Chapter Nine

Ravio took a deep breath before reaching out and knocking on the large stone door of the Temple. His knuckles stung at the contact, but he ignored it, hoping that someone on the other side heard it.

He and the others stood there for a long minute, awkwardly waiting for any sort of response. When there was none, he reached forward to knock again, this time as loud as he could.

The door scraped open after his second knock, revealing an older woman, covered in what looked like a large red tent, the point taller than even Ravio's hood. Behind her, Ravio could see the red-headed man from before, in a defensive stance with a large tree branch held at the ready.

"Really?" Tatl scoffed, "That's your big plan?"

"Tatl!" her brother scolded.

"What? It's a branch! What's he going to do with that? We'd fly out of the way!"

"Pardon them!" Ravio jumped in, "We're new here!"

"I can see that." the lady said cooly, "You seem to have scared my friend here."

"My apologies." Ravio blushed, not that anyone could see it, "We're in a unique situation and I was hoping to just ask some questions."

"Don't believe him, Granny!" the man burst out, "He's lying!"

"Why would he lie?" Navi huffed.

"I don't know! Maybe to get to the Gate! Or the Triforce! Or-"

"Shut it!" the old lady, Granny, snapped at him, "Are you going to yell out every possible secret we have?!"

The man sputtered at her, looking like a very strange fish.

"We don't want anything to do with the Triforce." Navi assured them and Ravio nodded along with her.

Granny looked at them suspiciously, "How do you know what the Triforce is?"

"It's…complicated." Ciela answered, "Actually, if you know what that Gate is, then it might make more sense."

She looked over her shoulder, providing Ravio a look as well, at the giant gears spinning in the air. They were covered in blue symbols, some that looked a little familiar from his time in Hyrule.

"What are you getting at?"

"It's a little hard to believe," Ravio told her as gently as he possibly could, "But we think that that Gate might be able to take us home."

Granny immediately shook her head, "That's not possible. I'm sorry, but we won't be able to help you."

She began to shut the door and panic rose in his throat. Before Ravio knew what he was doing, he shoved himself against it, trying to either keep it open or throw himself into the room, he didn't know.

Granny let him, letting go of the door so that when he threw his weight against it, it fell open and he face planted onto the ground. Ravio groaned.

Granny snorted at him, "If this is an attack, you certainly haven't planned it very well."

"This isn't an attack!" Neri burst out, flying in front of her. The other fairies bobbed in agreement with her statement. "We came here looking for help! We just want to get home!"

"Even if I did believe you, I was telling the truth. That Gate can't get you home. I'm sorry, but we can't help you."

"Yes you can!" Ciela yelled, obviously frustrated. Ravio sat up, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, well how'd we do that then?!" the man yelled at her.

"That's a Gate of Time! We want to see if we can use it to get back to our own times!"

"Your own times?" Granny said in disbelief, "You'll need a better cover than that."

"It's not a cover!" she insisted, "I'm a spirit, same as my siblings! I have power over Courage and Time! I can sense all the time magic in this place!"

That got more of a reaction from Granny than anything else yet. She gasped, stepping back and her hand went to her hip where Ravio could see a small dagger resting, "How do you know all that?!"

"I told you! I'm the spirit of Courage and Time!"

"That's not possible!"

"It is!" Navi insisted, "I can sense it too!"

"You're a spirit of time as well?"

"No!" Navi trilled. "But I spent a lot of time with Link in the Temple of Time! I learned what time magic feels like!"

"Woah," Tatl burst out, "You never said you were with Link!"

"Didn't I?"

Sheerow chirped.

"I thought I had told more than you though…" the fairy murmured.

"Definitely not!" Leaf said, "We would've remembered, we were with Link too!"

"Ok, now that's the impossible thing!"

"Yeah, cause we were with Link!" Tael yelled.

The red-headed man stomped his foot, "Look, I don't care which of you guys were with that loser! Unless he comes here and vouches for you, we aren't believing anything you say!"

"You know Link too?!" the fairies all burst out simultaneously.

Ravio tilted his head thoughtfully, "Wow, Mr. Hero really gets around, doesn't he?"

Ciela let out a loud ringing sound, getting everyone's attention as they started to talk over one another, "Wait, stop! Guys, we're forgetting, we're from different times! We all just probably met Link at different times!"

"Oh please," the man scoffed, "I think that wimp would've definitely said something if he'd ever traveled with talking fairies."

