“ Discontinue the research?” Shouted a fiery Mayoree, her reddish brown hair catching the torch light. It was like her hair was a fire as strong as the one in her dark eyes at the moment. Link politely dragged her back down into her seat next to him. She snarled at the group of surprised eyes glaring at her from every direction in the council room.
“ We need to focus on other things my lady, Zelda has been missing for a long two weeks, and this Sheik fellow seemed to make no progress in translating the Sheikah runes.” Continued a very rudely interrupted council leader. Leroi was a tall man, with sparkling blue eyes ( like all in Zelda’s royal family ). He was finely dressed in silken robes and a hat that was cocked to the side of his head.
Link could only imagine what this heir to Hyrules thrown was thinking to do right at that moment. Link had met the man once when he had made a visit to the kingdom to see the kingdoms over looking, and ‘ his dearest of all cousins ‘ as he quoted. He was the child of the sister to Zelda’s dead father, who had died a couple of long years ago. But the man was a sly one, witty but cruel in some ways. Zelda had barely spoke of him.
Link thought she might even have feared him for his terrible power. Link felt a strong protective urge to not let him get what he wanted.
“ As we where discussing before, Zelda was spent to be wed only a few month’s from now, and she has turned up missing.”
“ She was taken, and the wedding was going to be delayed until we could find someone suitable!” Link was the one shouting now.
“ Link, hero of time, sit down. The law predestined it, Hyrule must have a king quickly, or she will be overthrown and the new heir will take her place, you have never heard of this?” He asked, smirking at Links obvious confusion as he settled back into the curve of his chair.
“ I have.” Link said, his deep blue eyes narrowed, suspecting that this cousin of hers was intensely eager to take the thrown.
“ Then we have nothing else to talk about then, you understand?” A smirking Leroi said devilishly.
Link fists turned white from clenching them in anger, he couldn’t take this pampered, perfumed royal brat any longer and finally stood up and stormed outside, cursing and slamming the large double doors. Mayoree quickly following.
Leroi grunted under his breath and sat back in his chair, starring about at the crowd of confused and starring eyes. “ Let’s get back to business.”
“ That thing will not take the thrown as long as I’m here,” Link grumbled. Glaring at the floor with an angry fire brewing in his blue eyes. Sheik looked at him strangely, running his nervous fingers threw his hair.
“ Leroi is a temporary ruler, until we find Zelda.” Sheik said, taking his translation parchment and scribbling down a few letters. Link stared at him while he did this. Sheik had worked the hole two weeks trying to figure this poem out that he thought would come in useful, because it was strangely out of place in the middle of the section of Demons.
“ They wanted to discontinue the research Sheik.” Links voice was low and serious, he hunched his shoulders against the wall he was leaning against and sighed heavily.
“ I know…” Sheik answered. The room turned silent, until there came a knock on the door and the fiery haired Mayoree popped her head inside.
“ Sheik, more translations…” Mayoree yawned, piling even more old books next to the exhausted looking Sheikah. Link walked casually to the table and peered over his shoulder to the Hylian writing symbols.
“ Medallions to bind the spirit of lore?” Link read out loud on the parchment on the table.
“ I believe that’s what it say’s.” Sheik answered, his voice trailing, seeming on the fringe of collapsing into sleep right there.
“ but what about here…it reads about three dragons, and what looks like three other beings.” Mayoree piped in. Her delicate hand scrolled down the page. The old runes where like sand runes, seeming to take on the very shape of the dunes and sand where the Sheikah originated and spread into the world.
“ I have not come across anything about demons yet, but I’m sure we will find more about them.” Sheik answered. “ They are desert runes, one of the hardest writing systems to figure out. But if you listen to the poem closely, I found something earlier this morning that might appeal to you about it.” Sheik stood up and closed the book, then walked to the right hand wall and grabbed the bottom string of an old map and pulled it down, it was an extremely out dated map, Link thought, but it would work just fine.
