Chapter 34: Within the Stone
"Focus," Rauru's voice came from over Zelda's shoulder. "Somewhere important. A place that you can visualize perfectly."
She sat with the golden harp across her lap. Before her, two of her new "class mates" stared at her. Both of them several years older, with a future in the clergy before them. They had a few lessons together prior to this one, but this was the first where she worked on a new spell.
"Come on princess, show us what you got," Helmin said with a sly grin.
Jakob just gave her an encouraging nod.
But regardless their exact reaction, they were all focused on her. Their princess. Performing magic before others was a little intimidating, but mostly it was thrilling. Let her subjects see what she can do.
Zelda strummed the strings of the harp. Magic followed the sound through the air, both radiating from the instrument. Dancing along her fingers, the energy rose up her arms and neck, until it finally reached her eyes.
The world went white.
Zelda focused on her hidden passage. Where she could read the prophecy away from all distractions. Where no servants could stumble upon her. No court attendants and dignitaries could ask for her help or try to convince her of whatever ludicrous notion they had. Which they had been doing, now that she had started to take an active role in her father's government. Everyone seemed to think that she was the path to her father's ear. All of it was a waste of time, she never even spoke to her father outside of the meetings.
But in her little passage she could solve the mysteries of the Goddesses without having to try to make the rest of the world love her.
The light started to dim. The white turned to gray and the gray turned black.
And she was alone. With nothing but blackness around her.
This didn't seem right. She blinked to try and clear her vision, but nothing happened. Did she blink? Did her eyelids close at all? She couldn't tell, she couldn't feel the slight pressure over her eyes when she tried to shut them. In fact, she couldn't feel anything. No arms, or legs, or mouth. She felt empty and stuck. Just her and the darkness.
What was she even looking at? She tried to focus on blackness. It was something. There was pattern to it. Some lines or -no- textures. That was it, she couldn't make out anything she was looking at, but there were definite differences in each section. Some more rough or even than others, something like porous specks in another section. Or was that just her eyes playing tricks on her? Her mind trying to make sense of this nothing she was forced to stare at.
She tried to push forward, but that didn't accomplish anything. Then she drew energy into herself to cast a spell of light. But that did not change anything either.
Of course it wouldn't do anything, I'm not actually here. An easy enough concept to grasp really. She was still seated back in the Temple the harp in her hands and under Rauru's watchful eye. I'm safe. I'm safe.
But where was she?
She tried to turn around, get some barring on where she had sent herself. But all she could see was the cold slablike darkness. She should have picked her bedroom. This was a terrible place to go for her first attempt at scrying. Even if she could see, all that she'd be looking at would be stonework.
Stones.
Was that what she was seeing? Just the stones around the pathway? Then why was it all the same rough nothingness?
No.
She wasn't looking at the stones, she'd be able to see something. No, she was within them. She was in the wall. That had to be it. She had cast the spell and missed her mark. She was stuck inside the wall.
Get me out of here. She tried to crawl away. She lurched and thrashed and pushed all around her. But there were no arms to shove, no body to press against the masonry and burst free.
She was frozen here.
Stuck in the wall.
No, don't panic. I just- I need- I need to end the spell. How did It work? Her mind was blank, Rauru had talked about it the last few times they discussed the spell. But all she could think about was being encased in the walls, forever stuck away from everyone. Unable to do anything from now until the end.
Rauru, get me out of here.
But she had no voice to beg.
Rauru!
She shifted her viewpoint all around, but all she could see was the rough grainy darkness of the stones. There was no doubts left in her mind. She was stuck in the wall. Nothing but rocks surrounding her. Pressing down on her. Without light. Without air.
Impa, what do I do?
Frozen in the liminal spaces of her own home. In only silence. What would Impa say to do? How would Impa ever know? What did she know about this magic? Impa couldn't help her.
"Father! Help!" She wanted to be pulled up in his arms and brought to her bed like he had when she was a child. Or even punished or berated. It did not matter. "Father!"
"Zelda?" came a muffled voice from somewhere below her. "Did I…? Zelda?"
I'm here! I'm stuck! Help me, get me out! Please!
Then the roughened patterns of the stone disappeared, and she was alone in pure darkness. But she felt something. Pressure, over her eyes. Eyes. She could feel her eyes. She could feel her body, someone was holding onto her. Hands were gripped on her shoulders.
She opened her eyes and saw the wrinkled face of Rauru, half hidden behind his long white beard.
"Princess," he said. "Are you alright?"
"I-" her heart was racing. She took a deep breath. "Where? I?"
"You were screaming," Jakob said. The harp was in his hands, clutched tight. She had been holding it? Did he take it away from her? How dare he? How- she need to calm down. She took a breath and held it, letting the pounding in her chest slow.
"I- I think I messed up the spell," she took another breath, and let this one out in a long slow stream of air. "I was stuck in a wall."
Helmin burst out in laughter, but stopped after Rauru gave him a furious look. But even then, he still kept his arrogant grin.
