Legend of Link: Cords of Fate; Part 2
"Must be exciting being named the Hero of Time, Link. It's a great honor. I'm kind of jealous of you. Walking into the town and instantly becoming famous. Who would've guessed it." Valon giggled as she manned the reins to the horse that drew the carriage along its rocky path. Link took a deep breath within his deep thoughts on the situation. Valon frowned, sensing the reluctance to believe he was the one true hero spoken about in the prophecies throughout the ages.
"Now don't get yourself all down or anything. It may be a big responsibility, but I have faith you can do it, Link." she smiled and averted her eyes slightly, almost as though she were embarrassed about something. "You're a good person, I can feel it. Else you wouldn't have agreed to do this for the princess." Link placed a hand behind his head bashfully. He began to wonder if he had always been this good person that people seemed to adore. Only time would tell as he'd regain his memories gradually. At least, he hoped he would.
"Oh hey, we're here. This is the town of Faune." she announced as the carriage reached the edge of the village and stopped. "I'll wait here for you, Link. So please be careful in there."
Link nodded and hopped down from the wooden seat and set his eyes on the dusty town. The village itself looked almost deserted and burned, Link's footsteps being the only sound in the lonesome town. The boy was careful as he stalked through the town, ready to pounce if a thief were to jump him. His silence was startled by the sound of a soft voice, one of a child singing to herself. Link was slow to open the half-broken door which held the small voice within it's walls.
Peering inside, the entire house was a mess, ransacked and showed heavy signs of massive fire damage. Only very few things had survived the fire here, mostly support beams in the walls and a few old cooking pots along with other broken items strewn about the floor. As the boy step through to the hallway, a cracking noise caused him to pause and check under his foot, which there lay a broken picture frame encompassing a burnt picture of what could barely be made out to be a family portrait. Looking back up, Link was startled to see a small child standing before him accompanied by a beaten-up old teddy bear.
Link approached the girl carefully as not to scare her in any way, however, the girl remained still with her big blue innocent eyes focused on the boy in green. He knelt down to her level, inspecting her condition, but being mindful to keep a close eye out for a trap. The last thing he needed was to be ambushed by thieves when he'd finally found the little girl.
"They're gone now. It's okay." the little girl spoke softly, her eyes still filled with curiosity.
Link nodded, continuing to inspect her. The girl and her outfit of rags were covered in ash and dirt, her blonde hair lightly singed from the flames that had been present before Link's arrival. It was a wonder the girl had still managed to stay alive under such conditions.
"Are you Arina?" Link spoke low and soft, just so that prying ears couldn't hear. The girl simply nodded and Link offered a hand paired with a comforting smile.
Arina seemed unsure on whether to take his offer or not, but smiled and placed her hand into his. Link pulled her up into his arms and looked about for the best way out. In that instant, a loud cracking noise filled the house. His eyes widened as his mind quickly pieced together the situation and he darted for the window. Smashing shoulder first into the window, he rolled out of the way of the debris as the house collapsed within itself. Link sighed, being thankful to have had the fast reflexes he did. Looking down at the girl with a questioning look, Arina's eyes met his. "I'm okay. Thank you... for saving me."
Link nodded and set off back for the wagon Valon had been waiting on for them.
"Oh hey! You found her! That was so quick too. You truly are a hero, aren't you?" Valon called out, blushing a little at her own commentary. Link smiled as he approached the carriage, the little girl snuggled into his arms.
"Well, let's get back to the princess then. She's probably very anxious to see your progress." Valon whipped back the reins setting the horses to take off back towards Netyria. All the meanwhile, Arina seemed to sleep quietly in his arms the whole way back.
Upon the arrival back to the city of Netyria, the guards seemed to be waiting for them.
"Link, Hero of Time, you must come with us immediately. Valon, you are not allowed into the castle at this time." the guard spoke in a commanding voice, one of that serious business was at hand.
Valon looked worried as she looked to Link about the situation and she was met with a smile and a reassuring hand on the shoulder from him. He then walked into the castle grounds with the guards and was escorted all the way to the chamber where he had seen Zelda last. Her absence was soon remedied as Zelda entered the room as though on a mission of great urgency.
"I see you have found the girl. Have her come here."
Link obeyed as he rustled the small girl awake and set her down to stand on her own, patting her on the back to walk forward. Zelda knelt down to inspect the child.
"This girl is an imposter. She is not my sister." Zelda stood and directed her angry look towards Link. "I demand you fix this at once. Kill this girl and then go find my real sister."
Link looked shocked as his face showed all shades of his expression, his anger, his disappointment, his confusion. It was at that moment it dawned on him what the princess was actually asking him to do. Kill this innocent little girl? She had done nothing wrong but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Link shook his head in adamant objection to the task she had asked of him. There was no way he was going to slay this girl.