"Ignoring the insult." Navi huffed, "I have to agree. Link had never had a fairy companion before me. The Great Deku Tree told me so."

"Well, my Link said he was looking for his fairy friend." Tatl said thoughtfully, "But he never said their name."

"You probably met him after Navi then." Ciela said.

"Then after he left both of you, he found us!" Neri squealed excitedly, obviously happy with the explanation.

Sheerow chirped and Ravio nodded along with his friend, "That's right, Mr. Hero never mentioned a fairy to us either."

"Plus our times are too far apart for it to be the same Link," Ciela put in, "I may not know exactly when we are, but I know that it is centuries away from our own time. There's no way it could be the same Link."

"So someone with the same name as him?"

Granny looked back and forth between all of them for a long moment, obviously thinking something over.

Ravio sighed, "Look, is there anything we can do to make you believe us?"

"Nope!" the man said instantly, raising his branch again, "Now head out! We got our own problems!"

"No." Granny said harshly, "They're staying now."

Everyone looked at her in confusion, the man sputtering at her. She turned to look directly at him, "In case you had forgotten, we are missing both Link and Zelda. They never came back with you and frankly, I can't remember anything after the final fight."

Looking back at Ravio and the fairies, she said, "Is there anything you can do to prove you're trustworthy?"

"I can freeze pockets of time?" Ciela suggested. Granny looked unsure and Ravio didn't blame her. An ability didn't necessarily mean trustworthiness.

Sheerow chirped loudly, bashing himself gently into the ears of Ravio's hood. Ravio batted him away, "Not happening!"

"What does he mean, 'show them'?" Neri asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, he means nothing." Ravio answered, still trying to shoo Sheerow away. The bird easily dodged his hands, chirping again.

"He says that it'll make everyone trust you." Leaf said.

"Well, he's wrong! It'll just give everyone the wrong impression."

Sheerow let out another quick chirp, cut off by Ravio finally catching him, shoving the bird into one of his many pockets. He normally slept there anyway, but Ravio kept the pocket shut so that he couldn't get out. Sheerow's chirps came out very muffled, impossible to translate.

"Ravio!" Tatl yelled, "We aren't going to let you get away with not showing us!"

The man took a step forward, branch raised threateningly, "Come on Rabbit, what are you hiding?"

"Put that down before you lop off your own ridiculous hairdo." Granny snapped at him before looking at Ravio again, "I'm afraid that hiding whatever this is, isn't going to make us trust you. Your only choice is to show us, or I won't be helping you at all."

Ravio groaned. He hadn't even told Mr. Hero yet! Stupid Sheerow, not thinking things through!

But they needed to get home. That need outweighed anything else. Even he could admit that.

Ravio sighed and slowly reached up to push his hood back. Everyone around him gasped again.

"What the-!" the man yelled out, tripping and falling backwards in his attempt to get away.

"How is this possible?" Navi whispered, flying close to his face to get a better look.

Sheerow flew out of his pockets, flying around his head and chirping out an excited explanation so quickly that no one other than Ravio could follow him.

"I said I was from Lorule." Ravio muttered, "It's a parallel world, a parallel of Hyrule. I'm the 'Link' from Lorule."

"Why didn't you say anything before?!" Tael burst out.

"Look, I'm not exactly a hero. I couldn't stop Yuga back home, I was too afraid, so I went to Hyrule to look for a real hero to save both worlds." Ravio answered quietly, watching the ground intently, "That's how I met Hyrule's Link."

"Well, this changes things." Granny smiled softly, "I think you've earned enough trust to at least afford a proper explanation. If you are a version of Link, then I'm willing to go on a little faith."

"You can't be serious!" the man burst out, "Come on Granny, this has got to be a trick of some sort!"

"I'm not discounting that," she said patiently, "but I can't ignore this development either. Once again, our Link and Zelda are missing. Even worse, they disappeared by going through that very Gate. If these people are telling the truth and got lost between times, that may have been what happened to them. For all we know, the Gate is what caused this to happen. Personally, I'd like some more information before we decide anything."

He grumbled, obviously unhappy with the answer, but unable to overrule her.

"Let's go sit down then. Tell me everything, please." Granny continued.

Navi bobbed, nodding as best a fairy could, and launched into her tale first.

