(3315 words)

(y/n)'s POV 

I was feeling much better after the rest I had. Stretching as I got out of bed, I made my way to the control room after I had gotten ready. Putting the dagger around my hips, I sheathed it. Walking up the stairs I found Linebeck hunched over the new sea chart Link had gotten. With my hands on my hips, I smirked. 

"Well, well. If it isn't Captain Linebeck." 

Watching he jumped he turned to look at me. Smiling wide as he came over to me he held my hips. Picking me up and spinning me a little before he put me down, landed me with my arms around his shoulders. 

"You look like you're feeling better. It's about time, I've missed that dazzling smile of yours." 

Blushing a little as he looked at me, he leaned down and kissed my lips. Returning it as quickly as it came, I looked up at him. He had wrapped his arms around my waist, letting his hands rest on my lower back. 

"Where are we heading to now, my Captain?" 

I watched him blush and try his best not to smile. Clearing his throat he looked out to the deck to see Link at the prow. Following his gaze and then looking back at me, as he had started to talk. 

"We're heading for the Isle of the Dead. Link says that's where we can find information on the next pure metal." he had shuddered. "I don't know why you'd want to go to a place named after dead people though." 

Giggling gently I kissed his cheek. "You can stay here on the ship. Link and I will handle the rest." I said. Looking at me he smiled and nodded. 

"Sounds like a plan!" Letting me go we walked back to the Northeastern Sea Chart. Setting my hand on the corner of the map, I leaned over to study it. There were only two islands on the entire sea chart, both of which were surrounded by boulders. This had made it where we could only get close to them, through one section. 

Humming as I stood up straight and crossed my arms. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us." I said as he leaned against the table. 

"From the journey we've been on so far. You and Link have this in the bag. Just promise me one thing" he said. Looking at his shoes, he started to talk again. 

"Promise me that you'll be safe. That if things turn south, you'll grab the kid and get back here." He had bit his lip as he stayed there. Turning to the wall and looking at the different pictures that were there. Some were maps and others were what I had guessed to be his father. Looking back at him, i saw as he rubbed his eye with his jacket sleeve. 

Smiling gently as I had figured he was wiping a tear away. "If you had gotten hurt. I couldn't stand a life without you. There isn't enough treasure in the world to make me feel the way i do, when I'm with you." 

Standing up he stepped over to me, his face was serious and his eyes were gentle. A look that I had rarely gotten to see. Placing a hand on my hips he pulled me closer to him. "If I have to spend the rest of my life, without you in it... Well, what kind of a life would I have? Not one worth living, that's for sure." 

I looked up at him without realizing that I tear or two had fallen. He lifted his hand to wipe them away with his thumb. It was a coarse hand, but it had a gentle touch. Leaning into his hand as he touched me, I looked up at him. 

"If it ever comes down to me not surviving this adventure. You can live on to find someone else, because even though it's only been a few short months, it's been the best few months that I've ever had. Linebeck, I don't want you to spend the rest of your days suffering over me. I would rest easier to know that you were happy. Even if that meant you weren't with me." 

I watched as he looked at me. A tear rolling down his cheek. Reaching up to touch his cheek, I rubbed it away. Kissing it gently he had wrapped his arms around me tightly before he picked me up. Looping his foot around the chair leg behind me, he pulled it to him and sat down with me on his lap. 

Burring his face into my shoulder he held me tightly. "Don't you get it? I don't want to live a life without you. That would be worse than having to spend the rest of my life inside a temple. The very thought of losing you is enough to kill me." 

Blinking gently, I looked down at him before I looked at him. "I promise on my life that I will come back to you. I won't rest until I can see those green eyes of yours." 

Looking at me, we heard the door open to the control room. Ciela had flown in front of Link's face to shield his eyes. "Sorry! We'll come back anther time" she said before she tried to usher the child through the door. 

Standing as Linebeck had looped a finger around my hand as he didn't want me to move yet. Looking at him I smiled before I let him grab my hand. "We weren't doing anything, what did you need?" I asked

 Ciela turned to look at me. "Well, we're here." she said. Nodding I heard Linebeck make a small noise. "I'll be there in a second" I said and they nodded. I watched as the boy in green ran towards the dock and waited for us there. 

Turning to Linebeck he had looked down. Stepping closer to him he wrapped his arms around my waist. Gasping at the sudden action I put my hands on his hair and buried them in it. He was shaking. Resting my hands on his shoulders, he stopped shaking and looked up at me. Kneeling down as he followed my movements I looked at him. 

