It was a bright and warm summer day.  The sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was around noontime.  The birds sang cheerily in the trees and the sounds of the ocean were soothing to the ear.  A single horse, with two riders, trotted toward a grove of trees.

"Oh, Michael!  This spot is perfect!" Catherine said into his ear.

"I told you it was."

The horse stopped gently near one of the trees in the grove.  Michael hopped off first and helped Catherine off the horse.  She had long blond hair and a pretty face with bright blue eyes.  She was a very beautiful woman and Michael appreciated her every time he looked at her.  In her left arm, she carried a picnic basket, with a white and red blanket for the two to sit on.

"Go get that stuff set up, Catherine.  I'm going to tie up the horse."

She gave him a quick little kiss on the cheek and skipped to a clearing in the trees that she felt was ideal for their picnic.  Michael took a hold of the horse's reins and tied it around the nearest tree.  He was of average height for an elf and had brown hair and green eyes.  He was built like a Knight, and he was eager to join their ranks.  Walking to the side of the horse, he grabbed a truffle of food out of the side bag.  He placed the truffle over the horse's mouth.  The horse whinnied.

Michael laughed a little.  "I know, girl.  I hate tying you up as much as you do."  He patted the horse on the top of its head.  "But it won't be for long."

He turned around and began walking over to Catherine when he suddenly stopped.  Catherine saw his action and was alarmed.

"Michael?  What's wrong?"

He answered by putting a single finger to his lips.  She obeyed and remained silent as he stood there.  He cocked his head to the left, toward a thicker grove of trees.  Silently, he waited, but nothing happened.  Giving up, he looked back at Catherine, smiled, and walked over to her.

"What's wrong?" she repeated as he was sitting down beside her.

"Nothing.  Just thought I heard a noise."

She smiled.  "Of course you did, silly!  There are lots of animals around here.  You probably just heard a squirrel or something like that."

Michael looked around, not buying into her simple answer.  Something wasn't right, but he wasn't going to worry about it now.  He didn't want her to worry.  "Yeah, you're probably right.  You're so smart."

She smiled again and reached into the basket and pulled out two sandwiches.  "Here you go.  I made your favorite."

"Grilled Cucco on Rye!" he said excitedly as she handed him the sandwich.  As he took a big mouthful, he saw her staring at him, as if waiting for something.  Quickly swallowing what he had in his mouth, he added, "I mean, thank you."

"You're welcome," she said as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

They sat there eating their sandwiches in silence, each admiring the beautiful scenery and the gorgeous day.  A light breeze blew and the trees rustled.  They could see fisherman hard at work out in the ocean.  The town of Oceana, to their left along the shoreline, was full of life.

Upon finishing his sandwich, he finally decided to go along with his plan.  He politely waited until she had finished her sandwich and looked at him.

"Catherine?"

"Yes, Michael?"

"There's something I want to ask you," he said as his body began to shake slightly.

Catherine's heart rose in her chest.  She had been waiting, almost yearning, for this moment for quite some time, but she tried her best to not show it.  She didn't want to be mistaken, either.  Her mother always told her "Don't expect too much, or else you will be let down."  It made sense to her.

He reached out and held her hand in his and looked her in the eyes.  "I've wanted to ask you this for a while now.  Catherine.," he quickly jerked his head to the left.  "What the hell was that?" he said loudly.

"Ye. what?"

"That noise. what the hell was that?"

"What noise?  I didn't hear any noise."

Suddenly, every bird in the adjacent grove of trees flew into the air, covering the entire sky.  Michael and Catherine both looked up at it, wondering what was going on.

"Something's not right.  I'm going to check it out," Michael said as he stood up and released her hand.  He ran toward the other grove of trees while Catherine had yet to move.

"Damn it," she said.  "So close."  She got up and headed after him.

She reached the edge of the large grove of trees just a few steps behind him.  The grove was so large that it was almost like a very small forest.  The dense foliage blocked most of their view into the grove, so Michael began walking deeper into it with Catherine in tow.  As they made their way among the trees, they could make out a smooth red glow emanating from somewhere in front of them.  Curious, they headed deeper in, without uttering a single word.  Catherine reached up and grabbed Michael's hand, squeezing it.  As they continued walking, the glow became brighter, and her grip on his hand became tighter.

Stepping past the next set of trees landed them in the middle of a small clearing, totally surrounded by trees.  The point of origin of the glow was now visible to them and they stared at it in awe and wonder, mixed in with some fear and anxiety.

"Michael," she whispered over the low humming of the object.  "What is that?"

"I don't know, Catherine," he said as he inched closer to the mysterious source.  "It looks like some kind of disturbance."

"Disturbance?" she repeated.  "It's beautiful."

The disturbance was a small circle hovering about five feet off the ground and was about a foot wide.  The interior of the circle was illuminating the soft red glow, as it swirled with red and white.  Michael moved even closer to it, slightly to the left side.  He decided to walk around it to see if there was any clue as to what it was.  As he walked around its side, it disappeared, but the glow remained.

"Where'd it go?" he asked Catherine.

"What do you mean?"

"It just disappeared."

Catherine looked at him quizzically.  "No," she said, wondering what had gotten into him.  "It's right there."

Puzzled, Michael walked in front of it again and sure enough, there it was.  He walked back behind it, and it vanished from sight.

"What the hell?"

"What?" she asked as she walked over to him.  As she reached him, she realized what he had seen.  The disturbance was no longer visible.  "How can this be?"

"It's like it's only a two dimensional object," he walked directly beside it.  "Look, it has no thickness."

"I don't like this," she said, fear seeping into her voice.  "Michael, let's go."

"Amazing," he continued as his concentration was solely on the disturbance.  "It's as if it doesn't really exist."

"Michael, please, let's go."

He continued to ignore her and picked an apple from one of the trees.  Tossing the apple up in the air a few times, he tried to guess what would happen if he threw it into the disturbance.  Not sure, and extremely curious, he threw the apple directly into the disturbance.

"Michael!" she whined to get his attention, but to no avail.

As he watched on, the apple seemed to stop in place when it hit the disturbance.  It sat there for only a second or so before it disappeared.

"Interesting," he said to himself.  He moved to within inches of the disturbance and raised his hand to about chest high.

"Michael!  No!  What are you doing?  Are you crazy?" Catherine said quickly, becoming more and more hysterical as he ignored her and messed with the disturbance.

He brought his hand closer to the disturbance and held it there.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing all of his muscles.  Opening his eyes again, he prepared to put his hand into the disturbance.  He slowly moved closer to it.  As he was about to make contact with it, the disturbance shrunk until it disappeared altogether, as well as the soft red glow.

"Damn it!" he shouted, upset that he didn't get to try his experiment.

Catherine was relieved that the disturbance was gone, and couldn't have cared any less about it.  Finally able to get his attention, she said, "Michael, let's go home."

He stood there, staring at the spot where the disturbance had just been.  Sighing, he said, "Okay, Catherine.  Let's go home."

He grabbed her hand again and led her out of the trees.

*     *     *     *

"Evan!" Link called.  "Evan!  Time for lunch!"

Getting no response from the eleven-year-old's room, Link headed up the flight of stairs.  As he made his way up, Nick was on his way down.

"Hey Link," he said.  "Having trouble getting Evan for lunch?"

"You know it," Link answered with a smile.  "Sometimes I don't know why I bother."

"At least he's learning something up there," Nick said as he gestured to Evan's room.

"Yeah.  It's a little weird though.  Ever since that day three years ago when he helped us dispel the barrier around Ganon's Tower, he's holed himself up in his room."

"I wouldn't worry, Link.  He's just trying to figure out what magical powers he has.  I mean, just look at his mother and father."

Link laughed.  "Yeah, you're right.  Well, go get some lunch, Nick.  I've got to go drag Evan away from his books."

"Good luck," Nick said as he continued down the stairs.

Link arrived in front of Evan's door and knocked hard while turning the knob and opening it.  At his desk, Evan looked up to see his father peering in.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hey, Evan.  How's it coming along?" he asked as he walked over to his son's desk.

Evan placed a bookmark into the book in front of him and closed it.  "I'm not sure.  I know I'm doing everything right, but I can never get anything to work quite the way it's supposed to."

"I'm sure you're doing everything right."

"But I must be doing something wrong, or else these spells would work," Evan replied, almost dejectedly.

Link placed his hand on the back of Evan's head.  "It's going to take time for you to develop your magic.  One day, it'll come to you.  Just wait.  The Goddesses have a master plan for all of us."

"Yeah, well I wish they would hurry up with mine," he said, slightly angry.

"Don't say stuff like that, Evan," Link said calmly.  "Never curse the Goddesses.  They are wiser than anyone could ever be, and they know what they're doing."

Evan gave his father a little smile.  "I guess so."

"That's not good enough.  I guess I'll have to beat it out of you," Link said jokingly as he gave Evan a shove.

"I'd like to see you try!" Evan shouted back, a big smile on his face as he pushed his father back.  The two laughed and messed around for a few more minutes until Link had Evan in a headlock.

"Say uncle!  Say uncle!"

"Uncle!  Uncle!" Evan cried.

Link released his grip and the two laughed some more.

"Come on," Link said.  "Let's get some lunch."

*     *     *     *

Evan didn't get back to his books until later that evening.  He spent most of his afternoon getting fighting lessons from his father and Nick.  He hated those lessons and he often skipped them, much to his father's disappointment.  They were always pushing him to become a great fighter, but he didn't see the need for it.  In his mind, Link would be around forever, so there was no need for him to be worrying about fighting, unless it was with his magic.

He sat down in his favorite chair and pulled himself in front of his desk.  Opening the book where he left off, he began to read the chant and tried to familiarize it with himself.

"There must be something I'm doing wrong.  Just has to be," he muttered to himself.

He read the passage to himself over and over again until he could recite it without even looking at the book.  When he had completely memorized it, he sat back in his chair.

"Well," he said under his breath, "here goes nothing."

He spoke the words, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear him.  As he made his way through the spell, he could feel a strange tingling sensation in his body, just like every other time.  He repeated the chant several times over, trying desperately to make it work.  After a few minutes, he finally gave up and dropped his head onto his book.

"Why can't I get it to work?" he asked angrily to no one.

I will help you.

Evan's body bolted upright in his chair.  Without moving anything else, he slowly turned his head to the left, then to the right.

"Is someone there?" he asked, his voice shaking.  "Hello?"

I'm right here.

He looked all around the room, but found no one.  "Right where?"

Right here.  In your mind.

"In my mind?  How is that possible?  Who are you?"

I'm you.

"What do you mean, you're me?"

I'm your subconscious.

"If you're my subconscious, how come I can hear you?"

Because it's time for you to become a great wizard.  Together, we can make the spells work.

"Right," Evan said sarcastically.  "I suppose I'll all of a sudden get this spell to work."

Yes.

"Alright, fine.  Prove it."

Chant the spell.

"Okay, okay."

Evan once again recited the spell that he had just recently memorized.  And once again, he felt the tingling sensation throughout his body.

Keep going.  We're almost there.

He continued with the spell, repeating it twice more before he felt the small, tingling sensation become a large sensation.  He could feel the magic around him and he became excited at the prospect of actually completing a spell.  Finally, he felt the sensation die down and he could once again move about normally.

He looked excitedly from one side of the room to the other, but he was met with disappointment.

What's wrong?

"It didn't work," he said frustrated.

On the contrary, it did work.

"Then where is it?"

I'm not sure.  But you'll get better with practice.

