Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Overlord of the Land ❯ Calling of the Goddesses ( Chapter 2 )

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The Legend of Zelda:
Overlord of the Land

Chapter 2:

Calling of the Goddesses

“Princess...”

“Who's there?” Tetra demanded to know who was calling. “Show yourself!”

“Princess... Awake...”

“What do you want?” Tetra shouted at whomever was talking from the other side of the thick fog.

“Princess... the time is now... awake now...”

“No! There's no princess here!” Tetra kept shouting, trying to make whoever it was understand. “My name is Tetra, Captain of the Pirates of the Great Sea!”

“No... Not pirate... Princess..”

“No! Stop it!” Tetra started to run away from the voice... only, she didn't know where she was going. “I'm not any princess of any kind! I'm a pirate! PI – RATE!” She made a mad dash through the woods trying to dissipate the voices constantly crowding her mind and getting under her skin. But no matter how much she ran or screamed into the sky, the voices would not diminish or disappear.

“Princess...”

“awake now...”

“It is time...”

“Be awakened...”

“Please... Princess Zelda...”

“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! !!!!!!”

*Twonk!*

“Ow...”

Tetra rubbed her forehead after she fell from her bed. It was just a dream. Just... another dream. Another one of those dreams she's been having for a good while now. These dreams have been haunting her, making her feel extremely unpleasant, and she can admit she's transferred some of those feelings over to her crew. If she could make those dreams stop, she would have done it a long time ago, her demeanor depends on it.

She stood up from the floor. The first thing she saw was that book. The book with the Hyrulean Crest they found back at that cave they were just that afternoon. She seriously considered plunging that accursed book to the depths of the pit that once wanted to claim her, but eventually decided to keep it, thinking it could fetch a good price from some historian out there. The book remained in her table, yet unopened, but seemingly desiring to be opened and explored. Tetra walked over to the book, looking over at it inquisitively, her arm slowly raising and reaching over to where the book rested in that table. Suddenly, she stopped. 'What am I doing' she thought to herself. 'Getting involved in this matter is the last thing I want to do.' Tetra retired her hand and started walking away from the book in front of her.

“I must be going crazy.” Tetra muttered. “Having such weird feelings... over a book? The stars must definitely be aligned against me.” She shook her head in disbelief, and simply climbed back to bed. She tossed and turned about, but could not sleep a wink, thus she sat in her bed. Again, the book sat straight across the room from her, almost as if it was taunting her to open it and know what was in there. To know... what she already knew all too well.

She couldn't stand it. If she had to look at that book for any more time, she was bound to break something, and it would not be pretty. Thus, Tetra stood up, she put on her sandals, and left her chambers, heading to the door leading out to the ship's top deck.

It was a star-filled night. The white and blue and yellow lights blinked and danced all around the dark skies, reflecting their performances over to the clear and calm seas. The light breeze tugged the pirate ship slowly and gently through the darkened blue sea, cradling it as if it were a newborn child. Amidst this idyllic scenario, Tetra walked across the deck of the ship, slowly making her way to the bow (that's the front of the ship, for those not up to snuff on ship-talk). Suddenly, the door leading inside the ship slammed shut rather loudly, leaving Tetra very distraught and anxious. She stood quiet, listening if there was any commotion. Only the muted sound of the small waves being made by the ship's slow cradle broke the thick silence in the air. Upon confirming no one had woken up from the noise, Tetra sighed in relief. What she didn't take into consideration, though, was that there was a guy in watch on the crow's nest that night. That guy was Link.

That evening, Link was chosen as the night watch on the Crow's Nest. However, sleep got the better of him, and at the time, he was huddled up in a corner, asleep... until a sudden noise startled him out of his sleep. Startled, he fumbled with his telescope, trying to find the source of the noise. North... south... east... west... nothing. Then he thought about looking straight down to the deck, and found a rough yellowish patch like he's never seen before. That... thing was moving about the deck, apparently looking for something. Link was a bit scared, but was already getting ready to do battle with the intruding hairball... when he noticed he was still using his telescope to look. Setting his telescope away, Link looked down once again, and saw that yellowish moving hairball was nothing more than Tetra walking on deck at night. Thinking nothing of it, Link decided to not disturb her night walk, but still kept on watching... just in case, of course.

“What am I doing?” Tetra said to herself. “This... this isn't me. I've always been sure of who I am, and now... I'm not even sure of my own shadow. All I've known was the way of the pirate. That's the world I've been in ever since I was born. I've never done well being shoehorned into something else.” Heading out to the bow, she looks around. Noticing no one, she sighs rather pitifully. “Now I'm talking into thin air. I guess I'm truly going crazy. I mean, being afraid of a mere book, haunting dreams... what's next? When does the sky start falling?”

