Continuation
of the Evening of Monday, May 13, 2019 (comprised of raw note editings from
April 5, 2023 through April 16, 2023 that I really hope sound consistent
because I left it alone for too long)
Pictures
of the Past
I
really couldn’t remember. I couldn’t remember whether I had ever read Robbie’s
Memoirs before.
I
went to the first page....
Let
me start from the beginning. It was
100
years ago... Calamity Ganon had
already
swallowed Princess Zelda.
Oh.... Oh my. Wait, but
hadn’t she—been the stronger?
What
had happened to her? What did she do?
Dr.
Purah and I had already taken Link
to
the Shrine of Resurrection and left
him
to recover.
Wait,
then.... those
two Sheikah soldiers.... Zelda had ordered them directly to
transport me there. But here Robbie was saying that he and Purah
had gotten me to the Shrine of Resurrection?
Then.... were there four
of them that day?
Dr.
Purah and I departed for
Kakariko
Village, where we left
Lady
Impa...
All
three of us couldn’t stay together, of
course.
We couldn’t risk Calamity Ganon
getting
all of us in one strike.
Made
sense.
If
that happened, there’d be no one left
to
deliver Princess Zelda’s message to
Link
when he recovered and woke up...
I
wonder.... did
they expect it to take as long as it did? Did they know? What plans had they
even laid? That’s a long time to wait....
We
had to ensure at least one of us
would
be able to talk to him.
Or
perhaps it was that the world was still full of dangers, and the Calamity’s
influence still reigned.
But
if Zelda had already been swallowed
by Calamity Ganon, as Robbie put it.... then that begs the question....
What battles was the Princess fighting on her own during that time? After
she was swallowed but while the three Elder Sheikah were still in danger? What
was going on? How long did it take her to subdue it? What struggles raged in
the Castle?
So
Dr. Purah and I set out to survive as
long
as we could. We were lucky...
So
they knew the Shrine of Resurrection would be a long time, then.
We
found large amounts of ancient
energy
in the Necluda and Akkala
regions.
We could continue our research.
Ancient
energy? ....The
furnaces?
Just
as we had in Hyrule Castle, we could
again
set ourselves to finding some way
to
seal Calamity Ganon away.
We
decided who would go where in the
only
fair way: rock, paper, scissors. [Oh gosh.]
I
set out for Akkala soon after.
Next
page.
I
was all set to go to Akkala, but first I
decided
to go with Dr. Purah to the
ancient
energy source in Necluda.
...Actually,
that implies I had any choice. [Uh?]
Dr.
Purah laid on a pretty heavy guilt trip
when
I suggested her going alone.
Ha,
brazen as ever, I see.
“In
a world as dangerous as ours, are
you
seriously asking me to travel alone?”
She’s
so darned pushy...
Well,
if the Calamity was as big a threat as they claimed it was....
Anyway,
Dr. Purah promised Lady Impa
that
they’d meet again someday, then
she
and I set out from Kakariko Village...
But
not before loading a cart with the
Guidance
Stone Dr. Purah had been
using
at Hyrule Castle.
That
thing that had upgraded my Slate, I think.
Next
page.
We
traveled for some time. South of the
Pillars
of Levia, across Lake Siela, and
through
Blatchery Plain...
The
Valley of Terror.
Then
we came upon Fort Hateno. Link
had
battled an army of Guardians there [Half-remembered, half-imagined lightning
flashed in my brain as the rain slicked over my hood on the parapet once more.],
and
it was where he’d been defeated.
....Yes.
A
master swordsman such as Link, who’d
impressed
King Rhoam enough to be
made
Princess Zelda’s personal knight...
Well,
even someone like that has their
limits.
I’ll.... forgive your grammar for
now, Robbie.
I’m
sorry, Link...
I
spent so much of my life researching
the
Guardians...
Even
with all my knowledge, I wasn’t
able
to give you the weapons or power
you
needed to succeed.
But
I’m sure you did your best, Robbie.
I’m
sure we all
did our best....