"Excuse me? You dare defy me, your princess? Are you or aren't you the hero of time? You must obey my orders or be killed yourself. It's either you or her." Zelda laid out her ultimatum clearly before Link, and his options were few.
The little girl scurried back to Link in the exchange of words, being just old enough to understand the intent behind Zelda's words. The boy merely stepped forward and moved his arms outward as if to defend the small child.
"So you choose your death over the girls? So be it. Guards!"
The guards had already been standing by as they ran in and overtook Link quite easily. Some of the guards took up the little girl and separated her from Link.
"N-noooo!" the girl cried out as they took her away. Link reached out for her but could not manage to get free from the grasp of the guards to save her. The moment Arina was out of his sights, his hate-filled eyes darted over and set a fiery gaze on Zelda. How could she do such things? This wasn't how a princess should act at all.
Zelda approached with an almost wicked grin that was soon covered by a completely unamused look. She kneeled down to Link's level who was now being held on his knees before her. She reached a hand underneath his chin. "Is this the fate you've chosen? Really? I will behead you to save that little girl's life. A girl you don't even know. Tell me, is this what you were meant for?"
Link's eyes released their anger for Zelda as he hung his head in defeat and then nodded in answer to her words. A guard approached with a large axe, handing it to Zelda as she drew it upwards, ready to strike. "So be it, Mr. Hero of Time."
Link's eyes shut tight in anticipation of the end that was about to come. Tensing up, he felt like he waited forever before Zelda took in a deep breath and let the axe come crashing down toward Link. A large CLANG was heard as Link took a few minutes to realize he was actually still alive. In a nervous curiosity, he finally opened his eyes and looked to the left of him as his own reflection in the large axe stared straight back at him. His eyes shift upward as Zelda let out a delighted squeal and the guards let go of him.
"I'm so sorry if I scared you, Link. I just really had to be sure that you were really the fabled Hero of Time. And you passed!" she exclaimed, almost ready to dance with joy. Link's eyes widened in surprise as his mouth flew open to talk.
"I know what you're about to say. And don't worry. That little girl will be just fine. My real sister has been dead for some short time now, but the kingdom doesn't know, they think she was kidnapped. My guards had scoped out a perfect resemblance in that little girl to my sister and she will take her stead. So she will be in good hands and you shall be labeled a true hero of this kingdom. I'm so very proud of you. I would like you to come to the town square in a few hours for I have an important announcement to make and I would really like you to be in attendance. Don't let me down, okay? Now off with you, I must prepare for the announcement I am to give." Zelda swiftly left the room without another word and the guards returned to their posts.
Link was more than a little confused and taken back by everything that had just happened. What was he getting himself into? As all things, he would hopefully find out soon enough.
Exiting the castle, Valon was waiting anxiously for Link but was suddenly filled with a feeling of dread and worry.
"Hey, Link! Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Valon placed a hand on his shoulder as he approached. Link simply shook his head and sighed.
"Oh, I know what you need. Let's take a look around the market. I know this nice little place where we can get something to eat. It's on me. Besides, you'll need some time to kill before the announcement that Zelda's gonna be making later on today. The whole town has been talking about it. They think she has found the successor to the throne of Netyria. Isn't that wonderful?" Valon continued to speak almost in a strong sincerity for whatever happened, almost as though she already knew what had transpired within the privacy of the castle walls.
Link seemed more than preoccupied by his thoughts on the events that had just taken place. Everything was moving so fast now, and he still didn't know who he really was. Valon took Link by the hand and tugged his unresponsive body through the town square and looked about the market for the place she had mentioned. Link shook his thoughts from his head and peered up at the sign above the rustic door. In fact, most of the town was built in stone with rustic doors and wooden balconies, dotted with brightly colored tents to protect the sellers and the merchandise from too much sun. Valon pulled him inside and sat them down at an old wooden table near the window and ordered them some food.
"You probably don't know anything about the Ceremony of Fate, do you? Well, let me tell you, it's a ceremony where the Prince or Princess of Netyria chooses a successor to the throne with their hand in marriage. They climb the path to the north up the mountain to where the tower is. The princess will light the fire beneath the fabled sword of fate. From there, their bodies become one as the sun sets in the horizon. I've heard it's a very beautiful ceremony, though no one who isn't apart of the ceremony can even see it. They say that sword had been stuck there for ages. No one has ever been able to pull it out, though a very few some have tried. Isn't that weird? But hey, I'm just excited to see what lucky man of the village she'll be choosing."
Before they knew it, the food had come and gone, and people could already be seen gathering in the town square from the window they sat in front of.
"Oh, it must be time!" Valon exclaimed, quickly rustling up money from her satchel, slamming it down on the table, grabbing Link's arm and pulling him out the door and towards the crowd of people. By the time they made it near the center of the crowded square, Zelda was already starting to speak out over the people from a balcony overlooking the square itself.
