Legend of Zelda: Curse of the Zonai - Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2




Blind to Power creates the warrior.

Slave to Power creates the tyrant.


            -Zonai Records of King Aldert Coen Hyrule p.14

 







“You see this soil?” Mie showed the overseer a handful of dirt. “It’s poisoned.” She explained. “All from the malice.”

“The evil is gone, but its filth remains. This whole area is still filled with the stuff. We can’t build a cathedral on poisoned land.” The overseer muttered. “How do you know all this?”

“I’m a farmer. I’ve worked with the land since I could walk.” Mie replied. She knew this soil was not poor but tainted.

“What would be the best way to fix the land?” He asked.

“Fix it?” She paused for a moment. There was nothing that could be done immediately to repair the soil. “The best thing you could do is haul it out and replace it.” She responded. The overseer shook his head and sighed. “No.” He’d been a strict servant of Hylia his whole life. His grandfather had been the high priest at this very cathedral. “This ground is sacred, even if it is poisoned. It cannot be replaced.”

Maybe it could be repaired. She bit her lip in concentration. She’d seen some plants that could grow in the land where malice had retreated. She needed something that would replenish the nutrients in the soil as well. “It will take time.” She replied.  

Despite a long day at work, Mie didn’t encounter anything like the Zonai tablet she’d found the day before.

 

The kitchen was quieter that evening as people had begun to inhabit some of the finished homes in town. Mie and Luro took their usual seat along the wall. 

“Construction on the cathedral has been halted. The officials didn’t want to build a holy structure on tainted land. The overseer is very particular, even though I told him it wouldn’t ruin the building to do so, he still believes we shouldn’t replace the tainted bits of ground.  We could even just dig it up and replace it with stone, making an even stronger foundation, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Not a believer?” Luro asked. 

“In holy things? Oh, I believe. I guess. I know there are great shrines and temples dedicated to deities, and the princess is said to have used the power of the goddesses to vanquish the calamity, but…” Luro watched as she searched for her words. “I’ve never felt anything myself. Nothing holy or unholy. If I could just feel or see anything of the goddesses, demons, whatever it may be. Stuff like that doesn’t come to me. There’s even a statue near our village. Anyone who goes there says they hear evil voices or feel some dark presence. At the very least they feel uncomfortable. You think I would be terrified as a young girl.

“And?”

“Every time I go there, I just see an ugly statue. No voices or creepy feelings.”

“So you want to feel uncomfortable?” Luro asked in his laid-back tone that made sound like he was half-joking.

“Well, it’s better than feeling nothing.” Mie reasoned. Luro nodded as if contemplating her explanation. “People say that they see ghosts or goddesses in their dreams. They claim to see dragons winding through the skies.” Mis shook her head. “It’s just that I have never felt any of that. I thought that by leaving Hateno and going out to see the world, I could find something grand, something that would change my life. But now, here I am still digging in the dirt.” Mie frowned at her own conclusion.

Moments passed. Luro put a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. “It sounds like you’re trying too hard to be something you aren’t rather than finding out who you really are.” He’d lost his usual joking tone and Mie looked up at him, her surprise almost pushing her frustration away. “Besides, this way you’ll never have a heart attack and die from seeing a ghost.” He smiled broadly. She pushed his hand off her shoulder and scowled.

“Only you could connect this to a horrible death somehow.” She accused with a hint of cheer returning to her features.

“Just trying to help.” He replied jokingly. “Who knows, maybe who you really are is far more interesting than seeing a dragon.” Mie realized she hadn’t given Luro enough credit, he had a talent for making her smile when she wanted to be frustrated. 

 

Mie woke early. It was the habit of a farmer. She brushed the sleep dust from her eyes. 

“You know.” A voice came from the tent’s entrance. “If you have a really bad dream,”

“It’ll give me a heart attack and I’ll die?” Mie guessed.

Luro shrugged casually. “It could happen.”

Mie smiled. “Thanks, Luro.”

His smile was visible even though his frame was only a black silhouette, shadowed by the bright rising sun. Mie figured he must be the most easy-going man she’d met, well the most easy-going man who constantly thought of different ways to die. It was truly an odd mixture.

“So why are you here this early?” Mie asked, suddenly very conscious that she was in her sleep clothes. 

“Oh right!” Luro pounded one fist into his open palm. “Big news! That thing you discovered, I guess it matches something they found in the jungle. They’re sending a scholar to take it to the site in Faron.” He paused now, a little conscious of himself and not sure how she’d react. “I’m going with them.” 

Mie blinked in surprise. “You?” She stammered. Luro had been the first person she’d met here in Castle Town. He was her first and best friend here. 

“It’s about my pendant.” He began explaining hurriedly. “I wanted to know more about it. Besides, the city wall is almost finished. They need more stone crafters than fishermen to finish off the surfacing.” He tried to gauge her reaction.

Mie smiled. “That’s great, Luro. This way you’ll have something interesting to bring back to your family.” She was surprised that he’d taken on such a task with his laid-back personality. 

He took a few steps into the tent. “It’s not just my family. My grandfather is the leader of our village. It’s my people. If there is a connection to the inscriptions they found, I want to know how it relates to us.”  

“I wish I could come with you.” She said with a half-smile. Her insides ached for adventure. However, if she went off on some expedition, she’d never be able to send any rupees home to her mother and sister. 

 

The day seemed a little melancholy without Luro there, but Mie was happy that he had found something interesting to motivate to him. She worked quietly musing to herself about how many ways Luro might think to die as he trekked through the jungle. Just before evening the overseer pulled her aside. He asked her again about the cathedral grounds.

“You sure of that?” The overseer asked. Mie nodded.

“The soil needs something to repair it. It needs to be planted with plants that can regenerate it.” She paused and tapped the ground as she thought. “Mountain Down or Fairy Lace might do it. Both plants have durable roots that will clean the soil.”

“How long until we can build?” The over seer asked.

“It could take two or three growing seasons.” Mie replied. “Unless you replace the soil itself.”

“No, it must be healed, not replaced. This ground is sacred.” A voice came from behind her. It was a voice she’d heard before. It was the regal voice of the princess and future queen. Those who recognized her presence bowed straight away and others quickly followed suit. She waved them up quickly as she kept speaking. “We need to heal this soil and the soil up at the castle as well.” She looked at Mie. “You seem to know a lot about plants.”

“I’m a farmer.” The stammered words stumbled from Mie’s mouth. Never had she felt her profession so humble. She couldn’t bear to look straight at the princess.

“Oh, that’s perfect.” the princess replied. “I’d like you to have a look at the soil up at the castle. I think we can outfit the old sitting area into a laboratory of sorts.”

“L-laboratory?” Mie asked.

“To test the roots effects on the malice-infused soil of course. I believe we can solve this ourselves.” She nodded as if to cement her statement. “You wouldn’t mind working on this project would you? I can give you whatever help you need.” She asked Mie. The princess seemed absolutely thrilled, there was no way Mie could reject her. “Ok, I’ll do it!”

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