Chapter 28

Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. The oddly dressed teenager in front of her claimed to be her son. But that was impossible since he was only missing for seven days. She started to laugh.

"Yeah right, kid. You aren't my son. You look nothing like him and besides, he has only been missing for seven days and he's ten years old. How old are you?"

Link paused for a minute..

"I'm seventeen now. Charlie is the same age too. You might recognize him."

Charlie stepped forward. Susan looked closely at Charlie. He had red hair like Tom's friend and he looked a lot like him only older. She shook her head and dismissed the idea.

"That's impossible. This is some sort of prank and I'm not impressed. If you really are Tom and Charlie, Where is Max and how did you get here?"

Link sighed. He didn't like being reminded about Max. He tried his best to answer her questions.

"Max is here as well. He has gotten corrupted by evil and he's sided against us. He almost killed me seven years ago. I don't know what is going on, but there is a huge time difference like Brad said. I guess in the reality we came from, time moves slower. It may have been seven days there, but it has been seven years here."

Susan crossed her arms.

"Whatever you say, kid. I still don't believe that you are my son. Tell me then, how did you end up here?"

Link shrugged.

"Probably the same way you did. I noticed a strange green glow and I went to see what it was. When I got closer, I noticed that it was a portal of some sort. I tried to move away from it, but it ended up pulling me in. When I woke up, I looked like this only younger. The same thing happened to Charlie and Max, but their appearance didn't change. Only their clothes did."

Charlie put his and on her shoulder.

"Please listen to us. We are telling you the truth. I know it's a lot to take in, but it's the truth. You sent me and Max to find Tom and we both ended up here the same way he described. Why would we all lie to you?"

Susan looked at Charlie and then looked at Link. She put her hand on her head.

"I think I've got a headache now. I don't know what to believe anymore. I ended up arriving here and I had the same experience with the green portal."

Navi flew around the room slowly. She was listening carefully to the stories Charlie and Link were both telling Susan. She remembered the day Link tried to explain it to her. She ignored him and said it was a ridiculous story. Was it actually true? She flew down into Link's face.

"You tried to tell me that story before, but I didn't listen. Now I'm starting to believe you. Do you have any interest in going back to your own reality?"

Link sighed and looked at Charlie and then looked at his mom. He really liked it here. He had no plans made to return to his own reality and he believed Charlie wanted to stay too, but he would have to see what Max wanted to do if he ever got back to normal. He shrugged.

"I'm still not sure, Navi. I still like this world. I will have to think about that more later."

He put a hand on Susan's shoulder.

"Mom, it's me, Tom. I played Zelda Ocarina of Time a lot and the last day we saw each other, you told me to take a walk outside to get away from that game. Me, Charlie and Max went for a walk. After we walked for a bit, I said my goodbyes to them, and I found the green portal and I already told you what happened after that. I didn't think I would ever see you again, mom. I missed you a lot."

Tears started to form in Susan's eyes. She stood up and hugged Link tightly.

"Oh, Tom. I'm sorry I didn't believe it was you. I missed you so much. That night you disappeared, I was worried sick and the next day, I sent Charlie and Max out to look for you and they vanished too. Now Tom, Where exactly are we?"

Brad spoke up.

"This is Kokiri Forest, Ma'am."

Link walked over to Brad.

"Let me handle this, bud. You go and look after the Kokiri."

Brad gave Link a wave.

"Okay, man. I will talk to you guys later. Let's go, Izzy!"

Brad walked out of the infirmary with his fairy following closely behind. Charlie followed him so Link would have more privacy. He waved at Link.

"I'll talk to you later. I will be just outside if you need me."

Link nodded and turned to his mom.

"Mom, where you now are is the game that I loved to play. This is the world of Zelda Ocarina of Time. We have either traveled to another dimension or another reality. I'm not too sure, but I think it is another reality."

She sighed in awe.

"Wow that's incredible. For such a thing to happen to me is just mind boggling. I heard you say you want to stay here?"

He shrugged.

"I was considering it. This is an incredible world and it's not a video game this time. This is really happening. How do you feel about that? This world is primitive compared to ours, but it's a lot of fun. It's almost like living in medieval times. I've already met a lot of interesting people and I'm even on a quest to save the world!"

She raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Are you sure you are up to that? That is a huge job, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Link nodded.

"I appreciate your concern mom, but I will be okay. If I have Charlie and Navi by my side, I should be fine."

Susan sighed.

"Well, I hope you're right. Now, who is this Navi you're talking about?"

Link stepped to one side and Navi flew in front of Susan. She waved shyly.

"Hello, Susan. I'm Navi the fairy."

She smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Navi. Wow! There are even fairies in this world. This is still hard to believe, but I think I can get used to it here. I won't delay you any longer, son. Continue your quest. I will stay here in this village for now. Just be sure to visit me every now and then, okay?"

Link nodded.

"Okay. Thanks for understanding, mom. I am going to have a talk with Brad and see if you can't stay in my home for now."

Susan stood up quickly after the words left his mouth.

"You have a house? That's great news! I will stay there then. I will wait for your friend Brad to come and talk to me about it."

He smiled. He was overjoyed to have his mother here in this world. He missed her greatly. He waved at her.

"I'll see you soon, mom."

He walked outside to find Charlie. He was standing to the right of the infirmary. He walked up behind Link and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around quickly.

"Gee, man. Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me. Now, let's talk to Brad about that Forest Temple."

Charlie nodded and they proceeded to walk towards Brad's house when suddenly, a huge plant appeared in front of them. It had a round purple head and a huge gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth. It lunged at Link and Charlie. They narrowly dodged it by jumping out of its reach. Link turned to Charlie.

"Stand back! I'm going to launch a fireball at that thing and hopefully kill it."

Link closed his eyes and concentrated. His right hand began to glow orange. Within seconds, he was holding a fireball the size of a small goron. He gasped in disbelief. He didn't mean to create such a large fireball. He shrugged and waited for Charlie to move. After he was out of the way, he launched the fireball towards the plant. The fireball hit it's big head and it blew up into many tiny chunks as a result. Charlie gasped with awe.

"Man, I've got to see if Viscen can enable me to shoot fireballs as well. That would be so useful."

Link nodded.

"Yeah, I can see if he has another orb. But for now, let's get to Brad's house. We must warn him about these plants!"

They kept moving and they were almost at Brad's house when another plant popped out of the ground and tried to eat them. Charlie stood back and Link concentrated and shot a smaller fireball than the first one earlier. It severed the plant's head from its body. Link smiled and he and Charlie ran into Brad's house. Link was gasping and he looked very tired. Brad noticed them enter and he ran over as soon as he saw Link stumble in.

"What's going on, guys? Why is Link exhausted?"

Link looked up into Brad's eyes.

"Listen man, we are under attack. There are giant plants all over the village. The reason I'm so tired is because I had to shoot fireballs at them to kill them. I couldn't get close enough with my sword."

Brad's eyes went wide with fear. His people were under attack from giant plants? What could have caused that to happen?

"What did these plants look like, Link?"

Link gasped out a reply.

"Well, they had big purple heads with big mouths and rows of razor-sharp teeth."

Brad thought it over for a minute and then he concluded.

"I know what those things are. They are called Deku Babas and they used to gather around the Great Deku tree, but I haven't seen one in quite some time. The smaller ones were dangerous enough. Bigger ones are going to be a huge problem. They probably could kill people. I'm going to get my things. We must go out there and make sure they don't hurt anyone! It's my responsibility as leader of the Kokiri."

Charlie patted him on the back.

"That's the spirit, pal. Let's go and kill those things before they take casualties!"