The Legend of Zelda: Blood and Spirit

Chapter 8: Enemies of the Goddess

Chapter 8: Enemies of the Goddess

Zelda frowned uneasily as she glanced up at the Triforce while standing on the hands of the Statue of the Goddess in the early morning air. She was filled with dread for two reasons: the first was centered around her ongoing worry for Link, but the second came from a new source entirely. The girl took in a deep breath as she glanced out across the forest behind her. The wind felt strange for some reason as it blew by her and the skies overhead were oddly grey and cloudy instead of their usual clear blue and sunny. She could feel something in the air, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. But all the same, she raised her guard, just in case it was a cause for alarm.

Looking towards the Triforce once more, Zelda slowly took out the Ocarina of Time that Terminus had given her and held it in her hands, noticing how the glow of the golden relic reflected on its blue surface. She remembered what the goddess of Terminus had told her about the instrument when she had given it to her: "The crest of the golden power is a sign that the goddesses intended for the Ocarina of Time and the Goddess's Harp to be together from their creation. They gave it to me ages ago, in the hopes that the two of us would reunite and that both instruments would be used to protect the Triforce. The people of this land no longer have access to the golden relic, and I don't think they ever will again. Now the Triforce rests in your land, Hylia. My hope is that this gift will help you keep it from falling into the wrong hands..." Zelda realized that, in the midst of all of her uncertainty, perhaps the ocarina and the harp could help her take at least one of her many pressing concerns off her mind.

The girl solidified her idea in her mind as she caught sight of Link's Loftwing flying directly overhead, bearing the hero on its back. Leaping off the bird, he landed on the statue's hands near Zelda and greeted her with a silent nod, still feeling guilty for the foreboding events of the previous night.

Instead of giving him a weary and grief-filled look like he thought she would, she smiled invitingly and greeted him warmly. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully, as though nothing had happened at all last night. "I'm glad you're here. I was wondering if you could help me with something before we left."

Link eased up, letting go of his dread about the situation as a whole for the moment upon seeing that Zelda had done the same. "Sure," he said cooly. "What is it?"

Zelda held the Ocarina of Time out to him with one hand, while pulling her harp out with the other. "I was hoping you could help me play a duet so we could strengthen the Triforce's seal."

"Why?" he asked, taking the small wind instrument. "Is it weakening?"

"No..." the girl shook her head as she glanced up towards the golden relic. "But... I'd feel a lot better if we made it stronger than it is... I'm not sure why, but I have a feeling like something bad is going to happen soon..."

"You mean something worse than everything that's already happened?" the hero muttered despondently as he glanced away from her. She frowned as she looked back to him, placing her free hand on his shoulder consolingly.

"Hey..." she said with a comforting smile. "Its going to be ok... We'll go and get Terminus's help, and everything will go back to the way it was before... I promise."

Link returned her smile half-heartedly, knowing that she would never be able to fulfill that promise. As Terminus had told him, there was really nothing that could be done about the corruption that threatened to overtake him. It already seemed that with each spell of it he was swept into he was falling deeper and deeper into something that he wouldn't be able to escape forever. Going back to Termina would prove to be nothing more than a waste of time that it would ultimately end with Zelda discovering what he should have kept a secret from her all along. But he knew that it was too late to change her mind now, especially after everything that had happened last night. She was determined to get answers, even if those answers would certainly break her heart. "Alright," the hero said, positioning the ocarina to play. "Then we'd better hurry."