Suddenly, the light breeze dies out, making the ship stop in the middle of the sea. The stars in the skies seem to have created a perfect circle right on top of the ship, with not a single flashing light inside the circle. The eerie silence that suddenly enveloped the ship was producing an incredible amount of tension upon the young lass on deck. Suddenly, the darkness of the night was broken by an impressive column of light, arriving from the partition in the skies to rest to the seas right in front of the ship. Then, from the column of light, three colored figures descended like a couple of meteors, crashing down to the sea and making large waves that rocked the boat fiercely. Out of the sea, a tall woman with long fire-red hair and tight clothing appeared. The woman dancingly descended about until she touched down on the ship's bow.

“I... am Din, Goddess of Power” The woman identified herself to Tetra. “I am One of the three Goddesses who created the ancient land of Hyrule.”

Then, another woman raised out from the waters, She had beautiful long blue locks and had a matching elegantly blue dress. This woman floated and stood to the right of Din. “And I am Nayru, Goddess of wisdom.”

Afterwards, yet another woman came out of the seas, and floated down to the left of Din. She wore a elegant yet whimsical green dress with a hoop skirt, and had her green hair made up into two buns. “And I'm Farore. I'm the Oracle of Secrets...” The other two women quickly looked at her rather sternly. “And... also the Goddess of Courage, I guess.”

Tetra simply looked at the spectacle with glazed over eyes and a rather perturbed smile on her face. “It's official.” She said. “Next thing you know, the seas will be crimson red and everybody will turn into yellow liquids. Ha ha!”

“Ew! Gross! We don't do that.” Farore commented on Tetra's near-lunatic ravings. “I mean... we are capable of doing it, but we have to hold up our work ethic, and...”

Din quickly nudged Farore with her elbow to keep her from talking. “Anyway, we three have come down here for you, Princess Zelda.”

Upon hearing this, Tetra quickly snapped back into reality. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait... What? Princess? There's no prin... I'M not any sort of princess!”

“Princess...” Nayru spoke softly, but rather convincingly. “Please reconsider your position. There once was a time where you could roam the land in hiding, going by another name... but that time is past. There is now a pressing need to return the great land of Hyrule to its former glory.”

“... Yeah, nice try.” Tetra retorted. “First, when was I ever in hiding?” She thought a moment about that last statement. “... Don't answer that. Anyway, second, return Hyrule to its former glory? Last time I saw Hyrule, it was being crushed by tons of water pressure, to be lost forever at the bottom of the sea. And for the hundredth time, I'm not Zelda. My name is Tetra, scourge of the seas, captain of the Great Sea Pirates, and collector of bottle boats!”

The three Goddesses stared blankly at Tetra for her poorly thought out outburst.

“... I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that.” Tetra kicked herself after catching what she just said.

“Hey, you can still collect your little ships inside bottles as a princess.” Farore intervened. “But right now, we've use of your powers. The powers only those of a royal lineage can have.”

“We know you have come across a certain book.” Din explains. “If you haven't looked inside, that book contains vital information about your predecessors, about ancient Hyrule, and how you can come to understand your abilities within you, among other things.”

“How do you know all of this?” Tetra questioned the Goddesses' knowledge of the book Tetra found.

“I suggest you do not try and test us, Princess.” Nayru suggested, her voice sounding progressively less soothing. “That book is merely a tool to assist you in your journey. A journey that will decide the fate of the world.”

“Wait, wait... Isn't that kinda cliché?” Farore interrupted. “I mean, we're basically leaving the fate of the world into the hands of what really amounts to a teenager. Is it really that fair?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Tetra was quick to latch on the supporting words of the green-tinted goddess. “What she said!”

“... You make sense, Farore. It would be too great a burden to carry for just one person.” Nayru agreed with her companion. “So let's see... who could be a perfect companion for your highness?”

The Goddesses thought about the concept for a short while. Then, Din looked up to the Crow's Nest, where Link was still ever vigilant to what was happening ever since he woke up.

“Link!” Din called the young green clad boy.

“Link?” Tetra wondered. She then turned around and looked up the Crow's Nest, just to see Link, plastered with a similar dumbfounded look she had on her face.

“Please, Link, come on down. We shall not harm you.” Nayru prompted for the boy to climb down the mast. Link, a tad confused from the conversation, climbed down the ladder, then joined Tetra by her side.

