Chapter 7

Blackouts

As the dawn crept over the horizon, inch by inch its light was pouring over their terrace balcony. And as the morning hours ticked by, its light would make its final resting place, flooding Link and Zelda's quarters. Link, who was still in a peaceful slumber, felt the morning glare as it burned through his eyelids, instantly he awoke in a crazed fluster. As he shot up out of bed, dazed and confused due to the lingering effects of the Lunar Tear Potion, he stumbled out of bed in a flurry of emotion. Damn it, I overslept! How could I have let this happen? Where is Zelda? he thought to himself as he noticed she was gone, with her bed neatly made.

As he raced to throw on whatever traveling clothes he could find in moments hurry, he rushed out of the room looking for Zelda, not caring about what sort of clothes he had on or if he had any clothes on at all.

He realized by judging the position of the sun, that it must have been nearly noon. So in a panic, he ran down the intertwine bridges to where he thought Zelda and the others might have been. Surely, she wouldn't leave the safety of the Domain without her most trusted escort, right? he thought to himself.

His best guess at this point was to head back to the banquet hall. He figured they were all still having lunch before they made their trek to visit Divine Beast Vah Ruta. But then again, Link secretly hoped they were having lunch, he was famished to say the least.

Zelda, who was sitting beside Sidon, Riju, Teba, Yunobo and the others was in-fact having their mid-day meal, just as Link suspected. The group were all seated at a long table. They were just finishing up their lunch as the double doors that led into the banquet hall barged open, revealing the late knight. A hush fell over them, some of them even tried fighting back laughter after seeing Link stand there, seemingly half asleep and disheveled.

"Well, good morning Link, so nice of you to join us," Zelda smiled with squinted eyes. A few faint giggles then escaped the side of her lips as she gazed upon his state of dress. Link confused by all the blank and awkward stares at him, looked down at himself to see what all the fuss was about. He was wearing a casual hylian tunic, which was appropriate to say the least, but his trousers were the same he slept in. With his mistake realized, his face went cherry red. They were noticeably night trousers, soft and loose, with patchwork done to them in certain parts.

"Well, it's not the worst I've seen him dressed in, that's for sure!" Riju blurted out, breaking the silence. The crowd erupted in laughter. Link not wanting to be the butt of anyone's jokes, lifted his head high and did a cool smirk towards them all. He wore his mistake proudly, unaffected by their laughs.

"It's alright Link, we all had mornings like that, even though we would never like to admit it. Come, sit, and eat," Sidon chimed in, coming to his defense as he hushed everyone in attendance.

But before Sidon had a chance to glance over the leftover meals that were laid before him, he realized he must of spoke too soon. There was no longer any lunch to be given at all. It had already been devoured by the hungry guests. Sidon's face went pale and apologetic as he stared back at Link, dumbfounded by the scrap morsels that were left on the plates.

"Well, it's as they say, the early bird gets the worm," Zelda said with another smirk, teasing Link who was left without a breakfast or lunch. She then arose from the table and continued. "Well, now that my noble knight is here, we should make our way towards Ruta, "she said. Everyone gathered also rose up from their seats after her, in a show of reverence.

"Do you need us to accompany you dear princess?" Riju asked in a more serious voice as she leaned in towards Zelda, who was making her way towards the doorway to stand alongside her wonderful, late knight.

"No, I don't think that would be necessary, thank you very much. And besides, I have Link and Sidon coming along with me. The two of them should be more than capable of handling whatever may be thrown our way," she said back to her, proud of them both.

"As you wish, your highness. If you need us, we will be here in the Domain until you decide to head back to Kakariko," Riju said, with a tilt of the head of respect.

"Yes, it was most fortunate that all of you made the hard journey to come meet me in person. It has saved me a great deal of time not having to visit each clan and village directly. I still have a lot of work to do for when the great houses arrive. If they arrive that is," Zelda said to everyone, seemingly worried at the prospect of them not coming. All the guests gathered were still left standing, still waiting to be excused formally by Zelda as she spoke.

"They will come princess; don't you worry about that. And if they don't, we'll clear out the capital ourselves, right?" Riju said as she looked around to her troops, prodding the group in agreement. They all shook their heads with a resounding yes and slammed their fists on the table where they stood. Even the two rito and gorons concurred on the notion Riju propositioned.