“ Of Hyrule?” Link asked, cocking his head to one side. Sheik nodded, his ruby colored eyes smiling. The map took on kind of an egg shape, with a huge detailed drawing of death mountain, and the Kokiri forest, along with lake Hylia, Gerudo valley and an older version of Hyrule castle town.
“ Mayoree, please read out to the summary of the three waters and mountains.” Sheik said, clearing his throat and standing straight.
Mayoree nodded and picked up the almost completed parchment. Double checking and clearing her throat, she started reading the translated poem.
Medallions to bind the spirit of lore,
One to spite and one to spirit,
One to darkness, but the ones power is more,
Three of the lands of the east,
Three of the lands of the west,
One of the temple of lore,
Mayoree stopped and looked to the Sheikah, confused. “ Temple of lore?” She repeated. “ What does that mean?”
“ I believe it had to do with a location where you can find these medallions.” Sheik stuck his finger over lake Hylia. “ lake Hylia came into my mind because in rests in the far western region of the country.” He moved his hand across the map to rest on the huge cone called death mountain. “ And death mountain lays to the east, but I’m still not clear on the temple, because we have many ancient temples that are told of in the lore of Hyrule.” Sheik sighed, resting his hand across his crossed arm and scratching his nose in thought. He looked anxiously back at Mayoree to read the next stanza of the poem.
Medallions to bind the spirit of lore,
One to spite and one to spirit,
One to darkness, but the ones power is more,
The circle of fire will show you the way,
To the southern region you’ll gaze,
Look for the weapon of the gods,
Only then will your quest not dismay,
“ Connect the dots…” Link shrugged. Sheik raised a confused eyebrow as he shot a glance the Hylians way. Link stood up and put his index finger on the place where the temple of time would be. “ The circle of fire…” Link said, he slowly drew his finger around the map, stopping at each of the temples, first shadow, fire, forest, water, then over Gerudo valley to the spirit temple, them back to the temple of time, it made an almost perfect circle.
“ Yes, it does make a ring of fire…” Sheik said under his breath, seeming confused that he couldn’t see it before. Link smiled, and repeated the next line.
“ To the southern region you’ll gaze.” He put his finger to the middle of the map in the wide region of Hyrule field into the place where Hyrule castle town would be, he stopped. Mayoree stood up suddenly and yelled. “ Weapon of the gods, the master sword!” She gasped.
“ it’s talking of the temple of time I suppose, but the next few stanza’s I don’t understand, please read the next one.” Sheik asked.
Medallions to bind the spirit of lore,
One to spite and one to spirit,
One to darkness, but the ones power is more,
The ice will freeze,
The fire will melt,
The water will smite the fire,
The darkness will kill,
The spite will sorrow,
The spirit will rise from the mire.
Mayoree stopped and paced around the room. “ It was talking about the six medallions, like the ones you told me about Link.” Mayoree said, looking to the Hylian as he tapped his fingers rhythmically on the wall in thought.
“ These are different elements then the six sages May, they sound darker then the six temples.” Link answered, assuring her that they weren’t of the sacred realm.
“ It gets even stranger in the next one.” Sheik intervened, nodding at Mayoree to continue on still.
Medallions to bind the spirit of lore,
One to spite and one to spirit,
One to darkness, but the ones power is more,
The one will rise, the one will blacken,
The skies will shadow the land,
One mortal will run, one mortal will rule,
One mortal will undo the land.
“ Now it’s talking about some thing totally different!” Mayoree exclaimed seconds after she finished.
“ Not exactly…it’s counting in threes in each one. And talking about six elements of these medallions, and the temple of time.” Link added in, scratching his head and trying to absorb all of the information. He looked perplexingly at Sheik. “ What about that last stanza?” Link asked.
Sheik nodded, throwing his head back onto the chair and looking to Mayoree as she began the last reading.
Medallions to bind the spirit of lore,
One to spite and one to spirit,
One to darkness, but the ones power is more,
From the circle of time you will gaze,
To the light and the shadow you favor,
Be not fooled by the shadow,
Be not fooled by the light.
From either the truthful eye will choose.
