Part 1
My feet... They hurt...
He didn't complain. If he did, there would be more pain this evening. The hot sand was burning the scars on his bare feet. Of course, no one could see them because he hid them this morning. The lobster sand sculpture was just finished. Popo and Nana stood up to go rinse the sand on their legs while Young Link remained seated next to the sand animal. The boy watched his hands for a moment. The dark sand on them reminded him that night when he forced him to put his hands in the hot ashes. He wanted to scream but his mouth was covered by his hand. Tears were streaming out of his eyes but it wouldn't make him stop. He finally managed to remove his hands from the ashes to let his almost burning hands have some cold air. He looked at him with a severe look before taking his head and lowering it just above the ashes. The boy closed his eyes feeling the unbearable heat on his skin. As he was about to touch the ashes, a soft knock on the door made both of them stop. He walked to it to answer whoever was behind while Young Link sat still, hiding his hands. It was Zelda behind the door. She took a peek at him. The boy hoped by all her heart that she would see his red eyes and his wet cheeks so she would see that something was wrong. Nothing happened. She just looked back at him with her sapphire eyes, telling him that the master hand wanted to see him.
Young Link looked at the sea. The waves were really huge today. He wanted to go in but his words were keeping him out of them. He said that if someone would tell him to join them, he would say no. He took a peek at the Ice climbers that had just joined Ness and the others in the waves but since they didn't have a board, they were just swimming as the waves were pushing them forward. He stayed there looking at them for a moment before grabbing his own board.
He didn't say that I couldn't go by myself.
He was about to touch the warm water when Link's voice came to his ear.
"Going in the waves?"
The boy turned to the older Hylian as fear perked through the boy. It would be hard tonight. He turned and forced himself to smile to his old self.
"Yeah, the waves are too tempting especially today!"
Link smiled back at him but the kid could easily sense that the older "hero" just wanted to struggle him. The boy ran into the water to join his friends, wishing to get away from the Hylian that was beating him each evening. When he arrived between two waves, Ness swam towards him until he was just next.
"Hey, you finally decided to join us?"
"Yeah, the waves are just perfect!"
He had just finished saying it that a huge one showed up. The two boys looked at each other and nodded just before getting their boards while the wave pushed them forward. They even managed to get to the beach! It continued like this during the whole afternoon until it was near dinner time. The boys got out of the water and took all of their things before heading to the mansion. While the two of them walked, Ness decided to speak about something on his mind for a while.
"You've been strange these days. Is there something wrong?"
"What do you mean, strange?"
"You aren't as cheerful as you were before. Every time you smile I can see a bit of sadness in your eyes. I just feel like you're not the Young Link I know anymore."
The Hylian opened his mouth to say that he was right but no words came out of it. He tried as hard as he could to tell him all those horrible things Link was doing at night but he just wasn't able to. He already told Master Hand several times but Link would always say that the kid inventing all of this. During all those times, who did the hands believed? Link. Nothing was working. He already showed some of his scars but Link would say that they were drawn, he even cried once when he told them. Just like usually, they didn't believe him and now they weren't even listening.
The voice of Ness pulled him out of his thought.
"Tell me, I want to help you but I have to know what is wrong!"
Young Link looked away for a moment. He wanted to tell Ness but would he believe him? The hands, the ones that were supposed to arrange the conflict didn't believe him so why would Ness do? Sure they were friends but his story was so harsh that he would think it was exaggerated.
"I'm just nostalgic these days."
Ness frowned at his answer but just shrugged.
"Okay but if something is wrong, tell me, will ya?"
Young Link nodded as they entered the mansion. The boys separated from each other and headed for their room to take a shower before dinner. The Hylian entered slowly to take a peek in the room. It was dark but he could still see well. Link wasn't there yet. If he was fast enough he would be able to leave the apartment before Link would enter. The boy rushed in the shower to wash away the sand on his body being careful to not rub too hard on the cuts in his back knowing that it would start bleeding again. He put on his tunic before washing rapidly his swimsuit and letting it dry on one of the hooks. The boy slowly opened the bathroom door to see to his relief that Link was still absent. He ran to the door and opened it to close it behind him. He sighed. For once, his old self would not hurt him before dinner. The kid walked through the corridor, feeling light and free for the first time in a while. He climbed down the stairs happily, not seeing Pichu at the bottom of them. When he noticed her, it was too late. He kicked her (not hard, happily) and she fell on her back. He immediately felt guilty and picked her up.
