At first, Link was not sure whether he should laugh or be angry. The thought of this girl being over a century old was insane. It was ludicrous. It was… roughly the same as his own age.

"Were you also in a Shrine of Resurrection?" Link demanded.

The one-hundred-twenty-three-year-old girl shook her head. "Nope! Unlike yours, my youth is the result of… well, other means. But I'll get to that!"

"I'm sure she ruddy will," Brigo muttered incredulously. Symin stopped scribbling in his notebook long enough to give the patrolman a look of extreme disapproval, which caused Brigo to lend Purah more respectful attention than he would have given his own mother.

"Anyway," Purah said with a scowl at Brigo before returning her focus to Link, "you've probably guessed that we're roughly the same age. Well, that's true! It's why we're friends, or," she added with a definite pout, "why we were friends, Linky."

Dorian shifted awkwardly next to Link. It was clear the young Sheikah was not all that comfortable with the hero of legend being referred to as "Linky." And though Link still heartily disliked the moniker, he was beginning to realize the sincerity behind its use.

"We knew each other?" he asked.

His consideration had not gone unnoticed. Purah gave him a beaming smile.

"Why yes!" she exclaimed. "You don't think you learned everything about swordplay from the Imperial Guard? Sheikah swordmasters also took a hand in your training! Well, they and your father, I suppose. He was also quite skilled, from what I remember—"

"You knew my father?" Link burst out. "What was he like? Did the Calamity kill him? What happened—"

Purah halted Link's avalanche of questions with her tiny, upraised arms. "I am sorry, Linky, but I did not know him well at all. He died well before you took up The Sword That Seals The Darkness, and that happened before you became Zelda's appointed knight. All I know is he was a member of the Imperial Guard, the highest honor for a knight of Hyrule… well, until you came along, anyway."

Link sat back, his mind whirling. His father had been a knight as well. One of renown and honor. The highest honor. It warmed the emptiest part of him, like fire placed in a cold torch bracket. He was no longer the orphan child of a Sheikah shrine, bereft of all sense of title and inheritance. At the very least, he was a knight, like his father before him.

Link's eyes began to sting. He hurriedly wiped his face with the back of his wrist, ignoring Purah's pitying gaze.

"You were right to reprimand me earlier, Link," she said softly. It was odd to hear such adult-like empathy from the girlish voice. "I underestimated your suffering."

Link merely nodded, trying to recall what Purah had been saying before the topic of his father had arisen. He would dwell on that again later, when time and solitude allowed for such emotions.

"Yes, well," Purah finally resumed, "as I was saying, we knew each other well due to your training with the Sheikah. I was a young woman, then, and I can tell you a lot of my girlfriends were really hoping to marry you. The swordmasters agreed they had never met anyone as skilled with a blade as you. Luckily for you, I was far more interested in scholarly pursuits, otherwise you would never have stood a chance. I was considered quite beautiful, back then."

Purah was positively preening, but Link thought he could understand why. She was an undeniably adorable child. If she was truly as old as she said — and now reverted back to a girl of six — the prime of her life was undoubtedly a source of bittersweet pride.

"Be that as it may," Purah continued, "you did not seem especially interested in romance at the time. You were the quietest boy I ever knew, even after we became friends. I studied at the castle often, you see. You were only fourteen when King Rhoam made you a member of the Guard, so I saw you quite a bit."

"Why did Impa not tell me any of this?" Link interrupted. "If she is your sister, she would have seen and known of me."

"Believe it or not, Impa is my younger sister," Purah answered smugly. "She's only one hundred twenty. Still, she was always the serious one, while I was quite fascinated by all the Sheikah technology Rhoam was digging up at the time. The Divine Beasts, the Guardians, the Sheikah Slate… I might as well have been a child set loose in a sweets shop."

The director stopped at this and glanced distractedly at Symin, who was still writing as fast as possible in his notebook.

"Sweets," Purah murmured. "Symin, do we have any sweets? I really want some sweets. Can I have some sweets?"

