Forest Origin

Chapter 19

Rose's mind began to race with worry as she wandered around the castle. Neither Blythe nor any of her Hylian friends had shown up for dinner. Matter of fact, she hadn't seen any sight of them since the incident.

The only reason Rose hadn't chased after her sister was because she was giving the tailor a stern talking to. If Blythe was hearing comments like that then the chances of her staying would be nonexistent. At this point, all Rose could do was hope that she could convince Blythe to look past everything she heard.

Hope sparkled in Rose's eyes when she spotted Blythe walking down the hallway, making her way to the guest rooms.

Wait she hasn't been sleeping in her room? Perhaps that didn't matter as much now.

Rose rushed over to Blythe. "Hey, are you doing alright?"

Wolf took a few steps back, hesitating a little before nodding. "Yeah." she mumbled. "I'm fine..."

Rose was quick to notice the unease radiating from her sister. She stumbled on her words a bit before sighing. "Look, I'm really sorry she said that. It was insensitive and uncalled for. I know you're going through a lot and-"

Wolf held her hand up. "Look I know you're busy and working on a lot of things to make this whole ball work so I'll just... try not to be in your way okay? If I'm being honest, I think I'd appreciate the space anyway."

"But-"

Before Rose could get another word in, Wolf rushed past her. A sigh left Rose's lips as her sister disappeared from her sight.

If things kept going on like this, all hope of getting her sister back would be lost. There had to be something she could do to reverse what was happening. Rose's mind began to race with all the possibilities on how to fix this.

But only one idea was one that would work. Though she hated to admit it, these knights of Hyrule were the key to getting close to Blythe. They understood this version of her. Though as soon as she came to terms with this, another question came to mind.

Which one would she go to?

The blue knight was out of the question with his aggressive nature. The dark mage wasn't someone to consider either. He seemed a little unpredictable. The green and red knights seemed a little too attached to Blythe. Anything they say could possibly mean just offering a way for the things to stay how they were now.

That only left the knight wearing the violet tunic. From what she could tell, he seemed the calmest one. If she was going to get unbiased advice, it would likely be from him.

Rose took a breath and went to find the knight she chose. Eventually she spots him, sitting on a chair and reading a book.

As Vio heard footsteps approaching, he looked up from his novel, seeing the Nirin Queen. He rose to his feet and bowed his head. "Good evening, Your Majesty."

"There's no need to be so formal." Rose assured him.

"I'd rather not offend anyone by addressing you in a casual way."

"Can we speak in private then?" Rose asked. "There's something I'd like to ask you."

Vio nodded, following the queen to a balcony, where they had a clear view of the setting sun. If they looked closely, they could see the stars beginning to appear.

Rose took a breath before speaking. "I want your honest opinion on this." she said. "How can I get close to my sister? At this point, you and your brothers know her better than everyone else."

"You said you wanted my honest opinion on this. Does that mean I can speak freely?" Vio asked.

Rose nodded.

"Well if you want Wolf to be more comfortable around you, then you need to stop with this silly notion of reverting her back to how she was before." he answered. "Like it or not, she's never going to fully be how you remember her."

"W-What!?" Rose rasped. "But... part of the reason I wanted her to come here was so her memories can be restored."

"Even if you did accomplish that, she still has her experiences she gained in Hyrule." Vio pointed out. "Besides, it's safe to say that Wolf's memories are never going to return."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Simple. She lost her memories due to an injury. There's always some permanent damage when it comes to serious blows to the head." Vio explained. "If there was a spell involved, then restoration could be possible. But that's not the situation Wolf was in."

Rose hung her head in defeat. "So I should give up on her?"

"I'm not saying give up on her as a person. I'm saying give up on the hope her memories are going to be returned and things will go back to normal for you." Vio corrected.

Rose couldn't come up with an answer to this. Did she choose the wrong knight to talk to? She could've sworn that this one would be the most impartial one. So why was this advice not what she was hoping it would be?

In hindsight, maybe she should've just went to the odd mage rather than one of the knights. Or maybe she shouldn't have allowed this one to speak so freely. At this point, she didn't know what the right answer was.

Vio waited a few moments for Rose to respond. But he was met with silence. He waited a few moments before speaking again.

"If it makes it easier for you, then just go with the thought process of Blythe dying during that attack and the only thing that remains of her is Wolf." he suggested. "You said so yourself that she led the dark beast away from the kingdom on her own without any way to fight back. Rather than trying to revive someone who died, honor the sacrifice she made for you and this kingdom and move on."

"I can't believe that she's dead if she's right here." Rose argued.

Vio simply shrugged in response. "Just an idea. Either way, what you're hoping to accomplish is impossible. So just take the time to get to know Wolf how she is now."

Once again he was met with silence. Despite Rose opening her mouth, no words came out. She then closed it with a sigh. Knowing that there was nothing else to say, Vio began making his way back inside. Though he paused right before he made it through the door.

"In the end, I suppose it's your choice on how you want to go about this. Just know that what you decide is going to affect how Wolf sees you and this kingdom. You have a choice to make; connect with Wolf or try and revive Blythe. Have a good night, Queen Rose."

Rose is then left alone. The sun completely gone at this point. The stars and moon illuminating the sky.

Maybe... what he was saying was right? But soon Rose was reminded of one thing. The Forest Sword.

That was the only thing she could pile her hopes on. Until Wolf had a hold of it, then she couldn't just give up on restoring her sister's memories. Reminding herself of that made her fears settle a little.

It was fine if the Hylians didn't want to help her. She had the Forest Sword that would be able to fix everything.

She had to put all her hopes on that. Everything would change once the ball was in full swing.