I stare at it. “Where am I?”

 

The construct beeps again. “We stand in the Garden of Time. The Temple of Time is visible from here.”

It turns to indicate a massive building that looks like a giant screw.

“It was used in the distant past. Many rites and ceremonies of the kingdom were held there. But no more. Now it is a lonely place. No-one visits.”

To the right of the construct, another of those glowing green handprints lights up in the air. I go over and touch it, and, with a loud, grinding stone-on-stone sound, a bridge forms between the sky island I’m standing on and another part of the floating landmass.

Across the bridge, another of those constructs is there, but it doesn’t seem aggressive, so I move on, plunging down into another pond, and sighing as I emerge, dripping and soaked again. And a construct attacks before I’ve even had a chance to wring my hair out.

I keep my eyes on the Temple of Time, avoiding a large group of the aggressive machines while foraging for a handful of apples and another cluster of mushrooms. Further past them, I encounter one of the friendly constructs. It’s positioned by a fire, and I approach, eager for the warmth. The construct examines me, but doesn’t interfere as I dry myself off in the heat.

 I place down a couple of apples by the fire, baking them by the flames, before moving on and ascending the stairs, climbing the broken sections to reach the Temple. To my complete unsurprise, there’s one of the aggressive constructs. This one has a shield, and an ACTUAL sword! It’s rusty, but serviceable, once I’ve managed to scatter its bits across the floor.

The door of the Temple is shut, but another glowing green handprint appears. I press my new hand to it, but the symbol turns red, and then more glyphs styled after chains cross over it. The voice from earlier rings out from behind me.

“That door will open only to those with sufficient power…”

Turning to face the source, I start.

“I’m sorry- I did not intend to startle you.”

The speaker is a see-through entity who looks much like one of the statues from beneath Hyrule castle.

“It was I who spoke to you earlier. That arm originally belonged to me.”

The spectre raised its arm in demonstration, and I can see it very much matches the one that had replaced my own right arm.

“I am Rauru.”

I look down at my new limb, which is glowing faintly, then back to the mysterious being, Rauru.

“Forgive me for appearing to you in this manner. Unfortunately, I no longer have a physical form… in any case, that arm should allow you to open this door. It seems to have lost the power to do so…you might be able to restore it, but only if you were to enter a place filled with sacred light…”

The being raises its hand to its chin. His chin? I think he’s a male. Probably.

“Ah, of course! Why not visit the shrines on this island?”

He gestures, pointing towards a strange object that looks like a giant stone egg sitting in some kind of bracket. As I study it, I spot a swirl of blue-green energy rising from it, much like the one that had pinned the not-quite-dead individual down.

“The shrines… yes, I am sure they are the key!”

As I watch, Rauru fades away, as if he was never here. Sighing, I shrug. “Well, what else have I got to lose?”

It takes me about thirty minutes of careful traversal, as well as the destruction of two more constructs, one of which wields a bow, for me to reach the shrine. I approach and touch the green glowing handprint, and a glowing rift opens in the stone, revealing that it’s much, MUCH bigger on the inside. I step inside, and find myself inside a cavernous space. Rauru appears, and I jump a little. I swear, he’s so strange…

“Ahhh… so you’ve made it here. This is a Shrine of Light. Long ago, I filled these places with light that purges evil. I believe this light will restore an ability your new right arm has lost. Now, extend your hand.”

I hold my right hand out, and watch as a glowing green-blue energy coalesces around my palm and wrist, the golden bands glittering slightly. The light absorbs into the limb, and I feel a rush of power. I feel… like a whole new world is about to open to me. Rauru nods.

“This is the Ultrahand ability. It allows you to move objects freely and attach them to other objects. With it, you will be able to build a great number of things. Really, anything you can imagine. Use Ultrahand, and receive the blessing from this shrine.”

Rauru vanishes again, and I sigh. “Well, the Sheikah runes stopped working, so I guess I was due for some form of replacement… hopefully I’ll be able to explain all this to Zel and Ganondora…” I look at my new arm pensively.

