LoZ: Bermuda Triangle ch. 2

Everybody started clapping and whooping. Joseph slid down looking sour. "Don't let this victory go to your head!" he scowled. "I will beat you yet Cleo!"

"C'mon Joseph, it's just an exercise run," Cleo said, rolling her eyes. "I think it's you who are letting things go to your head."

"Yeah, whatever!" Then Joseph stormed off.

"Yo Cleo!" Someone called out. Cleo looked around. "Up here!" It was Meg sitting on the edge of the platform. "You did pretty sweet. Your talent was so choice."

"Thanks Meg!" Cleo called back.

"Didn't you say that your mom was an athlete herself? That could be where you got your skills."

"Yeah, my dad told me that. I don't remember everything about her." It was an honest truth. Cleo was only seven when she lost her, she had once put herself in danger without knowing and her mother died to save her. For the following three years, she had blamed herself for the tragic event until her first fateful trip into Hyrule had taught her that it was never her fault, that it was nothing more then an accident.

"So where are you rolling on up this coming vacation?" Meg asked.

"Don't know, I'm thinking about it though."

"I hear that Joseph's taking off to Mexico."

"Then I'll go somewhere that isn't Mexico," Cleo said with a huff.

"It's too bad he's such a jerk, 'Cuz I'll admit he's kinda cute."

"Yeah well, obnoxious pigheadedness doesn't interest me." And they said no more of that.

---

"Hey dad, I'm home!" Cleo called out as she walked in the door. There was no answer, so she walked over to the kitchen to look at the fridge. There was a note hanging on a magnet. "I'm working late again, urgent call from the sheriff's dispatch. Help yourself to some leftover steak later. (or snake meat, whichever you prefer ^_^)" it said with a drawn smiley face. Cleo rolled her eyes at this, then she noticed a P.S. "BTW, a package arrived from Finn. It's on the counter."

Of course, Cleo thought. She had forgotten about the game Finn said he would send to her once he was done with it. Cleo looked at the counter and saw a brown box. She cut it open and found another note. "Sorry it took so long to finish it, it's your turn now. An early Christmas present from me. Finn."

Cleo looked in the box and pulled out Skyward Sword with it's booklet. Feeling excited, she set them next to the Nintendo Wii and did her homework as quickly as possible. It had been over a year since the game was released in the US and she hadn't had a chance to play yet. She avoided any websites that contained any information about Skyward Sword, not wanting the game to be spoiled by it. She didn't even know anything about the main villain yet, but she would soon find out.

All evening, Cleo played through the beginning, enjoying the new cool stuff that had been added in the series (and laughing at Faron for trying to catch the Wii curser on the screen). Right before her first dungeon, she took a break with her dinner of microwaved steak and what was left of the omelets. Then she went through the dungeon pretty fast (the puzzles weren't that hard to figure out) and she entered the boss' room where she saw, what could possibly be, the most bizarre villain she had ever encountered. He called himself Lord Ghirahim.

For some strange reason, he seemed... familiar. Cleo felt like she had seen him before. During the cutscene, when Ghirahim gave a literal tongue lashing, the same vision she'd had earlier flashed in front of her eyes, but it only lasted a split second. She shook her head and started the fight. But Cleo didn't land a single blow before it happened again, when she accidentally zoomed in to first person view and got another good look at him, it came right back with full force...

Everything was a green blur... but it wasn't as thick as before... she heard muffled voices and sounds... and screaming... of anguish and sorrow. The screaming stopped when, in the very center of her view where it was a little more clear, she saw someone... strange...? A tall pale figure with a red cape stood in the distance, half hidden in shadow before... it vanished into thin air... in a spatter of diamonds.

Cleo pulled herself out of the vision and saw her character on his last heart. He was being pummeled during her brain spasm. Before she could react, Link was already dead.

She just sat there, staring at the Game Over screen in slight shock. Cleo was speechless at what had happened. Why is she getting these...? Wait, she thought, suddenly overcome with a sense of Deja Vu. Are they... a memory...? She buried her eyes in her hands as though to try to picture Ghirahim better and hopefully summon the vision again, although it didn't. After contemplating what she saw for a minute, she finally came to a conclusion:

Ghirahim, she thought. I've seen him before... I saw him for real! It was a memory! But where had Cleo seen him, and when? No matter how hard she tried, however, she couldn't recall the encounter any better. She needed help unlocking that long forgotten memory... and she knew just who to turn to.

