Whenever you see that black screen... don't you wonder what's going on behind it?
„Link!!"
…
It was so weird… he felt like… like…
„Please!! Please wake up!"
Zelda's voice… Princess Zelda was calling for him…?
"Please… open your eyes!"
But he felt so tired… he just wanted to sleep… Sleep and…
-She was sobbing…
"Please…open them… at least… like this…."
Like… this?
What did she mean by that?...
Link slowly… rose his arm. And he heard her voice squeak in relieve:
"Ah!-"
Yet it only sounded like… restricted relieve.
Zelda… what was wrong? What was this… desperate tone in her voice?
What happened?
"Ahh…"
He could not sleep now… And he knew that. He had something to do. A mission.
That's right. He promised her… that's they'd put her back to normal! Exactly! And they had to hurry! So why was he lying here and doing nothing?!... How did he get on the floor in first place anyway?
Quickly, Link rose up.
And opened his eyes.
And there was Zelda.
Her pale face was the first thing he spotted.
Of course it was pale… it was just a reflection, an illusion produced by her own memories of herself.
She had no body. She was a lost spirit.
And that's why they had to hurry! Link couldn't believe himself! Wasting time for a stupid… nap! What was he thinking?! Quickly, they had to catch up the lost time—
But when Link wanted to get up and tell Zelda, that they were moving on, he noticed the way she was looking at him… was strange.
She seemed… relieved and… despaired. At the same time.
Her mouth slightly opened, smiling, but her eyes filled of… sadness.
A dissonant look. What was the meaning of this?
And her voice sounded just the same:
"Link… Oh Link! At least… At least you are…"
"Uhh…"
Link shook his head for a moment… he just noticed that his tiredness came from… a weird kind of headache he had…:
"Princess…"
He got up:
"What… what happened… I… don't quite remember—"
"I'm so sorry Link…"
Link looked up in surprise, as he heard the Princess's voice trembling like this…
And as he looked at Zelda… she somehow couldn't quite look into his eyes:
"It… It is… all my fault… I dragged you into all this…"
She sounded like she'd burst into tears any second:
"I'm so sorry… I… I…"
When Link heard her talking like that, he felt very alarmed:
"W-Wait…I don't understand! Zelda! Did something happen?"
"S-Something… Oh Link…"
She now completely turned her head away:
"I should have… never… given you that… note… I just caused you… I just made you… this all had nothing to do with you… oh, please no… you… were all.…"
Was she… crying?!
What happened? Just what happened?!
Link tried to remember what he did before falling asleep but he couldn't quite seem to be able to recall the memory—no wait! There was something….
Link closed his eyes and put his palm to his forehead. Almost blurred out, but distant, he started to recall the last thing that happened…
"Now… Now I remember… We were … in the temple, right? There were monsters and I..."
He looked up
"Oh yes! Of course! Now I know again… I acted too soon and accidently let myself wide open, while trying to---"
Link stopped, when he noticed Princess Zelda's sad and hopeless look when he said all those things. Her eyes seemed wet… Like she was barely holding back the tears.
For a moment, Link hesitated to continue telling--- he didn't want to see the princess cry… But he wanted to know what happened! And if she didn't tell him…
So he continued:
"So… I was wide open and… with my guard down like that… uhm…"
Here, it got more complicated to remember…
"Oh… wait…. I think…"
He paused a second:
"I… I got hit and….passed out…"
"L-L-Link…"
Zelda finally said something again, but she was shaking all over… and then, she let her head sink down:
"I'm sorry… you… you did not… You didn't… make it…"
"Huh?... Didn't… make it?"
He didn't quite understand, what she meant…
"You… You mean, I lost the battle?"
"Well…"
Zelda nodded and seemed, like she was full of hesitation to add something to this statement… when Link suddenly growled in anger:
"ARGH! Those bastard monsters…"
"Link…"
He jumped up again.
