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The inner door in the Temple of Time opened slowly. The famed Master Sword awaited on its pedestal. Link ran up and put his hand on the sword. Though it was as big as he was, he pulled it out and held it aloft.
“Geh heh heh!”
Link spun around to face Ganondorf, holding the Master Sword in both of his hands.
“You held the keys to the Door of Time. You led me to the gates of the Sacred Realm.”
“I’ll stop you!”
“Ha! You can never stop me, kid!”
Link fought with everything he had. The sword was big and heavy but he slashed at the Gerudo as hard as he could. Ganondorf laughed again and tossed a bolt of lightning towards the boy and Link hid under his shield, shrieking as he was shocked.
The fight was not long by any stretch. The sword was heavy and Ganondorf was bigger and older than him. But he was supposed to stop the evil man! The princess said so! So he fought and he dodged but every spell cast by the mage hurt more and more. His health slipped away and he clutched the sword tighter.
“Please…help. Someone…”
There was a faint chiming sound in his head that he swore came from the sword in his hands. A bright light filled the room and an echo of the Song of Time played somewhere. When the light cleared, Link was once again in the room with the Master Sword in its pedestal. Navi bounced about, making confused noises.
“We seem to be back to where we were! Before picking up the sword!”
Link reached forward and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword. He could hear the faint chime again. Was the sword trying to say something?
Again, he wrapped both hands around the sword, then lifted it in the air.
“Geh heh heh!”
Link spun around to face Ganondorf, holding the Master Sword in both of his hands.
“You held the keys to the Door of Time. You led me to the gates of the Sacred Realm.”
“I’ll stop you!”
“Ha! You can never stop me, kid!”
The fight went about the same as the first time. Link was too confused by fighting the exact same fight to take advantage of anything and soon, he was back to bleeding on the floor, begging for help.
Another chime, louder this time. A brilliant light, and they were back by the pedestal with the sword. Link’s breath came out in gasps; while healed, the memory of the damage that he had taken twice now still rattled around in his head. What was going on?
He rested a hand on the sword while Navi bounced around in the air nervously. The chime from the sword sounded much like a word, but not exactly the Hylian language he was used to. Older, perhaps.
“Um, mister sword…”
The sword chimed.
“Oh! I’m sorry, missus sword. Are you doing something? When I fight?”
There was a series of chimes and Link could hear an echo of thought behind his eyes, maybe inside his ears. Yes, the sword was giving him another chance to defeat the evil.
“Oh! Thank you very much. Um. It’s hard though.”
Yes, the sword knew it was hard. She was very sorry.
“Okay, well….I’ll try again.”
And he tried again. And again. And again. He tried to learn from his mistakes, to jump out of the way when a spell came. He tried to swing the sword harder, to block better with his shield. He tried and he tried and he tried. Navi and the sword both chimed encouragement at him, but Ganondorf just laughed.
“Geh heh heh!”
“GEH HEH HEH!”
Ten times. Twenty times. Too many times to count.
Link paused before grabbing hold of the Master Sword, the evil man’s laugh echoing in his ears. Why did he have to hear that laugh again? How many times had he heard those same words? Over and over and over and over and over and over–too many times. A tear wound lazily down his cheek as he stared without seeing at the sword, wondering what he could have done better. What he could do better next time.
There was another chime, worried this time, uncertain almost.
“It’s okay, missus sword. I’m just a little tired, that’s all.” Link pulled the sword out of the pedestal and started it all again.
This wasn’t working.
The spirit of the sword was worried about the boy who kept trying to win. He was surely worthy, she could feel that he was, but he wasn’t big enough, not strong enough to use the weapon the correct way. She predicted a 5% chance of success at the boy's current abilities, perhaps lower. He was getting worn down, both mentally and physically, and there was a 90% chance he would give out with too many repeated tries. The courage was there, but not the ability.
If only he was 100% taller, 50% stronger, 70% older. Like her first master! Yes, he had optimal measurements for wielding her. What could be done to help her current master reach that level?
Oh! That could work.
Fi had a plan. Now she just needed to implement it.
Link was practically hyperventilating after the last fight. He had figured out how to send Ganondorf’s magic attack back at him with the sword but it took so long to do. He couldn’t swing the sword up enough times to get every one! Well, he could practice. And practice some more!
His hand paused over the hilt of the Master Sword. He didn’t realise he was crying again. How many times had he cried so far? It was so hard, missus sword. He kept going, but it was hard. Instead of grabbing the sword, he sat down next to it, his back up against the flat of the blade, head between his knees. The sword chimed at him with the contact, making encouraging sounds.
