Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: The Ballad of Fallen Angels ❯ The Mysterious Island ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 17: “The Mysterious Island”

The group that had set off from Clock Town had reached the shore of the Great Bay by midmorning the next day. The sands had been picked clean by the vultures and other things that ate dead matter, and the tides had cleansed the sands of the dried blood and gore.

Kari sighed as she looked outside towards the setting sun. They were camping at the Skulltula House again. They'd make Zora Hall by afternoon tomorrow.

Cremina walked outside to stand next to her fiancée. Kari turned to her. “How's everything inside?”

“Oh, everything's fine.” Cremina replied. “I just got lonely. Romani and Tael are asleep.”

Kari returned her gaze to the horizon. “So what's up?”

Cremina didn't answer. Kari looked over to her. Cremina's arms were wrapped around her tightly as she too watched the sun go down. The scar along her cheek showed up against the paleness of her skin. Kari put an arm around Cremina's shoulders.

“What's wrong?” she asked Cremina.

Cremina sighed, leaning against Kari. “I don't know. I…don't know what's wrong with me these days. Everything is just changing so fast, too fast for me. In little over a month, I've lost the ranch that I've done my best to run and upkeep for the better part of my lifetime. I've become a Lieutenant in an army, and I've killed people. I've killed people, Kari.” Cremina started to shiver.

“I've killed people too, Cremina, you know that.” Kari said. “I didn't like to, and I only did it when I had to, but I still did it. I'm not proud of that, but that's the way it worked out.”

“I know, but…” Cremina trailed off. “I…I just feel like, like I want to stop. Just stop and sleep, sleep for a long time.”

“I know,” Kari said softly.

They stayed like that watching the gentle slapping of the waves against the shore. The night wind blew cold. Cremina shivered again.

“Come,” Kari said, “come to bed, it's late.”

“I don't know,” Cremina said slowly. “My bed's been cold for a long time.”

Zoras can't blush, but Kari felt her face heating up. “I didn't mean it like that.”

Cremina managed a small smile. “I know you didn't, but…it's been a long time.” The Terminian hugged the Zora tightly. “It's been so long. I've missed you so much, Hikari.”

“I know, Cremina,” Kari whispered, her eyes beginning to water. “I know.”

Romani raised her head slowly to gape at the structure in front of her. “Cremina told me all about this place but, damn.”

The party stood at the entrance to Zora Hall. The ancestral home of the Zoras of Termina, Zora Hall was an enormous building that looked like it was built right out of a giant coral reef. The structure was one of the greatest architectural achievements in Termina, and the oldest one still standing.

The main entrance to the Hall was underwater. Zoras being creatures that can live both above and below water, they thought it a natural defense that the entrance be far underwater. However, in recent years, they had added a second, more secretive entrance from the open air above the waterline, for visitors that couldn't make the underwater journey.

Kari led them all to that entrance. It was similar in design to the entrance to Sakon's hideout, but the triggering mechanism for the door was much cleverly hidden. Kari walked up to where the door would open, and turned ninety degrees to face a large outcropping of rocks. Moving one of the rocks, she uncovered an unnatural depression set into the rock underneath it. Kari placed her hand in the depression and pushed down. The door clicked open and turned slightly on it's hinges.

Replacing the rock, Kari grinned as she strode over to the door and flung it open for her guests to see. “Welcome to Zora Hall!” she cried.

The Hall was empty, there was no one there.

Kari stood dumbfounded as she looked around the central chamber. They had searched all of the other rooms in the building and returned to the main room, having found no one.

“Where is everyone?” Kari asked quietly.

Romani replied, “I don't know. Do you think they all went somewhere? I mean, the Carnival of Time is tonight, maybe they all went into Clock Town.”

“We would have had to see at least someone heading in.” Tael said. “I don't think they went into town.”

Cremina stood next to Kari, holding her hand and squeezing comfortingly. “Don't worry, Kari. I mean, there's no blood, no signs of a fight. The main entrance is locked tightly from the outside, nothing happened here.”

“But then where are they?” Kari asked.

Tael bobbed in the air to attract everyone's attention. “Maybe that has something to do with it.”

“What has something to do with what?” Romani asked.

“Maybe that thing stuck into the wall up there has something to do with the Zoras' whereabouts.” Tael replied as he flew up to something sticking out of the wall.