 Shrugging, I make my way down the stairs, and stop. There’s a pit in front of me, and I can’t even dream of jumping across. Luckily, there’s a large, flat board lying to one side. I wonder…

Stretching my right arm out, I focus, and a tendril of turquoise energy grabs it, allowing me to effortlessly manoeuver the board into position as a bridging ramp across the gap. The next gap is too wide for me to cross, even with the board. However, there’s a second board, and Rauru DID say I could attach things to other things… let me try…

Sure enough, the two boards stick together with a green energy that acts like extremely strong, quick-drying glue.

“Awesome! I mean, not the losing-my-arm-and-girlfriend, but cool new power.”

The next puzzle is a little different. A wooden panel and two huge, long-necked hooks. Hmmm…. I turn to examine the pit. It’s way, WAY too wide for just sticking boards together to cross. However, there’s a metal rail that spans the chasm, and I smile.

“Oh, this is easy. I’ve been studying with Zel, after all, and she’s a good teacher.”

 Attaching the hooks to the panel, I construct a sort of gondola, and hang it over the rail. Almost immediately, it starts sliding along the rail, and I quickly board my creation, riding to victory as the gondola comes to a halt on the far side from where I’d started. Disembarking, I approach the altar at the end of the shrine, touching the glowing green handprint.

A panel slides down, revealing a large, two-part statue, one of Rauru, the other of a Hylian woman at his side. Who IS she? The woman from the mural? Or someone important? A great number of the glowing symbols from when I’d awoken fill the air around me.

A voice fills my head.

“You have done well to reach this place… we offer this light that will cleanse you of evil…”

The symbols merge in a flash, turning from green to blinding gold before splitting and homing in on me, forming a golden orb in front of me. When I touch it, it gets pulled into my right arm, and I smile.

The voice adds, “May the Light of Blessing grant you the strength you seek…”

 

The shrine suddenly goes dark, and I find myself outside. Rauru’s shade is waiting for me.

“You did very well getting through that shrine. And you’ve begun to master an ability. This is wonderful! If you visit and complete two more shrines, you should be able to open the door to the Temple of Time…”

 He vanishes yet again. I mark the locations of the remaining shrines by eye, before making my way towards the nearer of the two. It takes a good three hours to make it this time, but, eventually, I stand before the shrine, the rift forming as I step through, entering the bigger-on-the-inside space.

 

As before, Rauru is waiting, and I extend my right arm at his request. More green light swirls, burrowing into my palm as I unlock the next power.

“This is the Fuse ability. It allows you to fuse something nearby to your weapon or shield, thereby enhancing it. Why not give it a try, and earn the blessing from this shrine?” Rauru says before he disappears.

 

I hold a tree branch out, focussing. “Hmmm… attach something to my weapon…”

I look at one of a trio of nearby boulders, and tap the branch against the boulder. The huge rock shrinks down, attaching itself to the branch, and, while it weighs a fair amount, it still isn’t as heavy as a boulder the size of a small cottage SHOULD weigh.

Using it as a hammer, I smash it into a cracked section of wall, watching as it crumbles to pieces. The next area is lined with cracked pillars, and I spot a chest on top of one. Smashing the pillar, I watch the chest smack down onto the floor, opening it to find a piece of amber, a shiny caramelesque gem!

“Ooh, pretty!”

There’s another room, where I find a bow, some arrows, and a whole bunch of little fruit-bearing trees. The fruit hanging from their branches seems to explode into flames upon impact. Up on the wall, there’s a wooden ledge with another chest. I hold one of the arrows, Fusing a fire-fruit to the head, and then nock my bow, sending the arrows careening into the wooden ledge. When it burns through, the chest drops, offering up a small key, which I pick up and head back to find the door this key will fit.

Through the door, I climb a small ladder, finding myself at odds with one of those aggressive constructs, which copies my new trick by Fusing a large rock to its wooden club. Hey, that’s MY thing, you metal-clad jerk!

I dart up a second ladder, as an arrow sails past me, grabbing the fire-fruit from the little tree up on the platform, taking a few minutes to make sure the construct isn’t trying to climb up after me somehow. Luckily, it seems to forget about me after a short time, and pootles around the main area, rustling through piles of leaves. Hmmm…

Raising my bow, I Fuse a fire-fruit to my arrow and let fly, watching as the construct just wobbles there, the flames licking at it until it falls to pieces. Ha! Stupid robot.