"I'll come back to you. I have through the entire journey, why would I stop now? I love you and there isn't a monster strong enough to get between that." I watched him smile gently as he looked at me. Leaning down to me, he planted a kiss on my lips. "Go get that pure metal, my treasure" 

Smiling I stood quickly as he followed me out to the deck. Standing next to Link as we saw the island. "Seems deserted for now, but this place wasn't always empty. I wonder if there is some secret hidden here somewhere. What about you? What are you doing? I'll be fixing the ship, go find yourselves some adventure on the island!" Linebeck said as he put his hands on his hips and looked at the island. 

Smiling gently I looked at Link. "Well?" I asked and he nodded. Turning to find the information we needed, I turned around and waved at Linebeck. Getting into a nearby cave Ciela pointed at something. "There's a notebook on the desk!" she said as we walked over. 

I sat at the desk while I read it. "Journal of the esteemed explorer, McNey. Normally on a map up is north, left is west, down is south and right is east, right? But looking at the map today I discovered something, the island is shaped like a profile of someone wearing a crown. He's looking east, but if you look closely you can see the shape of his eye and mouth! I bet there's a big secret about the Cobble Kingdom hidden here." 

Looking at Link I rose a brow. He had shrugged before we looked at the rest of the books that were on the northern wall of the cave. "Maybe there's something else in those journals?" I asked. Nodding we both walked over and started to read them. Reading the first one I sighed gently. 

Explorer's compass riddle of the lost ancient civilization. Volume 1, the riddle of the Cobble Kingdom Civilization. In seas rules by the Ocean King, the Cobble Kingdom soared above all. It was more glorious than any other city, until it vanished from history. Ruled by the king, and his four knights, the temple once held great treasure. 

Moving down to the next one, I started to read that one. Volume 2, Hidden Treasure: The Aquanine. Three great treasures are hidden around the sea. One is the Aquanine. Legend has it that there is but one of each of these pure metals in the world. Legend says that one of the pure metals is kept within the Cobble Kingdom. Looking to Link as he had finished reading the last two I looked at him. 

"What did yours say?" I asked as Ciela came out from under his hat. 

"Proof must be found on this island that the pure metal was once in the Cobble Kingdom." 

"That's pretty vague. I guess we can wander around until we find some clues." I said. Nodding as he looked at me we went to leave the cave. Grabbing Link's shoulder I looked at him. "McNey said there was some treasure hidden in here, right?" I asked and he gave a nod. 

"Since the other side is covered with books and a shelf, this wall must have something" I said. He nodded again as he handed me a bomb. Throwing it i pulled him to the other side of the room. Once it had exploded we could get into the room. Stepping inside I sneezed from the dust. Looking at the room there were a bunch of Rupoors along the floor. Grabbing Link as he went to run into the room I stopped him. 

"There's a lot of Rupoors. Use your bow to get rid of the Keese so we don't pick up any of them." Nodding as he grabbed his bow he used that to get rid of the Keese that were flying around. Moving slowly through the room as we walked around the Rupoors I sighed gently. 

Getting to the other side I breathed gently. I knew the majority of them were only the Rupoors that took 10 regular Rupees, but it was rather nerve racking. Especially since there were ones that took as much as a hundred. There were red and blue rupees at this end of the room. Grabbing them and putting them in our wallet, we looked at the chest. 

I knelt down in front of the two on the left and Link the two on the right. Opening the one on my right, I got a treasure map. Link opened the one on his left and got a Courage Gem. The other two were ship parts. Standing up I looked at Link. Sighing gently we got ready to leave the room. Going up the steps to the ledge that let us get around the Rupoors, we hopped down and left. 

Running around the small Island we made our way to the temple in the Northeastern corner. Getting inside we looked around. There were quite a few of things we had to do before we could get through this area. Looking at the tablets in the room we walked over to read them. 

This one told us that from the chin on the King's chin. Head west 13 spaces and north 7. Heading out of the small pyramid we made our way to the chin. Stepping on the tiles and counting as we moved we were able to find the hole. Dropping down inside the room we looked around. 

Throwing a bomb at the cracked wall, we waited for it to explode. Dust flew around the room and I blinked a little. Getting inside there were more rupees around this floor. Picking them up Link opened the chest while I read the tablet. 

"From the King's eye, shoot an arrow towards the west." 

Standing up I hummed. Link had pulled out whatever was in the chest and looked at me. Holding a power gem for a moment, he put it in his pocket. Leaving the small room we were in we dodged some boulders that were flying around. Heading up the stairs at the end of the cave we were at the top of the island. The cliff were on let us see the entire island. Looking around I could see Linebeck on the ship. 

Smiling as I watched him take off his jacket and throw it to the side, he rolled his sleeves up and pulled the cannon out from under the deck. Biting my lip I watched as he started to work on it. I was torn from my thoughts as I heard Ciela. 

"(y/n)! What are you looking at?" 