"Good."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.  Evan jerked his head in the direction of the door, fully expecting his father to be standing inside the room, staring at him.  Instead, the door remained closed, and he was thankful.

We mustn't be caught!  Quick, dispel the magic and get the door!

Evan nodded and dispelled the spell with his mind as he walked to the door.  He opened it slowly, wondering whom it could be.  When he finally opened the door all the way, he noticed a castle guard standing at attention.

"Yes?"

"Master Evan," the guard began, "it is time for your sister's birthday party and your parents would like you to attend."

"Tell them I'm on my way."

The guard saluted and walked back down the stairs.  Evan looked back into his room one last time.  More specifically, he looked at the book on his desk.  Still unsure if all that had transpired had actually happened and wasn't part of some sort of daydream, Evan turned around and closed his door behind him.

He would try again later.

*     *     *     *

"I'm going, Catherine!  There's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"But Michael."

"No," he said sternly.  "I've got to know what that thing was.  I'm going back to that grove and I'm spending the night there."

"But it could be dangerous," she whined.

"That's why you're not coming with me," he answered.  He opened the door and ran to his horse.

"Please don't go!"

Without even acknowledging her, he sped off toward the grove of trees where the disturbance had been only a few hours before.

".I have a bad feeling," she said quietly.

*     *     *     *

He forced himself awake once again.  He had been nodding on and off for the past two hours as he waited for the disturbance to come back.  He had been there for several hours and the sun was getting close to the horizon.  He shifted his weight on the tree trunk and reached for his canteen.  Taking a small drink, he stared into the space where the disturbance had been.  He desperately wanted to see it again and figure out what it was and why it was there.  Discouraged, he looked away.

"What am I doing?  This has been a huge waste of time."

But rather than pack up his stuff and go back to Oceana, he stayed there, resting up on the tree trunk.  Time was flowing by slowly and he felt his head become heavy again.  Fighting the urge to sleep, he snapped his head up, smacking the back of it against the tree.

"Damn it!" he yelled as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.  The constant throbbing was enough to make him too uncomfortable to sleep, so he stared into the clearing again.

Another hour passed, and still there was no sign of the disturbance and Michael was becoming more and more impatient by the minute.  Still, he waited silently, as if it would reappear if he was as quiet as possible.  The throbbing in his head had died down some, and he felt the back of his head with his hand again.  The area was still sensitive and touching it only made it worse.  Learning from his mistake, he pulled his hand away.

As he looked into the clearing again, he noticed a small dot that didn't seem natural.  He rose to his feet, dropping the canteen over that had been resting on his lap.  Slowly, he walked up to the dot, but now it had grown.

"This is it!  It's back!" he yelled out to no one.

The disturbance grew to its former self and Michael stood directly in front of it.  Picking up yet another apple, he tossed it into the center of the red and white circle and watched it disappear.  His curiosity got the better of him for a second time and he decided to stick his hand into the disturbance.  But before he could even move up close enough, the disturbance disappeared.

"No!" he shouted as he put both his hands on the top of his head.  "Not again!"  He picked up another apple and threw it as hard as he could over the trees.  "I can't believe I missed the chance again!"

He walked angrily around the clearing, not knowing if he should stay and wait for it to return for a third time, or to call it quits and go home.  However, his decision was made for him as the disturbance opened once again.

He stopped ranting around and moved in close to the disturbance, but he could tell that something was different about it this time.  He watched on, as the disturbance grew larger than it had been the two previous times.  It now was big enough for an entire person to walk through it with no problems.  The soft, red glow covered the entire grove of trees in its light.  He stared at it for a moment longer.

Behind him, Catherine had made her way to the clearing in the grove.  She had become very worried about him and decided to see how he was doing.  When she had reached the grove, she had noticed the same soft glow that she had seen before, and she hurried through the trees.  Now, she made it all the way to the clearing, only to see Michael standing in front of the large disturbance.

"Michael!  No!" she yelled as she sensed what he was planning to do.

He turned his upper body to the right and looked at her.  He smiled, and she smiled back.  They remained in that position for a little longer before Michael broke the silence.

"I love you," he said as he turned and jumped into the disturbance.

"No!" she cried out as she ran toward the disturbance.  His body remained visible and motionless for a second longer, than vanished.  She couldn't bear to be without him.  "I'm coming, Michael!"

When she was close enough to the disturbance, she jumped into the air, directly at it.  The split-second before she came into contact with it, it vanished.  Still in midair, her momentum carried her passed where the disturbance had been, and she fell hard onto the ground.

She curled up in the fetal position, her arms and legs scraped and bloodied, her face strewn with tears.

"Michael," she sobbed, "don't leave me."

She cried more.

".Happy Birthday dear Michelle, Happy Birthday to you!"

Link and Zelda stood alongside their 3-year-old daughter and motioned for her to blow out the three candles that decorated the cake.  Michelle blew as hard as she could, but the candles merely flickered.  Zelda smiled and leaned over the cake.

"Ready, Michelle?  One, two, three!"

With her mother's help, Michelle was finally able to blow out her birthday candles, and the room filled with cheers.  Link walked over to the rest of the Knights while Zelda began cutting the cake.

"It's already been three years," John said in disbelief.  "Time sure does fly."

"Tell me about it," Link replied.  He turned to Nick, "So where's Charles?"

Nick motioned with his head.  "Celes has him over there."  He waved to his wife and son, whom they had named after their fallen friend.

Already with a piece of cake, William asked, "So when do we get to celebrate his third birthday?"

They all laughed.  "Easy there, William," Robert said.  "We don't need you choking on anything.  Cause I know I'm not going to save you."

"Thanks for the support," William said as he shoved another forkful of cake into his mouth.  "I love this cake."

"Well, William," Nick started, "I'm sorry to inform you that you missed Charles's birthday."

"What?"

"Sorry, but it was last month, while you were back in Malaank."

"We thought it best not to tell you about it," Link said, smiling.

"Some friends you are," William pouted, as he ate more cake.

Chris came running up and practically knocked John onto the floor.  "Oh John!  I love this song!  Do you want to dance?"

"Like he has a choice!" Robert exclaimed, laughing heartily.  All but John joined him.

"I do to have a choice!" John said, trying to defend himself.  It didn't work too well, since as he was saying it, Chris was dragging him out to dance.

"Young people," Robert simply said, as if it explained everything.

Aaron looked around the room and spotted Evan next to Michelle, politely waiting for a piece of cake.  "So Link," Aaron said, changing the subject from Robert and cake, "what's this I hear about Evan studying magic?"

"Yeah, how come he isn't into swords and battles as much anymore?" Nick added.  "He used to love that kind of stuff."

Link smiled a little.  "I don't know.  But for some reason, he likes magic more than swordsmanship and battle skills.  I don't care for magic myself, but if that's what he wants to focus on, I'm not going to stop it."

"Do I sense some disappointment?" William asked him.

"A little.  I wanted to train him to become the greatest fighter ever, even better than myself.  But now, it doesn't look like that will happen."

William patted Link on the back.  "Cheer up, Link.  He's a great kid, and I'm sure he'll become a master of magic."

Nick noticed that Celes had stood up and was carrying a sleeping Charles in her arms.  "Well, it looks like it's time for me to go.  Goodnight, everyone."

"I should be going as well," Robert stated.

"Me too," William muffled, cake still in his mouth.

"It is getting a little late," Link added.  "I'll see you all in the morning."

The Knights all went their separate ways, with Link going up to his family.  Link picked up the sleeping Michelle and began the walk to her room.  Zelda and Evan followed.

"You haven't spoken that much tonight, Evan," Zelda told him.  "Is there something wrong?"

Nothing.  There's nothing wrong.

"No, nothing's wrong.  Why?"

"No reason.  I'm just a worried mother," she said with a smile, stroking the back of his head lovingly.  "How's the magic coming along?"

He smiled at the question.  He loved attention.  "It's going grea." he started.  No!  Tell her it's going slowly!  We mustn't let her know!  "I mean, it's coming along slowly."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it.  You'll figure it out in time."

They had reached his room and stopped outside his door.  Link kept walking ahead of them.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"When did you first start using magic?"

She thought about it for a moment.  "I must've been about your age.  About the same time that I met your father.  It seems that our lives were destined to be entangled."

"Was it hard?"

"Of course it was.  Even to this very day I don't believe I've mastered the art," she saw the disappointed look on his face.  "Don't worry, Evan.  You're much stronger with it than I ever was.  I'm sure you'll become powerful."

He smiled.  "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome.  Now go to bed," she instructed him as she opened his door.  "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Now we can get back to work.

Evan stopped where he was, standing in the middle of his room.  "But I don't want to.  I'm tired," Evan said to the voice in his head.

We must become stronger!  We must practice!

"But it's late.  Can't I practice more tomorrow?" he asked through a yawn.

Do you want to be weak?  Because he thinks you're weak.

"Who?"

You know whom.

"No, I don't.  I have no idea what you're talking about."

Your father.

"Dad thinks I'm weak?"

Yes.  He's disappointed that you gave up the sword and have turned to magic.

Anger began to swell up inside of Evan.

You should show him who's weak.  Practice.  Make him understand just how strong you really are.

Evan looked over toward his desk, piled high with books of magic.  With a determined look on his face, he walked over to it and sat down.

"I'll show him."

*     *     *     *

"Link, have you noticed anything strange about Evan lately?" Zelda asked as she changed into her robe.

"Yes."

"Really? What?"

"He doesn't practice his swordsmanship enough anymore."

She sighed.  "You know what I mean."

Link looked over at her.  "No, honey.  I haven't noticed anything strange about him recently."

"Well maybe that's because you don't spend enough time with him," she shot at him as she got into bed and pulled the covers on.

"What do you mean?  I spent all afternoon with him today," Link said defensively.

"You never spend any time with just him, without any fighting lessons.  You never do anything he wants to do."

"You never do what he wants," he said under his breath.

"I heard that!" she said as she elbowed him.  "Seriously, Link.  You need to spend more quality time with him.  Please?  For me?"

He looked into her eyes and realized that he couldn't say no.  "Alright.  I'll spend some time with him tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek.  "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Zel."

*     *     *     *

The sun shined brightly on the travelers.  It was not yet, but they were almost at their destination.  Link and Evan rode up in front, with Nick and Aaron right behind them.  Further back rode Zelda, Celes, Sarah, Michelle, and Charles, all in a carriage.

"Are we almost there yet, Dad?" Evan asked, becoming a little impatient.

Link smiled.  "We're very close, Evan.  It should only be about another half hour."

They were on their way to Oceana.  At the request of Zelda, Link asked Evan if there was something in particular that he wanted to do that day.  Without any hesitation, Evan had said that he wanted to go to the beaches of Oceana.  He hadn't been there in a very long time, and he missed it.  Taking the opportunity to get away from it all, Link agreed with Evan's suggestion and invited all the Knights.  However, William and Robert had things to tend to in their own countries, while John was off with Chris on their own private getaway.  The two often traveled back to Baru to help the townsfolk rebuild their town and honor their dead.  And, of course, visit their friend Liz, who decided to go back home after Jacob's death.

"I haven't been to the beach in a long time," Aaron said.

Nick looked at him strangely.  "What do you mean, Aaron?  You were just in Oceana last week."

"But that was on business.  I was speaking in a pleasure sense."

"I see.  In that case, I haven't been to the beach in years, either.  I hope the day stays this beautiful."

"I doubt it," Link called from the front.  He and Evan then slowed down until they were walking beside the two Knights.

"Why do you say that?" Nick questioned.

"Storm clouds to the south," Link responded.