The elderly Sheikah rose and immediately went over to Purah. He knelt so he could speak easily to her as an adult might to a child.

"I will fetch you some sweets as soon as we are done helping Sir Link, Ms. Purah," Symin said gently. "Please finish telling him what he needs to know, then you may have some sweets."

Purah pouted slightly, appearing as though she might protest in truly childish fashion. Eventually, however, she turned back toward Link and his companions with a slight expression of irritation.

"I like chocolate sweets," Purah grumbled. She brightened up, however, once she resumed the topic at hand. "Where was I? Oh yes! Rhoam was unearthing ancient Sheikah technology in preparation for Calamity Ganon's return. Sissy was much too concerned with that — and Princess Zelda — to be bothered with a sword-swinging boy."

Link nodded quietly while inwardly reflecting on Purah's behavior. Her youth was not just physical, it appeared. Symin, who was now looking up often from his writing to check on the director, seemed to confirm this. Purah went on, completely unaware of her lapse.

"I, however, was around you and the other Champions all the time! Those were fun times. You and Daruk would see who could out-eat the other. Queen Urbosa was like a big sister. I don't think Revali liked you very much, but Mipha—"

A flash of sweet pain. A constriction in the throat. It was similar to the times Link had heard Zelda's voice, or when Rhoam had first mentioned Ganon's name. Memory's emotion had overtaken him then, and it was doing so now. Mipha. Link felt as though something wonderful was hidden just out of sight, which only made his heart ache all the more.

His head swimming, Link wrenched his attention back to Purah, who had continued unabated.

"... by the time the Calamity came, it was too late," she said sadly. "I was here when it happened. A good thing, too. Ganon's rage stopped short of Hateno — you probably saw the ruins at the fort, huh? — so my research lab and I were safe. That's where some of my Sheikah brothers brought you after you'd been wounded."

"Here?" Link asked, looking around. "Not the Shrine of Resurrection?"

"Yes!" Purah confirmed happily. "Only Zelda and I knew the shrine's location, and she had gone back to Hyrule Castle by then. Before she left, she told the Sheikah to bring you here, since I knew where the shrine was. You were a mess. Covered in wounds, nearly dead...we had a job keeping you alive long enough just to get you to the shrine!"

"If 'e was that close to dyin', why bring 'im here when yeh had to take 'im back west to the plateau?" Brigo interrupted. "That's at least four days on foot, never mind the Ganonspawn that were swimmin' aroun' the fort and Ash Swamp. Ain't another way to get there from here, either."

Confused, Link removed the Sheikah Slate from the hooks on his belt and looked at the map. The Shrine of Resurrection, which lay within an oval-shaped rise of land labeled "The Great Plateau" near the center of the map, was marked by a blue diamond near the center of the map. The yellow arrow marking his own location lay far to the east, overlapping a small square labeled "Hateno Village." Then he looked at the area between them, until he finally found the path running through the partially forested "Fort Hateno."

Brigo was right. It made no sense. Purah, however, had stood up on her bench, put her tiny fists on her hips and was tapping her foot in a highly irritated manner.

"First of all, I said you weren't allowed to ask me any questions! Only Linky!" she reminded them huffily. "Second, of course there's another way! It's right there!"

Purah was pointing a small finger at Link's slate. Brigo and Dorian craned their heads for a better look. Link wondered if they could see what she meant. The patrolman snorted.

"If yer tellin' meh yeh hauled Link half-dead south 'round Ebon Mountain and circled back north to Marblod, yeh must have Hylia's own luck," the patrolman insisted. "That strip o' rock between Ebon and the ocean is a ruddy death trap, not to mention the extra two or three days it took yeh' to go that way. It's a wonder Link is still alive an' with us!"

Purah countered the patrolman's expertise by rolling her eyes dramatically, for all the world as if he were a clueless dunce. Link was wondering whether the director had suffered another childish slip when she snatched the slate from his hands and began touching its surface repeatedly.

