states in slight fear at seeing them again. "Zenith!" Link clicks his heels on Zenith's sides, commanding him to pick up the pace. "Celica, hang on!"
"Right!" Celica tightens her grip as they run past the now wooded area.
"Heheheheh…" Marla and Hestia giggle as they break away from the pair and begin slicing the trees ahead, with the intent of getting them dismounted.
"Look out!" Celica shouts, using an Excalibur spell to slice up a tree that was about to fall on them. "I still have some magic left!"
"Good, just use it to keep them at bay!" Link states. "I'll handle the soldiers!"
"Got it!"
As they ride off with the Duma Faithful still behind them, Marla and Hestia surround themselves with purple magic orbs and launch them at the two, damaging trees in the process.
"This is insane!" Link shouts as he tries to avoid the orbs. Several arrows pass them and one manages to strike Zenith on his hind and he neighs in pain. "Zenith!"
"It's ok, I've got him!" Celica pulls out the arrow and uses her magic to heal Zenith's wound. "We better hurry before I run out!"
"Any ideas?"
Celica looks at the sisters gearing up for another round of orbs and a thought crosses her mind; she launches a Sagittae spell, overloading the orbs around Marla and detonating them, making her tumble to the ground. "One down!"
"Good work, we're getting some distance now!"
The Duma Faithful continue their onslaught of arrows and Celica decides to take a page out of the sisters plan; using Excalibur to cut the nearby trees to slow them down. "It's working!"
"Wait, where's Hestia?" Link inquires and at that moment, a crow swoops down and turns back into Hestia, now ahead of Zenith. Before they can do anything, Hestia shoots dark magic by Zenith's legs, startling him into running frantically. "Deal with this, Celica!"
"I'm on it- ahh!" Before Celica can retaliate, she's struck from behind by a recovered Marla's spell and she slips off of the saddle. Before she hits the ground, Link manages to grab her hand and immediately hoist her back up before she hits a tree nearby.
"Are you ok?!"
"Your shield got most of it, it still hurts though." Celica rubs her shoulder in discomfort. "I have an idea; nock an arrow."
Link does as he's told and quickly arms himself as Hestia prepares more spells. Once ready, Celica grips the arrow and imbues Seraphim on it and Link lets it loose, heavily damaging Hestia with holy magic before Zenith runs into her and sends her flying. Deciding to take a leap of faith, Celica wells up magic within herself and releases it as a large Excalibur spell around themselves, catching Marla and several more trees in it to slow the Duma Faithful significantly.
"Alright, Celica; this is it!" Link shouts and Celica immediately braces herself; whistling, Link commands Zenith to spread his wings and at long last take to the sky. As Link hollers in triumph, Celica screams briefly as she has never ridden a Pegasus before. Moments later, the Duma Faithful arrive too late as Zenith is already in the sky.
"NO, NO!" Fallon shouts in anger and frustration while the soldiers stare in rage.
"Oh no, you won't get away that easily, darling…" Marla arrives along with Hestia, angrily glaring at the Pegasus as it disappears from sight. The sisters bring their arms up and begin chanting quietly; forming a massive thunderstorm that reaches far…
Skies above Valentia
Leaving the ground behind, Link and Celica soar high in the clouds as Zenith proudly neighs.
"How are you feeling?" Link asks, clearly ecstatic to be high up again.
"Uh, I need a minute." Celica answers in a shaky voice.
"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. Anyway, how far are we from Fear Mountain?"
Clearing her throat, Celica explains. "Alright, Fear Mountain is far to the northeast of Valentia; but with our Pegasus, we should reach it within an hour."
As they fly towards the northeast, the storm clouds form quickly and they are pelted by rain.
"Seriously?" Link exclaims in annoyance.
"This is no simple storm; I can sense magic in it!" Celica explains. "Watch out!"
Heeding her words, Link immediately veers Zenith to the left as some creature zips past them. Now cautious, Link decides to pick up the pace and Celica conjures a fire ball that circles above to give them some light among the dark clouds. Once more, another creature zips past them and Link could see that it resembled a large bat. Eventually, they hear screeches among the thunder and one of the sources floats in front of them; a pale green-gray creature with bat like wings, a reptilian tail, white eyes, pale brown horns facing forward on its head and a scythe grasped in its legs. The creature screeches before swinging at Link with its scythe and the latter deflects it with his sword before thrusting at its chest, killing it.
"What was that thing?!"
"That was a gargoyle!" Celica explains and thunder strikes, illuminating the sky for a moment and revealing many gargoyles flying around. "Oh no…"
"That's way too much…Zenith!" Alarmed, Link orders his steed to fly faster as the gargoyles give chase, swinging their scythes wildly. "Celica, hold the reigns!" Complying, Celica reaches past Link and grabs the reigns while Link draws his bow, aiming at the incoming gargoyles and shooting them down. Eventually, one of the gargoyles clings on to Zenith and in retaliation, Celica stabs it through the head before throwing its body off. Link puts away the bow and draws his sword as well while the gargoyles manage to get in close and he slashes at the monsters and Zenith neighs in panic.
