The terror that plagued Link dissipated from the shadows. Only silence filled the void that veiled his conscious. Link’s inner voice pleaded to him, echoing through the walls of his mind to escape the enclosing twilight. However, before descending further into his catatonic state, the nerves in his face sparked to life to the warm sensation of a damp cloth. Fighting the weight of weariness, his eyes struggled to open. Everything was a blur as rays of light passed over his vision, and a shaded figure sat over him applying the cloth on his forehead. As Link’s sight came into focus, his eyes captured the presence of a beautiful creature. Human in form, yet bore traits of an aquatic animal, her skin shined a radiant blue with layers of silver scales along her arms and upper chest. Big, silver eyes illuminated her youthful face that frowned with concern. Struggling to regain command of his sore body, Link groaned trying to fight against the weight that held him down. Startled by his awakening, the woman recoiled with cloth in hand. Her eyes lit up with glee as she dropped to embrace him.
“Link! Oh, thank Hylia you’re all right!”
He groaned in pain as her lean figure forced further pressure against his aching body.
“Ugh! Phyra, I don’t say this as often as I should, but could you please get off?”
Phyra simply smiled and frivolously rubbed her cheek against Link’s face.
“Nope!” She giggled,
“I spent all night studying the star map you recovered while simultaneously, and frantically trying to revive you. So, think of it as punishment for making me worry while working!”
Link’s fierce, blue eyes lit up with surprise. He pulled himself upright on the bed along with Phyra still latched onto him like a gleeful child squeezing a plush doll
“Star map?” He asked as a perplexed expression brought a frown to his face,
“That’s what that tablet is? What did you find, Phyra?”
Phyra said nothing to him. She only smiled and plotted a soft kiss upon Link’s cheek. She locked her gentle eyes to Link’s gaze that eagerly awaited her melodious voice.
“You’re such a stubborn Hylian.” Phyra spoke in an alluring tone.
“And you Zora women just can’t resist such recklessness.” Link replied in a similar manner.
Link slowly leaned in closer to Phyra with closed eyes and outstretched hands. He continued forward on a journey for his lips to meet hers, but his hands only grasped an empty space. He realized too late that Phyra slipped away before losing his balance and crashed to the floor. Phyra turned from the desk with the star map in hand and laughed while Link remained slightly embarrassed on the floor. She kneeled down and wrapped her arms around him and lifted Link upright as he grunted from his aches.
“I had to get you out of bed somehow!” She laughed.
Link responded to her snickering attitude with an unamused expression that he’d been had. Phyra diverted his attention from her to the tablet by dropping it on his lap. He took hold of the map and followed Phyra’s hand tracing along the strange language carved into it.
“I referenced the markings with tomes on Hylian and Sheikah lexicons.” Phyra spoke with a steady voice, concentrating on the tablet,
“Despite similarities in the character shapes with the Sheikah language, nothing matches. Words, phrases, and structures have no relation with each other.”
Link squinted his eyes, focusing harder on the script.
“It could be a whole different language.” He continued on Phyra’s realizations,
“Something that predates Sheikah lore, or simply gibberish etched by a madman.”
“I don’t think a madman would have the mental capacity to bury this so deep beneath the sand. Let alone lock it in a solid stone obelisk.” She retorted.
Phyra raised her attention to Link with a look of concern. Gently, she took hold of his left hand and peered down at the faint, triad mark that bore into his flesh. Link turned to her as he felt the softness of her delicate fingers tracing its shape. She brought her gaze back to him. Her concern bore deeper with widened eyes that delivered a tight feeling of guilt within Link’s conscience. Reluctantly, he looked away from Phyra in an attempt to hide from the guilt of keeping a guarded secret from her. The more he avoided contact, the deeper the pain bore into his gut.
“I keep telling you that it’s just a birthmark.” Link lifted the silence with a quiet reply.
He could feel Phyra’s gaze still on him. He kept looking away as if her concern for him was beating his self-reproach out from hiding. Phyra knew full well the mark was a sensitive subject for Link. She didn’t want to bring it up any further, especially after what happened to him at the coliseum, but her inner voice harassed her to squeeze answers from him. Fighting against her inner impulse, she loosened her grip from his hand.
“There is something else you should know about this map.” Phyra spoke with a voice reluctant to veer the topic, “The Goddess Constellations surrounding these interlocking planets suggests the creation story of the Sacred Realm and our world. Yet, the artifacts the Goddesses are holding illuminate when reflecting moonlight.” Link’s ears perked up and he turned his attention back to the tablet. He traced his finger along the dots forming the shapes of the Goddesses’ respective items. Phyra looked on Link sitting silently with the light of the tablet reflecting in his determined eyes.
He then reared back with a sudden gasp. Link jumped to his feet and sped towards the desk littered with books. He set the tablet down while indiscriminately flipping through numerous tomes. He sifted through a number of pages until his sight landed on one with illustrations of the Goddesses similar to the star map. He held his sight on the page while turning back towards Phyra and spoke aloud.
“I see. It reads here that these portrayals of the Golden Goddess idols were built by precursor tribes of an age forgotten in time. Temples were built in their reverence in scattered locations across Hyrule.” Filled with curiosity, Phyra rose to her feet and examined the page. She took hold of the star map while glancing back and forth from it and the book in Link’s hands.
“If such temples exist, that explains why the Sovereignty’s Guard were digging at the Arbiter’s Grounds.” Phyra concluded, “They were looking for this map.”
“Believe me, those milk drinking drones were only after more artifacts to satisfy their glutinous, imperialist empire.” Link scoffed with heavy disdain.
Phyra’s heart sank at such hateful words. She looked on him with a shock of disappointment on her face. Link quickly remembered Phyra’s humble nature, as well as her discomfort of his scornful rhetoric whenever the Kingdom of Hyrule was uttered.
“I’m sorry, Phyra. That was uncalled for.” Link held his head in shame.
Phyra said nothing, but placed her hand upon his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Link smiled, knowing it was her way of showing empathy. Serenity cooled the blood that boiled in his heart the moment Phyra embraced him. The mysteries of the tablet and his contempt for Hyrule all became a blur and faded in a distant memory. Phyra was the only one rooted in his mind, and she was all he wanted at that moment. Her gentle touch and sweet fragrance blossomed in Link’s thoughts. They both remained attached to one another in total silence. Her affection spoke to his heart more than words ever could. Link was so enthralled in their intimacy; he didn’t realize they fell on the bed gazing at each other with tender eyes. They drew closer and nuzzled their noses together. Phyra’s heart raced feeling Link’s warm embrace. She closed her eyes with a smile on her face, as if remembering the moment they had first met.
“What was summer like for you?” She tenderly whispered to him.
A soft smile graced Link’s lips. He placed his hand on her cheek before closing his eyes and replied,
“What’s tomorrow without you?”