“Link... Princess...” Din began, “Heed our words now, the words for the Great Goddesses, the creators of the land of Hyrule and protectors of the Law of Life. The time has arrived for the rebirth of Hyrule.”

Nayru picked up where Din left off. “This is a most trying time. Some are wishing to oppose the will of the gods, and in their attempts, they have gained influence and social standing. They are wolves in sheep disguises.”

Farore took her turn in speaking. “We believe there is still hope if a new Hyrule is built on this land. We have little time to act, however. Hyrule can only be reborn with a true heir of the Royal Family. You, Princess Zelda, are the last remaining heir of the Royal Family. Also, only you can wield the long forgotten power that only those of Royal lineage possess.”

Tetra thought about all that she has been told, but couldn't make sense of it. “Hyrule's rebirth? Wolves and sheep? Royal lineage? I don't get any of it! And not only am I lost... as far as I'm concerned, all of this, this “Hyrule revival” stuff, it's none of my concern!” With those words borne from a raised tone, Tetra stormed off, heading back inside the ship.

Suddenly, a tall wall of fire formed on the ship, blocking Tetra's way inside. Tetra was absolutely terrified at the spectacle. The fire danced furiously in front of the terrified spectators, lashing out at anything that even dared to come close to it. Link and Tetra looked over to the Goddesses, whose faces have transformed from their usual calm demeanor to a visibly more angered form. Their eyes were glowing a pure white, and their hair was intensely fluttering in the air, transformed into flames of their respective colors.

“Do NOT test us, Princess Zelda.” Din restated.

“But... but...”

“You ARE Princess Zelda!” Nayru proclaimed.

“You ARE the heir of the Royal Family!” Farore proclaimed, too.

“You MUST follow the will of the gods!” Din demanded. “Should you choose to keep denying your heritage like you have done this past year, the only guarantee we can give to you right here and now is that every thing that you know as you know them shall cease to exist. And that includes your current state of affairs.”

Tetra looked away from the Goddesses, yet she would not walk one step in either direction. Her thoughts were flooded with all that had happened to her in the past weeks. First the incessant dreams, which started out as harmless as seeing herself sitting on a throne, and devolved into haunting dreams. Then, the discovery of the treasure, which brought with it the book of the Hylian Royal Family's History, and upon further analyzing, she considers this event to be no coincidence. And then there's this: a personal visit by none other than the Three Goddesses of legend, explaining her what was going to happen and what she had to do.

And in the back of her head, the voice of her conscience started to speak to her:

“I understand.” Tetra said, still with her back turned to the Goddesses. “I understand what will happen if I don't comply, and if I decide to walk away from this 'destiny' thing. Thank you for informing me of the risks.”

The Goddesses' faces were transforming into looks that ranged from worry to beginnings of anger. Considering that their efforts were about to go to waste was no small matter. Link shared those sentiments, and decided to walk over to Tetra to try and appeal to her. He put his hand on her shoulder to try and gain her attention. Tetra simply looked at Link. “Don't patronize me, Link.” Tetra said. “I don't need your eloquent speeches to convince me of anything. I said 'I understand what will happen', nothing more.”

Tetra then turned over to the Goddesses and, with a serious look sporting none of the defiant stares she once pulled on them, and directed her attention to them. “I'll do it. I'm still not entirely sure of it all, but one thing's for certain...” She takes one good, long look at her ship, with all the dents, marks, and even Link... “... I don't want any of this to just end and be forgotten, just like that. So if I can do anything to prevent it, then it's just a small sacrifice to make.”

Link sighed in relief (after all, it's not every day you get to have a taste of a deity's wrath), while the Goddesses looked visibly pleased. “Good” Din said, a smile set on her face. “In that case, you will need this.”

The three Goddesses outstretched her arms to the skies, and in their point of convergence, a glowing object formed. This object slowly descended into Tetra's hands. When the light dissipated, a golden cylindrical object remained, one of their flat sides was crystal clear, and inside was a silverish needle wobbling about.

“This is the Compass of the Goddesses.” Nayru explained. “It shall point you to your true destination. Keep a good eye on its instructions, and you shall never become lost in your journey.”

“So, this compass will get me to the promised land?” Tetra asked ever so bluntly.

