Musterion (A Zelda AU)

Minor Mistake - Chapter 16

"Hey..." Zelda says softly, taking a seat next to me by the fire. The fireplace had been lit for some time now, but it hadn't warmed me in the slightest. I hadn't left the room Ali fell asleep in. "I... I'm sorry. For your loss. But Ali would want you to move on, I think."

"Maybe I don't want to." My voice is sharp, cutting through the air quicker than I had expected. Zelda says nothing, letting the stillness of the night speak instead. It spoke words that only those who lived in it could know. The way the wind beat against the walls of the lab, the way the floorboards whined. It all came back to the lingering gloom that hung over the air. Who else was I going to lose?

"It... felt so sudden, how she went from just fine to deathly sick in two days time," I mumble, hugging my legs.

"I think... whoever hurt her knew what they were doing, Ganon." Zelda hesitates, turning to me before staring into the fire. "I took a sample to try and see what infection she had. I'd never seen anything like it. Neither had Purah."

"So you were trying to treat an infection you had never even heard of, huh?" 

The words taste bitter, sour, in my mouth. It filled me with an unexplainable rage, knowing Ali had been suffering from the moment she was hurt, and she had said nothing. 

"It had to have been something the Yiga member who attacked her laced their weapon with. But I haven't heard of any other injured Gerudo having the same affliction. Especially since we don't know who that one unmasked person was, we only have so many leads." 

I only nod, burying my head into my knees. She didn't deserve this. What did she do? Inherit her ancestor's gift? Nobody had touched her body, still peacefully resting on the bed. 

"I just... want her to wake up," I pause, not sure what else to say. "You know..?"

"I..." Zelda hesitates for a moment. "... yeah. I do. You did check for a pulse, though, right?"

"... No." 

She glances at me for a moment, before getting up and walking over to the bed quietly. I look back, wondering what she could be doing. She puts two fingers on Ali's neck, presumably feeling for what I'd assume to be a non-existent pulse. 

"Don't bother, she probably doesn't have one," I sigh, pulling my cloak around myself.

Zelda says nothing, squinting as she leans closer and moves her fingers to another artery.

"Zelda?"

"Ganon, I... don't quite know she's dead. She... has a pulse. A weak one, sure, but she has one," Zelda murmurs, her voice hushed as she pulls her hand away. "Go get an ice bag."

My heart jumps at the thought of her waking up. I nod, quickly sliding down the ladder and yanking an ice bag from the cool box in Purah's lab. 

"Heya! What 'cha up to there, Ganon?" Purah chirps, as cheery as ever. 

"Ali's not dead," I try to step back towards the ladder,  but Purah blocks my path. "She needs to cool down, I gotta go."

"Of course she isn't? Didn't you feel for a pulse when she passed out? I have her hooked up to a piece of tech that keeps track of her heart rate." She pulls out a tablet similar to Link's Sheikah Slate, showing me a line that moves up and down in the same way every now and then. "That's her heart beat. It'll let me know if it's gone or just a little too low. It dipped an hour or two ago when you told me she wasn't waking up, but since then it's gotten back up."

She's known? And didn't do anything? I grab her tablet thing, studying the rhythm of the line. "So you knew and didn't say anything to anyone?"

"I thought you checked her pulse, first thing! Of course I wasn't going to, with that assumption!" Purah takes the object back, putting it in her coat. "I'm sorry. I'll be sure to inform you from now on."

"Yeah, thanks," I mumble, rolling my eyes as I climb back up the ladder. Zelda has disappeared, leaving the room empty with a sleeping body under the sheets of the bed once more. I walk over, gently brushing the hair from Ali's forehead as I set the bag of ice down there. I touch the back of my hand to her cheek, feeling the heat radiate from it.

Noticing she still had both earrings on, I gently take them out and set them aside on the nightstand so she doesn't lose them. 

"Oh, Ganon, you're back," Zelda smiles, making me jump. She sets a pile of neatly folded clothing onto the dresser. "I just finished with Ali's clothes, so they're nice and clean now. And brand new."

"Thanks." I feel a small smile pull at lips, as I notice that her new clothes seemed to match my own. 

"Link's almost done making dinner, I believe. I don't know, I'm bad at cooking, so..."

"No big deal. We've got time."

"Well, yeah, but you're probably hungry."

"I can manage." 

I look down at Ali, gently shaking her, hoping she might respond. Of course, she doesn't. Rather, she's much more like a log. Zelda reaches for the covers, pulling them off of Ali. She still doesn't move.

I pick her up, setting the ice bag on the nightstand. Zelda waits as I slowly climb down the ladder once more, carefully stepping one rung down at a time. Ali shifts a bit as I feel my foot hit the floor. Zelda isn't too far above us as I carefully plant my other foot on the floorboards, hearing the quiet creak.

"Why'd you bring her down here, Gan-Man?" Link teases, his voice coming from the door of the back exit. 

"Figured it'd be good for her to get some fresh air." I come outside, smelling the smoke and scent of burning meat. Oh boy, meat... I haven't eaten a good meal with meat from Hyrule in a while. I sit down, letting Ali lay curled up in my lap as I pat Link's back. "What are you makin' there?"

"Just some meat and mushroom skewers, nothing too special. I went down to the general shop to get some stuff, and figured this was the easiest thing to make."

"Ah."

Link hums a familiar tune as he turns the skewers over. "Hey, guess what Zelda told me, Gan-Man."

"What?"

"She's got a crush."

"On who?"

"Nobody," Link murmurs, averting his eyes from mine. "I promised not to say anything."

"I won't yap! C'mon!" I elbow him, leaning close. 

"No. I like... could lose my head if I told you."

"Baby."

"Maybe I'll tell you another time."

"Whatever."

"Zelda... has a crush...?" Ali's voice is quiet, muffled as she breaks the silence. "I wanna know who... she likes..."

She raises her head, trying to at least sit up. It seemed even that was a challenge, and I had to help her sit upright by wrapping my arms around her. I kiss her cheek, just glad that she was awake. I was worried she would never open her eyes again, and would just stay sleeping, forever. Until the end of time. Like that one fairytale about the girl who slept until a prince woke her up with a kiss. Except kisses didn't wake Ali up.

"I don't like anyone," Zelda scoffs, sitting down by us. "I don't know who gave you that idea, but I sure would smack them silly if I did know."

Zelda glares at Link before everything is silent again.

Ali speaks up once more. "Can we eat now..?"

"Yep. Just finished this skewer. Here," Link smiles, handing her a slightly burnt stick with chunks of meat and mushroom on it. "It's hot, so be careful."

I glance back at the fire, feeling that same despair set in once more for a moment before I pull off a small piece of mushroom from Ali's skewer to distract myself. Fire seemed to be wherever I went, and now I was wondering if it was prefiguring something.