telea

A gentle squall rose over the cliffside, not strong enough to wash away the sealife stubbornly clinging to it, but large enough to tip over a merman seated on the outcropping of rocks nearby.

He let himself fall backwards into the sea, head tilting up to look at the gray sky. The days had been passing slowly lately, yet the weeks were gone in a blink. He just wanted a moment to breathe without the watchful eyes of his father or the concerned gazes of his friends following him. 

He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of the seawater, listening to the muffled noises of the waves hitting against the cliff. This is where he felt the most at peace–where the land met the sea, both pushing against each other in a battle neither would win. The water would eventually cause the rock to erode away, but the rest of it would still extend down to the bottom of the ocean. A disruptive harmony. He liked that.

“I knew I’d find you here, Link.”

Lifting his head, he turned to address the disapproving stare of his best friend. “Mipha.”

The mermaid sighed, red tail flicking in mild annoyance and concern as she drifted closer. “Your father’s looking for you. I think he wants to discuss something important.”

“Everything we talk about is ‘something important,’” Link rebuffed, shoulders slumping in resignation. “I thought he had an audience with Her Majesty this morning.”

“It’s already late afternoon,” Mipha answered, and one glance at the sun, partially concealed by the gray clouds, confirmed her statement.

He grunted in acknowledgment, pulling himself up on another rock. 

She watched him, her brow pinched with worry. “I don’t like it when you come up here. We really shouldn’t be so close to the Surface. What if we’re spotted?”

“All the way out here?” Link’s gaze swept over the scene. They were well away from the nearest human territory. “Frightened?”

“No, I just–don’t like it. Besides, you’ve been coming here more often. Do you really like it that much?”

He shrugged. “I like smelling the air. It’s different than Below.”

“It’s too loud. I get overstimulated on the Surface.” Her eyes narrowed in distaste.

Link didn’t respond because he couldn’t argue. Everything was more pronounced up here. Sounds were louder, smells were much easier to detect, the light was nearly blinding–it was all amplified in the air, so different from water. Where he was light and quick in water, he felt utterly useless moving his body out of it. Strange and unknown, yes, but also curiously exciting. He liked exploring this new world, despite everyone’s protests.

Apparently deciding enough was enough, Mipha swam over and nudged his fin. “Get down from there. I was serious, you know. Your father needs to speak with you.”

Link flicked his tail, splashing water at her. “As you command, Princess.”

“I told you to stop calling me that.” Red bloomed on her face, rivaling her tail’s color. “I’m not a princess, or your nanny. Let’s go.”

“You’re pricklier than an urchin,” Link grumbled, but obliged. He slid down into the water, careful not to let his tail catch. “Race you back.”

“That isn’t fair, you know you’re faster than anyone I know–hold on, Link–wait!”

He grinned back at his childhood friend, enjoying her look of exasperation as her flash of red chased his blue. “You used to beat me when we were kids!”

“For Hylia’s sake–I haven’t won once since I was a young nereid!” Mipha complained, doing her best to keep up regardless.

Link turned away as he swam. He knew the real reason Mipha was worried, and it only partly had to do with his time out of water. 

He’d been more listless lately, sleeping too often and isolating himself in various nooks he found. Even he could admit he’d been acting strange. The strangest part was that even he didn’t know why. He’d always been curious about the Surface, sure, but not to the extent of spending so much time there. His life had seemed so straightforward for so long, and he had always been content with that.

Still, the ache in his chest wouldn’t go away, and Link was at a loss to explain it.

Zigzagging his way through the coral with Mipha still hot on his tail, Link made his way towards the Queen’s palace, where his father, Arn, would surely be waiting.

~

“Where in the goddess’s name have you been?”

Link winced, his back ramrod straight and his hands clasped tightly behind him as Captain Arn, Head of the Royal Knights of Her Majesty Queen Faron, berated his son.

His father’s movements were agitated, jerking from side to side in frustration. “You know better than to disappear for hours. I had an urgent matter to discuss with you. I expected you to be training, not wasting your time. You aren’t a child anymore, Link!”

He swallowed back his guilt, bowing his head. “I’m sorry, Father.”

