Chapter 62: Reunion
There was no air current. In the world, the air always moved. From the subtle rise of heat and the fall of cold, to the violent thrashing of storms. A fairy knew them all, as naturally as the Zora knew their seas and the Gorons their mountains. They could tell from the slightest change of pressures when to beat their wings and soar, when to spread wide and let the current carry them, or when to land and find safety. The world spoke to them through those winds.
Here the world felt motionless, silent, dead.
Of all the absurd horror that surrounded her, the air agitated Navi most. The innards of the gargantuan whale glistened with mucus which dripped into pools of fetid liquid that splashed along the ground. The rippled pink walls pulsated and constricted, pushing everything that did not fly deeper through his digestion. Even the still living Octorok wallowing in those acrid pools did not disquiet her more than the still press of lifeless air.
The creatures themselves held tight to the flesh-covered ridges of bones or wedged into wrinkled crevices as they desperately attempted to prevent falling deeper into the guardian's stomach. Despite their efforts, when a wave of water entered the whale's mouth many were swept away to what they must know was their inevitable end.
To spend their last moments without the starlit sky overhead. They'd never again feel the air or see the verdant forest. No.
No. She couldn't get lost in those thoughts. Not now. Not when so close. The bowels of Lord Jabu-Jabu may be their end, but it would neither be hers nor Link's. She forced herself to concentrate on the magic. She had not felt such pervasive power since she'd flown among the branches of the Great Deku Tree. Every beat of her wings drew more into her, and the deeper she flew the stronger she felt. Even without winds to bolster her, she soared faster than she had in weeks, despite the weight she carried in her arms.
She did not find signs of Link until she was deep within the whale. Squidlike Octorok bore purpling bruises where someone must have beaten them back. Others cowered in corners unwilling to move. Some few would try to reach out to her, grasping with their tentacles or attempting to spit at her. But she flew too quick and too high for any of them.
These creatures were unimportant. She forced the dread of their fate from her mind. They were obstacles, nothing more.
They did not once stop her, as she flew through the chambers.
The final valve, however, did.
The constricting muscle separated the various chambers of the whale's long esophagus.
Four sources of magic lay behind it, two of which echoed the power of the flower she clutched tight to her chest. The third brought with it the familiar sense of trees and flowers and shadows of home. The last she did not recognize. But the magic mattered little compared to what it meant.
Link must be behind this valve. He still held the ocarina and had found the two other Sacred Stones. Of course, he had. Nothing would ever stop that boy. All she had to do was reach out, get the whale's muscles to open and they would be united once again after far too long apart.
And yet, she made no move to open it.
He was in there.
What would he say when he saw her? What would she say when she saw him?
He didn't know about her imprisonment, and she did not know what the Great Fairy did to drive him away. Would he blame her for abandoning him? How had she flown across the world and not thought about what to say when reunited with him?
I'm being foolish. If he blames me, I will just explain things to him. He's a good boy. I will make him understand.
After all the time she spent racing after him, why were the last few wingbeats the hardest? A year ago, she would never have made it past the sea of monsters, and her only worry when seeing Link was whether he had gotten himself into trouble. Today a room of creatures trying to kill her was unimportant, less than that, they were nothing. Yet her hand trembled to see a boy she'd known all his life.
What if he hated her?
She forced her hand to raise and pressed her palm against the warm damp muscle. Her inside twisted like an eel in worry, as the valve pulled open. A foul acrid odor swept over her, making her stomach churn all the worse. Her light stretched out over the dark room, revealing three figures all within a pool of grime. One a massive shape, like the creatures she flew passed as she reached this last chamber, only far larger. It lay slain, half in the pool, half twisted in on itself and the bright flower-like protrusions that covered its length and arms. Only one of its tentacles moved, rising and falling with the slight current of the pool. The second figure was a little Zora girl. She rummaged through the liquid, hunched over and crying.
The last was Link.
Half-submerged in the filth, his face ashen white and his eyes drooping. He saw her, Navi was certain, he looked right at her.
Then he sank.
Screaming his name, Navi flew to him. "Help!" she demanded of the girl. "You have to help him." But the stranger made no effort to aid anyone but herself.
Navi hurtled into the liquid, the viscous fluid clung to her, plastered over her wings, and filled her nose and eyes. Blinded she reached out and grabbed strands of Link's hair. Her wings would not beat through the sludge. She floundered, kicking and pulling, but even the strongest of fairies could not lift a boy through strength alone.