Those
were my thoughts as I looked
upon
the broken husks of the Guardians
strewn
around Fort Hateno.
You
know, Robbie....
I have a great friend around those parts by the name of Garill.... Perhaps
you two ought to talk. I’m sure hearing his words would return some
strength to your heart.
Next
page.
Lost
in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that
Dr.
Purah had slipped away.
!
I
knew Hateno Village wasn’t much
farther
along the road, and that the
Calamity
had barely touched that area...
So
I felt safe letting her continue on her
own.
We parted ways without even
saying
good-bye, I suppose.
Haahhhh,
after all that fuss about traveling together, Purah?
Stirring
myself back to action, I set
out
on my own journey back toward
Kakariko
Village.
Oh?
But Akkala was the other way....
Next
page.
With
Dr. Purah “escorted” safely to
Hateno
Village, it was time for me to
head
to my new home in Akkala.
I
returned to Kakariko Village to collect
the
remaining Guidance Stone [Ah. Of course.], then I
immediately
set out for Akkala.
I
made my way through the
Lanayru
Wetlands and headed
toward
Ternio Trail.
I
knew that once I crossed the
Akkala
Span [That bridge....], I would officially be in
Akkala.
The
autumn leaves brought some joy to
my
spirit as I crossed Shadow Pass
then
headed north from Ordorac Quarry.
Me
too, Robbie. Me
too.
Akkala
is known for its long stretches of
nothing.
I’d set out hoping that would
still
be the case...
Uh
oh....
I
was attacked by a Guardian here and
there
as I went [!!], but remember, I’d spent
my
life studying them.
Robbie!?
Dispatching
them individually was no
challenge
at all.
I
find your nonchalance upsetting, sir.
In
time, I reached the lighthouse in
Akkala.
What a perfect place to keep an
eye
on the monsters out there.
It
was originally....
a lighthouse?
Who
would need a lighthouse, here?
....
Hungry
visions once again swirled in my mind of the lands beyond Hyrule. Or
rather, in this case, the seas beyond. And a tiny bit of the
horizon’s depressing sterility washed away in the waves.
I
unloaded my Guidance Stone and
settled
into my new home.
Feels.... like a lonely way to
live. The necessity of it notwithstanding. Having to fling
themselves all out to the wind like that?
I
wonder how they all felt about it.
I
wonder if they all wondered how I had felt....
Next
Page.
And
so began my life of solitary
research...
I
knew I had to continue to research the
ancient
soldier gear for Link... [!] He could
wake
at any time.
Robbie.... You kept trying for my
sake.
And “wake at any time”?
Then.... But no, he hadn’t written this until after a hundred years had
already passed. I think they knew the Shrine of Resurrection would take
a long, long time.
I
quickly settled on a routine. First,
I
would carry the blue flame from
Tumlea
Heights.
Next,
I would melt the ancient materials,
refine
the result, and then shape it into
ancient
soldier gear.
It’s
difficult to say how much progress
I
made on my research. The routine
demanded
so much focus, day after day.
I
feel you, man. Boy
do I feel you.
But
then I had a clever thought!
I
realized I could automate the entire
refinement
process!
It
took some significant work, but I was
able
to successfully remodel
the
Guidance Stone.
Thanks
to my effort, it can refine any
ancient
material inserted into it and offer
something
in return.
Ah. Cherry.
I
named this machine Cherry, after the
first
girl I ever loved...
Ah
yes.
Next
page.
My
research didn’t end with the creation
of
Cherry, not at all! I realized that if she
was
able to refine the ancient materials...
There
was no reason she couldn’t also
manufacture
ancient soldier gear, too!
Anyone
could make ancient equipment!
I
also decided then that I wanted to be
able
to give her a voice so she could
speak.
I
was filled with ambition then, but it was
no
easy task to make my dreams a
reality.
But
you did it.
Automating
the manufacturing process
was
extremely difficult. It took me
decades
to figure it out.
....Sir
I’m afraid I have no more words.