“That is not enough.” Arn’s lips tightened, his graying beard making him look his age for once. “You need to be more responsible. I thought you understood this already. You are not going to be just any knight–you are my son and heir.”

Link did not respond. His father wasn’t looking for one, anyway. This was a speech he had heard many times before. 

Arn sighed, rubbing his temples as he sank into a seat. “I do not understand you, son. You’ve put in an enormous amount of training. You are stronger, faster, more quick-witted than most fully fledged knights. I know you have the dedication necessary for your role. Yet your mind is elsewhere–bobbing around in the waves aimlessly. You are of age now. I expect you to behave as such.”

Link’s gut twisted.

Finally, his father raised his head, seeming to simmer down at last. “Which reminds me. I know you only recently came of age, but Her Majesty has given her approval to go ahead with your knighting ceremony.”

For the first time during Arn’s lecture, Link showed emotion: utter shock. “What…? I thought I was supposed to wait until–”

“If Her Majesty so wishes it, then there is no reason to delay,” Arn interrupted him. “While it’s true you are very young, you have also shown more potential than anyone else in the knighthood. Even I could not accomplish the feats you have shown in your training at your age.” Rising from his seat, the captain swam over to Link, who was still fighting to keep his composure.

Arn rested a hand on Link’s shoulder. “I understand your surprise, but I am also proud of you, son. You’ve finally accomplished your goal. You shall become a true royal knight. And I hope that…with this promotion, you will finally snap out of this haze.”

Link slowly looked up to meet his father’s eyes. Arn was battle-worn, scars marring his body from fin to fingers, and he was a proud merman. Isn’t this what Link had always wanted? To stand by his father? To earn his approval? To fulfill the destiny he’d been handed since he was a child–succeeding his father’s place one day?

“Let me tell you something, my son,” Arn continued, steering him toward a window in his chambers. “Look out into the throne room with me.”

Link stared down at the ornate throne room where the Queen usually resided. It was late enough now that it was empty besides a few guards, swimming around the grand oval-shaped room. An oversized throne sat prominently in the center, and large pillars led a long swimway up to Her Majesty’s pedestal.

“That throne symbolizes more than a seat,” Arn was saying. “It is where the Queen rests, where peace is secured, where merfolk look to for answers. Her Majesty has watched over her people for far longer than you realize. She was granted this position by Hylia herself, and it is the sworn and sacred duty of knights like myself to protect that peace. By securing Queen Faron’s safety, we are by extension safeguarding the entire ocean. Tell me, Link–do you remember the story of the Master Sword?”

Link nodded, head swimming. 

“Then you know of the legends. Long ago, when Her Majesty was appointed the position of Queen of the Oceans by the Goddess Hylia, she was also entrusted with a legendary sword said to vanquish darkness and evil. Queen Faron swore to protect this sacred object, but it was desired by dark forces. A fearsome battle ensued, and the Queen was victorious, but hid the sword away in an unknown place with only the words, ‘someday it shall return when the one meant to wield it has need of it.’ And so, Her Majesty and her knights protect her secret to this day.”

It was a story Link had heard since he was young, but he listened anyway. His father was insistent that old legends deserved respect.

Arn’s gaze fixed on the throne. “I have dedicated my life to protecting these waters and its ruler. Now, it is time for you to do the same.” His grip on Link’s shoulder tightened. “My hope is that, once you discover what it is you wish to protect, you will understand my fervor. I hope that you come to want to protect something sacred as much as I.”

He had always admired that steadfastness of his father’s–and for the first time, he was given an explanation as to why he was that way. 

What it is I want to protect… Link wished for an answer.

Was it truly the throne, as his father expected?

Or…did he have something else in mind?

“In any case,” Arn continued, snapping him from his thoughts, “the ceremony is the next coral moonset, next week. I expect you to be adequately prepared and mind your manners. Now you should return home and see your sister. It grows late.”

“Yes, Father.” With that, Link swam out of the palace with his stormy thoughts.

~

“Big Brother, you’re no fun to play with anymore,” Aryll complained, waving her coral sword in front of him. “You used to play knights with me all the time!”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, admittedly ignoring his younger sister. “I thought Father told you to stop playing with fake swords.”

