Chapter 15 Beautiful distractions…

Chapter 15

 

 

Beautiful distractions…

 

 

The group made their way across Hyrule Fields traveling in a ragged line, with Lucius leading and G-Link bringing up the rear. Lucius was happily lost in his own thoughts when Sheik disrupted them with a question.

“Hey Lucius, I was thinking.” Sheik started.

Lucius rolled his eyes, “You won’t need to worry about breathing underwater, we have Zora tunics for each of you, not that we expect you to need them. But the tide does tend to rise and flood some of the corridors.” He said before Dahrin could tease Sheik.

“Uh, how did you know what I was going to ask?” Sheik asked. The others were slightly baffled by this as well.

Lucius chuckled, “It seemed like a logical question you would ask.”

“Ok.” Sheik said, still confused.

The rest of the group shrugged it off; Zoras were a strange race anyway. Lucius started humming a Zora tune to himself as they continued on their journey. They stopped by a small stream for mid-day meal and Lucius helped Meria with the cooking. It was still the same basic provisions they had had that morning, except Meria added some extra seasonings from her spice bag. Out of them all Meria was the best cook, comes with growing up on a farm Lucius supposed. While the meal was cooking Lucius went down to the stream edge and put his feet in the water.

Zoras can stand to go without being in water for about a week before bad things start to happen to their mental health. Lucius sat there by the edge of the stream staring at the water.

“Hello love.” Zara’s voice startled him. He looked to where the voice came from and the water took on a small version of Zara’s upper body’s form.

Lucius sighed in frustration, “And here I was thinking this was reality.” He swiped at her form and she dispersed but reformed.

Zara laughed, “It is, do not worry Water Sage. I am still safely locked in my prison for all eternity or till I die, which ever comes first.”

“Then how are you here?” Lucius asked.

“You are crazy; too long away from Zora’s Domain will do that to you.” Zara said sympathetically. Lucius looked at her skeptically. Zara held her composure till she couldn’t stand his stare any longer.

“Ok fine! You are not crazy. As I told you, you should not expect me to sit in my prison quietly.” Zara said exasperated. Lucius chuckled swishing his feet in the water and making it ripple. This disrupted Zara’s form and she complained loudly.

“I’m assuming no one else can see or hear you?” Lucius asked.

“And you would be correct in that assumption.” Zara said once her form settled back down.

“What do you want Zara?” Lucius complained. He put his hand to his forehead, the headache was back. Too much use of his powers, he wasn’t quite strong enough to handle this much telepathy in such a short amount of time.

“Nothing much. Just someone to talk to. It gets rather lonely down here.” Zara said in a small voice. She unconsciously hugged herself when she said this and Lucius felt sorry for her. Being locked in a prison several miles under the Water Temple alone must be difficult to bear. Add the fact that the one who put you there being you’re lover didn’t help matters.

“Ok, fine. But you can’t contact me everyday. I don’t need my friends thinking I’ve gone completely bonkers.” Lucius gave in; Zara clapped her small hands together and sent drops of water flying.

“So when can I contact you?” Zara asked, willing to follow the rules to break her lonesome boredom.

Lucius chuckled, “Before I go to sleep, I’ll ‘call’ you. I promise.”

Zara smiled, “Ok! See you tonight then?”

Zara dispersed and Lucius shook his head as he headed back to camp. He arrived just as Meria was finishing lunch. He took his plate and sat down to eat next to Selene who was sitting next to Dahrin.

Lucius took a bite of the food, “Delicious. Meria I don’t know how you do it but only you could make something like provisions taste this good.”

Meria blushed at the compliments as everyone one piped in. The group ate and then packed up once more to head to Zora’s Domain.

Lucius led the way once more with everyone following behind. They finally rounded the bend that led to Zora’s Domain near sundown. The site that greeted them was magnificent.

Plants that grew along the walls and under the water glowed a whitish blue and gave the clear waters an eerie other worldly look. Fireflies flew around the plants dancing in the rays of the moonlight. The further they traveled to the entrance the more beautiful it became. Lucius reigned in Fish and dismounted. He motioned for the others to do the same.

“What is it Lucius?” Gerad asked him as he dismounted. Lucius smiled as he moved to an open area near the river. The others followed him curious of what he was doing or waiting for. He picked a spot and sat down facing towards the moon.

“Sit, I’m so happy that we got here in time for the blooming.” Lucius motioned them to sit down and they did as bided.

“The blooming?” Aerica asked. Calhan snapped his fingers in understanding.

“I know what you’re talking about, it’s the Aquarius plant.”

Lucius smiled, “Yes. It blooms only once a year and then only if it’s a full moon.”

“Where is it at?” Selene asked looking towards the lighted valley below their spot.

“You’ll know it when you see it.” Lucius replied. They waited in silence watching Meko chase fireflies, and be chased by fireflies. An hour went by and still nothing happened other than them getting sleepy.

Some of them were just about to conk out when Lucius nudged Gerad and pointed. “It’s starting!”

Gerad looked to where he was pointing and saw a small pinprick of white light. At first he thought it was a firefly, but then it got bigger. As he continued to watch more pinpricks appeared all over the valley, he nudged Selene to make sure she was awake to see this. The Aquarius plants slowly opened their petals to the moonlight’s cold embrace. The fireflies danced around shafts of moonlight that seemed to go straight from the moon to each flower. That’s when Aerica realized they weren’t fireflies but fairies.

The blooming was beautiful beyond words; it was like watching moonlight flow across the land like a river. The fairies danced through the air in very delicate and intricate patterns.

Meko went and joined the fairies in their dance. Somehow he knew the dance without ever having done it before. The other fairies welcomed him as they continued the dance. Night butterflies joined, rising from the Aquarius flowers.