I’ll
spare you the details of all the things
that
went wrong...
But
I will say it was complex enough that
I
had to put my desires to remodel
Cherry
on the back burner for a while.
Next
page.
Days
and months came and went. Before
I
even realized it, I’d reached the ripe
age
of 90.
The
flow of time is always cruel, Robbie.
I
would have been lost in my work even
then...
But around that time, a young
woman
named Jerrin arrived.
Ah.
She’d
first trained with Dr. Purah, then
Lady
Impa had sent her to aid me. She
quickly
proved herself quite capable.
She
carried the blue flame from
Tumlea
Heights and even reworked and
improved
my designs for Cherry.
The
very fact that she had trekked all the
way
from Kakariko Village alone proved
she
was no ordinary girl.
Her
intellect, her spirit... In hindsight, is
it
any surprise that we eventually ended
up
married?
Well,
not since I first heard the story it isn’t.
Next
page.
Thanks
to Jerrin’s redesign, Cherry was
soon
crafting ancient soldier gear
perfectly
and speaking beautifully.
She
spoke better than any machine I’d
ever
heard. It would have been hard to
tell
she wasn’t a native Hylian.
Yes,
about that....
If
I said, “Good morning,” she’d respond
with
a sweet, “Good morning, Robbie.”
And
she was helpful! “Cherry, where’d I
leave
my book?” “It’s the third book from
the
right on the second shelf, Robbie.”
She
also knew to ask if she needed
something.
“Robbie, could you increase
the
furnace heat a little?”
I’d
always go personally to fetch more
blue
flame from Tumlea Heights. I didn’t
realize
our interactions hurt someone...
Oh
boy....
That
someone...was Jerrin. Perhaps it
was
due to her namesake, but my
exchanges
with Cherry hurt Jerrin.
Next
page.
Despite
the fact that she knew Cherry
was
only a machine, she still felt uneasy
with
my interactions with her.
She
was in tears when she told me. She
knew
it made little sense, and yet she
couldn’t
help how she felt.
I
was devastated. I hadn’t even realized
the
pain I was causing.
Much
of offense is taken, too, Robbie.
Although
Jerrin had designed Cherry, she
was
now being hurt by her own creation.
We
agreed to restore Cherry to her
original,
mechanical way of speaking. I
took
it upon myself to make the changes.
Ah. So that’s why she
was the way she was.
Next....
From
then on, I was careful to not refer
to
her as Cherry. Doing so would anger
my
wife. Instead, I called her...
ancient
oven.
Some
time later, Jerrin gave birth to a
baby
boy, a beautiful young one who
bore
all the features of his mother.
We
decided to name him Granté, and
together
we passed the time as a happy
family
at Akkala Ancient Tech Lab.
It
was, unfortunately, only a temporary
peace.
Princess Zelda did her best to
contain
Calamity Ganon...
! Then she was
struggling....
Around
the time Granté turned three, a
letter
from Dr. Purah arrived. It was a
shock
to receive it.
Yes?
What did it say?
The
last time she’d written, it was to talk
about
an assistant from Kakariko Village,
whom
she felt was useless.
?
She
was writing now to let me know
she’d
completed research on powering
up
the runes, like Stasis.
Hearing
this reinvigorated my interest
in
researching ancient soldier gear.
NEXT
PAGE AGAIN—HOW
LONG DOES THIS GO ON FOR, ROBBIE?
Granté
grew fast, and it wasn’t long
before
he towered over me!
This
book is towering over me....
He
loved to carry blue flame from
Tumlea
Heights, calling it a chance to
train
his body.
I
could see the curiosity in his eyes, and
so
I encouraged him to travel the world
and
see as much as he could.
He’d
always been independent. But I was
still
surprised when, the very day I told
him
to travel, he left!
Oh.
Writing
about Granté’s training
reminds
me...
A
few days before he left, I thought it
might
be a good idea to have Granté
study
with Dr. Purah.
I
wrote to her to ask what she thought of
such
an idea, and she sent a letter that
simply
said...
