Chapter 69: The Sacred Realm
The crowd within the temple parted before the princess as she led him to the back wall. That must be how people survive the bustle of the city. Link wondered if he could learn whatever skill allowed her to get others to step aside. It'd certainly make traversing through the streets and marketplace less stressful.
They passed a polished marble block and three statues of tall women with candles all around them. Some of the refugees knelt before the statues and bowed their heads in prayer. Others began to huddle into smaller groups or lit more candles to add to the table.
Zelda led them into a series of smaller rooms. Two adults stood at Link's flanks. The first Link knew as Impa, Zelda's guardian, though she wore a thick dark robe that covered most of her features to the point Link hadn't recognized her until she spoke. The second was a portly older man with a round friendly face divided in half by one of the most impressive mustaches Link had ever seen.
"In my lifetime." The man said, for not the first time, as they stopped before the end of a hallway. "I can't believe it."
Link looked from the adults to the princess. The tear streaks that still marked Zelda's face made her stare intense and made him feel sad for her. And yet, it revealed her strength. All the sorrow she witnessed tonight had not stopped her, and whatever hardship followed wouldn't stop him either.
"Here," Princess Zelda said, stopping at the end of a hallway.
"Here?" Link looked about them. "This is a wall." Maybe the turmoil of the night had gotten to her after all.
"I'll get it open," the old man said.
"No, Rauru," the princess readied her harp. "My way is faster." Zelda plucked at a few strings before she gave up and cleared her throat. She gave Link the briefest look of embarrassment before she sang a simple wordless melody. A short one and easy enough to memorize. To be honest, the princess was not much of a singer. Not terrible, but she lacked confidence and had trouble finding a few of the notes. But that wasn't a problem, Link wasn't a good singer either. Most of the Kokiri weren't, but music isn't something you do because you're good at it. But then, music also wasn't something you usually performed before empty walls.
Link let her finish the song in peace, only once she finished her performance did he start to question what was happening. Before the words had even left his mouth, the sounds came to him.
Zelda's song filled the air, though she no longer sang. Three voices, beautiful and pure, sang in harmony. They built off the earlier melody until nothing else but the song mattered.
And with them a deep organ blared, a powerful but steady pace for the voices to move within. But the song did not sound complete. Before Link could think what was missing, he reached for his ocarina and brought it to his lips. As he played a harp joined him. The princess matched him with every note. Unsteady at first, but her confidence grew until all three instruments danced together, while the three voices wordlessly sang of beginnings and ends and cycles upon cycles.
Then one of the voices spoke to him, like an old friend playfully whispering in his ear. "You found it, my constant delight."
The stones on the wall split open, creaking as they shifted apart. Once they stopped moving a dim light came from below and revealed a spiraling stairway down.
"During my lifetime," the old man, Rauru, said again, looking at Link and Zelda in awe. As they descended the stairs, he spoke to the princess. "Are you certain of this, Your Highness? All the prophecies agree that there are supposed to be three, to mirror the Goddesses themselves."
Three. Yes, that had been the words on the scroll he stole. It had been so long ago he had almost forgotten. Something about one of them being from a mountain, or, no, that was the part about the Ruby.
"What other choice do we have?" Zelda replied.
"Fleeing is still an option," Impa muttered.
"We have the chance to use the very power Ganondorf sought to defeat him. Should this work, we can end his treason tonight. I am not fleeing."
Link caught her eyes and gave her a nod to show he agreed. He had traveled across half of Greater Hyrule to collect these stones. If they opened the door and unlocked a sword or whatever the weapon was supposed to be, he would use it on Ganondorf. Even if it cost him his life. Two heroes or three, it didn't matter. He had to try. For every corpse the Gerudo King stepped over for his mad prize. For the Great Deku Tree.
Let the others argue over prophecies and hidden meanings. He would keep things simple.
Ganondorf needed to die.
The rest was a distraction.
"Navi," he whispered to her instead of listening to the others. "We're almost through with this."
The fairy sighed. "We have not won yet. I still feel uneasy."
