FicWad

Chapter 14
All Grown-Up

Jeez, my back hurts, I thought. At that moment, I had my eyes closed, but I heard drops of water and a flowing stream. I would’ve gone to sleep, hearing how peaceful the noise was, but I wasn’t sleepy at all. I was actually wide awake, but I still wanted my ears to soak up the calming sound. I sniffed the air and smelled fresh, clean water and I became thirsty. Then I realized that I was extremely thirsty and terribly hungry, but I felt heavier for some weird reason.
I opened my eyes and didn’t recognize where I was at all. I was going to look at the floor or whatever, but something big distracted me, or rather two big things distracted me.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, “I have huge boobs.” I was wearing a tunic, like I always wore, but it was a v-cut tunic, sort of like the one I always wore, but it was bigger. I squashed my big jugs together and noticed that I was wearing brown, leather gloves and that my hands were considerably bigger. I looked at my legs which were rather long and I straightened down my skirt.
“Ash?” I heard a voice speak out and I looked over to where I thought it was coming from. I looked to my right and saw a tall, handsome man with these glowing crystal blue eyes. He looked perfectly sculpted and finely chiseled. All I wanted to do was touch his face, because he was too good looking to be real.
…then I realized this man was Link.
“Oh, uh, hey Link,” I said. “Um, long time, no see, I guess.”
Link then looked down at my chest and I put my finger under his chin and lifted his head up. “I think we have hit growth spurts, my friend,” I said with a warm smile.
Link looked around awkwardly and then looked down his tunic bottoms and whistled. “Yep, quite the growth spurts,” Link said and his voice was considerably deeper.
I then heard someone clear their throat and I turned my attention forward to see a very old man in a long, brown robe. This man he wrinkles by his eyes, a great, white beard, and blue eyes. At his side was a serious looking Pikachu.
“Whoa, where is Lux?” I asked and the man pointed behind me and on the floor at the back of my feet was Lux who was in a deep sleep.
“Who are you?” Link asked.
“I am Rauru,” the old man said. “Welcome to the Sacred Realm.”
“Where is that located?” I asked.
“Um, well, I don’t quite know the answer to that question,” Rauru said. “But, you two have obviously noticed the change in age.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. “What’s going on here?”
“You two are the heroes of Time,” Rauru said, “and as such, you have to travel across time to fix the chaos that has been laid upon this kingdom.”
“So wait, I’m…” I said and I started to count with my fingers, “Nineteen years old?”
“Well yes, if you were twelve seven years ago,” Rauru said and I could hint some annoyance in his voice. “But, for you my dear, I’m sorry to let you know that you being here is a huge mistake.”
“What?” I snapped. “What the hell do you mean by that, you crusty old fart?”
“I’ll have you know, my dear, that when you pulled that sword, you released a ton of negative, evil energy,” Rauru roared. “Therefore, Mr. Ganondorf Dragmire is now five times as powerful as he used to be. And guess what? With the absence of Princess Zelda and the death of our king, Ganondorf is now the self-proclaimed King of Hyrule and now he is terrorizing all that defied him in the past.”
“Oh,” I said and I felt depressed.
“You pulling that sword was a huge mistake,” Rauru repeated. “Link should be the only person standing here in this realm. If you didn’t push your way through everything, such as playing Zelda’s Lullaby in front of that waterfall, then this job might have been a bit easier.”
“Well, I guess I will just hop in my DeLorean, rev up my Flux Capacitor, and go back in time to make sure I don’t play the ocarina in front of that waterfall,” I snapped.
“You just want to be destined for something,” Rauru said, “even though the fact is, you’re not destined for anything.”
“How so?” I snapped and I took off the leather glove on my right hand and I saw the Triforce glowing on it, so I shoved it in his face. “I must be destined for something sir, otherwise I wouldn’t have this on my hand.”
Rauru looked shocked and said nothing. I didn’t want to shove the thing in his face and try to be a smartass, but I had to do something because I was being wrongly accused of screwing everything up. He stared at the middle of the back of my hand and couldn’t believe it.
“This is impossible,” he whispered.
“Honestly, I wish it was,” I said and sighed afterwards.
“What?” Link asked and he grabbed my wrist and looked at my hand. He looked around awkwardly for a minute and then took off his glove and revealed to us that he too had a glowing Triforce on his hand. The lower left side of the Triforce however was glowing more than the other three pieces.
