Note- I'm not really much of a fanfic person. This is the only one I've ever written, and it was quite a while ago. A Dark Link Origins story. Feel free to comment/critique.

Legend of Knilaros

Klinaros here. I thought it was time that the world learned what really happened to the Hero of Time. Before he left Hyrule. I'm talking about before his adventures even started. I'm talking about me.

Link is a pretty social guy.

Most people wouldn't believe it, but he talks to me all the time. Well, he used to. He kind of can't anymore now that I'm dead. But we'll get to that in a bit. First, let me tell you a little story about how I ended up like this.

"Careful," I warned him. Yeah. Link looked up around the room, taking in the surroundings and trying to figure out what might be going on before it could happen. "Good," I told him. He had to learn to be prepared. I took in the paintings through his eyes. Well, our eyes. You could say I was lending them to him.

The paintings were all exact copies, hanging from the same heights all around the circular room. There was a gap between the level we were on and the frames, so maybe we'd have to destroy them. But the pictures shown on the canvas caused me to think otherwise. They were all of a long pathway, bordered by trees, shrouded in darkness. Link started pacing around the room. I could tell he was growing impatient, and very nervous, with each passing moment. I could feel him trying to trigger something, anything, so that we wouldn't be stuck in this nothingness, afraid of the unknown. "Link. Courage. Try something else." He was just a frightened little boy.

He turned and walked towards the exit, but bars sprung out of the floor to bar our path. "Finally." The sound of horse's hooves echoed through the empty room. A high-pitched whinny rang out, and a chill seeped through the room. Link's skin bristled as his hair stood on end, but at least it wasn't from fear. Link spun around. There he was, the enemy at last. Just another minion to cut down. Phantom Ganon reared the horse up, taking off his… face? Wow, it was an ugly thing. Then the ghost leapt into the painting closest to him. So that's what they were for.

He wasn't much of a fight. The kid had him down in a few minutes, didn't even get banged up that badly. Of course, it hurt me too, but it's not like I can do anything about it.

I'm not even sure how Link came into existence. Maybe I was cursed by Ganon as my mother fled him that night, and Link was the result. Maybe I was traumatized as a baby somehow and developed him. Either way I know it was supposed to be me. Ever since I was little I had this feeling, I knew that something was wrong. Somewhere along the line something happened that just screwed me over. I'm the chosen one, I'm the hero that the fates picked out to save the world. I'm the one who is supposed to destroy all the evil in the world. I'm the one with the visions sent from the Goddesses to guide me that he sees as dreams, because I'm awake only when he sleeps. It's kind of hard, though, to be a hero, when you have an alternate personality ruling your life.

Eventually I figured out that there would be no getting rid of him. That's when I decided that if Hyrule wasn't going to crumble and die I had some work to do. The kid's mute and not exactly courageous, so I thought I'd better get started.

The first thing I did was give him a name. I named him Link, after myself, and also because he was the only link I had to the outside world. My entire childhood I was trapped inside myself, only having a vague awareness of the happenings and places around me. Only when he slept was I able to regain myself, thinking, planning, teaching, learning.

Over time I grew accustomed to the way his mind worked. He was in no way in possession of the Triforce of courage, no matter how much one would like to believe it. And the people, he doesn't hear them like I do. It might be part of the reason why he is so distant from everyone else. I think it may have been a good thing we ended up together, because if any other child would have been forced to undergo the mental and physical challenges of fighting monsters and having such weight placed upon their shoulders at such an age the world would have been doomed.

Along with my sense of his self came my own sense of self, and I was able to compose myself (though fragile) in his conscious mind. I think he could feel me, because something was keeping him going, even while facing death and hatred time and time again. All the time I was becoming stronger, and was eventually able to communicate with him in terms of emotion. We got to know each other, formed trust. When things went too far I could lend him my strength. But I was never really aware until the day he opened the Temple of Time.

I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am that that old, bald sage locked Link up for seven, long years. For seven whole years he slept, oblivious to the world, and for seven whole years I was alive. I thought. I thought and thought and thought, trained myself mentally, watched as my body changed and grew, all the while training and preparing. This was my time. The Goddesses had not abandoned me after all. Here was my last chance to redeem myself.

When Link awoke in the Chamber of Sages, he was still a child. But I had grown while he slept, and I was prepared. I was now able to fully speak with him in his mind, and took full advantage of the fact. I helped him as he fought. I encouraged him to grow, to mature, and rejected him when necessary. I understood fully that if Hyrule was to survive he was going to have to age as much as I had in so much less time, and that he would have to be able to survive without me. And so I pushed him. He matured. He had to. No other option was present to him to avoid the horrors, the blood and death, pain and suffering we faced all throughout the land, than to abandon his childhood and rapidly achieve adulthood.

