How Illuminating

Time awoke to his descendant leaning over him, causing him to smile, "Ah, good morning!" Sitting up, he noticed his frazzled expression, "Is something wrong?" He scoffed at himself, he knew what it was, laughing, "Wrong language! Wow, I am terrible at this!"

"N-No," He stammered, "I wouldn't um…say that…how are you feeling?"

"A bit terrible, if I'm frank. I think the way this form manages pain is awful and the regeneration is far worse." He took the knight's hand, "In fact, I think if I were to do things over again, I wouldn't have let any of this happen to me."

Link was troubled by his words, "H-Hey, don't say stuff like that. None of this is your fault."

'Strange, he isn't agreeing with me.' The deity's smile remained as he shook his head, "Oh it is. Not the part where I was taken and beaten senselessly, but all of this?" He gestured to the bandages, "I let it happen; it was in my better interests. In my best interests, I would have forcefully taken my things in the beginning and left no survivors—well, just a couple. However, my descendant, the most interesting part is both ways would have ended the same and gotten me what I wanted: my things and blood payment. Though, one of them might have saved you the heartache from seeing me this way, and I like that one more."

He appeared to process this, "Then…for me, let's just chalk it up to being the Yiga's fault."

'What in the world is chalk ?'

Link began murmuring to himself as his hand felt his ancestor's forehead, "Do you have some kind of fever? You look completely normal, but you're acting weird like yesterday…" He got an idea, "This is…the you no one understands but—"

"That reminds me!" There was an excited sparkle in his eyes, "I just remembered something I could do, and I'd like to try it."

If it weren't for the mornings being slow for the salon, he would be causing a scene. The knight grew cautious, "Um…what is it?" He paused, "Wait, actually no. I don't think you should try it here. What if…yeah what if Zelda returns?"

His hands reached out to his face with the intent to grab, "Well if you'd just come here and—" Time's eyes narrowed. His senses flooded back, 'WHAT AM I DOING!? DEAR GODDESSES!' He shuffled away from him until the headboard pushed against his back, "AHH! My Gods!"

"Are you okay? What the hell just happened?"

His chest heaved as his face began to burn from embarrassment. His behavior reminded him too much of the Goddess, 'This must be because I was with her last night! Not to mention, that was enough honesty to last me three lifetimes…pouring every thought from my heart like that…' His head sank into his hands in an attempt to hide his fluster, "I can't believe that happened again…"

A hand went to Link's chest as he looked relieved, chuckling, "I can't really believe it myself. Now what's this thing you can do that requires me for some reason?"

'Dammit, this is why I have a hat! The best hiding spot!' "Can't you see that I'm currently embarrassed out of my mind!? At least give me a minute before asking me questions I don't want to answer!" His descendant's laughter in response was not helping. He needed something to cool his face off with.

The knight kept his voice low, "You know, I guess I'm just surprised to hear how you really feel about some of this. I presume your true form doesn't feel as much pain as this one does?"

Time peeped at him through his fingers, "Maybe."

He made different faces as he reflected over his prior statements, "Dear Hylia…blood payment? Caring about me seeing you injured? Well, I can tell you that I would've been this way no matter what."

The Hero blinked, "Going to tell me about what happened to you?"

"So after I—" His eyes squinted, "Wait hold on, you've got to show me some healing progress!"

"And you agreed that we were done talking about my weirdness while we were here!" He hissed.

"Wha—that's not fair! You woke up that way!"

He closed his fingers, hiding his face once more, "Alright fine." Young Link scooted from where he sat, showing him his back. Feeling touch against his shoulder made him whip around and snarl.

Link yanked his hand back, "Ah sorry!"

He slumped, "No, I'm sorry. I'm just…" He shook his head, sounding somber, "It's not all past me just yet. You can feel where it was. I'm really happy it's gone."

The knight's hand ran over the general area, "To be fair, I should have known from how you tackled me yesterday that you're still in fight or flight mode. Otherwise, I'm impressed with how fast that was! The skin is completely smooth! And," He tilted one way, "based on what you said a moment ago, I'm glad it was able to go away in the first place. I was afraid you'd actually be stuck with that for the rest of your life."

Time's eyebrow raised as his shoulder was lightly squeezed, "Hm?"

"You didn't really mean that you let that stuff happen, right?"

He sighed, "You're really going out of your way to keep from explaining why you looked like a mess yesterday."

"Time."

"Yeah yeah…and, well, yeah. If I considered all of my options, the easiest one was to change and go on some kind of rampage. The only reason I didn't do it was to make absolutely sure that the two things they had of mine weren't destroyed. Long story short, technically yes. I played along until I got outside." The look on his descendant's face denoted he knew exactly what that type of situation felt like. He also looked like he wanted a hug. The Hero slid next to him at the edge of the mattress, giving him a brief squeeze, 'Ow, this kinda hurts…'

The knight sniffed, "Thanks." He cleared his throat, though his eyes were glossy, "My turn, I guess?" He explained how he woke up and found that he was gone, "I got pretty much the entire citadel into search parties looking high and low for you while Zelda looked inside. I actually had the feeling I wasn't going to find you, and I didn't. In the morning, we traveled back to the castle and sent out more search parties there. The thought of you being dead just never left my mind until—" He pointed to his bandaged arm, "the next day. We were getting attacked by Yiga in the southern part of Hyrule Field when my hands went completely numb mid-swing and caused me to throw my sword into a moblin that had joined in. From then on, I knew you were alive, but you had to have been in trouble because you otherwise wouldn't use your magic. When we finished holding them off, I caught sight of dark clouds around the Gerudo Canyons."

Link shrugged, "The arm was just a scratch but it's getting there. The day after that, we had looked everywhere we could. No one knew where you were, and we couldn't, y'know, send groups of our soldiers into the other regions because we need formal permission to do that. Then, the next evening, me and Zelda finally got Urbosa's letter about you." He meekly chuckled, "I tell you what, I got zero sleep so the both of us could be ready to leave in the morning. Fast forward a couple of days and we finally get here. When we um…saw you, like Zelda said, we thought you looked dead. You had to look really hard to tell if you were even breathing. Zelda cried when she first saw you, but then after Urbosa told us what you told her, honestly we both did. We were so…frustrated that there was nothing we could do. Urbosa told us you'd been asleep for four days by that point. We spent the rest of the day waiting for you to wake up."

His sigh was relieved, "Then, finally, I'd been up since before dawn keeping an eye on you, and I decided I'd at least sit a little closer. Beforehand, I was sitting at the end of the bed because…well…it was Urbosa's. I didn't want to be rude. You just—it really was hard to tell if you were breathing or not, and so I decided to reach out to wiggle you around and…yeah. You were awake alright." He grinned, nudging him, "So there you have it. That's why I look like shit."

"Looked like shit," Time corrected him, "It's nice seeing you look better, and I'm sorry I made you worry so much. Though…you don't really have t—"

"I-I know."

The sound of voices drew closer to the salon.

Link whispered, "You're the last person who has to tell me how capable you are. I can't help it."

Heat hovered around the tips of his ears as the voices from before turned out to be Zelda and Urbosa. Feeling so outwardly cared for wasn't a common occurrence.

The Princess smiled at him, "Good morning! I'm glad to see you're awake."

"Good morning, Zelda."

"Urbosa and I were getting ready to leave to go work on the divine beast and I wanted to check in on you one more time. Oh, I also have your tunic too." She sat his clothes beside him.

