The Wednesday after Cremia's party was the day Link and I were giving our presentation at school. I was glad that we had gotten most of the work done on the weekend, but I still wanted to look everything over one last time. Good thing we did too, because Link managed to find some information on the unnatural stillness we had felt a few days before. I wouldn't admit it, but that, combined with whatever had happened to Link, had left me on edge. I refocused when Link asked if I had found anything.

"Nothing really. The only thing I'm seeing is references to legends from ages ago. According to the legends, the rise of evil in the land is often foreshadowed by unnatural events. Drought, disease, failed crops, that kind of thing. I guess what we're seeing now could be taken as something similar. Think we should include that in the presentation?" He thought about it for a second before shaking his head.

"No, Barnes hates rambling. He'd probably dock us points for going on about fairy tales." I thought he seemed like that kind of person. Just a few weeks in his class had told me that he was either ridiculously laid back or sharp as a knife. There didn't seem to be an in-between.

"Okay then," I said, closing my laptop as the bell rang. I felt a bit more confident about the presentation, even though we probably didn't have anything to worry about. "I think we should be good to go. Just make sure you print that map off." He nodded again as I packed my bag up and moved towards the door "I'll see you in a bit, Link."

"See you then," he said. I took one last glance over my shoulder as I left and saw him looking intensely at his computer. I noted the look of scrutiny on his face and made a note to ask him about it later as I walked through the halls towards my literature class.

Normally, I can't stand literature classes. They're interesting and I love reading, but I always come up with different interpretations than everyone else when it comes to the discussions. It only took me a few times to find out that people really didn't like having holes poked in their arguments, especially the teachers. This time though, I had my two saving graces.

As I walked into class, Midna waved enthusiastically at me. She was always mischievous and silly, and it didn't seem like embarrassment was something she even understood. It made her fun to be friends with, but you had to keep an eye on her sometimes. I rolled my eyes and laughed as I sat down in my usual seat next to her.

"Seriously, Midna, do you have no shame?" She just wiggled her eyebrows.

"I haven't done anything wrong. Certainly nothing worth being ashamed about. But if you wanted, we could change that. We have a few minutes before class." I felt my face go warm. Midna was incorrigible.

"Oh no, what horrible thing is she saying now?" I turned to see Cermia dropping into her seat next to mine. "Be glad you weren't here when Link and I started dating. I thought my face was going to light on fire, I was so embarrassed." The three of us laughed and I had no doubt about the truth of the statement. "Speaking of Link, how's your presentation coming? He said it was today."

"Yeah, we're pretty well set I'd say. It should go smoothly. I-" I hesitated for a moment, suddenly nervous about speaking my mind, but the two girls were waiting. "I've got a weird feeling about it though. Not in a bad way, just uneasy. I found some weird mention of similar events occurring in old legends, but there's nothing definitive about the accounts other than a few words mentioning them." Midna nodded like she knew what I was talking about.

"I think I know what you mean. I used to be really into mythology, right around the time I found out I had magic, so I read everything I could get my hands on regarding it."

"Wait, are you saying you voluntarily read a book?" Cremia asked, teasing smile on her face. I couldn't help but laugh. Midna didn't enjoy being told what to do, which especially related to what she did with her free time.

"Yes, Crem, I actually read. I do it when I feel like it, thank you very much. Anyways," she said with a drawn-out eye roll, "old legends are full of that sort of stuff. Always pinning natural disasters on the gods' displeasure with us or something. Some of the Twili myths are even weirder. Did you know our magic was supposedly supposed to originally be actual dark magic as opposed to shadow? Supposedly we bartered with an evil deity trapped in a mask or something for it."

Our conversation veered away from my unease even further, but I still couldn't entirely forget it. All through class and the next one leading up to Science, I was fidgety and apprehensive. I just hoped it was all in my head.

Sure enough, our presentation was just fine. Until it wasn't.

I noticed Link fidgeting when he talked about the cooling of the Death Mountain Caldera. It wasn't much, but his left hand seemed to be shaking very slightly. I doubted anyone else could see it, but I could tell. I figured it was just nerves though.

At least, I did until I started talking about the unusual storms. I was barely able to get through my information; my attention was so focused on Link fervently scratching the back of his hand. Still, I finished with my portion and looked to Link, who took a long pause before talking about the atmospheric dead spots. I could tell he was in pain though from the clenched muscles in his shoulders and arms, but he made no motion to stop, so I didn't do anything.

As he kept talking, I noticed his hand shake more and more as he gestured to the map he had printed out. He pointed out where on the map the dead spots were localized, and I thought I saw him relax slightly when he finished pointing out the three secondary spots.

A second later, he was on the floor writhing in pain, screaming like he had been burned. I immediately dropped my few note cards and tried to figure out what was wrong, but Link was just screaming and holding out his left hand. I looked at it and was shocked to see three triangular patches of the skin on the back of his hand darken so they looked like they were darkly tanned. For a second, it looked like they were glowing a bright gold. I didn't consider this for long though, because Link passed out almost immediately after the shapes finished forming, cutting off his screams of pain.

