Link and Zelda teleported back to Astir once again. He hastily called for Addison and Hadrian to join him in the Council room, but Ysabel came along too to hear the news—such as it was. It didn't take Link very long to relay what they had learned from Master Regan.
"You will just have to sail through the storms," Ysabel said.
"I would prefer to try the Zora first," Link said.
"That's a waste of time on ghost stories," Ysabel said, waving the idea away with her hand. "They don't exist. They're just monsters people made up to keep little children from getting into the lake and drowning."
"They're not made up; they're real."
"Really?" Astir asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"Yes. I've met them several times in previous lives."
"And . . . I take it they didn't kill you?"
"No. In fact, they were very helpful. I don't know if I could have succeeded without their help."
"Sailing is more direct and reliable," Ysabel insisted. "You know where to go."
"But we have no way to guarantee we'll get there, Your Majesty."
"You made it before; you can make it again."
"I, for one, would prefer not to drown," Zelda said, speaking up for the first time. "I had nightmares about drowning or getting eaten by big fish for years afterwards."
"But . . . it's not like you're really alive now," Ysabel said.
Astir jumped to his feet. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to smite his wife for her lack of respect. He had not told her of their confession of divinity, but he was wishing he had; perhaps she would not be acting so callously towards them.
Honestly, he didn't know what had gotten into her. Before, he would have never expected Ysabel to say such things to even the lowliest of servants. She had always been thoughtful to them, conscious of her own father's position as an employee of the household.
"Ysabel, sweetheart," Astir cajoled, "you asked me to call them here so they could help us. They know the Zora and they know the storms; let them decide which is the best course of action."
"It's not our place to tell them how best to fulfill a quest," Hadrian agreed in a rare rebuke.
Ysabel thew up her hands. "Fine. Whatever. Just get on with it."
She stomped out of the Council room and all but slammed the door behind her.
"Forgive us," Astir said hastily. "Ysabel is not herself."
"We know," Link said, turning to him. "I warned you that she was close to breaking down."
Astir spread his hands helplessly. "I don't know what I can do."
Zelda shook her head. "I don't think there's anything you can do."
"Bring back her baby," Link said.
"Well, yes, of course that."
"Is there anything we can do to help you achieve that?" Addison asked.
Link shook his head. "Not that I know of. Master Regan didn't know of anything specific that would bribe the Zoras to help. The best he could suggest was the usual: gold and gems."
"We can give you that," Astir hurried to offer.
Link shrugged a little. "We can take it with us, but I don't know that it will do any good. We never exchanged money before. They seemed to help me because they knew what I was there to do."
"But you're not here to save the world this time," Hadrian pointed out.
"No. There's no self-preservation motive to cause them to act this time," Link allowed.
Astir looked to Addison. "Give them as much gold as they can carry."
"And you better get the rest of our weapons," Link added. "Just in case the mood has changed."
Yet again, Link and Zelda found themselves on the road, only this time they were headed south instead of east. It was a familiar road for them, though, as they had traveled often—usually twice a year—for various seasonal activities at Lake Hylia. It was only a day's journey from Castle Town, but as they had left midday, it would be the following day before they arrived.
"This reminds me of when we went after the Master Sword," Link told Zelda. "Every time we thought we were going to have it fixed, another obstacle came up."
But we did eventually get it fixed, Zelda pointed out.
"Eventually. But something tells me we're not going to have as much luck this time around."
What makes you think that?
"As Sir Hadrian pointed out, we're not here to save the world—just the Crown Prince of Hyrule."
Do you think the gods will be less generous to us because of it?
"They're motivated to keep him out of the hands of humans. How much more motivated they are compared to when they were trying to save the world and nudge us back together, I don't know. I just know other people are not going to be nearly as motivated."
Just before noon the following day, they reached Lake Hylia. Link had Zelda take them to a deserted part of the shore before he dismounted and she resumed her form. "Do you know where this temple is?" she asked.
Link pointed out to a hazy shape in the middle of the large lake. "It's there."
"Well, at least it's warm enough for a swim," Zelda said, eyeing the vast distance he was going to have to traverse.
"And here you used to be so much better than me about being Hylian," he said with a grin, before he changed into his eagle form.
"We haven't had to rely on our animal forms for a very long time," Zelda said by way of an excuse, as she bent down to pick up Link. She tossed him up into the air and he quickly wheeled and flew straight for the distant island.
