Clearer in Time

XV. A Link to the Past (pt.I)
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The Spirit Temple was less like the gloomy, ominous temples Link had already encountered. It was more like a palace. Within it’s grand, luxurious halls were large, ornate rugs covering the sandstone floors. Treasures and works of art hung from the walls. High above, suspended from the looming ceilings, were chandeliers that appeared to be crafted from pure diamond.

And all around them, covering every inch of the wall and floor and ceiling that wasn’t already decorated, was writing. Hieroglyphs and letters and pictures, all telling the entire history of Hyrule. All of the kingdom’s secrets, there for them to read. No wonder this place was hidden in the wasteland, Link thought to himself. Some of these things, it seemed, were better left unknown.

There were other things, less horrid things, written on the walls, he saw as Nabooru led him and Sheik through the lavish corridors of the temple. One in particular that caught his eye was an old legend. It was very similar to a story that Zelda had told him. Only, there was more written here than the princess had told him, perhaps more than she had even known.

Zelda had told him all about the Triforce. It was the sigil of the goddesses, she had said. It could grant it’s owner anything their heart desired, endowing them with unimaginable power. Because of it‘s attraction, the Triforce was sealed away from the mortal realm, in a higher plane. The Sacred realm.

Of course, that didn’t stop everyone. Upon the walls of the Spirit Temple were numerous drawings of attempts to claim the Triforce. Mages, warlords. One group, referred to only as the “Dark Interlopers,” had been so skilled in magic that they had nearly defied the goddesses and succeeded in obtaining the Triforce. It wasn’t specifically written of what happened to the interlopers, but their was a hieroglyph of them walking single file, heads hung in shame, into a strange circle. A mirror, it looked like.

The three travelers wound up a large spiral staircase, Nabooru in the lead. Link looked over to Sheik. She was staring away from him, apparently reading the glyphs upon the wall. Link wasn’t convinced. The entire day she had been acting strange, on edge. Whenever she actually made eye contact, she looked sad. Link wondered if perhaps he had done something wrong when they had spent the night together. She had seemed so happy the night before. He shook it from his head and turned back to the glyphs on the wall.

The writing explained that because of all the attempts to claim the Triforce, the Sages, the ancestors of his friends, Link assumed, built the Temple of Time around the only known entrance to the Sacred Realm, using the Master Sword as the key to traveling between time and space. The Door of Time was sealed and locked with three gemstones, and the Ocarina of Time.

That’s where I come in, Link thought shamefully. The Master Sword had been the key to the Triforce, and could only be claimed by the destined Hero. So much to protect the Sacred Realm, and Link had slaved at a year’s journey, spending his childhood days fending off dodongos and giant spiders. Only to literally held the door open for Ganon to slip through. This was all his fault…

He pushed the thought from his mind. There was no use worrying about that now, he thought. All he could do was awaken the last Sage and try to fix what he had done. He continued reading the rest of the legend. This part, he didn’t remember from Zelda’s story.

The writing said that the Triforce was not a whole relic, but three smaller ones. Each of it’s golden triangles contained the essence of one of the three Golden Goddesses.

The uppermost triangle was created by Din, the goddess of power. Her piece granted unimaginable strength. The lower right piece was Nayru’s, the goddess of wisdom. Her piece granted a vast knowledge of all things. The last piece, the lower left, belonged to Farore, the goddess of courage. Her piece granted unwavering bravery and resolve for justice. The three shards together were greater than the sum of their already divine parts, combining to form the ultimate power, that akin to the goddesses themselves.

Link knew all of that, but the interesting part was this: Since the Master Sword, the key to the Sacred Realm, could only be wielded by the righteous Hero, the Triforce was intended for a pure heart. Link’s own wish would have depleted the Triforce and transformed Hyrule into an infinite utopia.

If someone with a corrupted heart, however, were to touch the Triforce, as Ganon had, they wouldn’t keep it. The Triforce was made to split in just such an occasion, leaving the corrupt with just one shard, the triangle that most represented them. If they wanted the Triforce’s full power, they would have to find the two other people who were bestowed with the missing pieces.

Did that mean that Ganondorf was searching for the other pieces? Where could they be? What this did mean, though, was that Ganon did not have the Triforce. Just a shard. Link could guess which one. It also meant that, despite his terrible power, intensified by Din’s Triforce, he was not on par with the goddesses. He was indeed a mortal. The thought gave Link an enormous swell of new resolve. This was not entirely out of his grasp.