She pulled her head free and gasped for air. Still pulling on her child with all her might.
The girl had left their side. She headed toward the valve, clutching a massive blue gemstone, and tried to rub it clean.
"Help us," Navi begged.
The girl turned, tears streaming down her cheeks. But her eyes did not have any sorrow within them. They held no emotion at all. How had she not noticed it before? She was the last beacon of magic within the room, but she held not one source of power but two. One was a fragment of the might of Lord Jabu-Jabu that poured from her scales. The other tumbled out of those empty eyes. A taste of that same power she felt stirring within the center of the army at the base of the plateau.
"My love needs his jewel," she said in a cold emotionless tone. A spasm twisted across her face. For a moment those emotionless eyes went wide in rage and grief. Her mouth opened in a silent howl, but after a heartbeat, the tremor ended. Her mouth closed and the emotion leeched from her eyes. She waded out of the waters and stepped through the valve, leaving Navi alone with her dying child.
Navi could only groan in sorrow and wrath before she plunged back beneath the depths. The befouled waters were so thick it swallowed her light completely. She could not even see Link, though her fingers gripped his hair. She wanted to scream and cry, to hide away within Link's ocarina until her fears ran their course.
Instead, she pulled, straining until her wings and legs could no longer churn the slime. No matter how she tried to lift his head, so at least his mouth could get above the liquid to breathe, it proved too difficult. It couldn't end like this. Traveling across a kingdom only for him to die before her eyes. It wasn't fair.
The flower.
How had she forgotten the last of the Great Mother's magic?
She let go of Link and drifted to the surface. It lay just before the start of the pool. In her haste, she must have dropped it. Lifting herself free of the thick, she flew to the flower. She scooped it up, clutched the heavy flower with both hands, and held it against her chest. In a whirl of beating wings and strained grunts, she pivoted and dived back into the water.
The metal cold illusion in her hands grew warm. She pulled at the spell, unraveling the binds of magic. Come on, be useful for something! The flower condensed, hardened, and grew too heavy to hold. It slipped from her fingers and sunk too deep for her to see. Still, she felt the taint of the Great Mother's magic and all that remained until the spell burst. With one last surge of power, the illusion died and only the Emerald remained.
She opened her mouth to scream only for it to fill with foul liquid. It stung her throat, nose, and eyes. Blind and flailing she found him once more, now slumped at the very bottom. In the black and foulness reeking of death and pain, she pushed her hands skyward. She forced that dead stagnant air to move. Though beneath the waves she could not feel it against her wings, she knew how it swept and churned and spiraled. Faster and faster, she spun a current into life. More than the gentle breeze, more than the raging storm, she breathed a cyclone. It touched the foul waters and sent the waves away, to the sides and into the air. It pushed and pulled and churned and the more Navi poured her strength into the wind the louder it roared and the faster it danced.
Grime pulled away from her head. Stale air filled her lungs as she coughed and hacked up the acidic green slime.
"Lord Jabu-Jabu!" She screamed. "I've found him! But I need your help! Please!"
The walls shook with a groan so deep and vast Navi felt the reverberations pulse through her body. The wind strengthened above her. Link's head appeared, then came his shoulders as the whirlwind grew strong and wide enough to cover his entire body. The waters split.
Navir raised her hand and the air pushed the last of the liquid away from Link. His wet clothes rippled as the wind swelled beneath him and lifted him off the ground.
Green grime dripped from his face and out his mouth, mixing with the red seeping from his side. The sword his mother once held and used to protect him now pierced into his back.
"No," she moaned. The wind fought against her control, causing Link to waver and almost fall back upon the sword. Gritting her teeth she refocused on weaving her spells. He was not dead. He couldn't be. She would not allow him to die. She did not let the doubt tear apart her concentration. She would not allow despair to ruin her chance to save him.
She kept the spell steady until his limp body moved well past the pool. The winds shifted and Link spun and descended until he lay against the ground and the hilt of the sword pointed up. Navi flew to the grip, clutched at it, and pulled. Using the last of the swirling current of air to press up on her wings. Lending the strength of nature to her own feeble body. The blade slid up and out of the gaping wound, which sent another spurt of blood dribbling from Link.
