Chapter 4: Fi

Link pulled himself up over the edge with some relief, looking around. He'd finally made it back onto the top of the island, climbing up a tangle of matted vines and rough rock, still following the strange bluish figure from his dreams. It was real – she was real. And he was standing on the far side of the Goddess' Isle, behind her great statue, as the floating figure drifted back in the direction of the closed gates. Link ran after her, gaining distance at last, whipping around as she suddenly turned lightning-fast and shot straight through the solid stone of the statue's base. He stopped for a moment, staring. How could he follow that?

The emblem of the goddess carved into the stone seemed to glow faintly, and then, to Link's shock, the stone wall itself shuddered and slid downwards with a grinding sound, shedding dust and chips of stone. Beyond it, a dark passage yawned before him, cool, faintly stale air wafting gently out. Link stared for several moments longer before starting slowly inside, looking around.

A short flight of stairs led less than Link's own height downwards, the thin dust of ages clouding up at his every footstep. As he stepped out into the echoing darkness at their base, a light began to brighten in the air, splitting into four balls like torch flames and showing him a vast, roughly hexagonal room, nearly as wide as the base of the statue itself. In its exact centre, a sword stood embedded in a low pedestal, somehow untarnished by the ages, undulled by dust and time, and almost seeming to glow with an inner light of its own. Link's breath caught, and he gazed at it for a long moment. Something about the sword… called to him.

As he gathered his determination and started forward, the sword seemed to flash, a figure springing from it and 'landing' just above the floor, sinking gracefully into a deep bow. She straightened up: the same strange figure Link had been chasing, the same one he had seen in his dreams. Her face was youthful, slightly too perfect, a tiny diamond in the centre of her forehead, and all a strange metallic blue, eyes blank and yet looking directly at him. Her arms were almost winglike, one blue as her face, one deep purple, seeming enveloped in layers like shawls draped over one another. Though she seemed metallic, sculpted, they moved and hung around her like folds of draping cloth, and she appeared to breathe, even her hair moving slightly in the same intangible wind that fluttered the cloth of her arms. She seemed to be wearing a thick, very short, figure-hugging dress, a giant blue diamond-shaped gem set at the centre of her chest, and dark tights with a diamond pattern.

"The one chosen by my creator. I have been waiting for you." It was the same slightly echoing, half-heard, half-felt voice Link had heard before, her voice. She sounded perfectly, impossibly calm. "You will play a role in a great destiny."

Link stared at her. What was she?

"According to your social customs, I should provide you with my personal designation. Fi is the name I was given." She paused, not really for emphasis, perhaps simply to mark a change of subject. "I was created for a single purpose, long before the recorded memory of your people. I must aid you in fulfilling the great destiny that is your burden to carry." She twisted, looking over her shoulder at the sword behind her. "Come, Link. You must take up this sword. As the one chosen by my creator, it is your destiny."

Link was still staring. Even the question How does she know my name? came to him a few moments late. Fi waited for a few moments, then continued.

"The strange dreams troubling your sleep. My sudden appearance. Uncertainty surrounding the fate of one you hold dear. Under the circumstances, it is only logical that you would exhibit some apprehension."

He refocused himself slightly, still uncertain, shocked and confused and a little afraid. What was she? How did she know these things? What was she talking about?

"To minimise your uncertainty, allow me to share some information. My projections indicate that this information has a high probability of altering your current emotional state."

What?

"The one you seek, honourable Zelda, is still alive."

What?! Link gasped, hopeful, half-disbelieving. Could she know that? How did she know – but she sounded so certain – was it true?

"And this spirit maiden… the one you call Zelda… is another chosen one fated to be part of the same great mission. Therefore, should you wish to meet with your friend, I highly recommend that you take up this sword before you set out to search for her."

Somehow, she knew Zelda. Somehow, she knew about Link's dreams – the very dreams she'd been in. She said she knew what was happening, that she knew Zelda's fate.

"Does that information invigorate you? Are you ready to accept this sword?"

He couldn't ignore that. She was the only thing that might have some idea of what had happened to Zelda. All she seemed to want was that he take up the sword that rested behind her, and with a sharp breath, Link started forwards, only to stop in surprise and uncertainty as she floated higher, suddenly hovering face-down only a little above head height.

