Sin of Sheikari Chapter 11
11: Song of the Interlopers
At first, Zelda hadn’t noticed the two blue, oval figures gliding along the water’s surface before Ruto had unleashed her spell. Yet now, they sprang up on claw-like, yellow legs and hopped in her direction, each sporting a single, red eye.
Zelda groaned and shivered. She’d always hated spiders, and she imagined Blue Tektites were what everyone who was deathly afraid of them believed all spiders looked like. Now, it was possible they’d be the last things she saw before Ruto drowned her.
“Who are you?” Ruto, just like the monsters before her, could walk along the water’s surface, and a glowing, blue orb swirled and pulsated just beyond the tips of her fingers as she strolled forward. “Answer me!”
The two monsters joined in on closing the distance, and it was the Blue Tektite to Zelda’s left which would be the winner of the pair’s twisted race. Zelda gritted her teeth as she unsheathed her kodachi, quickly cutting the fiend in two, both halves of its body splashing unceremoniously back into the water below.
Yet before Zelda could decide how to dispatch her next opponent, Ruto motioned toward the remaining Tektite. Zelda blinked, and the monster was now encased inside a glistening, translucent bubble. Ruto motioned again, lifting the now captive Tektite into the air before dropping her hand, sinking the bubble and its prisoner into the depths below.
Satisfied there’d be no more interruptions, Ruto turned to face Zelda once more. “If you won’t answer me, you leave me no choice!”
She raised her hand again, and the world around Zelda became opaque and muted as the walls of a new bubble surrounded her. Within seconds, the bubble was filled with water, and Zelda realized she no longer had the Zora scale in her possession.
A triumphant grin crossed Ruto’s face as Zelda began to flail about, and Zelda could only helplessly watch as her feet left the floor the same way her previous adversary’s had.
Yet, at the same time Ruto had taken a moment to blink, Zelda had vanished from sight, leaving behind a pristine, floating sphere that seemed to immediately detect her absence, popping and sending a torrent of water crashing down into the pool below.
Ruto whirled around, frantically searching for any sight of Zelda. “Where did you go? Reveal yourself!”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
Ruto wouldn’t have a chance to turn her head before the flat of Zelda’s kodachi struck the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious. Zelda caught Ruto before she could crash into the water, barely managing to fling her to solid ground while avoiding falling in herself.
Zelda took a few seconds to slow her breathing. She hadn’t been entirely certain Farore’s blessing would allow her to teleport out of the bubble in time, but luck seemed to still be on her side.
So, she closed her eyes, opening herself up to any magic contained within her immediate surroundings, hoping she’d be able to detect where the Ancient Sage could be summoned. Almost immediately, she felt herself nudged in the direction facing a large, serpent-like statue on the other side of the chamber.
She glanced down at Ruto’s unconscious form and grimaced. She’d truly wanted to avoid a fight, and she could only hope, in the end, that Ruto understood her reasoning. She would also not hold Ruto’s actions against her. The Zora ruler was only doing what Zelda might have done if a strange, masked man had arrived at Hyrule Castle.
Once she’d spoken with the Ancient Sage, Zelda would try to return to make sure Ruto was still safe, but now she had to finish the task she’d arrived to complete. She called upon Farore once more and teleported to the serpent statue. Peering around it, she spotted a large stone door not entirely unlike the one she’d seen in the Fire Temple.
Touching its surface, she could feel the same magical presence she’d felt in the previous temples, and the door slid open, revealing a new room that sloped upwards towards another door. Zelda raced up the slope and touched the next door, sauntering across its threshold into a new chamber with several platforms rising out of yet another pool of water.
Just as before, she called for her harp and began strumming it, a new melody echoing throughout the room. The floor blazed to life beneath her feet before the light once again fled from her, stopping on one of the platforms and surging upward, becoming unraveled into blue tendrils of light that swirled and danced before settling into a new form.
This time, it was a short, stout man who emerged before her, his sparkling blue eyes almost unsettling, and Zelda was certain he could light up rooms with them. Unlike the other Sages, he lacked a beard, though his long, white hair was tied up in an intricate, bow-like pattern.
