A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 55: Personal Journeys Begin

"Hello?" Zelda called into the inn's lobby as she pushed open one of the front doors. "Prima? Are you up?"

"You know I am, Zelda," Prima's voice echoed from somewhere in the large building. After a few moments of rustling, she appeared heading down the staircase with an armful of sheets in her arms. "Good morning. Did you have a good time connecting with your lover last night after you left?"

"I did! I feel as though we bonded together quite nicely after everything that's—" Zelda began as she stepped into the lobby, closing the large door behind her. After the door clicked through, she paused and her cheeks began to glow red. "Prima!"

"No, no. Go on," the clerk grinned as she set the sheets on top of the front desk's surface. "I'm very interested."

"If you're so interested, why don't you go find a romantic interest of your own?" Zelda fumed as she walked toward the counter. "Then you can stop teasing me about my own affairs."

"Oh, trust me, that'll never stop," Prima assured her, something Zelda frowned at. "Now, what have you come here for? Do you plan to start coming back to work today?"

"Actually, I need to tell you something," Zelda replied, but before she could explain further, the clerk spoke up.

"You're leaving," she said. Zelda blinked.

"You knew?" she asked, to which the clerk nodded.

"Did you think a drunk Celessa would be able to contain her excitement when you gave her your thoughts on potential restoration?" she asked rather loudly.

"Sorry!" Celessa's voice yelled down from up the stairs.

"So you... know," Zelda asked. Prima nodded.

"Yeah, I know," she confirmed, beginning to fold the sheets she had placed on the counter.

"And what do you think?"

Prima hummed thoughtfully as her hands continued to quickly move, folding each layer of sheets one after another.

"I think it would be good for business in the long run," she said. "It's a quiet town here— at least, it usually is— but restoration could bring in more travelers, which means more business. I'd support it. I think you have some work to do before starting though, like fixing your relationship with your knight and coming to terms with a few things of your own."

"You're definitely right about that," Zelda agreed. "I can at least recognize I have some issues I need to resolve before anything, but that's part of why I'm leaving today—"

"Today?" Celessa's voice came from upstairs again. A loud rustling and thumping began to echo from up the second floor before the self-proclaimed pilgrim appeared dashing down the staircase before coming to a halt next to the inn's clerk. "You're already leaving?"

"I am," Zelda said. "Link is leaving as well."

"He's going with you?" Celessa asked. "But, isn't the other reason you were leaving was to—?"

"He's going on a separate journey," Zelda corrected. "We're going our separate ways for now."

Celessa gave her a confused look before glancing over at Prima, who simply shrugged.

"Does that mean you two aren't together anymore?" she asked, something that took Zelda entirely by surprise.

"Not at all! We still very much are together," she clarified. "We both simply have things to do. We plan to meet back up as soon as possible."

"I see... So, that means you're traveling alone, then?" Celessa asked, but Zelda shook her head.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you'd like to come with me," she invited kindly. "If you'd like, that is—"