The Sequel To the Dark Empowerment, By: Juliet A. Singleton
"Zel, your Father wants to see you. We've just had a message about someone coming to visit," he said, smiling.
"Oh, who?" she asked.
"Dunno. I guess your Father will tell us when we go back down," he answered.
"Where have you been all morning anyway?" Zelda asked, as they walked down the stairs in the direction of the throne room.
"Just down in the Great Hall with Drake and Aaron. He was telling us some stories from when he was younger," Link grinned.
"Oh, and wouldn't rather have been with me?" Zelda asked, smiling.
"Well, when I came up, you were fast asleep, and well I couldn't bear to wake you," Link replied. Zelda stopped in the passageway. "Thanks Princess." Zelda smiled back. "I just had to do that. But we'd better go and find out what my Father wants to tell me."
They walked into the throne room where the King was seated. "Ah, Zelda, my dear. I have the most wonderful news," he said.
"Yes? Tell me," Zelda said.
"Well, it seems that Lady Fenella, remember, your dear mother's good friend, and her lovely daughter are travelling through Hyrule. They are paying a visit tonight!" he said happily. Zelda's face fell.
"Fenella and Fayette? They're coming here?" she said.
"Yes my dear. Isn't it wonderful?" the King asked.
"Uh sure Father. I can't wait to see them again," Zelda answered.
"I knew you'd be happy. And Link, they'll finally get to meet you," the King said. Zelda walked out of the room a few minutes later, Link close behind.
"What's up Zel? You don't sound too happy," he said.
"Well.... Link, if you must know I hate them. Fenella is so fussy. And Fayette... well where can I start? She's so two faced. We hate each other. But no-one else knows. And when she's around everybody else she acts all sweet and innocent," Zelda said unhappily.
"How come I've never met them?" Link asked.
"Fenella was a friend of my mother's. Fenella married a noble from a place near Hyrule, I forget its name. He's dead now. They used to visit often when I was younger, but the last time was when I was fourteen, I think," Zelda replied, opening the door which lead to her tower room.
"That was over six years ago. Perhaps Fayette will have changed," Link said comfortingly.
"I doubt it," Zelda answered disparagingly.
Later that evening the two guests arrived. Link watched with interest as they were shown into the Great Hall. First came a graceful, attractive woman in her forties, presumably Lady Fenella. She was wearing a richly embroidered purple gown and her dark auburn hair was immaculately curled. Glittering gems adorned her neck, wrists and fingers. Behind her was a pretty girl, of Link's own age. He guessed her to be Fayette. She wore a simple blue silk dress, and her lovely face was framed by red-gold ringlets. The King walked over and embraced the two of them. Link spotted Zelda coming down the staircase. She looked absolutely beautiful, he thought. Her long golden hair was pinned up ever so slightly, and she was wearing a lilac gown made of velvet and a sheer, gauzy fabric. Lady Fenella smiled when she saw Zelda.
"My dear, what a beautiful girl you're turning out to be," she exclaimed.
"It's wonderful to see you again," Zelda answered politely.
"You look so much like your dear mother," Fenella commented.
"Yes, it's remarkable, isn't it?" the King said smiling. "Link, come over here at once! Fenella, you must meet Link," the King said. Link walked over and stood beside Zelda.
"I'm honoured to meet you, Lady Fenella, and you too, Fayette," he said cordially. Fenella smiled.
"Link is Hyrule's most wonderful hero. He and Zelda are getting married soon too," the King said.
"Oh, how wonderful," Fenella beamed. "My Faye is engaged to Sir Martin of Dalsona," she said.
"Dalsona? Why, Prince Nicolas of Dalsona was at the court only two weeks ago," the King said.
"What a pity we missed him then. It would have been nice to meet the country's ruler," Fenella said.
"Well anyway, it's almost time to dine. Come on through to the banquet hall. Link, go and find Sir Drake. I'm sure the ladies here would be keen to meet him," the King suggested.
"Yes, You Highness," Link said, walking off in the direction of the armoury, while the King, Zelda and the visitors made their way to the banquet hall.
After the meal, Fenella and the King went up the Drawing Room, forcing Zelda and Fayette to speak to each other. Link had gone off on Carefree, saying he had an errand to run in Mido. Zelda walked up to her room, but was annoyed to find that Fayette followed her.
"Well, looks like you haven't changed much," she commented.
"Or you," Zelda answered tartly. Loosening her hair, she added, "what are you doing here anyway?"
"Oh, mother was just visiting some old friends of ours in Dalsona. Of course, you know the ship always passes through the Hyrule sea on its way back to Sosaria, so when the ship stopped off at Mido, we decided to pay a visit," Fayette replied.
"How unfortunate," Zelda said, sitting down on her bed.
"Oh Zelda, I don't see why you hate me so much," Fayette said in a sugary voice.
"Well, you're not exactly likeable," Zelda replied.
"Your Father positively adores me, like I was his daughter," Fayette said smugly.
"Unfortunately, my Father isn't a great judge of character," Zelda answered. Fayette smiled.
"I was surprised to hear that you're getting married," she commented.
"Surprised?" Zelda asked, beginning to feel angry.
"Well, it surprises me that someone actually likes you," Fayette replied.
"Oh please Faye. I might think exactly the same of you, but I'm not going to comment," Zelda said, getting up.
"I don't care what you think. Anyway, can't you do better than him?" Fayette questioned. Zelda frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean? Do better than Link? How can I do that? He's Hyrule's destined hero!"
"Well... he's all very nice and everything, but he's not exactly royal status, is he?" Fayette said snidely. Zelda folded her arms.
"Does that matter? Although, it will for you, because you're not exactly 'royal' are you? If your Mother hadn't married your Father...." she began.
