Chapter 5: What Must Be Done

      The whiteness began to fade. Link and Zelda could feel themselves returning to their bodies. Slowly, their senses came back. They could see the world starting to fade back into reality. They felt something poking them on their shoulders. They began to hear a voice getting steadily louder.
      "Hey! Are you guys okay?" Kasuto asked. Link and Zelda were suddenly jarred back into reality. They looked around and wondered where they'd been and how long they were there. "You guys zoned out for a second there," Kasuto added.
      "Oh yeah..." Link mumbled. "Sorry." Link and Zelda looked at each other. Did that really happen? Or were they just hallucinating? They couldn't ask Kasuto what he thought because the goddesses had told them not to tell anyone. And what had they meant about Link and Zelda being spiritually connected?
      "Sorry," Zelda said. "How long were we gone...I mean...how long were we...um...out of it?"
      "Just a couple seconds," Kasuto said. What were these kids talking about? These two seemed to be getting weirder by the minute. "Why?"
      "Uh...no reason," Zelda said, realizing that she should try to avoid the subject from now on.
      Kasuto continued: "Well, now you've seen the Triforce. Do you have any questions?"
      "Not really," Link answered. There weren't many more questions that Kasuto could answer for them now.
      "We need to go now," Kasuto said. Link and Zelda were waiting for him to say that. They wanted to leave now and not waste anymore time. They wished that they could avoid having to walk across that invisible bridge, it wasted too much time. And right now, time wasn't one of the things they had on their side. They followed Kasuto off the island and back onto the bridge. Kasuto made the bridge become visible once again, saving Link from worrying about falling in the water again. Link and Zelda walked silently, still contemplating the amazing experience they'd had.
 
 

       Saria was sitting in her house eating a bowl of vegetable stew she'd made earlier. She and Link had planned on having dinner together tonight, but he never showed up. She even made Link his favorite dish. They had planned on meeting here after Link got back from Zelda's party. Now it was nearly sunset and he wasn't back yet. Oh well, he probably had a good reason not to be here. Saria learned long ago not to worry about Link when he didn't show up. He frequently went out on crazy adventures. She wondered what he was up to now.
      Saria laughed to herself as she remembered the time Link brought home a small, white, furry animal that he'd bought from a pet shop in the market. Saria thought it was cute and asked him what the animal was. He said that he didn't know what the animal was, the seller thought that it was probably some kind of cat. They day after Link got it, he found out what the animal was. He and Saria were sitting in the grass playing with the animal that Link had named Nibbles. For some unknown reason Link had angered or threatened Nibbles. It then sprayed Link with a foul-smelling liquid, and ran off into the forest. It turned out that Nibbles was an albino skunk. Link had stayed outside by a secluded pond for more than a week. This just gave the rest of the Kokiri children another reason to make fun of him. Saria was the only one who went near him, even though he stank to high heaven. They'd tried all sorts of home remedies to get rid of the smell, but in the end, he just waited for the smell to go away. He vowed to get revenge on the man who sold him the skunk, but forgot about it after a few days. Link just wanted to put the incident behind him.
      A deep rumbling noise brought Saria out of her reminiscing. She wondered what that noise was. She looked out her doorway at the darkening sky. There weren't any clouds in the sky, so that rumbling couldn't have been thunder. Then she heard the rumbling again. This time it didn't stop, it grew steadily louder. The rumbling became almost deafening as everything began to shake. Saria screamed and ran out of her house as the shaking grew more violent. She tried to run into a clearing, but the shaking upset her balance and she tripped with each step. She decided to quit running and lay flat on the ground and covered her head. After fifteen seconds, the earthquake stopped as suddenly as it had started. After what seemed like an eternity, Saria looked up and tried to understand what just happened. She had never been in an earthquake before, and didn't quite know what to do now.
      There didn't seem to be any damage to her house or any of the others, they were unusually sturdy. The only thing Saria worried about now was Link. She hoped that, wherever he was, he would be all right.
 
 

       Kasuto, Link, and Zelda had finally made it to the other end of the winding, invisible bridge. They walked briskly towards the opening into the desert world and to the portal that would lead them home.
