I never could have guessed.
{part two.}
I woke up to the smell of something burning.
And horrifying, nearly blood-curdling screams.
I ran into the kitchen, my knife raised, to find the kitchen filling with smoke. I managed to stifle the flames, and stepped out back to address the screams.
The boy had tried to collect eggs… And had failed miserably.
“Down, you bloody poultry!” I yelled, grabbing him by the arm. I pulled him back into the house, wincing as each of the idiotic birds rammed into the two of us. I slammed the door, and leaned against it as the last few thumps sounded against the wood. The frantic clucking of Cuccos gradually faded, descending to the calm chatter of the now docile birds.
The boy looked on the edge of tears…
I put a hand on his shoulder, wincing at the cuts across the back of my hand. “It’s fine, Mitch. Them birds are dangerous if they aren’t handled right.” I said, my voice soothing. He seemed to relax a little bit, but a tear still slid down his cheek.
“Just… paying… back…” He said slowly, his voice shaking. He seemed to have trouble saying it…
I squeezed his shoulder a bit. “Don’t worry about it, son. I’ll make breakfast, and we’ll head into town in a bit.”
He nodded, and followed me into the kitchen.
---
“Keep up, then!”
He stumbled to keep up, carrying probably far more of my bags then he could handle. At his own insistence, of course; I would have easily brought it all myself.
I made him wear a hood… and some of my old clothes. Anyone who saw him would reach the same conclusion I did. Though… they would likely react a bit more… harshly.
We kept our heads down, and no one really bothered us. Times were peaceful, after the Calamity; aside from random Malice Infection Checks, the chances of getting accosted on the road were slim to none.
As we entered town, I kept ushering the boy along. He was to help me deliver my crops to a buyer, and then I would take him to meet a friend of mine.
Salen, his name was. If it existed, this man knew it or knew who did. He was a goldmine of information on any subject. If anyone knew who this boy was or where he came from, it was Salen.
I looked around briefly, and ducked into a shaded alleyway, beckoning for Mitch to follow. He did so quickly, like an eager dog. He seemed frightened by his surroundings. Though, who wouldn’t be frightened, surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar town with no common language?
Down at the end of the alley was a small door, our destination. It wasn’t hidden to keep illicit activities from the eyes of the law, as many establishments are; it was hidden to keep this man and all of his contacts safe. There were some… unsavory characters, men and women who preferred to silence Salen before he could give away his coveted knowledge. Some had even tried to take this knowledge for themselves. He knew the inner machinations of every gang and organization this side of Eventide.
I knocked four times on the door and stepped back. There was a muffled cry, and the clatter of a dozen books and scrolls, followed by a loud curse. I couldn’t help but grin.
After another moment, the door opened, revealing a shifty, scrawny man of about 20. His hair was as wiry as his build, and he seemed almost rat-like.
“Phyran?” He said in a hushed voice. “Old friend, what the blazes are you doing here?”
His eyes landed on the boy. “And with a guest? Can he be trusted?”
“Salen, you paranoid bastard, let us in and I’ll explain.” I said with a laugh. “He’s no threat. This boy has a heart of gold.”
Salen glared at him for a few moments, and the boy began shifting uncomfortably.
“Fine.” He said, stepping off into the house. “Close and lock the door behind you, and wipe your bloody feet. That alley is full of shit. I don’t want any of it in here.”
I simply removed my boots, as I always did. The boy followed suit with his… whatever those were. Goddesses, his clothing was strange…
We were led into a small study, and the scrawny man placed himself in a cushioned chair behind a desk. “What brings you, old friend?” He said. “Or rather, what brings your companion?”
“We need some answers.” I said. “But you have to swear that what happens here stays in this room. Am I understood?”
He thought for a moment. One of my complaints to him over the years had been his lack of commitment to one side. If you paid him to keep a secret, he’d keep it until someone paid more to hear it. I’d won his friendship after I stopped a… rather heated dispute between himself and a client.