"That doesn't mean that a storm will hit Oceana," Aaron remarked.

"But the winds are moving north," Evan said.  "It seems as though I've picked a bad day for us to go the beach.  Sorry."

Link rubbed his son's head.  "Don't worry about it.  I'm sure we'll get at least an hour or so on the beach.  Then we can see what else the town has to offer."

"But it looks like a really big storm, Dad.  What are we going to do if we get caught in it?"

"Not to worry, Evan," Aaron butted in.  "I have a good friend in Oceana.  I'm sure he will let us stay in his house until the storm passes."

"There," Link said.  "Is that alright?"

Evan smiled.  "Yeah, that's fine."

They were now within sight of Oceana.  The town was alive with people; in the streets and along the beach.  The harbor currently had four ships docked and the sailors were roaming the town in search for things to do before they shipped out again.  Link, Evan, Nick, and Aaron all came to a halt.

Aaron sighed.  "It really is beautiful."

"That it is," Nick agreed.

They stood there for a moment longer, the carriage behind them just about caught up to them.  An idea rose in Link's mind, and he was sure Evan would like it.

"Hey, Evan."

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Race you!" Link shouted as he kicked Epona into a sprint.  As quickly as he could, Evan kicked his horse to a run, with Nick and Aaron in pursuit.

The four riders approached the town with Link still out in front.  He continuously checked behind him while laughing as the others tried their best to catch up.  Several villagers had heard the commotion and had come out to see the race.  Children cheered joyously as each of the riders flew by them.  Even the older children, the young adults, and some elderly cheered the men on.

Link finally stopped just before he got to the beach and turned around.  To his surprise, Evan wasn't very far behind him, but Aaron and Nick were way behind and the carriage wasn't even in sight.  Evan halted his horse in front of his father.

"No fair!" he protested.  "You cheated!"

Link laughed.  "Son, that's something that fathers get to do to their kids."

"I don't like it," he mock pouted.  Unable to pretend to be angry any longer, he smiled.  "At least I beat them."

Link laughed again as Nick and Aaron finally made their way up to him.  "What's wrong, old-timers?  A little slow?"  He and Evan both laughed.

"You cheated," Aaron replied, causing Evan to laugh even harder.  Missing the joke, he continued, "Might as well get a spot on the beach before that storm gets here."

Link turned to Evan.  "Why don't you pick us out a spot, Evan?"

Evan smiled.  "Sure thing, Dad," he said as he dismounted his horse and ran onto the sand.  Link, Nick, and Aaron all watched him go.

"He really is a good kid," Aaron complemented.

"Sure hope Charles is just like him," Nick said.

"Yeah, he is a good kid," Link said, smiling.  He sighed.  "I just wish he would concentrate on swordsmanship than magic, though."

Nick dismounted his horse.  "Give it a rest, Link.  Today is a vacation day.  No talk of battles, swordsmanship, or magic."

Link nodded.

"Good," Nick continued.  "Now let's stable the horses, catch up with Evan, and wait for the girls to arrive."

*     *     *     *

The rain came fast and hard, and they barely had enough time to get off the beach and get cover from it.  In desperation, they made for the stable, and were already regretting it.

"I hate this smell," Zelda said, Michelle beside her, holding her hand.

"Same here," Celes agreed.

"It's better than being out there!" Nick reminded them.  Realizing that they had chosen the lesser of two evils, they nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Sarah asked, hugging Aaron for warmth from the cold rain.

Link remembered what Aaron had said before.  "Aaron, didn't you saw you had a good friend that lived here?"

Aaron nodded.  "Yeah, he doesn't live to far from here, but we'll still get drenched in the rain."

"What if we wait for the rain to let up a little?" Sarah asked, not wanting to be soaking wet.

Link protested.  "We don't know how long it will be until then.  I suggest that we go now."

"Absolutely not!" Zelda cried out.  "I'm not going out there in this.  Besides, Michelle will catch a cold that way, and if she does, so help me Link, you're going to take care of her!"

Nick laughed and pointed at Link, but it didn't last long.

"That goes for you too, Nick!" Celes scolded him.  In response, Aaron laughed and pointed at both Link and Nick.

"That's a shame, guys," he said.  "Being ordered around by a couple girls!"

"Pipe down!" Sarah yelled at him, pushing him away from her.

"Okay, okay.  That's enough!" Link shouted.  "We need to decide what to do."

"Wait for the rain to die down!" Sarah reiterated.

"But we don't know when that will be!" Link said back.  "It could be in an hour or two."

"Or now," Evan said calmly as he stepped out from under the stable.  "It stopped."

They all walked out from under the stable slowly and looked up toward the sky.

"But for how long?" Celes asked.

Aaron joined Evan outside.  "Well, I'm not waiting to find out.  I'm heading for Michael's house.  Anyone that wants to come, better start moving now."

Without a single word, they all followed Aaron out of the stable and down the street.

*     *     *     *

Catherine was lying on his bed, crying into his pillow.  She had been there for the last day, not wanting to go home.  In her mind, as long as she stayed there, he would return.  So she waited.  Her crying began to subside, but she was still sniffling, her face red.

There was a knock on the door, startling her so much that she gasped loudly.  Wiping her face with her hands, she got up from his bed and walked to the front of the house.  The first thing she noticed when she opened the door was that it was raining.  She hadn't even noticed that it had started to rain until now.

"Catherine?" a familiar voice asked.

She opened the door wider so she could see who was there.  Her heart was hoping that it was Michael, but her brain knew better.  When enough light showed the man's face, she felt a little better.

"Aaron!  What are you doing here?"

"Well, myself, Princess Zelda, Sir Link, and some others were at the beach when we got caught in this storm."

"The Princess is here!" Catherine exclaimed as she tried to find Zelda among the people outside the door.

"Yes, yes," Aaron continued, desperately wanting to get inside.  "Could we come in?"

"Oh, of course!  How rude of me!  Yes, come in!  Come in!"

The group of nine people flooded into the house, delighted to be out of the rain.  As soon as the last one entered, Catherine closed the door and turned to them.

"I'll put on a fire and heat up some water for you!  You must be freezing!" she exclaimed while running around the house.

"Thank you, Catherine," Aaron answered politely.

"Is that Michael's wife?" Nick asked, low enough so that only Aaron could hear.

Aaron shook his head.  "No, just his girlfriend.  Although, he informed me that he was thinking about marrying her."

"So," Link said, "where is Michael?"

"I don't know," Aaron answered.  He called out to Catherine, "Hey Catherine!  Where's Michael?"

The answer he received wasn't what he was looking for.  She didn't respond, but from the other room, they all could hear a pot crash onto the floor.  Concerned, Aaron rushed to the kitchen, with Link and Nick behind him.

"What happened?" Aaron asked before they had gotten there.

They still got no response, but as they entered the kitchen, they all stopped.  Down on her knees on the floor, Catherine was crying softly.

"Catherine, what's wrong?" Aaron asked as he kneeled down beside her, putting his arm around her.

She continued to cry.

"Let's bring her into the other room," Link suggested.  "Nick, go grab a blanket from the bedroom."

Nick left for the bedroom as Aaron helped Catherine up off the floor.

"We're going to bring you into the living room, okay?" Aaron asked her rhetorically.

Link, Aaron, and Catherine entered the other room again.  Link stepped aside as Aaron led Catherine to a chair.  Right behind them, Nick came back with a blanket and wrapped it around the crying girl.

"What happened in there?" Zelda asked, curious and confused.

"I don't know," Link said.  "We just found her crying on the floor."

"Catherine?" Aaron was saying softly.  "What happened?  Can you tell me?"

Catherine tried to calm down, and was able to do so a little.  She struggled to speak between sobs.  "M. Michael. is gone."

"Gone?" Aaron repeated.  "What do you mean, he's gone?"

"Is he dead?" Nick asked, promptly receiving a hit and the evil eye from Celes.  He mouthed 'What?' to her, and she gestured with her head that he shouldn't have said that.

"I don't. k. know," she answered.

"Catherine, can you tell us what happened?" Link asked.

She began to cry more again and Sarah walked over and sat down beside Catherine and attempted to comfort her while they interrogated her.

"It's okay," Sarah said.  "You don't need to tell them just yet."

"B. but. I need to."  She once again tried to calm down and was slightly successful.  "Yesterday, w. we were having a pi. picnic whe. when he thought he h. heard something.  He went to g. go see what it w. was and we found some kind of dis. disturbance."

"A disturbance?" Link repeated.

"T. That's what he called it.  But it d. disappeared.  He went b. back in the evening to find it.  I went to check on h. him and when I got there the d. disturbance was much bigger.  He. he. he leaped into it and v. vanished."  She immediately broke down in tears again.

No one noticed that Evan had slumped in the corner and was very pale.

Told you it worked.

He shook his head.

You did it, and there's no telling where he could be now.  Better not let anyone know, otherwise they'll get mad at you.

"No," he said aloud.

They all turned and looked at him.  Feeling their eyes upon him, he began to panic, but the voice inside his head kept on talking.

Don't let them know.  They mustn't know.  Not yet.

Thinking quick, he said, "No, that's horrible.  We should investigate."

"Good idea, son," Link agreed.  "We should go check this place out when the storm passes."

"Catherine?" Aaron asked.  "Could you show us where this happened?"

Still crying, she answered him by nodded her head.  Aaron placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly.

"We'll find him," he continued.  "We'll find him."

The five of them reached the small grove of trees where Michael and Catherine had their picnic the previous day.  They each rode on horseback, with Catherine leading the way for Link, Nick, Aaron, and Evan.  The women had decided that it would be best if they returned to Hyrule Castle as soon as the rain had let up.  After several hours of waiting, the two parties had gone their separate ways.

"The disturbance appeared in that set of trees," Catherine said as she pointed to the large grove.

"More of a small forest," Nick commented.

Link nodded his agreement, but said nothing.  They rode to the edge of the grove in silence, and upon reaching it, dismounted.  Each horse was tied up to a separate tree, and the five elves huddled in for discussion.

"It was in there?" Aaron asked.

Catherine nodded.  "Yes.  Somewhere in the middle of this grove is a small clearing.  It's there that the disturbance appeared each time."

Link looked into the grove and began walking.  "Well, let's go," he said as he entered the trees.

Curious, Nick and Aaron followed Link into the small forest with Catherine right behind them.  Evan remained where he was for a moment longer, swallowing hard as he realized that the disturbance was his doing.

Run.

He stood there still, pondering his next move.  "Run?"

Yes.  They'll find out that it was you.  And then you'll be in trouble.

"They're going to find out already?"

Not yet.

"But if I run, won't that make them realize it sooner?"

There was no response to his question, and he no longer felt the presence of his subconscious.  Figuring that what he said had silenced it, Evan decided to go into the grove and play dumb about the whole thing.  He walked in.

Slowly, he made his way through the trees, spotting the small group not too far ahead.  They had stopped walking forward, so Evan figured that they had already reached the clearing.  He emerged behind them.

".right here," Catherine was finishing when he entered the clearing.  Link, Nick, and Aaron were circling the area, trying to find any clues as to what was here and what its purpose was.

Link continued checking the area.  "What did it look like?"

Catherine tried her best to recollect the image of the disturbance in her mind.  "It was circular, with red and white swirls inside it.  It gave off a reddish glow, too.  But the strangest thing that Michael showed me was that you couldn't see it unless you were in front of it."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"Well, if you stood in front of it, you could see the disturbance, swirls and all.  But if you stepped to the side of it, or tried to get a look from behind it, it vanished."

"Two dimensional," Aaron said matter-of-factly.

