Part 1

Rachel was doing some late night reading. She had grabbed a book out of the castle library and was sitting on her bed in her quarters. This book had a very unusual cover, which was what had enticed her to take the book. The book's cover had writing on it that looked like it was from years earlier. The language was called Ancient Hyrulian. Although, nobody called today's language New Hyrulian, people saw the difference in the two languages.

It was spoken and also written differently. No one studied the old language, except for the storytellers, the older ones especially. Although Rachel knew it was written in the old language, she wanted to study it more. But amazingly, Rachel found out, she could understand it. It was really simple to decipher, but Rachel had a creepy feeling it was magically changing into the New Hyrulian, so that she could read it. But then that would mean she had magical powers and nobody had that anymore, except the healers and the royal family of Hyrule, but even they had a limited amount and Rachel was sure none of them could change these old words into legible writing.

'Maybe I should take this to the princess,' Rachel thought. 'No, it's too late. I'll do it tomorrow morning.'

Rachel was living in North Castle as the handmaiden of Princess Eva of Hyrule, the only daughter of the king. The princess and Rachel were exactly the same age, 15 years old, and the two had become fast friends. Long ago, the heirs of Hyrule had stopped naming their daughters Zelda, which had been the tradition, because of some hushed up event that had happened to a Zelda of Hyrule. So from then on, nobody in the royal family was allowed to name their daughter Zelda to hide what she did. That was so long ago that no one alive knew what had happened and it was never written down so nobody will ever know.

Rachel opened the hardbound book without figuring out the title and found no words, only pictures. But these pictures were fuzzy; they couldn't be seen very clearly. Rachel stared and finally after what seemed like hours, the first picture began to form. It showed Rachel on her horse, Midnight, who was as black as night, galloping across Hyrule Field. That wasn't strange, Rachel did that often. But what was odd, was the 3 figures next to her. One was a small boy clad all in green, with a green cap to match and blond hair; to Rachel's right. His features were a little unclear, but two things seemed really special to Rachel, an ocarina and a sword in a sheath hanging on the boy's belt. The boy was on a horse from the castle stables, its name Lightning, a golden brown horse that was the fastest horse in the castle. On the other side of Rachel was a cloaked figure, who was on a light brown horse Rachel had never seen. The identity of this person Rachel couldn't see, but she saw by the long sword and crest on this person's shield on their shoulder, that the figure was a knight. What country Rachel did not know, but she figured the person came from one of the countries bordering Hyrule. To the blond boy's right, Rachel saw another boy. But this one was very different. He had reddish curly hair, and two curved scimitars, which hung down his back. He was also on a horse that Rachel hadn't seen before; this one was reddish brown.

'I wonder, what could this mean?' she looked at the title and read it aloud, "The Book of Magic." She shrugged, not knowing what it could mean and not caring at the moment and put it back on her shelf that was next to her bed. She crept into bed and immediately drifted off to sleep. When she woke, she had vivid memories of the picture in the book. She checked to see if it was still there, as if it could have walked off during the night. It was; but now it was glowing. It was a sparkling radiating glow, which felt warm on Rachel's face as she opened the book once again. Amazingly, the picture that had been there the night before wasn't on the front page. In fact, a totally new picture was forming right before her eyes.

This one was very different than the other one. It gave the effect of dark and gloomy at first and then it cleared to show something terrifying but so vividly real. The princess was being dragged away by some shadow figures that couldn't be seen, as if they were the shadows themselves. She tried to scream but no sound came.

Rachel slammed the book closed as quickly as she had opened it. She felt guilty at looking at some foolish picture that wasn't even true. But she still had this fearful feeling that it was true. She quickly shook it off, not wanting to think such horrible ideas. Rachel was already late to help get Eva ready for breakfast. She knew Eva wouldn't mind but Rachel needed to give the money she earned to her family from working at the castle. Rachel made her way down the sunny corridor that connected Eva's large quarters to her own. When she reached Eva's door, she knocked firmly and waited for it to open. After a few minutes of waiting, she knocked again but this time calling out her name. When that didn't work and the door didn't open, she went in search of her friend, Michael, who worked as a stableman in the castle stables.

She explained the predicament and after she had finished, Michael looked puzzled.

"Why wouldn't she open the door?" he asked her. "I don't know. She usually doesn't go anywhere in the morning without telling me first, so I don't go and knock on her door forever," she said worriedly.

Easygoing Michael reassured her saying, "Don't worry. She probably didn't hear you. I'll get a master key from the kitchen and help you open the door."

They got the key and headed up to the princess's room. Michael fitted the key into the lock and they heard a loud click as the lock came undone. He put his hand on the doorknob and opened it.

"Sorry for barging in prince-," Michael stopped in mid-sentence. The room was in shambles. Books and clothes were strewn around all over the place. The room had been turned inside out. Through careful searching, they found a note tucked under the mattress. It was addressed to Rachel. It said:

Dear Rachel,

I'm very sorry have caused you all of this trouble. By now, I'm sure you've figured out that I'm not in the castle. I've gone looking. Looking for what? I'm looking for the Triforce. It belongs back at North Castle. I know it hasn't been found for years. No one knows how to get it. I believe I've found someone who does. I've gone with this person to find it and bring it back. Tell my father and mother that I've gone on a trip. Please don't tell them about this note.

Your friend,

Princess Eva (of Hyrule)

 

"What!" Rachel yelled as soon as she had finished reading it. "I can't believe her! Now I've got to go look for her. But I don't even know where she went. I can't believe she did this to me. I thought she was my friend," at the last sentence she cried.

"It's not your fault. She decided to do it. You don't have to take responsibility for her actions," Michael reasoned. "Maybe not, but I'm supposed to keep her safe, Michael," Rachel argued. Then she moaned, "What am I going to do?"

"Just tell their Majesties what she told you say. And I'll help you look for her. I promise," Michael promised.

"But we probably won't even find her," she moaned again.

"If you don't get on your feet fast enough, we won't even catch up to her.

She couldn't have gone that far," Michael retorted. Grudgingly, Rachel stumbled to her feet. She immediately went to tell the king that his daughter had gone "on a trip." Michael saddled his horse, Lightning, and also Midnight, Rachel's horse. Rachel had gone in to pack some extra clothes and Michael had been getting necessities for both the horses and the two of them and putting them into saddlebags. That's when they heard the castle guards in the front courtyard begin to call out to the other guards around that 2 strangers wanted to see the king and that someone should escort them and announce them. One was a boy about 12 years old and the other was a cloaked figure dressed in a brown cloth coat, down to the person's ankles, and covering the entire body. Nobody could see the person's face and the person wouldn't take it off.

Rachel quickly yelled to the guards that she would escort them. She was excited; for it was exactly the description of two of the people she'd seen in that first picture the night before. She was eager to meet them and see what they were like.

Maybe they would help her on her quest to find the princess while doing whatever the reason was for looking for the king. Rachel set off for the castle gates a few yards away…

Back to Story Menu