Impa

I rocked nervously on the balls of my feet.

Purah always teased me about how hyperactive I was as a kid. Apparently it transferred into adulthood.

Guess the distress signal received from Fort Hateno didn't help things…

We were in the council room, one of the only places that somehow emerged unscathed, the short note, translated onto a piece of paper, lay in the middle of the desk.

Call it (Younger) Sister Intuition, but I somehow knew it was from Purah.

The room was dead silent as the note was passed from hand-to-hand. Having read it ten times over with no intention of reading it an eleventh, I simply handed it straight to the next person in line. I had read it enough times. I had it essentially memorized.

The note started out simple enough with your typical S.O.S., repeated five times for good measure.

But after that, it branched off to describe how they were taken by surprise by an army of exceptional size and strength. Purah said 'We may not be able to hold out for much longer… And if we fall, it's a straight shot to Hateno'.

I didn't miss how the usually stoic Cal stiffened up as he read that line. I knew he had family in Hateno.

The heroes each seemed to freeze at a specific spot before shakily handing it over.

Right around where Purah describes a Lizalfos commander, as black as darkness.

The renowned Sheikah researcher then ends it with your run-of-the-mill 'May the Goddesses protect you.'.

The note landed with a whisper before Destiny, who looked like she had a million thoughts battling each other behind her eyelids.

The look she usually bears when in the laboratory.

Her gaze was steely and her mouth was set in a paper-thin line.

That was the face she made whenever she couldn't figure out why something wasn't working or when she was trying to will something to work. Or in this case, for the letters on the page to rearrange themselves in a different tale than the one Purah pleaded.

And trust me, I wanted them to desperately.

"So." Captain Ronald said, trying to resolve the tense silence of the situation. "What do we do now?"

"What do you think?" I snapped, surprising many people. But this was my sister! "We need to help them fight!" Cal nodded in agreement, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"But how do we do that?" Desi asked, taking her chin off her hands to study her new calluses, to give her hyperactive mind something to do. Other than look at the offending piece of parchment paper.

I didn't have an answer for that.

Vah Ruta left with the Zora prince and princess a few hours ago, heading to Hyrule Field to aid the others and Naboris hold off Ganon's forces.

But obviously, some slipped through the cracks.

I stepped back into the crowd, glaring at the note.

Usually, a distress signal would be a simple S.O.S., but my overachiever sister decided to warn us before we charged in blindly.

But I think we all would've preferred that to knowing how slim Hyrule's chances were of making it out of this fight in one piece.

"I've got the Master Cycle Zero." Wild whispered to Twilight just to my left. "But it can only carry two-to-three people at a time…"

Twilight patted Wild's shoulder sympathetically but with a glint of relief in his eyes that made me wonder just what exactly the Master Cycle Zero was.

But either way, it didn't look like it would be of any help.

We were up in Akkala, and they were down in Necluda. Even farther south than Zora's Domain. And with Ganon's control over the towers, we can't travel to 'Hateno Tower' as Wild calls it.

It just all made me feel so… useless.

I don't like feeling useless.

I tallied up the numbers in my head.

The Central Outpost (where the first tower sprouted) had fallen to Ganon's forces almost immediately, with their close proximity to the castle. The colosseum not long after. The Tabantha Outpost crumbled barely a day ago. The Hyrule Ridge Stronghold fell last week. The Faron Battalion was just barely holding it together, but we could help them 'bout as much as we could help Fort Hateno right now.

We managed to save Akkala Citadel, our strongest battalion, but we can't win the war with just one outpost. Our chances would be greater with two, but not by much.

I wish Ganon played fair. But with the Little One coming back from Wild's past to warn us, I guess we deserved to be unseated from our thrones of power.

Said Guardian looked as desolate as the rest of us. No ideas. No hope. No possible way for us to get out of this mess.

I just want to go back to before all this happened. Before Purah asked me to deliver the Sheikah Slate to Princess Zelda. Before we met the little Guardian. Before Ganon's revival was even a threat.

But I can't control time. Nor could I pretend what was happening wasn't happening.

"I… may have an idea." Wild said. All eyes swung toward her, causing her to go a deep shade of red and press herself into Twilight's side. "What if… we slowed down time?"

