Rise of the Antriforce: Chap3

Chapter 3: Contact

Almost missing every step, Link hurried down the stairs, followed by the unknown woman. Link was surprised to suddenly find himself on his butt, sliding down a pipe of sorts that turned and winded down indefinitely.

“Where are we falling?” He yelled behind him.

“I don’t know!” She screamed.

All of a sudden, a dim glow illuminated the tunnel. Link wondered if it was the outside light, but he remembered it was night. They ended up falling from a height in an odd environment; they fell in a deep and large enough pool of water. The two surfaced and looked at each other, spitting the water that was in their mouths.

“We’re in winter, but this water is kind of warm...” Link noted.

“And what’s up with the sky?” She added, pointing upwards.

He looked up to see a pale pink sky with bright white clouds. He looked back towards where they appeared, but saw nothing but the sky. “We’re safe...” He thought. Swimming to shore, they looked around to see trees abounding in fresh fruits and flowers were everywhere. As soon as they sat on the beach, they heard:

“Welcome pure souls...”
Surprised, both looked around for the source of the voice, which sounded like a young woman.

“You are at the gates of the sacred realm, do not be afraid.”

“We’re dead?”

“No, silly!” A small green haired girl arrived out of nowhere. “We decided to bring you here.”

They looked at this child who was staring at them with two bright green eyes and wide grin; moving from side to side, making her ponytails dance around.

“What my sister is trying to say is that we saved you from Dragomir.”
This second apparition was much less visible but they could see a young woman with blue hair speaking to them with a charming smile.

“My sister isn’t here right now, so I guess we kind of messed up our great apparition.” She said, with a smirk.

“Wait!” Link yelled. All turned to look at him. “It’s impossible! I’m dreaming! The sacred realm, three sisters... You’re the...the Goddesses!”

“What?” Zelda uttered, incredulous.

For Link this was way too sudden, never has he thought the old tales of Hyrule would be true. That invisible force that repelled his ally during the fight with Dragomir, and now two of the three goddesses were in front of him in the fabled sacred realm...

“It’s true, your friend guessed right. But technically only I am completely a Goddess.”

“Why is that?”

“Do you know the stories of the Creation?”

“No... Well, a bit... I think...”

“I do,” said the little one.

“Hush, Farore. Din, our sister, assembled the world you know now. She raised the mountains and dug the valleys. I spread the law on the world and the necessities of life, and Farore, with her imagination and spirit, created all the creatures in Hyrule. When we were done, we left them a gift, the Triforce, capable of granting anyone’s wish. But it was split apart 15 years ago. My piece was already insured in the royal bloodline. Farore stayed here with hers. That’s why she has a physical form... I have a mission for you, Link.”

He flinched, she knew his name. “Of course she does... she’s a goddess.” he thought.

“Search for the Kokiri, they will know how to find Din. Find someone suitable for her power and the path will open to you... I believe in you.”
She disappeared along with Farore.

Two wooden posts with a rope between them appeared along with two campfires on both sides. Evening fell quickly turning the pink sky to a warm violet and finally to a sparkly deep blue. The girl spoke first.

“Hey, I think that we should dry our clothes; because I’m freezing right now... and we don’t want to get hypothermia...”

Link was thrown aback by her proposition. She looked at him with an annoyed expression.

“No, you idiot, I won’t undress in front of you, I still need my privacy, you know...”

He blushed suddenly.

“Listen, put your cape to dry and I’ll put mine as well, so we won’t see each other...”

They did so, and sat near their respective fire. Link removed his soaked boots and placed them near the fire to dry, he removed everything else, keeping his underwear, of course. The girl already placed her clothes over the capes as well as her armour.

“Well, you’re kind of cute, you know...”

Link spun around to see the girl looking at him over the clothes line, with her hair over one of her shoulders and a mischievous smile on her face.

“Gah! He yelled, throwing his clothes over himself. Hey, I didn’t peek on you! Why are you looking at me? You were the one talking about privacy!”

