Chapter 5

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They walked for a while. Melsin noticed that the sun had started to rise, and the light refracted through the trees, cutting through the fog.

Finally they reached a clearing. Melsin gaped at a high cliff that had a thundering waterfall crashing down from it. The water hit a crystal clear river that flowed out of the clearing and back through the forest..

"Wow!" Melsin exclaimed. "Is this it?"

"Yes, this is the Queen Fairy's Fountain."

"Can I get a drink from that river? If I don't get some water soon, I'll keel over."

"Yes, but be quick about it."

Melsin dashed over to the river and leaned over. The crystalline water reflected his image back. He looked haggard and tired, and his clothes were blackened with soot. Probably from when that explosion threw me through the air, he thought.

He bent down and drank some of the water. It tasted better than anything he had ever drank in his whole life. He splashed it over his face.

He turned to Halie, who was hovering next to him. "Do any humans ever come through here?"

"No. It's too far out of the way. The Queen Fairy has lived here for four centuries, and hopefully she will be around for four more."

Melsin stood up. "Okay, so what do we do now? Is there a bell or something?"

"No, of course not. The entrance is on the other side of that waterfall."

"So how do we get in?"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. After all, I'm the fairy here."

Halie flew over to the waterfall, then disappeared behind it. Melsin waited for several minutes. Suddenly, he heard a rumble, and the ground started to shake. He watched in amazement as the waterfall actually split, leaving an opening where he could see what looked like some kind of cave entrance.

Halie flew back out, then motioned to Melsin. "Okay, it's open. You can come on in!"

Disbelieving, Melsin stepped into the river. The current was no longer flowing hard, so it was easy to get to the solid ground just past where the waterfall was. Halie said, "Come on, the Queen wants to meet you!"

Melsin stepped through the entrance into a dark hallway that was light up only by Halie. He walked through it, his footsteps the only thing to break the forbidding silence.

He turned the corner, and saw a light ahead. "You're almost there," Halie said.

Melsin quickened his pace, then turned another corner and gasped.

There was a huge room that was absolutely swarming with fairies of every color. Rivers of a glowing green liquid crisscrossed the room, flowing from waterfalls that came out of the walls.

"Wow!" Melsin exclaimed. "What is that stuff?"

"That is our Lifeforce. We use it for energy."

"Oh....so it's sorta like food."

"In a way. But we can go for a while without it if we have to."

Halie flew past Melsin. "Come on, follow me to the Queen's chamber."

As Melsin started to walk, the multitude of Fairies parted to leave a path for him. As he walked by, he could hear them all talking excitedly, but there were so many overlapping voices that he could not make out any words. He stepped over one of the streams of liquid and he was amazed at the way it shifted and pulsated.

He finally reached the other side of the room several minutes later. There was another dark opening.

"Through there," Halie said.

Melsin sighed and went in. He walked through another dark hallway similar to the entrance. Finally, he saw a light, and he started walking faster. He turned another corner and walked into a room that seemed to be alive. Streams of that green liquid covered the walls and were up to his ankles on the floor. The effect was to reflect the light around, making the room actually seem to shift.

At the far end of the room was a women. Melsin gasped.

She looked like a fairy, but she was the size of a human woman! She glowed like a fairy, and she had wings. "Come here, Melsin Narcwar," she said, her voice high-toned yet reverberating.

Melsin came closer. The woman was exceedingly beautiful.

"Are you the, um, Queen Fairy?" he stuttered.

"Yes I am, Melsin. Halie tells me that you are Link reborn. Could it be?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, happy day! You have come to protect us from Ganon!" the Queen said delightedly. "I remember the last centennial, when brave young Link - much younger than you, I might add - overthrew the dastardly Ganon from his hiding place on Death Mountain. He recovered all the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, which is today deep inside Hyrule Castle." She sighed dreamily. "Oh, those were glorious times."

"But-"

"And I remember the centennial before that when young Link traveled to the Dark Side of Hyrule to stop Ganon from his insidious plot to control the Triforce. Oh, it was beautiful the way he foiled Ganon's plot."

"But, Ms. Queen-"

"And yes, I even remember the centennial still earlier when the evil Gannondorf Dragmire conspired to steal the Triforce to become an all-powerful magical being. Oh, I was but a sprite then - I hadn't yet grown to my full....stature."

"Yes, that's all well and good, but what I want to know is what am I to do?"

"Huh? Oh, you. Well, young man, it is only the courage in your heart that can stop Ganon from controlling the world of Hyrule. We are all counting on you, Link."

She looked at him quizzically. "May I call you Link?"

"Well, your Majesty, I would prefer Melsin."

"Very well. But you must be prepared for your epic journey. For it is only the courage in your heart that can stop Ganon from controlling the world of Hyrule."

"You just said that."

"Oh, I did?"

"Why don't you just ask her about the Rupees?" Halie said suddenly right next to Melsin's ear, causing him to jump .

"Um, your Majesty, we need some Rupees in order to buy supplies."

"Rupees? Oh, you want some money. Don't worry, I'll get some for you."

"Lousy money-grubbing ingrate," Melsin heard her say under her breath as she got up and spread her wings.

"Um, what was that?"

"Oh, nothing," she said sweetly.

The Queen flew up out of view. When she returned several minutes later, she appeared to be carrying some kind of cloth sack. She landed and handed it to Melsin.

"There, that should be enough for you," she said.

Melsin looked in the sack. It was filled with purple Rupees.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Each of these is worth two hundred Rupees! You could equip an entire army with this!"

"Just don't waste it," the Queen said sternly. "That's almost a quarter of our vault. We can't afford to go throwing it away."

"Well, I'm not going to need all this money. Just a thousand Rupees should be enough."

He took out five of the purple Rupees from the sack and put them in his pocket.

"Thank you, your Majesty," he said as he turned and started to walk away.

"Melsin," the Queen called.

He turned.

"Good luck - the fate of Hyrule depends on you."

When he and Halie were finally outside again, Melsin said, "So where are we off to now?"

"Well, we must head out of the forest, due west. There's a road just a little ways from there, and we can follow it to the nearest town."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"

With that, Melsin and Halie exited the clearing and continued on.

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