“Don’t
send anyone here!”
I
wonder what happened to her to make
her
say such a thing...
Oh.... That must have been when
she.... when that happened to her.
That
was all there was to the book of Robbie’s Memoirs.
Longer
than most logs I’d read around Hyrule.
....
But
perhaps I’m not one to speak.
Those
three. Robbie,
Impa, and Purah.
Robbie
said he and Purah had gotten me to the Shrine of Resurrection.
But
what about those two soldiers?
Were
there four people that day?
The
artworks in my head rippled and morphed, burgeoning out with the irrepressible
ferocity of a creeping kudzu....
I
really needed to wrap this up. It was my bedtime.
I’ll
go back to my house in Hateno....
But
upon warping back to the village I thought.... But first....
But
first Purah. I
want to find and read her diary too.
I
remembered her warning me before not to go upstairs and look at her diary, and
I remembered looking about the space of her tech lab, and finding that there
didn’t seem to be an upstairs. Just a ladder that led to nowhere. Why hadn’t I
pursued her hints then?
But
in poking about a little deeper this time, inside and out, I was
able to get up on top of her roof, and it was here that I discovered a little
external staircase spiraling up and around the single large tower in the
architecture, to a door in its side.
Had
I really never been here either?
Somewhere
so obvious and beckoning as this?
Surely I must have noticed this
spiraling walkway countless times before....
Was
it just Hateno’s sullen flavor for me?
I
didn’t know.
I
only walked through the high door and found myself in a cluttered little loft of
a bedroom, rife with bookshelves and strewn with guardian-bits, and containing
a little writing desk in the center, lit by a lantern.
There
was her diary sitting open upon it.
Research
diary for anti-aging rune.
CLASSIFIED!
For Purah’s eyes only!
Oh!
How piquing....
First
page.
Date:
???
Work
has finally begun on my anti-aging
rune.
If all goes to plan, I believe it will
effectively
reverse the aging process.
This
technology will enable us to make
retired
warriors young again, thereby
strengthening
the Hyrulean army.
Hadn’t
thought of that application but okay.... Couldn’t speak to how the soldiers
would feel about it.... though I’m sure they’d answer any call from their
beloved King....
When
Calamity Ganon inevitably returns,
we’ll
be ready. Our offense will be solid,
and
our defense impenetrable.
The
need for this tech pains me, but I
truly
hope to use it to attain everlasting
peace
for all.
Your
heart’s in a good place, Purah.
Next
page.
Date:
???
The
beta version of my anti-aging rune
is
complete. I have already added it to
the
Sheikah Slate I made for myself.
Purah
made her own Slate?
....
I
guess it shouldn’t surprise me.
Since
I am to be the test subject of this
experiment,
Symin booted up the rune
and
directed its rays at my body.
After
20 seconds of exposure, I felt
extreme
fatigue and broke into a fever,
forcing
us to cease the experiment.
20
seconds?
She’s
braver than I.
Unable
to stay awake, I went to bed
immediately.
Tomorrow I will try to
figure
out what went awry.
Next
page....
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
2
My
extreme full-body fatigue has slightly
improved,
for which I am grateful. Still,
I
do not recognize the face in my mirror.
Oh
boy....
My
hair is thick again and floor-length.
My
wrinkles, once deep as trenches,
have
vanished without a trace.
It
seems the anti-aging effect works.
However,
I did not expect the reversal
to
happen so frighteningly fast.
Maybe
next time try just three seconds.
This
morning I kicked Symin awake and
had
him run a full physical exam on me.
My
height, weight, vision, bone density,
heart,
blood... We tested everything we
could,
pushing our facility to its limit.
Our
discoveries were startling. My results
were
typical of a Sheikah woman in her
early
50s.
Wrinkle-free
in your fifties sounds pretty good!
In
other words, I reversed my age by
more
than 70 years in a single night.
Wait
wait wait, Purah—you’re....?
I
mean pardon me for posing such a forbidden question, but you had lived into
your.... hundred-and-twenties?