"Oh thanks, and before you go," He shifted around to face his back forward, "Look! That nasty brand is gone!"

The Princess gasped as her hands immediately shot to the skin of his shoulder blade. "My goodness, it's as if it were never there! That's amazing!"

Meanwhile Time internally scolded himself for his eyes relentlessly twitching as he forced himself to hold in the growl that wanted to come out. 'Why am I like this? And why are my reactions so beastly too? I can't just yell or snap at them? It has to be growling and snarling? Hell, at this rate, the next thing I'll do is bark!' He blinked once he felt her hands leave his back, catching his descendant's eyes on him. "Uh yeah, I agree." He faced her, "In any case, good luck with your research. I think I might do some of my own too."

"Oh?" There was a twinkle in her eye.

"As I ran here, I passed by an old temple of sorts." His gaze shifted to Urbosa, "There weren't any guards as far as I could see, so I figured I'd go check it out."

"Is Link going with you?" Zelda excitedly asked.

"He can if he wa—"

"I am," He nodded.

"Splendid!" She yanked her journal from her hip and tore out a few pages, shoving them into her knight's hands along with a spare pen, "Feel free to draw or write about anything you find! And thank you in advance!" There was a skip in her step as she left with the chief.

"Huh, well that's decided I guess," Link shrugged as he got the papers together.

Time giggled, eyeing his tunic, "I didn't expect that either, and while I can't write in this language to save my life, I could draw something you think the princess would want to see."

His brow raised, "Oh really? Show me."

He scratched his head as the paper was pushed his way, "Ah well, I say let's eat first. Plus, I'd like to get changed."

"That's a good idea, but I know you're stalling."

Young Link rolled his eyes as he stood, "You call it stalling, I think it's giving me time to come up with something to draw." After he got dressed, they dropped the drawing schtick and partook in the town's breakfast. Most of the options included some kind of meat or mushroom with a side of porridge and hydromelon juice. They sat in the shade with the other women, "Ahh, I tell you what, this juice never gets old. It always gives me this cooling feeling. Perfect for this hot sun."

One of the girls nearby nodded, she looked to be in her teens, "I know right! Vahma always tells me that the hydromelons are a kind of blessing from our ancestors." She grinned, flexing her bicep, "We Gerudo are some of the most resilient races out there, but to me the melons show that our resilience is very rewarding!"

"Really?"

Her teal-green eyes widened, "W-Well yeah! Y'know, because the skin of the melon is super tough but the contents within are sweet and tangy!"

"Ooohhh," They both nodded their understanding, Time beginning to grin, 'How interesting!'

Now her head tilted one way, "Hey hold on, you're the voe who danced with our chief! That's right, I saw you!" Her gears seemed to be turning, "I have to tell you, we were all impressed! She must have known you were one of us then!"

"Huh?" Link turned to look at him, "You're what?"

'Who would've guessed I'd be learning about what Urbosa decides to tell and not tell.' He was so-so about it, "Don't worry, I'm still Hylian. Urbosa just found some of my history surrounding them and, fun fact, I'm actually an honorary Gerudo. Back when they were more of a tribe, I managed to best their guards and steal their treasure right from under their noses! That earned me their respect and so they let me join them." His cheeks turned pink, "I might have been a favorite of their leader too…" He never forgot Nabooru's "promise" she wished she'd kept. He had an idea of what she meant, but that's beside the point.

This was news to both of them.

He pointed to his right pec, "Oh, remember that scar across here from when I looked older? That was from one of the guards." Time pumped his fists as a stupid grin appeared, "Man, she was so tough! And beautiful too! Ahh, I definitely learned a move or two from her! I wasn't even mad when she got me, granted it really hurt." His story appeared to invigorate the girl, meanwhile Link was mystified.

"What a story! I'm sure Vahma would love to hear it!" She stood with a bright smile, "Hey, maybe you should stop by our romance class later! Seeing as you're a Gerudo voe I'm sure you've got some tips for us vai, right?"

Time stammered, "I—I'm eleven!" His face had gone red.

She brushed off his words, "Ha, you don't act like it!" Winking, she stooped toward him, "I'll let you in on a secret! Anyone who's charmed our chief herself is worth learning from!" She waved, "But you didn't hear that from me! Yu ta soto!~"

"See you later…" He translated, bashfully shaking his head.

Once again, the champion was intrigued, "You've clearly done more here than you originally let on. I'm sorry, what? How do you know what she said?"

"Right, before I talked with Urbosa, Sahdri had me learn a bunch of Gerudo words. She said I couldn't slip up on the language now that I'm one of them." His head lolled toward the ground, "I wasn't too excited to spend my waking hours learning stuff, but it was still nice to have company…and to talk to her in general."

Link soaked this in, "So, who's Vahma?"

"She was referring to her mom."

Now he chuckled. "You ought to be careful about how you tell that story of you and the Gerudo. I don't think you want to make yourself seem like a masochist for the women."

"A…a what?!"

Link's lips pressed together. Seems that sentence was a mistake to say, "Um…like someone who enjoys…pain?" He spoke faster, "I didn't really mean that in its full defi—"

"LINK!" He hissed, "I didn't like getting hurt by her! It was a fun fight you idiot!" His hands clapped over his face, "I thought I've felt enough embarrassment already! Why'd you go and make me feel more!?"

His descendant laughed, patting his shoulder, "Damn you, I literally was just saying that I didn't mean it exactly like that! Besides, I can poke a little fun at you because it's becoming more and more clear that you were—more like are—a massive lady's man!"

"Uh I feel like it's more obvious that I have no control over that!" Time had a playfully annoyed look in his eye as he stood, "I've had my fill, so I'm ready when you are."

"Pfft, yeah let's get going."

They left through the front entrance and began their trek to the ruins. 'Gee,' Young Link wiped the sweat from his forehead, 'I'm starting to question if this was all that great of an idea…' While it was nice to have his tunic back, it felt like the wounds on his chest were getting baked. "Damn, what I wouldn't kill for some rain."

"Or a cool breeze," Link agreed.

He doubted the knight was attempting to be subtle, but as soon as they left town, Time could feel his eyes watching his every move. "I just can't believe that we can see this from town and yet it feels like we've been walking for soo long."

"What made you want to come here again?"

"Just curious. It caught my eye." The next thing he knew, he was stepping onto a sandstone platform, his eyes perusing the plentiful pillars that stuck out of the land in front of him, "Hm, maybe I was wrong," He thought aloud, continuing past the platform, "This doesn't exactly seem like a temple…just ruins of some kind."

Link had propped the paper up against a nearby pillar and wrote down what he said, "Well, we're not at the end of it yet. Which reminds me," The knight looked at him from over his shoulder, "Yesterday you promised you weren't going to take anything…I don't think I have to explain why that's suspicious."

"What can I say? More often than not, temples exist as tests for the hero." He winked, "Besides: finders, keepers…depending on what it is of course." His finger went to his chin, "It's like those shrines."

"Y-Yeah?"

Now Time turned to look at him, "Zelda never…?" He blinked in astonishment, "Okay, well if it's not obvious, all these shrines are meant to be tests for you. Sometimes, I want to see what happens if you try the Sheikah slate on them, but my current thought is that none of them are 'turned-on.'"

"Can I write that down?"