Link sighed deeply, tapping a finger on the table as he leaned onto it. “ it’s speaking about the temple of time again I think. Maybe about the pedestal of time where you have to walk up to the circle that surrounds the master sword.” Link stopped, his mind was truly boggled by this last stanza.
“ It seems to tell about a clashing power also dear cousin, the light and shadow.” Sheik put in, crossing his arms and sitting back as well. “ I also cannot find any logic to it.”
“ Ask the man who designed it then!” Mayoree said abruptly, smiling as the two looked at her, dumbfounded. “ Raura designed the temple a long time ago didn’t he?” Mayoree said, shrugging and smirking at Link’s impressed _expression.
“ You still catch me off guard May.” Link chuckled as he and Sheik both stood up.
Sheik bowed low to her, flattering the women, who wasn’t really use to this kind of honorable stuff anyway he was showing . “ I respect you much young human.” Sheik said as he stood up again and his masked eyes smiled softly at her.
She blushed purely from embarrassment and grunted toughly at him. “ Don’t get all respectful on me now Sheikah.” She growled at him, smiling also. Link turned from the door to regard them both.
“ Come on, he may already be asleep, it’s past the hour of midnight.” Link said as the three swiftly departed the room to find the builder of the temple of time, and the answers they desperately needed to the queens disappearance.
“ Light and darkness, the temple of time?” A wondrous Raura said, lighting a warm oil lamp in his desk and arranging his papers and fiddling with the books on his table. He looked confusingly to the three onlooking people and scratched his chin. His white beard was longer then Link remembered the last time he had seen the old man, but his crystal blue eyes still sparkled like a young boys. “ How do you come across this being related to Zelda’s unexplained disappearance.” He asked.
“ I translated an earlier stanza to find out that the prophecy will go in stages.” Sheik said, his exotic red eyes as serious as Link had seen them in a long while. “ First the sky will shadow everything around us, then a mortal will rise and blacken all we know. I believe this person might be Zelda, though I cannot be certain.” Sheik explained.
“ Hum, I see Sheikah. Here, let me see the poem.” Raura stretched out his hand and took the parchment. Lifting a pair of reading glasses to his face. The room was silent for the next minute or so, Sheik watched him read intently, link tapping his fingers over the rim of his chair and Mayoree looking about the room.
“ I feared this might find it’s way to someone who could predict an alternate future.” The sage finished, handing the paper back to the Sheikah. “ The gods never told the whole story of the triforce to there people…”
“ Whole story? What do you mean, that we rejoined it for nothing?” Link said, suddenly interested again.
“ No lad, that it no entirely true, the Triforce rejoining seemed to has to consequence's, an action of good, but with that comes the reaction..” Raura took in a deep breath and looked to Sheik again. “ Wise young man, you, being a Sheikah would know of the theories of times many alternate futures, I am right.” Raura started. Sheik nodded slightly, seeming to catch on. “ it appears that your prophets of the past had a theory that if the ultimate pure energy, the triforce was rejoined that it would create it’s own opposite in the process the cancel it’s own power to a minimum.”
“ You mean like positive and negative, both create a void of dead, neutral weight.” Mayoree suggested. Raura nodded.
“ Exactly what I mean, something pure must come between them to separate the powers so they won’t clash. It’s like a safety weapon the gods created so that their own power wouldn’t be released to destroy what they have already created.” Raura sat back in his chair, chewing on the end of his feather pen and clearing his throat.
“ Well then why would the skies blacken everything, and why does it seem that the shadow power is taking over instead.” Link added, confused by the whole idea.
“ Because it seems to be over weighting the pure side, a tip of the scales of the conflicting world.” Raura explained.
“ What of Zelda’s roll then?” Sheik asked.
“ that I do not know Sheik, you must find an answer on your own for that. Read over the poem a few more times my friend. I only designed what the goddesses wanted me two, and to carve what they wanted me to, that is really all, the instructions on how to enter the sacred realm from our dimension.” Raura sighed, dipping his pen into his ink bottle and standing up. “ I will meet with you again in the morning, try to sleep tonight young ones, even though the day’s are becoming more chaotic, Zelda will be found soon, I’m sure of it.