"It seems that further persuasive measures will not be required," she commented. "In the name of my creator, draw the sword and raise it skyward."

With that, she withdrew, flitting several paces back to float upright again, out of the way. Link stepped forward, climbing the two shallow steps onto the central dais and stopping before the sword. Unlike everything else in the chamber, there was no dust on it, no sign of age. It could have been left there yesterday. A blue gem at the base of the blade looked like a small version of the one on the strange figure's – Fi's – chest, and the pale hilt was understatedly ornate. Bracing himself, Link set his right hand on the hilt, then his left, gripping the sword tightly and drawing it forth.

It came free with a slight scrape of metal, light and well-balanced in his hands. Link let go with his right; it felt natural in his grip, a comfortable extension of his arm. He raised it towards the light now shining down from the centre of the ceiling above, and the light seemed to catch on the blade, in the blade, for a moment almost transfixing. A painless shock ran up his arm; he was-

-everything a blur of motion cascading at once, sword in hand: parry; counter; whirl; foes all around-
-down on one knee but only for an instant-
-blades locked in a battle more vital than life itself-
-and he was not alone-

"Recognition complete, Master…"

Link tore his eyes from the sword to look at her. It didn't feel like looking away at all. She was… part of it. She was it.

"Link… my master."

Was he imagining it, or was there something in her calm voice? Something… warmer? He lowered the blade slowly, gazing at it once more, into the gem that somehow matched hers. Could he feel it? Feel… something? Feel her?

"Link!"

Link whirled at the unexpectedly normal voice from behind him, utterly out of place in the strange and ancient scene.

"Headmaster?!"

Headmaster Gaepora had come to the bottom of the stairs, gazing into the room with an air of amazed disbelief. "I suspected there was a room inside this statue, but I could never find it… How did you get here?" He paused, and added after a moment, almost reflexively "And what are you doing out of bed?"

Link looked over his shoulder, to where Fi had drifted around to directly behind him, lowering to his own level again. Could the headmaster even see her? Even if he could, how would he explain?

"...Link, who… what… is that?"

Link had no idea how he could tell Fi's blank eyes were watching the headmaster, but they were. She said nothing, expression still perfectly emotionless, and he looked back to him, holding the sword increasingly awkwardly.

"She said her name is Fi. She… I think… she is this sword." It didn't seem to make any more sense for being said out loud, and yet somehow he was sure it was true.

"The stories said…" Gaepora hesitated. "Some of the old stories – the ones that were only half-remembered even by the time they were written down – said that below the goddess there was a 'Chamber of the Sword'. That it was a gift from the goddess to us, and to the one she had chosen. But if the chamber really existed, or if it was a metaphor…" He shook his head. "I'd never thought I'd be standing in it, but we must be. But, Link… Those old tales… they are also a warning. The light of the Goddess' Sword will shine forth… against the all-consuming darkness that shall reawaken." He closed his eyes, focusing on memory. "But we should not fear… for her chosen will take up the light and the ancient battle, and bring it to an end." His eyes opened again, looking from Link to a point well above his head. "They refer to 'one born of the blade' who will be a guide, but others say it is one born to the blade who will be guided…"

Link turned sideways to see that Fi had risen into the air again, looking down at them both from more than his own height again off the floor.

"The oral tradition," she said, once again preternaturally calm. Had Link only imagined the faint hint of warmth he'd thought he'd heard in her voice before? "It is one of the least reliable methods of information retention and transmission. I conclude from your limited knowledge that critical elements have been lost from these stories over time."

Link and Gaepora glanced at one another. He didn't think he'd ever heard someone criticise the breadth of the headmaster's knowledge before. Instructors like Owlan or Horwell might have more depth of knowledge in the subjects they were interested in, but Headmaster Gaepora was widely accepted to be one of the most widely-read people anywhere in the sky.