But, The gerudo in particular, were a proud and vigilant people, unafraid of war. After getting a rise out of them, she glanced back at Zelda and continued. "Also, I know that my girls been wanting to visit the cool waters of the domain for some time now. Where we are from, the sun scorches the earth. So, having a day to spend out on the cool waters of the Domain is a real treat indeed. So, take as much time as you need with Ruta, we will be here waiting for you for when you return," Riju winked towards the princess.

Zelda chuckled at the idea of them having a little vacation away from the desert sun. "Certainly, we should be back by nightfall. You all enjoy yourselves while you can, you deserve that much," She said to everyone. She then shot a cool glance to Link and Sidon. "Well, shall we be off?" Zelda smiled again. Link's stomach growled in protest, but he shook it off and gave her a nod in agreement. He was a well-seasoned Royal Guardsman after all, a missed meal shouldn't be anything to him. He was trained to handle much, much worse.

"Well, we bid you all farewell for now, until we meet again, before we leave for Kakariko tomorrow," Zelda waved to everyone who stood idly by, waiting for her to make her leave alongside Link and Sidon. They all humbly bowed their heads as she left their presence.

As the three of them made their way through the Domain, Zelda nudged Link as she walked alongside him. Sidon, who was taller than them by several feet, trailed ahead. "You know Link, you're kind of cute when you get frustrated...and," She chirped sweetly to him, followed by a sudden pause.

She then pulled the shirt of his arm for him to stop walking so fast. He was taken aback by her tug and waited to see what she was going to say or do next. "and... it's alright that you slept in. In fact, I wanted you to get a full night's rest. I know it wasn't your fault that you over slept. It was the potion that kept you sedated for so long. So, don't let what happened back there get to you, okay?" She said to him with a playful look in her eyes.

"Oh, and I almost forgot, I saved this for you. You didn't really think I was going to let my knight starve, did you?" She said as she unraveled a small sack out from her traveling satchel that she carried.

Neatly tied like a gift, it was some fig cheese and dry-aged fish meat. One of his favorite snacks. The sight of it made Link's mouth water. "I know it isn't much, but it should be able to hold you over until you have a proper meal tonight," she winked. "Oh, and perhaps...you might want to fix your trousers. For that, there is no forgiveness," she said with a full belly laugh, jokingly, about to step away.

Link sighed and then replied gruffly. "Yeah, I guess I should, huh?" He then quickly tried to snatch the sack of food from her hands. But she wasn't willing to let it go just yet and tried pulling back on the cloth. She smiled, with a sleek brow lifted.

"I thought you wanted to be back by nightfall!?" Sidon shouted over to the two hylians who were busily preoccupied, unaware of the daylight slipping by. They were both still locked, staring into each other's eyes, standing still in the middle of the bridge, wasting time. Link still had his hand over hers which carried the cheese sack. "Well?" Sidon shouted again, trying to spur them on, wondering whatever was the matter.

After having a bit of fun teasing him, she let go of the sack. She then glanced back towards Sidon. "Sorry! We will be right there. It appears Link still needs to fix his..." She then cleared her throat and looked Link up and down in a haughty evaluation. "Ahem...wardrobe mishap from this morning!" Zelda shouted back to Sidon, cuffing her hands to her lips for volume.

Link just smiled coolly at her jokes, scarfed down his fish and cheese, then made a clean break towards his and Zelda's room. It wasn't too far off, in-fact, it was just a couple minutes away from where they stood. He knew she may have won this round of laughs, but it would be him that would have the last one, he thought to himself quietly as he ran.

They were already on the bridge that led to the mountain trail they had to take. So, with nothing left to do but wait while Link fixed his adventuring clothes, Sidon and Zelda patiently waited for him to change.

Now that Link was officially ready to take on the day, they all began their trek up the mountain. Their final destination would be its highest peak. That was where Ruta stood, watching over the Domain. It would be a several mile hike to its location, so they decided to chat along the way to pass the time.

Zelda and Link were still walking alongside each other as Sidon was yet again, a few paces up ahead on the trail. However, this time, he tried not to walk so far ahead and keep within talking distance of his new hylian companions.

Link then lifted his head towards the tall zora prince. "Hey Sidon, I was wondering, about the Lizalfos King, what ever happened to him? After the war I mean?" He asked inquisitively.