Zelda expected him to have the same furious disposition as the others, but he simply smiled, as if this was all to be expected.
“My, my,” he regarded Zelda as if seeing an old friend. “Hello, my dear girl! I am Mison, the Sage of Water. I sense others are awake too, though not all. And I see the royal family still lives.”
Zelda nodded, trying her best not to give away how relieved she was. “Yes, I come here to seek your aid in defeating Ganondorf.”
“Such an imposing name!” Mison gasped, drawing himself back theatrically, and Zelda couldn’t shake the feeling he felt this was all incredibly hilarious. “It will most certainly keep children awake at night when they’re told the legend of his defeat by the Hero of Time!”
Zelda closed her eyes, trying to hide her growing frustration. There wasn’t any time for this. She took a deep breath before she looked back up at Mison. She would get him to understand just like the others.
“The Hero of Time is gone,” she spoke slowly, trying to keep her composure. “He will not return to save us. In his absence, I will fight for Hyrule with the help of the Ancient Sages. With your help.”
At that, Mison giggled, a sweet, high-pitched sound, as the two were transported to the Chamber of Sages, the sound of waterfalls cascading around them echoing across unfathomable distances. Zelda uncurled her clenched fists, keeping her eyes trained on the Sage.
“What brought you here?” Mison stared upwards, the same silly smile plastered on his face. “To the lake, that is.”
Zelda sighed, wondering if it would have been easier if this Sage had been as curmudgeonly as the others. “The melody of my mother’s harp brought me here.”
“And that melody…” Mison rubbed his chin, still not meeting her gaze. “It was a serenade, right? Have you ever been serenaded before, dear child?”
Zelda tried to catch and fling away the pang that echoed through her heart, but she’d been caught off guard by Mison’s question. She recalled how she’d felt on the shore of Lake Hylia, of how her duty to the kingdom took precedence over all, even love. She shook her head. “No, I haven’t…”
“The people of Hyrule once heard a serenade, you know…” Mison began to sway side to side, as if somehow recalling a pleasant memory. “Indeed, it was a very powerful one. It came from the Sacred Realm and spoke of the Triforce. Naturally, people began to yearn for this power, especially those who were well-versed in the mystical arts. And it was these magic users who intended to claim the Triforce for themselves.”
Zelda wracked her mind, scouring through every memory of her studies, but she couldn’t recall any mention of a group of sorcerers who’d tried to take the Triforce for themselves. Who were they, and why wasn’t their attempt well-known throughout the land?
Mison’s smile flickered for a second, and he finally met Zelda’s eyes once again. “Those people were swiftly branded as the Dark Interlopers, traitors to all who walked in the light. The King of Hyrule ordered them to be sealed away, and so they were.”
“The Dark Interlopers?” Zelda repeated the words slowly, hoping it would help her remember some sort of passage or footnote in the history books she’d poured through, yet she still came up with nothing.
Mison simply nodded before continuing. “Yes. They once walked among us here in Hyrule and could also freely dance within the Sacred Realm. Yet, because of their avarice, their new, eternal domain is a place known as the Twilight Realm, said to rest beyond a mirror hidden deep within the desert. They can never return here, and they would be unrecognizable even if they could. The Twilight Realm is a place that disfigures and corrupts all who live in it.”
Zelda stared down at her hands, now more aware than ever of the echoing sounds of the waterfalls spilling off of countless surfaces. It couldn’t be the same place, the hidden location deep within the desert that had plagued her mother with awful visions.
“The mirror…” Zelda began as her mother’s face flashed in her mind. “Where is it?”
Mison’s smile faded only slightly, almost resembling sympathy. “There is a place that is completely obscured by the magic of the Haunted Wasteland of the Gerudo Desert. Very few who have gone there have ever returned.”
“And why have you told me all this?” Zelda’s voice was now barely a whisper, and she realized that Mison wasn’t hearing the low tenor of Sheik’s voice, but of Zelda’s. In the instant she’d lowered her guard, the magic cloaking her had dimmed just enough to relinquish her of her disguise.