Aryll harrumphed, dramatically swimming over to her bed and flopping onto it. “You’re the one who made it for me! Father thinks it’s a waste of time, anyways. What does he know? Why couldn’t I be good at it? You are, and your mind’s swimming around all the time!”

His mouth twitched into a grin. “You’re still too young.”

“Now you sound just like Father!” She groaned, tossing the sword away. It drifted, coming to land on the floor between their beds.

Link turned over, staring at it. He thought about knighthood. He thought about the legend of the Master Sword. He thought about all of his apprehension, symbolized as this toy sword he had crafted for his sister.

“Big Brother?” Eyes snapping up, he met Aryll’s stare from across the dark bedroom. “Are you excited to become a knight?”

Excited…?

Since he was a child, Link had done everything necessary to become a knight. Every early morning, every grueling training session, every missed meal, all of it would be worth it when he accomplished his dream and was awarded knighthood by the Queen. That’s what he’d always thought. So this should make him happy. He should be excited. All his hard work meant something. Right?

And yet…

A deep, unadulterated yearning filled the hollow of his chest, sprouting roots and spreading throughout his body from the crown of his head to the tip of his tail. He yearned to feel complete. He was terrified of never finding that “purpose in life” his father told him about. What if he was knighted, and this hollowness still didn’t go away? What if this feeling of incompleteness didn’t lift? What was he yearning for? Was it knighthood? Or something else entirely?

Was he truly the master of his own fate?

He turned away so Aryll couldn’t see his face when he lied. “Of course.”

There was a beat of silence so loud he could hear his heart hammering in his chest. Finally, he heard Aryll’s quiet response: “That’s good.”

The silence was suffocating. Link thought of Aryll’s dream of being a knight and the guilt clawed at him. How could he show ungratefulness in front of her? 

He was about to speak again when they heard a soft knock at the door. His head snapped up.

“It’s awfully late for visitors…” Aryll frowned, voicing Link’s exact thoughts.

“Wait here. I’ll see who it is.” Swimming forward, he left Aryll’s protests behind and approached the front of their sea home. Peeking out, he caught a familiar flash of red and sighed in relief, opening the door. “Mipha. You’re out late.”

She tried to smile at him, obviously uneasy. Her hands were twisted together, whitening her knuckles. He waited for a response.

“...sorry for turning up like this. I was just worried, I suppose.” Her expression was pinched. “I heard about it from your father. Congratulations, Link.”

“Thanks, but…” he reached forward to rest a hand on her twisted ones. “You don’t seem that happy about it.”

Mipha stilled suddenly, staring at their hands. Her eyes were cloudy. “I really am happy for you. You’ve been a hard worker since we were kids. You deserve this.” Slowly, she unclenched her hands, turning them over to hold Link’s. “I suppose now you’ll start thinking about your future.”

The future. Of course, that was only natural. He was an adult now, and adults thought about these sorts of things.

“I-I just hope,” Mipha stuttered, her voice a bit high, “that we can spend some time together…once your ceremony is over.”

“Of course we can,” Link answered naturally. “You’re still my friend, Mipha. Just because I’ll be busy being a knight won’t change that.”

“Yes, of course. My father will be pleased to hear that.” Her voice was still high, but gaining confidence. “He told me to congratulate you, as well.”

“That’s kind of him.” Mipha’s father, Dorephan, was a well-respected royal advisor to Her Majesty. Mipha was considered nobility because of that. 

“Yes, well, he also wished for me to ask you about…” her face pinkened, and she coughed, hands tightening around his. “About your plans for marriage in the future…”

“Marriage?” He felt like he’d suddenly been tossed into a whirlpool. “I…I hadn’t really thought about it…I’m still young, too, so…”

“Yes, of course!” Mipha yelped, releasing him to flail her arms slightly. “I just mean that, given you’re an adult and a knight to boot, everyone’s going to have their eyes on you.”

Link just blinked at her. “Really?”

“Yes,” she stressed with no little amount of exasperation. “Honestly, Link, you know how the nobility think. Many suitors are going to start approaching you. You may as well begin thinking about it.”

