by N Felts
infamy during the difficult years of drought. As their fountains dried up, so too did their generosity and kind nature. Dozens of men and women have been lured to the magical sanctuaries never to be seen again, the lifeforce presumably sucked from their bodies by the healers turned succubi. Shooting the suspicious hero a look of fragility and weakness, the Great Fairy remains on the scarcely moist base of her fountain surrounded by smaller pixies.
“There you are!” Navi declares, darting into the room. “Are you okay? What did you do to him?” She accuses, turning her scorn toward the woman on the floor.
“Eh hmm hmm hmm,” she giggles, her haunting voice amplified in the small cave. “Your friend was weak. Left at death’s door. I would not harm a goddess’s chosen,” she concludes with another subtle laugh.
“Keep your hands to yourself! The rain has come. Your fountain will be restored soon,” Navi points out, fuming at the fairy’s boldness.
“Your disguise won’t fool him forever. He’s a smart lad. Handsome too,” she adds, arching her back and climbing to her feet. Before Navi can utter another word, the Great Fairy shrieks with crazed laughter as her body glows with light, bursting into dozens of tiny fairies as the maniacal snickers echo through the room. Scowling through the sea of winged creatures, Link turns to leave, making his way through the dark passage, and emerging into the forest. Holding his palm to his brow, he attempts to shake off the drowsy state the fairy left him in while navigating through the familiar section of the woods. The afternoon has come and gone leaving him cursing the generous rest he was granted while Ganondorf roams Hyrule freely. He had the demon’s number until Din appeared, protecting her investment of power for some unknown purpose. Overwhelmed with grief, he cannot process the grand scheme of the Gods logically, thoughts of Saria weighing heavily on his mind and quickly drowning out all manner of reason. Suddenly, Garo’s words eclipse the rest of his thoughts entirely. Everything has changed. The time for heroes has passed. You will fail.
“The Kokiri grabbed you while I was talking to Mido. I didn’t expect to find you back on your feet. Please don’t look so down,” Navi murmurs, anxious about interrupting Link’s deep thought. “You did everything you could. We must find the remaining shards of the Master Sword,” she informs, trying desperately to get some kind of response. The Master Sword. Find the pieces. Collect the medallions. Light the torches. It is always some tedious endeavor he finds himself doing time and time again. All the while, people are left to suffer and even die while he plays these silly games. He can defeat Ganondorf without the blade of evil’s bane. He knows it in his heart. If not for the goddess’s intervention, this would all be over. Saria…
The trek through the Lost Woods passes him by without a hitch, his subconscious guiding him through the path traveled a hundred times. The entire kingdom seems to be coming apart at the hinges. The drought, the king’s death, the Bulbin assault, and Ganondorf’s treachery all pile upon the hero’s back, pushing his usually complaint-free mind over the edge. Din had mentioned something about the game changing, as did Garo. She spoke to Navi as if they were equals. Stopping in his tracks, the Hylian’s suspicions have grown too large to ignore. Something seems amiss in the forest, and before he exits the Lost Woods, he turns to discover the source of the feeling. “Come on out, kid,” Navi calls, irritated by the insufferable adolescent.
“S-sorry for following you,” the skull kid admits, his wide-brimmed bucket hat hanging down over his face. Moving closer with a shameful sort of pace, he keeps his face hidden as he reaches the duo. “I-I wanted t-to tell you,” he starts, sitting down and crossing his legs in his lap.
“Well,” Navi blurts out impatiently. “What is it? We don’t have time for this.”
“The Great Fairy agreed to heal her, but only if we gave her Link,” he declares, resolute in avoiding eye-contact for the duration of the conversation.
“Heal her?” Navi asks, thinking for a moment before blurting out the obvious. “Saria?”
“She’s still weak, but she’ll be alright. She just needs time to rest,” he reveals, eyeing the Hylian for a brief instant before returning his gaze to his lap. A tremendous weight lifted from his shoulders, Link is visibly shaken for a moment, exhaling a long breath before a calm smile steals over his face. He was certain he felt the life drift out of her grasp, but it seems it was his own weariness that created the sensation.