"Aha!" she muttered. "I see. Yes, well, this explains why the Hebran is nattering on like a Hatenoan housewife."

Brigo opened his mouth furiously, but Link cut off his retort with a boot to his shin. Purah had clambered down from her bench and was approaching the pedestal he had seen upon first entering. Like so many of its kind he had already encountered, the device contained a rectangular hole perfectly sized for the slate. At the towers, the stalactite above the pedestal distilled information for the map. In a different shrine at the plateau, they had given the slate additional powers. What would this pedestal do?

Without hesitation, Purah inserted the slate into its awaiting slot. The pedestal's surface rotated until the slate was now laying down horizontally, its smooth, black surface facing up. The stalactite began to glow. Blue runes coursed down its length like water, coalescing at the blunt tip until they began to form a tangible drop of blue liquid.

Dorian gasped, while Brigo gave a low whistle. Link realized that despite their travels together, neither of his friends had actually seen the phenomenon take place before. The drop, which had hung precariously from the stalactite, fell onto the slate with a small splash. A lifeless, monotonous voice sounded from the pedestal.

"Transfer complete. Gate travel now available."

Without a word, Purah removed the slate, which the pedestal had proffered up after completing its task. She clambered back onto her bench and placed it on the table, where Link hesitantly reached out to take it.

The map was once again visible. Nothing appeared to have changed. He wondered briefly whether the pedestal had done anything at all.

"Ugh, I expected more from you, Linky," Purah groaned. "Tap the Shrine of Resurrection!"

Slightly offended at Purah's impatience but curious nonetheless, Link did as he was told. As had happened before, small words appeared next to the blue diamond after pressing it with his index finger. "Shrine of Resurrection," they read. This time, however, something else appeared: a small rectangle below the location's name, inside which was a single word.

"Travel?" Link asked, bemused.

"Yes," Purah said proudly. "I'd love to meet the brother or sister who thought this up. Any activated Sheikah structure — they show up blue on the slate — can be traveled to instantly via the slate's power! That is how I got you to the Shrine of Resurrection from here!"

And with that, the Director of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab of Hyrule looked at Brigo and stuck out her tongue.

Link's mind raced. The possibilities…

"So if we needed to be in Kakariko tonight," he began.

"No, no, no!" Purah protested. "Just you! The slate can only transport one person at a time."

"Then how did you take Link to the shrine, then?" Dorian interrupted eagerly. "Or did it deposit him directly where he needed to be? But wait, you said you brought him—"

"Will you let me finish?" Purah was almost apoplectic with impatience. Link was reminded forcibly of a child desperately waiting for her turn to speak. "That slate," she continued, pointing at the device in Link's hands, "belonged to Princess Zelda. She was smart enough to leave it with you, Linky, before returning to Hyrule Castle. I managed to make a second one - basic, but functional - for me. You were unconscious, but the slate doesn't care. It will carry whoever's finger touches the travel command. I pressed your slate with your finger, then used mine to take me!"

Link sat back, wondering at the brilliance of it all. Instant travel for the slate carrier. Then he thought he saw a flaw.

"But, if I can only go to places that were activated, how were you able to go to the Shrine of Resurrection, much less return here?"

"Silly Linky," Purah said seriously. "Look at the map again. Your marker's probably covering part of it up."

Link did look again, and realized the yellow arrow indicating his location was indeed partially covering up a new addition to the map: a blue diamond at the eastern edge of Hateno Village. Touching it with his finger, the words "Hateno Ancient Tech Lab" appeared. Then his mind recalled something he had seen moments before.

"The bronze circle outside…," he murmured.

"There ya go!" Purah said in a congratulatory manner. "Those are the gateways. I'm assuming the towers have them, since they started showing up on my slate a few days ago. Ours are linked," she explained. "Whatever you activate appears on my slate too. Neat, huh?"

