[align=center]Chapter 6
Crossroads of Fate[/align]
The streets were bustling as every Hylian headed back to their homes, stopping by one last place before turning in. Reco and Link pass through the East gate. Reco turned to Link and said goodbye, and Link left to go back to Ordon village, his home village. Reco felt tired, he traveled all around Hyrule from seeing the peacefulness of Faron woods to the Rushing Rivers of the Zora River, which is where Prince Ralis stopped to return to the Zora Domain. The town roads were starting to empty, with only the small street side orchestra playing in the corner, they also showed sign of weariness. Town guards began to their change in shift and the torches of the town were lit. Reco went to the fountain that stood in the town square. It reflected the light of the torches through a gorgeous sparkle as Reco looked into its flowing water.
So much has happened in the last few days. It was nice to have a day to wind down and relax a bit, and see a place yet untouched by the attackers. Reco leaned back and looked into the twilight sky, it was beautiful, the darkness of night was mixing with the light of day in a perfect mixture that made a goldish color. He let his feet rest for he had been walking all day at the stops Prince Ralis chose for Link to stop his horse, hopefully the wagon that was tied onto the back of the horse wasn't too much for it to bear.
Reco yawned and decided to go back to the castle. He got up and walked up the long path the lead to the castle gate. The guards made the order to open the gate, and let Reco through. Much went through Reco's mind as he walked through the courtyard, mostly about the things he saw today but also a bit about the future of his life, would his life be changed forever? He knew that was a fact, but would the way he live be changed forever, as in his home, his family. The bitter cold of the night interrupted Reco's thoughts, and he went inside. The halls were silent with the exception of the burning torches that lit the hall, which made Reco think of another question: if this world has been exposed to the world of technology, then why stay so…technologically un-advanced? The question didn't stay in Reco's mind that time as he started his journey up the stairs. He was up about 2 floors when he was too tire to continued, so with a deep inhale, and a quick jump, Reco floated his way to the tenth floor. By the tenth floor, Reco let out his air and landed on the floor, he took a quick few moments to regain his normal breathing, and went to his room. The door opened as Reco hung from the knob, after the door was all the way open, Reco dropped to the ground and made his way to the bed. The bed felt very comfortable as he lay on the mattress, allowing him to sink comfortably low yet stiff enough to keep you in a good position. Reco felt himself nodding off when he suddenly heard a scream. Reco jumped up, and with instinct, ran to the window. He climbed up to see who was making the screaming noise. He looked out, but no one seemed to be running in the streets, nor did anything seem to be making such a large notice. Reco turned, confused, but relieved that no one was in danger. He was about to jump off when he heard another, scream, then another, soon he heard countless screams. He swirled around to look where all the commotion was…
The streets were calm and sleeping.
Reco jumped back and the floor, trying to figure out who and where all these cries were coming from. They weren't coming from the castle, or the town, and there were too many cries for them to be in the very same room. Reco then realized, they were in his head. He tried to get them out, but nothing was working, the screams and cries continued and soon started to hurt Reco's head. He struggled; all the noise was making him panic, as if he was amongst the crying crowd. The pain in his head was becoming too much to bear, and he fell on the ground. Soon, the sounds of explosions filled his head, Reco rolled around, trying to get the noise to stop. The sounds, however, reminded Reco of something, the sounds at the Mushroom Kingdom. The same sounds he heard as bombs were going off one after the other, the shrieks of countless people, kids and adults alike. Reco tried to fend it off, but there was no success, it seemed like the noise wouldn't go away…
There was a knock at the door, and the noises stopped. Reco immediately got up, looked around him, the screams left, as if fended off by another noise. The knock came from the door again. Reco scanned the room one last time, once he saw nothing; he made the approval, "…come in."
Princess Zelda opened the door. She looked not the slightest bit tired, even at this time of night. She took a few steps in, and sat on the bed.
"I've been meaning to tell you something, Reco." She seemed hesitant of what she said. "Please, take a seat." Reco, curious, climbed onto the bed.
"When you first came through the portal from the other Kingdom, Ralston told me about you, I thought you were just a brave being, but…" She trailed off, something didn't feel right, if you're talking to someone, and they seem to pause continuously, that normally doesn't mean anything good.
"I felt something within you. Something that this," Zelda held up the back of her left arm, the glowing triangle appeared. "My Triforce, has detected, when I looked into your mind the other night, I saw a strong power dwell within you, maybe it was bravery of your actions, or something else." This struck Reco like a pile of bricks. He looked down, once again was robbed of words. Zelda put her hand on his head. "Don't worry, though, it is nothing to be ashamed of." Zelda's words did not help, Reco still looked down. Zelda looked up, searching for any words to say. Maybe, she thought, he could go somewhere in Hyrule to help him focus, maybe learn how to use this power in him. She got an idea. "Maybe," She began, "you can go to the Mirror Chamber." This worked, for Reco raised his head.
"What do mean?" Reco asked.
"The chamber was once used as a gateway to another realm, but the mirror has been shattered, and the place is now only the place where the sages dwell. They may be able to help you discover what's in you, if any, and use it." She waited for an answer. Reco had gone into thought again, maybe he was considering it.
"I don't know, I mean…" Reco stuttered. "This whole thing started off with me celebrating my high school graduation, I was going to go back home…I was just in the wrong place at the wrongâ€â€Â"
"I don't believe so, Reco." Zelda interrupted, "You couldn't have just been through these events out of coincidence. I think you were chosen through fate to help us against this threat." She finished.
Me? Chosen? I couldn't have, I'm just Warpstarian Reco thought.