“I don’t usually keep my silence, Phy. You know this.” He said. “But for a friend, I suppose this secret can’t be bought.”
I took a deep breath. “Mitch? Drop your hood, please.”
He only understood a few words, simply because I’d taught them to him, but he knew what I meant, and pulled back his hood. Salen flushed even whiter, somehow.
“This boy appeared at the edges of my property yesterday.” I said. “He looked in rough shape, and we took him in for the night. Something is clearly going on here.”
“Did you see a portal?” Salen asked quickly, stepping around his desk. “Phyran, did you see anything near him when you found him?”
“I… saw something disappear into the air behind him, yeah.” I said. “Salen, what’s wrong?”
He seemed to think for a moment, and began muttering to himself as he stepped to his bookshelf and began searching through his various scrolls and books. They were cluttered onto the shelves in seemingly no order, yet he walked specifically to one shelf and methodically checked every scripture there.
He pulled one small scroll and unrolled it. His hands normally shook (it was a feature of his nervous nature), but he struggled to keep it still and unroll it. I gently grabbed it and laid it out for him on a desk, and he nodded gratefully.
He scanned the page for a moment, before somehow turning even whiter. He looked up at Mitch.
What came next was the strangest sound I’d ever heard. Salen was speaking that strange language Mitch spoke? The boy seemed relieved that someone spoke his tongue, but I felt mostly uncomfortable being the only one in the room who didn’t understand what was happening.
I did catch one word, from the boy… “Anyim”.
That word again… It sounds like a name… Who the hell is Anyim?...
Salen turned back to me. “You need to keep this boy safe. No one else is to know of his existence, is that clear?”
“Y-yeah, but what’s going on?” I said, my voice shaking a bit. “Salen, I need some answers.”
“This scroll is one of two.” He said, gesturing toward the scripture laid out on his desk. “I never recovered the second. The first tells of another world. One besides our own. It’s a much simpler world, though their technology vastly exceeds our own. The Gerudo have only recently tamed the cold flame, Electricity. The Humans, the inhabitants of this other world, have known its power for nearly a century. They have carriages that need no horses, weapons that do more damage than a bow ever will. They have mastered the skies and the sea in ways we cannot even dream of.”
He put a hand on each of my shoulders, looking me in the eyes. “I’ve tried for years to cut a hole in the barrier… to get to this other world and learn their secrets. Until now, I’d seen no proof that it may even be possible.”
He turned back to the scroll, and read down to the bottom. “And yet… there was another reason I wanted to look into the possibility…”
I glanced at the boy. “You were worried that something would cross over.”
“Close.”
He put a finger at the bottom of the script. “I was worried about this.”
I glanced at the page only for a moment. “Salen, you know I can’t read that…”
He swore under his breath, but nodded.
“This scroll tells of the other world. The second tells how to access it. And worse…”
He looked up at me, and nervously gulped. “The second tells of a way to resurrect the Calamity.”
It was my turn to go white. “But… that’s impossible, He… He was destroyed by the Hylian Champion!”
Salen nodded as he tucked the scroll back into place. “Indeed, it was destroyed. It spent its power in its last, desperate bid to defeat the Last Champion. By all rights, Ganon should be gone for another few centuries, at best.”
He leaned against the shelf with a sigh. “But these scrolls… they were written by the Yiga clan over one hundred years ago, and… they detail how to give the Calamity his full power in a much shorter time. It requires a learned mage, the Goddess’ chosen hero, and the sacrifice of an inhabitant of the Otherworld.”
We both looked at Mitch. The boy was gently poking at some glass instrument on Salen’s desk.
“The scroll goes on to tell that the aura of the Otherworld sacrifice holds tremendous power here.” He went on. “Power to even rival that of an individual entrusted with a shard of the Triforce.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Phyran… Mitch was summoned here to be killed. He was brought here to bring back Calamity Ganon.”
{part one}