"Oh, him? His head was chopped clean off by the hands of my great ancestor! It was during the final, climatic battle! The same battle where House Tarble arrived in our defense," Sidon said as he spun around excitedly towards them both, eager to tell the tale. " It was a miracle actually! My great ancestor wasn't a great warrior at all. You see, the story goes like this," Sidon then cleared his throat, puffed out his chest and began his storytelling.

"A young zora prince, not unlike myself, went against his father's orders and went south to call for the aid of the hylians. The king at the time was a proud zora, didn't want to rely on the help of others, and to tell the truth, back then, most relations with the hylians was damn near non-existent, although still on friendly terms," Sidon added as he leaned in towards them, cuffing his hands towards their pointy ears, the same way someone would tell a friend a secret.

"Hmmm, I don't recall this part of the story. Please continue Sidon," Zelda chimed.

"So, in the dead of night, the young prince slipped away from the old Domain. Unafraid of the consequences of going against his father's orders. He had better sense to swallow his pride and go re-establish old alliances, while his stubborn father, the King, foolishly stayed to try and fight back the superior might of the Lizalfos and Zola on his own.

"As the dawn came of the final battle, knowing that this would be his people's last stand, the Zora King gave his final farewell to his queen, with a final farewell kiss. But, not wanting to accept death as his fate, out of pure love, she shed her own scales and crafted them into a fine set of armor, just before he went into battle. Something that has never been done before, mind you… Greatly outnumbered, valiantly they went forth and charged the Zola and Lizalfos head on in the field of battle.

"And just when the war seemed all but lost, the good king's gaze wondered off, over into the yonder part of the northwestern 'Sea'. Tired and battle weary, he thought he was staring into a mirage. But it was no false glare caused by any sort of delusion, it was real. He saw hope, in the form of sails that came up from over the horizon. Their long-lost friends, allies from centuries ago, had finally arrived. And out among them, on the bow of one of the great hylian ships, was his son, the young prince.

"And as the young prince shouted his orders, the ship's canons rained down hellfire over his enemies, smashing the ranks of the Zola and Lizalfos army. In the chaos that ensued, the enraged Lizalfos king went straight for our old king who was unskilled in the art of war. He thought his victory would be all but certain if he could just slay the Zora king where he stood. But nay, victory wouldn't be so easy for the terrible villain, for a stroke of luck would bless the old Zora King…no, destiny would.

"At that very moment, the sun was melting away, burning into the western 'sea'. And as it set, its light shone through the pale white sails of the hylian ships, magnifying its sacred glow onto the battlefield. And it was then when the Lizalfos King had already knocked the good King to the cold swampy ground. The horrible Lizalfos saw victory within his grasp as he raised his jagged blade overhead, just about deal his killing blow.

"That was when the miracle happened! Bright, shimmering light from the sun burnt through the hylian sails and kissed the scales of Zora king's new armor. The scales as they drank up sun's rays, blinded the Lizalfos King in its reflection. With his enemy stunned and unable to fight, the Good King rose up from where he lay and reached out with his mighty sword, slicing the Lizalfos King's head clean off his shoulders!

"Victorious, the good king stood with the dead Lizalfos King's head held in his hands. There among the battle, perched on a small hill above the rest, he lifted his prize high up into the air for all his men to see. Our forces rallied at the sight.

"With their general dead, fear filled the enemies' hearts and they fell into a disorganized panic. And with the combined strength of our new found Hylian allies, we Zora defeated the Lizalfos and Zola invaders. The battle was won," Sidon said, full of pride of his heritage. "And that my friend, is the epic tale of the Zola war of wrath! It is also how you managed to acquire yourself a fine set of zora armor! Since that day henceforth, all zora princess's gift their-" Sidon then stopped mid speech, realizing he may have over spoke and bit his tongue into silence. He realized he may have got too carried away telling his story. That surely he must have forgotten that the princess was in their company. Nervously, he shot a quick look over his shoulder to see what sort of damage he may have caused for Link.

"Go on, you were saying," Zelda sweetly smiled to him, seemingly unaware what he was going to say next. She was trailing beside Link, who was also listening intently to his moving story.

"It's not important really...Oh look! We're almost there! Ruta isn't that far off now! Just around this bend and we will be at the summit where she stands in no time," Sidon blurted out, as he quickly tried to change the subject from before. He then hurried ahead of them once again in a jog.