"But that's impossible!" General Isal said incredulously. "No one can control the flow of time."

"Umm…" Wild shifted uncomfortably. "I can…"

There were mixed reactions to his statement. Most of which were skepticism or doubt. But something told me she wasn't lying.

"But I only know how to slow down time for myself." Wild said. "I've never tried to include a group in my bubble." Wild's ear twitched even though she was the only one talking.

"Maybe I can help." Time said, pulling out a blue ocarina. The symbol of the Royal Family painted on it. Destiny gasped and plucked it out of his hand, turning it over in her hands, inspecting every side of it.

"This is the Ocarina of Time?" Destiny said breathlessly. Time nodded, taking it back from her as if afraid she would break it. "I believe it could help amplify Wild's time manipulation powers, as well as the new magic from his Zonai arm."

Wild shrugged, taking his glowing arm into consideration.

"So you can slow the flow of time?" Captain Ronald said in surprise.

"For the rest of the world, yes." Wild nodded. "You can also view it as moving at inhylian speeds, far too quickly for anyone to notice. There are two sides to every story."

"I heard there were three." General Isal muttered under her breath, still a little skeptical.

"Well, for me it feels like I'm moving at normal speeds, it's just that the air is molasses." Wild answered straight-faced. Isel blushed at little but also looked intrigued at how she easily heard her from across the room. I only heard her due to my training and just barely.

Wind snickered before Wars nudged him. But the captain was just holding back a smile of his own, I could tell.

I wondered, if Wild was Cal, and Cal didn't hear Isel, then what happened in Wild's life to give her such sensitive senses? Was it her adventure? Training her? Or did something… unnatural occur? And would it also be the reason for the heroine's glowing eyes?

"But it'll be a lot of magic, so we won't be able to hold it for too long." Time said. "Only a few hours at a time."

Destiny nodded. "That's all that we need."

—————————————————————

Later, when we were equipped with horses, soldiers, and a pair of time-controlling heroes, we set out for Fort Hateno.

Time lifted his ocarina to his lips and played a soft tune that sounded oddly familiar, despite me not having her heard it before. In this lifetime, at least.

Wild's glowing arm flared as she rose it.

I felt the effects immediately. Time slowed to a crawl around us. The squirrel in front of me that was once bounding with incredible speeds, was now slowly creeping along. As if it was forcing its way through molasses, as Wild described.

The flow of time had slowed, but if anything, we had sped up.

My horse's trot felt more like a gallop under Wild's influence. With this, we should get to Necluda in no time!

Every now and then, I saw strange translucent figures around Wild, becoming visible for a split second, but was like static coming from the Sheikah Slate with the main control in Hyrule Castle disabled.

They looked like spirits, and stuck close to Wild.

My mom said that spirits have an otherworldly power and can be used as a sort of power source if you're designing a powerful and taxing spell.

So was that what they were doing?

Helping Wild?

But who were they to her?

Barely half an hour into the ride, as we were leaving Akkala, I saw the strain put onto Time and Wild as they fought to maintain the time spell. Cold sweat lined their brows. Wild's arm shook, the light flickering dangerously. Time's face was red from keeping up with the song.

But they both wore similar looks of determination. I doubt they'll even think of letting themselves stop until we either exit Lanayru, or when the Dueling Peaks, the silent guardians of Necluda, rise up before us.

I admired their determination.

But I worried for their strength.

I didn't know if they would have enough strength left over to fight, or if they would have any remaining strength at all. Using too much magic, draining one's reservoir of magic, could potentially kill you, like it did my mom.

—————————————————————

We were deep into Lanayru, and I could feel the time spell start to waver.

The spirits around Wild appeared less and less often until they disappeared from the mortal eye once again.

My horse started going slower, despite keeping a constant pace, and the world started to speed back up around us.

We were over halfway through the Lanayru region by the time the spell broke and both Time and Wild slumped forward, unconscious.

Thankfully, we had thought of this, and they were riding with someone who could keep them on their steed as they recovered, us not planning on stopping anytime soon.

"I don't think we can rely on their help any more." Twilight said, craning his head around backwards to make sure Wild was okay. "They used a lot of magic, we can only hope they'll be awake by the time we make it to Fort Hateno."