"I'm sorry, Pichu, I didn't mean it!"
He then smiled at her.
"Want a lift?"
Happily for him, the little Pokemon was easily forgiving everyone so she just grinned and accepted with a cheerful "pichu".
Once at the dining room, the both of them looked around trying to find an empty place next to their friends. Pichu easily found Pikachu at the left side of the table. He dropped her there just before spotting the Ice climbers and Ness facing Samus and Falco. The boy walked cheerfully towards the others kids and sat down. Ness surely didn't miss his sudden glee replacing his "nostalgia" from a while ago.
"Well, that's the Young Link I know! What makes you so happy?"
The Hylian almost shouted out loud "He didn't beat me up!" but he stopped himself before he would. He took a deep breath before answering calmly.
"I don't know, I just can't stop smiling!"
While they got served by Toads, Young Link took a look around the table staring at nothing in particular but his eyes stopped when he saw Link just next to Zelda. His older self was giving one of those looks the boy could read in. He could almost hear him say: "This is going to hurt, trust me, it will hurt". He immediately lost his grin and the happiness suddenly vanished. Obviously, Ness noticed it.
"What's wrong?"
The blond kid turned to him and forced a smile.
"Nothing, don't worry... I guess I'm just a little tired."
Ness frowned.
"You weren't tired a second ago."
The Hylian just shrugged as they began to eat the ham in their plates. They continued the rest of the dinner getting tricks about the video game they were both playing: Ocarina of time. Ness was the one asking the most questions since he didn't have a clue about the temples.
"How can we defeat Dark Link? I tried several times but he keeps attacking me or copying my movements so I can't touch him."
"How many times did you tried?"
"At least ten."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I know..."
"Use Din's Fire as much as you can or use the Biggoron sword: he won't mimic you if you do."
"Thanks, I'll try! Did you finally manage to finish the spirit temple?"
"Nope."
"It's been almost a month you're in it!"
The Hylian sighed.
"I know..."
It's because Link won't allow me to play.
The kid turned as a hand touched his shoulder. His older self was standing right behind him smiling. Everybody would say it was a smile that anyone would give to his brother or sister but Young Link could read the evil in it.
"What is it, Link?"
"Time to go to bed..."
"But it's half past seven!"
The young boy froze when he saw the look the older Hylian was giving him. One of those "shut up and obey" looks. The kid took a peek at his friend and contained himself to jump on him yelling to not let him with that grown-up bastard but he managed to stay as calm as possible while he stood up and waved at Ness that was sitting there, stunned. It was almost unnatural to obey like this. His friend looked such in a hurry to stand up. He even thought he could see fear in his eyes like it was a horror to be with Link...
As the boys entered in the room, Young Link ran at the other side of the apartment while Link locked the door. The adult grabbed his master sword and approached the kid rapidly thinking about a strategy to get out. As his older self was about to hurt him with it, the boy spoke up.
"Why are you doing this?"
Link stopped his movement as his younger self continued talking.
"Why do I have to endure this? What did I do to you?"
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"I just can't take it anymore!"
The older Hylian put a hand of the boy's shoulder. Young Link waited for pain to come but there wasn't any. Did he finally understand? The kid didn't think so even if he wished by all of his heart that Link would. His doubts were confirmed as a horrible pain traveled his whole body. He looked down to see the master sword right in his stomach.
A loud knock on the door interrupted him as he began to punch the boy as every place he would think of. He took the master sword out of his younger self and started walking to the door.
"Get in the bathroom, now!"
The kid nodded as he walked as fast as he could in the room. When he closed the door, he finally saw the lock on it. That would help! He locked the door and lay on the cold floor waiting that Link would be done with any-who was at the door. He closed his eyes as he felt drifting away. As he was about to fall asleep, Link's voice completely awoke him.
"Open this door!"
Young Link stayed in this position even if his older self kept yelling at him to unlock the door. It stayed like this for a long moment until the older Hylian found another tactic.
"Open it or I'll call the hands!"
A burst of rage traveled through Young Link's mind.
"Then, call them! They'll believe me when they'll see what you just did!"