Had she taken too long? Was he still alive? She let the sword crash to the ground before she flew to the wound and pressed her hands into his hot sticky blood. Flesh knitted together beneath her fingers. Blood stopped its flow; red and purple skin swelled into blistered scabs before it dispersed into a deep ragged scar that would forever mark him. Months of healing rushed into a single instant.
But Link did not wake up.
His chest did not rise or fall. Why wasn't he breathing? Navi flew above him and lifted the swirling air high before thrusting it down against Link's back and into Link's mouth.
"Breathe!"
Again, she raised the air, before plunging it back into Link. She forced it into his lungs, making his chest rise and fall. Work. Wake up. I can't lose you again. I will keep you breathing for the rest of my life if I must. Wake up! "Wake up!"
Link's mouth twitched. Green slime frothed over his lips. First dribbling out the side of his mouth, then spurting out as a cough wracked his body. He curled, twisting to his side as he spewed out the muck. Weak arms wiped at his face, scrubbing his lips clean as another expulsion of liquid splattered to the ground.
He was alive.
All the magic in the world could not keep her aloft any longer. Navi fell to the ground, landing in front of him. Tears she somehow held at bay poured free from her eyes. He was alive. He was alive!
"Navi," came a hoarse whisper, from a throat torn to pieces from coughing and the air forced down it. A more beautiful voice Navi could hardly imagine. "Is that you?"
"It is."
Link crawled to her, slowly, as if every slight movement hurt. But he did not stop until his face was so close he needed to squint just to look at her. "I'm sorry."
"What?"
"You were happy," he said. "You found a new home and you were happy. I don't know how you knew that I needed you. That I wasn't strong enough. That I was stupid and couldn't do anything by myself. I don't know how you knew. But I'm sorry for taking you away from your new home." Link's eyes gleamed, he sniffed as he held back his own tears. "I missed you so much. But I never- I didn't mean to make you so mad to leave. I know I messed everything up. I just want you to be happy."
Navi flew to him, grasping around the side of his neck. She pressed herself into him as close of a hug as she could give."Link, we don't have the time to explain everything. But know this, whatever faults you think you committed, however you blame yourself for our parting, it is wrong. You did nothing. You have always been my happiness and nothing you do will change that."
His wail started low and quiet before it broke completely. She could feel his body shake as his tears joined her own.
"Let it out. I'm here now, and I won't leave you again. Not for all the world."
They did not move again for a long time. Not until their tears ended, and were replaced with frantic laughter, and that turned into a peaceful silence, as they remembered each other's presence.
Link was first to move. "Princess Ruto," he said with a groan as he got to his feet. "I have to stop her. She has the Sapphire. Also, she stabbed me. In the back. And she's the worst person I have ever met."
"It's not her," Navi said. "I could tell when I spoke to her; she is under an enchantment. One I've grown all too familiar with over the last few months."
"Oh," Link sounded disappointed, as he wiped his blade clean of his blood and sheathed it. "So I can't just beat her up and take the stone back then?"
"No."
His face scrunched into a frown. "Even if she deserves it?"
"No."
"What if she's really rude and cruel and no one likes her?"
"Still no."
The frown broke into a smile. "I'm glad you're back Navi."
At that moment, the faerie did not know if her wings or her heart fluttered faster.
"So how do we break the enchantment?"
"I can work at it, pull at the spell until it unravels. But it helps if the person under the enchantment is strong-willed, and if they are reminded of who they truly are, without the influence of magic."
"Remind her who she is?" Link's eyes squinted and jaw clenched as he thought. Just as he had always done when faced with a difficult problem, even when he was a toddler. "You mean, remind her how she acted before the spell? What she disliked, how she talked, and all that?"
"Yes. Do you think you can do that?"
"I think so, she didn't exactly hide her opinions on anything."
"Good."
He waded back into the pool, wincing in pain as he bent over. He dragged something from the depths, then frowned as he ducked back beneath the green waters. When he returned to shore he carried a drenched bag in one hand and the Emerald in the other.
"Navi," he said. "Did you carry this with you the entire way?"
"It was lighter than you'd think." But still far too heavy, and she was well glad to be rid of it. "I'll explain everything once we free Princess Ruto."