      Zelda had a thought that kept nagging her, so she decided to voice her concern. "Kasuto," she began, "I was just wondering...We've spent nearly a half a day here, and I have a feeling that we need to get started with our mission soon. And, well, how are we going to make up for the time we've lost?"
      Kasuto looked back at Zelda and answered her question. "You don't need to worry about lost time here," Kasuto said. "In this place time runs three times as fast as our world. One hour here is like twenty minutes out there." Zelda had a mental sigh of relief. At least they didn't waste as much time as she thought.
      They had walked out of the paradise and made there way back to the blue warp tile. "Ready to go home?" Kasuto asked Link and Zelda. They nodded and stepped onto the tile. They again experienced the rush of flying through the glowing wormhole. When they emerged back in their world, Dejaren and Zoya were waiting. "So, did everything go okay?" Kasuto asked his friends.
      "Yes," Zoya answered. "We went to the castle and told everyone that Zelda was spending the night at Lake Hylia. She doesn't have to be back until the morning."
      "Good, good," Kasuto said. "In that case, I guess they'll be staying with us tonight." He looked at Link and Zelda. "That is, if you want to." Link and Zelda glanced at each other for a moment and nodded. They didn't see anything wrong with staying there for the night.  "Great! We have extra beds you two can sleep in that are in one of the cottages. Now it's about time for dinner, so why don't you two go back to the main house and get ready." Link and Zelda realized that they hadn't eaten in several hours, and they were really hungry. Zoya told them to follow her back to the main cottage for dinner, and Link and Zelda happily agreed.
      Kasuto began to walk out with them as Dejaren motioned for him to stop. "Is something wrong?" Kasuto asked.
      Dejaren approached Kasuto and talked quietly into his ear. "Yes there is," Dejaren said. "Shortly before you came back there was an earthquake." In this part of the world, earthquakes almost never occurred. The average person never experienced one, they usually just heard about them from neighboring countries.
      "Oh, no," Kasuto said. "How bad was it?"
      "It wasn't very severe," Dejaren answered. "But we think that this might be a hint that the last sign will be fulfilled."
      "Is it possible that this is just a coincidence?" Kasuto asked.
      "I sure hope so," Dejaren answered, "but I doubt it. If this is a sign, then we only have about ten days before things start to get really bad." They paused and thought about the implications of this. If this was a sign, then they didn't have much time until the truly devastating disaster started to happen. "Should we tell the children?" Dejaren asked.
      "Not now," Kasuto answered. "This can wait till the morning. That's when I'll tell them what they have to do. Right now they need to relax for a while, they're going to have a tough time ahead."
      "You're right," Dejaren agreed. Dejaren then turned around and began to walk out of the temple to join the others. Kasuto remained inside the temple. He walked through the rows of sarcophaguses until he reached the one of the first Guardian of Truth. He penitently paid his respects and then looked upward. Please give me strength, he prayed. Kyuuro, you made the prophecy; what would you do? Kasuto looked back at the sarcophagus and sighed. I hope that these children can succeed. If not, then I'm out of a job. Kasuto sat there for a while, trying to visualize what was ahead. After silently meditating for few minutes, he decided to leave the temple and join the others at the cottage.
      Kasuto walked under the twilight sky towards the brightly lit cottage. He entered to see Link, Zelda, and his friends preparing the meal. Kasuto's gloomy demeanor brightened as he saw Link and Zelda conversing with the other Guardians. It was heartening to see these children talking so easily to people they had just met, and who were also five times their age. Link was carrying on about a twenty-pound fish he caught once, and Zelda seemed utterly fascinated by the intricate design on Zoya's robe. Kasuto walked to the long table and sat opposite Link and Zelda.
      Kasuto managed to pick up part of Link's ramblings. "...and then I started to reel it in, and believe me it took a long time. For five minutes I was reeling and pulling," he gestured like he was fishing, "and finally I pulled the thing in and it was huge! It flopped all over the place and then I finally picked it up and it was almost as big as me! The guy who ran the fishing pond said it was twenty pounds, but personally I think it weighed a lot more because it was really heavy..." Link was interrupted by a jab in the side originating from Zelda's elbow. He gave Zelda a dirty look. "Sorry," Link apologized, "I guess I got carried away."