Kari gasped when she saw it. “That's a pirate's hunting spear! It's their signal, the Zoras are prisoners at the Pirates' Hideout!”

Night was rapidly approaching as the weary group stopped at the edge of the water. Directly in front of them, some forty feet away, stood the darkened form of the Pirates' Hideout. Over the countless years the structure had stood, it had been held by whomever was the most powerful group of pirates that roamed the oceans at that time. Currently, the all-female Wave Brethren pirates were the masters of the hideout.

“How're we going to get inside?” Cremina asked.

Kari replied, “No idea. There are the underwater entrances that Saetoushei found the last time he was here. Maybe I can sneak in through them and find a way to let you guys in.”

“That might not do.” Romani shook her head. “If something happens to you, then we'd have no way of knowing.”

“Maybe we should just sleep on it,” Tael put in, yawning deeply. “And tomorrow get up at first light and check along the perimeter for whatever entrance the pirates use.”

“That's probably the best idea for right now.” Kari agreed. Cremina leaned against Kari, looking up at the stars high above them before succumbing to sleep.

Cremina's sleep was interrupted in the middle of the night. She was awakened by the sharp point of a blade poking her in the ribcage. Opening her eyes wide, she found herself gazing right into the eyes of a human female. The woman was tall and muscular with short brown hair and dark eyes.

A Wave Brethren.

“Move, and I'll run ye threw, undastand?” the pirate hissed.

Cremina nodded slowly. The pirate cocked her head to the side to listen to another pirate who spoke to her in a harsh language Cremina didn't understand.

The pirate turned back to Cremina, speaking to her in a much more friendly voice. “Changing plans, get up, on ye feet, girlie!”

Cremina stood slowly. Romani and Kari were already standing. Romani was giggling at another pirate, this one with close-cropped red hair and green eyes. The pirate was laughing too, like the two girls were old friends sharing a private joke.

Kari was speaking in a hurried, rapid tongue to an older woman who appeared to be the leader of this certain group of Brethren. Standing next to the pirate was another Zora. The Zora was a male. He was clearly much older than Kari and had deep blue skin and darker red eyes than Kari, but the resemblance between the two was frightening.

Kari noticed Cremina up and said something quickly to the pirate and Zora. The Zora snapped his head at Cremina and fixed her with a look that chilled her to the bone. Kari spoke angrily at the Zora as the pirate grinned and laughed at the both of them. Cremina's face flushed.

Kari took the Zora by the hand and led him over to Cremina. The old Zora was still looking sternly at Cremina. The young woman wished she could just sink into the sand and disappear from the elder's eyes.

“Localo, this is Cremina. Cremina, this is Localo Gorglatosvich Zotanus, my father.”

For the life of her, Romani could not stop laughing at the expression on her poor sister's face. They were inside the Pirates' Hideout, where they were being welcomed as guests. Kari's father had not stopped giving Cremina the most evil look she had ever seen. Kari seemed not to notice, or else didn't care, because she was sitting and making sure she was as close to Cremina as was possible in public.

Tael was just finishing relating their story to the combined Zora and Brethren elders. Romani stopped giggling to ask, “So what happened here? We arrived at Zora Hall to find the whole place deserted.”

Anastasia, the leader of the Wave Brethren, a tough, wiry woman in her early forties, replied, “Indeed, little one. For the course of history, the Zoras and the pirate masters of this fortress have clashed over the Western Ocean. But for now, we have a new enemy, one that we both hate enough to put our petty history aside. You know how the Ikaylimu of Ikama dispersed armed troops to claim the Bay as his own. After the Zoras defeated those troops, a second, larger force arrived. They made the mistake of trying to attack both the Zoras and the Wave Brethren at the same time. Only with our combined strength did we remove the disgusting Ikamians from our territory. Since our fortress is more easily defendable than the Hall is, the Zoras moved into here until the end of the war. And a war it will be, of that I am sure.”

“Indeed,” Tael said. “Descrod has already attacked the Southern Swamp and attempted multiple times to conquer the Great Bay. Eventually, he will attack the Gorons and Clock Town itself. And then, who knows where his madness will stop.”

“Correct.” Reguge Zarana, the Zora Kaiser, said. “So, we have united against Ikama. And we will not rest until Descrod is dethroned, and his head mounted on Anastasia's warship.”