"Er…no." The Hero quickly explained, "But that's only because Zelda's been at this for far longer than me and I don't want to have some kind of effect on her research. Remember, I'm not really from here. There are plenty of things that I don't know."

Link put a hand on his hip, "I'd say that an outsider perspective is exactly what she needs. That's not at all to say I think she's going about this the wrong way, but, y'know, second opinions are important." He gestured for them to continue forward, "Keep talking, I want to hear your ideas on this shrine stuff." The knight smiled, "Don't worry about me writing it down either, no worries."

Looking ahead, there appeared to only be more pillars with the occasional arch or two, "Whatever you say, just let me know when it sounds too crazy, I guess." He continued where he left off, "Hmm…right, well the reason why I think the shrines are turned off is because of how the Sheikah slate looks. I'm sure you've noticed how it constantly has an orange and blue light on, don't you think the shrines would look similar if we could go into them? The colors seem to mean something too, but I don't know enough to make any guesses. Well…blue normally tends to mean 'good' but orange? I guess I haven't found a time when it meant something 'bad.'"

His descendant looked to be in his thoughts, "That's right, you've been curious about these things for a long time, huh? At least all the way back to when we were at my village."

"That's right. What can I say? As much as I like to sleep and eat, adventuring and puzzles are what I do best."

"Puzzles?"

"That's sort of what all this is, isn't it? It's all one big puzzle to me." He chuckled, realizing, "Right, I suppose you're not used to the idea that the world naturally works in mysterious ways."

"I don't think 'natural' and 'mysterious' belong in the same sentence, Time."

"Just think about it. For example, just off the top of my head, what are the chances that there's a spot in the floor that sinks every time you step on it? You hear something in the distance creak or rumble too. What could it be?"

"Are there cracks in it?"

"Sometimes."

Link's arms folded, "Then it must be a weak spot in the floor. You'd probably fall through if you continued standing on it. The noise in the distance could be the supports giving out."

The Hero had to nod at his deduction but, "That's not exactly what I'm getting at. It's actually a switch in the floor! A floor switch! Maybe if you stood on it long enough to where you heard a click, the sound in the distance could be a door opening or another switch coming out of the wall that you've also gotta shoot at!" The thought of exploring a temple with crazy puzzles made him giddy. 'Gosh, I feel like running all the way to that Ancient Temple and throwing its doors wide open! I bet there's an entire labyrinth hidden inside! I'd need rations, potions, a sleeping bag, mayb—'

"Okay that clearly set something off in you," came the knight's comment, "Wai-wait, I get it. This is something like that huge smile you had on your face when you talked about the both of us going caving if you had bombs. Which—I should mention—is insane that you've ever used them and not blown an ear off."

"Are you kidding me? I used to shove bombs down lizalfos' throats! I'd clear huge rocks out of my way and open up these holes in the ground and so much more!"

"A-As an adult?"

"Both silly!"

Link was taken aback, "Dear Hylia! I know you said you're missing your equipment, but what all did you own?!"

"Haha, but I've told you before! A sword, shield, and bow, obviously, but also: a slingshot, boomerang, bombs—two kinds in fact—the lens of truth, a hammer, and a hookshot." He gave a half shrug to the words he didn't know, "The first one was what I found from that well."

"Oh right, thanks. I thought I'd heard it before, but I wasn't too sure." The champion thought a little longer, "A switch coming out of a wall, huh? Just who makes these temples?"

"Gods, typically. I don't know that for sure, though. Some of them have their own stories behind them that are more complex than that. Sometimes they could be a sort of church-worship-type of place but then get cursed or something."

"That's really interesting," He paused, "Have you ever made any?"

Time shot him a look, "Link, shut up. No I haven't. If I'm frank, I still don't know exactly how I feel about all that either. Even worse it seems to be getting more and more in the way." His figure slumped a little, "I dunno, what's…what's the point if—"

They reached the end of the ruins.

Young Link's hands went to his hips, "Man, this turned out to be kinda boring, didn't it? Sorry for dragging you out here."

Link's eyebrow raised, "You can finish your thought from before."

"I'd rather not."

His brows drew together with concern, but he respected his words. His tone became lighthearted, "Not a single thought about this place? Funny considering you had so much tucked away about the shrines." Link shook his head, "Also I decided to come out here on my own…until Zelda made it my job, but still." He pointed to the structure ahead of them, "Wait, what's that?"

"Oh that's just the icehouse. Another thing Sahdri told me about. It's the only place cool enough to keep their ice cold for all their drinks." That reminded him, "Have you had any of them?"

"No, neither me nor Zelda are old enough," He took a seat on the sandstone with his legs crossed, "Well, I don't have anything written down aside from what you said when we got here."

"Tch, you don't have any thoughts about this place either?"

Link's smile was wily, "Look, my thoughts are not always as insightful as yours. I don't need the Princess questioning my intelligence when I hand this back to her."

A quote came to mind, "Oh…what's that saying? Something about a picture and words."

His descendant's eyes lit up, "Aha! Good idea! A picture's worth a thousand words!"

"Yeah, there we go!"

He frowned, "Well wait, I've still gotta write something."

"Just say that the ruins had lots of pillars and arches, but that it's hard to tell if they had some kind of use or something." Young Link surveyed them once more, "Heck, it's hard to tell if this was ever a building in the first place. If anything, that spot at the beginning seems like the only part that had any…meaning?"

"I think you mean significance, but I agree." Link wrote down what he'd said before motioning to him with the pen, "I guess just draw a couple of pictures of the place and we can call it good."

This humored him, "Fine by me." As he took the pen and began to sketch what was in front of him, he couldn't help but watch Link begin to pace in his peripherals. 'Strange,' He thought, his eyes flicking between his sketch and the ruins. He had the closest pillars and arches drawn before continuing to block in the ones behind them, 'I can't tell if he's thinking, worried, or impatient. Well, I doubt he'd genuinely try to rush me to finish drawing.' Several minutes later, a bead of sweat hit the page, causing one of the words to become a little blurry.

Young Link squinted, 'If I don't touch it, it won't get any worse. ' Still, his finger wanted to overrule his common sense out of curiosity, but he knew better than that, smacking his own hand in distaste. He looked up from the page, scanning the skyline, 'Is…is someone trying to talk to me?' He closed his eyes, 'Is someone there? If so, who?'

Come visit me, won't you? It's so convenient now that you're here.~

His ears tensed as his eyebrows furrowed. It was a woman with a deep voice. 'Respect who you're talking to and answer my question. I'm not in the mood for surprises.' He could tell this wasn't Hylia, making it all the more unwelcome.

Mm~

Someone's off their game if they can't recognize me.

You met one of my fairies not too long ago. You were so kind to release him too!

He tried to recall the name, 'T…Tera!? How are you—?!' She snickered.

I am the eldest of my sisters, love, therefore the most powerful.

Now, won't the Fierce Deity come visit me?

I'll make it worth your while.

Time internally winced, 'Why is she prefacing this with what I can only assume is some kind of sexual favor?' 'H-How so? I don't even know where your fountain is and I'm currently with the Princess and my descendant. If you wanted me to visit on my own terms, I'm afraid I can't see an opportunity to do so.' Tera sounded confused.

Hm? A deity bound by the whims of Hylians?

Very peculiar indeed. I'm just southwest of the ruins you're at.

It's far, but for you that's only several minutes, right?