“In a way, yes.” Farore answered in the same blunt manner. “Keep a good eye on it, though. They're very expensive to make. *wink*”

Nayru then looked straight at Tetra and imparted her last instructions. “Princess, follow the Compass. It will guide you to your destination, where you must fulfill your duty. You mustn't fail. And I hope you learn more about what this journey means as you go through it.” She then looked straight at Link. “Link, please protect the Princess with your sword and your shield. Do not let her bear this burden alone. Accompany her through thick and thin, become her support, and help her build the new Hyrule.”

Link nodded his head in understanding. Having done this kind of stuff before, he needed little pushing to accept this quest. However, the terms were different this time, for he was not going to be alone this time. Sure, he's had companions before -the bird girl and the Goron kid for example-, but never before having someone constantly at his side, fighting with him, helping him through it all. Now, he shall have the opportunity to fully see this as he joins Tetra on this journey they were about to undertake. He looks over at Tetra, and he can't help but admire her. She's launching headlong into this, without fully understanding what she's getting herself into. She will be trusting Link for when the tough times come , and he is ready to show his trustworthiness. He admired her... which is why he couldn't help but smile.

Then, Tetra looked over to Link, and he suddenly stopped looking over at Tetra and began staring at his feet as he fumbled with them. Besides thinking it a tad weird, she gave no further importance to that. Meanwhile, the Goddesses kept an awkward silence... perhaps watching the small scenario unfold in front of them.

“Ahem...” Nayru cleared her throat to break the awkward silence. “Now that things have been settled, it is time for us to take our leave.”

“We shall give you our blessing.” Farore said as she clasped her hands together, making glittery green powder appear around them. Din and Nayru followed her example, making glittery powder of their respective colors, then the three blew in unison toward the pair in front of them. “May you have a safe and successful journey.”

“Remember, Princess,” Din began her final speech. “You have the Blood of the Hylia flowing withing you. It is up to you to discover and understand what light does it hold. Believe in yourself, and believe in your companion, and you will succeed.”

And, right in front of Link and Tetra, the Three Goddesses' bodies turned a golden hue as they floated up from their precarious perch on the ship's border. Then, they were covered with flames: Din in red, Farore in green, Nayru in blue. Then, just as they arrived, they shot like a meteor straight up to the skies, leaving a spectacular trail behind.

Tetra and Link stood awestruck, staring up as the glow of the Goddesses dimmed away, the great column of light thinned out to nothingness, and the perfect star circle started getting filled with stars inside, as if there was no circle in the first place. And, though they didn't notice, the soft breeze that was pushing the ship up until a short while ago began its gentle draft again.

“That was the most amazing and the most terrifying experience of my whole life, by far.” Tetra whispered as she slowly dropped her gaze from the sky. She then looked over at Link, at the guy she had just become stuck to for the remainder of this journey. Oh, she knew this guy all too well: childish, sleepy-headed, a bit lazy despite getting all gung-ho for adventures, careless, a total fashion failure... and dependable. She could not deny how he's helped got her out of tight spots at least 5 times now. If there was any person inside that ship (or anywhere else, for that matter) she would team up for this kind of mission, Link ranks right up there as one of the top choices. Finding that book was no coincidence, and perhaps having Link as companion wasn't one, either. All these things crossed her mind, and she understood, at least, what this meant. If anything, he was dependable... and she couldn't help but smile at it.

Then Link turned his attention at Tetra, to which she quickly shot her gaze back up to the skies. “*ahem* Well...” Tetra cleared her throat to begin talking. “If anything, this means we have at least one last big adventure ahead of us.” She then turned to Link, greeting him with her trademark wink. “Let's make the most if it, ok?”

Thus, after a night few would believe had they not seen, Tetra finally headed off to her room, while Link began walking to the stairs that led him up to the Crow's Nest. Before separating, though, Tetra turned over to Link, with a whimsically thoughtful look upon her face. “You know what's funny?” She said. “They told us to fulfill this destiny of creating a new Hyrule and all...” Then, her thoughtful face slowly turned into a rather sly one. “But they never specified 'how' we'd go about doing that.” She finally swung right back to the door, and signaled Link goodbye before disappearing on the other side.

As he stood on top of the Crow's Nest, Link looked at the horizon. That was a horizon he's seen a lot in his life. When he was a small child, he used to wish to visit the horizon to see what unknown secrets were hidden, waiting for a lucky adventurer to go and unearth them. Now, even after nearly two years of roaming the high seas, mostly as part of Tetra's Pirate crew, such a feeling has not diminished. Now, the horizon was waiting for him once again, and he would answer the call and unearth the secrets hidden within.

*YYYAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN*

... But first, a well earned good night's sleep awaits.