My Inner Nightmare
By Queenie Z

Chapter 2: Love To Faults Is Always Blind

"Impa!"

The doors of the castle's library flew open, revealing a hysterical Princess Zelda breathing heavily from her mad dash from the courtyard. Her guardian, who had been perusing the contents of quite a few books on everything from magical tomes to monster encyclopedias, stood quickly, her face growing ever more concerned.

"Princess," she said, approaching her, "what happened? Are you all right?"

Zelda nodded, swallowing hard and walking towards a chair. "I'm fine," she said breathlessly, "but Link is - Impa, it's terrible! She didn't just change his memories, she made him fall in love with her...!"

Impa's eyes widened. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

The young princess shot a slight glare at her. "He said she was as 'beautiful as a winter rose' and kissed her hand," she said curtly, "it seems pretty obvious how thoroughly bewitched he's been."

"...This is worse than I'd thought," muttered Impa, placing a hand on her chin and returning to her books. She pulled out an encyclopedia of Hyrule's monsters and turned to one of the bookmarks. "I'd considered the possibility, but I didn't think it was likely."

"What?" said Zelda, rushing over to look at the book with her, "What did you find?"

"Look at this," Impa said as she pointed to a picture of a nude woman with fierce claws and bat-like wings. "This is a succubus, a rare but deadly creature whose primary source of nourishment is human souls."

"Human souls?" the princess asked, astonished, "Such a creature actually exists!"

Impa nodded. "The succubus hunts her prey - mostly men - by seducing them with a type of mind control spell. Then, while mating with the victim, she devours their souls. Depending on the type of soul she eats, it could sustain her for decades or even centuries."

Zelda clasped her hands to her mouth, horrified. "No," she said, "she can't... but, Impa, why Link? Why him!"

"From what I've gathered, Link's soul could be considered a rare delicacy to a succubus." Impa looked back up at the shaken princess. "Not only is he a virgin, he also possesses a great deal of courage, valor, and kindness." She closed her eyes. "The purer and more virtuous a man is, the longer his soul can sustain the creature."

"We've got to stop her," said Zelda resolutely. "Do these books have any information on how to defeat a succubus?"

"Unfortunately not," said Impa, closing the book. "However, I have a theory on how we could possibly break her spell."

"How?"

"The kind of magic this 'Jenna' uses is typically emanated from some source; perhaps a charm of some sort. If we could find the source of her magic, we can break the spell on Link and the others."

The princess broke into a huge, relieved smile. "Impa, you're a genius!" she said, standing up and heading for the door again.

"Zelda, wait," called Impa, "just what are you planning to do?"

"Jenna mentioned that she's been living out of her wagon for her little trip," she replied, "and I assume she's going to get ready for her and Link's - " she gagged on the word, " - date in there. I'll spy on her and see if I can find the source of her magic."

"In a covered wagon? She'll doubtlessly see you."

Zelda turned her head and winked at Impa. "I'll take your Sheikah cloak, then," she said, "and camouflage myself. You keep researching a way to defeat her permanently."

Impa nodded once more. "Just be careful, Princess."

With that, Zelda exited the library and headed straight for Impa's chambers to change.

Impa's cloak, an ancient, magical artifact that had been passed down through her tribe for ages, was the embodiment of the Sheikah philosophy of seeing while remaining unseen. As soon as its wearer uttered a few magic words, it would turn them completely invisible. As such, it was perfect for sneaking into the succubus' covered wagon and spying on her.

Zelda made her way to the stables where the horses were being kept, and just outside was Jenna's wagon, although there was no sign that she had been back by yet. Knowing that this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak inside, she muttered the spell, camouflaged herself, and walked past the guards, opening the cloth flap covering the wagon's entrance.

She gaped at what she found inside. What powerful magic this creature must have had if she was able to create a wagon that was twice as big on the inside as it was on the outside! There was an entire living space filled with colorful decorations of all kinds, a fireplace, a stove, a bed, and what appeared to be a fully-functional bathtub and toilet! Clearly, she thought, Jenna was used to living luxuriously and getting what she wanted - but Zelda was determined to not let the demoness have her way with Link!

She looked around the place, being careful not to disturb anything, searching for any clues as to Jenna's source of magic or her weaknesses. Unfortunately, all she found were your typical, albeit extravagant, merchant's trappings - bolts of cloth, jewelry, and various little trinkets she assumedly sold as a part of her cover. Zelda had to admit that it was a clever ruse; after all, who would suspect an ordinary merchant of being a soul-stealing succubus?

Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. After making sure that her cloaking spell was still active, she backed into a corner and held still, watching as the foul beast entered the wagon with a sigh of satisfaction. Immediately, she turned on the bath's faucet, sat down at her vanity, and began brushing her long brown hair. Then, after the bath was ready, she turned the faucet off and began to disrobe.

Normally, Zelda would have felt quite awkward and intrusive watching someone take a bath like this; but it was to save her best friend from having his soul eaten, so she looked on. When Jenna slipped her dress off and brushed her hair over her shoulder, the princess covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from gasping. Between her shoulder blades were two large slits in her skin, from which her hidden wings protruded ever so slightly when she bent over to enter the tub! It was just as she and Impa suspected; this woman was anything but human!

