The Legend of Zelda: Restoration Age

Dungeon Chapter 1 - Temple of Wilting Odes

 ...into an open chamber. Link staggered for a few steps as he came out the other side before regaining his balance. Behind him, he could hear Dwarf shifting through the space. Not wanting to be in his friend's way, Link stepped aside as Dwarf stumbled out of the crack himself.

They were in a large, open chamber. The room was fairly empty, save for a massive support beam that had fallen down years ago. Grass and moss peaked over that beam though.

"Back to nature, huh?" Dwarf commented, walking along the beam. He flashed the light up at the ceiling. A few spots still allowed moonlight in, but moss had almost consumed the whole building.

Link shifted one of the ancient pots clustered along the wall. "It's like something out of a book. Did people ever really worship here?"

Shrugging, Dwarf kept walking. "I guess. There isn't really anything here to worship." Dwarf stopped in front of a dias near the back end of the chamber. "There's no altar or shrine or statue. You'd think there would be some image of the Goddesses, right?"

"How would I know?" Link asked, leaving the pot behind. "I wasn't alive back then."

"What?" Dwarf inquired, laughing. "All this time, I thought you were named Link cause you were a Hero or something. You holdin' out on me, man?" Dwarf tapped Link's shoulder as the Hylian joined him by the dias.

Sniggering for a moment, Link bent down in front of the dias. "This what you were looking for?"

"I guess. It just seems simple for a place like this," Dwarf replied, sighing. "Honest, man, this whole place seems a lot less epic than I remember it."

"Growing up does that."

"Ain't that the truth." Another long breath from his friend. Then, Dwarf clicked the flashlight off. Link looked up, about to ask Dwarf about it when he noticed that there was plenty of light in the room without the flashlight. That was odd. Moonlight shouldn't have been able to provide that much light in here, not with all the foliage. And their eyes couldn't have adjusted that quickly.

It was then that the new light source caught Link's eye. Suspended above the dais, there was a small orb of light beginning to glow. It wasn't quite a ball, more like a disc of light that continued to expand into a screen.

Dwarf squinted a bit as he studied it. "What is that? They didn't have digital glass way back then?"

"I don't know if that's glass," Link said, holding his hand out beneath the light. He and Dwarf exchanged a look. The light was suspended in the air. Dwarf reached his hand up to check that the light wasn't hanging from something, but before they could really confirm it, Dwarf shot his hand back as the disc spoke.

"Systems: Restored. Restoration: Online."

Link felt Dwarf extend his hand out across Link, pushing them both back a step. Dwarf asked, "What is that thing?"

"I don't know," Link answered.

"You touched it!"

"I didn't know it would turn on!"

There was a deep "don" noise vibrating through the chamber now before petering out with a faint echo.

"Greetings."

Dwarf gripped the flashlight hard in one hand, his other still across Link. "Goddesses, it woke up."

"Ganondorf Dragmire." The disc flashed as it spoke. Spoke? Link wasn't sure that was the right word for it, but it seemed the best word for it. "Link Sayre. Are these names correct?"

Something about the tone suggested the disc knew it was correct already. Link looked at Dwarf. He shook his head, mouthing "Don't talk to it."

"No kidding," Dwarf mouthed back.