Chapter eight: Terrible Truths
"Ow!"
"Me two!"
"Me three!"
"Ditto."
"Right behind ya."
"What's going on here?" Fratello demanded.
"Hey Frat." Sora said, grinning.
"Sora?" Frat asked.
"Link?" Faylore asked.
Link stared. "Oliana?"
All five children sat on a rock hard floor, staring at each other. Frat gave Sora a disapproving look for her lack of clothing and she grinned rakishly at him. Sora struggled out of Link's arms, crawled over to Frat and hugged him tightly. With that, all hell broke loose. Everyone began talking at once, demanding to know what the others were doing here. "Quiet!" Sora yelled. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at her.
Link was the first to speak up. "What are you doing here, Oliana?" "I'm not sure." Oliana admitted. "I was doing a locating spell so I could find you and bring you back. Hyrule really needs you. But all of a sudden something picked me up and plopped me down here, with you guys." "The magics must've collided." Frat said. "Faylore and I were using a make transport to get to the Sheikahs' kingdom."
"And I grabbed onto it when you passed us." Sora chimed in. "Okay now that's settled." Frat said. "But, what happened to you? And Sora, where are all your clothes?"
"The trials happened to us." Link muttered.
Sora grinned. "That's right. Link got pulverized by these skeleton thingys and I saved him. Unfortunately he's got some bad wounds." "That explains where your clothes went." Frat said. "Very innovative, Sora.
You've saved this boy's life."
Sora blushed. "I learned that from you, Frat."
"Sora!!" A voice called.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. A small girl of about 8 or 9 years was running toward them, a long silver braid swinging wildly behind her. She wore a pair of breeches that were two sizes too big, a shirt with the Sheikah eye on the front that was belted around her waist, and a pair of soft leather boots that came up to her ankles. Sora yelped and ran to catch the girl, lifted her high in the air and swinging her around. "Sora, put me down, silly!" The girl giggled.
Sora did, but not without giving her one last hug. "Skysong! Girl, how've you been?"
"Pretty good." Skysong replied. "I missed you though." "I missed you too." Sora smiled, then turned to her friends. "Guys, this is Skysong Anale. She was like a little sister to me. Skysong, this is Link, the King of Hyrule, Faylore, Fratello C'Dessa of Dragon Rock, and Lady Oliana of Farreach Keep."
"Nice to me you." Skysong said politely. She curtsied to Link and Frat, then turned back to Sora.
"Can you take us to Impa?" Sora asked.
"Certainly." Skysong replied. "Follow me."
With a crook of her finger, Skysong motioned them forward, and skipped off in the direction of Impa's rooms. Sora followed, with Frat at her side, Link was behind them leaning on Faylore and Oliana trailed behind, staring wide-eyed at her surroundings. Sora glanced back occasionally to make sure Link was all right. He smiled and waved her away, but she stopped and waited for him and Faylore to catch up.
"How long have you known Skysong?" Link asked. "Since she was born." Sora replied. "Skysong is special. As long as I can remember, people have told me she had an important destiny." "Oh no!" Oliana exclaimed. "That reminds me! Poor Isannah! Now she only has Cara to take care of her!"
Link looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?" "I've been taking care of Isannah." Oliana explained. "She's such a wonderful little girl. I just love her!"
"Is this the same Oliana you told me about?" Sora asked.
"No." Link replied. "Are you sick or something, Oliana?" Oliana rolled her eyes. "No. It's a long story. But…ever since my dad died, I've been staying at Hyrule Castle. We really need you there, Link. Your father's advisor, Nicodemus, has taken over. I don't trust him." "Wow." Link said softly. "You sure have changed." "Ahem!" Skysong cleared her throat. "If you don't want to walk into the wall, then follow me through this door here, kay?"
Sora grinned. "Smart alec."
They all followed Skysong through the rickety wooden door and into a small room with four other doors made of stone, that blended into the walls. Skysong motioned to a door on the far left and sprinted out the way she'd came. Sora walked to the door and knocked softly. There was no reply. Sora sighed and knocked once more.
"Come in."
Sora pushed the door open and peeked in, glancing around the room. A middle-aged woman with silver sprinkled with white sat at a desk, studying some scrolls. Sora stepped inside and helped Faylore get Link through the door. He sat down in a chair near to the desk and Impa looked up. Her mouth fell open when she saw Link, but she quickly snapped her mouth shut and hid her surprise.
"Prince Link." Impa greeted. "I am honored by your presence."
