The Legend of Ilia

~Chapter 23~ The Truth

I arrived at the Mirror Chamber, however, much had changed. It was night-time. Rather than being ground-level, the six Sage pillars were high in the air once more. But the beings mounted atop them were white, ghostly figures who all wore the same mask. It was what the Sages looked like a short while ago, just as they were starting to reawaken, but before they took their true forms.

Strangest of all, the Mirror of Twilight was missing, all except for a single shard set in the Mirror's nearly empty frame. But what caught my attention was Link. He was standing in the center of all the pillars, in front of the mirror frame. I must have been transported to the past, because Link was still wearing a green hero's tunic. And an odd-looking, floating, red-haired imp was hovering beside him. She had green glowing tattoos. At first I was confused, but judging by the way she spoke and appeared, I guessed the creature was Princess Midna, though I wasn't sure why she looked like that.

She, Link, and the spirits of the Sages were having a conversation. I was on the edge of the chamber, behind many rails on a higher ledge. They didn't seem to notice me, so I stayed back. I couldn't really hear a whole lot, because I was far away.

Midna and Link appeared to have agreed to something, and then they dissolved into black dust, ascending into a portal in the clouds. Once I was sure they were gone, I cried out to the Sage spirits, "Wait! Wait!"

I raced along the back ledge of the chamber, and stumbled on my way down to the center of the floor, near the broken Mirror. "Wait," I huffed again. "I need to...ask you something."

There was silence, so I assumed they were listening.

"I'm from three years into the future. I know it all sounds strange. But my name is Ilia, and Princess Zelda used this to send me here." I held up the blue Ocarina of Time breathlessly. "Someone told me...that I'm not as powerless as I think. I need to find out the truth, Sages. I need to know. That's why Zelda sent me, I think. So I could find out the truth."

The ghostly see-through spirits exchanged looks that I couldn't see, because of the bizarre masks merged with their faces.

One of them spoke up. "Ilia. We all sense it; a power is indeed inside you, waiting to be mastered and acknowledged. It's been with you your entire life, yet you have never truly noticed."

Another added, "Yes. You have always felt a passionate connection with horses, yes? Always felt as though you were one with nature?"

I shrugged and said, "I suppose."

"Your power is such. You possess the unique ability to connect to, communicate, and summon nature, though you do not realize it. Focus your mind, Ilia, and your power shall flourish."

My heart was pounding inside my chest. The five Sages all made this concept sound simple, but I was still processing it. Me? Able to talk to animals and summon them? Well, I could always tell what Epona was thinking. Nameless, too, although I've known him a short while.

"Return now to your own time, Ilia," one of the Sages said imperatively. "And use your newfound power to the best of your ability."

I nodded, almost too vigorously, yet I was still in denial. How could I have been oblivious to that for twenty years? Still, I had to do as the Sages said. I hastily wiped off the mouthpiece of the Ocarina of Time with the hem of my dress, and played the Song of Time. I'd heard it several times now, so I was sure of what it sounded like.

And once again, I was hurled forward in time. Dizzy as I stood back in the present-time Mirror Chamber, what I saw almost made me faint.

Link was struggling against Impa, who had somehow managed to take his sword and now had it held against his neck. He desperately tried to escape because Zelda was on her knees, blocking Darunia's hammer with only her rapier.