The stairs led to a large room with an uneven stone floor. Fire without fuel lit the room in red, blue, and green that almost looked like fairies. As he took the last step to enter the chamber the song returned. Softer now but drawing Link toward the gargantuan stone door that looked older than the rest of the entire temple. Chiseled on its front stood an eagle or great bird of some kind, though instead of a beak it had strange circles. It reminded Link of the symbol on the knight's shield he now held. Though the shield had the Hylian triangles instead.
Zelda held her hand against the grey stones of the door. "Do you hear them, too?"
"Yes."
"No one else has, not once since I first found this place. Not Rauru, Impa, nor the acolytes Helmin and Jakob." She looked at him, and though her mouth twisted to something resembling a smile, her eyes still looked haunted by the night's events. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"They are."
They stood together a moment, lost as they listened to the three voices calling for them. The same unforgettable three voices he heard when he first met the princess. In their wordless song was the joy of a sunrise, the thrill of a fight, the laugh of a dear friend, the death of a father, of sitting alone and unwanted. It held everything wonderful and terrible together. They sang of greatness and tragedy, love and loss, victory and defeat. He could listen to them sing all his life and he did not think he would ever grow tired of them.
The sounds above them pulled Link back. Loud voices echoed down the stairs. A grinding crunch signaled the closing of the hidden passage. But still, he heard the muffled noises. Something was happening in the temple, and Link doubted the shout meant anything good.
Zelda pulled her hand away from the stone and sighed. "Please, Goddesses, I need this to work." Then she pointed to the three open grooves along the door. "The stones should fit in there. Emerald, then Ruby, then Sapphire."
Link opened his bag and handed the stones to Impa and Rauru, as the adults were the only ones tall enough to reach. And even then, Rauru had to lean against the stone door and stand on the tips of his toes to slot the Heart of the Mountain into its place.
When the last of the stones was set, everyone stepped back. A golden light split the stone down the middle. The two sides of the door swung open, though no one touched them. And the song grew ever louder.
Navi gasped.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's only, I've never felt magic like this."
Behind the doors shone only light. A plane of different shades from a white so pure it burned to gaze upon to a softer gold that offered the warmth of the summer Sun piercing through the forest canopy in glittering streams. All in a dizzying pattern that made it impossible to discern what he looked upon. Were there floors? Was that a wall of light? Was it even a room or something else? A realm of endless radiance.
And the song. The beautiful longing song. It reached a crescendo for a single brilliant moment where nothing else in the world mattered but the song and the lights.
He turned to Navi, hoping that she saw the same splendor as he. Of all the beautiful things he'd seen on his journey nothing compared to this light.
The fairy did not move or speak, as captivated as he had been. Behind her, Zelda wiped fresh tears from her eyes. Steeled herself with a deep breath and stepped forward.
"Wait," Impa grabbed the princess and pulled her back. "What is that?"
"'Our last gift within a Sacred Realm'," Zelda whispered.
"But what is it?"
"There's no way to know for certain," Rauru said. "One of my predecessors thought it the domain of the Three. Where the Goddesses weave the lights of fate. Though, the Holy Books are clear that the Golden Goddesses work throughout the world and all the stars, so having them sequestered to a secret realm never sat well with others in my order. Another theory is a manifestation of the strands of time itself. And still another is it is simply a crucible to judge the worthy."
"You don't know?" Impa hissed. "And you expect Zelda to simply stroll through this portal and not know where she's going?"
"Impa," Zelda said, "there's no other way forward."
The guardian shook her head. "If we do not know what this thing is, then I'll go inside."
Link stepped aside to let her pass. But as she approached the realm of light she stopped. Frowning, she stared through the door.
"Lady Impa," Rauru spoke again. "What's wrong?"
"I can't do it."
"Why not?" Link asked.
"I don't know, I can. I can move my fingers and my legs. But I- I don't understand, but it's as if every instinct, every nerve and sense drilled into me as a Needle is telling me not to go in. I can't. It won't let me step forward."