He nodded. Overturning the bag he poured out its contents along with a pile of slime. A boomerang bounced out of the bag, followed by some wispy garments and blankets all slickened with wet, ruined apples and carrots, and the largest ruby that Navi had ever seen. Though they still dripped with sludge, he returned all save the food to the bag and placed the Emerald within as well.
Then he held out his hand for Navi to climb on and brought her to his shoulder. "Ready?"
"Yes."
He smiled at her; as if nothing had ever happened between them. He'd been near dead moments prior, and sobbing just after. Navi could not imagine the pain he must still be in, and yet he still had strength enough to smile.
Together they marched after the Princess. The creatures they passed were all dazed and swept to the sides. Some made angry gurgles, but most could not even do that.
Only the last of the Octoroks pulled itself up on its tentacles and rushed at them. Link did little more than glare at the monster and rest his hand on the hilt of his sword. That was enough. The monster stopped at the mere threat of violence, choosing to stay well away, and made squelching noises at them. It did not dare to enter Link's reach.
He had become the warrior he always wished to be.
Had they been parted for so long?
When last she saw him, he had been a boy trying to teach himself how to swing a sword. He'd practice every time they stopped for the night, but when he matched blades against the Lizalfos he'd been scared. He rushed in despite his fear to save the Goron. She didn't know if he even believed he could win.
When had he become so confident?
Each batch of creatures they passed all treated him the same. They cowered in fear. The most he had to do was throw a boomerang to ward off one of the mindless Bari. And when it scuttled away he turned to her and smirked. "Well, that one got a little close." As though it was nothing. As if he was used to the threats of violence and monsters. How much had he endured without her?
She should have been there to help him. And nothing she could do would ever give them that lost time back.
They heard the girl far before they saw her. They had to march through two more chambers of monsters thrown into disarray before they found her in the first chamber that Navi had entered. A great barren room of veinous tubing, but the only way forward was up far out of reach of any creature without wings. Into the throat and mouth of the Lord Jabu-Jabu.
Princess Ruto raised the Sapphire above her head and shouted toward the valve still far higher. "I have what I came for! I order you to let me out!" She stomped her foot. "Let me out. I know you know who I am! My father will drive you from the sea unless you do what I say!"
"Ruto!" Link said.
The girl turned, her face spasmed; the ghost of a smile disappeared almost instantly. Replaced with dead eyes and an imperiously lifted chin. "You survived. I will not let you take my engagement stone from me."
"It's not your engagement stone," Link muttered. "How close do you need to be, Navi?"
"Touching her would be best."
He nodded. "Fly high, I'll keep her focused on me."
Navi did as he asked. The Zora noticed her flight but did nothing to prevent her from rising until she almost reached the roof.
"Ruto," Link stepped toward her with his hands empty and held up, "this isn't you."
"One such as you shall refer to me as Princess Ruto."
"Princess Ruto, you didn't want to hurt me."
"Of course, I did. You are the most impudent, disrespectful, child that has ever darkened my presence. And you attempted to take my love's jewel."
"I didn't understand before," he took a step closer to Ruto. His voice was quiet and calm. Like Malon taught him when handling an angry horse. "But I think I know who your love is."
"As if one such as you would ever meet one such as him."
"But I have, I've talked to him. I've eaten with him. I've fought him. But why do you love him?"
"You do not ask 'why' for love! Love simply is. It is part of me, it compels and completes me. I would give anything for him."
"Anything? Ruto you wouldn't lift a finger to help yourself. There's not a person in the world you would do anything for."
That twitch ran across her face again. She fought inside herself. That had to be the opening. Navi dived toward her, hands outstretched.
The Princess glanced toward her and waved her hand. Waters rose around her. A wave smashed into Navi, sending her tumbling and splattered against the ground. She gasped as the waters drained around her. When she tried to move, her wings ached. There was a tear in her left wing. Would they still work?
"That's what I get for listening to a drowner. Why Lord Jabu-Jabu sent someone so useless and traitorous I will never understand."
"Navi! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine." Navi rubbed her hand onto the torn wing, willing what magic remained within her to bind the membrane back together. "I just need a moment."
The girl hissed. "Then I shall finish my work."
"Ruto. Look back at me," Link took another step forward. "This isn't you."
"Be silent."
"You cried when you stabbed me. You didn't want to do it."
"I command you to be silent."
"Princess Ruto would not let anyone or anything make her do something she does not want."
Her hand raised and the waters rushed toward Link. Navi shouted as the liquid rolled him up inside it and pushed him against the wall.