....
I
guess Japanese women really don’t get old or fat.
I
can only hope I do not awaken to find
I
have the body of a newborn baby...
Oh
gads....
Next
page.
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
3
I
awoke with an abundance of energy.
It
has been decades since I slept so well.
Oh
wow.
Upon
waking, I immediately checked the
mirror,
only to be greeted by a youthful
version
of myself.
According
to Symin’s examination,
I
have the body of a Sheikah woman
in
her 30s.
Thirty
years old... I was around that age
when
I was first able to continue my
research
following the Great Calamity.
Purah....
How long had you lived? How long have you lived?
The
first thing I did was try to figure out
how
to expand the functionality of the
Sheikah
Sensor.
I
was around 80 years old when that
expansion
was completed. I intend to
bequeath
this tech to our sleeping hero.
Oh
wait, then was Purah’s Sheikah Slate back then, the one she says she built....
actually the one I had in my possession right now?
I
thought the one and only Sheikah Slate had been unearthed or something
somewhere. Didn’t Zelda say something about that....?
Or
am I misremembering?
I
hope to the gods that he will be able to
assist
in the destruction of the Calamity
that
swallowed our Princess Zelda whole.
Again,
they mention this—Zelda, what happened to you? What did you do?
Into
what terrible jaws did you march away so willingly?
Or
was your showdown entirely of your own accord?
What
did you do?
Next
page.
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
4
After
today’s routine physical, the results
show
that I have the body of a Sheikah
woman
in her 20s.
Well
at least it seems to be slowing down.
I
haven’t felt this good in a century!
This
is all taking me back to when the
Great
Calamity happened...
Ganon
had been dormant for 10,000
years.
Perhaps his power had been
building
all that time.
The
slaughter that followed was arbitrary
and
merciless. The destruction complete.
No....
We
lost everything... Hyrule Castle,
Princess
Zelda... Well, perhaps not
everything
was lost.
But
I saw her. In a memory from my sword, I saw her.
She
escaped to the forest with my blade.
She
had to have only gone back to face the Calamity of her own volition.
Hadn’t
she?
A
youth named Link was brought to me a
hundred
years ago, covered in wounds
and
on death’s doorstep.
!
Was
that.... our first meeting, then? Purah’s and mine?
Link...
So young, yet so courageous.
Please....
Attribute it to Farore, not to me.
[Er wait would
this Link think something like this?]
He
was the youngest knight to have ever
been
appointed to the Imperial Guard at
Hyrule
Castle.
Was—was
I now? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before....
He
was also a gifted swordsman who was
selected
as captain of Princess Zelda’s
personal
guard.
Captain?
Me?
I
thought I was just her one appointed knight....
Did
I have men under my charge?
I
thought of all those swords I had seen stuck into the earth, out in
Blatchery Plain, out in the Valley of Terror. Out where we had made our final
stand....
Had
others fought with me there?
Had
others died with me there?
I
thought his skills would be enough to
defeat
Ganon in glorious fashion...
But....
Since
ancient times, the royal family of
Hyrule
and us Sheikah researchers have
had
a strong bond. Their pain is our own.
We
took the swordsman and the
Sheikah
Slate Princess Zelda left
behind
to the Shrine of Resurrection.
Then were there two Sheikah Slates after all?
Although
the Slumber of Restoration had
not
been fully tested, we decided to put
the
swordsman under to save his life.
I’m
glad you did, Purah. Between untested hazard and certain death.... I’d take the
hazard.
It
was the best we could do...
Next
page.
Heh,
that she always called me “the swordsman”....
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
5
I
awoke to something horrifying...
a
scarlet lump scarring my
otherwise
youthful face.
After
analyzing this monstrosity,
I
have come to the conclusion that
it
is just a pimple. A big one.
Oh
boy. Still younger again.
The
results of today’s physical exam
indicate
that my body and mind have
reverted
to those of a teenager.
And
mind, you say?
I
feel like Symin looks at me differently.