Sheik closed the door behind them and leaned against it. Link took him by the arm and stood him up. “ get some rest Sheik…’ Link said flatly, starring at him straight forward. The Sheikah nodded weakly and walked away without answering.
Link looked to Mayoree, her dark amber eyes as worried as Links. “ he blames himself May.” Link whispered as they walked down the hall together. “ I know him, he’ll stop at nothing until the queen is safe, he feels he’s failed as he protector, I only wish I could tell him that he didn’t know it would happen…” Link ended, Mayoree gently took his arm and leaned on Links shoulder.
“ Theirs nothing you can do Link, just try to rest.” She whispered into his pointed ear soothingly. Then she broke off and started down to her room. Link smiled, he would rest well tonight.
“ I heard she was murdered by a guardsmen!” Came a loud voice from the unusually busy market place as Sheik and the hero of time walked into the streets of Hyrule castle town, overhearing rumors of all sorts roaring like wild fire threw the land of Hyrule, which in the last week had turned into a land of chaos. The Guards and castle folk suspected anyone who came inside now to be a potential criminal to the kidnapping as it was labeled now, even though no one quite knew exactly what happened that night.
“ The people are becoming restless my friend.” Sheik grunted disapprovingly at the groups as they talked up wild, far from the truth stories that just seemed to get worse the farther they went into town.
“ It’s Link! He was their at the sight!” came a roar as a tall, dirty blond Hylian man pointed at the suddenly caught off guard hero. Link pulled the cowl of his robe farther over to cover his face as he turned and walked briskly away with his cousin even quicker to the temple of time.
“ Tell us Hero of time, where is our queen, I heard that a cousin of hers has taken her place now.” Came one woman’s accusing question.
“ I heard she was murdered.”
“ I heard that Zelda has been taken by some kind of monsters right from her own bed into the underworld!” Came two other quick voices as people gathered round to gaze at their trusty Hero for answers.
“ Uh…I really have no idea ladies and gentlemen, please, move along now.” Link answered loudly and then turned and walked away.
“ They want the truth.” Sheik sighed.
“ We don’t know the truth yet sheik.” Link added seriously as they disappeared swiftly into the temples courtyard and the mob of people chattered in talk dispersed behind them, most confused by that small, odd confrontation.
“ Raura said to follow the poems directions Link.” Sheik said, brushing the wet rain drops from his hands and reaching into his cloak he pulled out the parchment translated and shielded the rain from it with his free hand.
Link looked to the sky as they stepped up the quiet courtyard steps to the double doors gate entrance. The clouds rumbled with the ever present sound of thunder, and the clouds still swirled with a gray, black texture. Link closed the double doors to the great chapel-like temple and they creaked shut, leaving the inside almost pitch black. Sheik lit a torch and moved forward, holding it high and seeing the open door of time in front of them.
Link’s senses suddenly backfired. The door of time was suppose to be closed, Link remembered closing it when he came back threw it many, many years ago. His sixth sense came on the alert and his hand went under his cloak to feel the hilt of his Biggorons sword, which had been chopped down to fit the size so he could wield it with one hand.
“ It should not be so dark in this place…” Sheik said, his voice strangely paranoid like Links. “ Come Link…” Sheik said, looking back on his cousin as Link stepped forward, keeping silent, warrior steps in the dark temple.
“ I closed that dreaded gate Sheik, it can’t be opened by anything but the spiritual stones, and those are spread threw out Hyrule again.” Link stared at the emblem of the triforce hanging in the marble setting above the door.
“ I guess someone thought other way’s to open it.” Sheik rushed up to the frame and put the torch close to the marble. “ Look, scratch marches on the stone, someone forced their way inside.” Sheik whispered, looking to his cousin with a worried _expression.
Link stepped into the door frame and into the short archway into the master swords chamber. It was much blacker in here, not a sound except their own foot steps echoed on the walls. “ this place is never dark, it’s a fact of the legend of the master sword, the weapon of all pure will never be bathed in darkness. At least that’s what Zelda told me once.” Link mumbled to sheik quietly as they entered. The torch cast an eerie look on the room that Link didn’t like one bit.
