Lost in Time- A Zelink Story

Chapter Two

After we finish our breakfast scones- which happen to be delicious- we find a small, jade green panel on the wall by the door and press the button on it. After a while, two constructs appear, and gesture for us to follow them. They lead us down the hallways- some of which I recognize, some of which I don't- until we arrive at a set of grand double doors. The constructs push them open, and behind them is a library.

To call this a room a library feels like an understatement, an injustice. It is a huge, expansive collection, almost the same size as the great hall. This takes up a huge portion of the phantom western wing, I realize.

There are arched, floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room, letting in lots of natural light. The ceilings are tall, at least two stories, and sliding ladders lean up against the towering wooden bookcases, filled to the brim with leather bound books. Scattered all around the library are reading areas with comfortable looking couches, chairs, and tables on top of soft, worn rugs. Lanterns light the spaces the natural light doesn't reach, and lamps are set up around the huge room, for reading during the night. Despite its size, the place still seems well loved and lived in, as if countless people have spent days immersed in its books and writings.

Link and I stand in awe, our mouths hanging open as the unimpressed constructs pull us along, towards the back of the library and into a small room behind some bookcases. Inside, there is a large table and a chalkboard on one wall. Windows let in some light, and piles of books and jade colored machine parts are strewn around on the floor.

Suddenly, from behind a large stack of books, appears a tall figure who looks slightly similar to Rauru. Now that I am closer, I can see that she is from none of the villages in Hyrule, at least none that I know of, meaning that she must be from elsewhere. She is tall and slim, with large ears that stick straight up out of her head. A mask is pushed up onto her forehead, similar to those of the constructs.

"Oh, hello," she says. She clearly wasn't expecting us.

"Good day," says one of the constructs in a robotic voice, "Queen Sonia has asked us to bring these two to you this morning. They are the ones she spoke to you about last night."

"Oh," she says again, "you're Zedla. And... Link?" Link nods, and she continues, "I'm Mineru. Sonia, my sister in law, told me you two may have somehow traveled here from the future. Is that right?"

"Yes," I say, slightly intimidated by her, "or- we think so, at least. Um- Queen Sonia said it would be a good idea to bring these to you."

I hand her the Purah Pad and the stone. I don't know what it is, entirely, but I feel a strange attachment to it. Mineru takes them, studying them carefully.

"This is strange technology," she says, examining the Pad, "it is broken pretty badly, though. I might be able to fix it if you allow me to keep it here for a bit," I nod and she continues, holding up the stone, "this, however, is more curious. This writing here, it is in Zonai script. It says something about time."

She pauses, and we all study it together. It looks almost like it is made of glass, but feels like a heavy stone. It has a slight golden color to it, and the Zonai script Mineru mentioned is engraved onto it in large, swooping streaks.

"Where did you find this?" she asks curiously.

"It was before we came here," I say, still trying to sort out what really happened, "we went to investigate the castle dungeons, and there was... a man, I think. He looked like he had been there for hundreds of years, like a mummy. The stone sort of... came to me, and then he woke up. He knew our names," I shiver a bit, recalling the chilling encounter.

"This is a bit out there," she says after a few moments, turning to dig through a stack of papers, "but I've been up all night thinking about this. I don't have an explanation for the man you found in the dungeons, but as Sonia's descendant, you may be a sage- a sage of time. This stone here almost further proves it."