Nick looked at him.  "Two dimensional?  What does that mean?"

"It means it didn't really exist," Link jumped in.

"Sort of," Aaron replied, "but not quite.  Everything in our world has three dimensions.  For example, you have a height, a width, and a depth.  Each one is a different dimension.  However, if what Catherine is saying is true, I believe that the disturbance may have only had two dimensions."

"And that would mean you couldn't see it besides being in front of it?" Nick continued his questions.

"Almost," Evan chimed in, finally moving into the center of the clearing.  "That explains why you can't see it from the sides.  Since the disturbance had no depth, it is virtually invisible from those angles."

Link looked at his son with some curiosity.  When did he get that smart?  Evan caught his father's stare and quickly shunned away from it.

"But what about seeing it from behind?" Nick asked.

"Beats me," Aaron said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe it was magic," Evan stated.

Link looked at his son once again, but this time Evan had his back to him, so he couldn't see his face.  "Catherine, you said that when Michael jumped into it, he disappeared?"

"So did the apple that he threw into it during our picnic."

Nick threw out an idea.  "Perhaps it was some kind of doorway?"

Evan tensed up as Nick stated his idea, much to the confusion of Link.  He watched him closely.

"It would take a very skilled magician to do such a thing," Aaron declared.  "Hell, it took the Goddesses to open the Time portals for you, Link."

Link kept his eyes on Evan as he replied, "I agree, Aaron.  Whoever made this 'doorway' has to be very strong in magic."  Link noticed that Evan began to breath quickly.

"But the disturbance was weak at first, was it not?" Nick asked in the direction of Catherine.

"I guess so."

"Well, it did become much bigger when Michael jumped into it, correct?"

She nodded.  "Yes, it did grow significantly."

"Maybe the magician isn't very strong," Nick pondered aloud.

"No," Aaron contested.  "Maybe inexperienced, but definitely strong."

Evan tried his best to calm down so he wouldn't give his guilt away.  He didn't know why he had to hide the fact that he had created the disturbance, but he wasn't going to let it be known now.

Get out of there.  You must get out of there before it's too late.

Thinking quickly, Evan said, "Dad, I don't feel so well."  Faking a swoon, he fell limply on the ground.

"Evan!" Link yelled as he ran over to his son.  "Evan, what's wrong?"  He bent down and lifted Evan's head off the ground.

"I'm tired, Dad.  So tired."  Strangely enough, he was beginning to feel tired and sickly, almost as if he had willed it upon himself so that he could get out of there.

"We'll get you home, Evan.  And we'll take good care of you," Link said as he lifted his son up off the ground, carrying him in front of his body.

"Link, we'll bring Catherine back home," Nick called after him.  "You go straight to the Castle!"

Without responding, Link left the clearing and disappeared into the trees.

*     *     *     *

Zelda removed the moist cloth from Evan's head.  The once cold cloth was now at room temperature as Evan's fever warmed it up.  She got up and walked over to the bucket of water that she had Link bring up and dunked the cloth into it.  Squeezing the excess water out, she returned to Evan's side and placed the cold cloth on his forehead.  She ran her hand along her son's cheek.

"How is he?" Link spoke out from the doorway, startling her.  He began walking toward Evan's bed, with a glass of water and some bread in his hands.

She sighed.  "The fever seems to have gone down a little, but he's not out of the clear yet."

"I wish I had noticed something wrong with him earlier, but I thought." he stopped his sentence as he knelt beside Evan and placed the food and drink on his nightstand.  He then began stroking his son's hair.

Zelda waited patiently for Link to continue, but he didn't.  "But you thought what?" she asked him, wanting to know more of what happened in the grove.

He turned to look at her, the left side of his lips curled up.  "I thought.," he began.  "I thought that he was responsible for the disturbances and Michael's disappearance.  He was acting so weird, like he was trying to hide something.  My mind was clouded by the anger that I felt as I was convinced it was his doing."  He looked back at Evan.  "But he was just sick."

Zelda knelt beside Link and wrapped her arms around him.  "It's not your fault, and you know it.  If it weren't for you, he might not have been alive."

He sighed deeply.  "Yeah, you're right.  But I wonder what's wrong with him?  It all happened so quickly."

"I don't know.  But I'm sure he'll be fine; he just needs some time to rest.  Come on," she said, kissing him on the cheek and standing up.  "Let's head downstairs for dinner."

Link didn't move a muscle.  He only stared at Evan.

"Link, he'll be fine.  You can come back up here after we eat," Zelda told him, reaching her hand out for his.

He remained where he was for a moment longer, then finally, he placed his hand in Zelda's and pulled himself up.  "I could use some food right now, but I don't know if I'll be able to come back up here afterwards.  The Knights and I need to talk about this situation with Michael's disappearance," he explained.

Link and Zelda left the room.

*     *     *     *

Evan woke up a short time after his parents had left the room.  He looked around the room confused, wondering where his parents were.  Shouldn't they be here nursing me? he thought to himself.  He glanced over to the small nightstand next to his bed and caught sight of a glass of water and some bread.  He figured that they had left it there for a reason, so he decided to oblige them.  Grabbing a piece of bread, he took a big bite, as if he hadn't eaten in a long time.  He washed the dry bread down with some water, sat back in his bed, and gazed around the room, lost in his thoughts.

It's time.

The voice came back, much to Evan's displeasure.  He had grown sick of his inner voice.  It was nothing at all like he was.

It's time.

Evan tried to ignore the voice, hoping that it would just disappear and never return.  Several minutes of silence followed, and it seemed that the voice had gone away.  He reached over and took another bite of the bread.

It's time.

Giving up, Evan decided to acknowledge the voice.  "For what?" he muffled, his mouth still full of bread.

To open the portal.

Evan swallowed the last of the bread.  "No.  I've already caused too much trouble.  I'm not doing it anymore."

You must!

"No!"

Insolent fool!  You will do as I say, whether you're willing or not!

The voice changed dramatically.  It was now more dark and evil instead of the middle-of-the-road sound it had before.

"Who are you?"

You'll find out soon enough!  But for now, chant the spell!"

"No!" he yelled back at the voice again.  "I won't do it!"

Chant!

Evan felt a tingling sensation run through his body, much like the sensation he felt when casting the spell.  Slowly, he felt his body go numb.  To his surprise, his body no longer obeyed his command, but rather the command of the voice in his head.  All he could do was watch his body work against his will.

His body got up out of the bed and walked into the center of the room.  Once there, his arms rose above him in the shape of a 'V', his head pointed skyward.  Then he heard his own voice, though he wasn't speaking.  He recognized the words easily.  His body was chanting the portal spell.

He felt no tingling sensation this time around, as his body was numb.  Around him, he could see a soft red aura, but he couldn't see that he was floating several inches above the ground.  His voice continued to chant the spell, faster than before.  He knew it wouldn't be long before he would see the portal open in front of him.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door, and Evan could feel the voice lose its grip on his body slightly.  He was still unable to move, but he was able to stop chanting the spell.  The door was then swung open, and in the doorway stood Link, Master Sword drawn.  Evan could barely see him out of the corner of his eye, but he was able to make out the mixed expression of surprise and confusion on his father's face.  The force that had taken control of his body was now weakening even more and Evan found that he could move his head.  He looked directly at Link and knew immediately that his father knew, and that he was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

As Link walked toward his son, the force released its grip on Evan and he fell hard onto the ground.  Link sheathed the Master Sword and helped Evan up off the floor.

Evan was exhausted.  Whatever the voice had done to him while he was under its control had taken much of his energy.  He was unable to stand under his own power, so Link was forced to carry him over to his bed once again.  As his father laid him down, Evan could see the disappointment on his face, further proof to Evan that Link knew what he had been up to.

Before Link could say anything to his son, Nick yelled up from the stairs.  "Link, come quick!  Michael's back!"

Link sighed and looked into his son's eyes.  Then he turned and ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Now he knows.

Evan now hated the voice.  "That was your fault."

Perhaps, but he won't blame me.  He doesn't even know I exist, and who would believe you when you tell them that the voice inside your head made you do it.

His heart sank.  No matter how much he hated the voice, it was right.  The blame would be solely on his shoulders.  "So what now?"

Run.  Get out of here.  Fast.

"I'm too tired," he groaned.  Without a response from the voice, Evan felt the strength return to his body.  All of a sudden he was up and about, practically bouncing off the walls.

Now go.  You must get out before anyone comes back for you.

Evan stood still, gazing around his room for what he thought would be the last time he would see it.  He wasn't sure if his father would ever forgive him.  Nodding his head slightly, he took in one last deep breath before he left.

He walked over to the door and peered out to see if anyone was coming.  The hallway clear, he made his way down the stairs quietly. I have to get to the stables, he thought.

He made his way out of the castle.

*     *     *     *

Link, Zelda, Nick and Aaron brought Michael into one of the planning rooms.  The servants were ordered to bring him food, as he looked famished.  They all politely waited for him to eat some food before they asked him any questions.

Finishing his plate quickly, Michael wiped his face and hands with his napkin and turned to the waiting Knights.  "I suppose you want to know where I went?"

"Please," Link said.

"I was in the land of Shakar," he simply stated.

Nick chuckled.  "No such land exists.  Do you take us for fools?"

"I doubt that, Nick," Aaron said, defending his friend.  "Michael wouldn't do that.  He's an honest man who wants to be a Knight himself."  He gestured to Michael and said, "Continue."

"Thank you, Aaron," Michael said gratefully.  "As I was saying, I was in the land of Shakar.  And what Sir Nick said was in fact right."  Nick grinned.  "But he was also wrong."

"How can he be both right and wrong?" Zelda asked, confused by the paradox.

"There is no land of Shakar," he paused for effect.  "In this realm."

"Are you saying?" Aaron asked, not finishing his question.

Michael nodded.  "Yes, I traveled to another realm, another dimension."

"Like the Sacred Realm?" Link asked, trying to figure out if this boy had actually been to the Sacred Realm.

"Far from it," Michael stated.  "This world was very much like our own.  When I found a map, I could tell that the geography was almost exactly the same, though some areas were destroyed by war and natural disasters.  Although geographically similar, none of the names were the same."

"Were you able to understand people and read their writings?" Nick asked, wondering if their was another connection between this world and their own.

"No, but a man from the village where I stayed taught me the basics.  It was enough to get by."

Aaron inquired, "Just how long were you there, anyway?"

Michael thought it over in his head.  "About a month."

"A month!" Aaron exclaimed.  "But it's only been a day!"

Link wasn't interested in how long Michael had been there, so he changed the subject.  "What else can you tell us of this world?  Who were the leaders?  The living conditions?"

"From what I could gather, they are all ruled by one person; an evil ruler that they simply call 'The Wizard'.  Under his rule, they are not free to do anything and they have very little.  They all wish to be free of The Wizard, but they don't have the strength or resources to do anything about Him."

"Tell us of the disturbance that you went through," Nick told him.

Obliging, Michael went on, "The disturbance is nothing more than a dimensional portal.  There is really nothing to it.  When you step in one side, you travel to the other."

"I meant more along the lines of do you know who created it?"

"No, I still can't figure it out."

"I know who did it," Link spoke up.

"Who?" they all asked in unison.

"Evan."

He got nothing but stares back, as the rest of them found it hard to believe.

Zelda walked up to him.  "Evan?  Honey, I thought you were mistaken about that."

"I thought I was too, until I heard some commotion from his room.  So I went up there and found him in the middle of chanting a spell.  The spell that brought Michael back here."

"Figures," Aaron said.