The adult laughed.
"Who will tell them that I did it? You? I'll just tell then another version and they'll believe me! That's what they always did right?"
"..."
"That's the difference between you and me; they believe me but not you. Nobody will believe you even if you told them a million times!"
The boy stayed silent. He couldn't find anything to answer, Link was right. The voice broke his thoughts.
"Now, open the door, will you?"
"No, let me die."
For once, his older self didn't respond. He finally let him alone. The young Hylian closed his eyes, hoping to pass away during the night.
He woke up still on the bathroom floor. He had traveled another night... Again. He never thought about suicide before but now that he was thinking about it, it was a good issue. But before he would, he wanted to say goodbye to everybody. He took a peek at the clock on the wall. It was half past five in the morning. He was tired but he couldn't afford to sleep. He had to get out. He slowly unlocked the door and got out of the bathroom. He silently changed his tunic before putting it on the bed and getting out of the apartment. He had two hours before Link would get up. He was always the first one to wake-up. The kid would have to hide until the others would get up; he couldn't afford his older self to find him. The boy ran silently throughout the corridor and hurried down the stairs. He sat on the couch of the game room thinking about a place where Link would never expect him to be. The common room? Young Link used to play hide-and-seek there so he had plenty of good places to hide... No, it would be too obvious. He took a look around the game room but there wasn't any place to hide except the closet where games and consoles were installed but there was surely not enough space for him. Then, an idea sparked in his mind. His older self would never expect him there. That's it, he won the game!
Link opened his eyes and looked at the clock next to him. It was half past seven. He sat up and stretched.
I hope he stopped his little crisis.
The Hylian looked at the bathroom door that was opened. He stood up and looked in but the boy was nowhere to be found. He took a peek at the apartment door to see that it was opened. He took a peek outside and looked back in the room where he noticed the partly red tunic of his younger self.
That bastard snuck out!
Link got out of the room and closed the door behind him while locking it, deciding to search for that freak. He climbed down the stairs and thought about where the boy could possibly hide.
He might be in the common, there are a lot of places to hide; he's playing hide-and-seek here after all...
The adult smirked knowing how easy it would be to find him.
Young Link began to fall asleep at the exact place he was. He rolled out of his hiding spot and stood up now facing his partly blood-covered tunic. Under his older self bed wasn't a so bad idea, Link would never find him at a place he wouldn't even search. It was now a little more than eight-thirty, a lot of smashers were up now. As long as he would be with someone else, his older self wouldn't dare to give him a mean look. Anyway, after his goodbyes he would never have to face Link again. He smiled just thinking about the huge rest he would have after it. He headed for the door but when he turned the knob, his grin faded. It was locked and Link didn't give his keys because he didn't lock the door before. He punched the door in anger but contained himself being too loud. He was so near, why did his plan end up here? It just wasn't fair! He took a deep breath and walked around the room to think of something that would get him out. He then spotted the master sword at the corner of the room. He took it and approached the door before entering the blade in the crack between the door and the wall. He pressed hard until the lock broke and opened the door. He didn't really care if it was broken right now; he just wanted to get to safety with the others. He dropped the sword and ran down the stairs and entered the common room that was now occupied by smashers. He just entered the room that he was greeted by an ecstatic Ness.
"Hey, you'll never believe me! Mewtwo though me a new technique!"
"Huh, good morning?"
Ness giggled and grabbed his arm.
"I can now read into souls! I tried on Mr. Saturn yesterday and it worked!"
He took a deep breath.
"Animals are too easy though... So I wanted to ask if it would bother you if I tried it on you."
The boy then closed his eyes preparing himself for a "no" just before hearing Young Link's voice.
"Okay, why not?"
Ness smiled and opened his eyes.
"Thanks, let's try it in my room it'll be more calm."
The boys climbed up the stairs in such a hurry that they didn't see the person they bumped in. The Hylian froze when he saw his older self. The adult smiled.
"Young Link, could I talk to you for a minute?"
The kid narrowed his eyes and took the most venomous voice he could do.
"Sorry, but I'm doing something important, with a friend"
Link opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out of his mouth. Feeling relieved to finally defy his adult self, the boy grabbed Ness's arm and walked to his friend's room that he was sharing with the Ice climbers that were absent right now. They entered the apartment and closed the door behind them. Ness took Mr. Saturn and dropped him in the bathroom so he wouldn't disturb them.