Fi dropped gracefully to ground level again, moving as if landing despite her feet never actually touching the floor. "The one born to wield the sacred blade shall be guided by the one born of the blade, who was created in the service of the goddess. He shall be the goddess' chosen hero, for it is his spirit that is unbreakable. He shall be burdened with the task of eradicating the shadow of apocalypse from the world. Such is his destiny."

She was looking directly at them. Why did Link almost feel that there was something she deliberately wasn't looking at?

"With the spirit of the blade at his side, he shall soar above the clouds and travel below… and, united with the spirit maiden, shall bring forth a piercing light to burn away the shadow and resurrect the land."

Below the clouds? With a pang, Link remembered Zelda, only hours ago, telling him she wanted to find out what was beyond them some day. Was that… where she was now?

"Master, you must embark on a journey beneath the clouds to the vast realm below that you call the surface. It is only through this journey that you can fulfil the mission set before you by my creator, the goddess. It is also the only method available for you to reunite with the spirit maiden, honourable Zelda."

If that was true, then it was barely a choice at all. Link could still see her falling away below him in his mind's eye, see himself reaching for her and failing. He had to find her. Whatever else Fi said, so vast he could hardly take it in, he would face as it came. He'd have to.

Seeing the shifts in his stance, in his expression, the headmaster spoke up again.

"This is no easy task she speaks of, Link. The world below is surely forsaken by the goddess, and to reach it you would have to find a way to pierce the cloud barrier. No-one has ever done this in living memory, or if they have, they have never returned."

"I know," Link said quietly.

Before them, Fi stretched out her arms, gracefully sweeping them in front of her. The gem set into the sword glowed briefly, and suddenly, between where perhaps her hands should have been if she had them beneath the draping folds, a piece of broken-looking stone grew from palm-size to head-size in moments. Apart from the fact that it was still floating seemingly unsupported, turning gently as it did, it looked almost as if she'd taken it from a carrying pouch like the one Link himself wore. Fi gestured, and the stone – part of a broken tablet? – floated towards him. He took it in his free hand uncertainly, feeling nothing more than a faint, cool almost-familiarity for an instant as he did, in the moment before his hand was bearing its full weight. It was stone, solid stone by the feel of it, blank on one side but engraved on the other with an almost map-like pattern, a green diamond gem inset among the engravings.

"This tablet will illuminate a path through the clouds to the land below," she told him calmly. "You must place it within the altar behind me."

Link looked beyond her, noticing for the first time that there was indeed an altar against the far wall, set into a curved alcove. An empty rectangular shape suggested something was missing, and was more than big enough to hold the piece of tablet. Fi drifted out of the way as he started forward, stepping carefully around the small pedestal that had held the sword, and watched as he one-handedly set the piece in the frame. It was the right thickness, and as he slid it into the bottom-right corner, the gem glowed with an inner light. Link felt a rush of power flow through the room around him for a few moments, upwards into the statue above, before fading away.

"Master Link, it is done," Fi confirmed from behind him, and he turned to listen. "Setting the tablet into place has opened a small rift in the cloud barrier. You will be able to descend in relative safety at a location I shall pinpoint for you. Since I reside within your sword, I shall be with you at all times, so there will be no difficulty in locating it."

With that, she 'leapt' – still without touching the ground – into the air, blurring as she did into an ill-defined orb of light that vanished into the sword Link still held in his left hand. It didn't feel any different, but then, he'd already thought that he could feel something… feel her... in its touch. He and the headmaster alike both gazed at it for a long, silent moment before the older man finally spoke.

"Link… I know almost nothing about the surface, or this 'shadow of apocalypse' this spirit, Fi, speaks of." He glanced again at the sword. "But this is the Chamber of the Goddess that I have read of and wondered how to enter all these years… and so I must believe her when she says she is a servant of the goddess. This is the holiest place that perhaps has ever existed anywhere in the sky. So I must also believe her when she tells you that our Zelda is her 'spirit maiden', and that you and she have some great role to play."

Left unsaid, perhaps, was the other side of the medallion: that if the headmaster did not believe her in any one thing, he could not believe her in all – and if he could not believe her at all, then they were no closer to finding Zelda, and she might indeed already be dead. Fi offered him hope beyond the sliver he had found in his books, and he clung to it as tightly as Link did.

