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Twelve hours after lifting Ganondorf’s curse on the land, it didn’t seem anything had changed. A dark cloud continued to hang over Hyrule castle, its people still forced to wander as zombies to the will of whoever or whatever was controlling them all. During all of this, Link still hadn’t recovered from his injuries – whether that be the burn of the dark lord’s magic or the plight he had acquired during his battle.
Where a day before she believed she could have sent the hero back to his rightful place once the battle was over, there was little point in Zelda sending him now. She would essentially be telling a sick person to leave the infirmary.
But more important than that: he obviously had unfinished business to attend to. Sitting at his bedside, she could only assume Ganondorf was still somewhere around them – that, despite driving the blade straight through him, Link still had not defeated the threat. Because of this, they were perhaps in more danger now than ever before, yet all was calm in this small shelter in Kakariko village.
Some hours passed and Link slept, but not peacefully. There came a point in his slumber when he started to toss and turn, clutching his pillow and blankets tight until he woke up in a sweat, gasping for air.
Zelda’s eyes shot wide open at the same time his did, somewhat surprised to see him in such a state. They both paused, him looking at her as if contemplating and studying whoever it was in front of him – and her looking back, trying to read the fear and confusion in his eyes as he likely wondered where his sword and shield were, where his tunic was, why he was now in bed.
“Awake at last,” the princess quipped. “I was beginning to worry that you were too sick to ever get out of bed.”
It was only as Link sat up straight that Zelda got a better look at him – and that look did not leave her with much confidence in his current state. His eyes were drooping, his lips were chapped, and his nose was noticeably red; every few seconds he sniffed, only to immediately grunt as he could barely breathe through his nose as it was.
Looking up, Link saw Zelda sitting by, but he did not see the smile on her face. “Sheik?” he said.
Zelda had almost forgotten she was wearing her sheikah outfit again to avoid attention from anyone inside Kakariko, knowing what people would do if they found out a princess was in their midst. Chuckling, Zelda pulled the sheikah mask off her face, revealing the face of that very girl he had met seven years ago – only now so much older and much more accustomed to tragedy. She brought a finger to her lip, then pulled the mask back over her nose.
“How are you feeling?” she began.
Shuffling himself a little where he sat, Link grunted, screwing his face up with the effort. “I feel kind of—” Just then his breath caught in his throat, interrupting him outright. “hhhHEHk-t’SSsh’n!!”
Zelda blinked, grateful that Link had turned his head away from her just in time, but cringing at the fact that he had just just sprayed spittle on the nightstand next to him. Worse still: he wasn’t done, his eyes fluttering open and shut as he tilted his twitchy nose in the air.
“HhUNN’s-T’SSHhun!!”
A sympathetic smile spread from behind Zelda’s mask. “Bless you,” she said. “I guess that answers my question.”
“Th-thang’s…” Link sniffed, then paused, holding a finger under his nose.
Zelda reached for a cloth inside the drawer by Link’s bed, hesitating for a moment when he saw the same vulnerable look on his face. Quick to grab the cloth, she then immediately sat upright, still looking at Link as she attempted to put some distance between them. “Do you have to sneeze again?” she said.
Again the hero sniffed, this time more harshly, and rubbed his nose before shaking his head. “I don’t get it -snf-...what happened?”
“We won,” Zelda proclaimed, handing Link the cloth from the drawer. “You drove the Master Sword through Ganon, but it seems that there is still work to be done, as Hyrule Castle is still shrouded in darkness.”
“Oh…” Link wiped his nose with the handkerchief. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but was then caught off-guard by a familiar voice at the window.
“Hey!!”
The hero and the princess looked outside to see an excited Navi zipping around just outside the window, peeping through one of the few spaces that wasn’t covered up in some sort of drapery.
Grunting, Link attempted to get himself out of bed when Zelda moved for him instead. Immediately after she opened the window, Navi zoomed right in, her fairy wings flapping at an uncomfortably fast frequency as she floated above link’s head.
“You’re okay! You’re okay! Oh my gosh, you’re gonna be okay!! I was so worried!”
“Navi—!” Link tried to get some words out, but was so caught up by the fairy’s frantic movement that he couldn’t help laughing at the suddenness of it all. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Again Zelda chuckled. “I have to assume fairies don’t sleep if seeing someone bedridden after a hard battle is enough to send this one into a panic.”
The smile beneath Link’s red nose disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, his nostrils flaring, reacting to a familiar sensation lingering deep within them. Barely remembering the cloth at his hand, he grabbed a tight hold of it just in time – at the very second that his chest began to fill with air. His teeth came together and he buried his face into the cloth.
“hH’NNNnt-Chhh’T!”
As Navi turned around in a flinching motion, Zelda attempted to repress the urge to laugh again, failing just as Link had failed to hold back his sneeze. “Bless you, Link,” she tittered as he began to blow his nose in a desperate attempt to alleviate himself of any remaining tickles. “I will go check with the local doctor and see if he can give us something for you. Navi, would you care to keep him company?”