"Then I will," Zelda said.
"No," Impa turned away from the door, her eyes fixed on Zelda positioning herself to prevent the girl from moving forward. "If anything, this shows it's dangerous."
Above them, something clattered. People shouted, and feet stomped in a rush of movement. Link reached for his sword's hilt, and felt his pulse quicken.
"They're here," Navi said. "I knew it. Please, if this plan is too dangerous, then we have to leave. Is there any other way out?"
The old man shook his head. "There is no other way in or out." He gestured further along the back of the room. "There are rooms we can hide, perhaps use magic to seal us inside for now. But we will not have to. The Gerudo do not know the methods of getting inside. And I trust Helmin and Jakob will never tell them."
Link was not so certain. He did not know of whom Rauru spoke. But even the brave feared Ganondorf. His words did nothing to stop Navi's worried fluttering.
"Impa you're being ridiculous," Zelda said. "If you can't then I will."
"No!" Impa grabbed Zelda's shoulder. "You don't understand, I've seen glimpses of other realms before. In Kakariko, in the dark. They can hold horrors unlike anything in all the world."
"Father Rauru, tell her there's no other way."
More noise from above. The shuffling of feet and the muffled sound of loud voices too far to understand.
"He'll find a way inside," Navi whispered to him. "Link, we need to leave. Now."
And for once, Link agreed. He dashed past Impa and the princess.
"Link?" Navi said. "What are you doing?"
"Someone has to see if it's safe." He stepped into the light. "It'll only take a moment."
"Link! I can't- Link!"
Heat and light rolled over him like a wave. Navi's voice drifted away until he could no more hear her than he could hear the Gerudo storming the upper floor of the temple. But as her voice disappeared, the three singers grew louder.
There had been no floor, no walls. Only a world of radiance that Link fell through with the song in his ears. Steams of different shades of light flashed past him as he tumbled. Hues and colors splashed against his face and touched his eyes. They should blind him, they shone so bright. And yet, as he tumbled from one beam to another, he saw through them, and beyond them. Visions and shapes shifted around him. Most he only caught glimpses as he slipped from one ray of light to another, too quick to comprehend. But others lingered, staying with him long enough to understand.
The first he could make sense of showed three people before a giant with skin of granite and hair of flame. His sword was darkness, and his words were hate. Against him, one man stood with a sword in hand, while a larger man held onto a young woman and shouted words of encouragement. All of them afraid of the demon they faced, and yet all of them stood their ground as the dark sword struck.
Then another light and another scene. A young man in blue, with a green arm, soaring into pitch-black depths. Standing upon some strange contraption of whirring noises and ghostly green light. Moving ever onward, racing toward some destiny that Link would never see.
A mad shade of eyes and wings flew above a crumbling temple. Winds whipped about its being, throwing aside everything that came near it. The creature writhed in pain as four swords pierced it. As it struggled against the weapons it spewed arrogance and rage at all who defied it.
A woman bleeding from her side as she fled through a dark forest, a child in her hands.
The same woman yelled at a young boy to finish his chores. It looked just like Link, but a few years younger. He wore a pot on his head and swished about a large stick as he played soldier while an older man laughed.
"Who are they?" He called. No one answered. But he knew. A desperate pain filled his heart as he watched the man remove the pot and tell the boy to go help his mother. He wanted to stay with them, but the vision ended, and they were no more. It's not fair. He tried to push his head up to catch another glimpse at them. But nothing could slow his descent.
Another stream of light went past his eyes, and he saw himself far older. Gasping for air and clutching at a wound in his chest. His sword clattered to his side. People screamed, and a dark monster loomed as his eyes closed. Navi flew to him, howling.
"How? Wait, I need to see." But his mind slipped from one stream to another. The latest, a great beam of light, far grander and brighter than most the others, enveloped him. It seemed to stretch back to the very beginning.
He saw a room with a painting above the door. It displayed a woman who looked very much like Princess Zelda though many years older, beside her a gallant-looking knight with a grey beard and a stern expression. Between the two adults stood Zelda herself, looking just a few years younger than when he left her moments before. Within the room sat a table with three figures sitting around it. All of whom Link knew, and all many years older than he knew them.