“Being the Heroes of Time, you both own a piece of the legendary Triforce,” Rauru said.
“Then where is it?” I asked and Rauru pointed at my heart.
“It’s in your heart and soul, Ashley,” Rauru said. “When two individual holders of the Triforce are together, the two pieces inside of them start to gain power. If one of those two destroy the other holder however, the Triforce that the now deceased holder had will be passed on to the killer. If you, Link, kill Ashley right now, you will get her Triforce piece and likewise if you, Ashley, kill Link.”
Link and I looked at each other and sort of made a silent promise not to kill each other. Rauru seemed to sense that and said, “The Triforce pieces have been said to drive those who desire them go extremely mad. But, it has been stated in legends that the Triforce have turned the tenderest of hearts into greedy, black holes. That is what I assumed happened to Ganondorf.”
“So he’ll be after Link and I?” I asked.
“Yes, he probably will,” Rauru said. “Unfortunately, Ganondorf has already obtained a piece of the Triforce, the Triforce of Power.”
“Where did he get it from?” Link asked.
“I do not know, but it is said that when one dies naturally, the Triforce piece is automatically sent to the closest soul, the closest kin of the holder.”
“Well, then who has the last piece?” I said.
Rauru sighed and paused a bit, then continued, “Years ago, the now deceased King of Hyrule had a living wife and her name was Queen Zelda. Queen Zelda died during childbirth so, to honor her, the King of Hyrule named the daughter she produced Zelda and that girl was the old Princess Zelda. Being the daughter of Queen Zelda, the Triforce of Wisdom, as it is known, was passed down to Princess Zelda when she was just born.”
“Princess Zelda is still alive, right?” Link asked quickly. He had a look of nervousness on his face.
“We are not sure,” Rauru said. “Impa and Zelda took off shortly after the battle in Hyrule castle started. She is not in Hyrule anymore and Ganondorf went out and searched for her for about a year, after he established his dominion. If you ever see him again, look at his hand and try to see if he has one Triforce, or two, then you will get your answer.”
Link looked a little disappointed. I tried to look hopeful. We would just need to find Ganondorf, but I was sure getting to him would be difficult, seeing as he was now King of Hyrule and Link and I were probably on the top of his shit list, so we weren’t getting in Hyrule castle anytime soon.
“Well, what should we do to stop him?” I asked.
“Because of Ganondorf’s ruthless behavior, he has destroyed the protectors of this realm,” Rauru said. “The only one he has not gotten to is me. The reason why he wanted to get into this realm was because of you two.”
“So you’re saying he wanted us while we were…uh sleeping for seven years?” Link said.
“Yes. He knew that when one of you pulled the sword, us sages would prefer to keep you both in this realm, so he went crazy to try and get here by killing the sages. They are dead, but they are all trapped within their respective temples. Ganondorf has also invested their temples with terrible beasts.”
“That asshole,” I whispered. “Tell us what we need to do, because Ganondorf has gone too far.”
“First, you need calm down,” Rauru said. “The best way to defeat someone like Ganondorf is to stay level headed. But, I will tell you that what you both now face is ten times as bad as what you faced seven years ago. Not only do you have to get use to holding the two powerful Master Swords, but you will also need to get used to being young adults.”
He was right. I hadn’t been an adult for very long, but I was glad to be older. I remembered the Master Swords being way too big for me and I was also some brat of a kid; withdrawing off of medicine that corrected my brain chemistry. Now, as a developed adult, hopefully my brain juices were all settled and hopefully I also matured a little bit.
“Do any of you have any more questions?” Rauru asked.
I looked at Link who shook his head so I said, “No, not really.”
“Okay,” Rauru started, “before you leave, I need to give you something.” Rauru reach in his big robe and held out this yellow, shiny medallion. “This is the light medallion. You need to collect five more of these to concentrate the power of all six sages so they can help you defeat Ganondorf. I will stay here and guard the realm until you save the others. I wish you luck.”
Suddenly, Link, Lux, and I were lifted off of our feet and watched as we hovered farther up in the air. Rauru and his Pikachu looked up at us as we left and behind me, Lux woke up from his sleep.
I wasn’t sure where we were going, but we needed to defeat Ganondorf as fast as we could.