From there, it was a whirlwind of activity. Everyone in the class started talking at once, some of them rushing forward, others shocked in place. Barnes and Sheik were two of the first ones to drop down next to me, and Barnes said we should take him to the nurse's office. The two men hoisted his arms around their shoulders while I ran to find Shade and the Headmaster.

As it happened, Cremia was in the same class as Shade when I burst in to tell him what happened. The two of them launched themselves out of their seats, Cremia only pausing slightly to apologize to the teacher before hurrying after Link's twin. I, in the meantime, ran to find Headmaster Rauru, who immediately went with me to the nurse's office.

Headmaster Rauau, Telma the nurse, Cremia, Shade, Sheik, Barnes, and myself were all crammed into the room, surrounding a still unconscious Link, who was laid out on a bed. There was still room to move, but not much, given the number of occupants. After a few minutes, Sheik left the room, saying he was going to wait outside. We all waited around, hoping that Link would regain consciousness. Telma checked and confirmed that there didn't appear to be anything wrong with him physically and talked quietly with the Headmaster for a few minutes. Shade leaded against the wall facing the foot of the bed, while I did the same on the side. Cremia was sitting in a chair, fiercely holding her boyfriend's hand as if he was going to run away. Barnes stood awkwardly off to the side close to the door.

A few minutes later, Link abruptly started awake and thrashed around in the bed, lashing out at anything in arms reach. Cremia grabbed for one of his swinging arms while Telma did the same for the other, yelling for him to calm down as she did. Of course, Cremia and Rauru were also trying to make themselves heard, causing a horrible ruckus, which definitely didn't help Link calm down. Hoping for anything to settle the situation, I said 'stop' in the most level-headed voice I had. Link immediately stilled, clamping his arms to his sides and breathing deeply as he calmed down. Once the noise in the room calmed slightly, I saw his eyes looking all around the room frantically. He seemed slightly manic, eyes darting everywhere. As soon as he locked eyes with me, however, he calmed completely, relaxing back into the bed.

Cremia and Telma were quick to faun over him, leaving me free to think. There was no way Link's collapse was a coincidence. He hadn't said so, but I could tell he had been in pain the other day at the fountain, the same kind of pain as he had today. What more, the shape on his hand was something I recognized. The Triforce, said to be the symbol of the Golden Goddesses themselves. I had seen mentions of it in the legends I found earlier that day.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Link gently waved his marked hand at me, letting me glimpse the shape that still adorned his hand. I gave him a slight smile but examined the mark as quickly as I could at the same time. Again, I thought I saw the barest hints of golden light coming from the mark before he dropped his hand.

There was no way it wasn't all connected.

Rauru quickly motioned us out of the room, saying he wanted to speak to Link on his own. That was fine, I had research I had to do. Shade, Sheik, Cremia, and I stood in the hallway together, talking about the whole scare.

"I'm just glad he's okay. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him," Cremia said. "I could only think of the worst possibilities." The others nodded, but I was still locked in thought.

"Yeah, I'm glad he's okay too," I said absentmindedly before I started walking towards the school's entrance. "I've got to look into a few things at home, I'll see you guys later." Sheik called out asking if he could hitch a ride with me. I just waved my hand, still trying to puzzle out the whole situation. The whole thing had to be related to those old legends, too many things were lining up. I had to figure it out, and something told me time was of the essence.

And here we are, the second part of this offshoot story. Again, if you haven't already, be sure to read 'Revival of the Gods' to actually understand what's going on here. And if it's been a while, maybe reread a little of it, let me know how I did matching them up. I do my best, but it's really hard sometimes. You have no idea how long it's been since I wrote that/those chapter(s).

To my reviewers, Twilit Lord, glad you like it. I appreciate you keeping your heists to a minimum here. Sand Seal, thanks for being as enthusiastic as always. Glad you like the format of it all, since that's how they're all going to be. I thank you for the encouragement, because I'll likely need it. Though this came pretty easily, so here's hoping the rest are that way too. Foopuff, thank you. I pity the dogs. What I really wanted to show with that first chapter was show that, while maybe not as prominent on her mind, Zelda did like Link right away and it wasn't just one way. Glad that seemed to work out. As you asked, here's the presentation. I hope you don't mind I added a little girl time in too, thought Zelda could maybe use a life outside of Link. If you want a solid dose (and probable overdose) of Zelink, 'A Princess for Midwinter,' by Lyxie will definitely work, if you haven't read that yet. It's so indescribably bad but so damn good. You'll understand, just go read it.

As I said last time, I'm kind of counting on you guys to see what you want to see from Zelda's perspective next. I was thinking of the fight with the Slime Behemoth from the Nayru Fountain, but if there's something before that you want to see, let me know. Just be aware, I'd like to stick with how 'Revival' progresses as far as these chapters go. So I won't write a Zelda bit for Chapter 16 and then go back and do one for 12. Just so you know, consider that when you ask for the next parts. Hope you enjoyed and see you all next time!

~Aro