I'm offering my healing abilities, and perhaps a little companionship as well.~

His hand hovered in front of his chest. It'd become a slog of ache after being in the sun for so long, not to mention there was no telling how long they'd take to go away. What were the chances he'd come by a healing potion? 'You're very tempting, I almost dislike admitting that.' His sigh was shaky, 'But I digress. I appreciate your offer, but it only foretells of further complications for myself. You understand, don't you?'

Whim.

The word felt like it was stuck in his throat. Exhaustingly bothersome in everything it means and suggests. The notion that he could sum up the reasoning for his relationships, and caring about feelings, and caring about their future…all as a simple whim? It made his head pound.

It seems Tera could sense his stress.

My utmost apologies, love! Perhaps I can count on another time, hm?

I'll send one of my own to atone for any grievances I may have caused.

He could feel she was gone. The Hero's bottom lip quivered as he bit it, 'Man, this has got to stop happening.' He almost wanted to laugh at himself, 'I can't keep having an identity crisis every time he and I are alone together! Ah, and there are tears getting on the page…this is terrible.' Time slid the paper further in front of him, sniffling as a hand touched his shoulder.

"Time?"

"Sorry I—my chest. It just…hurts, and I'm reminded of how…" 'Powerless I can be. Of how supposedly being this deity demands me to be an entirely different person.' His fingers combed through his bangs, 'Am I really capable of being so selfish? I mean sure, here and there, but enough to regard all of this as a whim? It can't be if this is how I feel just thinking about it.' His ears drooped in spite of his weak smile, "I wish I had a potion or something similar." He wiped his cheeks.

"Is that all?"

Young Link gazed at the knight's sympathetic expression, "What do you mean?"

Link crouched beside him, "I guess I'm just remembering when we were at the beach, your birthday."

He shook his head, "Nah, I think I'm just tired and hurt…and hot…and a little cranky from putting up with it. I'll make it though. I'm at least that tough." He sniffed again, "What were you doing all that walking around for?"

The knight considered his words, "It was something you said this morning, the uh…blood payment…stuff. Should I be worried about that?"

"Oh…right. That." He tried to find a way to explain what that meant, "In my mind, I'm only taking exactly what's due to me, y'know?" The Hero nodded at his own words as it began to make more sense, "Yes, blood for blood. The Yiga spilled mine and so it was my turn to spill theirs. Simple."

"Is it really that simple, though?"

"Yes?" 'Where is he trying to go with this?' "If you're worried about it being some kind of ritual-thingy that's gotta happen every month or two, that's not what it is." 'I'm…very sure that's not what it is. Though, if I'm completely honest, I'm er…kind of a violent…god. I guess he's never seen me do anything with it, has he?' He shrugged, "I dunno, it felt right that they pay back the pain they caused me. When I was through with their army, I took out every watch group in the canyon." Time shivered at remembering what it felt like to step on one of them at the end, "Ugh, I'll have to watch out for that in the future."

Link appeared to be absorbing his words until the last phrase. He didn't seem too bothered that his killing spree had continued past those from the hideout, "Watch for what?"

"There was this tiny group of them at the start of the canyons, maybe five or six of them. I swung my sword, blah blah, but one of them teleported behind me and…well I stepped on him." He frowned, "It's…well it's a feeling I won't forget soon." Now mumbling, "It's not a satisfying crunch…kinda. Very…like a twig exploding under your foot…"

His descendant was alarmed, "Time! Dear Hylia!"

"Wha-wha—does it look like I enjoyed doing that!? Sure, I didn't care at the time, but dammit that was sorta gross! Like I said, I'm going to watch out for that in the future!" In the next moment, a trio of teal and blue fairies zipped through the arches. They practically attacked his face with affection.

"Wah, you're not upset, are you?"

"Look! There are tear stains on his cheeks!"

"Noo, he totally was upset!"

Link stood in surprise, "Where did you all come from?" He flinched when they immediately turned to face him.

Tera's fairies sounded like little bells when they spoke, and, while flustered from their attack, Time figured it had to do with how secluded their fountain must be. Fairies benefit from being quiet and sneaky out in the wild, so it could be that they haven't officially left yet and learned otherwise. 'Thinking about it now, that fairy I rescued from the potion shop must have been caught singing or something. I don't recall him sounding like these guys when he spoke to me.'

They floated over to the champion.

"Oooohh!"

"Is this that descendant-guy?"

"Maybe you shouldn't call him that. We were pretty confused!"

Now Link's cheeks began turning pink, "What are they saying? I thought they only talked to you."

Time had shot the last one a look as he stood with his arms crossed, "They're just figuring out who you are. Remember how there's a Great Fairy in the desert? Tera? Maybe she sent them to say hello." Before he could speak again, the teal one had zipped over to the neck of his tunic and peered inside.

"Eek!" He loudly chimed. The other two cocked their heads.

"What's wrong Cipo?"

"Hey you're not being rude, are you?"

He stamped his foot, "Am not, Minen! Obviously that's where he's been hurt!" Cipo's expression turned to one of fear, "It looks like a curse!"

"Excuse me?" Time interrupted, "A curse?" Link's eyes bulged out of his head.

Minen nudged the blue fairy beside him, "Cereus go check what he's talking about. Cipo you have to say what kind of curse it is!"

Once more, Time complacently watched the neck of his tunic get breached. He frowned at Cereus's wide eyes.

"Well now I understand what Tera was talking about," He commented, sitting on the Hero's shoulder, "She was saying we probably couldn't heal you."

Minen snapped his fingers, "Oh my goodness, you're all leaving out the one thing he wants to know!"

"Right, right! It's a curse for Hylia!"

"The Goddess?!" This shocked both Links further.

Minen was going to lose his mind, now stomping over in mid-air to check for himself, "Of course!" He rolled his eyes, sounding peeved as he explained, "You know how you use blood curses to sacrifice things to get favors from the divine? Well, whoever did this to you is an idiot. You can't sacrifice a god to another god! That makes zero sense!" He was blue in color as well, but lighter than Cereus, "Unfortunately, we can't heal—or essentially remove—curses meant to serve the Goddess. It wasn't finished either—not like it would work on you—but it's in limbo until those cuts completely heal."

The Hero of Time crossed his arms in distaste, looking to Link, "Originally, I joked around with myself thinking that all this weird writing on me is a curse, but according to him, it actually is one! They can't heal me because the Yiga wrote this blood curse for your Goddess! I'm assuming they meant to make it for Ganon, but I—I have no words. I knew they were stupid, but this is crossing a new line. He also says it's unfinished and wouldn't have had an effect on me anyways."

The knight was stupefied, "B-Blood curses…Hylia? I've never even heard about this kind of stuff before!" His weight shifted, "Hell, that's some occult stuff that…I mean not even the potion shops really…" He threw his hands away from himself, "This is too damn weird!"

"Oh right, I should introduce you real quick." He pointed to the teal fairy, "Cipo," then to the one on his shoulder, "Cereus," and finally to the light blue one, "Minen." Back to the topic at hand, "Anyways, I assume I just need a potion, right?"

Minen nodded, "Precisely. Potions can't discriminate against injuries, though, if you weren't divine yourself and the curse had been finished, the potion wouldn't get rid of the curse. Sort of like 'heal the wounds but not the magic.'"