"Well, come on, Princess! We gotta get inside again, huh? I still have a bone to pick with those guys…"
"Link!…"
"And I promise, they won't get me this time! I was careless, but that won't happen again! I'll-"
"LINK STOP!"
Link had just started to head over to the blue circle of light, when he felt his left arm being pulled back by someone…
He turned around and found that it was Zelda, who was holding him by his hand, keeping him from moving any further.
"Huh? Princess?"
In surprise, Link tried to get his arm free:
"Hey! Let me go! I have to get back in there! Uh… What's gotten into you?!
…—HUH?!"
Link stopped struggling… when he noticed something:
"Wait a moment… Why can you touch me?"
He could feel it… feel Princess Zelda's hand, clutching his as strong as she could… How was this possible?
She could not touch him! She had not been able to, ever since…
Suddenly, Link got excited:
"You… you can touch stuff again?"
A shine appeared in his eyes:
"Hey! Maybe… maybe if you're tangible, the others can see you as well now! That'd be great! If the people in the castle see you, you can command them to send some soldiers along with me! Then, I can…"
"No Link…"
Zelda interrupted him:
"No Link, you're wrong, I'm… I'm not tangible any more than before! …"
"Don't be silly! You're touching my hand!"
He rose it up:
"See?... AH!"
As Link brought up both of their hands to eye-level, he noticed… that he could see through.
Not just through Zelda's hand… through…his own… as well...
Finally, Zelda slowly let go of it, as Link brought it to his eyes and looked closer at it in disbelieve…
"What…. How…"
"I told you…"
Zelda's voice sounded so… mousy now… and she was still sobbing:
"Link…you didn't make it…"
As Link started to comprehend… the… true meaning of this sentence… Zelda went on to whisper:
"When you… where lying there… moveless…I… I tried everything to… to help… but… but
Link shook.
This could not be real… This mustn't be real… he was dreaming… right? Right?
Zelda continued:
"…but…I… I couldn't do anything… at all… I could only watch… as the monsters… as they…"
This was not true… This simply was not be true… Link told himself to wake up! He had to wake up…
Wake up and find himself in his warm, soft bed in the passenger wagon and Zelda hovering next to him and laughing. Wake up and find himself still alright! This had to be a dream! He could not be…
Zelda finally ended her speech:
"…all… all I could do… was… to drag you… out here… after… after… you… your….
A-after… your spirit left your b-body…"
…
Link starred.
At his hand…
His pale, faded, weakly glowing hand…
Just now he realized… he could not feel the floor under his feet. They weren't touching it…
And he didn't have his sword on him… or his shield… or anything else at all…
He was just… floating in mid-air… just like Zelda.
"I…"
Finally he found his voice again:
"I…I…am…
…dead?..."
And Zelda burst into tears. She cried and couldn't hold back anymore at all.
That was, when Link felt the tears… or at least a reflection of what would have been tears… gathering in his eyes as well:
"So… I didn't just pass out? They killed me? The hit killed me?"
More and more, he started to realize that his indeed was real. That he really lost… more that just a battle.
Fully aware, he repeated everything to himself aloud and in clear voice:
"So this is what happened! I did not just pass out, they hit me and I died! I am dead…
But… But…I…I…"
Suddenly he shook his head wildly:
"NO!! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE JUST UP!"
Link turned around and… headed at the light circle again.
And Zelda screamed in shock:
"NO! LINK!"
She grabbed his arm again and pulled him back:
"What are you doing?! Stay here!!"
"NO! I'm going in there again!!"
"You can't fight them anymore!! Not like this!"
"But maybe, I can get inside my body again, if I find it in there and…"
"NO! YOU CAN'T!!"
"I have to try!! I promised you, that I'd…"
"NO!"
Zelda pulled him back with all her force, and flew between him and the circle of light.
"You… will not go… in there…"
"Zelda-"
"LISTEN TO ME!!"