"At least give it a try." Zelda said. Reco was once again deep into thought, if nothing worked, At least he would have eliminated his use to Zelda.
But then again, he wants to help others survive this attack. He didn't want more people to die. His care took over.
"Ok," he said, "I'll try."
"Good," Zelda said, her tone had a hint of happiness to it. "Link will take you to the Gerudu Desert tomorrow. Get some rest now, you're going to need it." Zelda patted Reco on the head, and walked out. Reco waited until Zelda closed the door, and went into his covers.
He fell asleep within the minute.
The cannon ride was one of the most fun things Reco has ever done in his life. Link pulled Reco out of the sand to find him laughing his head off. Link smiled. The Gerudu Desert heat was intense, Reco found himself wiping off sweat from his forehead constantly. It was too bad that the pathway to the Gerudu Desert wasn't fixed yet, or Link could've taken Reco on horseback, the trip could've been a lot shorter. It seemed like hours before they first saw the structure of the Arbiter's Grounds.
"The Arbiter's Grounds used to be a prison for Hyrule's most malicious criminals." Reco remembered Zelda saying. "The Mirror of Twilight, which was located in the Mirror chamber, was used as a punishment tool for criminals, for they were sent through the mirror by the sages. Since the mirror is no longer there, the sages have next to nothing to do, except to wait, and detect any darkness that may come to Hyrule's way. When you go to see them," Reco remembered Zelda beginning to laugh when she said this, "not only might they help you, but it will give them something to do." Reco smiled at the thought, but still didn't look forward to traveling a desert.
Reco Looked up at Link, his silence made Reco uneasy. Reco took another drink from his bottle filled with water, it was low, he needed to drink less. Link stopped and held his hand down in front of Reco. Confused, Reco squinted into the horizon to see if he could see anything. After a while, Reco heard the sound of hoofs beating on the ground, and the sight of monsters riding wild boars came into view. Link motioned Reco to step to the side, with out a word, Reco made the distance. He jumped behind a rock and waited to see what Link would do. The pack of wild boars charged at Link, the archer passengers of the boar prepared their arrows. Link didn't hesitate, within the blink of an eye, Link had a bow out himself, and was attaching a bomb to the end of an arrow. One of the archers shot an arrow, Link jumped to the side and pulled back on his bow. Reco watched as the arrow shot from his bow, the arrow pierced the air with a trail of smoke, and instantaneously, the front boar fell to the ground, the others flying to the side. The rider and passenger of the boars sprang to their feet. The archers stayed behind while the riders took out a spiked club and ran towards Link. Link put his bow away and waited, Reco thought he was nuts, keeping his sword sheathed. It seemed like Link wasn't going to do anything until the first monster went within range, and then, in a flash, Link drew his sword and cut into the monster. It flew back and yelled, it tried to get up, but died and fell back down. Link took the second one on next. He ran up to the monster, and started slashing away, it was dead in the second. The last fighting monster tried to get Link in the back, but Link rolled to the side, and spun his sword, knocking down the monster, he leapt into the air, and finished it. The archers were last, but ran, cowering from what they just saw Link do. When all was done, Link gave the motion to continue and Reco followed Link once more.
No monsters appeared after that confrontation. They rest of the way up to the chamber was a breeze, Link guided Reco as if he was there already, which, Reco knew, may have been here already since Link did save Hyrule. The mirror chamber came into view. Reco saw its immense size and stared at its towering structure. It actually made Reco think of a coliseum, the structure resembling a place where people would watch slaves or criminals fight for their lives for freedom, the only exception was the podium with an empty alter and the colossal black rock in the center. Link nodded at Reco and went out of the chamber. Reco was walking, looking up to see if anyone was actually here. Then, he to interest to the alter. Was that where the Mirror of Twilight stood? Reco went to investigate. The alter was shape as if it held a mirror, projecting into the rock, which fit Zelda's definition of how it worked. Reco sat at the alter, waiting for the sages to appear.
It seemed like hours. The sun was now setting. Link was asleep outside of the chamber. Reco was still looking around. He finally started to lose patience.
"Hello?" He called out. "Hello? Is anybody here?" Drowsiness started to settle in. Reco shook himself to stay awake, questioning whether or not this was a great idea. Reco looked back at the rock, the top of it probably could allow a nice view of the desert. He took a deep breath, and jumped into the sky, floating towards the top of the rock. Once he was on the top, he looked out. The rock didn't quite past the pillars that stood on the sides of the chamber. He took another breath, and began floating again. He barely began his ascent when a voice stopped him.
"Are you Reco?" The voice said. Reco let go of his breath and fell back on top of the rock. He now saw figures standing on top of the pillars, they were white and had a mask on, hiding their emotion.
"…Yes, I am." Reco replied.
"We are the sages of this chamber, watching for dangers that could threat Hyrule." One of them started. "We heard of your coming, we have been observing you on your way to this chamber. Zelda was right about you, Reco. There is definitely something hiding within you. Please, approach the alter." Reco obeyed, and floated down to the alter. He sat down in front of the mirror frame and looked up at the sages.
"Please, close your eyes, we are going to try to tap your energy." One of the sages said, even though Reco couldn't tell which one.
Reco closed his eyes, as told. He felt something pierce him but tried to stay calm. As he felt something move inside of him, another force started to be felt. All of the sudden, Reco felt something taking over, he felt himself being eaten up by whatever was inside him. He tried to make it stop but felt himself move.
"What's happening?" A sage said. Reco felt alarmed and opened his eyes, just to see the side of the rock as he slammed into it.
Reco disappeared. The sages looked in bewilderment, and Link woke up.