Link could only nod in agreement. Now he understood the unusual forge outside and the meaning of the blue fire and lights at every Sheikah structure he had seen. Much like fire fueled a torch, that blue light fueled the ancient technology. He was awestruck at the genius and power of it all.

"This still do no explain why yeh look six red rupees short o' yer age, lass," Brigo moodily interjected.

"Yes, well, as to that," Purah answered loftily, "after I put Linky in the shrine, it was impossible to say how long he'd stay there. We'd never used it before. We knew what it was supposed to do, but there was no telling how long it would take or what side effects he would suffer. But now we do!" she added cheerfully. "You're in perfect health and have no memories!"

"Ms. Purah," Symin murmured. "Please continue."

"Ah, yes," Purah mused, as though trying to recapture her train of thought. "Well, we were basically left waiting, weren't we? We knew Zelda was keeping naughty old Ganon at bay, but we also knew we needed Linky to finish the job. But years passed. Decades. A century. I… I wasn't sure you were coming back."

Link was startled to see tears well up in the director's eyes. And though by all appearances Purah was a six-year-old about to burst into tears, he realized she still carried a lifetime's worth of grief within.

Symin laid a gentle hand on Purah's shoulder. She reached and held onto that hand, for all the world like a child accepting the comfort of a parent. The director gulped back her tears, then continued.

"We knew Ganon was - getting stronger," Purah said between hiccups. "Sissy wanted to keep waiting. I didn't. I wanted us to - to prepare for the worst. We don't have many warriors left. I decided to steal a page from Ganon's book. Instead of old bones brought back to life, I wanted to make our old warriors young again!"

Link's eyes widened in alarm. Brigo chewed his lip in anticipation, while Dorian had his chin in his hands, completely mesmerized at the tale's unfolding.

"Because I wasn't sure if the Shrine of Resurrection had actually worked, I decided to make a new rune on my slate. An anti-aging rune!"

Purah was momentarily glowing with the excitement of her remembered research. Symin had stopped writing and closed his eyes, his expression pained.

"Well, it took me a few years, but I did it!" the director doggedly continued. "But after Linky, I wasn't going to let anybody try it before me. If it worked, great. If not, it wouldn't hurt anyone but me. Symin helped me. He booted up the rune, pointed the slate so the rays hit my body. It only made me really tired, so I just went to bed.

"The next morning," Purah added with triumph, "I looked like a Sheikah woman in her fifties."

Dorian gasped in delight, while Brigo gave another low whistle of amazement. Link, however, was troubled. He thought he could see the tale's bitter end, and his heart broke in advance of the telling.

"My hair was thick and down to the floor," Purah continued, her gaze now focused on something only she could see. "My wrinkles were gone. I didn't expect it to work so well! Or so fast."

The director's excitement faltered at that last statement. Symin was silently weeping.

"The third day, I felt like I'd slept the best I had in years," Purah resumed with a smile, but her fingers were drumming the table. "I looked in the mirror and saw I was even younger! Symin ran some tests and concluded I had the body of a Sheikah woman in her thirties!"

Dorian was no longer entranced by Purah's story. Now his expressions was one of horror. Brigo was looking at her as though he had discovered something gross and unnatural. Link felt numb.

"On day four, I looked like I had when I knew you, Linky," Purah said quietly. "The same hair. Same youth. Had I gone to the village below or even to Kakariko, every single man would have proposed to me on the spot. I was so beautiful. So beautiful."

Symin was holding his face in his hands, tears coursing between his fingers. Link felt a rush of shame. He had been blissfully asleep for the century's worth of aging he had missed while Purah, the woman responsible for his being alive today, had lived her own nightmare wide awake.

"By day six," she whispered, gesturing to her six-year-old body, "I looked like this. I couldn't reach things on the shelf anymore. I couldn't write like I used to. I couldn't—"

"Enough!"

Symin had stood up, pride and grief mingling in his tear-stained features.