“Oh, shut it”

“But-”

“Your name’s Link, right?”

“And yours is”

“Zelda.”

“That’s a nice name...”

“Thank you.”

“So why were you at the castle?”

“Umm, well I saw you enter the city, so I followed you...”

“Really, why?”

“Well, I wanted to see if you would be an informant, and kill you if I had a chance... But turns out you faced the king... You’re pretty brave...” Link smiled. “...Or just plain stupid!”

“Hey! He took my parents away! I wanted to get them out but the guard brought me straight to Dragomir!”

“Oh! Boo Hoo! At least they were taken alive!”

She left the clothes line, crying. Link felt bad, she must have lost her parents to Dragomir.

“Listen..." he said.

“Leave me alone...”

“I didn’t...”

“Don’t talk to me!”

He felt even worse. He thought of saying something else but figured it better to do as she said. He went to pick the fruits the fire was illuminating and ate them silently, enjoying every bite. It’s been a while since he hadn’t eaten fresh fruits. Apples, oranges, mangoes, he just enjoyed their sugary taste. Zelda had stopped crying. “She must have fallen asleep,” he thought. He placed some fruits near the post, on Zelda’s side, inadvertently touching her soft hand. Luckily, she did not stir. He lay down, staring at the sky, gazing at the sparkling stars. “The situation is influencing the goddesses’ moods”, he recalled. If he could defeat Dragomir, would it change the cloudy skies for the bright blue that it was cut out to be? Later, he felt sleep gaining over him, and decided best to give in. He was safe. He dreamt of his adoptive parents in a field of green grass, with a blue sky over their heads, they invited him to come closer, but then, he woke up. He woke up fully dressed and dry, under a tent. He lifted himself on his elbows, to see Zelda also dressed yet still sleeping.

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

“Farore!”

“Hi Link, I wanted to say goodbye to you before leaving.”

He looked at the goddess with interest; she was now looking slightly older than him.

“I can change my appearance at will, you know... I’m not really that childish. But actually, I wanted to tell you something. Nayru always wants people to figure out her enigmatic messages, but I’ll give you a hint. The forests straight south hide the Kokiri, and when you find my sister; I’ll give you something in return...”

“Wouldn’t she return by herself?”

“She disappeared after she made a horrible mistake, she won’t come back...”

“Can’t you find her, you are a goddess...”

“Her powers allow her to hide from our sight... Go now.”

She vanished.

“Zelda! Wake up!”

“What is it?” She said sleepily.

“Let’s go!”

“Hey! You’re peeki... Huh? What in the world happened?”

“Farore happened, that’s what.”

“Okay...” Her face turned to a sceptical look. “You would’ve wanted to see me... hmm?”

“Uh... Hehe... no...” He blushed and looked away. “Here, I picked you some fruits last night...”

She picked up the fruits and ate hungrily.

“Thanks,” she said with her mouth full.

“Wow! I thought I pigged out last night, but you’re much worse!”

Zelda swallowed and yelled.

“Man! You really don’t know how to speak to girls, do you?!”

“Don’t take everything so seriously! I’m kidding!”

“Link...”

Surprised of her change of tone, he listened.

“I’m sorry for last night...”

“Don’t apologize... It’s fine. I’m sorry that you lost your parents... But trust me; I know what you’re feeling... I recently learned that my real parents have been killed during the Usurpation.”

“Really? Gee, I see why you wanted to free your adoptive parents. You didn’t want to lose them as well...”

They looked down, depressed. Everything went by so fast. As soon as Zelda finished eating, the tent disappeared, leaving them in a forest. The last remnants of snow had melted, Link noticed, as they walked down the wooded hill. The warm air caressed their cheeks and the birds had started singing. The sound of a spring was heard and they walked towards it to drink some water and freshen up. They kneeled to wash their faces and drink, and as they lifted their heads, a sword touched their necks.