We became the best of friends, inseparable. We watched out for each other. But there was one thing he didn't know about me. I kept it from him, to keep him safe. When he was young I told him I was his other personality. When he woke up in the body of a man I told him I had watched over it for him while he slept, in order to preserve his sanity. When the little fairy was driving him insane I showed him the truth in her words and that he must trust her, she was a mystic being. When he asked me my name… I told him it was "Nil." Nothing. I wasn't anything, just a fragment of a mind he created to save himself. I still don't know why I told him that.

Nil?

"Yeah?"

You were brooding again.

"Sorry. Not brooding though. Just pondering."

Pondering what?

"Stuff." He's getting better. I sense a stronger confidence in him.

You going to help now? I went through the entire dungeon without you, so you better actually do something against the dragon.

"A dragon, huh? Nah, I think I'll sit this one out. He doesn't look too tough." I began to draw myself back into Link's mind.

Fine, whatever. Link drew his sword, and the giant red dragon emerged from the fiery pit before him.

It's easier to ignore reality when you're lost in a deep world inside someone else. But it's not impossible. A searing pain caught me in the middle of trying to force Link to handle things on his own. I heard a scream, not my scream. No more fairies, no more life… Link was dying. We were dying. I felt us falling, hitting the ground. Molten dirt burrowing its way into our skin. Our feet were on fire, but so was everything else. It hurt. It burned. Link was fading away. I knew it was time.

I pulled myself up and through the thick, enveloping mugginess that was strangling us. The break to the surface was every bit as instant and painful as it could have been. The ground dug into the burns on my arms, already blistering, running deeper into my skin. I opened my eyes and saw the great beast bearing down on me, seconds from crushing me between its massive jaws. I rolled out of the way, extinguishing the embers licking at my clothes, barely escaping certain death. I could feel the sweltering heat pressing on me from outside my protective tunic, trying to overwhelm me. I snatched the sword out of the ground and blocked another swipe by the dragon, trying to focus on my life and not the horrible pain tearing at my mind.

A few moments longer and I think I wouldn't have made it. Volvagia turned and circled up to the ceiling, waiting for me to fall. I had to be quick. "Link!" I flew back into the safety of my mind, the fire still gnawing at me, but if I let it go completely we'd be gone. "Link, wake up! Get out there!"

Weak… can't… you…?

"I can't do this for you anymore!" I cried, frustrated. It was time he learned life or death the hard way. I grabbed hold of his consciousness, forcing it up to the surface. It was so thin, slipping like silk through my fingers, avoiding reality. Again I pushed him towards it, and once I was sure he wasn't going to fade back inside I took myself out and into his mind, leaving the rest up to him.

Yeah, I knew what he was facing. I knew we might both die. I was stronger than him. Much stronger. He might even go insane. But it was time I took the risk, time I taught him what he needed to learn. No second chances. No holding back.

I wasn't afraid. I was only mildly concerned. If we died, who was going to protect Hyrule? But Link pulled through. I knew he would.

It was cold there. The newest tunic was supposed to protect us from drowning… I guess it did. Never did anything about the cold though. The whole temple was freezing. I thought it was slightly blasphemic that we were going around in sacred places killing monsters (that shouldn't have been there in the first place) and disturbing ancient temples. Anything for the world, I guess.

We're probably almost finished with this cursed place. I feel the evil growing stronger as every moment passes. If it were up to me I'd say the curse was behind this door, the one Link has worked his way towards this whole dungeon. (I think he's angry at me, because I've been ignoring him, but I've had other things to think about.) The only reason I know that the source of the temple's curse is that there is no giant locked door before me. For some reason the beasts always have to be locked up. Why make us go through all the trouble of navigating a temple if you just want to kill us, or the chosen one, in the end? (Sometimes I wonder if Ganon really knows about my situation.) You'd be better off letting the monster go free and killing- right. It's guarding the medallions, the sages. Makes no difference to me. The puzzles only delay their death, and they're fun too.

Well, that's something new. This was by far the most entertaining room I've seen in my entire life. Somehow I felt it just called out to me. It was completely empty, save for a tree growing on a patch of sand in the middle of the room. The rest of the room was covered by about half a foot of water and a thin layer of fog. It looked like it extended on forever, but I knew it couldn't be true.

Link seemed to ponder that very subject. I stared straight ahead, at the tree. Something in it was pulling at my very essence, it needed me. And there was a terrible feeling inside me that I just wanted gone. Link started to walk to the other side of the room, where he'd just spied a door. He hesitated, and by now I was going mad with frustration. "Link!" I snapped at him. Perhaps he was shocked by my sudden outburst after so much silence. I'll never know.