"Oh shut up. Just because you're a princess, it doesn't make you any better than me," Fayette interjected in an annoyed tone. Zelda smiled.
"Oh sure it does. But that doesn't come into this. How can you have the nerve to insult Link like that? If anyone else had been here to hear what you just said, they'd be as offended as me," she said.
"I was only passing a comment," Fayette answered.
"Well next time, don't bother," Zelda replied. At that moment, a small faerie flew into the room.
"Zelda! I have some great news," she said excitedly. Then she noticed Fayette. "Oh excuse me," she said.
"No Sprite, it's okay. This is Fayette. She's the daughter of one of my Mother's friends. Oh, and we don't exactly like each other either," Zelda introduced. Sprite smiled.
"Oh, okay. I'm Sprite. Pleased to meet you Fayette," she said. She turned to Zelda. "Come down to the library. Felicity found some old scripts in a cave near Ruto. She brought them back here, and well... I think you should take a look for yourself," the faerie said.
Zelda and Sprite quickly made their way down to the royal library. A dark-haired faerie wearing a red dress standing on the table, looking down at some yellowed scrolls.
"Felicity! Let Zelda see," Sprite called. Felicity stepped back.
"Zelda, I think you'd be extremely interested in these," she said slowly. Zelda walked over to the table and picked up one of the scrolls. It was written in ancient Hylian. She read through it slowly. It appeared to be about the Triforce of Courage! She picked up another of the scripts. It was a detailed, but slightly faded map of the Underworld. Several years ago, Link had set out to find the Triforce of Courage. Impa had given him a special box with items relating to it. The story went that a King had long ago hidden the yellow Triforce, leaving only the blue Wisdom Triforce and red Power Triforce in the Kingdom. The Triforce of Courage was supposed to be hidden in the Great Palace, which was an ancient Hylian building, situated at the bottom of the volcano, Mount Kasuto, in Eastern Hyrule. However, for all his bravery and perseverance, when Link had finally defeated the palace guardians, he had found nothing but an old brittle scroll that had crumbled to dust as soon as he'd touched it. So the location of the one remaining Triforce still remained a mystery. Perhaps until now, however.
"Where about exactly did you find these?" she asked Felicity.
"Well, me and Carrie were high up on the mountain slopes near Ruto, searching for a herb that grows round there. Anyway, there was this small rocky outcrop where some was growing and as I tried to pull the herb up, I fell into the hole. It wasn't very big, you could probably get your hand down it. There was a metal box inside the hole, and that's where I found these scrolls," Felicity explained.
"They seem to be related to the Triforce of Courage," Zelda said.
"I know. Once I'd read the first scroll, I brought them here and told Sprite to get you," the faerie replied.
"Well, I'll have to study these some more, but if they tell us the location of the Triforce of Courage..." Zelda said excitedly.
"Where's Link? We have to tell him!" Sprite said.
"He went to Mido, for some reason," Zelda answered.
"At this time?" Sprite asked, looking at the nearby clock. It was almost 8pm.
"He left almost immediately after dinner tonight. So, unless he stops by a tavern or whatever, he ought to be back soon," Zelda answered, walking over to the window. It was growing dark. There was no sign of Link. She walked back over to the table and began to study the scrolls again.
Zelda and the two faeries managed to discern that the Triforce was hidden somewhere in the Underworld.
"To think, it's been right under Ganon's nose all this time!" Sprite laughed.
"Shhh," Zelda warned, "Ganon's spies are everywhere."
"It's a pity this map is so faded. Then we might know it's exact location," Felicity said.
"It's going to be dangerous, exploring the Underworld. Especially since none of us know it all that well, aside from around Death Mountain," Zelda commented.
"I suppose me and Felicity would be the safest, since we're so small," Sprite said.
"Yes, but there's still all of Ganon's monsters to watch out for," Zelda replied.
"Yeah. Why is it that moblins seem to have built in faerie detectors?" Sprite wailed.
"I vote the best thing to do is explore the Underworld bit by bit," Zelda decided.
"Or see if there's anymore scripts relating to this," Sprite said.
"I doubt it, but it's worth a try," Zelda said. Link walked into the room.
"Hiya girls," he said cheerfully.
"Where've you been?" Sprite demanded.
"Yeah, how could you leave me all alone with Fayette? She's worse than ever," Zelda complained.
"I'm sorry, but I had to go and see someone," Link apologised. "Who?" Sprite asked.
"Uh... it's a secret," Link replied.
"Well, if you're not going to tell us, we're not going to tell you 'our' secret," Sprite retorted. Zelda grinned and so did Felicity. Link looked confused.
"Secret?" he asked.
"Yeah. We have a big secret," Sprite said smugly.
"Oh now, this isn't fair. I think you ought to tell me," Link said.
"Only if you tell us your secret," Sprite answered.
"Well, uh, you'll find out soon enough," Link answered. Zelda smiled.
"Oh, just tell him. If you don't, I will," she said.
"Zelda!" Sprite scolded, laughing. "Okay, I'll tell you," she added, grinning.
"Finally," Link said, sitting down on a nearby chair.
"Felicity found these scrolls," she began.
"They tell us where to find the Triforce of Courage!" Zelda burst out, unable to contain her excitement any longer.
"What? Let me see these scrolls!" Link said, equally ecstatic.
"Over here," Felicity motioned.
"It appears to be hidden somewhere in the Underworld," Zelda said as Link read through the scrolls avidly.
"This is great! Where did you get these Felicity?" he asked.
"I found them by accident in a hole on a mountain near Ruto," the faerie explained.
"Well so long as it isn't a false trail," Link said, remembering his previous fruitless quest to find the last Triforce.
"It won't be, I'm sure of it," Zelda reassured.