“I–I don’t think I’m getting married anytime soon…” he mumbled, embarrassed. Mipha was right, as always, but romance was foreign to him. Wielding a sword he could do. Flirt with a girl…? He’d rather eat rocks. “Is this really what you wanted to talk about?”

Her shoulders sagged, and it looked like all the spirit was knocked out of her. Link winced, not understanding but still feeling guilty. 

“I suppose it is late. This is a conversation for another time,” Mipha sighed. “Just…think about it, okay? You’ve got to start taking things more seriously.”

“Right,” he mumbled, and Mipha leaned in to kiss his cheek before hurrying a goodbye and swimming away.

He watched her go, melancholy settling into his chest. 

~

“Revali, wait.”

The seagull scoffed, barely sparing Link a glance as he approached the Surface. “I thought I told you to go away.”

“You just met with Her Majesty, didn’t you?” Link asked, ignoring his rebuff. “Was it about the human territory?”

“Hah! That is between me and Her Majesty. Besides, that is information for royal knights only. You’re still just a guppy.”

Link frowned. “I’m being knighted, you know.”

“Yes, yes, I heard–tonight’s the big night. Congratulations. They’ll make anyone a knight nowadays, won’t they? I suppose they’re not as important as they once were.”

Irritation coated Link’s words. “And you are?”

Revali squawked out a laugh. “Of course I am! I am Her Majesty’s main source of information! How else would merfolk hear news of the Surface?”

“So it was about humans!” Link’s eyes glinted. “Tell me about it. I’ll be a royal knight soon, so I should know, don’t you think?”

“Hardly.”

“Bet you don’t actually have news,” Link mumbled. “You just pretend you do to feel important.”

Revali whipped around, feathers ruffled. “How dare you! I take my job very seriously, unlike you. If anything, I should be a knight. I’ve heard about you, you know. You drift through life with your head in the currents. Utterly ridiculous.”

“And yet, I’m being knighted and you aren’t.”

Link knew he was riling up the bird, but he knew Revali. It was the only way to get what he wanted out of him–information. He was curious about the human world, but it was so shrouded in purposeful mystery that he didn’t know much. He knew his father hated them, and they were merciless when it came to merfolk.

“But I know far more about Hyrule,” Revali countered.

Link’s ears perked at the unfamiliar word. “Hyrule?”

“The human kingdom, you dolt. The kingdom of Hyrule.”

“Humans have a kingdom? Like us?”

“Naturally. You don’t look so different, besides the tail,” Revali snorted, eyeing Link’s lower half distastefully. “Humans are odd, but beautiful too, in a strange way.”

Link had heard of this. Instead of a tail, humans had two appendages called ‘legs.’ Like a crab. It sounded weird to him, but if Revali, the vainest bird he knew, was calling them beautiful…

His curiosity grew. “Beautiful?”

Revali sniffed. “Don’t take that too seriously. They don’t even have wings. But, well, the princess is pretty…for a human, I suppose.”

“The princess?” A human princess. He wondered what she looked like.

“Instead of a queen like Queen Faron, who is reasonable and brilliant, humans have a king. He looks rather pompous to me,” Revali stuck his beak upward, and the irony didn’t pass by Link. “He has just one daughter, the princess. I forget her name. Something odd.”

The human world, which seemed odd to Revali, was even more so to Link. He didn’t know where this curiosity was springing from, but it was like an itch he couldn’t quite reach. Another kingdom, above the water. Another throne, with a king sitting in it, not a queen. And a princess, which he often teased Mipha for acting like, but he’d never actually met one before.

What was she like? Did she have knights, too? Did the king?

“What does she look like?”

“That’s quite enough,” Revali tittered, and Link knew he’d reached his limit for the day. “Don’t you have something more important to do than wonder about princesses you’ll never meet?”

With a jolt, Link came to the realization he’d spent too much time here. His knighting ceremony would be starting soon, and he had to get back to the palace.

Ignoring Revali’s lingering contemptuous look, Link swam as fast as he could away from the messenger bird and towards his looming future.