"Did you hurt yourself lately?"
"Huh, no, why?"
"Because early wounds can start bleeding again."
The Hylian didn't have time to say anything that Ness already closed his eyes to concentrate.
"Ness..."
It was too late; his friend was way too concentrated to hear him as pain from yesterday came back. Young Link began to panic.
"Ness!"
Disturbed, scared, in pain, sad, that was the actual state of his soul. These feelings were so strong that there were only a few choices about what could possibly happen in his life. Ness opened his eyes.
"What sadden you so mu-?"
He froze by the sight of his friend. His tunic had turn from green to red. His arms and legs were covered by blood just like his face that looked like he cried blood. The Hylian fell on his knees and pain could easily be seen on his face. He collapsed on the floor and the boy ran out of his room screaming for help at the top of his lungs. He ran into Ganon that was walking and he grabbed his arm without even thinking.
"You have to take Link to the hospital. He's in my room but I'm not strong enough to carry him!"
He then realized who was in front of him but it didn't stop him.
"I know you hate him but please, let your pride behind just for now!"
The Gerudo considered him for a moment and shrugged as he walked toward Ness's room.
"If someone has to take him down, better be me."
When they entered in the room, Ganondorf placed the Hylian on his shoulder and left casually the apartment like if carrying an unconscious child was something of a day-to-day life.
Since the hospital wasn't really far, they made the distance in no-time. Dr. Mario was sitting in front of his desk filling some important-looking papers. The doctor turned looking annoyed to be disturbed during some important work but when he saw the boy Ganon was carrying, he immediately stood up with a concern look and pointed the bed at the corner of the room. The Gerudo lay down the kid and left not a bit worried about the young hero. After a quick check, he took some of his tools.
"Could you get the hands?"
Ness nodded as he walked in the corridor his heart still beating hard in his chest. He had to calm down, his friend was in good care now but he still had a discomforting feeling just like if something horrible was going to happen. He finally arrived at the hands' room's door. He knocked loudly before a huge white hand answered to him.
"Can I do something for you, Ness?"
The boy opened his mouth but nothing came out. It was the time to spill it all out but he couldn't manage to do a complete sentence.
"The hospital."
It was all he was able to say but happily, the hand understood and hovered throughout the corridor closely followed by his "active" brother. Ness walked with them until they arrived in the white room. Both of the hands froze as they saw the Hylian on the bed. Crazy had even stopped twisting his fingers and just stood still. If the Master Hand had a head, his face would surely be full of anger.
"Who did this?"
Ness gave a worried look to his friend before staring at the hand.
"I was trying a new technique on him where some recent wounds could re-open and he was like this!"
"We'll have to find the person that did all of those and send him out."
The Master hand then floated away nearly followed by his brother that wasn't as active as before.
Young Link woke up in a bed surrounded by white walls. He remembered being with Ness in his room then pain and darkness. Did he finally pass away? He sat up and winced at the pain. The sight of Dr. Mario working at his desk confirmed his doubts; he wasn't dead. He almost jumped when Ness cheerfully sat next to him.
"Glad to see you're okay! How are you feeling?"
"A little tired but I'm good."
They both sat in silence for a moment to let Young Link wake himself up a little.
"Those injuries... Who did them to you?"
The Hylian sighed. He wouldn't believe him the hands didn't so why would he, beside the fact that they were friends? Ness put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"We have to know, I have to know..."
Young Link took a deep breath; he would let all out now.
"Link did. Each evening, he did."
Ness stayed still, stunned. Link was definitely the last one he would think about. He thought they were like brothers. He felt immediately concerned as his friend started sobbing.
"Don't let me with him, please! I can't take it anymore!"
Ness hugged him.
"No, I'll never let you alone with him anymore."
Right at this moment, Master hand hovered in the room. The boy looked at the hand that looked discomforted by the sight of the sobbing Hylian.
"Link did it."
Ness couldn't tell if the hand would believe him but he had to. Master Hand sighed.
"Oh, well, I'll get him."
It took a moment but Young Link managed to calm down just before Link would enter with the hand. Dr. Mario turned knowing that the following minutes would be pretty interesting. One of the two heroes was preparing himself for a lying performance.