A dazed feeling washed over him. The deity blinked, "I must commend you for being so knowledgeable, little one." He immediately shook his head, rubbing his temples, "Ugh, I mean—thank you for telling me." 'I need to figure out how long they intend to stay if that is going to become a problem.'

Aside from Minen beginning to blush, Cereus and Cipo were intrigued. "Ooooh," Cereus stood from his shoulder, "I get it now. You're trying to seal your powers away." His doting smile was shy, "Hehe, that means you're super powerful, huh?"

Cipo agreed, "Wow, you don't see the other Gods do that either. We were wondering why you felt so…Hylian as we were trying to track you down for Tera."

Minen nodded this way and that, "She did have to concentrate pretty hard to talk to you."

'Dear Goddesses, these must be the smartest fairies I've met in this world...' He could only shrug in response. "Um, how long do you guys plan to stay? I can't exactly protect you at the moment. I don't have all of my things."

"Oh that reminds me," Link recalled, "We should be leaving at sunset for the Gerudo stables."

Cereus sat on the Hero's nose, "Well we did come here to make you feel better, Your Divinity."

'How strange it is to be on the receiving end of that phrase.' "I assume you all have the same cooling ability?"

"Oh, I do!" Cipo exclaimed.

"I produce rain," Minen said.

"And I produce storms…er well heavy rain plus thunder. No lightning, though," Cereus added.

"Ah, so your colors mean something as well. That's really interesting." He briefly explained them to Link. "I'm not sure if it needs to rain per se, but it does feel like I've been sweating in an oven."

"Weee! No problem!" Cipo dived to his knees before leaving a trail of sparkles as he swirled around him.

'Can I cry because of how good this feels?' It felt like cool water had been poured on his head and drenched him from head to toe. 'I didn't realize just how bad that sun was making my chest feel until now.' He was so absorbed in his relief he didn't notice the knight touching his cheek with the back of his hand.

His tone was straightforward, "Dear Hylia…I'm jealous and amazed."

Cipo started to shimmer as he gasped, "My heart!~ The Hylian complimented me!" He bounced up and down, "Your Divinity, can I do him too? I like this one!"

Time laughed at the fairy's words, 'It couldn't be: "I like him?" It has to be: "I like this one?" The way they talk, I swear! At least they mean well.' "Of course you can, I'm sure he'll appreciate it as much as me."

This made him sparkle more as he did the same, perching on the champion's head when he was done.

Link was awestruck as he stared at his hands in amazement, "Time, how can I ever repay…Cipo, was it? I'm so grateful I feel…I feel tears."

"Link, oh my Gods." He giggled some more, "I think your words are enough." Now he turned his attention to the other two who sat on either shoulder, "Tell Tera that I thank her for sending you all out here. I learned quite a bit about what was going on with me thanks to you." He gestured to the ancient structures in front of them, "We came here because we were curious about the ruins. Do you know anything about them?"

"Hmm, all these pillars and arches make me think this might have been old ceremonial grounds for the next Gerudo chief," Cereus jingled.

"It's so long too. Maybe the walk from one end to another was a rite of passage." Minen cocked his head, "I can also see it being an old fort, one that guarded their ice no less," he rang.

Time bobbed his head to their intriguing insight, "Well, you three should head back. It was nice meeting you." He waited for Link to say something similar, only to turn and find steam rising from his head as Cipo pelted his face with kisses. "Hey, I kinda need his protection at the moment! Don't kill him with kindness!"

The fairy stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprise at the champion's beet-red face, "Oh my bad! Is it time to go already?"

Minen flit over and tugged at his wrist, "Yes it is."

Meanwhile Cereus giggled. "I'm telling Tera when we get back!"

Cipo shook his fist at him, now being held back by his light blue counterpart, "Not if I clip your wings first!" He broke from the other's grasp and the two of them zipped away.

Minen sighed, "Those two have much to learn. You never leave a god without showing your respect first." He kissed the deity's forehead before bowing, "It was lovely meeting you. Illuminating as well. To witness your noble form, especially while injured of all things, it was an honor. Though, I wish you a speedy recovery."

"One last thing," He'd been curious about why Hylia called this form "noble" since she said it for the first time at the champion's ceremony, "Why noble?"

"Isn't it though? To shed your godhood and seal your powers is rather unheard of, but, as tricky as you're known to be, it appears you're doing it for a righteous reason or another. What it is, we don't know, but nonetheless it makes this image you take noble."

"We? Referring to those in the Sacred Realm, right?"

He waved his words away, "Don't worry, you've always been a little strange to them—not in a bad way, of course. More like…confusing."

"Goodness, what purpose do you serve if you know this much?" Time's mind was blown at the things this rain fairy knew. This is the most he ever heard about the other part of himself, much less about the other gods and what they thought.

"Oh Tera just gossips a lot to us, though I've been around for maybe thirty years now. Since Tera is the eldest Great Fairy, like she told you, we live for far longer than other fairies." He shrugged, "It could be the harsh weather too, maybe it makes us a little sturdier. However, her spring is a beautiful oasis."

"Very well, I'll let you get going, Minen." Another kiss was planted on his forehead before the fairy flit through the ruins. He looked to his descendant, "Are you okay over there? Your face is still red."

Link appeared to have a hard time standing without wobbling, "L…Let's just say…I understand where you're coming from when we met Cotera."

Seeing him this way made Time smile, "They're very touchy when they want to be, but I suppose it's also based on the kind of fairy they are too. I think you got lucky."

"Is feeling dizzy from fairy magic really all that lucky!?"

For the sake of getting back to town, Young Link semi-ignored him, retrieving the papers he'd been drawing on before things went awry, "Well, while you were getting kissed on, I found more things for you to write about for Zelda's research." Eyeing where he left off on the sketch, he connected a few lines and then handed them to his descendant.

Link's fingers twitched as he took them, "You realize we're telling Zelda about the curse on your chest, right? Honestly, I'm glad they told us about it because we definitely wouldn't have figured that out on our own. Maybe this is the downside of Impa not being here."

He grumbled after hearing her name, "In your opinion maybe." He described to him what the sprites regarded about the ruins and added a few smaller sketches to the pages. As they trekked back through the sands, the Hero tried to add more context to the things he learned from Minen.

'So, when I'm like this, based on how they said I felt Hylian, I assume that makes me a bit harder to find…maybe?' His lips formed a small smile, 'I'm also apparently known to be "tricky" too. I can see where they're coming from, especially since Hylia seems to make a point to remind me of when I'm being cunning and etc. But…' He paused in his tracks, his eyebrows coming together, 'Shedding my godhood? Sealing my powers? That's what this form tries to do?' He continued walking, 'Since when, though? Since I got the mask in Termina on the Moon?' Despite the cooling still being in full effect, his face began to feel warm, 'Dammit, that entire…ordeal was already hard to initially wrap my mind around. Hell, I don't know how long in real time I spent there! Not to mention, everything that happened on the Moon felt like a hallucination in general. Everything about that place was trippy.' He considered it further, 'Which I suppose is fair, I was going after a powerful demon in the form of a mask…or had been sealed in said mask. Whichever it was doesn't appear to matter, and yet…Majora gave me the Fierce Deity's mask!'