"Citizens of Netyria. I, Princess Zelda, have come to announce a very important matter. Something many have been waiting for since I was a young child. The day has come that I have chosen a successor to my throne. This brave man will ascend the steps to the tower to light the flames of fate beneath the setting sun. The man I have chosen for this, is the newcomer. The Hero Link. He and I shall ascend tonight. That is all."
The town wasn't exactly filled with cheers as most seemed confused that Zelda would chose a newcomer to their village as the successor regardless if he was a hero or not and with such little notice. Link could feel the judgmental stares of the citizens of this populated square. Valon could also sense the increasing tension in the air.
"Quickly, this way!" Valon exclaimed as she grabbed Link's hand quickly and ran for what seemed to be a sort of back alley. She came to a dead end and turned toward a wood palette laying against the wall. Throwing it aside, it revealed a small hole in the wall, barely enough for Link to fit through.
"Go on, take this tunnel straight under into the castle grounds. You'll be safe there. I'll distract the crowd. Now, go!"
Link nodded quickly and scurried into the hole the best he could. The tunnel seemed to last forever until finally his head popped out of a wall within the castle grounds. Relieved he'd be safe, he stood and dusted himself off.
A voice suddenly rang out, "I had a feeling Valon would hide you in there. We haven't much time to spare, so we must hurry." Link looked up to see Zelda standing before him already. She reached out and grabbed his hand gently and began to lead him into a passage that carved into the side of the mountain. They ascended the pathway for what seemed like hours, they were finally at the tower at the top of the mountain. The tower itself was old and a huge chunk of the tower was torn out to show a lushous view of the ocean and the setting sun below a cliff side. Zelda moved over to a sword stuck into the stone and wrapped with purple thorned vines. She bent down and closed her eyes as she held out a hand. Link noticed that the necklace she had been wearing, a gold emblem encrusted with a blue, a red, and a green gem, out of those the red gem began to glow as well as her hand. The kindling at the base of the sword suddenly burst into a small flame. She smiled and turned to Link.
"This necklace has been passed down throughout my family. It is the source of my magic given to the royal family by the goddesses. At the end of this ceremony, it shall be given to you and you shall be Netyria's new king."
Zelda moved closer to Link, as Link seemed to edge backwards almost out of sheer nervousness of the situation. He was unsure what was going on anymore. He must have really hit his head really hard in the forest, because none of this was making sense to him. At least, not yet.
Leaning in as close as she could, Zelda attempted to grace her lips with his. However, Link pulled back as something caught his eye. The vines were moving, as a length of thick thorned vine which had been growing off the edge, seemed to slide off.
"Hey, stop avoiding me. We must go through with the ceremony as it is told in the prophecy!"
Link paused, then shook the thought from his head, resuming to Zelda's needs as he mustered up all he could to get close, every fiber of his being pushing him to just kiss her. Link's lips finally pushed up against hers reluctantly. It felt awkward, but somehow a bit calming. Suddenly, a rustling was heard as the wind began to pick up. Link pulled back as his eyes set gaze on a massive black dragon that was flying up to meet their level, it's tail purple with thorns signified that the vine that fell was in fact its tail. Setting down its huge claws upon the edge, the whole tower shook and waned in its inability to maintain its weight. The tower was starting to crumble as Link pushed Zelda out of the way of a falling piece of the ceiling and dove in the opposite direction as not to get hurt himself. Scrambling to his feet, he unsheathed his sword from his back and ran toward the dragon with all intent to fight it to the death. The dragon, however, had different plans as it swung its arm to knock down Link, his sword sliding off the edge of the tower and into the water below, and the dragon swung its other hand to snatch up Zelda.
"L-LINK!" she screamed out in panic, struggling to break her arms free of its grasp.
Link had no other choice as he ran for the dragon anyway, pulling up the ceremonial sword from the ground and slicing upward to catch one the dragon's red eyes, leaving a burned scar across it's face. Enraged by the resistance Link was putting up, the dragon roared and leaned back, flapping its wings to catch the air in an attempt to leave. Link dropped the sword and ran for Zelda as fast as he could hoping to grab onto the dragons arm to try to pry her free. He jumped off the ledge as it flew backwards, reaching out his hand to her, praying that he'd grab something, anything. What he did grab, though, was onto Zelda's necklace. The moment his weight fell downward, the cord gave way and snapped as Link no longer had anything to hold onto at that point and began to fall. The dragon took one last swing, knocking Link into the side of the cliff overlooking the ocean with all the force it could. Upon contact with the rocky wall, the gems in the necklace shattered and lights from the necklace darted off in different directions. The dragon seemed cackled as he began to fly off with his prize, and Link plummeting down toward the crashing waves below.
And all he could hear before he hit the water along with the rest of the large pieces of the broken tower were Zelda's unanswered screams for help as the massive beast carried her far away from Netyria.