A few minutes later, he called Zelda to join him. She gasped a little when she arrived. It wasn't so much an island as it appeared to be just a ruined, circular temple floating in the middle of the lake; there was no land visible, even though some surely had to be under it. What's more, the temple itself had no center. It would be more accurate to describe it as a doughnut-shape, as the middle was part of the lake as well. There was only a fairly narrow band of white marble stones and some broken pillars in a circle above water. On one side, though, there was a little bit of a platform with the end of what looked like a massive ram's horn sticking out of the water. Zelda could see where the horn went down into the water, but it disappeared into the dark blue depths before the end could be seen.
Link carefully picked his way across the rubble to the platform and Zelda gingerly followed behind him.
"Should we be prepared to fight or something?" she asked him as he stepped up to the horn.
Link considered this for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't think so. We don't have any reason to be believe they will actually be hostile to us; but being armed and looking like we're ready to attack is not likely to win us any friends."
"Fair enough," Zelda replied.
Link licked his lips, drew a deep breath, then put his mouth to the horn and blew. Zelda didn't hear any noise, but there was a great frothing of the water in the center of the temple and a sort of vibration that came up through the stones and seemed to resonate all the way through her body.
Link blew as long as he could before stepping back, red-faced and panting.
"Well, if there's anyone to hear, I suppose they'll hear that."
They waited, but nothing happened. After about five minutes, they sat down and continued to stare at the center of the temple, waiting to see if anything would happen.
"Do you think I should blow it again?" Link asked, after another five minutes had passed.
"Maybe wait a bit longer," Zelda suggested. "If they do still exist, we don't want to seem ru—"
Zelda's words were cut off with a scream as she fell backwards into the water. Link started to turn and reach for her, but dark hands grabbed him and pulled him down as well.
He didn't have time to take a breath before he went under. He tried to fight against the hands and reach for his sword, but arms—like steel bands—wrapped around him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. He was rushing straight down, headfirst, into the dark. The pressure began to push in on his eardrums and he desperately wanted to take a breath.
Zelda, he called out in his mind, but he lost consciousness before he heard a reply—if one was even forthcoming.
Link was vaguely aware of someone pounding on his back. At least, that's what he thought was happening. It all felt very distant—almost like he was feeling someone else's back get beaten. Which, he was pretty sure, was not a thing that could happen.
There was a hard pressure against him, as if someone was trying to squeeze all the air out of him. But when he tried to exhale, a large, choking wave of water came out of his mouth instead.
He coughed and tried to breathe in, but the pressure bore down on him again and more water came spilling out. He desperately tried to suck in air, but the pressure flattened him down again and a little bit more water came out.
Finally, the weight was lifted from his back and he lay on a cold stone floor coughing and gasping. His lungs felt raw and his body so weak, he could not have lifted his head if he tried.
But rough hands grabbed him by either arm and hauled him to his feet. He wasn't able to stand, though, so he was just held there, like a child's rag doll.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light and for his brain to recover enough to process what was happening. Then he gasped.
He was standing (or, rather, being held up) in some sort of huge, cathedral-like structure made of a slightly-pinkish stone. It had chandeliers of some sort very high up, but the light they generated was rather dim, like twilight. The structure had massive windows, but instead of overlooking some verdant fields or busy city, they looked out into the near-black water. But there were numerous pinpricks of light out in the water, as if there was some sort of aquatic city which surrounded the structure. He could see people, of various shades of blue, swimming past the windows, seemingly unconcerned with anything that was happening inside. They were as he remembered them: tall, with long, spindly webbed fingers and long feet with longer toes that were also webbed. They had what appeared to be graceful, fluttering fins coming from their arms and legs, but Link had never decided if those were part of their actual bodies, or if they were part of their flowing clothing.
The sound of coughing and gasping made him jerk his head to his right. The sudden movement made him dizzy to the point he thought he was going to pass out, but not before he recognized a splash of silvery-blonde hair nearby.
He gave a heavy sigh of relief.
The next moment, there was a heavy thudding as one of the Zoras banged a thick stick of gnarled coral against the dais across from them. Link suddenly knew they were in some sort of court or royal palace; he recognized a herald when he saw one.
"All rise for Queen Lyra."
Link was already on his feet—sort of—but when the two Zoras holding him up went down into deep bows, he went with them. The sudden movement made him dizzy all over again.
"Surface-dwellers," a woman said with a slightly note of surprise. She had a sweet voice, almost musical voice, but there was the hint of a very firm edge to it. Link was immediately reminded of Zelda and knew he had to be cautious. She might be fair, but if not shown the proper respect, she would likely be hard.
Link was pulled upright again. One of his captors replied, "They blew the sacred horn, Your Majesty."
"Oh? That's not happened in a very long time."