      "Dinner's ready, guys," Talan said. He was standing in front of a large chamber pot and was ladling soup into bowls. He handed them off to Kira who set a bowl of steaming soup at each spot on the table. After dispensing the soup, Talan distributed small loaves of bread which he'd removed from a brick oven a few minutes prior. Kira then got a large pitcher and proceeded to pour each person a glass of milk.
 
 

       Link and Zelda were both famished and began to eat their food immediately. "It's not the best food in the world," Talan said, "but it'll have to do." Zelda said politely that she thought the food tasted just fine. Link, with his mouth stuffed, mumbled that he liked it. Link thought the food was good; it resembled what he normally ate anyways. Besides, any food was better than eating worms and grass, which he had to do on a couple occasions. After what seemed like only a few seconds, Link slurped the last drop of soup out of his bowl.
      "Um,  is it okay if I have seconds?" Link asked.
      "Sure, help yourself," Kasuto answered. Link grabbed his bowl and wandered over to the pot of soup. He took the ladle and poured himself another bowl. He walked back to the table and sat down. Link took the cup of milk and drank some of it. His face contorted in displeasure and he swallowed it, trying not to gag. Zelda snickered at Link; she thought the milk tasted fine.
      "I think this milk is spoiled," Link said. He cautiously sniffed it and placed the cup back on the table.
      "It's not spoiled," Talan said. "I just milked the camels twenty minutes ago."
      "Camels?" Link said. "I didn't know you had camels. I thought they only lived in the desert."
      "They're native to the desert," Kasuto said. "But we raise them here on our farm. You probably didn't see the camel pen, it's out behind the barn. Protecting the secret of the Triforce is surprisingly boring, we need something to do so we have a farm here too. Besides, we got to make a living somehow."
      "Oh," Link said. He pushed the glass of milk away. "Is it okay if I just have water?"
      "I'll get you some," Kayla said. She walked into the kitchen, poured Link a glass of water from another pitcher, and brought it back to him.
      "Thanks," Link said. He quickly gulped it down and tried to wash the awful taste of the camel's milk out of his mouth. Link then continued to eat his second bowl of soup.
      "I just wanted to know, how did you guys convince my dad and everyone else that I was at Lake Hylia?" Zelda asked. She wondered how they could possibly fool all those people.
      "We had to use a mind control technique," Zoya answered.
      "Mind control?" Zelda asked.
      "Yes. We altered their memories to make them believe that you were out on a camping trip. As far as they're concerned, you never escaped from the castle; you were supposed to be gone."
      "I guess you changed their minds," Link said in an attempted pun. Everybody looked at him, with expressions indicating how banal they thought the joke was. He could never find anyone with the same sense of humor as his own. He finished off the bowl of soup and the small piece of bread that remained.
      "So what're we gonna do tomorrow?" Zelda asked as she too finished off her meal.
      "You're going to find out what you have to do to destroy the Evil Force," Kasuto answered. "For now, you two should go to sleep, especially you, Link. You're going to need all your energy. I'll tell you right now: it's not going to be easy." Link was used to things being difficult, nothing was ever easy for him.
      "So where do we sleep?" Link asked.
      "There are two extra beds in the cottage next to this one," Kasuto answered. "I'll take you there now." Kasuto stood up followed by Link and Zelda. He grabbed a lantern and led them outside and to the cottage next door. This cottage looked similar the one they just left, albeit smaller. It had a small kitchen with a sink and a fireplace, and there was a table in the far corner. The beds were across from each other, each one was against a wall. "This is our guest house," Kasuto said, presenting the small cottage to them. "You're the first guests we've had stay overnight in, oh..." he thought for a moment, "about six months. I hope you don't mind sharing the same room, this is all we've got." Link and Zelda indicated that they had no problem with that.
      Kasuto set the lantern on a small nightstand and prepared to leave. "You should get a good night's sleep, you'll need to be well-rested for tomorrow. Well, goodnight. I'll be back to wake you guys up at about seven o'clock." Kasuto left the cottage and closed the door behind him.