The three reached the top of the staircase and stood in a large, beautifully decorated room. There was a perfectly circular hole in the ceiling, allowing a single beam of bright sunlight to spill through. The beam fell directly onto a crest, engraved on the floor in the center of the room. A crescent moon with a star inside.

At the other end was a large door with a familiar bronze lock. The master’s chambers. Link frowned. They didn’t have the key, as far as he knew. He looked to Nabooru.

“This is the witches’ quarters,” she said, motioning to the chained door. Link and Sheik nodded. Link had told Sheik all about Nabooru’s story, and she was therefore up to speed on Ganon and the witches.

“There is a key in this room, but it’s hidden…”

“Do you know where?” Sheik asked. Nabooru shrugged.

“In a way. I know that there’s a hidden spot somewhere in the wall.” Nabooru motioned around the room, the other two following with their eyes. “The trick is to get the light to shine on it, wherever it is.”

Link pondered this. A puzzle. He looked around the room for a reflective surface. Of course, there was no such luck. He could almost see the key with the Eye of Truth, but it was hazy, shrouded in dark magic. They needed light to reveal it.

“I know what to do.” Nabooru and Link turned their heads. It was Sheik. She still looked at the floor, the sadness yet lingering in her eyes.

“I recognize the crest on the floor,” she said. “It’s the Mirror Shield.” She seemed impatient with the other two’s confused expressions. “It’s a shield with a enchanted surface. It reflects anything, from light to darkness. It’s a treasure of the Royal Family.”

Link started. The Royal Family? That meant the castle. He didn’t like where this was going…

“Wait,” Nabooru said, voicing his thoughts. “Does that mean it’s in the castle? We can’t very well just walk in and ask Ganondorf for it.”

“That’s true,” Sheik said. “But it hardly matters. I have a plan.” She turned to Link. “You still have the ocarina, don’t you?”

Link nodded, retrieving the instrument from a pocket within his tunic.

“Listen carefully, Link.” Sheik forced herself to look at him. What was troubling her, he asked himself?

“When you play the Song of Time, you’ll return to Temple of Time. If you put the Master Sword back in the pedestal, you’ll go back seven years.” Link’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He could go back in time?

“If you go back in time, you can retrieve the Mirror Shield and bring it back to the present. Once you retrieve the Master Sword again, you can play the Song of Time to return to where you last teleported from, which would be here.” Link nodded, still confused.

“One thing, though,” Nabooru chimed in. “Even if Ganondorf can’t stop him in the past, how is Link supposed to retrieve a guarded treasure from Hyrule Castle?” She was right, Link thought. Even if he returned to the past, Princess Zelda would already have fled, and the castle would be under extra security.

“It won’t be in the castle,” Sheik replied. “It would be now, because Ganondorf wouldn’t want anyone to find it. But before he took over Hyrule, the Mirror Shield was hardly ever in the castle.” Once again, the other two looked perplexed. Sheik sighed impatiently.

“The crest on the Mirror Shield is a crescent moon surrounding a star. The moon represents the magic of the sages, and their respective temples, protecting the star, which represents Hyrule. Every year, the Mirror Shield was brought back to Hyrule Castle to be treated and polished. Then it was placed in one of the five temples.”

“So,” Nabooru said, picking up what Sheik was saying. “All he has to do is get the shield from the temple?” Sheik nodded.

“So, what temple is it in?” Nabooru asked. Sheik turned to Link and answered.

“That year,” Sheik said. “It was in Forest Temple.” Link’s heart skipped a beat. He needed to travel back in time and visit the forest. He had to go home. His friends would be there. Saria would be there…

“However many days pass while you’re in the past will pass in this time as well,” Sheik said. “We’ll wait here for you to come back. Try not to be too long.”

Link nodded. Was this why Sheik had looked so sad all day? Had she known it would come to this? No, he thought. They had just found out a moment ago that they would need the Mirror Shield. Something else was bothering her…

He looked into her eyes. Just tell me what it is, he thought. But of course, she didn’t.

“Hurry back,” she said to him. “I’ll be waiting for you.” He nodded, still looking inquisitively at her, wanting her to talk to him, to tell him what was wrong.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “This will all become clear to you, in time.”