Claiming its horn, a longer and more sword-like one than the one I picked up earlier, and smashing the cracked wall apart, I find the second shrine’s altar. Claiming the Light of Blessing, I end up outside the shrine, with one more shrine to go. Outside, one of the nice and peaceful constructs is waiting.

“Linka. I came because there is something I failed to give you. Please take it.”

It hands me a strange metal device that fits onto my belt.

“What I have just given you is an energy cell. It is required to make use of the tools known as Zonai devices. I cannot demonstrate its utility because there are no Zonai devices right here. However, I have associates on the other side of the nearby cave system. They can teach you how to use this. I hope that the energy cell I provided will be of use to you.”

I nod, making my way downstairs and towards the cave, going out of my way to avoid the soldier constructs as they attack a cluster of Chuchus, darting into the cave. A weird glowing frog tries to kill me with bubbles, so I shoot it in the head with an arrow. It drops a funny-looking gem, before floating away like an amphibious balloon. I grab a large number of glowing flower buds, some flint, amber, and a ruby, as well as finding a tunic, completing my outfit. Thankfully, my boobs are where they should be, thanks to Zelda’s special adhesive and my bra. Even the repeated trips straight into a series of ponds hadn’t dislodged them, to my relief.

Once through the cave, I receive a lesson on using Zonai devices, and craft a fanboat from the parts available, crossing the lake and climbing up to find another cave. It’s very dark, and I remember the glowing flower buds I’d scavenged, and throw one down, hitting it with a stick.

It blooms instantly, shedding bright light for several feet.

“Yesss!” 

I start making my way through, using a couple more of the bright blooms to illuminate my path. A few ore deposits, which yield a mysterious green substance, are mine to claim uncontested, and, a few more metres, I find what looks like a forge or refinery of some kind. I approach the construct with a spade, shovelling more of the strange green ore into the forge’s receptacle.

It beeps as I clear my throat.

“Apologies for not noticing you. I was focussed on processing Zonaite.”

I blink. “Zonaite?”

The construct beeps and whirrs again. “Oh? Are you unfamiliar with it? This is the Zonaite I mentioned.” It gestures to a small pile of the same green ore I’d collected.

“It is a unique material that can be mined far beneath the land below. There are trace deposits of it on this island as well. But they are limited to this cave. Our society flourished by processing this substance into other materials.”

I tilt my head. “Processing?”

The construct chimes, “Zonaite is processed by smelting it in a furnace. It is thereby converted into materials with useful properties. A few such materials will be ready for your review shortly. Wait one moment.”

A couple of minutes later, the construct finishes its work, before turning back to me.

“Thank you for your patience. I will now explain what sorts of materials the ore can be processed into.”

It shows me half a dozen spherical orbs of energy contained by a metal frame.

“Zonai technology is typically powered by Zonai charges. These occasionally solidify into a form known as crystallized charges.”

The construct indicates a series of triangular prisms. Apparently, these crystallized charges can be used to make energy cells! Trading some of the Zonaite I’d gathered, I buy up all the crystallized charges in exchange.

After another construct gifts me a small number of Zonai capsules, the small spheres which contain the devices, I attach the fan I released to a minecart, use my Ultrahand ability to position the cart on some rails, and climb aboard, before whacking the fan, making it spin, the cart moving along the rails and taking me to a new plateau where some huge sphere filled with Zonai capsules is stationed. A little experimentation reveals that, should I insert a few Zonai charges, or a construct horn or two, I can get ready-to-use capsules for my own purposes! I spot another cart rail, but there’s a broken section in one of them. However, a minecart, fan, and big hook, and I create a gondola to scale the gap and make progress. I’m beginning to get the hang of this Ultrahand and Fuse skillset.

Making my way towards the position of the final shrine, I run into a problem. This part of the Great Sky Island is, to put it bluntly, F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G! My archaic clothing is fine for the milder areas, but this is beyond the limits of what I can handle. Retreating, I ponder my options. I could make a fire, but how would I carry it? Would Ultrahand even work for that?

Wait! I picked up an old shield from that construct guarding the Temple of Time, right? And I found a ruby in the cave with that weird frog! Rubies are said to embody the pure essence of fire, so… on a hunch, I remove the ruby from my skirt pocket and touch it to my shield, trying to attach them together. Fusing the two items worked, leaving me in possession of a brand new Ruby Shield!