One was him, some future glimpse at Link. Lounging in a chair with quiet strength and easy confidence. Exactly the kind of person Link hoped himself to be, but never believed he would become. Across from him sat Princess Zelda, grown into a prim and proper young lady, with her white-gloved hands folded on her lap as she engaged in a heated discussion with the last of the trio. And seeing him made Link's jaw clench.
The giant, the murderer, there was no mistaking him, though age had made him stockier, and he'd grown a beard.
"It's simple," the Gerudo said. "And will help the people. Isn't that what this little council is for?"
"Helping the kingdom and its people? Yes." Zelda said. "But we cannot keep taxing the nobles for everything. If they turn against us, we will have a war."
"Let them rattle their swords. We can beat them."
"And cause thousands of deaths along the way."
"Hold on," the older Link finally spoke up. "I'm with Gan on this. Providing grain to the poorest in all the major cities is wonderful. But maybe we can ease into it? Have the crown foot the bill for the first year or two alone? Just an idea, Zelda what can we do to make this work?"
The princess sighed. "I will have-"
At last, Link slipped away from the largest of the lights. "Wait," he begged. "That's not possible. That can't happen, can it?"
But neither the lights nor the singers answered him as he continued the fall. He flew through a single beam of light that broke into three as he passed through it. First, he saw rain, an unending torrent of water that drowned a castle, and the roaring beast that stood within it. Then a shattered kingdom, with a lonely queen vowing to pull the pieces together. A moon sneering down upon a world, where all the people beneath it prepared to die.
Too much. All coming too fast.
He clenched his eyes shut, but he could not stop hearing. Conversations started midway through, shouting from voices he'd never heard before.
"Rise a knight." Came the voice of a queen.
"Burn him. Freeze him. Kill him." Screeched two others.
"You're my friend. My best friend. You'll always be my best friend." Saria, that was Saria. But why did she sound so sad?
"I will, if- if you'll have me."
"This will not hold me forever."
An explosion so loud it made the Goron's bombs sound meek.
And all the while the singing would not stop. But now it did not sound of peace and a gentle longing flow. Now it grew so loud Link wondered how he could hear anything else. Did the voices want something from him? Was he supposed to keep watching through the pain? What if he'd already missed something important?
He opened his eyes again. And he was once more in the same small room, but now there was no table, and the three unlikely friends no longer sat across from each other. Now it bore a desk bashed to pieces, blood drenched the floor. A different painting lay on the ground before the door, this one had no child but the same woman and knight, split into two pieces and trampled.
"Help me, please!" Link called. "I don't understand."
A beautiful woman wearing Malon's necklace, smiling at him as the sun set behind her.
The sound of a hundred Goron drums and Zora horns blaring together as armies marched across the land.
Ganondorf lay bleeding at his feet. Old and weak and pathetic. Nothing but hatred and pain drove him forward. Alone. While Link had Navi and Zelda at his side, and a sword in his hand.
Kill him. He never wanted anything more, but as this version of him lifted a glistening sword high all Link could think of was the strange vision of them sitting together. All of these cannot be real. They can't all be true. I don't understand.
The song stopped.
The lights dimmed. His feet found ground, landing as gentle as a leaf. He stood within the temple. Almost the same as the building above him. The same walls, the same windows. But empty. No people, no specks of dirt or dust. Even the stones looked purer, polished, as if every stone above was simply a poor imitation of those that existed here. No small chips, no dents, even the colors matched so perfectly that it made a simple stone wall look beautiful.
In the center of the temple, instead of an altar stood a sword piercing into a pedestal that bore the symbol of the three triangles of Hyrule. Its blade looked to steel what the stones around it were to rocks. Perfect. Unblemished. Sharp as though the most skilled Goron had spent days sharpening it. Its blue crossguard bore the shape of wings. It may be the most beautiful sword he'd ever seen.
