Eye of the Calamity

An Unexpected Shrine

Link's P.O.V.

It has been three years since Calamity Ganon has been sealed away. Much work and effort has gone into restoring Hyrule back to what it once was. It will never be the same as it was 100 years ago, but as Zelda and I stand on the cliff overlooking the land, I'd dare say we're getting close. 

After a few months of being around Zelda, I was happy to discover that many of my lost memories came back to me. Zelda was overjoyed when I told her this and insisted that we visit Impa to tell her. So here we are, riding down the road towards Kakariko Village.

"Link," Zelda says suddenly, pulling her horse to a stop. "What was that orange glowing back there? It looked like a shrine."

I slide off my horse, confused. "If it's a shrine, I don't know why it's orange. Purah told me there were 120 shrines, for the 120 monks of old and I've solved all the puzzles."

Zelda looks at me with an excited glint in her eye. "We should go check it out!"

I shrug. "Alright." We pull our horses to the side of the road, and I lead Zelda up the hills in the direction she had pointed. Turns out she was right—there is a new shrine hidden in these hills. 

"Oh, wow!" Zelda claps her hands together. "This is amazing! Why don't you activate it, Link?"

As I pull the Sheikah Slate from my belt, I can't help but wonder what this is. I've done all the shrines. Unless Purah was mistaken? Regardless, I touch the Sheikah Slate to the pedestal and there is a low rumble as the door to the moving platform pulls back. I turn to Zelda and can practically see her mind trying to work out the tricks behind the ancient technology.

She asks, "Can we go inside?"

"That is typically what you do," I give her a serious look. "But if it a test of strength, I want you to promise to head back up."

"Fine, fine."

I nod, then step onto the platform that will take me below. Before activating the mechanism, I hold out my hand to Zelda. "Are you coming?"

"Oh! Yes, I just thought you were going down first, then I'd follow."

I blink. "Why would we do that?"

"Well, it's just...um, the platform is a bit small."

"Ph. Well, if you'd rather do that..."

"Oh, no," she takes my hand.  "Let's just do this. It's easier. Besides, you have the Sheikah Slate. I wouldn't be able to activate anything anyway."

She steps onto the platform with me and I activate the mechanism. As we head down, I realize just how much Zelda's body is pressed against mine and that thought brings a heat to my blood. I can't think these thoughts! She's a princess! She should marry some kind of royalty, not a knight.

Before I can dwell anymore on the subject, we've reached the main part of the shrine and I'm very confused. The blue lights in the ceiling are very faint, even flickering at times. The only thing that lay before us is a endless dark pit of certain doom.

Zelda turns to me, confused. "Um, Link? This doesn't look anything like any of the shrines you've described to me."

"That's because it's not like any of the others," I take a cautious step towards the edge, peering down into the darkness. "I don't know what this is."

Zelda looks up to the flickering blue lights above. "I don't know...perhaps this shrine was never completed?"

"Possibly," I look up to see a moving platform coming towards us. "Zelda, look."

"Are we supposed to get on that?"

"I don't see why we wouldn't."

"Okay." She looks nervous as I step onto the platform. I hold out my hand and she quickly takes it, the platform jolting into motion only seconds after she steps on. She peers down to the endless pit below us and I whisper, "Just don't look down."

She nods and sucks in a breath, looking to the glowing ceiling instead. I notice that every time the ceiling lights flicker, the platform's glow also does, even slowing down at points. The entrance is out of sight now, and we're surrounded by the dim light on all sides. I don't see anything other than the pit below and the lights above.

"Link," Zelda whispers. "I'm starting to think we shouldn't have got on this platform."

I nod. "I didn't hear the monk's voice either...probably a bad thing."

Her eyes widden. "So this shrine doesn't have a monk? Then it is definitely incomplete! That's not good! I can't remember what I read about incomplete shrines..."

While she worries, I look around. This is starting to make me uneasy, and I'm not the kind to get unsettled. A faint, raspy voice suddenly reaches my ears: "Zeldaaaaa..."

Zelda gasps. "Link! Did you hear-?"

I grip her hand tighter. "Shh. It'll be okay."

I think I hear a chuckled. "Okay then, Hero..."

The lights above us suddenly go out and the platforms jolts to a stop. Zelda lets out a small cry and her other hand grips mine. I pull her to my chest and watch as the other cubes of light start to go out, one by one. "Zelda, wrap your arms around me and hold on tight."

She stares at me. "What?!"

"Just trust me, okay? Whatever you do, don't let go!"

She does as asked and just in the nick of time. The last light shut off and the glow of the platform goes dark. It suddenly falls away from our feet and Zelda and I are left free-falling. A scream errupts from Zelda's throat as she grasps the back of my tunic, her arms hooked over my shoulders, curled around my neck as her body starts to float away from me.

Rushing, I pull out my paraglider and throw it up into the air, suspending the both of us. We're floating here, in the dark. Just slowing our inevitable fall to death. 

"Link..." Zelda sounds beyond scared as she clings to me. "Are we..?"

"Zelda," As we drift down I can feel the temperature dropping. "Usually if you fall off a platform...it's very unlikely you'll come back."

I can hear her suck in a breath which is followed by a slight sob. 

Then something smashes into us, pushing us to the left. Zelda cries out in alarm and I grunt in pain because whatever hit us smashed into my ribcage. We go zooming along and I catch a glimps of blue flame, like the one at Purah and Robbie's research labs. I realize the flame is on a platform.

I can't control our speed our direction. Zelda slips away from me, landing on the platform and I drop the paraglider away, rolling uncontrollably across the platform. My head slams against the wall, and everything goes dark.

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A/N: yay, update! Thanks for starting to read this story everyone and I would love to hear your feedback in the comments!