“ the poems states that we have to stand on the circle of time…” sheik walked up the short steps up to the pedestal of time in the round center of the room. “ The sword!” Sheik gasped, leaning over the pedestal. Link rushed up beside him. “ it’s gone.”
“ What! How? I’m the only one that can dislodge that thing from it’s pedestal!” Link whispered, but sure enough, the sword was missing from it’s mark. Link looked to his ally in confusion. “ the prophecy, does it mention the master sword?”
Sheik nodded, and stood up high, holding the torch so it would light all area’s of the circular room with orange light. “ Don’t be fooled by the shadow, and don’t be fooled by the light, the truthful eye will pick either.” Sheik repeated to himself in the basic way the poem read. Sheiks eyes widened in discovery, he looked to Link. “ I’m going to extinguish the torch Link.” Sheik said, but as soon as the Hylian tried to get a word out, the room turned pitch black.
But suddenly, it wasn’t black anymore, no, little splotches of pale blue lettering appeared on the farthest wall from the master sword rooms entrance. “ Look, shadow letters.” Sheik said.
“ how did you come to that?” Link asked.
“ Simple, the poem says don’t be fooled by the shadow, and don’t be fooled by the light, so we used neither and found the answer, simple.” Sheik chuckled, and rushed to the wall, tapping the deep blue letters to see if they where solid and not illusions, and sure enough they where solid as the rock they where painted on.
“ Can you read them?” Link asked curiously running his fingers over the stone.
“ Yes, this is my native language Link, before I learned to speak Hylian I lived in secrecy in the desert with my tribe.”
“ I know that…’ Link grunted. Sheik stood on tip toes and began to read out loud.
“ Ice, fire, water, spirit, spite, darkness…and…” He squinted at the last shadow letter, narrowing his eyes and blinking twice before breaking away. “ I can’t read this one, it’s scratched off. But.” Sheik looked to his cousin, determined. “ But these are the same elements the prophecy told about, they must be very old to be here so long, but it do not understand.” The Sheikah paused, his _expression calm and collected. “ Why would the elements be mentioned like this in the temple of time?” The room turned bright as Sheik lit the torch once more and the lettering disappeared just like it had appeared.
Link looked at his cousin closely as he turned to regard Link, his eyes calmly focused as he hummed in comprehension. Sheik lifted his eyes from the ground and took in a deep breath, his voice as calm as he could muster at that moment as he tapped a nervous foot.
Link stopped for a moment, he looked at Sheik differently at that moment, trying to figure out what must be going through his complicated mind. “ The triforce might have made a copy of itself, a dark copy. Just like my dark side, the powers cancel each other out.” Link said seriously.
“ Yes, that is a logical answer.” Sheik turned back to gaze at the pedestal of time, Link looked also, his _expression and gut feeling just as alert as at the party few nights before.
“ Do you suppose it had an affect on the master sword as well? And the door of time? Maybe even the atmosphere of our world is affected by this?” Link walked back to the pedestal and leaned down on one knee, running his index finger over the crevasse where the legendary master sword would have been. “ I just hope Zelda’s alive.” Link whispered under his breath, standing up straight and letting out a breath of air, that he could have swore that he could see by the fire light. “ Let’s report this back to Mayoree and Impa.” Sheik nodded and headed to the arch way, the temple rung with their foot steps as they began to leave.
Link Looked to Sheik suddenly, his body went rigid, his eyes wide and looking into space. “ The temperature, can you feel it dropping.” He whispered, looking wide eyed at Link, who let out another breath of pearly air. Sheik twirled around, his foot steps suddenly as silent as an owls beating wings as he looked back into the room, holding up the torch. Link felt his heart beat quicken as he stared into the room, shielding the blinding fire light from his eyes.
Something was walking from the far left corner of the room, foot steps light and tapping on the floor, Link starting forward, but Sheik hand caught his wrist lightening quick, Link saw him shake his head sharply, and give him the most paranoid look that he stopped. “ A demon.” Link whispered.