"Link, I think this is the last bit of my magic; I'll get us out of this trap!" Celica wells magic within herself again before spreading her arms out. "SAGITTAE!" Many magic arrows fly out of Celica's palms and they home in on the gargoyles and they begin dropping like flies.
"You did it!" Link shouts in triumph.
"That was it though, I was right- ahh!" From behind Celica, a pair of gargoyles swoop down and pluck her from the saddle and take her higher.
"CELICA!" Link shouts in alarm before giving chase, warding off stray gargoyles with his sword. Above them, Celica struggles to get loose from the gargoyles talons, though finds herself exhausted from the magic use. Thinking quick and dodging the monsters, Link nocks an arrow and has it strike one of the gargoyles holding Celica. Now partially freed, Celica pulls out her rapier and stabs the other gargoyle through its head. Now in free fall, Celica holds her right hand out and Link reaches out, catches and places Celica behind him again. "Are you ok?"
"Let's not do that again…" Celica, breathing a sigh of relief, responds to Link. As the three fly back to their direction, a gargoyle swoops down and gives chase. Now annoyed, Zenith looks back with an angry snort and kicks the gargoyle away with his hind legs. "Good boy…"
The remaining gargoyles converge on the three and before they can attack, a peculiar roar echoes around them. While Link and Celica look around, the gargoyles squeal before flying away in fear.
"What was that?" Link quietly asks.
"I don't know." Celica answers, looking around. Eventually they hear a high pitched roar that pierced through all other sounds, followed by the sounds of large wings flapping vigorously. After a tense moment, a stream of purple, smog-like fire nearly hits Zenith and he stops abruptly, flying in place. The sound of flapping wings reverberates around the sky as a roar that sounded like the hoarse screaming of a fox in the dead of night; dry, high-pitched and cracking. The creature finally comes into view; a massive dragon with a sickly green body and yellow underbelly, parts of its body are missing and exposing muscles and bones, ragged and torn wings and sunken in black eyes. The dragon once again roars in hoarse and dry sound, cutting out like an engine in its final moments.
"How do we fight that thing?!" Link shouts in alarm.
"That's a necro-dragon; fly, FLY!" Celica commands, realizing that this is an enemy they cannot defeat. Complying, Link orders Zenith to keep flying as the necro-dragon gives chase, spitting its purple flames intermittently at the three. The flames make them deviate from the path and they just miss getting bitten by the necro-dragon as it catches up to them.
"Celica, I can't shake this thing!"
"You won't have to for much longer, look!" Celica points ahead towards a giant mountain range past the rain. "There's Fear Mountain!"
Their relief is cut short as the necro-dragon spits another stream of purple flames, hitting Zenith on his left side. Neighing in pain and distress, Zenith tries to steady himself as Link and Celica try to steer him towards the mountain where he can land safely.
"I know it hurts, boy. But we're going to get through this!" Link states, trying his best to get Zenith to concentrate.
"Over there; there's a path by the Abode!" Celica adds and Link directs Zenith towards said path. After a tense moment of shaky flight, Zenith touches down on the path but finds that he can't stop himself. Finally, exhaustion and pain wins out as Zenith collapses, throwing both of his riders off onto the path. Shakily, Link and Celica get up off the ground and return to the injured Zenith. Breathing heavily, Zenith looks up to them with a pained expression.
"I'm sorry, boy. We put you through a lot to get us here." Link remorsefully states.
"We'll get you help, you're going to be fine." Celica adds, stroking Zenith's mane gently.
From behind them, the necro-dragon crashes down on the path, roaring at the two. With absolutely nowhere to run or hide, Link and Celica draw their swords and face the undead beast. The necro-dragon starts by lunging at the pair with a bite and they dodge it while Link slashes at its throat, not slowing it down at all due to it being a revenant.
"Link, without Seraphim, we'll need to cut through to its heart; that's what keeps it moving!" Celica instructs, dodging the necro-dragons winged claws.
"Got it! I'll think of a better idea!" Link brings up his shield and blocks the purple flames, strangely feeling cold instead of hot. Looking up, Link spots a part of the rocks sticking out near the necro-dragons head. "Celica, I have a plan; distract it first!"
