Chapter Six
Ravio stared up at the giant statue. It had wings like an angel with a serene face. He didn't recognize it, but that wasn't saying much considering the circumstances.
He was a little lost as to what to do. On one hand, interacting with the locals hadn't gone well. He wasn't inclined to follow the giant red-headed man who had run away screaming from him, but on the other hand, there weren't many other options. This statue and the building the man had run to seemed to be the only sign of civilization around.
It was times like this that Ravio cursed himself for not practicing more sensory magic. Then he could just sense where the nearest magic source was and use it to hop back to Lorule. No, instead he had to focus on enchantments. It was helpful. He could make magic bracelets and helpful items, but when lost in another world, what could that do?
And he still needed to find Sheerow. Even if he found a magical source and got the locals to let him use it to world jump (unlikely at this point considering the man's reaction), Ravio refused to world jump without Sheerow.
Ravio just sighed instead, making his way over to the statue to sit down. He was going to have to follow that man eventually, but not without taking a quick break. He'd been hiking for a couple hours without any water. A few minutes before he left to find this 'Granny' the man had yelled for wouldn't hurt.
Unless 'Granny' saw him as a threat. Then this could backfire horribly.
A lump formed in his throat at that thought. He was terrified of the kind of confrontation that could lead to. But he didn't really have a choice. He HAD to get back to Lorule, to try to help save it.
Ravio leaned his head back, breathing deeply while he thought about the situation.
After a moment though, he realized that he could hear something.
Lifting his head up, Ravio concentrated. He almost thought he could hear little…bells? Definitely some sort of twinkling. And maybe a voice?
Slowly, and as quietly as he could, Ravio stood up, following the sound around the large statue. The closer he got, the louder the voices became.
"I still say we go in! They're the only people we've seen so far!"
"And I'm telling you no! That massive thing in the middle? It's putting off a massive amount of time magic! We can't risk getting sucked up in another time."
Someone scoffed, "That's if you're telling the truth."
There was some sort of angry trilling noise, "She is! Ciela would never lie like that!"
"A Spirit of Courage AND Time? It's a little hard to believe."
"I don't know if she's telling the truth about that," someone else jumped in, "But I've been around enough time magic to recognize it. That thing inside there feels like another Gate of Time to me."
"In that case, can't we have Sparkles over here use it to take us back home?"
"I wish I'd never told you that stupid nickname!"
From there the voices degenerated into incomprehensible arguing, talking over one another to the point that you couldn't understand any of them. Every now and then, Ravio thought that he caught a taunting 'Sparkles', but that was it. What exactly was going on here?
He poked his head around the final part of the statue and, had he not been wearing his hood, everyone would've seen his jaw drop.
Floating in the air were six fairies, but not like any fairies he had ever seen. Instead of looking like tiny people, these were tiny balls of light, bobbing up and down in the air in time with either their words or attitude. As they were all still yelling at each other, it was hard to tell what exactly they were keeping in time with.
But the best part was that right next to them flew Sheerow. Now that Ravio saw him, he could make out the excited chirps.
"Sheerow!" he called out, throwing caution to the wind and running straight for his friend.
Sheerow spun around and saw him instantly, the fairies next to him falling silent as the interruption. Ravio didn't care, focused only on his friend as the tiny bird flew straight to him, nuzzling straight into his neck. Ravio cupped him gently, patting his head.
"You're ok!" Ravio almost squealed.
Sheerow chirped back up at him, flying up to flap around his rabbit ears.
"I know, world hopping, right?!"
More chirps.
"Oh the locals are either insane or think I'm insane. You know, the usual."
"Anyone else know what's going on here?" the dark purple fairy whispered to the others.
"I'm guessing they're friends." one of the yellow fairies answered.
"But since when can humans understand animals?"
The other fairy bobbed up and down, giving the impression of shrugging…somehow.
"You know, we could just ask them." the pale blue fairy said.
As if he could hear them, Sheerow suddenly turned to them, bringing Ravio's attention back to the group.
"Hi there!" he called, waving at them, "I'm Ravio, Sheerow's friend. Thanks for watching out for him!"
"Um…anytime?" the red fairy answered.
"He gave me the condensed version of how you met." Ravio kept talking, "I take it you all got lost while world hopping too?"
"Sort of?" the yellow fairy answered again, "It's really complicated."
