Claustrophobia

Part 3

Who the hell puts a laboratory in a windmill?

Honestly the whole thing seemed like an intentional design flaw. Twilight rapped his fingers on the paper-covered table, watching as Symin brought over a tray of tea and biscuits. Twilight didn't want fucking tea and biscuits. He wanted to know where Wild went and be on his way. The longer he sat there, the more annoyed he got with his hosts.

The little girl, Purah, was right though. He wasn't going to beat up or intimidate them. Still, as Symin handed him a cup of tea, all Twilight wanted to do was drop it to the floor next to him. He begrudgingly took a sip. It was good.

Purah took a long sip of tea before speaking. "Now then... Is your name Link as well?"

"Yes," said Twilight curtly.

"Absolutely amazing. Even across time and space, all the heroes have the same name. That must be incredibly confusing. How do you tell each other apart?"

"We refer to each other by the titles given to us by the royal family."

"And what's your title?"

"Twilight."

Purah gave out a high-pitch giggle and clapped her hands. "How romantic! When Link wrote to me, telling me he's met several heroes, I thought he was merely kidding."

"Excuse me? Why would he contact a little girl?"

"Miss Purah isn't actually a little girl," said Symin. "She was experimenting with an ancient Sheikah machine and accidentally turned herself small."

"Snap!" Said Purah. "Just like that. Could be the key to immortality, but unfortunately I haven't found a way to duplicate it, and living life as a stunted child isn't as much fun as some people might think it is."

"So..." Twilight said. "You're a scientist."

"The best in the world!"

"Then tell me what you know of the Resurrection Shrine."

"Oh...?" Purah's eyes lit up behind those huge goggles of hers. "You know of it? I supposed you would, with Link as your companion. Er... what's his title?"

"Wild."

"Well that's boring," Purah huffed. "Not very imaginative, is it? But anyways, we found the shrine after an earthquake unearthed it. Absolute marvel. Have you seen it?"

"Yes," said Twilight.

Purah didn't seem to notice his clipped tone. "I studied it for years. I spent so many sleepless nights pondering over it. The king only allowed small animal experimentations, so in the beginning I had to be content in only using rabbits and foxes."

"And how did you conclude the person inside would lose their memory?"

"Goodness, you do know a lot, don't you? To answer your question... we found a few ancient texts explaining how the shrine works. It's one of the reasons why I spent so many years studying it. Yes, it can heal any wound, regardless how fatal it may be, but the trade off is memory issues."

Purah leaned forward, intertwining her fingers together and resting her chin on them. "Why do you ask? Has Wild shown any progress of regaining his memory?"

"Do you know?"

"Know what?"

"The truth about the shrine," Twilight said slowly.

Purah's face gave nothing away, even as Symin took a hesitant step forward.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "I've read the ancient texts myself. Everything Purah has said is truth."

"Not quite," Twilight said. He kept his eyes on Purah, waiting. "So I am asking again... did you know?"

"I know what you're asking," said Purah. "And the answer is yes."

Twilight stood up sharply, knocking his chair backwards with a loud bang. He grabbed the edge of the table, and flung it off to the side like it was barrier he needed to bring down. Tea cups shattered on the stone floor, sending shards of glass and splotches of tea everywhere. Symin squealed and jumped back.

Purah had no reaction to this. She leaned back in her chair, as calm as a butterfly landing on a flower.

She eyed her broken tea set. "Link did write that you had a bit of a temper."

"How could you?" Twilight asked. An animalistic growl erupted from his throat. "The way you talk about him, like he's your friend!"

"You assume too much, young hero. You think I wanted that for him? You think I never told him of the consequences? He insisted he be put in there."

Twilight jerked as if he'd been slapped. "What?"

"My goodness," Purah said, huffing. "I'm the six year old here, but you're the one acting like a child. The man you know as Wild was not the same person a hundred years ago. Not mentally, physically, or emotionally. The moment my Link woke up in the morning till the moment he laid his head on the pillow at night, his thoughts were only to protect this kingdom and its princess. He was so duty-bound, I'm sure if the king ordered him to break his own finger, he'd do it without hesitation. And when he learned of the shrine... he told me if there was no choice, to put him in it, consequences be damned."

Twilight shook his head. "No... there's no way... no way someone would willing put himself through that...!"

"You did not know that man. You only know who he is now. Tell me, Twilight... If you knew the only thing standing in between Hyrule and oblivion was you... would you do it?"

Twilight didn't want to answer that. He already knew what he would say.

-without hesitation-

He stared at the shattered glass on the ground.

"I'm sorry I broke your cups," he said.

Purah waved it off. "Don't worry. I'll make Symin buy me a new set."

"What?" Said Symin.

***

Twilight insisted he'd be the one to buy the new tea set. After he cleaned up the mess, he went down the hill to the marketplace. He bought the nicest, most expensive set he could find while avoiding eye contact with the Hylian woman from earlier.

When he got back to the windmill, Purah held out a folded piece of parchment to him.

"What's this?" He asked as he set down the tea set onto the table.

"What Wild came for a few days ago," Purah said. "Proof."

"Proof?"

He took the parchment and unfolded it. He read it quickly.

"Oh Hylia..." he murmured.

It was Link giving his consent to be put into the Resurrections Shrine should he ever fall in battle. Not only did he sign it, but the former king of Hyrule stamped it with the official royal seal.

Twilight gave the parchment back. "Do you know where he went?"

"He went north. He could be visiting my brother in Akkala, but I honestly don't know."

"Thank you. I'll find him, don't you worry."

"I have no doubt. Please come back soon. I would love to experiment on you."