Zelda didn't budge an inch and looked just into his eyes, even though she had troubles not to look away anymore. She cried:
"Link! You don't understand! When I got you out there… I did it, because I didn't want you to… in case you wake up… I didn't want you too…"
She stopped… and rephrased what she was going to say:
"They… They didn't stop when you were lying there, motionless… Not even when your spirit was already driven out of the … dead… body…. They didn't stop! They continued to… attack… and… attack… and attack… and attack… and…. I… couldn't… do… anything… they kept on… until…"
She put her hands to his shoulders and screamed:
"Don't go in there! Please! You don't want to see it! You don't want to see, what they did to you… I know I wouldn't want to see… my body… like this…."
For a few seconds, Link just… hovered there… with her. Not doing anything… until he finally moved his lips again:
"So… that's… it?"
With empty eyes, he sunk into his knees, looking at the ground which he didn't even touch…
"I… failed? Just like that? But… I promised…"
The tears that weren't even really there touched his cheeks again:
"I… I promised you, you'd be alright… that I'd take you out in the train and introduce you to everyone who doesn't know that they've met you before… I wanted to show you all the fun things that you missed out on…I… I even told you, we'd go to the Beach together… "
Silence…
Finally, Zelda said:
"Link… it's alright… you… tried your best. It is my fault… If I didn't just force you to do this… this would have never happened to you…."
She cried: "The last thing I wanted was to get you into this state as well! I… I am so incredibly sorry! I know, that this can't just be forgiven, but please, don't hate me… I have no one left but you…"
"Don't worry…"
Link rose up again:
"There… there is nothing to be forgiven, because… because… Because I won't let this end like this!!!"
He turned to the circle once again:
"Regardless, what it looks like, I'm going in there!!"
"Link!"
"Your flute is still in there! I promised you to take care of it! And it's Anjean's instrument! Without it, everything is lost! I won't just leave it in there!"
"Ah…"
Zelda looked away:
"Link… you can't touch it anymore…"
"Then… then…"
He looked up again:
"Then we'll go back to the Spirit Tower!! Maybe, if you can possess one of those armors, I can do that too! Well use a pair of those armors and then get back here and…"
"They can't be possessed unless stunned… and you can't stun them anymore… you can't use your sword anymore. "
She looked at him and shook her head:
"And even if we could… you saw what happens when they leave their section of the tower. They fall apart…
Link… It's hopeless."
"But… But…"
"My grandma's… and Anjean's flute is lost…. Just like… us…"
"No….There… there has to be a way to…"
"There isn't, Link!", Zelda cried "There's no way!"
Hearing those words… Link slowly slipped down to the ground… sitting there… as Zelda followed down.
He starred into the air:
"Then It's… just over like that? Just like this? I'm… gone…"
He paused for a few moments:
"But I…Oh no…I… I told Niko and Alfonzo, I'd come back home. If I don't come back… If I can show myself to them… they'll… Niko is so old! Niko is so old and he has nothing left but me and the stories he tells me! He always said, that I looked like one of his best friends…He always said, he was so glad to have me around! All of his old friends are dead. If I'm gone as well now… I don't know if he will take that… He might… He might…
And Alfonzo set all his hope into me… He always said he took only me in as a pupil, because I was the only one of the kids who showed any promise… He said, I had much more… will…. He...They…"
The last bit of calmness disappeared from his voice:
"They believed in me! Everybody believed in me and I failed them all! I failed! I failed everyone… even you, Zelda… "
"You didn't fail me, Link!", she said with a begging voice: "You gave your best… You did this all for me! You… You are the best friend I ever had! I am so glad we met… but I wish we hadn't! Just because of me, this happened to you! And now… it's over! For both of us! "
"No…"
Suddenly, Link screamed:
"NO! I AM NOT ACCEPTING THAT! I JUST WON'T!"
Zelda looked at him, as he turned at her and said:
"We… We have to find… a way… We…. Can't just… let this happen, OK? Just because… of one little… tiny… mistake…"
"But… what can we do…Link?", she asked in a voice that made it clear, that the answer was "Nothing"…
Yet, Link tried to find another answer:
"We will… We still can… Anjean can still see us! And she can… She might… Maybe… Or…"
But Link's eyes… emptied again, as he realized that all his enthusiasm… all his willpower and courage… all he ever had… was meaningless now.