His hand wandered to his cheek, 'I knew he was lonely…among other more dire things, but perhaps he had some kind of death wish too all things considered.' He briefly recalled their duel. Could you even say it was "fair?" Majora didn't stand a chance against the deity. 'What if his revenge against me for reversing all of his wrongdoings extended to the fact that he gave me the mask?' After all, Young Link would be the first among many to agree that immortality was a curse. 'I don't know if that's true for me, though. I don't want to find out either. I also don't find it possible that I immediately became this god-thing as soon as I put the mask on for the first time. If that's the truth then I should be part-Deku, Zora, and Goron too—but that's clearly not right either.' He shook his head as he drifted closer to his descendant and took his hand, 'Oh well, I'll figure it out one of these days. However, I'll note that it's interesting that Minen thought it was an honor to see me this way. This makes me think that the other gods probably shut themselves off from the others if they manage to get hurt somehow. Hmph, saving face maybe.'

He felt his hand begin to trail behind him, causing him to look back, "What's up?"

"Are you okay after all that?" Link asked, sympathy reflecting in his eyes, "I could tell you had to take control of yourself at one point while the fairies were there."

"Yeah I'm fine—better actually. In fact it was nice to have someone explain something about myself to me for once!"

"Oh right…" His perception appeared to change, "I feel pretty stupid now." His smile was bashful in the very sense, "I don't know why, but I just realized that we're probably more on the same page with understanding your true form than I originally thought. I was under the impression that you'd known plenty of things about it, but, correct me if I'm wrong, you actually don't, do you?" He started to laugh.

This gave the Hero a stroke of realization as well. A perplexed smile donned his face, "Oh my Gods…you're right." 'It's beyond my wildest dreams that I pictured us relating to the fact that we know maybe equal parts nothing about my deity form. It's partially true to say the least.'

He digressed, "Okay well sorta. I know you used to use that mask at some point, so obviously you know how to fight, but…I dunno. I guess I forget there's a lot more to that kind of thing. Like how there's more to being a knight than guarding gates and defeating monsters."

Now his grin turned cheesy, "Is there, though?" They were nearing the entrance to the town when his descendant began tugging him around by the hand.

"Aw shut up, you should know that more than anyone! Damn bastard!"

"My heart!~" He pretended to swoon, getting shoved away, "You're finally calling me the thing I've been saying this whole time!" The next thing he knew, he pulled back and slung over the champion's shoulders, "Hey what the hell!"

"Right, when we get inside, I'm gonna…I'm gonna—I don't know what I'm going to do, but it'll be something! Very scary!"

"Pfft, right!"

…

What they really did, after getting a stare down from the guards for likely being the strangest voes they'd ever seen, was grab more food and talk while they waited for the Princess and the chief to return. The owner of the bar was incredibly kind to let them lounge there.

"Oh yeah, what you did with your birthday present? Those spikes are really cool!"

Time's face grew pale, "Wait wha—how did you find out?"

Link crossed his legs, he sat across from him, "Well, between leading search parties day and night, during the breaks where I should have been sleeping, I might have taken it upon myself to go through your things. I thought for some reason that it might give me an idea of where to find you."

The warmth in his face stemmed from his irritation at hearing this news, 'Y'know…as much as I really, really don't like that you did that… at least it wasn't Zelda.' But despite the way he felt, he just…ugh, 'Dammit I can't be mad at you for that!'

The Hero crossed his arms, "On one hand, in some cases, that's really smart. Though," his foot tapped against the ground, "on the other, please don't do that again."

Link raised his hands with a tired chuckle, "I can tell you really want to be mad at me. It's kinda cute…almost."

His eye twitched. Moreso when he spied the three other women beginning to nod in agreement.

He glanced away, "Okay. Okay. You don't have to tell me twice. Anyways, I think that shows just about how crazy I'd gone. Zelda had way more faith in you, though. Isn't that funny?"

The Hero of Time had the notion that he could count on the Gerudo women to keep their discussion within the bar. He was one of them after all. "In the way that she knows less about me than you do and yet you were the one losing sleep over me? Yeah. Though," He spoke from experience, "I think you should be careful about the picture you're painting. She should be your priority after all."

The dynamic in the air changed. It seems that wasn't an aspect the knight expected him to focus on, "I agree with you, but go on. I know you're going to explain."

"Well, let's just say that, after being around for so long, you learn that you make it easier to get yourself hurt by outright showing what you care most about. Especially when it comes to you and the fact that you put some legend above your princess." 'Believe me, I think worrying about my image is a pain in the ass too until caring about it ends up saving me later!'

"Pfft, there you go proving your age through your wisdom, again. Meaning you've got a point." He gave him a thoughtful smile, "At least give yourself some credit, though. I've realized that you always say some kid or some legend. Knowing you, I'm sure that's also for a clever reason?"

"It's just word play." He stifled a laugh, "I don't think I need to explain that to you. Though, in the meantime, I'm glad you're not mad about the boomerang or anything. I thought you'd be disappointed that I turned your gift into a pretty nasty weapon."

Link was shocked, "What? No way! Really, now I just want to see you use it."

"Hm, maybe I'll see what I can do when we start heading back. Those Yiga are definitely done messing with me for now. In fact, their base is probably in trouble for sending that many after me, so they likely wouldn't risk losing any more numbers. Either way, I'm sure some monsters have turned up since you've been here. As long as you guys stay back, I'm sure it won't be a problem. The only reason I haven't used it yet is out of fear that I could hurt an ally if I'm not careful."

"Meh, knowing you, you're not nearly as careless as you might think."

"Um, the doctor in the hospital wing would definitely disagree."

"You're really going to try to convince me that you care about what he thinks?" Link smirked, "It's clear as day that you're just playing nice."

A question came to mind as he rolled his eyes, "Have I talked in my sleep since I woke up yesterday?"

"Not to my knowledge, no."

This sparked the curiosity of the woman in the chair beside him, "Ah, you talk in your sleep?" She asked.

"Sometimes?"

"Mm," She took a swig from her glass, "In our culture, they say that your true thoughts, desires, feelings, etc. surface when that happens."

Link spoke before he could, "I could see that being the case. Though, it would be hard to confirm since it's only in the Old Hylian."

"Ah, that's even more interesting."

Time shrugged, "Believe me, I'm curious too, but not curious enough to actually take a nap in Zelda's tutor's office." 'Perhaps I could ask Hylia about that…' Their conversation soon turned to one of love, mainly due to the women. They learned quite quickly that neither of them have crushes so they spoke of their own love lives.

He walked out of the bar as he heard the divine beast's groan in the distance, 'That was a very interesting story.' In fact he wished the alcohol in the air hadn't made him nauseous so he could stay to hear its end. At least Link remained, he'd tell him later if he asked. Though her story also made him think back to Hylia and her interpretation of his friendship with his descendant. The clouds that had formed overhead juxtaposed the evening sky as he walked toward the northwest gate. Instead of finding a guard, he found Urbosa. "O-Oh, sav'aaq, Urbosa."

Her eyes followed his steps, "I'm very intrigued by the things I've learned about you."

His ears perked up as his clouds gave the notion they wanted to furl, "Such as?" He might as well put up a cool front.

"I know these clouds are yours, Hero of Time." He expected snide in her tone, but instead it was almost motherly, "While electricity is my element, I might add that only my most powerful attack brings out clouds." As her lips came to close, a flash of green lightning struck him.

He caught it in his hand.

It sat as a violent, flickering ball of electricity just above his palm. Time could see a red glow emitting from his cheeks as his expression froze. 'She's been reading me like a book this entire time…nearly...' His whisper reverberated off the nearby walls, "I had my suspicions." He had the feeling that if he spoke any louder, it would make the offense he took from her actions more obvious—even though it was slight at best. "What of it?"