"I have suffered your impudence and stupidity for long enough! Your endless criticism and complaining. How dare you." Tears once again flowed down the side of her emotionless face. "You are beneath me! All of you are beneath me!"
Navi took to the air.
Beneath the rushing waters, Link pushed himself forward. Struggling to break free of it, only for another sweep of the Princess' arm to send another wave to slam against him.
"And you!" She screeched and raised her hand toward Navi.
Water lashed up, licking at her ankles. Navi flew as high and fast as she could. Liquid arrows splashed behind her. She darted all about, struggling to stay ahead of the barrage.
The waters around Link turned stagnant. Princess Ruto could not hold Link and try to knock her from the sky at the same time. Navi flew to the side of the room opposite Link, the girl's eyes followed her. She turned her back to Link as he picked himself off the ground.
"Stay still!" A wet splash struck just before Navi, forcing her to dive away. Careening wildly as the lashing waters grew closer and closer. Come on Link. You have this. She glanced back to see how far he'd gotten instead of focusing on the Princess.
The water struck her thigh. The force of it spun her about, dashing her against the roof of the chamber. The air knocked out of her, sending her gasping and falling. Flapping her wings as fast as she could, she managed to keep herself from striking the ground as the girl laughed.
"I got you! And I'll- wait. What are you doing? Let go!"
Link wrapped his arms around Ruto, forcing hers to her side. "You don't love him, Ruto. He's using you. Don't let him use you."
"Unhand me!" She kicked and thrashed in his arms, but Link proved stronger. She cursed at him, at Lord Jabu-Jabu, at how unfair the world treated her.
Navi caught her breath and flew to the girl. Across Ruto's face anger, fear, and sorrow all battled, making her expressions shift at a frightening pace. That one had a strong will. With more time, perhaps she would break the spell on her own.
But she wouldn't have to.
Navi pressed her palms against the girl's forehead. Feeling the sleek texture of her scales, Navi touched the mind of the child. Streams of dark magic intermixed with Ruto's thoughts. It was much stronger than even the Great Fairy, though not as well constructed. The caster did not have a hundred lifetimes to master the craft, every line of the spell held twice the power it needed or more.
She grimaced as she went to work severing each ribbon of the spell. The excess magic did not disperse. Stopping, she closed her eyes and tried to sense why it remained and how to remove it from the child.
A black rage tore at her mind. It howled like a beast and lashed out. Navi screamed as the pain engulfed her head.
"Navi!"
"Keep hold of the girl," Navi said. "She needs to remember herself."
"Your father. He loves you, he's lost without you. Even though you're arrogant and spoiled."
"I am no such thing! You ungrateful worthless peasant!"
"Link as she sees herself."
"Ugh. You want to be taken seriously, Ruto? A real leader won't be controlled by anyone. Especially not a disgusting old man like Ganondorf!"
The spell sent a spike of pain through Navi from her hand to her skull. The longer she held onto the Princess, the worse she felt, and the louder the howl. Gritting her teeth she refused to let go. Ruto fought against the enchantment as fierce as she. In their struggle, they revealed the deepest layer of the spell, the thread that kept it all together.
Navi wiped it clean.
Malice surged through her. Burning at her hands and head. Navi fell back.
Link yelped. Ruto screamed.
Then the three of them went quiet.
Had it worked?
The girl's eyes found Navi. Sharp and angry, but that anger did not seem directed at her. "Link. Unhand me right now."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"I am free of the spell. You will unhand me, I will not ask again."
Navi returned to the girl's head and touched her. The influence was gone. "She's not lying, Link, it's her."
"Are you absolutely certain?"
"Link, if you do not unhand me, I will have my father remove those hands. Do you understand me?"
Link sighed and released his grip. The girl stepped away and positioned herself so she could look at both of them. She found where the Sapphire had been dropped during the scuffle and picked it up.
"Lord Jabu-Jabu," she said, her voice low and coarse with anger. "It is done."
A grumble came deep from inside the beast. The smell of salty sea air swelled through the room. With a might and ease that made Navi's whirlwind paltry by comparison, Link, Ruto, and Navi were all lifted off the ground. They flew high, through the last of the valves, up into the damp tube of Lord Jabu-Jabu's esophagus and out his mouth, landing in a fresh living breeze and a new day.