Zelda just stared back at him quizzically as he ran off, but then shrugged it off as they were almost to Ruta anyways. More important things awaited them.

Link and Zelda, not wanting to be left behind to swallow up the dust Sidon left for them as he ran, both bolted to catch up to him. But as they made their way to where he was, their laughter and smiles were broken by the horrendous sight they were met with. Sidon who already arrived moments earlier, stood where the ginormous Divine Beast was perched. He was left stunned and in awe of what he was witnessing. A sickening scene was left for them to see.

Shocked, Sidon fell to his knees and with his joyful smile from earlier torn from him, he gasped. "What!?...What happened!? Who done this!?" he questioned aloud. The once cheerful voice of Sidon was now resounding with violent anger. An anger that Zelda and Link never knew he was capable of showing.

There at the foot of divine beast, lay one of the zora sentries that Sidon had stationed. He was dead, brutally murdered. Zelda, by sheer reflex gagged as she had to look away from the sight of his body. The stench alone was almost more than she could bare. The poor soul was burnt to a crisp, his scales burned so bad, they were melted together, charred black, by what must have been something so intense and hot, that no normal fire could have done to him.

The other sentry also shared a similar fate, he too was dead, decapitated and hung over the ledge entrance of the divine beast. Cruelly his corpse was laid there, as if to taunt anyone who may have come that way.

"These men were my friends...they were good soldiers." Sidon said, holding back tears of anger that pooled up under his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Sidon..." Zelda said, trying to comfort him. "They didn't deserve this...no one deserves this." As she placed a calming hand over his back she could feel him shiver at the pain of losing his friends. Her heart ached for him. She knew all too well of the pain of loss. A horrible suffering she would never wish upon anyone to experience.

Link, who was also disturbed by the sight, tried to keep a clear head and secure the scene. He soon noticed that Ruta was also in a state of disrepair. It appeared that whoever perpetrated this heinous act, forced their way into the divine beast.

"Hey, get behind me and stay close," he commanded Zelda, as he slowly made his way to the opening of the Divine Beast, sword at the ready.

"Right!" She said as she nodded in agreement. She then followed closely after him. Sidon, after feeling Zelda's warm hands leave him, wiped his tears and sprung up. He knew they needed him alert. There was no time for mourning. So, he then revealed and swung out two swords that he had sheathed. He gave a firm look over to Link and Zelda, shook his head of the sadness and forced himself to brace for what was next.

Zelda un-admittedly was afraid, but with Link leading to her front and Sidon covering her back, she knew she would be safe. As much as the fear and worry was trying to fill her, seeing them two in action gave her courage. She too relinquished a small dagger that she had fixed to her side pant belt strap, something Riju gave her earlier, just in case.

She then remembered what she was told by her. Now princess, I know Link is a very capable and handy knight in a sticky situation, but he can't be everywhere all the time to protect you. Us women need to be ready to defend ourselves if need be, you most of all. So here, take this, and hopefully you'll never have to use it. But if for some reason you do have to use it, stick'em, and stick'em good, okay? So, with her blade out and at the ready, she gulped down her fear and focused herself to face whatever may have lurked inside the belly of the divine beast.

As they slowly followed Link who was leading the way through the inner chambers, they noticed that it was severely disturbed. It was dark inside. The radiant constellation patterns that the old sheikah used to light up the inner walls of the divine beast have gone out, as well as the blue flame torches. They couldn't move too quickly through the darkness. So, carefully they had to walk huddled together in defense of each other.

"Try to stay alert, there's an uneasy mist out, so keep close," Link repeated to Zelda, concerned for her safety.

She just nodded her head as she tip-toed right behind him. A steamy fog began to envelope around them the further they went in. The foul mist made their skin sticky to the touch. And at that very moment, to Link and Zelda's sudden surprise, a spark of light lit up from behind them. They quickly spun back around to face the soft cool glow, unaware of its origin.

It was Sidon, as they walked ahead, he reached into his traveling pack that he had strapped to himself and revealed a small stone. With a flick of his sharp nail he chipped it and it pulsed with a pale blue light.

"Luminous stone! Of course!" Zelda said, head turned towards Sidon who just smiled back to them both. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"It's not much, but it should be able to light our way, at least a little bit," Sidon replied, as he held out the bright stone over their heads. Because he was several feet taller than them, this was an easy task for him to do. Now that they had some light, they continued onward through the divine beast. The light shone through the steamy air that was around them and made it easier to view their surroundings. With the way lit up for them, they decided to head straight for the main control room.