"I am King, now." Link informed her. "We've had a tragedy at the castle." "Then I am doubly honored." Impa nodded solemnly. "I've heard of your tragedy, but I did not know until now that all the details I've heard were true."
"Yes." Link said.
Impa smiled warmly. "I knew your Grandfather. He was a wonderful man. But as sad as I am to hear of his death, I am pleased to see that you are alive, if not well."
"Thank you." Link said. "As you can tell, we've run into a few problems on the way."
"I see this." Impa said. "We will get you some care, a hot bath and some food. Also, I think some new clothes would be in order." Impa smiled. Sora sighed exasperatedly. "That's all well and good. But I need you to tell me something."
"Later Sora." Impa told her. "I have a feeling I know what you want to ask.
For now, though, you must rest. Kaley and Mica will take care of you."
Impa rang a small bell sitting on her desk and two girls scurried in. One was about 18 and shorter than the other, with long black hair that reached down to her knees. The other one was around 13, with short cropped sand-white hair and wide blue eyes. The both wore the garb of servants: short tunics over shirts that were belted around the waist, leggings and knee high boots. The older one started out of Impa's office and beckoned for the companions to follow.
She led them out of Impa's chambers and down a long corridor. She pushed open a large set of doors at the end of the corridor and stepped outside into the bright sunshine. They walked out onto a large area of bright green grass, surrounded by tall building complexes all the way around. The buildings were plain, made of gray stone, but at the same time elegant. The older girl led them to a far building with a sign marked "infirmary", while the younger girl skipped along behind, chatting noisily with Oliana.
The older girl led them inside and down another long corridor, into a room that was exactly like Impa's with four doors nearly hidden in the walls of stone. She opened one on the far wall and assigned each one of the companions to a bed. Then she sent the little girl off to fetch some things, while she began tending to Link's wounds.
"What's your name?" Sora asked, sitting on the edge of Link's bed.
"I am Mica." The older girl told her.
"I don't remember you. Or Kaley." Sora said.
"No surprise. We were living in Karkariko until our parents died a few months ago." Mica explained. "You were already out on your own by then, but we heard a lot about you from Skysong. She and Kaley are playmates."
At that moment, Kaley came skipping back into the room, followed closely by Skysong. Kaley placed a bundle of bandages on the table beside Link's bed and Skysong set down a bowl of water. Mica smiled and motioned them over to the corner of the room.
"You two sit there an watch me." Mica instructed. Both girls nodded.
Mica began unwrapping Link's makeshift bandages and dumping them in a pile by the bed. Link winced each time she hit a spot where the bandages had stuck to the wound. When Mica finished with the bandages, Kaley darted forward and collected them off the floor. She dumped them in a tub of dirty water and then scampered out of the room once more, Skysong on her heals. "You did a nice job wrapping these." Mica praised.
Sora shrugged. "It was the only thing I could think of to do."
Mica nodded and continued her work in silence. She picked up a cloth, dipped it in the bowl of water and began cleaning out Link's wounds. It wasn't long before Link fainted from pain and fatigue. When he had, Mica began re-wrapping the wounds and fixing the broken ribs, which had healed unevenly. Then Kaley and Skysong came back in once again. "There is food for them and hot baths." Kaley informed Mica. "Good." Mica said. "You three go with Kaley and Skysong. Sora, I want you to stay here so I can look at your wounds."
Frat and the girls followed Kaley out of the room, but Skysong stayed behind and sat down next to Sora. They watched Mica finish dressing Link's wounds, then pull a blanket over him. Mica then turned to Sora and studied her, and then she shooed Skysong out of the room. "Lay down." Mica instructed.
Sora did as she was told, lying back down on the infirmary bed where she had been originally place. Mica wetted another cloth and started cleaning out the cuts on Sora's arms, and the deep gash across her ribs. She gave Sora a compress for the bruise on her cheek while she dressed the wounds. When Mica was done she handed Sora some clothes and motioned to a small screen in the corner of the room.
Sora went behind the screen and peeled off what was left of her dirty, torn and ever soaked clothing. She put on the warm shift, shirt, tunic and breeches that Mica had given her, and pulled on a pair of boots. When she stepped out from behind the screen Mica handed her a soft bristled brush to get the tangled out of her hair. I guess I don't really need a bath, after my swim, Sora thought wryly. Even though it would feel nice. "Skysong!" Mica called. The girl sprinted into the room.