Slinging it across my back, I take a few tentative steps into the cold, the snow crunching under my sandals, but… nothing. I feel warm, actually!

“Hahaha! It actually works! I don’t feel one bit chilly!”

With renewed determination, I continue on my way, heading towards my destination, focussing on meeting up with Zelda again. That construct said she was here, and the Purah Pad is proof. It’s a unique item, not the type of tech that would just be lying about for anyone to take.

 

Backing out of the cold, I spot a cave. This must be the way to go. There’s even a construct tending to a cooking pot! The sight of the cooking pot reminds me that I’ve only had a couple of baked apples since I came to on this flying island. It’s probably time to eat something more substantial.

After a quick meal, I enter the cave proper, climbing up through the raised sections to reach the top, getting distracted for a moment by a side path that leads me to an ore deposit with another ruby, and another weird frog. Knocking it for six and taking the funny snowflake-shaped gem it drops, I wend my way back around and up, emerging into a snowfield much larger than the first.

Along the way, I find another cave guarded by a construct with a flamethrower attached to its weapon! I wait for some of the nearby White Chuchus to pick a fight, and simply run past. I don’t really feel like getting set on fire, thanks!

Yet another weird frog, some flowers that seem to explode when struck, and a chest containing a hunk of amber. It goes further up, and I shrug. I might as well explore, right? Could be something good in here.

A little ways up, I run into a creature that looks like a sea anemone, but… so much uglier! It seems to be stuck to the wall of the cave, but, when I approach, it reacts, writhing and revealing a toothy maw.

“Oh, yuck! You are NOT eating me, you disgusting wall-penis!” I draw my bow and loose an arrow, which… bounces off.

“Ah… well, that’s not good. Does this thing have a… a weak point or something?”

I inch closer, and, when it opens its lamprey mouth, I see my chance.

 “Chew on this, you cave-bastard!”

Fusing a fire-fruit to my arrow, I feed it the spiciest meal it’s ever had.

It DEFINITELY doesn’t like it, extending and flopping around as a strange, testicle-like ball made up of multiple eyes lolls out of its mouth. I start beating on it with my stick, before backing up and feeding it a second course of fire-fruit arrow flambé, which seems to do the trick. It burps and squeals, barfing out a treasure chest, a bundle of arrows, and a round, sticky stone. Eeeeggghhhh…. I don’t really wanna touch ANY of this stuff, but I’m pretty strapped for resources, and beggars can’t be choosers…

 

Further up and behind the creepy thing’s position, I snatch up more brightbloom seeds, before running into ANOTHER one. “Ugh, seriously, these monsters come in groups?! At least they can’t chase me, so… there’s that. Ugh… my life sucks right now! I wanna hug my girlfriend!”

I whine, taking aim and inching forwards. I try plain arrows, and they seem to work well enough. There’s also a treasure chest behind the thing, as well as one it’s eaten. Another nasty stone it puked up, too. Ugh…

Exiting the cave with my prizes, I find myself stuck on an icy precipice. Either I can go back, or I can try and scale the frozen cliff behind me. Unfortunately, I can’t get a good grip. Scanning my immediate surrounds, I spot a couple of tree trunks, fallen and unused. Idea!

Sticking the trunks together into one long pole with Ultrahand, I lean it up against the cliff and manage to climb it, successfully scaling my latest obstacle. Better bring it with me, too… oh, wait. The shrine’s right here. Never mind!

I enter the last of the Great Sky Island’s shrines. Wonder what power I’ll get this time…

As before, Rauru appears, and I hold out my right hand, the turquoise energy swirling and rippling into my skin.

“That is the Ascend ability. It lets you travel through what’s directly above you. To ascend through it and emerge on top of it. You’ll find it quite useful in all sorts of situations. Use it, and receive the blessing from this shrine…”

Rauru vanishes. No! Bad Rauru! Get back here and explain things, you spooky goat-rabbit-man!

Inside the shrine, there’s no way up, with a large overhanging ledge above six metres or so above me. There’s no way I can CLIMB the walls, they’re too slippery. Hmmm… do I just think ‘up’? With Ultrahand and Fuse, I just… will them to do the thing I want. Maybe this works the same? Up! Rise! Ascend-!