"What figures?" Nick asked.

"Figures that it was someone so close to us."

Link walked to the door and reached for the knob.  "Well, I for one want to speak with Evan.  If anyone wants to join me, then come on."

He opened the door and walked out of the room, and every one of them followed.

*     *     *     *

Evan was already outside of the castle.  Once there, the guards were curious why he was alone, but they didn't question him.  Every now and then, he would venture into town alone, but it was usually after an argument with his father.

He came up to the stables on the west side of the castle and walked in.  Inside, the stable keeper was wiping down one of the horses.

"Good day, Master Evan," the elderly man greeted the young prince.  "Had another tussle with Sir Link, I see."  He laughed, but Evan didn't even acknowledge him.  Instead, he jumped right onto his horse and rode out of the stable as quickly as possible.  "Must've been a doozy this time," he said to himself as he watched the young boy flee.

*     *     *     *

"He's gone!" Link yelled as he ran back out of the room before any of them had even gotten up the stairs.

"What do you mean, he's gone?" Zelda asked, confused why her little boy wouldn't be in his room.

"He's running from us!" Link yelled to her as he ran by them.  Nick, Aaron, and Michael pressed themselves up against the wall and out of Link's way.

Zelda yelled down after him.  "Why would he do that?  What did you do, Link?"

Michael and Aaron ran down the stairs after Link, while Nick ran up to Zelda.  "No time for that, Princess!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her by the arm and ran down the stairs with her.

Link ran as fast as he could through the castle, figuring that Evan would make for the stable and get his horse.  He nearly knocked over a servant as he turned a corner near the front gate, Michael and Aaron right behind him.  As he ran by them, the guards saluted him and Aaron.  The stable keeper had come outside to see off Evan and was surprised to find Link barreling down on his position.

"Sir Link!" the elderly man exclaimed.  "Good day to you."  Link didn't respond, and the stable keeper was puzzled.  Link had never chased Evan after a feud before.  He knew something wasn't right, and he smartly stayed out of the Hero of Time's way.

The elderly man watched on as Aaron and a stranger ran up to the stables, followed by the Princess and Nick.  Link bolted out of the stable, almost knocking Aaron over, but the Knight went along like nothing happened.

"Michael!" he yelled.  "Stay here with the Princess!  Leave this to us!"

"I understand!" Michael yelled back as he stopped running outside the stable.  A few seconds later, Aaron flew out of the stable atop his horse.  Michael turned around to see Zelda and Nick catch up to him.  When they reached his position, they stopped.

"Princess, stay here!" Nick ordered her as he ran into the stable.

"But I want to make sure my baby is okay!" she complained.  "I don't know what Link may do to him!"

Nick mounted his horse and hollered back to her, "Don't worry about him!  Aaron and I will make sure that his anger is kept in check!"  He kicked the horse and off he went after his two friends.

*     *     *     *

Evan drove his horse hard and fast.  Currently, he was headed north for Dolsena, but he knew that he would never reach the town without his father catching up to him.  He didn't know how, but he knew that he was being chased, and he needed to do something drastic in order to not get caught.  He continued pushing his horse as fast as it would go while surveying the land, looking for a place where he could hide out for awhile.

Up ahead of him, along the banks of the Hylian River stood an abandoned windmill.  The Hylian River ran from the mountains surrounding Death Mountain, across the countryside between Hyrule Castle and Dolsena, through the Gerudo Desert and finally emptied into Lake Hylia.  With nowhere else to go, Evan made way for the windmill.  When he finally came up to it, he realized just how old and decrepit it really was.  No matter, he thought, just as long as I can still hide in it.

He dismounted his horse and gave it a quick slap on the rear, causing it to neigh and run away from the windmill.  Quickly, he ran inside the windmill and ran to the top floor, which was about three stories high.  From there, he watched out the window and waited.

He'll find you.

"No he won't!"

Yes he will.  You forget he is the best in the land.  He will find you.  Look.

Evan looked out the window to the south.  Sure enough, he could see three figures on horseback, riding in his direction.  He knew the one out in front was his father.  "So he's coming north," he said to the voice, "That doesn't mean he'll find me."

Watch.

Just as the voice in his head finished, Evan noticed that Link had come to a complete stop, giving time for the other two riders to catch up.  When they did, the three of them huddled and discussed what course to take; all the while Evan sat nervously atop the windmill.  To his dismay, he saw one of the riders point directly at the windmill.  He jumped back and ducked down, hoping that they hadn't spotted him.

"I should've never played with magic.  And I shouldn't have run from the castle," he said softly.  "That only made him angrier."

There is a way out.

"What?"

Open the portal and walk through.

"I don't want to!"

Would you rather stay here and be caught by him?  He's very upset with you.

Evan looked out the window again, and the three riders were almost to the windmill.  Desperate for a way out, he nodded his head.  "Okay."

He stood up and began chanting the spell.  Once again, he could feel the tingling sensation throughout his body.  The soft red aura returned, and he lifted off the ground.

Outside, Link, Aaron, and Nick had reached the windmill and they all could see the strange red light coming from the top of it.  Dismounting quickly, they ran into the windmill and began running up the stairs.

In front of him, the portal opened and he landed back on the ground.  He hesitated, still not quite sure if he really wanted to go through it, but the sound of the oncoming footsteps caused him to panic and he decided to go through.

"Evan!" Link yelled up as he neared the top floor.  "Evan!  Stop!"

The three friends arrived on the top floor just in time to see Evan step into the portal and vanish.  Immediately, the portal began to close.  Reacting, Link ran as fast as he could toward the portal, but he was too late.

He stood there, disappointed in his son and in himself.  Breathing heavily, he collapsed on the ground and wept silently.

Nick turned to Aaron.  "Go get the horses."

Understanding, Aaron quietly walked back down the stairs to fetch the horses.  Nick stood there for a moment longer before he walked over to the slumped Link.

They rode back to the castle in complete silence, neither Nick nor Aaron knowing what to say to Link.  The only sounds were that of the wind and the horses' hooves on the ground.  The sun was beginning its final run over the sky as it slowly set in the west, over the Gerudo Desert.  Link found it very symbolic.  As the sun went down and brought on darkness, he could feel his soul becoming more depressed.

When they arrived at the castle stables, Zelda and Michael were not there waiting, and this suited Link just fine.  At this moment, he didn't want to have to face his wife and tell her that their only son had vanished and may never return again.  It would be too much for her, not to mention himself.  Dismounting from his horse, Link walked away, leaving his horse where it was.  Nick, having already stabled his horse, emerged from the stable and watched on as Link made his way, not to the castle, but rather into town.  Feeling a great sadness for his friend, Nick sighed as he grabbed Link's horse by the reins.  As he led the horse to the stable, the elderly stable keeper approached him.

"Sir Nick, is there something the matter?  Sir Link always stables his own horse."

Nick stopped in front of the old man and looked back into Link's direction.  "Just family troubles," he lied.  "You needn't worry about it.  Things will be back to normal in no time."  He stood there for a moment longer before turning back to the old man.  "Here," he said, handing the reins over, "Stable her.  I've got other things to attend to."

The old stable keeper reached out and took the reins from Nick's hand.  "Of course, Sir Nick."  There was a brief pause as Nick stared back into the direction Link had gone.  The old man looked as well, knowing that things were, in fact, not going to be back to normal for quite some time.  "Please, go take care of your business.  I've been doing this long, and won't need any help."

Nick looked back at the old man and nodded, and the old man nodded in return.  As he turned to stable Link's horse, Nick called out, "Aaron!"

Aaron appeared from out of the stables and rushed over to Nick, passing by the stable keeper without so much as a greeting.  He stopped in front of Nick.

"Go into town and keep an eye on Link," Nick ordered him.

"Nick?" Aaron asked, confused about the task.

"I'm sure he won't do anything stupid," Nick answered.  "But we need to know where he is so when the time comes, we won't have to search for him."

"When the time comes for what?"

Nick sighed and once again looked toward town.  "I don't know, Aaron.  I just have this strange feeling."

"Of course.  I won't let him out of my sight."

"When and if he settles down somewhere for the night, send a messenger to tell us of your position."

Aaron simply nodded and began walking toward town, leaving Nick standing alone in front of the stables.  He looked toward the west and observed that the sun was already halfway down.  It would be night soon.  Slowly, he turned and headed back to the castle.  He needed to speak with Zelda.

He entered the castle and proceeded down the main hall, toward the Throne Room.  Several Knights were to his left and right.  They had all witnessed the commotion earlier and were curious as to what happened and where Link was.  However, the look on Nick's face was enough to make them all hold back any questions that popped into their heads.  Instead, they silently watched him walk down the hall.

Celes had been off to the left off the entrance with the other women and had seen Nick enter.  Leaving Charles in the care of her friends, she ran into the hall behind him.

"Nick!" she called, but he didn't answer.  "Nick!  You'll never guess what happened!  Nick!"

Without turning around or slowing his pace, he said calmly, "Not now, Celes."

She didn't listen to him and ran up alongside him, a smile spread across her face.  "Charles did the cutest thing!  He."

"Not now, Celes!" Nick shouted at the top of his lungs, startling and quieting her at the same time.  He continued walking, leaving her there, an expression of hurt replacing her smile.  Several of the Knights looked at each other, their concern over the situation growing.  They had never seen Nick react like that, especially to Celes.  The Knights and Celes all watched on as Nick opened the large doors of the Throne Room and closed them behind him.  There they remained for several minutes afterward, confused and worried.  Celes wiped the tears from her face.

In the Throne Room, Nick found no sight of Zelda.  Approaching one of the guards, he inquired about her whereabouts.  Respectfully, the guard informed him that she was in her quarters.  He immediately headed up the stairs to her room and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," she responded from inside.

He opened the door and found her on the balcony, gazing out over the land.  Without saying a word, he walked to the doors of the balcony and stopped.  She whirled around.

"Nick!" she exclaimed.  "I'm glad you're back.  Were you able to find Evan?"

Silence.

"Tell me you were able to find him."

Still, he didn't answer.

"Where's Link?"

"Princess." he began, but couldn't finish.

"Nick," she began to ask, her voice quivering.  "What happened?"

Nick sighed and looked her in the eyes.  "I'm sorry, Princess, but we couldn't bring Evan back."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her heart sinking.

"He went through a dimensional portal."

"Did Link follow?"

"He tried, but the doorway closed before he could."  She turned her back to him as she felt herself beginning to cry.  Nervously, she placed her thumb in her mouth and pressed down on it.  "I'm sorry, Princess, but I don't know if we can get him back."

"And what of Link?  Where is he?" she said while trying to hold back her tears.

Nick sighed again.  "I don't know right now, but Aaron is following him.  He needed some time to think."

Zelda allowed her head to hang down as the first tears began to stream down her face.  Nick could see her body shaking with pain and sorrow and decided that it was best for him to go.

"I'll keep you informed of his whereabouts," he said.  Sighing for a final time, he turned and left the room.

As soon as she heard the door close behind him, Zelda began to weep uncontrollably.  She ran over to her bed and threw her body onto it, burying her head in one of the pillows.  She wanted to think that Link would figure out a way to bring back Evan, but deep inside, she wasn't sure that there was a way. 

She cried long into the night.