Shad crouched, looking around the corner of the stone wall. If he was right, the castle should be just up ahead, but based on what he had seen already, he didn't have a lot of hope for the sight.

He was still terribly confused by everything that had happened, and scared out of his wits by the appearance of the two witches, but he was still loyal to the crown and to Zelda. They had held a statue of her and he at least had to get some more data on that situation, even if he couldn't help her himself. Anything he could take back to Link for the rescue mission would be helpful. Shad always operated under the impression that more information was better.

With a goal in mind, he was able to recover from his panic attack at the cliff base. From there, he began the long walk to the castle, cataloging everything in his head and analyzing it on the way.

His best guess was that he had fallen into one of Ganondorf's teleportation spells, maybe a trap, meant to stop any invaders in the castle. That would explain how he ended up so far away so quickly.

That theory quickly crumbled when Shad made it to Castle Town.

It was no longer the fun, lively place he once loved. People weren't swarming through the streets filled with vendors and children didn't run around, chasing the cats that crept through the streets. The entire place was even smaller than he remembered, which didn't seem possible.

The place wasn't empty, but it was as dead as a location could possibly be. Redeads shuffled down the streets instead of people. The shops were empty, boarded up, abandoned. The fountain in the center was completely dried up, cracked down the center. An entire feeling of gloom hung over the town, pressing down on him as he snuck through it, almost making it difficult to breathe.

Shad went forward as quietly as he could, ducking into the ramshackled shops and ducking behind the crumbling walls, freezing anytime one of the monsters came near. By sheer luck, none of them saw him.

Now he was traveling down the path that led from the town to the castle. He'd passed by a toppled gatehouse and was now at the low stone wall, bracing himself for anything he might see. If the town was this bad, he could only imagine what Ganondorf had done to the castle itself.

Taking one last deep breath, he poked his head around the corner.

He immediately regretted it, terror seizing him.

The castle Shad had grown up looking at was gone, replaced by towers of dark stone, hovering over a pit of lava. A giant cloud spun around the tallest tower, casting the entire area into darkness.

"Gotta admit, for an evil warlord bent on destroying reality, he knows how to stand out." a voice spoke up behind him, almost sounding bored.

Shad's eyes grew wide, spinning around and reaching for the dagger he kept tucked in his book. He normally only used it as a bookmark, choosing to use his knowledge to get through any situation, but right now, alone, he may not have a choice but to fight.

Holding the dagger up, Shad came face-to-face with empty air. His brow furrowed. He'd definitely heard someone talk.

The voice giggled and he spun around again, flailing his dagger wildly, trying to locate the sound.

"Relax." the voice said again. It was definitely female, that much he could tell, "As hilarious as it is to watch you try to fight…"

They trailed off and Shad glanced around again, finally looking down. He watched as his shadow grew, elongating and rising from the ground to stand in front of him, taking the shape of a tiny woman with a headdress.

"Midna!" Shad let out a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping at the sight of Link's companion. "I could not be happier to see you!"

Midna rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it's me. Keep it down though, ok? We're right outside the castle, remember?"

Shad nodded, leaning forward eagerly, "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Link?"

"I was." she answered, crossing her legs to sit in midair. "We were saving Zelda and fighting Ganondorf. I warped them away so that I could use the Fused Shadows and kill him, but instead I ended up here. I woke up in that disaster of a town and a little while later, saw you walk in."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" he asked.

"Cause I was keeping you alive." At his confused look she scoffed and rolled her eyes again, "What, you actually thought that you snuck through that town on your own?"

"Well, until now…"

"You didn't." Her tone was very blunt and Shad tried not to be hurt by it, "If it wasn't for me leading the Redeads away from you, they would've gotten you the second you walked in there. Honestly, you aren't very observant. You didn't even notice when I took over your shadow."

"I am observant!" he protested, "I was just focused on something else!"

Midna raised an eyebrow, "And that would be?"

"I was going through the castle with the rest of the Resistance, trying to find Link to help him. Somehow, I ended up being pushed out to a cliff." Shad explained, "While I was there, two witches flew over me, carrying a statue of the princess. I thought I would follow them, try to either save her or get enough information to help mount a rescue. I didn't even know that Ganondorf had turned her into a statue!"

"He didn't." Midna growled, "Trust me."

"I wonder what happened then." Shad mused, missing the way that Midna's expression narrowed and glared at the castle, "I can't figure it out."