"Enough," he repeated, this time more calmly. "Please, Ms. Purah, it is nighttime. You need your rest. Go to sleep, then we can see our friends tomorrow morning."

The Director of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab of Hyrule looked at her assistant with a bemused expression, then rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"You're right, Symin," she murmured drowsily. "It's time for sleep. G'night, Linky. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Symin lifted Purah into his arms and carried her out the door.

The three friends did not speak during the brief interval between Purah and Symin's departure and the latter's return. Each of them was still reeling from the director's tale, and none more than Link. He could not help thinking of the Shrine of Resurrection. It had seemed so strange and foreign to him upon awakening. Until now, he had never considered it dangerous.

Now, however, Link found himself wondering what would have happened had the shrine not functioned as planned. Like the Divine Beasts. Or Purah's anti-aging rune. The Sheikah were renowned for their use and wisdom of technology. When that strength failed — or worse, turned on its creators — the results were disastrous.

It was on this dark vein of thought the group dwelled when Symin re-entered the house. His tears were gone, replaced by the calm he had exhibited when the companions had first arrived. Before Link or his friends could say anything, the elder Sheikah held up his hands in supplication.

"I beg forgiveness for cutting your conversation short," Symin said in way that told Link he was not merely being polite. "It has been a difficult few weeks for both of us, and I would not see Ms. Purah suffer more than she already has."

Dorian immediately rose from his seat and went over to Symin, where the younger Sheikah grasped the elder's hands. He bent his head over those clasped hands, speaking with eyes closed.

"You have committed no wrong this day, brother," Dorian said intently. "May Hylia's grace be payment enough for whatever debt your heart still carries."

Symin's eyes immediately began to water, and Link and Brigo casually looked away so as not to embarrass the man after what had already been a long day.

"Thank you, brother," he said kindly while lifting Dorian to his feet. "It is truly a pleasure to see one of my own again." Then he turned and gave a formal Sheikah bow to the two still seated at the table. "Master Link, Master Brigo, you do your families and your people proud. I am honored to be in your company."

Link and Brigo rose from their bench and returned Symin's formality, which seemed to please him even more. Then the Sheikah's expression grew serious.

"Master Link, I know you did not come here to learn of Ms. Purah's fate," Symin said. "Rest assured that first thing on the morrow, yours will be the first and only business to which we attend."

Link shook the Sheikah's hand without the slightest hint of disappointment. Unlike his first meeting with Impa, he was not thinking of questions that had yet to be answered.

"What Purah said tonight allows me to believe what she will tell me tomorrow, Symin," Link said earnestly. "Until then."

Symin's tremulous smile of gratitude seemed a sufficient reply, so Link and his friends quietly exited the lab. A clear and starry night sky greeted them, though the blue-lit torches provided plenty of light for the trio to descend the hill in safety. Each man kept his peace until they were settling in at Hateno's inn.

"What do yeh think, lad?" Brigo asked while removing his boots at the side of his bed. "Does the wee lass — er, lady's — story strike yer fancy?"

Link nodded thoughtfully, thinking of the book Purah had opened but ultimately not consulted. "She knows more of what I must do," he said as he burrowed into his blankets. "I believe we will find out what on the morrow. After that, I intend to return to Impa and hear the answers she promised me. Then, the time for learning will be done and the time for doing come."

Before blowing out his bedside candle, Brigo nodded toward the bed on the other side of Link. Dorian had been unusually quiet since hearing Purah's tale, and Link thought he understood why. Infatuated with the histories and marvels of his people, the young Sheikah had now seen up close the demise of those things he most highly esteemed.

Ganon, Link thought. It all stems from him. Were it not for his partially successful return, the Sheikah's ancient technology would not have been turned against its creators. Link would not have needed the Shrine of Resurrection, which had left him searching for the memories that so completely eluded him. Purah would never have resorted to such desperate means to forestall Ganon's coming.

Link did not disturb his younger friend. Who was he to do so? As a Sheikah, Dorian knew far more of the subject than Link ever could. Instead, he tried to ignore his own questions that still clamored to be answered and resign himself to sleep.