"I knew it," he mumbled. "It is real."
Link tried to remember what that scroll he stole for the princess said so long ago. It had mentioned something about a sword. The Sword of Killing Bad People. Or, no, it had used fancier words. The Sword of Killing... Evil... Folk? Something like that. It doesn't matter, as long as it works.
"Pull forth the sword," Link said as his hand touched the hilt. "Then what? Was there something else I needed to do, first?"
He couldn't remember, it had been so long ago and so much had happened to him since.
"Princess!" He called. "Can you hear me? It's safe! I think."
If she responded, he couldn't hear her. Or much of anything. The singing, the visions, all of it gone.
"Navi?"
Silence.
There was no one else. It would have to be him.
He reached to his side and touched the ocarina, gathering the memories of his father and his dearest friend to bolster him the last few steps to the sword. Even walking in this place didn't feel right. He made no sound, not the quiet shifting of his clothes, nor the gentle patter of his feet, or any of the dozens of small noises that accompany every action of the day. Just pure, perfect, silence.
Even the stones he trod upon felt too perfect, too flat, too smooth. Nothing in this place felt real. Or, perhaps, compared to here, nothing in the real world felt good enough. As if all of it was just an imperfect copy of this place.
He reached for the sword; his fingers gripped around the handle. It was so big. Far larger than his weapon. A true sword, like the ones the knights used. But its steel gleamed white as the milk of Lon Lon and as hot as the sun. It would be too big for him. Some other warrior would have to use it when the time came. But, for now, there was no other warrior. Only him.
His grip tightened and he pulled.
"Finally, one has come." The three voices spoke all around him, within him, everywhere, all at once.
"No," said one voice, stern and overwhelming. "He is too small, too weak. He does not yet have the strength to do what must be done."
"No," said another, slow and stately, as if she weighed the importance of every word. "He is too young, too naïve. He does not have the wisdom to discern the proper path."
"Yes," said the last, with a warm laugh. "This is the one, brave enough to face down the world."
"Won't this sword make me stronger?" Link called to the voices, as he pulled with all his might. "And I'm trying to be smarter. I truly am. But I need this weapon. Please."
"You will fail. You charge heedless into battle you do not have respect for the power of those you challenge."
"You will fail. You wander blind, relying on violence and never contemplating the true cause of your problems."
"I can't fail." Link held back tears. It couldn't end like this. He couldn't travel so far and reached the end to find nothing. "Maybe that's all true. I don't know. I never know. But I need this sword. People are depending on me. There is an evil man, and he-"
"We know who you face," said the first voice.
"We know the battle you plan to fight," said the second.
"It is closer than you think," said the third. "Can you hear him?"
"No," Link looked about, but the room was empty. Why was everything so confusing? "I don't know what is going on. I don't understand half of this. All I know is we don't have a chance without this sword. Please, I've done so much. I don't know what more I can do."
"If we offer you Evil's Bane, you will face your trial far faster than you will be ready."
"You will lose."
"But I still have to try."
"And that," the third voice said through a laugh, "is why you are my constant delight." A wisp of green light came from nowhere, swirled around him, embracing him in warmth, before it disappeared. The sword slid from the stone, as easy as if drawn from a well-worn sheathe. "Prepare, your trial comes. If you fail, keep your heart, retain your nature. It is all that will help you in the future a failure will create."
Link held the sword high. A one-handed arming sword, a knightly blade, meant for the hand of a full-grown adult. Surprisingly light, though from pommel to point it stood near as tall as him. "Thank you," he said as he tried to hold the unwieldy weapon.
Instead of answering, a light spilled out of the stone that once held the sword. Bathing the empty temple in gold. Link stumbled away as the temple shook. The light condensed down, turning into three specks of light small and bright as the sun. He shielded his eyes, before realizing the light did not hurt him. He glanced over his arm to see the beads of light grow into golden triangles that lit the entire room. Standing high, it radiated the beams of endless times and possibilities.
A deep mocking laugh came from behind him. "I should be thanking you. Well done, squire."