Clairvoyance

As she turned all of those things in her head, worry began to creep over her. It was all to do with Count Ruguel. Was he really her ally? Could this be all to Demon King Ganon's plan? Zelda stood to leave the bathtub before she felt a presence behind her. She turned to meet it...

A gaze...

She shrieked and covered her chest, but she was hiding it from no one. The only thing she could see peering through the steam were the marble statues and engravings. There were no windows... and yet, she was sure that she felt someone looking at her.

"Who is there?"

Her voice echoed up to the ceiling. There was no one around to answer her.

*

A haze surrounded the area. Through it and the trees it encased, there was a hidden village. Stained red brick chimneys spat out smoke that lingered above them. From the eaves of the houses hung braised meat and cooked vegetables spreading an indescribably good scent through the area.

A large water wheel spun slowly near a small mill. Its door opened and a white-bearded old man emerged from it supported by his walking cane. Behind him was the village's doctor, Maia.

Link faced them and reached a hand out, but neither the elder nor Maia noticed him. They both left the mill and headed to the small river where they collected river water into a large bucket, likely because Impa was still in her coma.

He tried shouting, but never got their attention. That left him feeling sad. It was like they had both forgotten about him. The river water was reflecting the light of the sun, and Maia's long hair was cast as a silhouette against it, dancing in plain view. Link wanted to run up to them, but couldn't find a path to do so.

Before the surprise could register with him, the scene before him started to grow evermore distant.

"Elder! Maia!" Link mouthed. His throat could no longer produce a voice. The Village of the Hobbits disappeared into the fog. Then came a girl's voice. It sounded familiar to Link, and yet unfamiliar at the same time. He turned to see a cave full of boulders and rock. In the middle was something resembling a hot spring, and from it rose a healthy amount of white steam. He could see a naked girl in the water. Her hair shined bright and blond, her eyes were bold and blue, and her age was similar to Link's.

*"Who could this girl be?"*

A dream... If this were a dream or some kind of illusion, it felt so real. The girl looked frightened and stared straight at him. "It's all right," he wanted to say. "I'm not your enemy." But her fears were not allayed.

And then, finally, he woke up. He was at the edge of the fountain gurgling its clear water in the middle of a patch of grass and red and yellow flowers. He was on his back looking up at the sky. As usual, there were heavy clouds floating by, but the surrounding flowers did much to brighten the scene.

"You're awake," came a girl's voice.

***

The Count of Black Shadows, Chapter 2