I barely finish my thought before finding myself sticking out of the ledge on the upper side. It’s like I swam through solid stone as if it was water! I pull myself out, and find the stone block beneath me as solid and unmoving as it should be.

“Oh, fuck the hells yes. THIS is the kind of power I can really work with! No more having trouble with getting up to high places! Ultrahand for getting things off high shelves, Fuse for making interesting gadgets, and now I can go to bed without needing the stairs! Zel would be fascinated by this…”

My mood dampens when I think about my missing girlfriend. She’s who-knows-where, and I’m not there with her! I’m her knightess! I should be protecting her…

The next use gets me up to a platform with a soldier construct, and a bridge held in a raised position by two ropes. Dashing past the construct, I avoid its arrows, hacking the ropes through with a stone axe I’d made with Fuse, and then whirling to Ascend through the bridge, ending up out of the construct’s range.

This time, there’s a moving platform and an Ascend point that’s too far out of range. I  Ascend through the moving platform, and wait till I’m under the second Ascend point. Rising through that, I find myself on the Altar‘s platform, and claim my Light of Blessing. I’m now three for three on those!

Back outside, I sigh, my breath still fogging in the cold air. Rauru is waiting for me.

“I see you’ve restored some power to that new arm of yours. The door into the Temple of Time should now open to you…”

And, just like before, he vanishes. Looking around, I spot another Zonai Capsule dispenser, and a strange, slanted ramp aiming downwards, a sort of railing set into the stone. A series of bird-like gliders is lying to one side. Alright, I see what I’m supposed to do. Easy.

Ultrahanding one of the gliders into position, I let it go and scramble aboard, adjusting my weight in order to direct my ‘flight’. As the glider sails over the Temple of Time’s entrance staircase, I leap off, landing lightly and keeping my skirt down with one hand, watching the glider soar off, disappearing into the distance.

“Uh… whoops. I hope I won’t have to go fetch that.”

Approaching the stupid locked door, I try the handprint again. This time, the doors slide open, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Zel’s supposed to be here, right? That’s what the construct said when I got the Purah Pad….

I step inside, and see a shining comma-shaped stone. I get closer, and reach out, touching it. Golden light erupts from it, and I find myself in a dreamlike mist, standing there. Zelda is floating before me, hands clasped as if in prayer. She’s wearing a dress that looks like a single-piece version of mine, only hers is pure white, with a green strip of embroidered cloth.

She reaches out, eyes closed, with her right hand. I raise my replacement arm, and our fingers brush as I take it. Her thumb brushes tenderly over the back of my index knuckle, and the glow around her starts to intensify. I try to hold on, but… nothing. Her light flows into my right hand, the Zonai arm absorbing it, as my girlfriend bestows yet another gift upon me. I can tell what it is, too, as she fades away like she wasn’t there at all…

Looking down at the golden light upon my hand, I smile sadly. “Recall… the power to turn back time, for but a few moments, reversing the flow… Oh, Zel…”

Rauru appears, nodding. “Indeed. And Zelda has vanished as well… what just happened… it’s a mystery, even to me. Perhaps it was a sort of echo- one that reflects her sheer will. That she has now passed on this ability to you… No doubt it will prove useful…”

I sigh as he vanishes. “Well, let’s see how your power works, Zel… “

I jog around to the spinning gears behind the altar, and watch them. There are spokes that spin clockwise, and I raise my hand. “Recall!”

The gears stop, and them begin rotating in reverse, allowing me to clamber up and hop onto the top of a pillar that I couldn’t have Ascended to. There’s another gear behind the first two, at a right angle to both.  I wait for the spoke to get where I need, and then Recall again, scaling the last gear and finding myself in front of a Goddess statue.

“Wait… why is a Goddess statue here?!” I ask, blinking, before ignoring that for the moment and approaching the door. When I push against it, the central ring starts to light up, but my strength gives out before the two halves of the light ring connect. Rauru’s voice comes to my side.

“The door stands as a test of your overall vitality. You remain in a weakened state. You’re not yet strong enough to open it. But… there IS one more shrine on this island. There, you can get another blessing…”