      Link and Zelda each chose a bed and prepared to lie down. Link sat on the bed took off his boots and socks. Zelda jokingly pinched her nose closed. "What?" Link said. "My feet don't stink." Link, being fairly self-conscious, didn't appreciate Zelda's gesture. She told him that she was just joking, and he felt a little better. Link took off his cap and contemplated whether to remove his tunic, also. After all, he did have a shirt on underneath that, and the tunic was also uncomfortable to sleep in. He took off his tunic and laid it on the growing pile on the floor.
      "Are you going to strip for me?" Zelda said, giggling. Link blushed and told her "no". Zelda removed her slippers and climbed into her bed. She decided to just sleep in her dress; bringing pajamas was not one of the things she thought of when she escaped from the castle.
      They were both lying down in their beds, staring at the ceiling. Link wasn't very tired, and neither was Zelda. Both their minds were racing with thoughts of the out of body experience they'd had today. "Link?" Zelda said, rolling on her side to look at him. "What did you think of what happened today?"
      "A lot of things happened today, which one are you talking about in particular?"
       "Well...I'm talking about that experience with the Triforce, and the goddesses," Zelda said. "Do you think that was real, or was it just a hallucination?" she asked.
      "I definitely thought it was real. No...I know it was real," Link answered. "Besides, I've had hallucinations before and that wasn't one?"
      "You mean you've had hallucinations before?" Zelda asked. She was a little perplexed, when did Link ever hallucinate? "When was this?"
      "Well, it happened when I was in the forest near my home. I was out picking berries and things to make dinner with. I saw these mushrooms, and they looked like regular mushrooms that I eat all the time, so I decided to pick them. I ate one while I was in the forest, and by the time I got home, I was sicker then I'd ever been in my whole life. I passed out, but luckily, Saria found me and took me to her house. That night I was totally delirious. I saw weird colors, little goblins, and just totally strange visions. After that, I was miserable for a week. I swear I had chills and a fever at the same time. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be picking mushrooms and eating them. I won't be eating any more mushrooms." Link fought off a wave of nausea as he remembered the extremely horrid experience. Zelda started to feel sick, too. Was this the connection the goddesses had talked about, or was it just her imagination?
      "Geez, it sounds like you had quite a bad experience," Zelda said.
      "Yeah, well, bad stuff always happens to me," Link said. His gaze returned to the ceiling. Link began to feel depressed. Sometimes he felt like the whole world was teasing him. "Before I met you, Saria was the only real friend I had in the forest."
      Saria, Zelda thought. Does Link like her more than me? After all, he's known her for years and he just met me. Should I tell Link that I like him?
      "I didn't know you felt that way about me," Link said. Oh no! Zelda thought. He knows how I feel. I'd rather just tell him instead of him reading my feelings.
      "Well, I've felt this way since I first met you," Zelda said. She really liked Link, but could never come up with enough courage to tell him. Impa told her that it was just puppy love, and there would be other boys. After all, she was only ten years old. She was way too young to be deciding who her true love was. But something deep down inside Zelda told her that it was true. She knew it wasn't just puppy love; it was more than that. "I never told you because I thought that maybe you liked Saria more than me."
      "I do like Saria," Link said. "But not that way. She's more like a friend or a sister to me. Why do you think I made you that jewelry? I really like you; that's why I went through all that trouble making something just for you when I could've just bought something. But that would've been too impersonal."
      So, Zelda thought, Saria is just a sister to him. Maybe he does like me after all. "Well, umm..." Zelda stammered. Her heart was beginning to race. "What can I say?...I...love you." There, she said it. Upon hearing this, Link's face turned beet red. He was relieved that it was dark and Zelda couldn't see his face.
      Link was speechless. He couldn't think of anything to say. He felt the same way about Zelda, but he never found the right time to tell her. He'd planned on hinting at it during Zelda's birthday party, but because of what happened he never found the time to. "Oh..." Link murmured. He suddenly felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest, it was beating so fast. "I..." he tried to choke out the words, "love...you...too."
      Now their feelings were out in the open. There was nothing to hide anymore. What should they say now? They both lay there silently, not knowing what else to say. They were tired, and wanted to sleep. Link and Zelda both dozed off. They would talk about this some other time, when the fate of the Universe and countless souls didn't depend on them.
