You decide to take advantage of the your relatively safe and decidedly empty surroundings to ask Briar some... pertinent questions.
"So, Briar," you begin, while taking a normal, non-ki-enhanced step through the dust. "What's the story with Burn Boy?"
"Well, you have to understand that I'm not sure about this," Briar says, "but I think it's possible that he and his friends might be fey. Like in the big-time, Old World, Fair Folk sense."
You consider that. "It would explain some things," you admit. "The only thug that was still on his feet after Mrs. Lawson got through with them was carrying a sword and wearing some kind of body armor, neither of which looked like they were made of steel - that'd be the iron issue, right?"
"Uh-huh. Plus the old lady threw fire at them, and they threw ice back. Pretty standard fare for when you're having an argument with the Winter Court." Briar sighs. "And I know that the gate was closer to Winter's territory in Faerie, the last time I used it. On top of that, we've got Mrs. Lawson's remarks about 'child-stealing.' Most of the big folk will do that if it strikes their fancy, but Summer at least looks after them, even sends them home after a while. Winter... not so much."
"Are they likely to be a problem?"
"That's pretty much a given. How much of a problem depends on whether or not we run into that group specifically, as opposed to somebody else from Winter. And even then, they'd have to have a reason to suspect you were involved in this little incident. You did leave a fairly strong magical signature back there, so it's possible."
"Right. I'll need to brush up on my fey defenses when we get home." You frown, recalling your fight with Arrogante, and the iron spears you created to stab the monster. "Will it help that I can conjure iron?"
"Not as much as you might think. Conjured iron is... well, it's just that: conjured. Not real. At least, not until you get a fair bit better with that sort of magic."
Something else occurs to you. "Briar, if I set up protections against fey... will they be a problem for you?"
"Well, yeah, if you do something crude like slapping a Circle of Protection From Fairies down around your house or start hanging exposed iron up all over the place. The familiar thing should help a bit; just remember to tie me into any wards you put together, and be sure to invite me in specifically after you hang up any horseshoes."
You nod, and walk along in silence for a time.
"While we're on the subject of fairies," you finally say.
"Mom didn't send an answer to your message," Briar replies. "That's... kind of worrying."
"Worrying as in you think something might be wrong, or worrying as in you think she's plotting something... mom-ish?"
"Hard to say. Hyrule had been at peace for about a century the last time I was there, so they're about due for an evil sorcerer or demon lord to pop up and start making trouble. Even with Old Pig-Face out of the running, there are still plenty of jerks out there who want to take a shot at the Triforce, or just make trouble in general." Briar sighs. "But it's entirely possible that Mom is just getting the family together so they can all spring a 'surprise' visit on me."
"How big is your family, anyway?" You seem to recall hearing about this a while ago, but...
"Not that big. Counting me, Mom's only got a hundred and three kids."
Something in your memory goes "click." "Right, I remember now. Hundred and three, huh?"
"Like I said, not that big. Most Great Fairies have had hundreds, even thousands of kids by the time they're her age. Of course, most of those kids are noisy idiots who go off and get themselves squashed, eaten, or stuffed and mounted in some sorcerer's collection, while the rest flutter around laughing about it - before they go off and do something just as terminally stupid." You can hear the smirk in her tone. "Not my family. We look out for each other, and we're smart."
"...I'm not sure we have room for that many fairies, Briar," you say. "Especially not if one of them is human-sized."
"Three, actually."
"Gwah?"
"Mom, Big Brother, and Big Sis," Briar states, as if counting them off on her fingers. "They're the oldest, as much as that means anything, since we were all born more or less at the same time-"
What.
"-and more importantly, they grew up faster than the rest of us. They wanted to be the elder siblings, so they are. Probably half the reason why Mom was able to keep us all alive until we got out of the giggling newborn phase," Briar admits. "Big Brother can take on a troll without using any weapons, and he's a fair smith and general-purpose farmhand besides, while Big Sis is like the reincarnation of some domestic goddess, with just a touch of the warrior-goddess if something comes around to make trouble when Big Brother is away." Your companion sighs. "You know somebody loves you when they're willing to storm a goblin-hold and put a carving knife to the throat of its king just to find the one that tried to pluck your wings."