"It was just something I noticed, though I think it's interesting that they seem to respond to the way you feel." Her smile was soft, "I figured this is because of what you've been through, and I hope you're able to regain your peace." The chief's smile grew as she gestured to herself, "Go on, I believe it's only fair to zap me back."

The ball of electricity immediately shifted into a blue hue, causing Time to take a few steps away, "N-No." 'Dammit my voice is still echoing!?' "I appreciate your words, but I don't want to hurt you."

Urbosa appeared only curious at the change of color, "A little zap is nothing, Hero. I am resistant to my own element."

"Resistant doesn't mean it can't still hurt you," He reasoned, backing farther away. "Besides, I might not have as much control over this as you may think." Not to mention he's been struck by his own bolt, and it's a thick enough band of lighting to obliterate nearly anything, but absolutely any one. The electricity was beginning to feel more and more unstable in his palm. 'C'mon, I know there must be a way to make this dissolve!'

While her face grew puzzled, the deity closed his eyes, 'Think, dammit. I don't want to cause a scene, so no throwing it up into the air. Maybe I could launch it off into the distance? I mean, it changed color which means it's now mine. Theoretically, I could just absorb it, right?' His hand brought the flickering ball toward his forehead, wind picking up and beginning to swirl around him as it drew closer.

"Hero, what are you doing?" She asked, raising her arm to guard against the sudden gusts.

"The only thing I can think of." He smacked the element into the blue, jagged-V on his forehead, the wind dissipating at the same time as the electricity did. Though, the clouds remained. "In any case, thanks for your concern, and thank you again for letting me stay here—official Gerudo or not."

Urbosa blinked, "Of course…" Whatever suspicions lit up her gaze began to fade as her hand went to her hip, "What are you going to do about your face? I didn't intend to make those appear."

"I'm working on it," Time crossed his arms, mentally trying to convince them to leave him be. It wasn't working. He shook his head, "Well, they'll go away eventually. Sav'orq, Urbosa."

"Sav'orq and safe travels, Hero."

After that interaction, he figured he was better off not knowing what all she thought of him. He could tell the clouds weren't going to budge either. When he joined Zelda and Link outside the main entrance, he was met with looks of concern.

"Did something happen?" Zelda quickly asked, bending down and peering at his face.

"Well, Urbosa may have tried to give me a friendly zap and while I'm fine, my face thinks otherwise." He chuckled, "Don't worry though, it was just her way of saying goodbye." He felt the Princess's thumb run over his cheek as she nodded and stood.

Though her eyes gave away her remaining curiosity, "Very well, let's get to the stables before it gets too late."

There wasn't much to talk about on the way back that couldn't be said in the comfort of their destination. Maybe it was just him, but for once the desert didn't feel as isolating as he originally thought. About halfway to the canyons, Tera's voice filled his ears.

Leaving so soon, my love?

Perhaps we can enjoy each other's company another time!~

He smiled, 'Yes, I'd like to see this oasis your fairies mentioned. I appreciate what I was able to learn from them as well.' She was delighted to hear his praises.

Mmmm!~ My, Hylia certainly was right about your kindness and manners!

So well-tempered!~

Unfortunately your distance grows out of reach of my focus.

Goodbye, my love!

Her lusciously sweet voice faded away. Remembering what he'd learned reminded him that they would be telling Zelda as well…at least about the blood curse part. Not necessarily the rest, of course. When they crossed into the canyons and arrived at the stables, Twilight whinnied when she saw him. "Aaww!" He swooned, drifting over to his descendant's mare, "You missed me Twi? Really?" She nickered as she nuzzled his shoulder. "Oh gosh, you're making me blush!" The nickering continued, "No really stop it! You're too much!" Giggling at his silliness, he kissed the side of her face before heading inside.

Link crossed his arms, "Tsk, you already know what I'm going to say. I still have no idea why she lets you do that to her. I'm pretty sure the last time I tried that she moved her head away from me." They could hear Zelda snickering in the distance. "Did you feed her something weird? You brainwashing her?"

"I think the fact that I don't even know the last thing you said gives away that I'm not playing any tricks here. Your horse just likes me." He playfully put his hands on his hips, "Jealous much?"

Now the Princess had strolled over to the table they occupied, "Sorry to interrupt, but I thought I'd share our findings on Vah Naboris." They waited for her to continue. Her tone was thoughtful but positive, "Good news first, we discovered that the beast can somehow conduct electricity! Now, Urbosa can't exactly control the intensity or where it goes, but most importantly we were able to get it to occur more than once!"

Time smiled, "That's really interesting! Anything else?"

"Yes actually!" She clapped her hands together, "While certainly by accident, we also discovered that the divine beast could be used as a battering ram!"

Link flinched, "Are you injured, Princess?"

The way her eyebrow raised outright dismissed his concern, "No…? Though this was thanks to Urbosa managing to catch me, so no worries." Her shoulders began to droop, "As for the bad news, we really couldn't get it to do much else, and we had absolutely no luck getting it to change color except for the brief moments it harnessed lightning…to whatever extent that may be."

Her knight remained unphased, setting the papers pertaining to the ruins on the table, "Maybe what we found might lift your spirits."

"Ah, that's right," She murmured, piqued, "…your handwriting is surprisingly legible…"

Both Links felt that comment pierce through their hearts.

'Aw c'mon Zelda!' Young Link could barely keep a straight face, 'You could have said that part in your head! He tried his best, haha!' Their attention was refocused on her as she chuckled.

"Gosh," The Princess pointed to the stains on the paper, "I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one feeling the heat today! I suppose the sweat on the page will fade with time."

'Aha…right…sweat. ' He internally sighed.

When she was done reading over their notes, she smiled as she sorted them together on the table, "Well done! I appreciate the level of insight that went into this, and the sketches! I guess I'd only wish I'd seen these sooner so I could have discussed them with Urbosa." She shrugged, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for such things later."

"Right," Link agreed, "While we were there, the Great Fairy Tera had sent the Hero a few of her fairies."

Zelda gasped as her green eyes flicked to the Hero's, "Ohmigosh! I'd completely forgotten there was a Great Fairy here! What were they like?"

Time explained what the different colors meant, "But, aside from that and being guys instead of girls, they were still very much like the fairies from Cotera's fountain. However, they were pretty intelligent to say the least."

The champion put a hand on his hip, "More notably, they helped us determine that those awful marks on his chest were part of a blood curse."

The Princess gasped again, "They what!?" The worry in her eyes spread like a wildfire.

"Link!" He half-chuckled, scolding him, "Don't just cut it off there dammit!" Time looked back to Zelda, hearing her heart rate pick up that fast perturbed him, "Don't worry Princess. Aside from it being unfinished, it was also a curse that was meant to serve your Goddess Hylia." His smile was incredulous, "You'd think they'd have a way to make sacrifices to Ganon after ten thousand years, but they clearly don't. Yikes."

"H-Hylia!? Really? Why would such a horrible thing exist?!"

"That's what I thought!" Link chimed in, bringing a hand to his chin, "That's some occult stuff if I've ever heard of it."

Time put his hands up, "I'm not sure myself, but my best guess is that there are probably more ways than one to get favors from her. Maybe that's just a really old way." '…Definitely gonna ask her about that…especially since she said nothing about it last time!'