*     *     *     *

Aaron followed Link for two hours, never venturing within a hundred feet of him.  He always kept in the shadows, although he felt that Link knew he was there.  During that time, he had been all over Hyrule Castle Town.  Early on, he had stopped at a clothing shop and bought a cloak so that he could walk through the streets without being recognized.  Once disguised, he had made his way slowly through the streets, stopping every now and then to look in on mothers and fathers playing with their children.  Aaron couldn't help but feel sorry for him every time he stopped.  After an hour or so of wandering the streets, Link entered a pub for some drinks.  Aaron waited patiently outside for nearly an hour before he spotted Link leaving.  He noticed that his walk was a little unsteady, but he seemed fine enough for Aaron to stay back.  Zigzagging back and forth across the street, Link finally made it to an inn.  Upon his entering, Aaron walked up to the window and made sure that Link was staying the night there.  Inside, he could see Link pay 30 Rupees as the man behind the counter gave Link a key and pointed up the stairs.  Aaron couldn't hear anything that was being said, but it was easy enough to know that Link was indeed spending the night there.  He watched Link struggle up the stairs and once he couldn't see him anymore, he moved away from the window.

"Might as well head back to the castle," Aaron said aloud to himself.  "Don't know where I'd find a messenger around here anyway."  He began to walk away from the inn, but stopped abruptly and glanced back at it.  "I'm sure he'll be fine.  I'll come back in the morning."

Aaron headed back to Hyrule Castle.

*     *     *     *

I've been here before, he thought to himself.

He was standing in the middle of a field, a large forest off in the distance.  Under his feet, the earth was the same color as it had always been, but when he looked up, he saw a golden sky.  He surveyed his surroundings, wondering how he had gotten there.  The field was mysteriously devoid of life except for him.  Suddenly, he felt a warm sensation from behind him and immediately turned around.  Standing only twenty feet away from him, and appearing out of nowhere, stood a familiar man.

"Ian?" Link asked, making sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Ian smiled.  "Hello, Link.  It's been awhile."

"Why am I back in Purgatory?"

"Actually," Ian began as he walked up to his friend, "you're not here."

Link was confused.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is a dream.  You're actually fast asleep back in an inn in Hyrule Castle Town."

"So, why am I here?"

"I needed to talk to you, and this is the only way for me to do so."

Link sat down on a nearby boulder, which seemed to appear out of nowhere as well.  Deciding that it was best to not think about it, Link turned his attention back to Ian.

"It's about Evan, isn't it?" Link asked, already fully aware of the answer.

"Yes," Ian replied as he sat down next to him.

"You're not going to try to console me, are you?" he asked with a smile.

Ian let out a small laugh.  "No, no.  I'm here to help you get him back."

Link's smile faded away.  "That's impossible.  I saw him disappear through that portal with my own eyes."

"You shouldn't doubt the Goddesses, Link," Ian told him.  "They always have a way of getting things done." /p>

"So what do I need to do?"

"You need to reopen the portal."

"Easier said than done," Link said back, doubtful that anyone would be able to do it.  "There could be thousands of dimensions.  What are the odds that we'd find the one where Evan went?"

"Trust in the Goddesses, Link," Ian reminded him.  "They won't steer you wrong."

Link sighed.  "But who can open it?"

"You can."

"Me?" Link repeated.  "I'm not that great with magic, Ian.  I can't do it alone."

"You're right about that.  You can't do it alone, but you can do it with Zelda's help.  The two of you need to repeat the chant at the same time in order for your combined magical energies to open the portal.  Only then will you be able to get Evan back."

"Sounds pretty easy," Link commented.

Ian laughed again.  "This is only the beginning, Link.  The road beyond the portal will be treacherous and you'll need all the help you can get.  Be prepared for anything."  As he said those last words, Ian slowly disappeared.

*     *     *     *

Link awoke in the inn and quickly jumped out of the bed.  With a sense of urgency, he put his boots on as fast as possible and grabbed his hat off of the bedpost.  He had a pounding headache, but he pushed the pain aside and bolted out of the room and down the stairs.  He threw the key to his room in the direction of the innkeeper as he rushed past him and out into the streets of Hyrule Castle Town.  The sun was barely up as he ran to the castle.

*     *     *     *

John rode slowly through Hyrule Castle Town, enjoying the atmosphere that surrounded him.  It was early in the morning, yet people were already out haggling with the merchants over food, clothing, and jewelry.  It was a welcome change from his hometown of Baru, which still had not fully recovered from its destruction three years ago.  Chris had decided to stay in the town for a couple more hours with Liz, but she planned on being back by noon.  So John was left to himself.  As he made his way toward the castle, John felt his stomach growl, begging for food.  Giving in to his hunger, he stopped at a nearby food cart and purchased a loaf of bread from the merchant.  As he was paying the man, he noticed someone running through the town.

"Out of my way!" the man yelled, almost knocking over a group of women.

John quickly handed the merchant his money, took the loaf of bread, and jumped back on his horse.  He watched the man run feverishly in the direction of the castle.  Still too far away to see who the man was, John kicked his horse into a trot and weaved in and out of pedestrians.

"I said out of my way!" the man yelled again as he brushed by a family of four.  He was now free of the crowds and ran quickly toward the castle.

John still couldn't make out the features of the running man, but he noticed a bright gleam of light reflecting off his back.  Realizing that the object that had reflected the light was most likely a sword, John kicked his horse into a run, ordering those in front of him to stand aside.

"Stop where you are!" he yelled to the fleeing man.  "In the name of the Princess of Hyrule, I order you to stop!"

The figure up ahead looked back, but didn't stop running.  Furious now, John bore down on the man, and just before he caught up, he suddenly realized who it was.

"Link!" he called.  "Link, what's wrong?"

Link finally stopped running and waited for John to come to a stop beside him.

"What's wrong?" John repeated.

Breathing heavily from his long run, Link tried to tell John what happened as brief as possible.  "Evan created a dimensional portal," he began to say between breaths.  "Now he's gone.  I must get him back."

John nodded even though he didn't really follow what Link had told him.  However, he could feel the desperation in his friend, and would help him anyway.

"Jump on," he said as he patted his horse.  "It'll be faster."

Still breathing heavily, Link jumped onto the back of the horse and grabbed a hold of the saddle.  Once he was sure Link was holding on tight, John kicked his horse into a run and headed for the front gates of the castle.

*     *     *     *

William and Robert had returned to the castle in the early hours of the morning and were now politely waiting for the rest of the Knights and Zelda at the breakfast table, unaware of the events that had transpired over the last couple of days.

"Where do you suppose everyone is?" William asked.

Robert shrugged his shoulders.  "I don't have the faintest clue.  I would've thought they'd have been here by now."

Just as he finished his sentence, the door to the dining hall opened and in walked Nick, his face tired and full of concern.  He walked over to the table and sat down.

"Nick," Robert said, "you look terrible.  Is there something wrong?"

"Yes."

The other two Knights sat there, waiting for Nick to tell them what was wrong.  Instead, Nick just stared off into space, lost in his own thoughts.

"Well?" William asked impatiently.

"Well, I'd rather wait until everyone else got here before I go into all the details."

Disappointment was present on their faces, but they understood the situation.  It was always annoying to keep repeating yourself as others joined in the conversation.  This way, they would all be on the same page.  They sat there in silence, Nick contemplating the recent events, while William and Robert wondered what had happened while they were away.

Ten long minutes later, the door to the dining hall opened once again and Aaron, Michael, and Zelda entered the room.  The silence remained as the three sat down at the table.

Nick looked up at Aaron.  "I thought I told you to follow Link?"

"I did.  For two hours, I followed him throughout the town.  He finally ended up at Murphy's Inn, so I decided to come back here."

William was very confused.  "Wait.  Why would you be following Link?  And why didn't he stay in the castle last night?"

"It's a long story," Nick said.

"We don't care," Robert stated.  "Tell us what's happened."

"Very well," Nick said with a sigh.  "You all know that Evan had been practicing magic.  Well, he created a dimensional portal that brought Michael here into another world."

"I guess you're Michael?" Robert asked the stranger sitting at the table.

"Yes, sir.  I live in Oceana.  That's where I first encountered the dimensional portal."

"But you're back," William commented.  "So what's the problem?"

Nick didn't seem as though he was going to continue, so Aaron decided to continue the story.  "Well, Link become upset when he learned that Evan was the cause.  So the boy ran away from the castle and Link, Nick, and myself gave chase."

Nick picked it up from there.  "We tracked him down to the abandoned windmill on the Hylian River.  There, we noticed that he had opened another portal.  We rushed up the stairs to the top floor as quickly as possible, but it was too late.  As he reached the top floor, Link saw Evan jump into the portal and disappear.  He tried to follow, but it closed before he could go through."

The room fell completely silent except for Zelda, who was softly crying over the apparent loss of her son.  William and Robert stared at each other, trying to come to terms with the tale that they had just been told.

"So where's Link, again?" Robert asked, still shocked by the whole situation.

"Right here," Link called from the other side of the room.  Next to him stood John.

Zelda jumped up from her chair and ran toward Link, hugging him.  "Oh, Link," she wept, "Evan's gone!"

"No, he's not."

She stopped crying and picked her head up off his shoulder.  "What?"

"Link?" Nick began to ask, "Are you saying that there's a way to get him back?"

"Yes.  It involves us reopening the portal."

Aaron asked, "And who is 'us'?

"Zelda and myself."

"We can?" Zelda asked quietly.

Link smiled.  "Yes, honey.  We can get our son back.  But it's going to be tough.  Even when we do get the portal open, we're going to need all the help we can get in the other world."

"You can count me in," Nick said.

"I'm in," Aaron agreed.

"You can count on us," William added, answering for himself and Robert.  John also volunteered.

Michael spoke up, "I guess since I've been there before, you could use my help.  Count me in."

"Thank you," Link said to him.  "Zel, you're staying here."

"Oh, no I'm not!" she yelled.  "I'm coming with you to get my son back!  And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Link thought about arguing with her, but quickly decided that it wouldn't help.  Giving in, he said, "Alright, you can go.  Eight is a nice even number anyway."

"So when do we leave?" Aaron asked.

"As soon as possible," Link answered.

Nick interjected.  "I think that we should all get something to eat first."

"I agree," William said, his stomach growling at him.

"Very well," Link conceded.  "We shall eat first, then prepare ourselves for the journey.  We'll meet in front of the castle quarter before noon."

Without saying another word, they all left the dining hall to begin preparing.  Zelda headed over to the kitchen staff and requested a large breakfast be made ready as soon as possible.

It was going to be a long journey.

*     *     *     *

The sun shone brightly in the sky, illuminating everything.  Outside the castle gates, many citizens of Hyrule Castle Town had gathered.  The commotion throughout the morning had worried many of the townsfolk and they demanded to know what was happening.  Extra guards were posted near the gate in order to hold back the concerned mob.

Link waited patiently on the castle's front lawn.  In the distance, he could hear the demands and questions of the increasingly restless mob.

"We demand to know what's going on!"

"Is Ganondorf attacking?"

"Tell us what you're planning!"

Under normal circumstances, he would've informed the people, but in this case, he forced himself to look away and completely ignore them.  He looked up toward the sky, his right hand shielding the sun from his eyes.  Glancing back at the ground, he knew it was close to noon as he shadow slowly faded away into obscurity.  His patience running out, Link began to walk back into the castle, but before he even got back to the bridge, Nick, Aaron, and Michael walked out of the castle.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Link," Nick apologized for the three of them.  "We had a lot of last minute preparing to do."

The apology didn't fully satisfy Link (he would have preferred that they were on time), but he accepted it anyway.  "Where's everyone else?" he demanded to know.

"We passed by the Princess on our way out here," Aaron informed him.  "She should be out soon."

"What about William, Robert, and John?"

"Right here," Robert called out from behind the other group of three.