"Yes?" Skysong asked.
"Take Sora to get some food." Mica told her.
Skysong nodded and skipped out of the room. Sora glanced back at Link then followed, closing the door softly behind her so she wouldn't disturb his sleep.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Now, Sora it seems like we have something we must talk about." Impa said, the next as she and Sora sat in her office.
Sora nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"You want to know why we lied to you, correct?" Impa asked.
"Yes ma'am." Sora said again.
Impa sighed. "Well Sora, it's a very long story. You were five years old, and any memory of who you were was fading fast. The journey through the cave to get you back to your family would be dangerous, so we decided to wait until you were older, so you would be better able to handle it." Impa took a deep breath, then went on. "Unfortunately, by the time you were old enough, you remembered nothing of your past. You were convinced that you were a Sheikah. We didn't want to confuse you by bringing you back."
"So how did you find me in the first place?" Sora asked. "Well, there was a battle like I told you." Impa replied. "When it was over, we found you half drowned in a lake just outside of our village, near the battle scene. We took you to get you medical care and that's when we figured out who you were."
Sora frowned. "There was a battle? With who?"
"The Fay." Impa answered, frowning also.
"The Fay?" Sora exclaimed. "But they were the ones who caused me to fall into the river in the first place!"
"Really? Do you know their names?" Impa asked.
"Sammi and Faylah." Sora replied quickly, remembering from her dream. "So," Impa said, leaning back in her chair. "Kyrissam is still trying to wage a war."
Sora stared at her. "What do you mean?"
"Kyrissam. He is one of the most powerful Fay leaders ever." Impa explained.
"He is best at illusions."
"Could he, say, make himself look like a Hylian?" Sora asked.
"Probably."
"And could he get Gerudos to serve his cause some how?"
"Yes." Impa looked at her warily. "What are you getting at?" Sora jumped to her feet. "Kyrissam was the one who killed Link's father and tried to kill Link too!"
Impa jumped into action, racing out of her office and down to the General's office. Sora ran back to the infirmary to tell Frat and Link about what she had found. The doors of the infirmary banged against the wall, as Sora didn't bother to close them. She ran into the room where Link was and startled everyone.
"Guys, we have a problem." Sora told them.
Frat jumped up. "What's wrong?"
"Kyrissam is Fay." Sora blurted out. "Impa says he's really powerful and that he's been causing trouble for a while."
"What?" Link demanded, sitting up. "How can that be? He looked Hylian." "And have you ever heard of a Hylian leading Gerudos? He can disguise himself! Make himself to look like anything he wants!" "He's the one who threatened to kill us, isn't he?" Frat asked, staring at the floor.
"Yes!" Sora replied. "And Faylore is his accomplice!"
"Now hold on a minute!" Link said.
"Very good, Princess Sorella." A voice interrupted from the doorway. "How'd you figure us out?"
They all spun around. Kyrissam stood leaning on the doorframe, an evil smile playing across his lips. His stared at them with his icy blue eyes and Sora felt a shiver run up her spine. Faylore walked up to him and kissed him gladly. Sora had to hold back a giggle at the expression on Link's face. He looks like a bug, Sora thought, with his eyes popping out of his head like that.
"Faylore?" Link asked, stunned.
"The name's Faylah, little boy."
The companions watched it horror as the illusion melted away. Beneath the magic disguises were two beautiful red headed beings. Kyrissam was dressed in his spiky armor, the way Sora remembered and Faylah was in her little vines and cloth outfit. She was taller in the form, and even more beautiful. Link fainted and the rest of the companions could only stare, dumbfounded.
Faylah cackled evilly. "Oh how I missed being me!" "This is not happening." Link muttered. "I'm dreaming, I have a fever, when I awake, this will all disappear from my memory." "Keep dreaming, kid!" Faylah hissed.
"RUN!"
Frat and Sora supported Link as he limped out the door with Oliana in front of them, while Impa and a few other Sheikah came to the rescue and tried to drive the Fay to the back of the room so the companions could escape. The Fay hissed and spat like angry cats, growls rising from low in their throats. The companions stumbled into the hall and toward the main doors of the infirmary.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Sora and Frat turned, dragging Link with them. Kyrissam was standing with two limp bodies under each arm. Sora noticed with horror that one was Kaley and the other was Mica. Faylah held a bruised and beaten Impa by the throat. Both Faylah and Kyrissam laughed, and evil, insane sounding laugh, and that's when the infirmary began to crumble.