"Understood!" Celica moves in as Link tosses his bow at her and she shoots several arrows at its chest, catching its attention. Quickly, Link climbs up the protruding rock and shoots his hookshot at the necro-dragons neck, piercing it. Alerted, the necro-dragon begins spitting flames and Link jumps over the opposite side of the rock, pulling the creature with him. Landing on the ground, Link calls Celica over to him and they both pull the chain, eventually smashing the necro-dragons head on the rock and dazing it. Retracting the hookshot, Link and Celica run over to the monster and slash at its chest, cutting away rotten chunks of flesh in an effort to reach its heart. Soon, the necro-dragon regains consciousness and blows them back with its wings. Angered, the necro-dragon rams into the rock, crushing it before rushing at the two with the intent of biting them.
"Ok, I think I have my own idea!" Celica rushes the necro-dragon, waits for it to bite down and stabs it through the jaws, keeping it shut. The necro-dragon struggles to get loose while Celica does her best to keep it down. "Your move!"
"Right!" Deciding to just wing it, Link extends the hookshots chain and wraps it around the necro-dragons neck before jumping on its back. The beast finally releases itself from Celica's grasp and begins shaking to get Link off of its back. Still holding the chain, Link runs onto its head, jumps down and pulls the chain, slamming the necro-dragons head onto the ground. Once again stunned, the necro-dragon remains motionless as Link leaves a vertical laceration on its chest and Celica follows up with her own, leaving part of its chest hung open. Quickly, Link fires the hookshot at the chest and with Celica's aid, they tear off that portion of it, finally exposing the necro-dragons rotted heart. The necro-dragon recomposes itself again and immediately seizes Link in its jaws and the latter holds its mouth open.
"Hang on!" Celica quickly picks up Link's dropped sword along with her own rapier and begins hacking at the exposed heart. Reeling from the damage, the necro-dragon briefly loosens its bite and Link hits it with his shield as he jumps out. The monster immediately lunges at him again and Link uses the hookshot to hold its head back while Celica continues slashing at the heart. With a final, double slash, Celica severs the heart and the necro-dragon starts convulsing, spewing purple flames from its mouth and orifices in its last moments before collapsing onto the ground with a death rattle. Breathing heavily, Celica sheathes her rapier and hands Link his own after he jumps back down. "It's done."
"You did great." Link takes his sword back and lightly pats Celica's shoulder. Returning back to Zenith, they manage to get him back to his feet and they slowly lead him towards the Abode. Not even five feet away from their starting point, a large group of Terrors emerge from the rocks and crevices surrounding the area and close in on the three. Link draws his sword while Celica attempts to calm a panicking Zenith and before anyone can do anything, several lightning bolts hit the Terrors along with blade-like gusts of wind tear them apart almost instantly, leaving the three alone. "Oh, looks like you still have some magic after all, thankfully." Link states with a sigh of relief.
"Link…that wasn't me." Celica answers before they both hear what appears to be heels clacking on the path. Though tense, they allow whoever it is to approach them and make their intentions known. After a moment, their person comes into view; a woman wearing a red and black sleeveless dress, black gloves with matching thigh high stockings, black high-heeled boots, a dark red cape passing her hips, blue diamond shaped earrings, a gold band with a turquoise eye ornament that covers her hairline, fair skin, long purple hair that reaches past her back and matching eyes and a red umbrella to keep her dry from the rain. Though Link is cautious of this stranger, Celica lowers her sword and smiles.
"Why have you come to my mountain?" The woman asks, clearly annoyed by this ruckus, before facing Celica with a surprised expression. "Wait…is that you?"
"Sonya!" Celica beams ecstatically as she walks over to greet her old friend. "I've missed you."
"Celica? What are you doing here?" Sonya asks, now at ease with who has actually arrived. "You were in this storm with that necro-dragon?"
"I'd hoped you could help us?"
"And who is us?" Sonya looks past Celica and raises an eyebrow at Link next to a still injured Zenith. "Ah. Well, come on inside." Sonya gestures over towards the path leading to the Abode while Celica walks next to her. Link, for his part, leads Zenith up the path as well.
Sonya's Abode
Entering the Abode, which resembled a giant mansion from outside, Sonya and her guests dry themselves off from the rain (with Zenith shaking himself vigorously before lying down next to the fireplace close by). Leaving the foyer, the three quietly enter the large dining room where Sonya had tea prepared earlier. They all take a seat before Sonya speaks up.
"Well, to what do I owe this unannounced visit?" Sonya sits with her legs crossed, tapping the table with her left hand. "You disturbed my reading."
"First of all, I am sorry for coming by like this, Sonya." Celica states. "But we really need your help."
"With what exactly?"
"There is a lot, but I'll try to be as brief as I can." With that, Celica explained all that had happened these past few days since Link's arrival. At first, Sonya nods dismissively at her account, but hearing about the existence of another world and that Alm was sent there in Link's place, her curiosity is peaked. As the account continues, Sonya serves the tea to Celica and Link, revealed to be made with mana herbs to restore magic to spellcasters, taking a small glance at Link's left hand after understanding what he holds. After an hour of explanation, Celica ends her speech.