"We apologize for the delay, but we wanted to make sure that we were prepared," William added.

The seven men huddled around and waited for Zelda, all the while Link's patience growing shorter.  Several minutes later, his patience was gone and he turned to John.

"John, would you please go into the castle and bring my wife out here?"

"Certainly, Link," John replied as he headed into the castle.

The remaining six stayed where they were, once again waiting for Zelda.  After another several minutes, Link's patience ran out again and he was about to go get Zelda himself when he heard a lot of talking coming from inside the castle.

Emerging from the castle were not only John and Zelda, but also Celes, Sarah, Chris, and Catherine.  The group of women, with John, headed toward the group of men gathered in the center of the castle's front lawn.

"Now I see what took so long," Aaron whispered to Michael.  "She had to wait for the whole entourage to get ready."

Michael snickered and whispered back to Aaron, "In that case, they're early.  I would've thought we'd have to wait until evening."  They both laughed silently, trying not to draw attention to themselves, but it was too late.

"What's so funny, Michael?" Catherine asked in a slightly ticked voice.

"Nothing!" he blurted out quickly, but this only resulted in a glare from her.  Aaron jumped in to save him.

"It was just a joke I was telling him, Catherine."  He said it with such a straight face that it surprised even himself.

Catherine looked at him and thoroughly believed him, and smiled.  She turned back to Michael and looked into his eyes.  "Now you be careful," she instructed him.  "Because if you get hurt, we're through."

Michael was shocked, and his face showed it.  Before he could protest, Catherine was already laughing.  "I'm just teasing," she said.  He smiled and they embraced.

"Just a joke, huh?" Sarah said out of nowhere, almost causing Aaron to let out a small shriek.

"Yup," he said, "just a joke."  They too embraced.

Celes released Nick from her grip and smiled at him.  "Come back in one piece, alright?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied.

"I love you," Celes said, followed by a deep, passionate kiss.

John looked on and made a disgusted face.  He turned to Chris and said, "You're not going to get all mushy on me like that, are you?"

"Maybe," she simply responded before kissing him as well.

William and Robert sat back and watched the whole spectacle play out in front of them.

"Now I feel lonely," William said.  "I wish there was a girl that would send me off like that."

"That could be arranged," Robert told him.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah.  I believe Diana is alone.  Why don't you get her to 'send you off'?"

"Never mind," William responded and the two friends laughed.

All the goodbyes said, Link and Zelda turned to the group of Knights, the crowd outside the gate bigger and louder than ever.

"We now begin another journey," Link started.  "Where it will bring us only the Goddesses know.  So if there's no further interruptions or objections." he was cut off by the crowd screaming even louder, as if they could hear him and were protesting the plan.  He glanced over to the crowd and realized that they were leaving the country defenseless, but there were more important things to do in his mind.  He turned back to the Knights.  "Let's go."

He put his right hand into Zelda's left, and they two closed their eyes and began to say the chant that they had studied all morning to memorize.  They repeated the chant over and over again before they felt the first effects of the magic.

Watching on, the Knights saw a green aura surround Link, while a blue one surrounded Zelda.  Electric energy filled the air, causing their hair to stand on end.  Outside the gates, the screaming mob fell completely silent as they witnessed the opening of the portal.  Slowly, Link and Zelda were lifted into the air, until they were hovering about three feet above the ground.  A few yards in front of them, a sliver of light began to shine.  The light was the same soft red glow of Evan's portal, although Link didn't see it at first.

The Knights, the guards, and the crowd outside watched on in amazement (and silence) as the doorway began to open.  When it had grown big enough for a person to walk through, Link and Zelda were slowly lowered back onto the ground.  Although he had already seen the portal when Evan had gone through, Link was still amazed at it and was frozen in awe as he gazed upon it.  Around the front lawn, everyone stood in the same frozen awe, even the townsfolk outside who were barely able to see it.  They all stood there for what seemed like an eternity before Link forced himself to move.

"Now, we go through!" he yelled, trying to bring all the Knights out of their semi-hypnotic state.  Without waiting for the others to come around, Link ran into the portal and vanished.

Finally, Aaron came to.  He looked around at the still frozen Knights.  Quickly, he smacked Michael across the face, bringing him back to reality.

"Come on, we have to go!  Start hitting people!"

Aaron and Michael went from Knight to Knight, giving them each a quick little wake-me-up.  Once they were all back to normal, Nick ordered them through the gate.  Aaron went first, followed by Michael, then William, Robert, and John.  Zelda remained where she was and Nick walked up beside her.  He shook her gently until she came to.  He smiled, and without saying a word the two of them went through the portal.

Shortly after Zelda disappeared, the portal closed on itself and the remaining group of women, the crowd, and the guards were no longer frozen in place.  However, none of them wanted to move.  They continued to sit there and stare into what used to be some kind of doorway.

No one moved for hours.

The portal opened up on the outskirts of a town, dumping the eight travelers onto the hard ground.  Picking himself up, Link clutched his head and shook off the pain.  Behind him, the other seven did the same.  The town was located to his left, and he turned to look it over.

Michael brushed the dirt off his pants.  "This is it."

"This is what?" Link asked him, turning to face him.

"This is where I came through last time."

Nick walked in the direction of the town, but stopped just as he passed everyone.  "If my memory serves me, you said this place was called Saker?"

"Shakar," Michael corrected him.  "The town and the island bear the same name."

"Where in the hell is that?" William asked rudely.

Michael hesitated before answering, his head pointing up, as if his eyes could look into his brain for the answer.  "If I remember correctly," he paused as he lowered his head back to its normal position, "and, of course, if the maps I saw were accurate, Shakar should be southwest of what we know as Hyrule."

"What do you mean, 'What we know as Hyrule'?" Link asked, slightly puzzled.

Aaron answered for Michael.  "What I think he means," he paused, "is that the country of Hyrule doesn't exist in this world, but the land mass is there."

Michael nodded to Aaron.  "That's exactly what I mean."

"So what do we do know?" Zelda asked.

John looked toward the town and pointed to it with a gesture of his head.  "We should see what this town is like.  Maybe get some information about the area."

"Agreed," Link consented.  Without waiting for any else's input, Link started heading for the town of Shakar.

"What if they speak a different language?" Robert called up to Link as the others walked to town.

Link didn't respond, didn't even turn around.  Instead, Nick stopped and waited for Robert to catch up to him.  "That's Michael's job.  He learned some of their language the last time he was here."  Nick tapped Michael on the shoulder when he was close enough and asked, "How much do you know, anyway?"

Michael turned his head until he could see Nick in the corner of his eye, all the while still walking forward.  "Not much, but it should be enough not to get us killed."

"Comforting," Robert commented as they continued toward town.

*     *     *     *

The farmer carried a bale of hay over to the barn for the horses.  It was still rather early in the day, but the heat was almost unbearable.  He reached the barn and threw the bale of hay down in front of the bigger pile of hay.  Beside the pile lay several pitchforks, one new, a couple worn down, and one rusted completely over.  Picking up his straw hat with his left hand, the farmer wiped his brow with his handkerchief and placed it back in the front pocket of his overalls.  He had been hard at work all morning, and he decided that he deserved a short break.  Pulling up the only chair in the barn (it was there for instances just like this one), he sat down and let out an exhausted sigh.  No sooner had he finished sighing than the family dog began to bark and growl angrily, causing the horses outside to neigh wildly.  Soon the chickens joined in the chorus of noise.

The farmer bolted up from the chair, knocking it over with the backs of his knees.  The next thing he heard, other than the continuing chorus of animals, was his 10-year-old son calling for him frantically.  Reacting quickly, he grabbed the new pitchfork and started out the barn.  But before he took two steps, he turned around, put down the new pitchfork and chose the old, rusty pitchfork instead.  Satisfied with his selection, he ran in the direction of his son.

As he ran toward his son (who was only on the porch and in no real danger), the farmer looked out over his fields and saw what the dog had previously detected.  Walking directly through his fields were eight strangers.  Not one to trust strangers, the farmer called for his wife to bring out their crossbow.  Obediently, she emerged from the house with the crossbow in her arms and the quiver slung over her right shoulder.  She ran to her husband and he grabbed the weapon from her and one of the arrows.  Placing the arrow into its position, he raised the crossbow and aimed at the oncoming strangers.

He yelled a warning to the oncoming strangers, but they didn't respond.  He wasn't sure if they couldn't hear him, or were just plain ignoring him, so he gave them a second, and final, chance.

He warned them one last time.

*     *     *     *

"Are you sure about this?" Aaron asked Michael as they neared the farm, which formed the border to the town.

"Yes."

"You better be," William said from behind him, "otherwise we're in for some trouble."

Michael was leading the way to the town, insisting that the others follow him.  When he was last in Shakar, he had befriended most of the town, including Isaiah.  The makeup of the town still etched in his mind, he was sure that the farm he was heading toward was his friend's.  So they continued on their way, Michael and Aaron up front, William and Robert behind them, followed by Link and Zelda.  John and Nick brought up the rear.

In the distance, a dog began to bark, obviously aware of their arrival.

"I never liked dogs," John said to no one.

Zelda turned around.  "Why not?" she asked him anyway.

"I had a bad experience with one once," he replied.

"What kind of bad experience?" Zelda pried.

"Well," he paused, "one of my friends had one.  A big one, actually," he paused again, remembering the large beast.  "Anyway, one day when I was eight, we were playing in front of his house when, for no apparent reason, the dog attacked me."

"Oh my goodness," Zelda gasped.  "What happened?"

"Thankfully, my friend's dad acted quick and shot the dog in its hindquarters, stunning it," he went on.  "Him and some passing townsfolk subdued the dog.  Luckily, I wasn't hurt too badly, but I was left with this scar," he said as he pulled his left pant leg up to his knee.  On the outside of his shin, a scar in the shape of a dog's mouth was still present.

"I'm sorry," Zelda apologized, even though it was in no way her fault.

John laughed and was about to say something, but instead he faintly heard a yell from in front of them.

"What was that?" he asked in general.

"What was what?" Aaron asked from the front.

"That yell.  Didn't you hear it?"

"I didn't hear anything," Aaron told him.  "Michael?"

"Nope, not a thing."

"Did anyone, besides John, hear anything?" Link asked.  No one answered, prompting John to doubt his hearing.  "No one else heard anything," Link told him unnecessarily.

Then, they all did hear something, but it was like an alien language to them, except for Michael.

"Oh no," he muttered.

"Oh no?  What?  What's wrong?" Aaron fired in succession.

"Move!" he yelled as he jumped to the side, burying himself in the tall, uncut grass.  Following his lead, the rest of them jumped to either the right or the left, unsure as to what was happening.

They could then hear another sound:  the sound of an arrow flying quickly through the air.  The arrow passed so close to Link that he could feel the wind as the arrow sliced through the air.  Behind him, Nick wasn't as lucky, as the arrow embedded itself into his right calf, just below his knee.  He cried out in pain.

Michael got up as fast as he could and yelled over the sounds of Nick's cries.  He only hoped that Isaiah could hear him.

"Stop shooting!" he yelled, forgetting to use the native language.

The response from the farmer was another flying arrow.  Michael ducked his head just in time to avoid getting pierced by it, and the arrow fell harmlessly behind the entire group.

"Isaiah!" he yelled.

*     *     *     *

The farmer abruptly stopped reloading the crossbow a second time when he heard his name called out.  Doubt began to rise in his mind.  The fact that one of the strangers shouted his name couldn't have been just a lucky guess.  Somehow, one of the strangers knew the farmer, and he intended to find out.