"Hmm," Ravio said, "Maybe I'd better have Sheerow give me the full details then. No offense, but he's the fastest talker I've ever met and this would be a lot easier if I knew everything."
"Wait, Ravio? Sheerow mentioned you!" the pale blue fairy piped up.
"He did?" one of the other fairies asked.
She bobbed in place of a nod, "It was before we found the rest of you. Sheerow and I told each other the really long version of our stories. Ravio is the friend that he world hopped to Hyrule with!"
"Can I ask for a quick introduction before Sheerow gives me the rundown?"
"Of course! I'm Navi," the pale blue fairy said, "This is Ciela, Leaf, Neri, Tatl, and Tael." She bobbed over each of the fairies in turn as she said their names.
"Wonderful, pleasure to meet you!"
"How exactly do you understand Sheerow?" Neri asked.
"I specialize in enchantment magic. This hood lets me understand all animals." Ravio explained.
"At least that explains the bunny." Tatl scoffed. Tael gently bounced into her.
Sheerow started chirping and the rest of them quickly turned their attention to him in an effort to pay attention to the story telling. Ravio was right, he was a fast talker. Ravio, for his part, interjected once or twice with a clarifying question, but otherwise was able to keep up.
Essentially, Sheerow had woken up in the forest they were in now and flew around until he met Navi. Like she said, they had exchanged stories (although Sheerow gave him the condensed version there) and wandered around looking for anyone else. Then, they found Neri. As a Spirit, she was naturally in tune with her brother and sister and was on her way to find them when she ran into Sheerow and Navi and they'd all decided to travel together. When they did find Leaf and Ciela, they'd also found Tatl. She and Leaf had woken up near each other and Tatl was insistent that they do nothing but find her brother, Tael. Luckily, with all three Spirits together now, they could combine their powers and use sensory magic to locate him. It didn't take long, but it did also let them discover the source of magic located in the nearby Temple, the one Ravio had seen that red haired man run to.
They'd made their way over here after that, once again swapping stories on the way. According to Ciela, she was the Spirit of Courage and Time and had sensed immediately that they were all in and from different time periods. Tatl wasn't inclined to believe her, even with Neri and Leaf vouching for their sister.
They had all snuck into the Temple and discovered massive gears hovering in the center of the room. A lone woman was in there as well, covered in a massive hood and cape. Ciela, sensing the time magic around the gears, immediately made them leave, worried that they might accidentally get lost in yet another time period.
It was a little hard for Ravio to believe. He'd messed up world hopping before, but to get lost in a different time?
Then again, the travel between the worlds had felt very different this time around…
"Out of curiosity, did any of you feel anything before you woke up in this world?" Ravio asked after Sheerow finished talking.
"Yeah!" Neri piped up, "It was like we had gotten tossed into this sea, but it wasn't friendly like the Ocean King's!"
Ravio nodded as the other fairies voiced their agreement.
"I suppose it is possible that that was a form of time travel," he conceded, "World hopping feels very similar. I just thought that it was different because it was redirected to a different world, but if Ciela is right-"
"I am!" she huffed.
"-then I don't know how to get home." Ravio finished dejectedly, "I can maybe get us back to Lorule with a source of magic, but it wouldn't be my Lorule. It would be a Lorule in a different time period than the one I came from, a time parallel to this one."
"That's why we can't ask the Ocean King to bring us home either," Neri replied sadly, "The Ocean King's Realm is like another world. He could open it and bring us home, but not through time."
"Only the Goddess of Time can do things like that," Ciela agreed, "She's very picky about who she grants time magic too. That's why it can't be learned like other magics, and why most time magic is blessed to objects, not living beings."
Her siblings bobbed in agreement.
"Could the Goddess of Time take us home?" Tael asked hopefully.
"Normally, yes, but I can't sense her at all," Ciela said sadly, "Something's happened."
Sheerow chirped and Ravio nodded, "He's right. Whatever happened to the Goddess of Time is probably what let us accidentally time travel."
"Is this really the theory we're going with?" Tatl scoffed, "It seems a little far fetched."
"Do you have a better one?" Leaf snapped at her.
"Just stop fighting already!" Tael yelled, "We all need to get home so let's just stop arguing long enough to do that, please?!"
They fell silent for a long moment, Tatl grumbling a little under her breath before finally agreeing.