“The pleasure is all mine,” said Navi. “As long as he promises to sneeze in his hankie and not on me.”
“I will, Navi,” Link said, rubbing his nose.
With that, Zelda left the room, leaving Link along with his time-bound companion.
Link wiped little traces of mess off the tip of his nose before speaking again. “How long was I asleep?”
“Well…” Navi pondered. “Not that long. Only a few hours. But I was so worried because you didn’t look like you were gonna wake up, and—” The floating ball of light sighed. “I can’t lose you. After everything we’ve been through to stop Ganondorf, it’s felt like that was going to happen – that I would lose you before your time came. And then no fairy’s magic would be able to bring you back after Ganondorf took you away.”
“I get what you mean,” Link said, nodding. “But Ganondorf is gone now, right?”
“I don’t know.” The fairy seemed to shiver. “I kind of feel like, in some strange way, he’s here with us right now.”
Link sniffed, looking out the window just in case Navi was right about someone being nearby – and immediately found that they were both still alone. It wasn’t until a few minutes later when Zelda, still dressed as Sheik, came in with the Kakariko village apothecary, who carried with him a big bag of utensils. Zelda had a nervous look in her eyes that did not give Link much faith in what was about to happen.
The apothecary was a short man, skinny almost to a skeletal degree, his skin and hair so white that it was obvious that he spent much of his time inside working on whatever experiments he had going on.
“Ze—er, Sheik?” Link began. “Is everything okay?”
The apothecary spoke before Zelda could. “It does indeed look like a cold – that much is true!” he began. “But let me see—” He reached into his bag and pulled out a flat stick. “If he encountered the dark lord’s forces, then it is possible that what we have here is something else.”
Link was almost scared to ask.
“Now, then! Fairies begone!”
Navi jittered where she floated. “Wh-what are you—?”
Just then, the apothecary pulled out a glass bottle with a nozzle on it.
“NO!” Link and Zelda shouted in unison.
Just a second too late: the apothecary had already applied some pressure to the nozzle – but not before Zelda could grab him by his collar, directing the spray elsewhere: right in Link’s face. Caught in a wash of the most foul chemical he had ever smelled, the hero started coughing so hard that he sat himself up straight just so he could bend over, holding his stomach as he hacked up the gaseous toxins onto the blankets.
Turning the stunned doctor around, Zelda shot an evil stare at him from her vantage point, herself noticeably taller than this older man. “That’s his fairy!” she shouted, the femininity of her voice starting to break through the facade of Sheik’s masculinity. “And you’re trying to kill her?”
Still stunned for a brief moment, the apothecary looked up and flinched. “Oh, no, no – it wasn’t going to kill her; just knock her out.”
Just recovering from the initial shock of coming face-to-face with a spray bottle, Navi bounced on top of the man’s bald head. “Then SAY that, you big doofus!!”
All while they were arguing, Link continued coughing. It took Zelda a moment to see him and come to his side. “Link, are you alright?”
“I’ll -- -koff!- I’ll be fine—!”
She bit her lip from behind her mask, but otherwise did not respond.
“Right!” the apothecary called from behind Zelda’s back. “Well, I have something for you that should help with your condition.” Reaching into his bag once more, the doctor sifted around for a moment before pulling out a bottle of pink fluid, which he then handed to link. “Guzzle it all down.”
Trying not to cough, Link did as he was asked. Immediately the substance cleared up his cough, going down his gullet with a smoothness similar to honey without the viscosity. Once it was all gone, a shudder traveled up his spine.
“Now, then: open your mouth and say ‘Aah.’”
Again Link did as instructed – at the same time the apothecary pressed the stick onto his tongue and further examined him. “I see...it’s a good thing I gave you that potion, then!” He then pulled the stick away from Link and wiped it off before putting it back in the bag.
“What?” The hero of time blinked, gradually realizing what the doctor was implying with his last statement.
“You may keep the bottle!” the doctor said as he walked out the door. “Good luck, mister hero!” Without another word, he left the three to themselves.
Link paused, looking down at the empty bottle. “So if I wasn’t sick with whatever he thought I had…?” Not sure if he wanted to finish the thought, he looked back up at Zelda. “I don’t get it; are you sure that was a real apothecary?”
“I am certain that is the man who has been calling himself the village apothecary this entire time,” Zelda declared. “I’m sorry I didn’t look further into him.”
Navi swooped up from between the two Hylians. “So – how are you feeling?” she asked. “Any better?” Just after asking, Navi shivered again. “Ooh – what was that?”
“What was what?” said Zelda from behind her.
“I felt some kind of a drain,” Navi began. “Like some dark energy just entered the ro—”
“hHEHKK-KkUShhoo!!”
“WAaah!!” Without any warning, Navi found herself flying toward Zelda, bumping into her arm as Link sneezed loud enough to deafen her.