It will be all right.
“I don’t know if I can do it, missus sword.”
You can call me Fi, if you’d like.
“I don’t know if I can do it, missus Fi. I thought I could! I’m suppose to be the hero, right? The princess said we were suppose to save the Triforce! But this is hard, even if I feel better when we come back to here.” His voice was muffled and hard to hear, but the sword didn’t quite listen to him like that anyway. “Was it suppose to be this hard, to be a hero?”
The sword chimed in contemplation. Navi flittered overhead, distressed and scared. When Link could hear the sword again, it sounded the most like a voice he had heard yet.
“Yes, it is very hard to be a hero. The last person to wield this sword had a hard time. But he was very brave and did the hard things.”
Link swallowed hard. “Was…was he like me?”
There was a silence, then the voice was softer. “Yes, very much like you. Where it counts.”
Time stretched on in the quiet of the Temple. Link stood again and rested his hand on the top of the sword. “I need a few more minutes, missus Fi. I’ll be back though, okay?” Link ran out of the Temple, taking the gems with him for safe keeping. Navi bounced around the sword for a few minutes, sounding even more distressed, but Fi made some reassuring noises back at the tiny sprite and she zoomed off after Link.
The moment Link left, the Master Sword sent the strongest thought it could. KAEPORA GAEBORA.
An angry hoot echoed in the room and an owl appeared before the Master Sword. “You called?”
I have a plan, Rauru .
Link returned to the Temple of Time and played the song on the ocarina. The door opened once again and he took a deep breath before walking into the room. He didn’t know how Ganondorf had gotten in here because he never once saw him anywhere outside or inside the temple! He was a very tricky, very bad man. That’s why he had to be stopped.
“Missus Fi, I’m back!” The boy in green closed his hands around the hilt of the sword. It chimed at him, something comforting, as he started pulling the weapon out of its pedestal. He wasn’t completely sure, but he thought he heard the sword tell him not to worry, it was going to be all right, when the world turned white once again. Except this time, it was different.
He tried to move but his hands were frozen on the sword. He couldn’t blink, he couldn’t fall down. It was like he was frozen in place.
Um! Missus Fi sword! What’s wrong!?
While Link couldn’t speak, the voice from the sword was the loudest he had heard it. “I’m sorry, master. You can defeat the evil but you’re not ready yet. We’re going to help you.”
What? No! I can do it! I promise you I can do it!
Fi could hear the tears in his silent voice. “I know you can. I believe in you. We will help you.”
Ganondorf appeared as he always did, Link could hear the same words he had said dozens of times before, but he could feel himself being pulled upwards into the light.
Fi…Fi…please, I don’t like this. I’m scared.
“Please trust me, master.”
My name is Link.
There was such a long pause that Link wasn’t sure if he was still talking to the Sword clutched tightly in his frozen hands. I’m…I’m sorry. F-Fi? I’m sorry! Don’t leave me!
“I’m still here.” Link wasn’t sure, but he thought Fi’s voice sounded different. Scared? No. Sad maybe. A weird image entered his head of a man with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a green cap that looked sort of familiar. He looked both kind and brave. The voice was even more affectionate when it spoke again. “Sleep, Link. You’ll be fine when you wake. And you won’t have to remember this. You’ll be big and strong and ready to fight the evil you face.”
Wait! No! Fi! What do you mea–
Then there was nothing.
“Link. Wake up…”
“Link, the chosen one.”
The room was blue. Everything looked weird. There was a man who, strangely enough, reminded him of an owl. Link felt dizzy, like he was too far off the ground. His heart sounded loud in his head and his vision swam. The man in orange said something about the Chamber of Sages and the Master Sword but it was honestly going in one ear and out the other. Why did everything feel so weird!?
“Link… Don’t be alarmed… Look at yourself!”
The boy closed his eyes for a moment, trying to get some balance, then opened them and looked down at his hands and arms and legs. He was bigger! He felt his chest and his head. What...what had happened? He remembered grabbing the sword and Ganondorf laughing at him, then nothing. Nothing at all. Navi was bouncing around him in alarm, not sure what to make of the change.
“Look Link! You’re big now! You’re grown up! The Master Sword…”
Link wasn’t really listening as he put a hand on the sword hilt on his back. The Master Sword. It wanted him to be older? Why older? Why was he asleep for so long? It felt kinda cool to be so tall but…but why did he feel like he had missed something important.
For a moment, he thought he heard a faint chime in his head but it was gone before he could understand what it meant.