"It's alright, princess," Rauru wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he leaned down so they were near eye level. "That must have been very frightening. But you are safe now." He gave her a gentle smile, "the Goddesses would not let anything happen to you. And I hope you realize that I would not let a spell go awry."
"I know. I think I knew then, as well. But, it was so… overwhelming. I couldn't hear you. I couldn't feel anything. Just encased in dark stone." A shudder went up her spine, but even that was some comfort, proof she had some body to even have such a reaction.
"That happens," he looked over to his other two students, "the mind finds it difficult to manifest in two different locations at once. Too much conflicting information for it to handle. It is not uncommon for a practitioner to seclude themselves from the outside world completely before attempting it."
"Where did you go?" Jakob said.
"The castle," she said. "A little room I know., it's private where no one else goes."
"A place of comfort," Rauru said, once more turning on his tutoring voice. "That was good, the spell can send your senses anywhere, but you must be precise. See I knew what I was saying, when I told you, you need to be careful with this magic. Once each of you have mastered the simple functions we'll try going further. Beginners may be send their senses to nearby locations, but masters that is another story. No longer just eyes, a master can also listen, speak, possibly even interacting as though they were physically there." He stopped and glanced upward as if a memory was lodged on the ceiling. "My great-uncle, when he was high priest of this temple years ago was so powerful he claimed he could scry beyond the world to lands hidden within mirrors or bursting from the cracks of stone." Then he smiled. "Not that he could prove any of what he saw of course. But whenever I get to this lesson I think on him and some of the tall tales he told."
"Father Rauru," Zelda said as he helped her out of the chair. Her legs shook as she stood, her body still tense and uncomfortable from her failed spell. Thankfully none of the priests could see it beneath her frock.
"Yes, Princess?"
"This spell, can it only be used to look at locations on land?"
He scratched at his beard. "No, you can look over the sea or sky if it pleases you."
"No, sorry that's not what I mean." Zelda paused and tried to right the line of questioning in her head. "Say I wished to find someone or something in particular. Could I set my eyes to them directly?"
"Ahh, now that is a complex answer. This spell only works based on location. However, it can be combined with other spells to create the same effect."
"Who you spying on, princess?" Helmin said with a cheeky grin. "Some young knight caught your fancy?" He gave a bark of a laugh, Jakob gave a quiet polite chuckle as well.
Zelda lifted her chin. "I do not have time for such foolishness," she snapped and immediately the young men's chuckling stopped.
No. That wasn't good either. She was supposed to be kind to them. How would they ever get to love her if she snapped at all of them at a simple joke like that? Jakob looked ashamed, and he had barely laughed at all. She didn't want to make him feel bad. "I'm… sorry?" she said. But the damage was already done.
"There is nothing to apologize for," Rauru said before he turned to Helmin. "I expected better from you than to make crass jokes. Your turn."
Helmin stepped forward with confidence and took the harp from Jakob, excited for a chance to prove his own talent with the art. And he was talented. From the few lessons Zelda had with Rauru's disciples it was clear which of them wanted to be a priest and learned magic as his duty, and which saw the priesthood as a simple means of learning magic.
With a flourish of his fingers he strummed the harp and his eyes went white.
"Good," Rauru nodded to himself. "Good."
"Father Rauru?" Zelda said.
"Yes, princess?"
"You never finished answering my question."
"Oh yes, Jakob, make certain he comes out of the spell safely." Rauru scratched at his beard again. "A different spell can be used to locate individuals and from that location a powerful practitioner of the art can scry them."
"What spell?"
"Oh there are several. The most efficient way is to locate some kind of beacon of magic. If something was marked with the beacon you can then identify the location from there."
"A beacon of magic? How does one create one of those?"
"Most commonly someone casts a minor spell on them that creates such a beacon."
"And I'd have to know where they are first to create the beacon, wouldn't I?"
"You are quick."
That wouldn't do her any good. "And the other methods?"
"I've been told that if someone truly knows someone, familiar with them on such a deep level that they can near feel them, then they can be scryed directly. But that is very rare."
"Lovers and the like, then?"
"Most commonly, but not always. Records show some particularly close siblings and even just friends, though usually such friendships come once in a lifetime and usually start very early."
That would do her no good either. Two brief meetings with some boy from the woods hardly made them friends much less partners tied through their life. "And nothing else?"
"Well the obvious one is magic. The beacon itself is simply a magical marker that the caster can recognize. But, any sufficiently recognizable magic should do. But it would be easier if one was familiar with the magic and could recognize its mark. But that's all the methods I know."
"Thank you, Father Rauru."
He frowned down at her. "These are fairly specific question, Princess. Is there something you wish to speak to me about?"
"No," Zelda said. Perhaps a bit too fast. Rauru gave her a stern look. "Not yet anyway. I'm still working out some of the details."