As they approached the door that led into the main control terminal, they saw that it was completely decimated. Awestruck, they couldn't imagine what sort of creature or thing would possessed the strength to break through its stonework as if it were mere tissue paper. As they apprehensively stepped past the shattered and broken remains of the stone door, Zelda saw that they were alone in the room. She then hurried past Link towards the main terminal. It was smashed and gouged open, as if someone ripped it apart.

But before she could make her dash towards it, Link quickly pulled on her shirt and stopped her from getting too close to it. He saw that the floor up ahead of them still had ankle high water flowing around it. And with the main terminal that controlled the divine beast in total disarray, blue sparks were still flying out from all directions from where it stood. He didn't want her to get shocked by the electric current that was spewing out from the terminal, if she were to accidentally step too close.

From where they were, they could see that in its center had a massive crater, a hole torn right in the middle of it.

"What...what happened in here? It looks as if someone ripped the Power Core right out of it," Zelda questioned, shocked by the scene. But, before she allowed any worry to set in, she shook it off.

Focused at the task at hand, she had a brilliant idea instead come to mind. "Hey! The true to life image function on the slate still works," she told the others in an excited shout. "I'll capture a few portraits to keep track of what we see. Perhaps, later we can show Impa and Purah. Maybe they might be able to help us figure out why someone would be after the core," she said, as she reached into her satchel for the slate.

As she lifted the tablet up to capture the terminal in its view, the slate was still left on its map function from before. But before she could switch over the display to take the photos, she noticed the other beacons on the slate, one for each of the other divine beast, they too were suddenly going black. One by one she saw them blink and flicker away as they faded into darkness. In a panic at the sight of it, she spun around to Link and Sidon. "Come quick!" she called out to them.

They were both still patrolling the outer edge of the room, securing it when she shouted over to them. In a hurry they ran to have a look over her shoulder as she lifted the view of the slate to them.

"Look! It's happening again to the rest of them! They're all vanishing!" She said, eyes wide with worry. They all saw the last of the lights flicker away into black nothingness. "I don't understand! Ganon doesn't have anymore allies! At least…not this sophisticated…What could be happening? I have to find out who's behind this," she said, with a slight hint of fear that shook in her voice.

Immediately Link knew, something truly sinister was happening. He too wanted to confront the culprit behind these mystery attacks. I swear, whoever you are, once I find out… you'll pay. If it's a good fight you want, then it's a good fight you'll get! he thought to himself as he stood over Zelda's shoulder, pondering what he saw happen on the slate.

After snapping a few images, she then slid the slate back into her pack and turned to face them both. "This must have something to do with the Divine Fire going out that Purah mentioned from before. It's all connected somehow, I just know it!" She added.

"Well that maybe, but I think we've seen enough for today. It will be nightfall soon and there is nothing else more we can do here. We need to get you back to the safety of the Domain. We will head to Kakariko at first light," Link said to her.

"You're right, it's not wise for us to linger here any longer than we need to. Besides, in its current condition, the Divine Beast is no longer operational. I have all the portraits I need to study over. When we get back, perhaps, I can find a clue as to what a motive might be for this disturbance to the Divine Beast," She said glancing over to Link and Sidon, who were waiting for her.

Link, after acknowledging Zelda's decision, faced the zora prince. "Sidon, I'm sorry for the loss of your friends, but we need to get back to the Domain, it's not safe here for her," he said to him. Sidon, who was poking around the room for other things they may have missed, shook his head 'yes' at Link's words.

"I know, I'll send my men tomorrow to gather them. So, they can have a proper burial, It's the least they and their families deserve. A true soldier's send out," Sidon said back. He too had an uneasy feeling about what was unfolding around them. "Let's get out of here. I don't much like it in here," he said with a gulp.

Link and Zelda both nodded in agreement. The trio then made their quick escape out from the Divine beast and went back to the Domain.

Authors note- Short chapter again, but two in one week. Please if you haven't, drop a comment on what you think. Even if its just a thumbs up or thumbs down. I hope I am keeping you all entertained, and its hard to tell without much feedback, so if you do leave a comment, thanks so much! It is greatly appreciated! Lastly, thanks again for all the support, and I hope you all enjoy where the story is heading. : )