Inverted Triforce

Chapter 3

Lips tight, Zelda contemplated what would cause such an obscure belief. Then, she realized exactly why. A rush of sadness rushed over her as she recalled the old stories. Looking away from Ganon’s cold eyes, she looked at the ground. “I didn’t realize,” she trailed off quietly.

Ganon lightened the grip he had on her arm. “You insisted on not being sheltered, so I thought you knew,” he said quietly as he released her.

Jerking her arm away from him, she started walking toward the carriage. “Zelda, that bracelet,” he said as he walked beside her, “You should get rid of it.” She ignored him and put it in the pocket with her necklace. She was about to get into the carriage when Ganon spoke again.

“We won’t be sleeping in the carriage when we’re in a town. They have an inn we can sleep in.”

“Where did you get all this money from? You have no ties to any wealth,” Zelda asked, her voice icy. He had made it sound as if the Gerudo had disowned him, thus, she thought, there would be no reason they would still be supporting him.

“I do have ties and I am using them. Now let’s go inside and talk about what I’ve found out from the marketplace.”

The sun was beginning to set when Zelda and Ganon had left the old woman who sold the bracelet. Shops were closing and merchants were packing their goods. Like Zelda and Ganon, they were headed for the inn. Some were happy while others looked disappointed with their earnings. Looking back toward the old woman, Zelda noticed the stall had vanished completely. “Ganon, the stall is gone,” she said, surprised.

Ganon also looked toward where the old woman once was. “Zelda, please do not make me beg you to get rid of that bracelet. Everything about that woman called for suspicion,” he said sternly.

She ignored Ganon’s plea. Turning back toward the inn, she began to remember the fable that told of how the elves of Hyrule nearly became extinct. When Hyrule was a unified kingdom, the royal family and nobility were made up of elves. The royal family was seen as being majestic and invincible. The last cycle of evil, however, citizens of Hyrule decided that they were fed up with being ruled by a royal family that promised destruction.

A rebellion sparked in the Hylians. They persuaded the Zora to side with them and then proceeded to drown any elves they found; the turn of events quickly turned into a genocide of the elves. They tried to fight against the Zora and humans, but they did not have the defenses for it. The vast number of humans and Zora quickly overtook the elves. It took many years of exterminating elves on sight for the elves to realize the error in their ways. Elves sent their treaty to the humans, promising to abolish the royal family. This action appeased the higher ranked humans, but the lower class cultivated a grudge. By that time, the elves were left with a small population just over 3,000; at one point in history they had exceeded millions. The losses devastated the elves deep into seclusion.

From then on, the elves dwelled in the densely wooded area, where they could live peacefully in solitude. Over the years, their numbers continued to decrease due to natural circumstances; once, they were a pampered race, and now they live in clay homes just scraping by. They use no currency and rely on cooperation with each other for their survival. Merchants would travel to the villages in search for more items to trade rather than currency.

Suddenly, she didn’t feel as bad about harassing them for stories; Zelda was probably one of the nicest elves the merchants talked to. The merchants that came to the village never seemed to be mistreated, but she did recall how badly others spoke about them from time to time. When they exchanged goods, the elves would leave with no other interaction.

Entering the inn, Zelda looked at the merchants lingering in the lounge area. One side of the lobby was filled with sofas and loveseats pushed into circles. Two fireplaces were on either side of the lobby, giving a warm glow to the patrons of the inn. She watched Ganon as he went around her to approach the desk attendant ahead of them. Scanning the merchants once more, she was hoping she would find the old lady.