"Alright," Rauru said, with a tentative slowness to his voice. "I'll let this one go. But, remember, I lead an order of priests that have been kept hidden for hundreds of years. I can keep a secret."
Zelda smiled to the kind old man. "I know, and when I can, I'll tell you everything. I just need a little more time on this myself."
"Very well, but unless that someone you wish to speak with is traveling with powerful magic, I'd suggest sending a messenger."
"Of course."
"You're going to try anyway, aren't you?" He sighed, "No don't answer. I'd rather not be lied to in my own temple. Here's what we're going to do. After Jakob we'll try you again. I want you to scry that corner." He waved at the ceiling. "So I can talk you out of the spell if things go wrong."
"Thank you, Father."
"And please, remember some spells are dangerous, I don't want a repeat of the time spell incident. You're very clever, princess. But with magic you must also be cautious."
"It has to be here," Zelda muttered to herself as she let her light bob over her shoulder to glow down on the various books and papers she had piled in her room.
It was already dark and she should be going to sleep. It had been a long day, during Rauru's lesson and after. Even with a class of only three, the older students took up so much time in their own practices. She definitely got more work done when she did not need to fight for attention between Jakob's constant floundering and Helmin's bravado.
Maybe she could demand that Rauru return her to individual lessons. She was still a princess after all. Rauru and Impa had forced the current state of affairs on her. She could try to use her influence to alter some of it back.
But that conversation probably wouldn't go well. Why had Rauru and Impa felt the need to put in in such a class? She did not have time for them all.
Thankfully, when she did ge her turn to practice the scrying spell again she was able to get it to work. With a bit of help from Rauru admittedly, she was able to look down on the room from a corner and saw the three priests moving around her. And of course, she saw herself seated in the chair, harp in her hands and her eyes glowing white. That was a strange experience.
Though not as horrid a one as being stuck in that wall.
After the class was finished it was nothing but more wastes of time. There was a meeting with the guild of spicers over shipping lines being disrupted by Octoroks. During which her father kept giving her strange glances. But he didn't say anything to her. He never said anything to her that wasn't directly related with their work. And whose fault is that?
After that meeting she sat in her father's council on three criminal cases.
One lord blamed another for seducing his daughter. Another claimed that bandits robbed him just outside the walls of Castle Town and he recognized one from his voice. And the last, and longest of them all was a tangled web of a case that involved the theft of some goats.
It was all so… pointless. Would this be the rest of her life when she became queen? How did her father handle this drudgery every day? And he sat there in judgment of every single case, listening to everyone's words before he made his decisions.
Did he rail against them as Zelda had in her head the entire time? She could barely contain herself sometimes.
What does it matter if he seduced your daughter? She's happy! Let them marry!
You can't hang a man for a voice you think is somewhat similar to the one that wronged you. You need more proof than that!
Who cares about goats? There's a war! How is he still talking?
But no matter how much she raged, she sat there. Rigidly upright, looking for all the world like the perfect princess. So that everyone in court would know her as a trustworthy royal, worthy of their praise and loyalty. Or at least, she hoped that's how she came across.
Once all the cases were concluded she was whisked away to a dinner far too late in the day to get more time with the Prophecies. And then finally she was allowed to go to sleep. Or at least, to her bedroom.
"Here it is!" She pushed a few scrolls off the book and almost jumped on her bed to read it. The book was a strange one, there were a few references to the author among other works she read, and most of them treated the man like a kook.
But all the better books on the topic she knew about were safely locked away in the Temple. So she had to make due with this strange work that was half a picture book for children and half a detailed scholarly treatise.
Even if the book proved useful, it would not be all she needed. Another look through Rauru's books for that spell to find beacons of magic from a distance, preferably without him looking over his shoulder.
For the hundredth time she thought about bringing Rauru into her whole plot. He was a good man. Smart too, in his way. Perhaps, wise was the word more befitting him. But if she told him about Link, she'd have to tell him about Nayru's prophecies. And he would demand to see them. He would want to bring them to his temple, right where Ganondorf would find them again.
And if she refused him? What would happen then? Would he cut her off from training? Would he think less of her? Would he stop talking to her all together like her…
No.
It was better if only she knew where it was located. If only Impa knew everything that was happening. If she could compartmentalize everything she could keep track of who knew what. That way there was no chance that things would unravel around her. Keep the flow of information tightly controlled, that was how she was going to make this work.
Then all she would need to worry about would be becoming as knowledgeable in the high art as a grand mage, as stealthy as a Sheikah needle, as skilled in politics as a Zora courtier, in expert in the ways of warfare, and uncover the mysteries of the Goddesses that have been lost for generations. Simple. Anyone can do that.
She let her light move a little closer to the page, and refocused her attention on the text. The first page was not promising, feature a prominent cartoon of the author, a short pudgy man wearing a skintight green suit and cap that left far too little to the imagination, and a ridiculous goofy grin. "Alright Mr. Tingle," she said to the book. "Give me some clue how to find fairies."