"Only think that even now she must indeed be alive, and coming to terms with this same knowledge of a task the goddess has set before you both." He set a hand gently on Link's right shoulder. "I cannot in good conscience demand this of you, Link. I do not even know what dangers you will face. Even now I wish to call my Loftwing and fly to this gap in the clouds myself to search for my daughter. But it may be you are the only one who can find it, and it is all bound to this task set before you…" He took a deep breath. "I cannot demand it, but I can ask it… as a father, not, for once, as your headmaster. Will you find my daughter and bring her safely back to us, Link?"

Link nodded firmly, more certain and more determined than he had ever felt. "I swear I will." He, too, glanced at the sword in his hand. "I'll find her, Headmaster. Whatever we have to do."

"Thank you." Headmaster Gaepora cleared his throat, desperate gratitude in his eyes. "Come. If you are to set out on this journey, you will need to be both fully recovered and well-rested. Though I don't know if I will be able to sleep either… but it's important that you at least try."

Again, Link nodded. He didn't feel even remotely able to sleep, but he could see the wisdom in the headmaster's advice. While he no longer felt the confusion and disorientation he had when he awoke, flying tired would be inviting trouble, even without the unknown dangers of the mythical surface. The headmaster turned, and he fell into silent step at his side – until, after only three steps, Gaepora stopped.

"What is that…"

He veered off to the left, towards the edge of the chamber, some little way around from the entryway. Link frowned: was there a shape in the shadows, not far from the entrance? Slowly, uncertainly, he followed, the nameless dread that had shrouded his heart as he stood atop the Goddess' hands back and growing with every step.

Gaepora reached the shape and held up a hand behind himself as if to stop Link from approaching any closer, but though the young student halted, he was already close enough to make out what was slumped in the shadows. There was a body there, a dark shape in the darkness, centuries old. Nothing was recognisable in withered flesh and ancient bone, fragments of stained fabric and rusted metal. He took an unconscious step back, transfixed and wanting nothing more than to look away.

"...Link."

He blinked. The headmaster was turning around. Link tried to focus on him, but his eyes kept darting to the side.

"Go now," he said gently. "This poor soul will wait another night. I shall keep the gates locked so that none disturb this place." He stepped sideways, breaking Link's line of sight to the body. "I'll return here in daylight and see to this. You focus on your journey ahead."

Link's breath seemed caught in his throat. He nodded wordlessly, and began a quick, jolting walk back to the entrance. The sword in his hand felt suddenly reassuring as more than just a weapon, though he couldn't have said why and its spirit was silent. Headmaster Gaepora followed close behind as he climbed the handful of steps and emerged gratefully into the cold night wind, taking several deep breaths, whatever shadow had fallen over him beginning to lift again.

They walked back to the Knight Academy in silence, the headmaster pausing only to lock the gates behind them. Gaepora left Link at his door only after Link had insisted he was all right, and only then after extracting his promise to disturb him at any hour if he felt the need to talk or simply wanted company. His mind uneasily filled with a thousand strange things, Link lay for a long time simply staring at the ceiling, his new sword lying just beneath the edge of his bed. All the darkness of the last day seemed to frame the path he was starting down.

But he had to find Zelda…

Thanks a lot for the review, Ancalagon! I hope this chapter lives up to expectations!

It amused me last time, so here we go again!

Patch Notes:
- Headmaster does not in fact know how to open the magical door. If it was easy, someone else would have done it by now.
- Magical door does not teleport.
- Torches do not burn without fuel forever.
- Headmaster is actually surprised to see Fi and would like to know what the heck she is please.
- Headmaster continues to have normal human emotion, poor chap.
- Plot threads are picked up from the backstory (see "Out of Time! and "A Hunger to Swallow the World").
- Hero Mode game mechanic message now also has meaning to the plot; this thread is a precursor to another relevant element that is in the game.

What's that you say? What's going on here, you don't remember this? Well, one day all the threads will come together – and in the meantime, speculate away!

[Hero Mode game mechanic message: "The memories of violent battles surge within this sword when you raise it to the sky. Your Skyward Strike is now at maximum strength!"]