 
 

       Kasuto left his cottage and headed for the one where Link and Zelda slept. It was about seven in the morning, but Kasuto was accustomed to waking up much earlier. Now he had to go wake up the children. He knocked on the door to the guest cottage and quietly opened it. He walked in to see Zelda sitting awake on top of her bed. It appeared that she had neatly made her bed after she'd gotten up. "Hi Kasuto!" Zelda said cheerfully. She looked over at Link, and Kasuto followed her gaze. Link was rolled on his side, still asleep. "He's still sleeping," Zelda said.
      "Well, he needs to get up soon," Kasuto said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
      "I'll wake him up," Zelda said. She got up and walked over to Link's bed. He was on his side, quietly mumbling nonsensical gibberish. "He talks in his sleep," Zelda said, giggling. She put her hand on his shoulder and tried to shake him awake. Link just groaned and turned onto his other side. Zelda tried shaking him again, but with the same unsatisfactory results. "Link! Wake up!" she yelled. The response was an unenthusiastic "Uhhhh."
      "I have an idea," Zelda suggested. Kasuto raised an eyebrow and wondered what she was going to do. Zelda bent over and planted a kiss on Link's cheek. His eyes opened and he immediately shot out of bed. Link looked around him and saw that Kasuto and Zelda were waiting for him to get up.
      "Oh, sorry," Link apologized. "I guess I slept late."
      "That's okay," Kasuto said. "Get dressed. We're having breakfast in a few minutes." Kasuto left the cottage and headed back to the same cottage that they'd had dinner in the previous night. Link groggily pulled his tunic over his head and put his socks and boots on. Zelda hurriedly grabbed Link's hand and led him outside. They ran towards the main house to go get breakfast.
      When Link and Zelda entered the house, they saw that breakfast had already been prepared, and everyone was waiting for them. Everyone stood and waited for Link and Zelda to sit. Link's mouth was watering when he saw their breakfast: eggs. He usually had watery porridge or nothing at all for breakfast. This was a welcome change. Link grabbed his fork and prepared to take a bite of his food. Just before the food reached his mouth, he had a second thought and placed the fork back on the plate.
      "Wait a minute," Link said. "These eggs didn't come from some weird animal like a platypus or something, did they?" He was cautious after the milk incident last night.
      "Of course not," Talan said. "We raise chickens, too."
      Link breathed a sigh of relief and began to devour his eggs. Zelda wondered how anyone could eat so fast. "These are great," Link said with his mouth full. "I can't remember the last time I had eggs. They're too expensive, and I don't have any chickens."
      "What're we gonna do today?" Zelda asked.
      "Today I'm going to tell you how to save the Universe," Kasuto answered. That sentence would've seemed abnormal to any other person. "After breakfast I'll you everything you need to know."
      As they were finishing their breakfast, Link and Zelda thought about what happened the previous night. They had both gotten their feelings out in the open, so why were they still so confused. Zelda remembered when Impa told her that love wasn't supposed to make sense.
      When they finished eating, Kasuto asked the kids to get up. "Come with me, we have to go back into the temple. I need to show you some things there in order for you to understand." Link and Zelda followed Kasuto outside and back into the dark temple. Kasuto led them through the tomb. They walked past the hundreds of sarcophaguses. Link and Zelda noticed that the coffins were arranged in groups of seven, one for each generation of Guardians.
      After Link and Zelda started to feel like they'd been walking forever, they reached a corridor at the end of the tomb. Kasuto led them a little ways down the corridor and then turned left into a large room. This room wasn't as big as the tomb, but it was fairly large. This room was filled with rows of shelves lined with thousands of books and scrolls.
      "This is the library, obviously," said Kasuto. "This is where we keep all of our records, and various important documents. Link, you're going to need one of these documents."
      "I am?" Link said.
      "Yes. Let me start from the beginning," said Kasuto as he guided Link and Zelda to a large table, and they sat down. "You're familiar with the Triforce being a holy relic created by the gods. They hid this sacred relic in a hidden land, waiting for us to find it. You know that the Triforce isn't powerful enough to overcome the Evil Force. However, there is another holy relic that can destroy the Evil Force. Actually it's two relics, you. The power to destroy the Evil Force resides within you two. In order for you to use this power, there are two objects you must find. They are what you need to harness your power and release it."