Nobody could see him. Or hear him. And he could touch nothing.
He couldn't do anything anymore.
He was gone.
He was dead.
The "he" that was still here, thinking about all of those things… This was just his willpower. Nothing else was left of him. Just his spirit. And this alone… could not slay monsters. Or save Zelda's body from becoming a vessel.
His spirit alone… couldn't do anything.
Finally… he gave in…. and sunk his head like Zelda before:
"…And now…?"
Zelda drew a little closer:
"… Is there any place… you would want to go?"
Link stayed silent for a few moments.
"Aboda…"
Was his short answer.
And Zelda nodded. And took his hand.
Leaving the Spirit Train behind… a train without a conductor… they followed the Spirit Tracks… out of this place.
Link took one last look back… as he knew that this place had become his grave…
"… And after we were in Aboda…?", Link finally asked on the way. "Where shall we go then?"
"I don't know…", Zelda said "I don't even think, we can leave this world… I…"
She paused for a moment:
"I just wonder… why… why you stayed behind… why didn't you pass on…?"
Link shrugged:
"Maybe… because I couldn't leave you behind alone?"
He sighed:
"I was your only hope after all…"
"Oh Link…"
"And I wonder…"
He turned at her:
"Why… could I see you right away? Even when I was alive? Why could I, when nobody else could?"
Zelda looked up to the sky… dark clouds had started to gather:
"I… don't know…either…"
She paused yet again… until she came up with something:
"What… if we met before?"
"Before?"
"Before all of this."
Zelda sunk her head:
"My mother once told me, that sometimes friendship lasts longer than just one live… Maybe… Maybe we were friends a long, long time ago as well! And… that's why you could… see me."
Link smiled a tiny little bit:
"Yeah…maybe…"
Now, both of them looked up the sky…
The dark clouds had centered around the Spirit Tower… And the sky grew black.
Zelda shivered:
"I feel so cold…"
She looked down to the grass beneath their feet, as it seemed like it would start to wither…
" You think, they really… my body..."
Link would have wanted to cheer her up… But he didn't have any words left to do so. All he could do was take her hand…
"At least… we still have one another…", he whispered silently.
And she nodded:
"…One another… and nobody else…"
She shivered:
"You know… no matter if they now did this my body or not… I… I just don't want to see this land turn dark and fruitless… I don't want to be in a place, where the sun never shines!!"
Suddenly, she threw herself into Link's arms like a little, scared girl, who just ran away from something frightening. But Link didn't mind. He just took her into his arms and said:
"Then… let's get away, before it happens. Far away… I know!"
He looked at her:
"Niko once told me that… out on the sea, there was a beautiful archipelago, where it is never winter, above the ruins of a sunken kingdom. He told me, that our ancestors lived there! But they left it behind, because..."
He felt the tears coming back:
"…because… it was their… great hope to… find the peace of the ancient Kingdom again here…"
The dark clouds started thickening…
"I want to go there…", Zelda said. "I want to see that archipelago… and the ruins…"
She turned to the sky:
"But… if we just could take everyone else back there as well…"
And she closed her eyes in disappointment:
"If this kingdom was… a hope entrusted to our ancestors… we now lost that hope. And maybe it was the last hope…"
They were near Aboda now…
Link started to shiver…
"I...I can't… "
He suddenly turned around:
"I can't go to Aboda… not if nobody will see me…"
"Link…?"
"I... can't just go there without being able to talk to them… I feel so… helpless…"
They just stayed there for a few seconds, until Zelda reached her hand out to him:
"Then…shall we… go now?"
After a few moments of calm, he slowly nodded.
They turned around… looking at the coast.
The sky was gone. Hidden behind the dark clouds, which marked yet again the end of Hyrule's legacy…
For the first time, the hero had failed…
----
Game Over.
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