As Link neared the tree I was near mad with anticipation. Why wouldn't he go any faster? I needed it! I had to be there! What was his problem? Finally he reached the dead thing and I heaved a deep sigh of relief. The feeling was gone. But that's when something went horribly wrong. I stopped, but Link kept moving. A horrible, hollow space tore into where my heart should have been. I stared in horror as he approached the door, looking it over, trying to open it, find a way out. And I was here.

I felt cold. Colder than before. And very alone. I knew what had happened. I'd been torn out of my body by Ganon's spell, separated from my only chance at being a hero. Already I knew my life was through. There was no way I could go back.

So maybe Ganon had known after all. I could only hope that I had shown Link enough, and that he was strong enough on his own now. I knew it would hurt him, if he had to kill me. I'd been his guardian. It would be difficult for him, but I could make it easier of he didn't have to kill the me that he knew. His friend. The one who understood him. Ganon had found me, and now I was doomed, so I had to put my hope in him. He was Hyrule's last chance.

Don't let him regret it.

Link finally spun around, realizing that something was wrong. His expression matched the one I had been carrying only moments before. Horror, confusion, sadness. But mine was void of emotion. Nil? he asked, hopefully, afraid, approaching the tree I stood next to.

I laughed a horrible, painful laugh. So the tie was still intact. And it was true. I could feel him. But I was here, forced to kill myself and Hyrule's savior to survive, or die, knowing I'm leaving my people's fate in the hands of someone who shouldn't have even existed. But he didn't know that. He'll never know.

"You still think I am the one you knew by that name? You naive fool…."

What's going on? The fairy flitted anxiously around his head.

I drew my sword. "You still don't understand? I'm just another creation, like the ghost of Ganon you faced so long ago."

He was still shocked, but I could see he was starting to believe me. He too drew his sword, but hesitantly. Who would the Triforce go to when I was killed? But, you've been with me all my life!

I grinned. "I'm your darker side. Are you afraid, oh Hero of Time? Do you have the guts to kill me?" I was pacing around him now, mimicking his every move. I was still attached to him in some way, when we were near. I could feel his movements, anticipate everything he did. Every attack he made I would know before he even did it.

His "voice" became silent. He lunged at me, raising his sword. I too raised mine, and they bounced off each other in a shower of sparks. Again and again he swung at me, and every time I copied his movements perfectly. Or maybe it was him copying me. When he pulled his bow out, I deflected the arrows with my shield until he was empty. I rolled out of the way of his hookshot, sidestepped his hammer blows. Twice he managed to hit me. I was cast into the darkness, holding my tongue, only to be spat back out at him. He thrust his sword at me and instinctively I jumped onto the blade, looking down into his eyes. I'd hesitated too long. He drew his sword out from underneath me and slashed me across the chest. I cried out in pain again as the darkness led me down and behind him. I jumped up, charging at him and bringing my sword down across his back before he had the chance to turn around. This time two cried echoed together, identical.

So, I was still connected to him, but he wasn't connected to me. It was all a set up. Either way, I'd end up dead. The second time I leapt onto his blade I didn't give him time to react. I jumped onto his blade, pinning it to the ground. He hissed in pain as his fingers were crushed to the ground, water seeping into his clothes. I swung my blade down in an arc, leaving a gash in his right shoulder. Again I felt the blood seeping from me, the invisible liquid, felt the wound. I let my shield drop to the ground, better to lose the dead weight.

Don't let him regret it.

I stuffed all my emotions inside of me. A single look could betray everything to him. When I looked up, a swirling light was fading around Link. His clothes, though bloodstained and torn, showed no signs of injury underneath. I raised my sword, prepared to fight to the end just like all of Ganon's other minions. He came at me. I stumbled aside, but it wasn't fast enough. That's when he killed me.

I remember screaming, but I don't think it was in pain. I think maybe it was shock, or sadness, I was afraid then. Afraid for Hyrule, afraid for him. But I trusted him. What else was left to me? The pain slowly fades as my blood soaked up into the endless water above me, to join the rest of the world. This time the darkness that swallowed me was absolute.

I think maybe I've become a ghost. I can still think, and remember. I can feel myself existing here, wherever this may be. Though not truly existing. You could call it remaining. I guess I had to stay for something. I don't know what though. Maybe this is the end.

Link

I'm not really a very social guy. But there was something that happened a while back that I feel I need to share, before I forget.

It was weird at first. Several times I almost got myself killed because I kept expecting him to be there to bring me back again. Not that he'd help anymore anyways, but it was a comforting thought. No one seems to mind anymore that I don't talk to anyone. Did they really care? It's kind of unnerving, having my mind be so empty now. Navi and I still have conversations, though they're one-sided.

I realized quickly that I had to fend for myself. I realized quickly my purpose here. I realized quickly how serious the whole thing was, that I couldn't just throw my life around carelessly. So many people depended on me for their safety. I'm just glad that I was able to rid myself of my evil side. Nil had never seemed dangerous to me, but I guess that's what made him so much worse.