The trio made the short journey from the inn to the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab at first light the following morning. Little was said at breakfast, which was consumed as efficiently as possible.

Truth be told, Link hardly tasted his bread and cheese. Purah's tale had, in its own odd way, confirmed that here at last was a place of answers. If the appetizer was knowing his father's lineage had been passed down to his son, Link could not wait for the main course.

Dorian remained introspective, while Brigo appeared to be respecting the internal emotions of both his friends. In this unintentional cone of silence, the companions arrived once again at the sigil-marked door of the unusual Sheikah abode.

"Come on in, Linky!" Purah's cheerful voice answered to Link's knocking. Upon opening the door, he saw that the diminutive director was seated exactly where she had spent the majority of the previous evening: at one of the benches before the largest table.

Link also noticed the well-worn book before her once more, heightening his already nervous expectations. He and his friends resumed their seats on the opposite side of the table. Symin once again pulled up a chair to just outside the other four's circle of conversation, close enough to overhear and take accurate notes.

Purah, her round red eyes as bright as ever, beamed at the three of them through her circular spectacles. She showed no signs of the childlike distraction or fatigue that had ultimately ended the previous day's discourse.

"I am glad you're back!" she exclaimed. "Apparently I got so wrapped up in my own story I didn't get to yours, Linky! Or, at least, how to find it!"

Despite himself, Link leaned forward. Brigo and Dorian appeared curious as well.

"Now then, Linky," Purah demurred while poring over a specific page in the sizable tome, "do you have any memory at all of visiting the ancient springs?"

Frowning, Link tried to see if thinking of a spring in general would spark anything. It didn't. He shook his head.

"I thought you wouldn't," Purah said with satisfaction. "No matter. The point is, I know for a fact you accompanied Zelda to each of them. The springs, you see, represent the power of the Goddess bestowed to the kingdom of Hyrule: wisdom, power, and courage. Zelda, you see, would have gone — and did go — to each of them in order to train for her role in confronting Ganon."

As she explained this, Purah turned the dusty volume to face Link and his friends. Centered on the page was a symbol Link had seen before, one that was even now stitched on the back of his cloak: a pyramid of three golden triangles. At each point was illustrated a small pool encircled by what appeared to be serpents with wings. Each was a different color and depicted using different elements. The blue serpent spat what appeared to be snowflakes from its mouth. The red serpent was wreathed in fire. Lightning encased the third serpent, which was yellow in color.

Dorian was fascinated. "These," he asked while pointing to each of the serpents, "are the spirit dragons, are they not, Lady Purah?"

The director nodded happily. "Oh, you are well-learned for such a little brother, aren't you?" Dorian blushed at her praise. "Yes, the spirit dragons were commissioned by Hylia herself to guard the springs since their creation. No one has seen them in over ten millennia, but I suppose there's a first time for everything!"

Link was not sure how to take that, and Brigo looked positively befuddled.

"Is Link supposed to find the ruddy beasts, then?" the patrolman asked quizzically.

"No, no, no, silly," Purah admonished. "That was just a little background knowledge! It's always good to have some, don't you think? No, it's the springs that are important, and for two reasons! First, as I said before, I know Link was at each of them with Zelda. There's a good chance that if he journeys to each one, either at the springs themselves or on the way, he'll see something that jogs his memory! We can't very well just send him to the Hyrule Castle ruins for that - that place is crawling with Guardians, you know - so I figure this is the next best thing! Going to these springs was significant for Zelda, so there's a very good chance it would have been for Link as well!"

Link's heart began to race. It made sense.

"What's the second reason?" Dorian interrupted. He, too, appeared rejuvenated at the progress this conversation was producing.

"Well, as young and impressive as Linky still looks, I must admit he just isn't the same without The Sword That Seals The Darkness," Purah said sadly, as though Link had fallen short of her own expectations. "As far as pieces of metal go, that one looked pretty good on him! More importantly," she added in a tone as serious as a six-year-old could manage, "he can't beat Ganon without it."