Zelda, taking a step back, cringed at the suddenness of it all, as well as the fact that Navi would probably have to wash up after that – but her reaction was cut short when she noticed a flash of energy whisking about in the sky, escaping through Link’s nose and mouth to form something familiar.
From where she lied on the ground, Navi screamed. “It’s Ganon!! He’s back!” As if by instinct, Navi got up from the ground and flew up in the space between Link and this dark, ghostly shape as the last traces of it left Link’s body. It was only after it took shape – itself reminiscent of a poe dressed in gray robes – when Link finally saw it.
“Navi – move!” Link shouted, bottle in hand. If it was anything like the poes he had witnessed in the graveyard, this one was sure to go down in one fell swoop. This in mind, he sat back, holding his bottle-wielding arm at his side before coming at the ghost with the opening of the container facing toward it. The ghost slipped right into the glass frame with ease – and, with milliseconds to trap it indefinitely, Link found the cap left behind by the doctor and popped it right on. “Got it!”
The ghost now in hand, Link held his breath for a moment, uncertain if what had happened had actually just happened. Looking ahead, he saw Zelda – under the guise of Sheik – raising her hand, pulling back the sheikah symbol to reveal the Triforce underneath. She herself held a look of horror, despite most of her face being covered up. Realizing everything was okay, she sighed – as did Link.
“So,” Link began, examining the ghost in his bottle. “Is this what was making me sick?”
“I think so,” Zelda pointed out. “Your nose isn’t red anymore. Well – okay, it is still red, but not as red.”
“Oh, what?” Link sneered. “Does that mean I actually do have a cold, after all?”
Zelda laughed, as did Navi. Link, still coming to grips with the crisis they had just averted, couldn’t help but join them.
--
A few hours passed before Link was feeling well enough to go outside again. Dressed in his regular green tunic, he set out along with Navi and Zelda, ready to see what else needed to be done to save the future of Hyrule.
But just as they began to head out, they realized that something about the dark clouds hanging over Hyrule castle looked a little different – in that they were just starting to wane.
“That is curious,” Zelda noted. “They aren’t gone, but they’re going.”
“Hey, Link,” Navi commented. “What about that ghost? Do you still have it in the bottle?”
Link pulled it out. “Right here,” he said. “Whoa – wait.” Just as he looked at it, he noticed that the ghost’s dark gray color had dimmed into a much lighter, much more transparent gray. “Weird; I’ve never seen a poe do this before.”
“That’s because it isn’t a poe,” said Zelda, stepping forward. “Let me take care of this.”
“Sh-Sheik?”
She sighed. “Just call me by my name; nobody is around here.” Looking around, it was evident that the princess was right. This path between the village and the city was vast and empty enough that it didn’t matter here. Keeping this in mind, the princess once again lowered the skeikah symbol on her hand, revealing the Triforce symbol. From there, the symbol glowed and what remained of the ghost slowly started to wither away as if being burned alive.
Just as the Triforce of wisdom lit up, so, too, did Link’s Triforce of courage. Between the two of them, the area became awash in a great flash of light, then calmed as Link and Zelda both regained their senses.
“Wow,” Link commented. “I didn’t think we could do that.”
Zelda did not immediately respond, but instead looked over her shoulder at Hyrule castle. It came as great respite, then, when she saw that the clouds over the city and castle were now completely gone, replaced with bright blue skies the likes of which she hadn’t seen in years.
“Our greatest trial is now behind us,” said Zelda, turning her head back to Link. Just as quickly as she had spoken, the princess lowered her mask once more and removed the headwear concealing most of her flowing blonde hair. A smile adorned her face as she revealed herself to Link once again as she had the day before. “Let us go back to the temple of time. I will explain once we are there.
Link nodded, about to start following behind the princess. “Hhh-hh... ” His long nose started to twitch in response to the unannounced arrival of a congested prickling sensation that wouldn’t leave. “ hhEHkK-TTt’kSHun!!” He grunted, rubbing his nose with a finger. “And I thought the sneezing would be over by now.”
The princess responded with little more than a shrug, then carried on.
“Hey!” Link called. “No ‘bless you’ this time?”
“You are in the presence of a princess, Link,” Zelda acknowledged, a smirk on her lips. “You are already blessed.”
“You know, she has a good point!” said Navi.
Link snorted. “Just because you took off the mask and hat doesn’t mean you weren’t a princess in the house!” he argued. “And yet you blessed me whenever I sneezed in there, didn’t you?”
The fairy exchanged glances with the two Hylians. “Well, now HE has a good point!” She sighed. “Fine, I’ll say it: bless you, Link.” She paused. “Or, wait – doesn’t Zelda’s presence mean I also don’t have to say ‘bless you?’”
Seeing Navi’s mental back-and-forth, Zelda couldn’t help burst out laughing. “Come on, you two,” she said, beckoning them to her side. She could only imagine what kind of banter they had had with each other on their adventure through Hyrule. Under her breath, she muttered: “I already know I’m going to miss you two.”