"...your sister did that for you?"
"Yup!"
Okay, awesome fairy Big Sister is awesome, but more urgently... "And you think that she, and the rest of your family, might be coming to visit?"
"Fair chance."
"Briar," you carefully remind her, "we live on the Hellmouth."
Briar goes silent for a long moment, considering the implications.
"Well, shit."
That's when your Spell of Detect Scrying and your Spell of Nondetection groan, as a magical presence significantly more potent than that of Burn Boy looks your way.
The presence you sense behind this spell is strong enough that you miss a step and almost trip over your own feet. It's a good thing you were just walking, rather than running or ki-boosting your way across the dry plain, or you'd have pulled a faceplant for sure. As it is, you're able to stagger to an ungraceful but painless stop, even with the bulk of your conscious effort being directed into trying to discern who or what is looking at you this time. Focusing on your Spell of Detect Scrying, you reach out...
...and feel your probe pushed aside by the defenses of the mind on the other end of the scrying magic. There's no force in it, no sense of hostility or even effort; Din, you're not sure if the caster even noticed what you were trying to do. It was like you were holding out a leaf during a gust of wind - it was just pulled from your grasp and swept away.
A moment later, you feel your Spell of Nondetection brushed aside in much the same manner.
"There you are," says a voice that sounds like a young woman's, coming from all about you.
Briar perks up, and you swear you can feel her waving. "Hi, Mom!"
"Don't you 'hi, Mom' me, little sprite. You up and vanish for a decade, you don't call or visit, and then when I finally get a message, you disappear again and go under an anti-scrying spell!"
"Hey, none of that was my fault!"
"I'm sure," the voice you presume to be Navi replies, in that tone you've heard your own mother use when she just isn't buying whatever story you're trying to spin. You don't hear it often, but it's fairly memorable.
"It isn't!" Briar protests. "Alex, tell her!"
You glance down at your fairy companion, who wordlessly gestures towards more or less empty space, where you can sense the focal point of whatever scrying magic her mother is using.
"Actually, ma'am," you start, "we did sort of have to run right after I sent Briar's message to you. It turns out that someone else has claimed that gate - several someones, in fact, and one of those groups was quite unfriendly. Are all Winter Court fae like that?"
You can literally feel it when the attention of the Great Fairy on the other side of the scrying spell turns towards you. She's not being heavy-handed or anything, her magical presence is just that strong and clear.
"Most of the Winter Court are not what any well-adjusted human would consider 'friendly,'" Navi replies slowly. "For that matter, there are plenty of fey unaffiliated with the Courts who don't like them, either, never mind what Summer thinks of them." She shifts tracks. "I take it that you are 'the kid who can use Hyrulean sorcery' that my daughter mentioned, young man?"
"Yes, ma'am. Alexander Harris. Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise," she says, in a tone that suggests she's being polite, as opposed to completely honest. "I am Navi, Great Fairy of the Lost Woods. I must say, I wasn't aware there were Gerudo on Earth."
Uh-oh. Think fast, magic boy.
"It's just my sister and I, so far as I know, ma'am," you reply truthfully. "Briar thought it had something to do with us living on the Hellmouth."
"You live where?" Navi asks sharply.
"Mom, calm down," Briar says. "It's not as bad... okay, I can't even lie about it with a straight face. It is as bad as it sounds, but it's not like the Lost Woods are all sunshine and roses, either. And I'm being really careful, honest! I mean, I've been staying with Alex's family for most of four years now, and in all that time, we've seen exactly ONE demon on the Hellmouth - and that guy was a government employee who came to Alex's school to hand out a written test."
"...I can't have heard that right," the Great Fairy replies after a moment.