Yet, if Mison had noticed, he was polite enough to not call attention to it, though now his smile no longer reached his eyes. “Serenades are so romantic, aren’t they?”
Zelda would have no time to answer before the Sage vanished just like his peers, one pool of water fading into another as she found herself back in the Water Temple. Yet, in one fluid motion, Zelda reached down to pick up the tiny blue medallion Mison had left behind while drawing her kodachi.
She was already certain it was here.
“Come out!” she called.
The room was just as silent and tranquil as it was before, but she knew better. Even now, it was likely watching her, and it wouldn’t stay hidden for long. In the Forest Temple, it had concealed itself inside of the portraits. In the Fire Temple, it had lingered amongst the roaring flames.
Zelda peered into the pool, noting how clear it was unlike the surface of the lake above. At first, she couldn’t even see her reflection. Then, the water’s surface shimmered, revealing a shadow with red eyes staring back at her.
She leaped back just in time as the shadow plunged out of the water, just missing her face with its shadowy blade. Zelda eased into a practiced, defensive stance as the shadow further materialized on one of the platforms opposite of her. She could now make out a tunic and a long cap on its head. The weapon it wielded looked instantly familiar — it had the same shape as the Master Sword.
“Link?” Zelda squinted as she tried to make out who it was, and she startled at the sound of her voice, thankful her “Sheik” disguise had returned.
“No!” Zelda and the shadow turned in unison as Ruto came into view, her hand stretched out towards them both. “That is not Link!”
“Two more remain…” the shadow’s voice was deep and hollow as if drained of all passion and hope. It stepped off of the platform, vanishing into the pool below.
“Darn! I almost had him!” Ruto snapped her fingers. She then turned to face Zelda. “I’m sorry about earlier. I see you have the Water Medallion. You were right. The Sage was here after all.”
Zelda shook her head. “I owe you just as much of an apology, Your Highness. I was just about to come find you.”
Ruto waved away Zelda’s concern as she kept her eyes trained on the pool, as if the apparition would come flying out at any moment.
“I thought at first you might be him when the traps didn’t activate,” she sighed as she met her gaze, satisfied their adversary was truly gone. “We made a promise as kids, you know. He promised I’d be his wife someday.”
Zelda was more thankful than ever that Ruto couldn’t truly see her face, as she was certain she was completely scarlet beneath her mask. However, though she’d only known the boy a scant amount of time, his innocence was unmistakable. She wondered, wherever he was, if he’d taken this arrangement to heart as much as Ruto had.
“Of course, we couldn’t truly fulfill a promise like that, could we?” Ruto’s eyes trailed to the floor, and she smiled, though it seemed sad and distant now. “We were just children, oblivious to how the world actually worked. Still, I wanted to see him again, the boy who saved my life even though I’d been an awful brat to him.”
Zelda wanted to once again push back the longing and desire she’d worked so hard to contain, yet, now, she simply allowed it to cascade through her, mingling with the words Ruto had expressed. She wasn’t certain she could ever be as honest as the Zora ruler when it came to matters of the heart, but she would no longer deny herself completely. “I am sorry you haven’t been reunited.”
Ruto glanced back up at her, her expression grim. “That thing…it looked like him, but it wasn’t him. It was dark and full of hatred. Link could never be like that. Never!”
Zelda sighed. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. Awakening the Ancient Sages was proving to be much more complicated than she’d first anticipated. She took out her harp, ready to play a melody that would carry her away, before hesitating.
“Your Highness,” Zelda dipped into the most stately bow she could manage. “When the time comes, when I am ready to face Ganondorf, can I count on your aid in the final battle?”
Ruto opened her mouth to speak before quickly turning away from her. A few moments passed before she finally answered. “Yes. Just don’t keep me waiting like he did.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Zelda began strumming her harp, the notes echoing throughout the room as bronze-colored tendrils of light encircled her. Mison’s words echoed through her mind as she recalled the vision that had first inspired her quest.
“They were branded as the Dark Interlopers.”
Were the shadows she’d seen the Dark Interlopers?
“Serenades are so romantic, aren’t they?”
And was she acting of her own volition, or was she simply answering a call?