"Hm?" I asked as I turned. She fluttered over and looked at where I was looking. She looked at me and whispered. "Admiring the view?" She asked and I rolled my eyes. "Don't you speak a word to this to Linebeck." I said as she giggled gently. 

"Have you seen the way he looks at you? I thought he would only have that look for treasure and his ship." I turned to look at the Spirit of Courage. "When he sees you, or when he heard Link and I talking about when you would be better, the look he got spoke volumes. It was the same one you just had while you watched him on the ship. Now I may not know a lot about this, but if I had to guess. It would be that you two are perfect for each other. You both care a lot about each other and Link. I know Linebeck does even if he doesn't want to admit it." 

Looking at the fairy as she fluttered closer to me. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it would look like you've known each other for more than you have. When he sees you come around he relaxes, like he lets his walls down." She hummed gently and looked to the Hero that was shooting an arrow at a switch. 

"Whatever happens at the end of journey, I think you would be happier if you stayed here with him. I know you said you're from far away, but why leave for that place when it's clear your home is here with him?" 

She went back over to the hero and I looked over to see Linebeck scratching his head. He sat on the deck for a moment before he got up and went below deck to the engine room. Coming back out he was holding a tool I couldn't quite make out. I watched as he did something with it and then heard the cannon fire off. He jumped around a little and I giggled gently. He wouldn't admit it but he was a bit of a child himself. 

Looking over to Link as he had hit the switch, we could carry on. Getting off the cliff we were at we went to where the Six Sages slept. Running over we started to read the different headstones.

1st sage- Go north through the first room. 

2nd sage- Go east through the second room. 

3rd sage- Go east through the third room. 

4th sage- Go north through the fourth room. 

5th sage- Go north through the fifth room. 

6th sage- This is where Brant is laid to rest. 

Once we had everything, we were able to go to the temple we were at earlier. Heading to the first room we found a skeleton on the floor. Walking over to it we listened to what it had to say. "Who knew it would come to this? My name is McNey. I was once a famous explorer... I entered before solving the entrance puzzle and came to the Phantom Corridor. But I could not get out, and look what happened. This maze is madness... If you don't know which way to go, you'll end up going in circles. Circles... If I keep going down, I should be able to find the entrance... If you haven't solved the puzzle yet, find the entrance while you can. Otherwise, you'll run out of energy and end up like me. Before you're able to find the exit, cursed to remain here forever." 

Looking at Link who looked a little pale I brushed his bangs from his eyes. He looked up at me and I knelt down. "We have the path from the sages, so don't worry we'll be fine" I said. He gave a nod and we followed the path the six sages gave us. Getting to the end there was a red coffin at the end of the room. 

Stepping close to it, I had jumped a bit when a ghost popped up. "This is where the dead of the Cobble Kingdom, long ago fallen, lay to rest. I am one of the four knights chosen by the king. I am the fourth knight, Brant. Those spirits you have with you, they are Power, Courage, and Wisdom, yes? Why are the three spirits of the Ocean King with you?" he asked. 

We explained what had happened and he was surprised. "I can't believe what has happened to the Ocean King while we slept! We grew rich under the Ocean King's protection. We must do something! I believe that our King Mutoh has the Aquanine that you are looking for. If you explain your quest, you may convince him to give it to you. Venture forth through the door." 

The door had opened behind him and he vanished. Walking through the door and up the stairs we were met with a Big Chest. Looking at it Link opened it and got the Regal Necklace. Looking to see Brant appear again we looked at him. 

"King Mutoh, the holder of the Aquanine, is not here. He is on the isle that is guarded by a walk wall, the Isle of Ruins. You need the Regal Necklace to get there. That will calm the cyclone so that your ship may pass. There look for the third Knight, Bremeur." 

Nodding as he vanished again we made our way to Linebeck. He was cleaned up and had the cannon below the deck and his Captain's Jacket back on. He looked at me as soon as he saw us. Feeling my heart flutter I smiled at him. 

"Whoa! Looks like you did it! Ready to set sail?" He asked and we nodded. Link passed by him and went into the cabin. I stood next to Linebeck and looked at him. He rose a brow as he looked at me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked. 

"Admit it, you're proud of the young hero." I said as I smiled at him. Sighing he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "He's grown so much since I met him in the Temple of the Ocean King. It's hard not to be proud of the, squirt." he said. 

Putting my hand on his arm he looked at me. Kissing him gently, I smiled. Looking at him as he blushed I giggled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you felt a little fatherly towards the boy." I said. He sighed and rolled his eyes. 

"Maybe you're right. But don't go around saying that around him or that chatty fairy." he said. Crossing my heart I looked at him. "Come on, let's go get that Aquanine." I said. Nodding as he followed me into the cabin, we got ready to set a course to the Isle of Ruins.