Royal Rebel 4 ~ The Return

Chapter 3: Coliseum Secrets

"Idalia!" My father called my name, and I quickly slipped my second boot on and hurried from my room to his. It had been a few weeks now since my birthday, and my parents were preparing to leave on a long trip to the Akkala region. The same day they left for their trip, they were sending me to our family oasis that was across the ocean bordering Lanayru.

"Yes father?" I peeked into their room, standing at the doorway, and I could see both of them sat on their bed packing up.

"Dali, could you go get my sword and shield? I left them at my training site this morning." He continued to fold clothes and blankets, neatly putting them into his travels bags, and I happily nodded and hurried off down the hall to find the stairs.

My parents didn't seem as excited to go to Akkala as I was to visit the Oasis. I would be traveling alone, though there would be some family and family friends staying there as well to keep me company. It was the first time I would be going there without my mom and dad, which was both exciting and made me kind of nervous as well. It would be a lot more lonely I thought, even with the people that would be with me.

I made it downstairs and outside deciding if I should pick up Ruby on the way there or not. It was only a short walk, maybe I didn't have to. So, I wandered around to the other side of the castle on foot, hoping I made the right decision about not taking her.

I made it into the North Hyrule Castle area, having to check in with a guard so I would be permitted access to enter the dungeon area. I made it downstairs into the underground hallways, following the lights and signs of each one to find my destination.

'Father wouldn't normally train here,' I thought to myself. 'Perhaps I'm thinking of the wrong coliseum.'

Though, these thought were quickly brushed away as I remembered father also doesn't train often in the other coliseums either, since usually they're reserved for the younger knight's sessions. When he does want to do his practice, he usually makes the trip out to the big Coliseum. Also since he likes the space compared to that of what we have close by.

The further I got down the hall, the more eerie the place got. Moss began to weave through the halls and went from mere slivers to large vines that followed the cracks in the old cobblestone. A few minutes ago, most if not all of the torches hung along the walls were lit, whereas now more than half were burnt out. Luckily, I had a torch with me.

I made it to the Dungeon Coliseum, entered in the stone code - one that was used for many dungeon areas of the castle - and opened the gate once the guards granted me permission. I walked inside, admiring what seemed to be ruins of a once precious arena.

As I continued to explore, it hit me that maybe my father hadn't been in here. It wasn't a bad place for training, no, but when he values something, he usually gets it revived. That is to say, he never did really revive the Central Coliseum...

As I was about to call it quits and leave, a glint of gold caught the corner of my eye. I glanced over to where I saw it, and off in a corner beside a ruined bench was a pile of things. One of which appeared to be a sword.

"Aha!" I hurried over to it, eager to finally have found my father's sword, and also to find the things with it. But as I got closer, I started to realize it was not my father's things. The sword was broken, shattered from the midpoint of the blade and up. Even the designs were scratched up.

But that's the thing that got me. The designs weren't our regular Hyrulean markings. They weren't anything I've ever seen before. I could see the Hyrulean Crest on the base of the blade, barely recognizable, but that was the only thing telling me it was one of ours.

I carefully lifted it, blowing all the dust off of it and quickly regretting it as it blew away and then towards me, causing me to sneeze once or twice before I was able to restrain myself. I set the sword down on the non-destroyed half of the bench before going back to examine the rest of the stuff.