Which
irritates me. I got angry when he
insisted
on running my blood test for me.
I
mean, really! What even! I can do it all
by
myself! ...In any case, I wonder what
experiment
I should focus on next.
Mm-hmm,
and mind.
The
blue flame in the furnace outside is
growing
weaker by the day. I do hope the
Guidance
Stone doesn’t stop working...
Next
page.
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
6
My
age reversal has progressed
further
still. I now look and feel
like
a 6-year-old.
Oh
Purah.
My
height has regressed so much that
I
can no longer reach things in high
places.
It’s super annoying.
Where
is that genius swordsman we
placed
in the Slumber of Restoration,
anyway?
Wake up, already!
Purah
would you even know how
to rush something like that?
If
he doesn’t awaken soon, my feature
expansions
for the Sheikah Sensor will
go
to waste.
But
even if he does manage to wake up,
how
can I be sure he’ll find me here?
I
want to go and just kick Linky awake, [Linky?]
but
I doubt Symin would help me. It’d be
hard
with my 6-year-old body anyway.
Well
I’m glad you didn’t, Purah....
Instead,
I think I’ll begin working on a
rune
to un-reverse my aging process.
I
hope it works for you; sounds like you’ve had too much of a good thing....
Next
page.
Anti-Aging
Experimental Trial
Day
7
This
morning’s exam results indicated
that
I am still age 6, same as yesterday.
Perhaps
my age-reversal has stopped.
Well
that’s a relief.
As
luck would have it, today I also
finished
developing the beta version
of
an age-boosting rune! ♪
Uh
oh.
If
successful, this should be able to
reverse
the effects of the anti-aging
rune.
I hope it will, anyway.
All
I need to do is increase the output
and
expose myself to its rays...
Just
be careful, Purah; I’d hate to see you age too far and die.
However,
when I tried to add this feature
to
the Sheikah Slate I made, I found that
the
Guidance Stone had stopped!
Ah.... can’t say I’m sorry
about that.
What’s
more, the blue flame in the
furnace
outside has gone out!
I
sent Symin to the ancient furnace,
but
he was too clumsy and it was
raining
and nothing went to plan.
So
I had to go down there to help,
but
a girl in the village saw me.
What
a mess I’ve made...
!
I
think I’ve spoken
to that girl.
Not
only am I unable to continue my
research
in this state, I can only work
by
the light of gas lamps. What to do...
Next
page.
Date:
???
I
can’t believe it... Our hero, Linky,
has
awoken from his 100-year slumber!
As
expected, he has lost his memory.
I
think I preferred her as an adult when she just referred to me as “the swordsman”.
And
what did she mean “as
expected” anyway?
The
Slumber of Restoration... I really
should
have done a test run on that
thing
first. Well, live and learn.
Indeed.
But
I’m still not sorry for its help.
In
any case, he got the ancient furnace
working,
so now I can start my research
once
again. Finally!! ☆
Only
a truly gifted and heroic swordsman
like
him could have achieved all that. ♪
Speaking
of...this seems like a good
opportunity
to get him to do some
other
chores for me too, heh. ☆
That....
seemed to be the last page.
....
These
diaries.... They all made for.... interesting reconstructions. Some of more
import to me than others.
It
gave me much to think about as I finally made my way back to my house.
UH, WHERE IS MY DOOR.
MY
WEAPONS?
But
no, they suddenly populated on their mounts.
BUT
WHERE IS MY DOOR?
UH?
I
went up the stairs to my bed. Turned around.
Oh,
my door was there.
....
You
know.... I begin to worry about this game. First that Big Yiga that I toyed
with for ages out by the river, and the strange chanting animations he would
get stuck in.... and now my disappearing house.... I’d been half-expecting to
see Bolson standing around outside asking for more cash....
Huh.
....
I’d
better hurry up and finish this game....
....
I
put Link to bed this time in nothing but his Gerudo Sirwal Harem Pants.
They
looked comfy.
It’s
my house I can walk around with no shirt on if I want.
Good
night.