"So your grand plan was to sneak into Ganondorf's castle?" Midna scoffed at him, "Not happening. You'll die before you make it past the door."

"What would you recommend then? Could you use the Fused Shadows again? Break into the castle?" Shad suggested.

Midna's glare darkened, if that was even possible, "I lost them in the whole mess. I was able to keep this one-" she tapped the piece on her head, "-and this one."

She held out a hand and a piece grew in her palm, the other part of the headpiece she wore.

"I don't know where the other two ended up."

Shad sighed, "We should regroup then. As much as I want to help the princess, we just aren't prepared right now."

Midna nodded in agreement, "Where to then?"

"With the town in shambles like it is, I'd advise Kakariko. Renado may be in touch with the others of the Resistance. It was always our backup plan to go there in case storming the castle failed."

"Sounds good to me. Hold on." Midna held out her hands in what Shad saw was a familiar gesture.

"Wait!" he yelled, grabbing her hands to stop her.

"What now?" she huffed.

"You've never warped me before." he admitted nervously, "Only Link."

Midna sighed, "It doesn't hurt."

"It doesn't?"

"Nope. Just turns you into tiny pieces that get magically sent through the air and reassembled on the other side. Not painful at all." she said with a grin.

His face fell and she laughed, "Relax, I'm exaggerating."

"Please tell me you aren't lying."

She rolled her eyes again, "Link says it feels like tiny pins and needles."

He took a deep breath, "Ok then. Let's go."

She smirked, holding out her hands again. A moment later, Shad's vision went dark and a shiver went up his spine, prickling traveling first over his legs and then spreading over his whole body.

It lasted a lot longer than he thought it would, but finally the feeling started to pass. He slammed into the ground, the breath getting knocked out of him as he fell onto his back.

Groaning, he opened his eyes to see Hyrule Field again.

"Huh?"

"Something's wrong." Midna's voice set him on edge immediately.

"What do you mean?" he groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. It was then he noticed that they were back outside Castle Town, where he had originally entered. "What are we doing here?"

"The spell must've gone wrong." Midna growled, "It didn't work."

"How so?"

"My portals are gone."

"Huh?"

"My portals are gone." she repeated harshly, teeth grinding as she glared at her fist, "They aren't there anymore. I tried opening a new one, but I couldn't find Kakariko. Something's wrong."

"How could you not find Kakariko? It's not like it moved." Shad wondered.

"I don't know!" she yelled, glowering at him, "But it's not there anymore! I redirected us to come here, but I can't find any of my other portals!"

"Ok, ok, calm down." he said as soothingly as possible, "We'll figure it out, ok?"

"Yeah, how?" she snapped.

Shad ran through the options as quickly as he could, "We'll walk to Kakariko, alright? It's only a day or two away, we can handle that."

"And my portals?"

He sighed, "I…don't know. Could someone have blocked your magic?"

Midna growled, "It's not…impossible."

"Let's work with that assumption then. We'll go to Kakariko and then work from there."

"Fine." she huffed.

"Want to travel in my shadow?" Shad offered, feeling a little awkward, "Link said that's how you normally like to travel."

A sharp retort was on her lips, but she stopped herself, knowing how much it meant for someone like Shad to offer his shadow like that. Sighing, she just said, "Thanks." before sinking back into it.

"Anytime." he said, feeling even more awkward as this was directed to the shadow at his feet.

Obviously, there was no answer.

How Link had coped with this, Shad didn't know, but he had a new appreciation for his friend.

Setting his shoulders, Shad started walking. The sooner they got to Kakariko, the better.

Professor: Hi everyone!
I just wanted to talk about two things first.

One: Yes, I know that Impa from Skyward Sword was one of the characters taken in the first chapter. And yet, 'Old Lady Impa' at the Sealed Grounds is there. Rest assured, I have a plan for this. There was actually a comment that 'Granny' (to differentiate between them) made that kind of foreshadows this. It will all make sense eventually.

Two: I headcannon that the Resistance was actually fully aware of Midna, how she helped Link, and had met her multiple times. Link would've trusted them, especially if they had helped him with the Temples like they did. Furthermore, Rusl, Link's father figure, was part of the Resistance. However, I think that making them aware of Midna would've been too complicated for the game at the time, so Nintendo chose to leave it out. I am going to be working with this headcannon, among others, for this story.

Hope you enjoy and please review!