Ever since I was little things have been weird. No one ever talks about the alternate personality the Hero carried with him through his journeys, just the fairy. The kids in Kokiri Village used to pick on me all the time. I guess they knew something was wrong with me from the start. I thought I knew why, it was because of Nil. But I never knew how much more there was to the story. No one trusted me, thought I was the Hero. I had to prove myself. I did, but it was so hard. They asked so much of me, and I didn't know what to do. So Nil started to show himself more.

I was confused in the beginning. Didn't know what to think of him. But we looked out for each other. He was always there to help me along. I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there to shield me from the horrible things that they made me do. I was so young. But I've grown now, mentally, enough to match my physical age.

Things started getting wacky in the water temple. All of a sudden Nil is telling me that he's evil. I didn't know how to react, but it turned out to be a good thing that I got rid of him. I was becoming weak, dependant. But that's not really the problem. The problem was when I was ready to kill Ganon and save Hyrule, but he beat me to the final blow.

I didn't really know what it was like to die. Let me tell you, it's not pleasant. All I could do was stare at the lightning sword jutting out from my chest, watch as the electricity coursed over my body. I couldn't even feel it, really. All I felt was the burn from the blade, the fluttering of my heart as it struggled to continue beating. The pain was nothing compared to the feeling that hit when I realized that I wasn't coming back. There must have been something I could have done, I was so desperate just to hold on, keep living, but deep down inside I knew there was nothing. It scared me.

I felt like I was lying down in something soft. Supporting my weight, but then there was someone above me, also lying down, but facing me. Maybe we were standing up. At that point I didn't care. I knew the person in front of me. You.

"Yeah." He had a sad smile on his face. "Guess it was you I was waiting for."

Where are we? I thought I'd killed him long ago. But I was dying, so maybe I was imagining all this. Or maybe I really was dead and he was just here because we used to be the same person.

"We're dead, I'd assume."

Are we inside me?

He laughed softly. "I'd doubt that. I've been here for a long time." He heaved a heavy sigh.

You feel that?

"Yeah. I guess one of us can go back."

I lurched up, ready to fight for the chance to live again. Nil made no move to go anywhere. Aren't you going to try to go back?

"I can't," he admitted. Something was wrong. He seemed perfectly un-evil again. I narrowed my eyes. "This is your story now."

I took a hesitant step towards life.

"Just…" he paused. He seemed to be in a mental war with himself as to if he would speak those next words. "Can I just tell you one thing?"

What is it? I turned around. He may have been evil, but he wasn't going to fight anymore. I could at least listen to him one last time. If you try anything I'm going to leave right away, I warned him.

"My name." Nil sighed again. "I just want you to remember my name. My real name." He covered his eyes with his hand. "Oh Nayru, for my own selfish desires…." He looked up, pain clear in his shadowy eyes. "Knilaros."

Everything came back to me so fast I thought my head would explode. All the memories, the truth. I stared at him. What? You— I knew what I had to do. I let go of the light, I let myself start to fade.

"What are you doing?" Knilaros jumped up and ran at me. "You have to go back!"

I was the mistake. It was you all along. Why didn't you tell me? You have to finish it. I had no idea how to cope. But I had to make it right. All that time and I'd been the other, just stronger than him. He was helpless as he watched me take his place in destiny, unable to reveal himself to me for fear of losing the chance to save Hyrule. Nothing for himself.

"I can't finish it. It became your story when I died. I just stayed around to give you this one last chance." He looked me over. "Please," he urged. "You don't have much time. You're dying."

Painful moments passed. Fine, I nodded. He stepped back and watched me as I left him behind in the darkness. Already I could feel myself, cold, but solid, forming around my soul.

"Just don't forget me." I promised him I never would.

Badump.

I felt such a tremendous joy when my heart started beating again that I almost forgot where I was. I pulled myself out of the bloodstained dirt and turned to find Ganon approaching Zelda. She was weak, exhausted. I reached behind me and worked the Master Sword out of the ground. Then I ran at him yelling, to finish him forever. I did it for Hyrule, I did it for Zelda, I did it for Knilaros, I did it for everyone.

We both knew he shouldn't have done what he did, but I'm glad he did.

I guess I was sad after Navi left me. She was the only one who'd been with me, stuck with me even though I was the bad one. Knilaros had turned out to be the imaginary number in the equation, nonexistent but necessary for the problem to work, helping me save the world behind the scenes while acting as if he was nothing at all. Yeah, Navi left, but I wouldn't be able to handle having to guide a mistake through a fate destined for someone I had ruined.

I wonder what happened to him. Did he fade into the darkness? We both knew he shouldn't have done what he did, but I'm glad he did. I'll go down in history, but at least I can share who you really are with people, forever.