The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time - Part Two: The Quest

Chapter Twenty: The Temple of Time

     "Navi?"

     Link stood alone in the uniform whiteness of, well, wherever he was. Magic had brought him here, magic that had come from the Ocarina of Time that he still held. He turned about, searching for his partner. She was nowhere in sight, and there had been no reply. Was he alone here? Not even a minute passed before he was forced to shut his eyes. Without anything to draw focus on, he had quickly become disoriented. He couldn't even see the surface he was standing on, which increased his sense of vertigo.

     "Anyone?" he called out, and was startled by how hollow his voice sounded. There had been no echo in his voice, and when he shuffled again, attempting to ground himself, he was unnerved by how little sound came from it. Wherever here was, it was definitely unnatural. Despite that, he found himself unafraid of it. There was nothing here threatening him, he was only reacting to this place's state of existence. It almost felt like his visions, except he was physically present here. Perhaps that was why he felt so strange.

     "Link, can you hear me?"

     "Zelda?" He opened his eyes, searching for the source of the princess's voice. The light about him faded, and a room emerged, one of the biggest rooms he had ever seen. Towering walls with stained glass windows and an arched ceiling of stone surrounded him, and the floor beneath him was a polished smooth white marble, tiled in a diamond fashion along a wide path, while on either side of it the marble floor became checkered black and white. On reflex of taking this all in so suddenly, he took a small step backwards, and his heel touched upon a raised surface. Turning about, he found on the floor a slightly raised platform, perhaps no more than a foot, in the shape of a perfect hexagon, with a darkened outline of the Triforce within, the topmost triangle pointed at him. Within the triangles, a curious circled emblem was engraved, bearing an unfamiliar pattern to him. Beyond that, a square arch led beyond into whiteness, which he suspected was the same whiteness he had found himself in. Returning his attention to in front of him, he found the princess standing before a stone, black marble-topped altar, with marble steps leading behind to a stone image of what looked like a sun with rays beaming down, centered and set into the wall, directly behind and the same length as the altar. Above it, the mark of the Triforce displayed, darkened considerably compared to the white walls.

     Princess Zelda faced away from him, facing the altar and mosaic. Her hands were hidden from view, as if she held something within them before her. She spoke again when he began to walk toward her, his steps echoing within the expansive room.

     "Link...I am sorry we could not meet again. There are so many things I want to tell you, but this will not last long, so I must be brief."

     "What is this, where are we?" he asked, stopping a few feet behind her. From here, he could see there was more to the altar than what he had been able to witness from afar. Engraved text was centered on a raised slanted surface, but he was too far away to legibly read it. In front of this, where the altar's surface was flat, there were three empty bowl-shaped depressions.

     "We are standing in the Temple of Time, as it is in my memories. This is an illusory place, and even I as you see me am only a projection of my self. Essentially, all of this, including me, is merely a copy that I placed within the Ocarina you now hold, and only you would be able to see this, as was my will when I placed this magic on the treasure."

     "So, you're you, but not you?" he asked. If he understood what she said correctly, that was some incredible magic. Or he thought so, anyway. She nodded.

     "This was the only way I could speak with you to explain myself," She turned then to face him, and she gazed at him with sad eyes. "As I'm sure you've already guessed, Hyrule Castle has fallen. I am the last member of the Royal Family. Ganondorf betrayed my father as I knew he would, and Impa and I barely escaped. I am sure he is pursuing us even now as well."