Now Zelda only appeared disturbed…to say the least. "Perhaps…In any case, I hope you understand that you're going to be seen by the hospital wing when we return." She briefly gestured to his chest, "I would hate for all that to start glowing in the middle of the night or something." She stood, "With that said, I'm going to try to get some sleep myself. We have another long ride tomorrow so I suggest you both do the same. Goodnight."

They wished her sweet dreams, watching her retire. The Hero yawned, "Huh, now it's just us—" he cocked his head to get a better angle on the person running the counter, "—hm, and the clerk."

Link opened his mouth.

He quickly spoke, "Yes, I'm sharing with you!" Time shook his head, "But only because I'd rather not get all my stuff off your horse."

His descendant had gotten situated on the mattress before asking in a whisper, "Oh right, what was that ability you wanted to show me?"

Time made a face as he finished pulling off his boots.

Link snickered, "Hey, there's no way you don't want to try it considering how excited you were earlier."

He wanted to argue that the knight wasn't originally keen on the Princess being around, and yet there she was, a bed over from theirs. Instead, his frown turned into a taunting smirk, "If those are your wishes…" Ignoring the shade of doubt his words cast into the other's eyes, he took a step closer, puckered his lips, and started to lean in the direction of the champion's forehead. In his opinion, he drifted far beyond what he considered "too close" before Link reacted.

"Oh wait what?" He pulled his head away, "There's not some other way to..." He blinked, "Really?"

It was hard to maintain an aloof expression, "Yes, that's how it works, Link."

"Ah…" He winced, his eyes looking between him and the clerk, "well, I guess I'll pass then." But he shrugged in an attempt to play it off, "But, you clearly don't seem like you want to know anymore either. I can tell I might have forced your hand, so win-win."

'Oh trust me, I'm still curious,' he thought, nodding this way and that in response, 'just not right now.' "Hm, goodnight," Time muttered once his head was smushed into a pillow.

"You should teach me how to say that."

"Link, go to sleep." He felt a hand touch his arm. 'What the hell?'

"Oooh, so that fairy's magic is still active for you too."

"Link!" He would flip over to face him, but his wounds threatened violence if he did, "Quit picking the time to go to sleep as the time to talk!" Time plucked his hand off, "And keep facing the other way so you don't make me bleed all over the sheets from your cuddling!" 'Is he just speaking his mind? Why now?'

This didn't deter him, "What if you wake up the same way you did this morning? What should I do?"

'Dammit…that's a good question' He glanced back at him, his tone uncertain, "I-I dunno…just don't let me talk to Zelda." 'I hardly have an idea of what I'd say or do, but I'll die before I find out.' "Yeah…I'd say keep me happy too, but…maybe don't do that either." He frowned again, "I don't have the mind to answer this right now. I'm going to sleep and you should too."

But he tried to read between the lines in case he was getting at something else, 'It's too late for this but…his hand did feel unnaturally cold…though I suppose that's the point of cooling magic.' "Did Cipo's magic make you too cold or something?"

Even the breath coming from his nose was chilly, "A-A little."

For once, Time couldn't think of too many options, "Maybe go warm up by the fire? Personally, I feel fine." It's not as if he didn't know what was happening. Clearly, cooling magic is useful when it's blazing hot, however, the intensity of the magic won't change if you move to a different climate. The Gerudo Canyons had already swept in the night chill, and there was little his poor descendant could do until the effects wore off…whenever that would be.

His eyes betrayed the notion that he didn't want to leave, but his voice said otherwise, "Ah right, I should have thought of that."

The Hero smiled, amused, "Hm, dork. I'm sure it'll wear off soon, just give it another thirty minutes." He brought the covers up over his head, "I'll see you in the morning."

Several days before, the Master ambled into his chambers, spying candle wax dripping from his vanity onto the charred floor, "Sooga I don't know whose idea it was, but that was the worst plan ever!" His second in command appeared beside him.

"Yes, Master."

He sat on the air and floated over to his bed, at least that was spared from the fire, "That crafty little shit! How many men are we down again?"

"Over two hundred, Master."

Anger boiled through his veins as he kicked his sheets around, "Curses! First the brat burns up our personal encyclopedia of him, nearly killing me, and then he goes off and murders half of us!" He crossed his arms, the zest in his tone stayed no matter the situation, "I was a little busy trying to escape the fire. I heard a hell of a lot of noise, though. Did I really hear thunder? What happened?"

Sooga lowly shook his head, "That brat is not the boy or man we thought he was. Master, do you remember the name of the mask we were trying to obtain?"

His head bobbed up and down, "Yeah, it was lame. It was the Fierce Deity's Mask or some shit. Why? If we had it, it would be in my hands right now. And what's this about him not being some kid?"

"Master…when the boy ran outside, he was struck by lightning—"

Khoga guffawed, "HA! That's amazing!"

"—and turned into something of a god."

"WHAAAAT!?" Now he quickly shuffled to the edge of his mattress, "Sooga tell me more!"

"His face bore the same markings that were on the mask and his eyes glowed white. He was nearly as tall as a lynel and wielded a two-handed blade that swung beams of light. It easily cut through our men. My point is, he is not human."

Khoga scoffed, "Well then it's no wonder half of us are dead! How were we supposed to know that we caught a god!?" His interested peaked as he watched his henchman's hand come to his chin, "Ooooohh Sooga! Do you have a plan we can share?"

"I believe our objective should change now that we know that obtaining the mask is impossible at this point." He began to pace, "The ambush we had prepared with one of our members acting a lost traveler…I remember hearing that he killed her as soon as she tried to reveal his true identity. This was when only we knew who he was."

The Master gasped, "I've got it!" He hopped onto his feet, "Sooga! It's time we did more shadow work in the light! We still have some of our undercovers awaiting orders, yes?"

"It's down to a few groups, but yes, Master."

"Perfect! I bet he's secretive about that too! Now all we need to do is drag it out of him and show everyone what he truly is! Why you ask?" He pointed to the beyond, "Because if he's some powerful god, why hasn't he killed the Calamity yet!? Why hasn't he done anything related to the prophecy!? Gods are supposed to be all powerful!" His devious laughter seeped into the air, "Mmm yes! If he's not persecuted for purposefully not helping them, it'll only be more chaos for us enjoy! It's a win-win!"

Sooga bowed, "Brilliant plan, Master. When shall I deploy the order for our new plan?"

Khoga plopped back onto his ass, "Let's let them think we've been really hurt first. Nothing wrong with feigning the loss of pride to gain the element of surprise, dear Sooga. We should rough out the rest of it too. I'd rather not lose anymore members if possible. I'll tell you when…"

"Yes, Master.

Author's Note:

Hi y'all! I'd like to say I'm glad to be back to writing more often! Hopefully I can keep up the pace and perhaps get at least 2, maybe 3, chapters out a month! Lol no promises XD

In the meantime, what are your thoughts about the information Young Link learned from the fairies? How do you think Khoga's new plan is going to work out? Any theories about the other gods? About Fierce Deity? Or even Hylia?

Also, a fun fact! I've recently counted each day that's passed in the story, and so far it's been 76 days! Or, assuming each month as 30 days, Young Link has spent 2 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days in this world! Another fun fact: the three fairies are named based on a cactus that bears blue fruit! The Cipocereus minensis! :)