She sighed. This was getting hard. Just existing while knowing what she was going to do.
She was thinking about that too much.
Maybe she should just do it early...
No. Not yet.
She sat down in the chair and opened up the book that she found in the library.
She found a section labeled, "Lethal Plants," so she flipped to that first.
One notable thing she found was the water hemlock.
Water Hemlock~
One of the most toxic plants. Related to the poison hemlock. Contains cicutoxin, particularly in the roots.
Common effects of eating include:
~ Convulsions
~ Abdominal cramps
~ Nausea
~ Death
Note: These symptoms appear quickly.
If you survive eating this, you may be left with amnesia and other side effects.
If she did it right, she could use that. She marked the page with a piece of paper and shut the book.
This book seemed sufficient. Though, it couldn't hurt to use other sources.
She set it on the table and stood up. She went up to his room and opened the door. There was a crumpled up piece of paper on the dresser. She walked over and picked it up.
The picture with the champions. She had forgotten about that. Why did he have it? Why was it all balled up? And why were the edges torn off?
There was a frame next to it. The glass had been broken, and all that was left of it was a few shards around the edges of the frame. The frame itself looked quite nice, and it fit the picture perfectly. Upon closer inspection, she found that the edges of the photo were in the frame.
Odd.
She put the picture back down on the dresser and looked around the room. It seemed that he had already had already made himself at home. It looked more lived in than his other house. To be fair, he was never really there.
There were several swords in the corner, leaning against the wall. There was a bow on the desk, along with a few arrows. The blankets on his bed were thrown aside. She walked over and made the bed. It was the least she could do right now.
It had been a while since he had gone off to meet with his friends. Well, it felt like it. It also felt like it had been ages since they started rebuilding the castle. How long would it take? Surely it would take much more time and energy than a few relatively small buildings. The castle was huge in comparison, and it had been hit pretty badly. Monsters had lived in it for quite a while, and much if the castle was either reduced to rubble or blocked off by it.
They had been making good progress, though. They had already cleared out most of the rubble and furniture. They had begun knocking down parts of the castle that needed to be rebuilt completely.
She had taken the Silent Princess put of her study. It was now in a flower pot in his house.
It seemed that the once rare flower was now plentiful. They were tough enough to survive all of this, even in a Malice-ridden castle.
Quite symbolic. If only the hidden meaning was true.
If only.
●●●
"So when the Yiga jumped back, I detonated the bomb, and he looked so surprised, even with the mask covering his face."
Legend laughed.
"That's hilarious. You have some pretty good stories. You should tell them more often."
Wild nodded, smiling.
"Maybe."
He looked around.
"Where's Twilight? We should be getting back to camp soon. It's getting late."
"You're right." Legend cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Twilight!"
Almost immediately, Twilight emerged from some nearby bushes.
"Hey."
Wild smiled at him.
"Look what I got."
Twilight looked over at a large pile of various meat.
"Impressive."
"Thanks."
"You seem happy, considering what happened in the last few days."
"Yup. I've just decided to pretend it never happened. So don't mention it. Please."
Wild put a big smile on his face. It was incredibly obvious that it was fake and over exaggerated.
"So!" Wild continued, "we should get back to camp."
He pointed his Sheikah slate at the meat, still smiling. The slate scanned it, and it disappeared. Legend held a bow out to him, but he pushed it away.
"You can keep that. Let's go."
Twilight nodded awkwardly and looked around. He chose a seemingly random direction and started walking that way.
Legend began walking behind him, and Wild followed them.
To Wild's surprise, they actually ended up at camp after only a short walk. Twilight really was good at navigating.
Twilight looked over at Wild. He was still smiling, but this one seemed more genuine.
"So, did you have a good time?"
Wild nodded.
Something in the back of his mind told him that Wild had a terrible time, but he pushed it away. He was used to that something in the back of his mind telling him untrue things.
Wild looked around and saw Wind. He was rubbing the front of his neck and looking down. He tapped Twilight's shoulder and pointed at Wind. He didn't feel like talking at the moment. And he wanted to know if Wind was okay, but he didn't want to interact with him.
Twilight nodded and walked over to Wind, who raised his head to look at him.
"My neck feels weird. Like something's choking me."
"Did you eat so-"
"No, like, from the outside. Like something's strangling me. But I can breathe fine. It just feels weird."
Twilight looked at Wind for a moment, thinking. Then, for a split second, he saw something tan and thin around Wind's neck. He didn't catch what exactly it was, but it sure didn't seem good.
It looked almost like Wind's grappling hook rope.
I'm sorry, but...
I told you so.
Third time's a charm.
I can't bear to see you like this.
Just...
Know that I love you.
And I'm sorry.
I truly am.