~

Unbeknownst to Link, two sets of eyes were watching him from the shadows. The eels snickered, the sisters amused at the sight of the young merman.

Their master, watching Revali and Link’s conversation through the eels’ eyes, felt a chill of anticipation. His mouth twisted into a grim smile.

“So this is Arn’s boy,” he rumbled, his deep voice echoing through the chamber of darkness he resided in. “He is very…curious. This might be the chance I was waiting for. Kotake, Koume, follow him. Do not let him out of your sight.”

The eels slithered out of their dark nook, chasing after the unsuspecting merman. Meanwhile, their master focused on his image with glowing eyes.

“At last, a weakness. Her Majesty will not be able to stop me a second time.”

Deranged laughter filled the cavern, floating up from the dark abyss.

~

“I can’t believe you’re late to your own knighting ceremony,” Mipha tutted, hurrying to straighten the ornaments he was wearing. “You’re lucky the Queen hasn’t arrived yet. Your father would’ve been furious.”

Link shrugged, his nerves causing a blockage in his throat. 

“Big Brother, you look like you’re gonna puke,” Aryll piped up unhelpfully from where she’d been looking out the window at the gathering knights. 

His mouth forced a grimacing smile. “Thanks.”

“She’s right, though. Breathe, Link,” Mipha told him, swimming back to admire her work. “You do look…dashing.”

He was wearing a royal knight’s regalia, a navy blue sash across his chest with silver ornaments depicting three crescent moons draped on top. Around his waist was a thick silver belt bearing the same insignia, and his unruly shoulder-length hair was tied back neatly for once. He had never felt more uncomfortable.

“Thanks for your help, Mipha.”

“Of course. I shall always be willing to help you,” she smiled, reaching up to tuck an errant piece of hair away. “Aryll and I will go join our fathers. We’ll be cheering for you.”

As Mipha swam away, Aryll followed with a: “Don’t puke on the Queen!”

Right. Easier said than done.

Now truly left alone, Link swam to the mirror to look at himself. He didn’t recognize the merman he saw. Not just because of the ornaments, but because of his expression. Since when did he look so scared and uncertain? 

“My son,” a deep voice spoke from behind him, and Link whirled around to face his father. “I have something to give you before we begin.”

He blinked at his father in surprise, naturally straightening his spine and nodding. Wordlessly, Arn swam forward and presented Link with a gift: a necklace with a small pendant in the shape of a sword. 

“This is a present from me, to remind you of what you’re protecting with the honor of a knight,” Arn spoke, his voice unwavering. “May you carry that burden with the strength and courage I know you possess.”

Link took the necklace, speechless, before fastening it around his neck. It rested against his sternum, a gentle weight to remind him of how fast his heart was beating. “Thank you, Father.”

Arn stared at him, his eyes full of too many emotions for Link to count. Finally, he sighed and briefly rested his hand on Link’s shoulder. “The ceremony begins soon. I will be waiting, son.”

With that, Link was left alone with nothing but the sound of his blood roaring in his ears and his heart in his throat.

~

“…In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bless you, Knight. Over the seas of time and distance, when we need the golden power of the Goddess, our hope rests in you, to be forever by the Queen's side. We pray that you will be strong, in the name of our kingdom. Rise and receive the Queen’s blessing.”

Link lifted his head, hoping his face was stoic. The Queen stared down at him from her massive throne, and he shivered despite himself.

Queen Faron was not like the normal merperson. She was a water dragon, said to be almost as old as the ocean itself, and one of the last remaining relics of an era long past, when Hylia herself roamed the Surface. Huge and striking an awe-inspiring picture, Link could understand why she was so respected.

“In the name of the goddess, and my crown as Queen of the Oceans, I bestow upon you the title of a royal knight.” The Queen’s voice was powerful yet oddly soothing, and Link bowed deeply as the merfolk assembled cheered. “Turn now, and face the people you swore to protect.”

Having somehow made his way through his oaths and the formal part of the ceremony, Link turned to look at everyone–the assembled nobles, knights, and common folk curious to see the young prodigy. He spotted Aryll cheering by his father’s side, and Mipha next to her own father, smiling brightly.