Lucius sighed in utter awe of the beauty he had only witnessed twice in his life. The rest of the group sat motionless, afraid to breathe for fear of breaking what had to only be a dream. Surely reality wasn’t this beautiful.

All too soon the flowers began to close, one by one. The fairies finished their dance just as the last flower closed. The night butterflies had winked out as each flower closed.

When the last flower closed Meko flew back to Aerica and landed on her shoulder. No one moved for a few minutes.

“Wow.” Calhan said in a quiet voice. The others could only nod in agreement.

‘Did you see it Zara?’ Lucius asked her telepathically. He felt her sigh in response and he smiled to himself. Zara wasn’t all bad, she was just like Sheik in his mischievousness, only ten times worse. If you kept her under control she was fine. Zara had contacted Lucius when he was young and they had become “friends” to a certain extent. As Lucius had gotten older, the demands of ruling had pulled him further and further away from Zara. He had almost forgotten about her till he had had that dream.

‘Thank you.’ Zara sighed and then faded out to sleep. Telepathy took a lot out of her as well. Lucius stood and remounted Fish.

“Zora’s Domain isn’t far.” He said as the others remounted. They rode off; with the full moon shining brightly it was almost like daylight, just eerier. They continued for about another hour when they came to the massive bridge that led into Zora’s Domain.

The bridge was exactly as Lucius had seen it in his dream, exactly as it had always been since its construction fifteen years previous. The moonlight hitting the water as it cascaded down onto the statues of the two Zoras was beautiful. The group traveled up the bridge, there was no traffic at this time of night so they made it to the guard post relatively quickly.

“Halt. Who goes there?” A Zora asked stepping out into their path.

“Lucius Ruto-Vespa, Crowned Prince of Zora’s Domain.” Lucius called out clearly to the guard who immediately upon hearing his voice and seeing him, knelt down with his fist touching his left shoulder. Zoras’ have no last names, so when Zoras introduce themselves formerly they use the names of their mother and then father.

“Welcome home, milord.” The Zora said standing up.

“Thank you Ferloth. These are the delegates from the other nations, you will show them the same courtesy and respect as myself.” Lucius said urging Fish forward once more. Ferloth stood and saluted Lucius then moved aside to let him pass. The rest of them nodded in greeting to Ferloth as they passed him. Ferloth remembered something and ran to catch up with Lucius.

“Wait! Milord!” Ferloth called out to Lucius. Lucius stopped Fish and waited for Ferloth to catch up to him. When Ferloth arrived out of breath Lucius held his patience.

“Do you wish for me to wake their majesties?” Ferloth finally gasped out.

Lucius chuckled, “No that won’t be necessary. I’ll show the delegates to their quarters and inform their majesties myself.”

Ferloth bowed accepting Lucius’s answer and went back to his post. Lucius smiled as he led the others into Zora’s Domain. The main cavern was eerily empty. The shops were closed and the horses hoof beats echoed loudly in the vast emptiness. Lucius led them towards the southern corridors. They made it without encountering anyone. He showed them where to stable their horses and they all dismounted and each took care of his or her horse. Once they were done they unloaded their personal effects from the saddlebags and followed Lucius as he led the way further down the corridor. He showed the girls their room and bid them goodnight, saying he would be back in the morning to bring them to see Ruto and Vespa. The girls bid the guys goodnight and went to bed.

Lucius led the boys to their room which was a little further down the corridor. There was a rock for G-Link to sleep on and four beds for the rest. The guys each went to a bed and deposited their stuff on the floor and fell into bed.

Lucius chuckled, “Good night guys. See you in the morning.”

Gerad yawned hugely, “G’nigh-”

Lucius smiled as he turned and left them. He made his way to his parents sleeping chambers. As he walked he thought to himself of the dream Zara had placed in his head. He had liked being able to show affection to Selene even for a little while. It was true it really wasn’t her at all and he felt kind of bad that he still enjoyed it.

“What’s wrong with me?” Lucius asked out loud. Of course no one answered. He continued on lost in his thoughts. He made it to his parent’s room and knocked politely on the door. He heard a faint, ‘hold on’ then a few seconds later he heard the lock click open.

Vespa opened the door a crack, seeing who it was he opened it further, “Lucius?”

“Hello father.” Lucius said softly, feeling a sudden lump in his throat. Seeing his father brought it all home to him that he was finally home. The pain of dealing with his home-sickness was almost unbearable at times even though he played it off as nothing in front of the others.

“Lucius, welcome home son.” Vespa said stepping forward and hugging him close.

“Lucius! You’re back!” Ruto screamed and ran forward to hug her son. She got hold of him and squeezed so hard and covered him with kisses like only a mother could. Lucius didn’t mind the strangling hold and squeezed her back but gently. She finally let him go, with him slightly bluer than normal.

“It’s good to be back.” Lucius said.

“Where are the others?” Ruto asked looking around like she might see them materialize out of the dark.

“I led them to their quarters so they could get some sleep. It took a little longer than I thought it would to get here.” Lucius replied stifling a yawn. Vespa chuckled as he clapped Lucius on the shoulder.

“I think someone else needs to get some sleep.” Vespa said as Lucius smiled in apology. Ruto hugged Lucius once more and kissed him on the forehead.

“Good night mother.” Lucius said softly as he kissed her on the cheek. He turned to his father and hugged him goodnight then turned and headed to his own quarters. His parents went back into their room and back to bed.

As Lucius made his way to his room Zara entered his thoughts which were muggy with sleep.

‘Hey love.’

Lucius sighed, ‘Yes?’

‘I hate to bother you, but…’ Zara continued but stopped short as if she were afraid to go on.

‘What is it?’ Lucius asked instantly awake from the tone in her voice. For something to frighten Zara it had to be bad.

‘I did not tell you earlier, but something evil is in the Water Temple.’