Cleo got up and headed for the basement. She went down the stairs, two at a time, and started to stomp across the stone tiles until she could hear the familiar loud clap that indicated a hollow space beneath the floor. She removed the tile that made that particular sound and took the gossip stone from it's hiding place.

She held the stone to her lips. "Zelda... Zelda, can you hear me?... I need to talk to you." There was no answer. Cleo kept trying to make contact for a few minutes before she finally received a response.

"Cleo? Is that you?" said a benign voice in worry. When Cleo confirmed, Zelda continued. "What's wrong? You sound anxious."

"Zelda, when can we meet? It's urgent."

"Urgent?" Zelda repeated with concern. There was a pause as though she was thinking about it. During the pause, Cleo heard a door open and close and another voice.

"I'm back Cleo!" her father called.

"I believe we can. But this is short notice Cleo. Are you sure about it?"

"Yes Zel, I'm sure."

"Cleo, where are you?" the voice of her father interrupted.

"Coming dad!" she called back. "Sorry about that. I'm gonna have to sneak out later."

"All right. Meet me at Telma--"

"Are you in the basement Cleo?"

"Dad, just a minute!" she called irritably.

"Young lady, what are you doing down there?"

She quickly turned back to the gossip stone. "Okay, you said Telma's Bar right?" she asked in a hurry. When Zelda said "yes", Cleo replied "Got it" and threw the stone back in the hole and closed the tile just as the basement door opened and light flooded in. Cleo got up and started up the stairs.

"Just what are you up to?" her dad said, a little sternly.

"I was just checking the electric furnace. The place was getting cold."

"I thought I heard another voice. Is there someone here?" he asked looking over her shoulder.

"Oh uh... I was talking on my cellphone," she quickly said. "Talking to tech support about the furnace."

"Cleo, you know you shouldn't be messing with those kind of things. Especially when you're here by yourself," he scolded.

She sighed. "Look, I'm a little tired. Can I please go to bed?" Her dad said she could and she walked off towards her room, with Faron at her heels.

---

It was late at night, Cleo bundled up and quietly opened her bedroom door, trying not to cause a creak. She snuck past her father's bedroom where she could see him snoring away. She felt her way to the basement and tried to tap the floor without doing it too loudly so it wouldn't wake him up. Then she took the travel guide and went back up and to the back door, carefully opening and closing it.

It was freezing out and her feet crunched the frosty grass, a little bit loudly. She hoped her dad wouldn't hear that coming from outside. She slowly walked to the woodland edge and then ran in. Without using the flashlight (It was too risky then), Cleo ran blindly through the forest and stumbled once or twice. She thought someone was there when she saw a pair of glowing eyes, but it was merely a fox who took off upon seeing her. Her heart was hammering, and her steamy breath was heavy, it was spooky here. Cleo heard an owl calling and saw it's silhouette (once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness) soar over to a clearing.

She followed it and found some dirt. She now used the flashlight to look at the book for the spell circle and incantation, although the soil was frozen hard so it was difficult to trace anything on it. After a frustrating half-hour, she managed to draw a spell circle.

Then she recited the spell,

"In everything that exists
a doorway is always present
it may lead in or lead out the way
to and from any destination we go."

Cleo jumped at a noise she heard. But it was only a lone doe that caused it. Why am I freaking out? she thought. Seriously Cleo, you're being paranoid. She continued.

"Entering a new phase
may meant betterment
and going out from there
is a choice for one to decide.
A portal is sort of conscience
that shows the consequences
if one dares proceed with wit
then must take the right step."

After a moment, a strange glow enveloped her and she vanished from this realm.

---

It was snowing in Hyrule when Cleo went to the Castle Town and entered Telma's Bar. "Well hello there Cleo," Telma welcomed. "What brings you here?"

"Is Zelda here?" Cleo asked upon entering.

"Sorry hon, she's not."

"What? I don't understand," she said confusedly.

"I have another customer, however, who's expecting you. And he's a Sheikah," answered Telma with a wink.

Cleo looked over at a table with the said Sheikah sitting there and she smiled. It was Sheik.