We all landed softly back in the Temple of Time. In front of us were the empty pedestals that once had the Master Swords in them. Link and I just stood and stared for a minute; still shocked by what was going on.
“So, we’re really nineteen years old?” Link said, still looking forward.
“I guess,” I said. “I mean, it feels like we’re a bit older.”
“I like your hair the way it is now,” Link said and I looked over to see him staring at me.
“What do you mean?” I asked but only because last time I looked, my hair was the same. Of course the last time was seven years ago.
“Yeah, it’s actually a lot shorter and a little choppy. Your hair fits perfectly in your hat, too, and your bangs look so cute.”
Cute? I knew we were adults, but something had changed with Link. I was confused at first, but I relaxed and gave him a warm smile. “Thanks,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed.
“C’mon, we should get this thing on the road,” Link said.
“Yeah,” I said, and then I looked at Lux who was looking confused at the two that were standing in front of him. “Aw Lux, it’s just me and Link. Now, we have a very important job to do today, so you should definitely come along.” I itched behind Lux’s left ear, which was his favorite spot and that told him that I was indeed his owner.
“Raichu,” he said and I heard a bit of enthusiasm in his voice.
Link and I started off on our adventure and behind us, Lux followed. After we were almost out into the main room, I heard someone hit the ground behind us. Link must have heard it too, because he was the first to unsheathe his sword. He used his hand and pushed me forward from my back, gently moving me so he could turn around and keep me behind him, in case the sound was someone evil behind us.
I turned around before Link and saw someone standing there. They had on a really tight shirt and really tight pants. The pants were a dark blue color and on their chest was a symbol of what looked like a bleeding eye. You couldn’t really see this guy’s face, only his orangish colored eyes, which looked like a leaf in autumn. His skin was also rather tan and protruding from a bandage wrapped around his head were his dark blonde bangs.
Link turned around and said sternly, “Who are you?”
“Please, do not be alarmed,” this guy said and his voice was rather soft coming from a beat up looking guy. “I am Sheik, the only remaining Sheikah found in Hyrule. You may know a friend of mine named Impa, who fled years ago.”
“Yeah, I know her,” I said. “She ran away with Princess Zelda a while ago, right?”
“By a while ago, I hope you mean seven years ago,” Sheik muttered. “But yes, she ran away, however Impa did return.”
“Where is she,” Link said suddenly, “and where’s Princess Zelda?”
“You both will discover that in due time,” Sheik said. “I cannot release that information; for Ganondorf has dominion on this land and honestly, he can hear things you wouldn’t expect him to hear. He shall always being watching certain people, and I’m afraid that you two might be a point of interest.”
I nodded and looked over at Link. Even though he understood the importance of Ganondorf not knowing where Zelda was, he was still tense with anger that he didn’t know if she was okay or not. I put my hand on Link’s shoulder, but I couldn’t get his attention. His sharp eyes looked forward at Sheik, like Sheik would possibly pull off his rags and become Princess Zelda.
“Now, the reason that I am here is to inform you of what you’re to do next,” Sheik said. “As Rauru should have told you both, you need to collect five medallions and awaken all of the sages. I will tell you that you all met these sages in a past life, and I will now tell you that they are all dead.”
Zelda, I thought. Her name echoed through my mind and I was full of doubt that she was still alive. I mean, I wasn’t sure who these sages were yet, but seeing as Zelda was a pretty important person, most likely she would be one of those sages.
“You must awaken them so that they will let you borrow some of their power,” Sheik said. “That power will flood into your swords and in the end help you defeat the King of Darkness.”
“Where are these sages?” Link asked.
“They are in the following places,” Sheik began, “The forest, your birth place, Link. The mountain, fiery with power. The lake, drained from past events. The desert, full of thieves. And finally, the tomb, where the long dead walk forever.”
“Alright, then we should get going,” I stated quickly, eager to start our new adventure. “Thanks for everything.”
“Wait,” Sheik said. “In the village, Kakariko Village, there is a treasure hidden beneath a tombstone. Underneath that is a path and an old man, a ghost, will lead you two to a treasure that you will need to save the first sage. Along the way, I would also recommend that you visit Lon Lon Ranch, for things have gone terribly wrong there.”
Link nodded and sheathed his sword. “Thank you for everything, sir. C’mon Ash, let’s get on our way.”
I nodded and began to follow him. We left the Temple of Time, not knowing the devastating scenes that awaited us.