      "What are they?" Zelda asked.
      "Our predecessors called them 'Taz urbnen daia podere', the Orbs of Power. When you find these, you can destroy the Evil Force forever. You'll need one of these scrolls, though." Kasuto got up and walked over to one of the shelves. He disappeared from sight for a moment and reappeared with a small scroll in his hand. He sat back down and unrolled the scroll in front of Link and Zelda. It didn't look like other scrolls that they'd seen. They were yellow, wrinkled, and usually falling apart; this wasn't. Link reached out and touched it. It was smooth, but didn't feel like paper.
      "Feels strange, doesn't it?" Kasuto said. "This scroll is almost ten thousand years old. Paper or parchment would never last that long. This particular scroll is made out of an unknown material. The Guardians made this, but we have no idea what they made it with. We've never been able to duplicate it, or even find out what material it is."
      "What is this?" Link asked.
      "It's a map," Kasuto answered. "It's almost like a treasure map; it'll tell you where the orbs are located. Link, you have to go find them."
      "Why do I have to go find them?" Link asked. "Couldn't you guys have gotten them and brought them here a long time ago? I mean, you've had ten thousand years to do it."
      "We would've brought them back a long time ago..." Kasuto responded. "But we couldn't. We can't bring the Orbs back because we can't touch them. Only you can touch your respective Orbs. If anyone else tries to touch them, the Orbs will turn into thin air. The person's hand will simply pass through the Orbs without touching them."
      "Oh," Link mumbled. "Well, then where are these Orbs? Are they in some other realm like the Triforce?"
      "No," Kasuto answered. "They're right here in this world. Unfortunately, they're not in Hyrule. In fact they're not anywhere near Hyrule. They're in Takansuu."
      "Takansuu? Where's that?" Link asked.
      "Takansuu is the continent at the south pole," Zelda said.
      "Very good," said Kasuto. "You know your geography. Takansuu is the southernmost continent on this world. The Orbs are hidden in an ice cave at the South Pole. You're lucky: this time of year the weather is fairly calm. In fact, if it wasn't so cold down there, the weather would be pleasant."
      "How cold is it down there?" Link asked. He never liked cold weather; in the winter, he'd rather stay inside near the fireplace than play outside in the snow.
      "Really cold," Kasuto answered. "It's so cold that if you spit, it'll freeze before it hits the ground."
      "Are you serious?" Link asked in disbelief.
      "I'm always serious," Kasuto answered. "It won't seem too cold because there's almost no wind this time of year, and the sun shines twenty-two hours a day. It's just the air temperature that's cold."
      "Oh...that's a relief," Link said sarcastically.
      "I take it you don't like cold weather," Kasuto said, and Link responded by shaking his head. "Well, you'll have to get used to it," Kasuto continued. "Besides, it's not like you're gonna be wearing those clothes." Kasuto pointed to Link's Kokiri tunic. "We'll have to go buy you some warm clothes to wear there. You'll need boots, gloves, a better hat, and some snow pants."
      "It's spring," Link pointed out. "Where are we going to find winter clothes?"
      "We can go to the Kataan village market. There's a lady there who sells every kind of clothing you can imagine, she'll have what you need. And since it's spring, she'll probably want to get rid of winter clothes so they'll be discounted."
      "I have one more question," Link said. "How are we going to get down there in time? Are you going to do that teleporting thing?"
      "No, teleportation is only good for short distances. Remember that warp tile that took us to the Sacred Realm? Well, there are warp tiles that can take you to Takansuu. Come, I'll show you." Kasuto rose and led Link and Zelda out of the library and back into the corridor. They walked about two hundred feet until they reached a doorway at the end of the hall. They saw red light emanating from the doorway as they approached it. When Link and Zelda entered, they saw a multitude of glowing red tiles. They looked exactly like the Sacred Realm's warp tile, only they were red.
      "Wow!" Zelda exclaimed. "Where do these all go?"