"Hmm, well you have been on quite the adventure as of late. Even the Duma Faithful want to get their hands on you."
"Yes. We need to get Link back to his own world to prevent them from reviving Duma. Sonya, if anyone knows about these types of magic's, it's you. Will you help us?" Celica asks in a pleading tone.
After a moment of staring at the two, Sonya stands up from her seat. "First of all, you both can sleep in the spare room tonight; your Pegasus needs rest and I'll heal his wounds. Second, the bathhouse is yours to use, but go in one at a time please. Third, I can offer you both food in the morning to leave with energy."
"Sonya, we both appreciate your hospitality. I'm happy to hear that you can help us." Celica responds in gratitude
"No." Sonya immediately answers as she walks away, leaving Link and Celica perplexed.
"N-no?"
"No, what?" Link speaks up.
"I'm very sorry, Celica; but I can't help you." Sonya leaves before closing the door behind her slowly. Before Celica can protest, Link immediately stands up and runs for the door.
"Wait!" Link pulls the door open and unintentionally brings Sonya inside as she was still holding the handle.
"Oh!" Sonya exclaims in shock as Link catches her before she falls, giving him a dirty look.
"S-sorry…" Link props her back up before speaking again. "But, what do you mean you can't help us?"
"That type of magic is out of my range. Messing with dimensions is not something I would do, anyway."
"But Sonya, you've studied magic ceaselessly after you took up residence in Nuibaba's Abode. Surely, you can find some method." Celica states.
"Please, we've travelled so far for you to tell us that there's nothing you can do." Link adds in a supplicating tone.
"And who told you that I would do anything of the sort? If I did have some way to do this, what if it didn't turn out the way you wanted it? What if you end up making things worse? What if you only find disappointment?"
"What if? Sonya, that sounds nothing like you; you've never let some fear of magic stop you before." Celica retorts, surprised by Sonya's reluctance. "Where did this come from?" Unwilling to answer, Sonya simply turns away. "Wait. Sonya; have you found a way to restore Witches back?"
"…Celica, life is full of disappointments. If I couldn't do this one thing that I've been trying for two years, then what hope do I have for this kind of thing?" Sonya states, clearly bitter about her failure.
"So, that's it? You're just going to give up?" Link protests, ignoring Celica's hand restraining him. "You have people that need you now and you're not even going to lift a finger to help, at the very least try?"
"Don't talk like you know what you're saying…"
"Celica spoke highly of you and I was anxious to meet this great mage she fought alongside with years ago. She needs your help to bring Alm back home and send me back to my land. Why won't you do this for her?"
"I will speak no more on the subject; you have the use of my Abode for tonight and nothing more." Sonya declares before leaving the room once again, closing the door with a resounding thud. Winding down from the discussion, Link sits back down at the table, leaning his head on his palms in resignation.
"Now what…?"
"Link, please don't hold it against her." Celica pleads, placing her empty tea cup on the table. "She's not usually like this. She may be a bit of a hard person to talk to, but she has a good heart. I don't really know what caused this jaded mindset of her's, but I have a hunch; she did tell me that she was looking for a way to restore Witches, but I don't think she succeeded. It's been two years now."
"I get that, but she's just going to give up? I would've kept on going." Link retorts.
"Not everyone thinks like you, Link."
"Right…"
"There is one more person we could try. His name is Halcyon; the previous High Priest of the Duma Faithful."
"Can he be trusted?" Link asks, suspicious of the facts Celica gave him.
"Yes. He has no connections to the Duma Faithful anymore, he also raised Conrad after he escaped from the villa all those years ago. His residence, the Sage's Hamlet, is actually not too far from here and we can reach it in the morning."
After pondering for a moment, Link, true to his own beliefs, decides to take her up on that offer; unwilling to give up on finding a way to fix all of this.
Later that night
Taking Sonya's offer, Link and Celica had occupied the spare room, Zenith had been tended to and they had separately bathed themselves; Link had been the last one to enter the bathhouse. Upon returning to the room, Link (in a white shirt and grey pants offered by Sonya) had found Celica (in a white nightgown also offered by Sonya) asleep in her own bed on the right of the room and he slowly walked in. Upon further inspection, Celica had been clutching Alm's pendant in her right hand and even had dried tears on her face; she had clearly been thinking about Alm as she fell asleep, no doubt that he still feels so far away once more. Gently, Link brings the covers up to give Celica some more warmth before sitting down on the bed to the left of the room, looking at the Ocarina of Time he placed on a nearby desk. Despite the situation, he still resolved to never falter; this will all end. He just hopes that someone is really waiting for him to come home…
To be continued.
Author's Note: Well, the search continues. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and am glad that I finally got it down after hinting at Sonya all the way back in chapter 3. Don't worry, despite what I gave you just now, she'll have a bigger role later on in the story. Alright guys/girls, take care.