Link nodded, resigning himself. He stepped back from her, bringing the ocarina to his lips as he did so. He played the Song of Time, a slow, melancholy tune. As he did, a blue aura appeared around him, and he felt himself being swept away, the sight of the Gerudo woman and the beautiful Sheikah fading from view.

…

The Temple of Time was infinitely silent, the air stale and still. Link ascended the steps from the main hall and through the Door of Time. Blinding light poured through the cathedral window, falling directly upon the pedestal.

Link approached it, his mind spinning. Was this possible? To travel back seven years? If only it could take him a stretch further, before the Door of Time had been opened… But that wasn’t possible. He had been an adult for about two months now, and that meant he would return two months after Ganon had followed him to the Sacred Realm.

Now that he thought about timelines, his birthday had passed. He would be thirteen when he returned to the past, instead of twelve.

Link unsheathed the Master Sword, weighing it in his left hand. He closed his eyes and drove the blade into the pedestal, still holding it as his senses began to fail.

… Seven Years Earlier…

The setting sun shined dimly through the early morning mist that seemed to float perpetually over the Kokiri Forest. The children of the forest were playing a game together, laughing and cheering. They stood on the bank of the stream, taking turns jumping across the small body of water.

They were a small group, more than a dozen but less than two. They looked as though they varied in age, anywhere from eight to early teens. It was as old as most of them would ever become. No Kokiri child ever developed past early adolescence, sixteen at the very most.

Of all the Kokiri in the forest, only one was not playing among the other children. She sat upon the raise landing of her tree-house, feet dangling over the side. She had short green hair and melancholy blue eyes. She watched her friends play, envying their ability to enjoy themselves despite their losses.

It had been well over a year since the Great Deku Tree had passed, the closest that any of the forest children had had to a parent. The forest was strange without him, dark and sinister.

Shortly after he had died, Saria herself had suffered another loss. Her friend, Link. He had left the forest, determined to carry out the last wishes of the Great Deku Tree. She was no one to stop him, but… she wished desperately that he hadn’t left.

That had been a year ago for her, but it seemed like much longer. The Great Deku Tree had always said that if a Kokiri were to leave the forest, they would die. What did that mean for Link? He was always different… perhaps he was alive. Saria hoped so. She missed him more and more each day, her feelings towards her long lost friend growing both stronger and stranger.

She had stopped growing at about fifteen in Hylian years, extremely old for a Kokiri. She was the oldest child in the forest now, and looked much different than the others, even the girls. Her body had swelled and grown, curving beautifully, or so she thought. The Kokiri girls seemed jealous. There was a mirror in her tree-house that, when no one was around, she liked to survey her body with, her breasts having grown quite large for a teenager. She wondered if this was how adult women’s bodies looked?

In addition to her physical changes, her thoughts seemed strange, as well. She had dreams at night, mostly of Link. Strange dreams that gave her an embarrassing, yet wonderful feeling in her mid-section. She would wake from the dreams to find her hands under her blanket, pressed between her legs or grabbing at her own breasts.

These things confused her to no end. The Great Deku Tree had been their only source of knowledge, and now that he was gone, she had no way of knowing what was happening to her. She couldn’t even go to the Sacred Forest Meadow anymore, to ask the spirits for guidance. The forest had become dangerous lately.

Saria turned her gaze away from her thoughts and back to the children, her ears catching a disturbance. The Kokiri Children weren’t playing by the stream anymore. Instead, they were all gathered around the forest’s entrance, jumping up and down excitedly.

Saria descended the ladder of her tree-house, hurrying over to join the group and see what was happening.

The Kokiri Children were all gathered around a person, chattering and questioning excitedly. It another Kokiri, judging by the clothes. Saria couldn’t place him for a second. Then her mind saw through the year of age he had gained, recognizing his deep blue eyes as they looked up and locked with hers.

It was Link.

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A LOT OF NOTES:
*Sorry about the Triforce history lesson. Turned out longer than I expected.
*I wonder if anybody caught the TP reference?
*I embelished on the Kokiri age thing a bit. I'm not particularly into really, really young girls. At this point, though, Link already has feelings for Sheik, so I'm debating on how "explicit" the next chapter will be. Tell me what you guys think about Link/Saria(maybe nothing will even happen). Readers' Input Please!!!
*To "mikey," "GigasMoose," "NinjaSheik," and "Sweetest," your guys' reviews made my day(s). Thanks guys : )
*Enjoy the chapter and Review. Until pt.II!!!