"There was a spell worked into the testing materials," Briar explains. "As near as we could tell, it was supposed to help identify kids with magic or other special abilities."
Navi makes a sound of dawning enlightenment.
"And if I hadn't been there to help Alex suppress his aura," Briar continues quickly, "he would have been caught for sure. If that had happened, there are a bunch of people who would have come off a lot worse in the years since. At the very least, his friends wouldn't know about the danger around them or be actively learning to defend themselves from it, courtesy of an old master who can warp space-time without using magic, some kids still wouldn't know about the seals on their souls, a little priestess wouldn't have gotten a head start on making protective charms, and some local old-school Shiekah warrior types would probably be dead."
"I see. So in short, you've found yourself a hero in the making, and you want to help him."
"...he's my friend, Mom."
"Hmmm." Navi doesn't sound entirely convinced.
"If it makes you feel any better, ma'am," you say, "I've done my best to look out for Briar ever since we met, and I have every intention of continuing to do so in the future. And not to toot my own horn, but my best is pretty good."
"Really, now?"
"Well... yeah. I mean, I don't know of any other eight year olds who've successfully made contact with another plane of existence using only their own skill and power, let alone while being world-ranked martial artists on the side. And I owe a lot of that to Briar. Even if she wasn't my first and best friend, I'd have to be a seriously ungrateful idiot not to take care of her after everything she's done to help me - and I'm neither of those things. I'm not," you repeat, giving Briar a look when you feel her start to say something.
The fairy pauses, shrugs, and admits, "He's not."
"Thank you," you murmur.
"Not ungrateful, at least."
"...for nothing," you add with a sigh.
"Well," Navi interrupts, sounding distinctly amused. "I am glad to see that you two can get along, at least. That said... Alexander."
You look up at the scrying sensor. "Yes, ma'am?"
"You claim to be willing to protect my daughter. Just how far are you willing to go in that regard, young man?"
"Aw, Mom," Briar groans.
You think on it, and recall blowing up Arrogante with a Power Ball, flying into a blazing red rage when Briar told you of the lizard-man that attacked her, and taking down the monkey-familiar.
The question hangs there for a moment, as past examples of just what you are willing to do on behalf of your fairy companion float before your mind's eye.
"Pretty far," you admit. "I mean, there are some things I won't do, most of which can be filed under 'E' for 'Evil' - and Briar wouldn't want me to do that sort of thing anyway."
"Hell, no," Briar agrees.
"Aside from that, though? There aren't too many limits."
"I see," Navi replies. "Well, that may not be quite as emphatic a response as I might have hoped for, but it is a fair one. And I can certainly approve of a refusal to bring more Evil into the world."
You start to smile-
"However."
-only for your burgeoning good mood to falter.
"Words are cheap, young man, and I don't know you nearly well enough to accept yours at face value."
"Mom," Briar says suspiciously.
"Fortunately," the Great Fairy continues, as if she hadn't heard her daughter speak, "there is an ancient, time-honored tradition for solving just such questions of character."
"Oh, hell. Mom, don't you dare!"
It doesn't take a genius to tell what has Briar cursing at her parent, just someone with enough magical sensitivity to pick up on the rather immense amount of mana that is rapidly gathering in the area. You're able to distinguish the patterns of Summoning magic before the energy grows so intense that you have to shut down your mystical senses to protect yourself.
"Now, Briar," Navi says from the heart of the building spell, "you know very well that Great Fairies don't simply hand out favors to every human that asks. Even Heroes have to do something for us before we'll hand over a spell or a relic in our keeping - and really, entrusting a boy with one of my daughters? That's going to take something special~."
A hole has formed in the air above you, a swirling vortex of air, dust, and rose-hued lightning that resembles a Hubble snapshot of some cosmic event - possibly a black hole, from the way the wind starts to howl as the spell begins sucking up everything nearby. You can feel it pulling at you, growing stronger with each passing second, and Briar is already screaming imprecations at her mother as she clings to your shoulder and struggles not to be blown away