Jenna chuckled to herself as she relaxed in the tub. "That is the heroic man who became the 'Hero of Time' and saved Hyrule from darkness, hmm?" She grinned wickedly. "He is quite handsome. Ah, if only I was human, I would love to have such a man as my husband and produce strong, beautiful children with him." She took a bar of soap and began scrubbing herself. "I almost feel sorry for wanting to devour him!"

Zelda gritted her teeth in rage. So the shameless seductress shows her true colors! She continued to check the room for any charms that might be the source of her magic; but her search proved fruitless. Soon, Jenna was out of the tub and changing into a white gown with what appeared to be Triforce insignias embroidered into it. Not only did this villainess have the nerve to speak of her dear friend as some sort of trophy she could claim, she also unashamedly wore sacred symbols that were only worn by the clergy and the royal family as a fashion design! Indeed, she wasn't simply spoiled and selfish, she was also the most prideful and self-important being the princess had ever laid eyes on!

As Jenna ran a silver lace through her braided hair, she spoke. "Mirror, show me where Link is."

The reflection in the mirror suddenly changed into a vision of Link, dressed nicely (as nicely as he could dress living off of a rookie knight's salary) and walking chipperly through the town on his way to the castle. Perhaps, thought Zelda, this was how she caught wind of Link's existence in the first place, and possibly even how she knew of his deeds and title. Jenna licked her lips at the sight and grinned.

"Good," she said, "he's on his way." The mirror returned to normal, and Jenna resumed using it to get ready. In the time it took for Jenna to put the finishing touches on her outfit, hair, and makeup, Link made it to the stables, his footsteps reaching the ears of both the creature and the cloaked princess inside the wagon.

"Oh, Link!" cried Jenna in faux excitement, "Is that you? Do come in!"

Link stepped inside the wagon, that stupid, goofy grin still on his face. "Sorry if I've kept you waiting," he said taking Jenna's hand and kissing it, again. "You look beautiful tonight."

Once again, Jenna let out a horrifically fake little giggle. Then she began to stare into Link's eyes, just as she had done when they first met. "You're looking quite handsome as well."

That was when something clicked in Zelda's head. Her eyes - yes, there was no doubt about it, Jenna's mind controlling magic had come from her eyes this whole time! The way she stared into Link's eyes and the way she had tried to stare into Zelda's own left little room for doubt, and now she was simply reinforcing the spell she had cast upon him earlier that day! She immediately knew what she had to do: to break the spell, she had to destroy the creature's eyes...!

Grabbing a candlestick from a nearby table, Zelda ran up to Jenna and struck her over the head, hoping to knock her unconscious. The beast was stronger than she looked, however, and merely winced in pain and turned, glaring at her invisible attacker. Link immediately sprung into action to protect Jenna, drawing his sword and slashing at what appeared to him to be a floating candlestick. Knowing that her rash actions had backfired, Zelda dropped her makeshift weapon and dispelled the cloak's magic.

"Link, stop!" she cried, "You have to listen to me! This woman isn't who she says she is!"

Link lowered his sword, his eyes widened in shock. "Zelda!" He glared angrily at his friend. "What the hell are you doing! This isn't like you at all!"

"I'm trying to protect you!"

"Protect me from what, my date!"

Zelda grew more agitated and pointed at the now cowering Jenna (though she knew she was only pretending). "That date of yours is a monster! She isn't human! She's bewitched you, and she's going to devour your soul...!"

The enraged hero looked at Jenna, then back at Zelda, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her to the back of the wagon. "Zelda, you've gone completely mad! How dare you say that about your old friend!"

"She is not my friend! She's tricked you into believing that she is!"

"So what you're saying is that Jenna's some demon using mind control on me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Link glared at her for a moment longer, then looked away, his face a mixture of anger and pity. "You really have lost it," he said. "If she was a monster like you say, don't you think I would have sensed it by now?"

"But you did sense it, Link," Zelda pleaded desperately, "just before she put her spell on you..."

Shaking his head, Link let go of her. "Go back to the castle. You're clearly sick." He looked back at her sadly. "I don't want to see my best friend lose her mind like this."

"Link...!"

He ignored her, returning to Jenna's side and helping her up. "I'm so sorry, Jenna," he said, "I don't know what's happened to her. And to think, you two used to be such good friends..."

Her face drenched with crocodile tears, Jenna sniffled. "Oh, Link," she said pitifully, "I'm scared. My dear friend, my dear Princess Zelda..." she clung to Link, turning her face away to shoot a death glare at her assailant, "...will she be all right?"

"Don't worry, I'll find a way to help her." Link led Jenna out of the wagon by her shoulders. "Come on, don't cry; I'm taking you to the best restaurant in castle town...!"

When they left, the princess fell weakly to her knees. He thought she was mad - he really, truly thought she had gone mad! And for him to show his care and concern for her while at the same time being deceived by that evil, evil being - it was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Goddesses, please," she whimpered, wiping her face with her hands, "give me a way to stop her... I have to get him back..." She lowered her head, her tears dripping onto the floor. "I have to get my Link back...!"