Ignoring Localo's eyes, Cremina stood up and spread her arms wide. “Then come back with us to Clock Town. Queen Melondia of the Deku is already preparing her army to march to Clock Town. Her navy will bring supplies and even more troops through the rivers and waterways of the Southern Swamp to the ocean, and from there overland to Clock Town. We can send messengers to the Gorons, I'm sure they will add even more assistance to our cause. The Captain of the Clock Town guards has already pledged he will do what he can to make Mayor Doyour see what Descrod is up to, and already has committed himself to helping us.”

She looked around. Reguge and Anastasia, along with the great majority of the other elders were nodding in agreement. A few of them shaking their heads, obviously against Cremina's proposed plans.

“Then let it come to a vote,” Anastasia said, looking around at the assembly gathered before her. “Open palm for agreement, closed fist for argument.”

Every creature gathered there voted. Except for two Zora elders and one pirate captain, everyone voted to fight. Cremina was surprised to see that Localo voted in her favor.

Anastasia grinned at Cremina. “Congratulations, young missy. You've got yourself an army.”

Reguge stood to speak again, but a sentry ran into the meeting chamber, shaking visibly. “Miss Ana, Miss Ana!” the sentry stammered out, her body shaking so badly that she dropped her spear.

Anastasia strode to the sentry, placing her hands on her shoulders. “Peace be with you, Xenlu, peace. What is the matter?”

Xenlu's eyes darted around the room, her breathing becoming even more shallow. “Miss Ana, you must come and see. An island…an island…” Anastasia caught the girl as she fainted.

Romani surveyed the scene with surprising control. It wasn't every day that an enormous island just appeared out of nowhere, but there is was.

After Xenlu passed out, Reguge had taken a score of his warriors to see what had frightened the poor girl so badly. Upon reaching the upper sentry posts of the fortress, the Zoras had walked into a similar madhouse. Sentries raced around the posts helter-skelter, some wanting to see what was going on, others wanting nothing more than to get off the battlements. A gigantic island had appeared out of the mists.

Localo joined his Kaiser on the battlement, gazing at the isle. “There was never an island there before, yet they do not just appear out of thin air. We have lived on this ocean, and every evening I would stand and watch the sun fall below the horizon. Now I cannot see the sun, because of this accursed isle that has appeared as if from nowhere.”

Behind them, some of the Zora warriors began nervously whispering amongst themselves. “It is a haunted island, has to be,” one of the warriors said softly.

Reguge growled low in his throat. “Stow away that kind of talk. No sense in scaring people with stories and false rumors that probably aren't even true.” He turned and called to one of the pirate sentries that had remained at her post. “Go to Anastasia and tell her to prepare one of her ships. We must go to this island and see if our minds are playing tricks on us.”

Kari stood next to Romani, Tael, and Cremina, watching the island grow larger as they approached. They stood on the bow of the Crimson Dawn, Anastasia's flagship. The Wave Brethren leader herself stood at the wheel, steering her ship closer to the mysterious isle.

“What'cha think we'll find, matey?” Anastasia called to Sephitra, her first mate. The tall raven-haired woman shook her head at her captain. “No ideas, miss. Could be anything; could be ghosts, could be a normal place with people living there, who's to say?”

At the ship's front, Romani suddenly pointed over the railing at something in the water. “Look! Look, what's that?”

Cremina, Kari, and Tael leaned out to look at what Romani had seen. It was small, a dark dot moving against the blue of the water. The object eventually focused into a small lifeboat. A single person occupied the little craft, pumping the oars as fast as it could, obviously trying to get away from something.

Cremina turned to Tael, “Go tell Anastasia to slow the boat, and that we have a man overboard.”

The pitiful little boat was hauled on board by the pirates. It was a sorry sight to see; the lifeboat was so worn and beaten down that it was a wonder it hadn't collapsed and sunk as soon as it was used.

It's owner didn't look much better than the boat. She was thin and lanky, wearing ragged robes over her small limbs. Her skin had an unhealthy hue to it, her hair was long and uncared for and it had a pale red color to it.