The figure began to slowly ascend to the raised pedestal, what looked like a robe was rapped around it’s body, it walked oblivious into the fire light, and Links _expression went from curious to panic. “ ZELDA!” Link yelled, but the queen kept walking to the middle of the room, seeming not even to hear his voice. Sheik’s narrowed, he took a step forward, then another. Link behind him, Links heart told him to go up their and grab her and shake her silly, asking what happened, but his gut feeling was far outweighing that decision.
“ ZELDA!” Link shouted again, this time more timid, and more questioning.
Zelda stopped suddenly, turning her pale and incredibly run down features towards him, her eyes where a blank, pale blue, and her hair was dirty and unkempt. She reached behind her back and took forward from the darkness a long, straight blade, Link recognized it at once as the master sword. Sheik suddenly broke out into a run as Zelda lifted the blade in both hands, walking unconsciously towards the alter as if to stab herself.
Sheik shouted her name but as soon as he came to the first circular stair their was a bright flash, and the Sheikah flew from the stair violently with a flash of electricity, and skidded across the floor, Link rushed to his side as Sheik’s breathing became labored and he propped himself up on one knee. “ the energy, it’s protecting her…” Sheik gasped.
Link looked to the queen in desperation, as she held out her slender hands to the sky, then brutally sliced the sharp sword across her palm, letting red blood drip down the clean blade, holding it’s hilt above the alter, the room turned silent for what seemed like the longest few seconds Link could remember. The dark red blood dribbled onto the alter, Zelda closed her eyes and waited.
Link turned back to Sheik as he turned to stand, Link tucked his arms under Sheiks slender, but strong shoulders and helped him to the wall to recover from the blast of energy. The room began to rumble, dust flowing in puffs from the ceiling to the ground. Which Link noticed began glowing a dark blue, the rings around the alter glowed and pulsed to life as a blue fire danced around Zelda, fluttering her blond locks and the rags that where left of her dress.
Link watched in horror as the fire swirled higher, into a cyclone of energy, the master sword clanged to the ground as Zelda’s body went limp and slowly was sent into the air. Link’s attention came from Zelda to the rings again, as the six symbols for the six medallions came to life, each glowing their original color of their elements.
The blue energy turned white, then a blood red. Link almost stumbled to the ground, as well as the stunned Sheik as the whole temple tremor as an explosion amounted in the middle of the room. Link thought quickly to get them out of the room, which Sheik seemed to be thinking as well as they hurried past the archway to look from behind the door of time. The noise became folded over, louder it grew as the whole room seemed to swirl into a void below the queen. “ The prophecy…” Link whispered to himself.
Link kept his attention on the cyclone as it swirled the whole floor of the alter room into a whirlpool of red energy. A earth shaking roar emanated from below Links trembling feet as the shine of many crimson blood red scales appeared from the void. The most horrible beast, the horns of a ram, the face of a dog, and the glowing red eyes of a snake slowly materialized into the air. It’s rows of glittering teeth reflected the blood red light of the air as the huge arm came around to caress Zelda’s hair as it floated like in water. Then clenched slowly, and gently around her fragile frame. The great maw opened and the earth shaking bellow emanated as the demon’s wings sprang into the air and it swooped down into the swarm of the room.
Sheik shoved past Link in a rage. “ Zelda.” He screamed, Sheik stumbled as the explosion grew out of hand, fissure cracks lined the walls, Sheik looked to his queen again, the person he was suppose to protect, Sheik heard her voice come to him then in a telepathic smooth voice.
“ don’t worry Sheik, I’ll be back….”
“ The temples unstable Sheik, we have to move…” Link shouted above the roar of the tremors as they grew louder. The Sheikah nodded and they both ran as fast as they could, out of the temple, out of the courtyard and into the dark street. Link turned his attention back to the chapel as the ground shook, and then as sudden as it had started, it stopped. Link looked to the sky as the crowd of people broke out into the street around them, conversation uprooted, Link looked to Sheik, who looked back, his eyes as stunned and fiercely determined as Links.