Link waited for the feeling of completeness to come. He waited for his moment of proud realization that he was exactly where he was meant to be, and finally a sense of duty would fill his chest. He waited for the feeling his father described to arrive.

It didn’t.

Instead of pride or joy, dread filled his chest, strangling him with panic. He did not feel fulfilled. He did not feel complete. He only felt wrongness clawing at his skin, anxiety at the back of his neck.

This is wrong.

The thought, so small, flitted across his mind, and he was unable to banish it. He hated it. He wished so desperately that it wasn’t–that he’d found his path, his sense of duty, surely he was wrong, surely if he just tried harder–

Link couldn’t breathe. The sounds of clapping and cheering faded away. He couldn’t see his friends or family. He was going to erode away into grains of sand, cursed to float along the currents. His body was not his own. 

He fled.

It was something he had never done before. Never had he run away from his responsibilities. He had always done everything asked of him. So why now? Why was he choking back sobs? Why did he feel so panicked? What was happening to him?

Did no one understand how much that terrified him, realizing the path he’d led his entire life was wrong?

A hand roughly grabbed his shoulder. It stung, but was able to draw him back to himself. Belatedly, he realized his father was there. They weren’t in the palace. It was dark, and the open sea.

“–happened? What in the name of the golden goddess were you thinking?! You will take your tail right back in there and–”

“No.” Link’s tongue unstuck. “No, I can’t.”

“Excuse me?” He had never seen his father so angry. “You disrespected Her Majesty and her entire court. You are a knight. I expect you to–”

“I’m not!” Link finally snapped, shoving Arn’s hands away. “I’m not a royal knight! I don’t belong in there!”

“Nonsense!” Arn shouted, his eyes sparking with anger. “You’ve prepared for this your whole life, I will not allow you to–”

“I can’t, Father, I won’t–”

“Stop acting like a child!” Arn’s bellow reverberated in the waters around them, shocking Link to his core. “Your destiny is to follow me! To become the next captain!”

Link’s throat stung. His hands balled into fists. When had his father ever asked what his thoughts were? Wasn’t he worried about why Link had fled in the first place? Or did he truly only see him as a successor? “How can you say I’ll be the one to follow you when you just called me a child? You won’t even let me near the Surface!”

Arn’s gaze sharpened. “You know why.”

“It isn’t fair. If you truly saw me as a man, you wouldn’t keep me ignorant about humans!”

“Don’t mention them here,” Arn hissed. “They are dangerous, evil creatures–”

“What if they aren’t? What if–”

“You are speaking nonsense. I’ve had enough.”

Link felt his chance slipping away. The Surface and his curiosity about humans were the only things he’d ever felt were his own decision to learn about. The only things that made him feel interested in something. Why couldn’t his father see that?

“I just want to know more about them!”

“They killed your mother!” Arn screamed, and the resulting silence was worse than anything Link had heard before. The words hung between them, thick and heavy, and suddenly there was no fight left in him. Just emptiness.

“That’s enough.” Apparently his father felt the same. “You are not to speak of this again. I will apologize to Her Majesty and the court. Go home. I hope the morning will bring you back to your senses.”

Watching his father’s retreating figure, Link wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He’d never felt so alone. 

Arn didn’t understand, which he couldn’t even be angry about. Link didn’t even fully understand it himself. All he knew was that when he was sitting in that spot where land met the sea, he felt alive for the first time in his life.

A shadow passed across his face. Duly, he looked up, only for his eyes to widen.

He must’ve swam further out than he thought. Well, he’d always been a quick swimmer, but still, he was closer to human territory than he should be.

Because that form above him was most definitely a human ship.

He’d seen them before, of course, floating along the Surface. He’d never gone near one, though. At the time, his father’s warnings of humans rang in his ears and his fear and respect were too great.

Link hated the flicker of curiosity in his chest. Hadn’t he learned by now? 

Yet, in the wake of his argument with his father, he realized if he didn’t do something, he’d be like this forever. Doing what his father asked without question. Fulfilling a role he was given, not one he chose. Marrying and continuing the cycle for the next captain. Wasting away for the rest of his life.

No. He couldn’t. It was time for a little courage.