“Is she alive?” Kari asked as Sephitra knelt over the unconscious figure. Sephitra listened to her heart and breathing, then checked for a pulse. The raven-haired woman turned to her captain. “She's alive, though just barely. We need to get her back to the fortress, the medics can look after her-“

The girl's eyelids burst open, her eyes were completely rolled up into her head. She started screaming, coughing up water and bile as she cried out, “Away! Away! Please get away from His island! Get me away from here before it's too late! Get away! Get out of here! Get out of here now!”

Sephitra and Romani struggled to restrain the demented girl, who stopped screaming almost as suddenly as she had started. She lay on the deck, shivering and coughing.

Anastasia shivered herself, glancing at the isle over her shoulder. “I have a horrible feeling. I don't like this place. Back, full turn! Get us back to the fortress now. Full sails!”

The Crimson Dawn turned and began to race back for the shore. The sky darkened and the wind blew more fiercely. The girl started to cry again as rain began to strike the deck, pounding the warship steadily. Anastasia fought to control the ship in the now-raging seas. Lightning began to flash and the girls started to scream again. “Not lightning! Please get me out of here! He wants to take me back, He wants my soul! Please don't let Him get me! Please help me escape Him! Please get me out of here NOW!”

At that moment, an enormous bolt of lightning struck the water directly in front of the ship. Anastasia took her hands off the steering wheel to shield her eyes against the light, and the ship spun off course, careening around in a complete circle before Anastasia and Sephitra could regain control. The darkness disappeared almost as suddenly as it had come, the rain stopped, and the wind slackened until the air was dead and still.

Anastasia was about to speak when one of the deck hands began shrieking. She pointed back towards the island. Anastasia spun to look, and almost started screaming herself.

The island was gone.

“Is it witchcraft?” Romani asked. They were standing on the stern of the ship by the wheel as Anastasia brought them into the cove where the Wave Brethren's ships were docked.

“Who knows?” Kari replied tiredly. “The island might have been the home of a powerful magician, or it might have simply been some kind of an illusion.”

“But the girl,” Sephitra argued, “The girl we picked up, is she still here?”

The girls hurried down the short stairway to the lower deck area of the bow, where they had left the girl. Her figure was still lying on the deck, it was covered by a tattered blanket someone had thrown over her.

Romani reached the girl first. Taking the edge of the blanket in her hands, she quickly pulled it off the girl.

Cremina gasped and clung to Kari. The girl was still there, still in her tattered robes, but all color had drained from her. Her pale red hair was now a dull gray, her skin was white as snow, her eyes were black and dead.

For a split moment, Romani thought and prayed that the girl was dead, but the figure stirred and the girl raised herself unsteadily to her feet. Her now-black eyes glared at them.

“You didn't get me away fast enough!” the girl shouted with a ferocity no one thought she would be able to manage. “Why? Why couldn't you go faster for me?”

“What has happened to you?” Kari asked.

The girl threw back her head and laughed, a cold, heartless sound that made everyone's blood turn to ice. “What has happened to me? I'll tell you, the creator of Koholint Island has taken His island and brought it somewhere else, somewhere probably far away from here. None of His creations are supposed to leave His island, and now I have. He has left without me. Since I am no longer with Him, I am merely an empty shell, for no matter where I am, my soul goes with Him. I am all but dead.”

So saying she strode to her old lifeboat and reached inside. Throwing away heaps of rags and shredded clothes, she withdrew a wondrous shield and a beautiful gleaming sword. The hilt was covered in black leather, with a great ruby the color of blood embedded in the leather. The girl unsheathed the sword. It was made of the purest folded metals, double-edged, with a deep blood channel running down the full length of the deadly blade. The girl took a few practice swings and sheathed the blade, then she buckled it onto her belt. Turning to Anastasia, she said, “Madam, I have no soul, no heart. Take me as one of your crew, I beg of you. Give me a purpose in life.”

“That sword,” Anastasia replied, “I have only seen one other like it in all my years, where did you come by that one?”

“Surely this is the very sword you saw,” the girl replied. “For it is the only one like it ever made. It was given to me by the young man that I loved, back when he came to the island, when I still owned my soul. He left the sword with me when he escaped, when he left the island, never to return. I practiced every day since he left, learning to wield the blade.”

Anastasia said, “The man who gave you that sword, what was his name, and what is yours?”

“My lover's name was Link,” the girl replied. Ignoring Romani and Cremina's shocked gasps, she continued, “And I am called, Marin.”