Chapter Ten
The man across from her was very tall and chose to wear mostly a bright orange. He was bald, but had one large eyebrow that swept up into the shape of a 'U' on his forehead. Zelda tried very hard not to stare at it as she sat across from him, retelling her story.
Gaepora listened quietly and intently, waiting until she was completely finished before he said anything.
"So you honestly believe that you have traveled to another time?"
She nodded, "It's my best guess, based on the information present. Levias was able to share quite a lot and nothing else makes sense, except perhaps another world."
"Hmmm," the Headmaster was very thoughtful, "So little is known about time magic, at least from my perspective. You seem to have more experience, so I'll have to defer to your judgment in that regard."
Zelda's eyes widened, hopeful, "You believe me?"
"I've seen and heard too much in my lifetime to believe it to be impossible." he smiled down at her, "After everything we've been through here, my mind is open to almost any possibility. So yes, I believe you."
She could've slumped in relief.
"That being said, I'm not sure I can help you."
"You…can't?"
Gaepora shook his head sadly, "I have no magic of my own and the people of Skyloft know even less than I do."
She sighed, "What can I do then? I have to get home."
He smiled down at her, "I didn't say it was impossible, just that I wouldn't be any help." He stood up and went over to one of his shelves, taking a long scroll from it. "If Levias wasn't able to help, then I don't believe that there is anything above the clouds that can do the job you seek and get you home."
"What would you suggest then?" she asked, watching eagerly as he unrolled the paper on the table, revealing a map. To her it looked like a sea where the water hadn't been filled in, with islands dotting around the white expanse. There were three pillars of light drawn on it, although it looked like they had been added to the map recently. They matched the colors of the pillars she had seen while flying with Levias.
"How much do you know of our world?"
"Again, Levias told me quite a lot about what's been occurring here." Zelda told him.
Gaepora asked, "Then you know of our history? How we live above the Surface, separated from our old home by a cloud barrier?"
At her nodding, he continued, "We have a Link and Zelda of our own."
At the mention of his daughter, the Headmaster's face fell. Zelda put a hand on his elbow comfortingly, "I'm sure she's ok. If your Link is anything like mine, he won't let anything happen to her."
"Thank you dear." he smiled reassuringly, "Honestly, the similarities between the two of you are outstanding."
Zelda smiled back at him, "So I've heard. She's lucky to have such a loving father."
His grin only grew before he turned back to the map in front of them. "When my Zelda was kidnapped, she was taken to the Surface. Link kept me updated whenever he could about his journey to rescue her. He was able to make three holes in the cloud barrier." he gestured to each of the light pillars on the map.
"I think this one in particular will be of the most help to you." he pointed to the green one, "Link said that there was an old lady here, a guardian of what he called the 'Sealed Grounds'."
"Levias mentioned her!" Zelda burst out excitedly, "He said that she could be trusted and may be able to help!"
"Hoo hoo! That's what I'd hoped!" he said excitedly, "You see, Link also mentioned that he was able to meet my Zelda there in a very unique way, by traveling back through a Gate of Time."
Zelda's jaw dropped, "The Gate of Time?"
Gaepora nodded, curious, "Do you know it?"
"It's the old name for the doorway in the Temple of Time, back in my Hyrule. Now it's just the Door of Time." she whispered in amazement, "To think that it exists here as well…"
"That cannot be a coincidence."
"I agree." she said firmly, lips pressed together tightly as she processed this new information.
"That settles it then." Gaepora tapped the map again in an air of finality, "You'll go to the Sealed Grounds. It'll be your best hope for getting back to your own time and maybe even finding out what brought you here to this one."
"I have a suspicion," Zelda admitted, thinking back to the final fight with Ganondorf, "If I'm right, my Hyrule is in more danger than I thought."
"Then the sooner we get you home, the better."
"I agree. Although…"
"Yes?" he prompted when her voice trailed off.
Zelda sighed, "Levias made some other comments, in regards to me and someone named 'Her Grace'."
The Headmaster was shaking his head before she finished, "I'm afraid I can't help you there either. I do know more than most about Her Grace, but it's not a story that I believe I can share, at least not correctly. Ask the old lady of the Sealed Grounds. I believe Link and Zelda were able to learn quite a lot from her."
Zelda nodded and then turned to look at the door to the Headmaster's office. She knew that Karane was waiting out there for them to be done. "What about…"
"If Pipit was taken by the same thing that took you and fell through time, then sadly there is nothing we can do for him here." he sighed, "The only ones that might be able to help him now are you and the old lady at the Sealed Grounds."
"I'll do my very best to bring him back home." Zelda vowed.
Gaepora smiled down at her, "Thank you. His mother and Karane are both very worried about him."
"When would we be able to leave?"
"Technically, none of my knights have ever been to the Surface, save for Link. He did say that Groose followed him down there, but that's it. I'd normally have one of the Captains take you down there, but due to the situation, I think it best if I escort you personally. I'll need some time to inform the other instructors of my absence. While I do that, why don't I have Karane take you to the cafeteria? I'll bet you haven't eaten in a while." he suggested.