      "They lead to places all over the world," Kasuto answered. "They go to every continent on the planet. Each tile is connected to its counterpart in a small stone building. Combined with teleportation, we can go almost anywhere in the world."
      "Which one of these goes to Takansuu?" Link asked.
      "It's the sixteenth tile to the left," Kasuto answered, pointing down the row of red tiles. "Each one has an engraving in front of it telling you where it goes, too."
      After Link and Zelda had seen the room full of warp tiles, Kasuto led them back into the library. He picked up the scroll that he laid on the table, and left the library again. He led Link and Zelda out of the temple, and brought them back into the cottage,.
      "Zelda, it's about time you should go home," said Kasuto. "Kayla and Soral will take you home. Remember, you and Link were camping at Lake Hylia. You went swimming, and had an overall good time. If they ask what happened just make up something that sounds good."
      "What about guards?" Zelda asked. "Daddy never lets me go anywhere without guards."
      "You didn't need guards this time. Your father thinks that you and your friends were escorted by Soral and Kayla. The seven of us are closely connected with the king, he considers us some of his top advisors. So he wouldn't be against letting you go with us."
      "Oh , okay," Zelda said. "Am I going home now?"
      "Yes," Soral answered. "Do you have any other questions before we go?"
      "Are you going to do that teleport thing again?" Zelda asked. Soral and Kayla nodded. "Yes! That's so much fun!" Kayla grasped Zelda's hand and prepared to teleport her home. "Wait one second," Zelda said. She ran over to Link and whispered something in his ear. His face turned red and he tried to look like everything was normal. Zelda went back to Soral and Kayla and stood between them. Soral and Kayla both grasped one of Zelda's hands and closed their eyes. The three glowed in disappeared in a flash of light.
      "What did she say to you?" Kasuto asked Link.
      "Well, she...um," Link mumbled, blushing again. "She said that she...um....loves me."
      "Oh," Kasuto responded. "That's cute. I could tell that she really likes you. I'll give you some advice: never pass up a good thing. Don't let yourself lose her." Link and Kasuto sat down at the table inside the cottage. Everyone else had left for somewhere, so they were alone.
      "Did you have a girlfriend, or a wife?" Link asked. He was confused now that Zelda had said that she loved him; maybe Kasuto would have some good advice for him.
      "Yes, I did once," Kasuto said, remembering his youth. "Her name was Lena. When we first met, I was twenty-one and she was nineteen. It was love at first sight." Kasuto tried to conceal his true emotions behind a façade of happiness. "We both knew that we were supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. I gave her this necklace." Kasuto removed a necklace from around his neck and handed it to Link. At the end of the chain was a gold medallion with seven gemstones embedded on it. Each gemstone was a different color of the rainbow. On the reverse of the medallion was an inscription that read: 'To Lena: I will love you for all eternity'. Link looked at the necklace and handed it back to Kasuto, who quickly put it back around his neck.
      "I remember the day I asked her to marry me," Kasuto continued, "she said 'yes', too. But then...the next day I had to tell that I couldn't marry her."
      "How come?"
      "That's when I found out what my purpose in life was to be. It turns out that I was chosen to be the next Guardian of Truth. The secrecy I had to live in made it impossible for me to be married. I had a higher purpose in life, love just couldn't fit into it. I remember when I told her that we couldn't get married, right after the day I proposed to her. For obvious reasons, I couldn't tell her why. Then she took the necklace I gave her and threw it on the ground." Kasuto tried to forget the painful memories.
      "Do you still see her at all?" Link asked.
      "No, I never saw her again after that day. I know she still lives in Kakariko, but I've never gone to see her. She never got married to anyone, either." A single tear rolled down Kasuto's cheek, and he quickly brushed it away with the back of his hand. Kasuto pushed the sad thoughts out of his mind and tried to act happy again. "Well, that's all in the past," Kasuto said as he stood up from the table. "There's nothing I can do about it now. Let's go to the Kataan market and find you some winter clothes."
      In his attempt to get advice, Link found out about Kasuto's past. Link never realized from Kasuto's demeanor that he'd had such a heartbreaking past. But they couldn't dwell on that now, they had work to do.
 
 

Back to Story Menu