He fully reloaded the crossbow now, just in case the situation turned ugly.  Turning to his son and wife, he instructed them to head inside and to stay there.  Unsure of the situation, the two stood there silently.  The farmer raised his voice, repeating his command, and they promptly turned and ran for the house.

Once he was sure they were inside, he began walking toward the strangers, crossbow armed and ready.

*     *     *     *

Link could now see the man that had fired upon them and unsheathed the Master Sword.  Behind him, Nick was still in intense pain and Zelda and John were trying anything to help him.  He walked forward, toward the approaching farmer.

Michael was once again standing, and could now make out the person coming toward him.  He had been positive that this had been Isaiah's farm, and now he knew he was right.  Behind him, he heard someone walking, and from the sounds of his footsteps, Michael could tell whoever it was, was angry.  When Link was directly behind and to the right of him, Michael stuck out his arm.

"No."

"No?" Link asked rhetorically, anger filling his voice.  "This jerk put an arrow in Nick!"

"I know, but you mustn't attack him."

"And why not?"

Michael turned to face Link.  "Because he can help us."

"Help us?" Link asked hysterically, his voice raising an octave.  "He just shot at us!"

"That was just a misunderstanding."

Link wasn't happy with that answer, and he stared directly into Michael's face, his eyes squinted.

"Trust me," Michael said, reading Link's expression perfectly.  "Everything will be alright."

Link stared at him for a moment longer.  Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, Link relaxed his muscles and sheathed his sword.

"Thank you," Michael said gratefully.

The man approaching was now no more than fifty yards away and Michael returned his attention to him.

"Isaiah!" he yelled again.

Isaiah continued walking toward them at the same pace, and with the crossbow raised.  The person that had called his name looked vaguely familiar, but he wasn't absolutely sure yet.  In his native tongue, he called out to the familiar stranger.

Link couldn't understand what the man said.  For all he knew, it could have been a declaration of war.  But he sensed that it wasn't when he noticed that Michael wasn't tensed up and worried.

"Michael!" Michael called out his own name.

The farmer stopped in his tracks.  "Michael?" he asked, happiness beginning to rise in him.  "Michael!" he yelled.  Dropping the crossbow on the ground, Isaiah ran the remaining distance.

The two friends embraced each other as the others either looked on or tended to Nick.  Link stood directly beside Michael and tried to listen in on their conversation, but he couldn't make any sense of it.  This is going to be annoying, he thought.

Michael and Isaiah talked excitedly back and forth, Michael struggling at times to find the right word.  Link picked up on this and knew that this could cause problems later on.  Suddenly, amidst all the gibberish (at least to Link), Michael pointed to Link.

"Link, this is Isaiah.  He owns this farm," Michael informed him.

A little uncomfortable with the situation, Link faked a smile and shook hands with the stranger.  Isaiah smiled back.  While the two were shaking hands, John grabbed Link's attention.

"Link, we have to get the arrow out as soon as possible," he told him.  "But we can't do it here."

"Michael," Link said, "we need to take care of Nick.  Will he help us?"

"I'll see," Michael answered.  He began talking in gibberish again to the farmer, whose face took on a look of concern.  Isaiah then formed an 'O' with his mouth, gasped, and placed his right palm over it.  His eyes became larger as he saw the wounded man on the ground.  Talking quickly, Isaiah began walking back to his house, waving his hand in a gesture that read 'Come, come!'

"Now that I can understand," Link said with a smile, which soon melted away as he remembered that Nick was injured.

John ran back to Nick's side and he and Robert picked him up gently and placed each of his arms around their shoulders.

"Come on, Nick," Robert said.  "You can make it."

*     *     *     *

Night fell on Isaiah's farm, and the air finally began to cool down.  Michael and Isaiah were sitting at the kitchen table, talking in the gibberish that was the native language.  There was only one guest room in the house, and Nick now occupied it.  They had successfully removed the arrow without any serious trouble, and promptly bandaged it up.  Link was sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking over his friend.

"We got lucky today," he told Nick, although he knew that he had already fallen asleep.  Link fell silent, thinking about Evan and the journey to come.  They had only begun, yet already one of them had been injured.  If this is a sign of what's to come, he thought, we're in for some trouble.  Link put his hands on his thighs, sighed, and stood up.

"Rest well, my friend," he said as he patted Nick on his right shoulder.  He walked out of the room and down the stairs.  As he passed by the kitchen, he heard Michael speak those alien words again and wondered if they would have to rely on him the entire time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Michael caught a glimpse of Link.  Stopping in the middle of his sentence, he called out, "Link!"

Link abruptly stopped, turned around, and walked into the kitchen.

"What?"

"I've been talking with Isaiah and he says that there's an old wise man that lives north of town."

"And?"

"And it seems as though he can speak our language fluently."

Link's face lit up at the thought of being able to communicate with someone from this world.

"Isaiah says that he can help us on our journey," Michael continued.

"Good," Link said, "we'll leave as soon as Nick can move around."

"Do you expect him soon?"

"Maybe a couple of days.  But I hope sooner," Link replied.  "I'm going outside to tell the others, and then to get some rest."

"I'll be out there in a few minutes."

Link nodded, turned back around and headed for the front door.  Since Nick had taken the only extra bed, the rest of them were forced to rough it outside, under the cool sky.

The night was extremely dark as there were no lights on the farm.  In the distance, Link could make out several specks of light, which he figured to be small torches.  The only light that was able to pierce the night sky enough for him to see was the small campfire that the others had set up.  All five of them huddled around the fire, and Link joined them.

"How is he?" Aaron inquired about Nick.

Link threw a small twig into the fire.  "He's resting.  He'll be alright, but it may be a couple of days before he can walk on it without excruciating pain."

"So we're stuck here?" William asked, his voice hinting at his displeasure.

"We're not stuck here on the farm," Link reminded him.  "Just in this town, which I suggest, we head into tomorrow morning."

"To get supplies for the journey," John stated, even though it was obvious to everyone.

"Speaking of the journey," Robert paused, "where are we going, exactly?"

Zelda moved up against Link for added warmth and comfort.  Paying no attention to her, Link answered Robert.  "Michael was just telling me that there is a wise man to the north of this town.  Apparently, he knows our language."

"Well, that's great!" Robert exclaimed.  "I'm sick of not knowing what Michael and Isaiah are talking about."

"We all don't need to go to town tomorrow," Zelda said, fighting back a yawn.  "At least one of us should stay back and take care of Nick."

"I agree," Aaron said.

"Okay," Link said, and then paused to think.  "Aaron, Michael, William, and myself will head into town tomorrow.  The rest of you stay here and take care of Nick and help out on the farm."  They all nodded their heads in agreement.  "Now, we need to rest.  It may be the last good night's sleep for all of us."

With no other words, they each found a spot to sleep and looked up at the night sky.  Each one became lost in their own thoughts as they slowly fell to sleep.

*     *     *     *

They were already in town by the time the sun was fully visible over the horizon.  Few other people were out this early, most of which were merchants busy setting up their shops.  The group of four strangers walked down the middle of what could be considered the town's main street, although it was nothing like the main street of Hyrule Castle Town.

William felt his stomach growl.  "I wish we would've eaten some food before we left."

"Relax," Aaron said.  "I'm sure there's someplace to eat somewhere around here."

"You better be right, because I don't know how much longer I can take this."

Link was walking behind the other three and spotted a merchant selling some fruit.  He walked over, picked up the juiciest apple he could find, and paid the man with the moustache.  Jogging back to the rest of them, he called out to William.

"Hey, William!"

William turned around to the sound of his name and saw an apple heading directly for his head.  Reacting quickly, he moved his right hand up and caught the apple on the fly.

"Nice catch!" Link shouted.  "That might hold you over for."

Link stopped abruptly and watched in amazement as William breezed through the apple like it was nothing.  As he took his last bite, William threw the core back to Link, who caught it easily.

"Thanks, Link," he said.  "But that won't hold me over for long."

Michael started to laugh, while Link still stared at William, shocked.  "Talk about a good eater!" he stated between laughs.  "I've never seen anyone eat an apple that fast!"

"Yeah, it was amazing," Aaron said sarcastically.  He looked further on down the street and noticed an inn on the right side of the road.  "Perhaps they have food there," he told the others as he pointed in the direction of the inn.

"Food!" William exclaimed.  He immediately walked directly to the inn with Michael and Aaron behind him.

Link remained transfixed in his position, still shocked at the sight of William wolfing down the apple.  Realizing that they were walking away from him, and that he was still holding William's discarded apple core in his hand, Link shook his head.  He threw the apple core behind him and wiped his hand feverishly on his tunic.  When he was satisfied with its cleanliness, he walked to the inn.

*     *     *     *

The meal was good, but not great.  The layout of the inn reminded Link of the inn in the town of Saria from Hyrule's future.  There were only a couple of people in the inn's dining room, which was really just a small room adjacent to the lobby.

About halfway through their meal, one of the other people in the room had suddenly jumped out of his chair, had shouted something in their language while pointing at Link, and had proceeded to run out of the inn.

"What was that all about?" Aaron had asked to Michael in particular.

"I have no idea.  I couldn't catch what he was saying because he was talking too fast."

No longer concerned with the strange man, they had continued to eat their meal.  But now, they were once again confused.

They stepped outside of the inn and right in front of them was a large mob.  The second that Link appeared in front of them, almost everyone in the crowd gasped.  There was a moment of silence before the entire mob erupted in cheers and cries.

"What the hell is going on?" Aaron asked Michael again.

"I don't know, but I'll try to find out," he replied as he walked toward the crowd.  He pulled the first man aside and began to question him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd continued to chant and shout.  Link looked around nervously, wondering if they had done something wrong in the inn at some point and were going to be attacked.  He brushed the thought aside as he realized that they weren't threatening him.  But why are they cheering?  What are they saying? he kept asking himself.  He turned and looked directly into Aaron's face, silently asking him what was going on.  Aaron replied by simply raising his hands and shaking his head.  Link repeated the same questioning with William, who responded the same way.

Finally, Michael ran back to them.

"So, what did he say?" William asked.

"It seems that there's a prophecy."

Aaron inquired, "What kind of prophecy?"

"Well, apparently there was a prophecy made a long time ago that a warrior would come and save them all from tyranny and oppression."

"Big deal," Link said.  "Every society has that same prophecy."  William and Aaron nodded their heads in agreement.

"But it's more detailed than that," Michael stated.

"More detailed?  What do you mean?" Aaron kept prodding.

 "For starters, the prophecy indicates that a group of strangers will show up from seemingly out of nowhere.  They would look and talk like no other people in the known world."

"Oh come on!" Link exclaimed.  "That could be anyone!  These people have probably never seen, or will see, other peoples of the world!"

"That's true," Michael continued, "but the prophecy actually specifies the unknown language and the townsfolk can pick it out very easily."

"Are you sure about that?" William asked, a little confused.

"Yes, but that's only part of the prophecy.  The other part tells of the lead warrior."

"What about him?" Aaron asked.

"It said that he would be wearing a green tunic."

Silence fell among the group as they all looked at Link.

"Me?"

"Yes.  According to them, you're the destined hero that they've been waiting for."

"That's absurd.  I didn't come here to save them!  I came here to get my son back!"

"Michael, where did these people hear this prophecy?" William asked.

"From the wise man north of town."

"I see," William paused, "I think that we should pay this wise man a little visit.  Don't you agree, Aaron?"

"Yes, we should definitely go see him to find out how he predicted our coming and what else he knows."

"Let's go," Link stated.

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