She was about to protest when she realized that he was right. They'd rushed right into the battle with Ganondorf and since then, she'd flown hours with Levias before making it to Skyloft. She was starving.
"That sounds good to me." she agreed.
"Very well. I'll find you when I'm done then." he led her to the door, where, as Zelda had assumed, Karane was pacing impatiently.
"Well?!" she burst out, "What about Pipit?!"
"Relax Karane." Gaepora said gently, "Zelda and I are going to be leaving shortly to meet with someone who might be able to help us locate him. I promise, we are looking."
Karane sighed in relief, obviously happy that someone was taking her boyfriend's disappearance seriously and trying to find him.
"Before we leave, could I trouble you to get Zelda some food? She'll need her strength before we leave."
"Of course."
"Thank you." he said before leaving. Zelda watched him go for a moment before she felt Karane slip her arm through her own.
"Come on. I've got some pumpkin soup leftover in my dorm. It's a lot better than the school's and this way, no one will be staring at you, asking about our Zelda."
Zelda sighed gratefully, "That sounds perfect."
The sun had barely risen by the time they saw the Rito postman land. Link immediately realized that his idea of what a race of bird people looked like was very biased, as the one who landed looked nothing like Ooccoo or her people.
The man in front of them, sorting through the letters taken from the red mailbox, was tall with dark, tanned skin. His hair was pulled up to a point, with long white wings hanging dormant from his arms.
Link stepped forward, waving to grab his attention.
The Rito looked up and saw him, confusion evident on his face, "Link? Is that…you?"
"No, just a cousin." Link lied easily. Despite what Grandma had said about the people of the Great Sea being very welcoming, the three of them had agreed to keep it simple when interacting with them. A cousin was a lot easier to explain than 'time-traveling reincarnation'.
"I wasn't aware that Link had any cousins." the postman looked at them suspiciously.
"We don't get to see each other very often. My friends and I are visiting him and Aryll for a while though." Link gestured to Fi and Ezlo beside him.
"Hmmm." he seemed to accept the explanation, although it didn't look like he particularly trusted them.
"Pardon us, but are you Mr. Quill?" Ezlo spoke up.
At that, the Rito's face fell, suddenly looking very depressed, "No, I'm not. My name is Pashli."
The three of them exchanged confused looks.
"We were told that this island was on Mr. Quill's postal route." Fi spoke up.
Pashli nodded, still looking sad, "It is, normally. But…"
His voice trailed off and Link leaned forward, speaking as gently as he could, "Is Quill ok?"
Pashli sighed, then shook his head, "No, he's gone. We just woke up a couple days ago and he had disappeared. I've been filling in for him while he's gone."
"I take it this isn't normal for Quill?" Fi asked.
"No, it isn't." Pashli moaned, "He's the most responsible man I've ever met. He's the second-in-command of the Rito, the Chieftain trusts him more than anyone! He'd never leave us like this!"
The three of them looked at each other again, obviously thinking the same thing. Was it possible that Quill had fallen through time like the rest of them?
"Has…anyone else disappeared lately?" Ezlo asked awkwardly.
Pashli shrugged, "I don't know. No one's mentioned anything, at least, not to me. We've had scouts out looking since we found out he was gone, but so far, nothing."
"Fi?" Link whispered.
"Considering the circumstances, I'd say it's an 81% chance that he was a victim of the same phenomenon as us." she responded, just as quiet as him, "It looks like more were caught up in the event than originally assumed."
Ezlo spoke back up, directing the question to the Rito, "When was the last time that Quill was seen?"
"The night before we noticed he was gone." he answered, "He'd had a late meeting with the Chieftain, then went to bed. When he didn't show up to his route the next morning, we went looking and couldn't find him."
Link sighed. This was just getting more complicated. How exactly were they supposed to fix this when they didn't even have the slightest clue what caused it?
Pashli shook his head, "Sorry to bother you with all of that. I should get back to work. Is there anything I could help you with?"
"Yes, we were actually hoping to get in touch with someone." Fi said, "Could you deliver a letter to the pirate crew captained by a 'Tetra'?"
Pashli nodded, "Easily. They're my next stop. We've included them in our normal route due to Aryll being on board."
"You changed the route for one girl?" Ezlo asked skeptically.
"Well, she's the sister of Link. He saved our island, our dragon, essentially our entire way of life. Making sure he always has an open line of communication with his sister seemed like a simple way to say 'thank you', although in my opinion, it still isn't enough." Pashli explained, finally smiling a little.
"Very reasonable." Fi nodded approvingly.
Link held out the letter that they had written. Pashli took it and, with a nod goodbye, spread his wings and took off a moment later. The three of them watched him leave, with varying levels of fascination. Link couldn't believe that another time period had such an amazing race of people, yet his didn't. Fi was cataloging everything about the interaction for later study, having memorized every word that was said.
Ezlo was the only one who seemed distracted by something else.
'We thought this was centered around the spirit of the Hero. But this 'Quill' wasn't anywhere near the Link of this world. If it is truly just random, then how many other innocent people were taken? And who caused this to happen?'