Link looked at the woman sitting on the throne across from him. Her features were human-like, but alien at the same time. Her skin was a smooth, pale blue that faded into darker patches here and there. She had wide-set, almond-shaped eyes that glowed like amber held up to the sunlight. Her nose was rather wide and flat, but her mouth a little small with full lips. Long, sea-green hair hung in loose waves nearly to her waist and was decorated with seashell and starfish ornaments. A crown of black mother-of-pearl shells and large white pearls sat on her head. Her silk-like, peach-colored dress clung to her like a second skin, as if she had just come out of the water.
For all her other-worldliness, she was still objectively beautiful.
"I thought everyone had gotten the message," the queen continued, smirking a little as she looked at Link and Zelda.
"Our apologies, Your Majesty—" Link started to say, but one of his captors cuffed him hard on the back of the head, making his vision darken with pops of black and flashes of white light.
"Do not speak without permission!" one of his guards yelled.
"Blowing the sacred horn is a capital offense," the Queen continued, as if no one had spoken. "Although I am aware that my grandmothers before me commuted some sentences to life in the mines."
"The choice is yours," said a man standing beside the throne with some sort of tablet in his hand, as if he was taking notes.
"I don't wish to be known as a bloodthirsty queen," she said slowly.
"Gods forbid anyone should ever think such about you, My Liege," her advisor said.
She slowly rose and, despite her large, flipper feet, she still managed to glide as gracefully as the Zoras swimming outside the palace walls. It almost seemed as if she was swimming in the air.
She touched her cool, damp hand lightly to Link's face and lifted it so she could study his face. He hoped she could read the plea to speak in his eyes.
"He's very handsome for a surface-dweller," she said as she continued to examine him. "But young."
She let go of him and moved over to Zelda. Link watched as she examined Zelda the same way. "What beautiful eyes," she said quietly, staring at Zelda. "Like the coming of a storm at sea."
She looked a moment longer, then turned and went back to her throne. "They are both very young," she said, as she resumed her seat. "I would hate for a youthful indiscretion to result in death."
"I'm sure your ruling will be more than fair, Your Majesty," her advisor said.
She pursed her lips for a moment, considering her options. Link was tense, hoping against hope, that she would allow him to speak. He dare not try again without permission; they seemed to be very strict about their protocols and it would only serve to anger them further if he broke them.
"Tell me why you blew the horn," she said at last, looking at Link. "Depending on your reason, I will spare your lives. But if you lie to me, I will know it," she warned, her sweet voice turning harder. "And that will be the end of you."
His captors suddenly let go of him and stepped back. Link, unprepared for the sudden release of support, and still weak in the legs from his near-drowning, fell to his hands and knees on the floor. It took him a moment to reorient his swimming head and lift it to look at the queen.
"My name is Link, former King of Hyrule and Hero of Legend," he replied quietly, his voice still ruined by the water he had inhaled. But the throne room was so silent, anyone could have heard a pin drop. "My companion is Zelda, former Queen of Hyrule and formerly the Goddess Hylia. We have been resurrected by the gods in order to find the Crown Prince of Hyrule, who has been kidnapped—we believe by humans. They appear to have wielded a very dark magic to cross the barrier of storms that separate our lands from theirs. The gods are afraid that the infant prince has been taken in order to reestablish magic among the human race, and they do not want our Hylian blood to mix with theirs. Therefore, we have been tasked with finding and returning the baby.
"I attempted to retrieve the Master Sword so that we could cut our way through the storm barrier, but it is missing and we have no idea where it is or who could have possibly taken it. So we need some other way to cross the barrier. Our odds of making it through by ship are slim to none, so we have come to beseech you for your help."
The queen stared at him, her eyes so wide they looked as if they were going to pop out of her head. She slowly rose to her feet, as if in a daze. "If . . . if I did not know better, I would say you're lying to me," she whispered in disbelief.
"I am not lying to you, Your Majesty," Link said. He pushed himself back, so he was sitting on his heels and could look at her fully. He met her eyes unflinchingly. "I swear to you, on my honor as a Knight of Hyrule, I do not lie."
The queen slowly turned to look at Zelda, who was still being held prisoner. She took a few timid steps in her direction, then suddenly she dropped to one knee and laid her hand upon her heart and bowed her head.
With a clanking of weapons and a thud of bodies, the rest of the Zora in the hall prostrated themselves on the floor.
Zelda stumbled as she was suddenly released by her guards, but she managed to stay on her feet.
"My Lady, please forgive us," the Queen whispered, her head still bowed.
"Can you help us cross the ocean to the human realm?" Zelda asked.
"Yes, My Lady. We will serve you in whatever way you command."
Zelda stepped forward and placed her hand on the Zora queen's head, in pardon. "Then all is forgiven."