“I’m glad she’s okay, but you gave Link to the Great Fairy?” Navi scolds, furious she hadn’t kept a closer eye on her unconscious companion. “You of all people should know how dangerous they’ve become.”
“I know, but it was the only way,” he meekly admits, sighing heavily before adding, “and it… I…”
“Spit is out kid,” the hovering pixie impatiently demands, wondering what more the troublemaker could have possibly done.
“It was my fault,” he whimpers, keeping his chin to his chest as he rocks himself slightly.
“What? What are you talking about?” Navi asks, her tone softening a little.
“Ganon came into the Lost Woods. I-I didn’t think he’d ever make it through, but he started chasing after me. Like he could smell me or something. I didn’t know what to do,” he declares, becoming emotional. “I ran to the village to escape. He followed me there.”
“Are you insane!” Navi shouts, appalled by the admission. Instantly raising a silencing hand, Link kneels next to the kid, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Shaking and sobbing slightly, he lifts his head to look at the hero’s empathetic face. A virtually featureless orb, the skull kid’s face resembles that of a sad scarecrow, standing alone in a field of crops. With a groan of irritation, Navi sees where this is going.
“Hey, what do you say we get him a new mask? He helped Saria after all, and you did break the last one,” the fairy points out with a matter-of-fact tone, bobbing about overhead. The offer lights up the kid’s plain face, his round orange eyes growing wide at the prospect.
“The mask salesman left town a while back, but I know where to find him!” He exclaims, jumping to his feet and quickly putting his sad thoughts out of mind. An assuring nod from Link initiates an energetic advance into the woods, the kid glancing back and gesturing for the pair to keep up.
“Wait,” Navi starts, realizing she should have been clearer. “I didn’t mean right this second!” Setting a casual pace, Link begins to follow the troublemaker, having grown suspicious of Navi’s demeanor lately. There is something she’s not telling him. Something important. Something about the goddesses. The skull kid moves through the dense foliage and tangling roots with an unnatural ease, diving and flipping through obstacles with an efficiency that couldn’t be referred to as grace, but more of a practiced efficiency. Link’s thoughts return to Saria, her assumed last words a declaration of love that was never meant to be. He thinks of Garo’s warning, and Din’s subtle proclamation of change. The Great Fairy is not to be trusted, but even she mentioned something about a disguise. The Hylian finds himself on the precipice of a revelation, but before he knows it, they’ve reached their destination.
“This is it! Remember, Link?” He asks, glancing to the hero’s blank face with anticipation. “I guess not,” he shrugs after a moment of silence.
“Is that what I think it is?” Navi asks, suddenly very interested in the random patch of brownish-orange grass.
“Only one way to find out,” the kid laughs, leaping into the air and tucking himself into a ball. Falling through the ground as if the discolored grass were an open window, the kid disappears without a trace. Curiously inspecting the portal with a bit of dread, the Hylian prepares to follow suit when Navi chimes in.
“Wait,” she starts, her tone changing drastically as she searches for the right words. Stepping away from the dimensional door, Link crosses his arms and knits his brow. “I think it’s time I came clean about all of this. I know you’re confused about what
’s been happening,” she sighs, obviously not looking forward to what she is about to say. Assuming she can sense his discontent, the Hylian simply listens to what words she has to offer. “When you returned the Master Sword all those years ago, I was happy you could live out your childhood. It wasn’t fair for the sages to take that from you, but once the sword was returned, I disappeared because… I had to,” she admits, realizing her story has yet to make a lot of sense. “The Triforce was safe, and the essence you received wasn’t necessary anymore. I guess,” she pauses, her nervousness amplifying gradually. “What I’m trying to say is, you never received a fairy as a child. Hylians don’t get fairies. I chose you,” she reveals as a sudden rush of green light and swirling wind surrounds her in a torrential rush of nature.
The tiny fairy Link has known his entire life transforms into a beautiful young woman, the influx of magic dissipating as she opens her eyes. Standing just a tad shorter than the hero, she clasps her hands behind her back, staring at her chosen with anxious green eyes. Her seemingly short, green hair hangs down on either side of her face, the bulk of it fashioned into a large, looped ponytail hanging from the top of her head like a door knocker