"I think our best bet is that Temple then." Neri suggested, "If that is a Gate of Time, maybe we can learn more about what happened. And we'll be careful to not get to close and stuck in another time period." she added when she saw Ciela about to warn against it.
"Good enough for me. I may need to apologize for scaring one of the locals anyway." Ravio said.
"What do you mean?"
"Apparently you can't pay for information in this world," Ravio shook his head sadly as he turned around and started walking towards the temple, "It's a little sad, it was a good deal too."
Link's head hurt.
It didn't just hurt. It was pounding.
It was worse than when Jabu-Jabu swallowed him and he'd been forced to carry Ruto around on his head. It was worse than when he accidentally hit himself with the Megaton hammer in the Fire Temple. It was worse than when he had to use the Eye of Truth through an entire boss fight!
He groaned, clenching his eyes shut.
There was a gasp next to him, "Hailey! He's waking up!"
"Coming!"
"Don't forget the potions!"
Link winced at the yelling. Instantly someone was pressing a cool cloth against his forehead, making calming noises.
A moment later someone was pressing something to his lips. After a second, he recognized the scent, a sharp, pungent one that was like a mix of juice and medicine. Recognizing it as red potion, Link drank eagerly, headache disappearing almost instantly.
He blinked rapidly, chasing the blurry vision away.
"Navi?" he whispered.
"What was that?"
His vision cleared enough and Link found that he was lying in a bed, two red haired girls looking over him with an equal mix of curiosity and concern.
"Who are you?"
"We were going to ask you that." the one on the left said, "But I'm Gale. This is my sister Hailey. We found you outside and brought you in."
'Outside? Outside where?' Link thought, trying to figure it all out. The last thing he remembered was fighting Ganon after the palace collapsed. Zelda and the Sages had sealed him away, but then it had felt like the ground was falling and he was…swimming? Maybe? He must have passed out after that.
Gingerly, Link sat up, feeling his body spasm in pain as he did so. The red potion had helped, but Link was more injured from his fight with Ganon than he had thought. The wounds were closed, but still painful. He could barely move.
"Careful there." Gale said, gently pushing him back onto the bed, "You're hurt. We're making more red potion, but it's hard to find ingredients up here. You'll have to be patient."
"I've never seen someone this hurt before," Hailey whispered, "What were you doing?"
"Fighting Ganon." Link forced out through clenched teeth. Moving around on the bed had caused a wave of pain to wash over him.
The two sisters exchanged a confused look, "I thought his name was Vaati?"
She shrugged, "Maybe he had help?"
"It doesn't matter right now. We can focus on it later." Gale decided, turning back to face him, "Can you tell us who you are? You look like a friend of ours actually, a boy named Link. Are you his brother?"
"W-What?" his brow furrowed, "I am Link."
The two girls exchanged another confused glance.
"Did you go through some sort of growth spurt?" Hailey finally asked, "You're a lot taller than you were two weeks ago when you were here."
"I've never been here before." he said, "I have no clue where I am."
Their eyes widened, wearing the same shocked expressions.
"How is that possible?" Hailey asked.
"He must be another Link, different from the one we know." Gale decided, "It's the only explanation."
"But look at him! They look too similar!"
"Who are you talking about?" Link groaned. His headache was starting to come back and the confusing conversation wasn't helping.
"We're talking about Link, the Hero of the Minish." Hailey huffed, "You have to be related somehow, cousins at the very least!"
Link was shaking his head gently though, "You've got it wrong. I'm the Hero of Time. I don't even know what a Minish is."
"How can someone be the hero of time?" Gale wondered.
"Long story." he groaned, "You've got me mixed up somehow. Look, I need to find the Princess. She can sort this out. I also need to find my fairy, Navi."
Hailey was suddenly biting her lip while Gale looked away uncomfortably.
"What? What is it?" Link turned back and forth between the two as best he could.
"Well…" Gale began, "It's the Princess…"
"What about her?"
"She…was turned to stone." Hailey explained, looking uncomfortable, "Link was supposed to save her from Vaati."
Link felt the breath leave his body.
What exactly had happened?!
Professor: Not exactly my favorite chapter, but at least some progress is being made, right? Sadly, with all the characters I have planned, I won't be able to visit each one in each chapter. But they will all get taken care of at some point, promise!