"Rhoam said as much on the plateau," Link agreed. "But he didn't know where it is. Do you?"

To his disappointment, Purah shook her head. "The Sword's location was a mystery before it presented itself to you, Linky, nor was it with you when you were brought to me unconscious and nearly dead. But don't worry! No one could find or wield it who wasn't meant to have it!"

"How do the springs help me to that end, then?" Link wondered aloud. In a way he could not explain, finding the sword seemed as important — and perhaps the same — as finding his memories.

"The Sword is forged by the same powers represented by the springs!" Dorian interrupted triumphantly. His thrill at his own deduction, however, was blunted by the severe look Purah issued him over the top of her spectacles.

"Ahem!" the director harrumphed in an extremely put-out tone. "Yes, as my little brother alluded, the power of the Sword That Seals The Darkness is derived from and dependent on the same powers of the springs: wisdom, power, and courage. I believe if you visit and pray at each one, the Goddess could very well bless you with those powers so that the Sword could present itself to you again. Between those blessings and rediscovering your memories, you should be in the same state you were when the Sword last considered you its master."

"That still leaves us with the task of finding the springs," Link said, thinking quickly. "Do you… ?"

To his delight, Purah nodded. "I know the exact location of at least one: the Spring of Wisdom. It sits near the summit of Mount Lanayru, which coincidentally lies just north of here. The location of the other two springs is less exact. I only know that the Spring of Power resides somewhere in the Akkala region and that the Spring of Courage is hidden in the lands of Faron."

Brigo gave a low whistle of amazement. "Yeh do no be joking about bein' 'less exact,'" he said heavily. "The best patrolmen can get lost in those parts, an' that's if they're lucky enough to not be slain by the creatures wot roam there."

For answer, Purah struck up the now familiar pose of hands on hips accompanied by a stubborn glare. "I don't know about a patrolman, but I'm sure Linky is up to it!" she squeaked gallantly. "Now, I suggest you try to find the Spring of Wisdom first. After that, you should probably get back to my sissy. You'll be shocked to know that she has other things for you to do."

"As important as this?" Link demanded. He was not at all eager to be led about on Impa's leash just as his own path had finally emerged.

A wisdom much older than six years old answered him from those child-like eyes. "Don't worry, Linky," Purah said in the most serious tone he had yet heard from her. "Impa knows what you need to do, some of which you do not yet know. And yes, it is important."

Link snuck one more glance at the open book. Three triangles. Three springs. Three steps to remembering, truly remembering, who he was. He looked at his friends, each of which seemed to be waiting on him.

"When do we leave?"

AUTHOR NOTES:

One of the bigger questions I face as the story progresses: which "side quests" are vital to the plot? I remember wrestling with this specific chapter for nearly two weeks, because this is where half of Link's long-term plan is revealed. Everything Purah lays out now has to matter later. Without giving away too much, I felt the springs could serve as the focal point for both Link's memories and his quest to reclaim the Sword. Only time will tell whether you guys feel it was mapped out well.

The idea of Impa being an amusing (if accidentally transformed) child is fun, and I hope you laughed at least a little to yourself upon reading some of her retorts/exchanges. I also felt a cold splash of reality was needed to make her a more realistic character. Her journal, which can be found in the game itself, provided the ammunition I needed to make that happen. Modern-day movies often reflect the horror of science gone wrong. That's exactly what happened with Purah, and I felt I'd be remiss to not address its effect on her.

One last thing I enjoyed in writing this chapter: Link's brushes with his past. Mentions of his father and Mipha provide some foreshadowing of what he will later and more fully confront. Here's hoping those confrontations meet your expectations. As always, feel welcome to leave a review, shoot me a private message or (if you find Book Two to your liking so far) give the story a fav/follow. Hope life is treating you well! - mattwrites