Chapter 2: Angels On The Moon
"Don't tell me if I'm dying
Cause I don't wanna know
If I can't see the sun
Maybe I should go
Don't wake me cause I'm dreaming
Of angels on the moon
Where everyone you know
Never leaves soon too."
by Thriving Ivory
Zelda
It was already dark when they took him to the castle.
They pushed him roughly, insulting him continuously.
'He's innocent!' I wanted to tell them. But they wouldn't hear me. Nobody would hear me.
In this world I wasn't anything but a ghost. They didn't know I was there, I wasn't even a shadow, I was less. I was nothing. Invisible and silent. But still, I was there.
I followed them into the castle, the place I called my home. Although I wasn't sure if I could call it by that name anymore. Now that it was the prison of my body I might never return to. And the prison of an innocent boy who had to pay for the actions of someone else.
"Ganon!" I yelled into the nothing. "Why? Why can't you finally forget? Why don't you finally understand that this had to happen three years ago?"
"My dear Zelda..." I heard his voice coming from somewhere far away. "How often are you going to ask me? You know the answer, even without a single word coming from me."
I remained silent. He was right, I knew the answer. But that didn't mean I could understand it, that I accepted it.
I followed the knights deeper into the castle, until they stopped at the entrance to the vault where the dungeon of the castle was located.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Link hissed as they pushed him down to his knees.
"Making sure you can't even try to escape," one of them answered. "The vault is big. We'll make sure you won't be able to remember the way."
He pulled something out of his pocket and raised his arm. I closed my eyes and turned away. I heard Link crying out for a second, then it was uncomfortably silent.
When I opened my eyes again, the knights were already about to drag the unconscious boy into the vault. Worried I looked at his face which wasn't moving at all. He didn't deserve this. And it was my fault he had to suffer. If I had been stronger, I could've defended myself against Ganondorf. I had always counted on him too much. I had let him fight for Hyrule, although it was my duty to protect this land.
We arrived in a long hallway which was located deep underground, so it was dark, it was only lit by a few torches.
They pushed Link into a cell at the end of the corridor, left him lying tied on the cold ground, locked the door and started their way back up, back to where you were able to see the sunlight.
I watched them leaving. Then I slowly walked towards Link's cell, and through the bars as if there was nothing at all. As a bodiless ghost you didn't have to worry about any closed doors at least.
Slowly I let myself fall to the ground beside him. The way he was lying there... he looked like a sleeping child. An innocent, helpless child with nobody who was ready to help him.
"You want to talk to him, don't you?" Ganondorf's voice echoed through the hallway. I didn't turn around, I couldn't see him anyway, and I didn't answer either.
"Then I don't want to play the bad guy this time," he said, stirred played. "I give you exactly ten minutes in which I won't listen to your conversation. They start now."
I wanted to ask him why he was doing this, but I knew that ten minutes were a short time.
I lied my hand on Link's forehead and closed my eyes. I mumbled an ancient spell my mother had taught me just before she died. It was spoken in a language I didn't understand. So I didn't know what these words meant, but I knew they'd connect my spirit to Link's.
...
When I opened my eyes again I found myself on a field. Everywhere around me were wild flowers of all kinds, and there didn't seem to be an end of this landscape, it seemed to go on forever in all directions.
I looked around and found Link leaning on a tree trunk.
"Link!" I called. He raised his head immediately.
"Zelda?" He asked surprised. He stood up and ran towards me. I raised my hand to tell him to stop.
"Don't come closer," I said quietly. "The spirit's of two persons may not touch each other, at least not as long as they're in the same body."
He lowered his head, his expression cloudy. "So you're... the real Zelda?" He whispered.
"Yes," I answered. "And I can't stay long."
"What happened?" Now he was almost yelling, and his expression had also changed. He was looking at me with clear eyes, although I could find a hint of insecurity inside them. "What happened at Hyrule Castle? What did they do to you? Why -"
"Listen," I interrupted, "You may not believe it, but... it's all Ganondorf's doing."
"G-Ganondorf?" He stuttered. "That's... that's not possible!"
"I'm afraid it is." I lowered my head.
"But how?!" Link seemed confused, angry and insecure. I was a part of him right now, I could feel it. Just like he was able to feel what I did.
"Our goddess, Link, she's a graciously being, treating each and every person the same. Although Ganondorf was what we call evil", I paused, trying to find the right words to explain this to Link without confusing him even more, "but he still had the same rights as everyone else when he died. The right of the last wish."
"I've heard of that," the blonde boy mumbled. "But I thought it was nothing but a fairytale."
"Oh, no, it isn't," I continued my explanation, "Every living being has the right to make a last wish in the moment it dies. And the spirit of this being won't disappear before this wish is fulfilled."
" 'He may have destroyed my body... but my ghost's still alive, driven by hatred. And I won't die completely until Link, the boy who destroyed half of me, has paid for his actions' ", Link quotated Ganondorf's words. Hearing this made me sad. It's been three years, and he could still remember them exactly. He probably would never be able to forget them.
I tried to ignore my compassion for now. I had to concentrate on more important things now. "Yes, this was Ganondorf's last wish," I agreed. "And his ghost is still here to fulfill this wish. Sadly we can't stop him, because the goddess decided in her laws that that the last wish of every living being must be fulfilled before it disappears from this world forever. And Ganondorf has already started his revenge by keeping my body in a kind of sleep and somehow managed to make the people believe that it was you who did this to me."
Link looked away. "Then it's my fault you and the people of Hyrule have to suffer like this."
"It's not!" Surprised he looked at me, and a few moments later I realised how loudly I had spoken. "You can't blame yourself for this."
I heard someone whispering my name and turned around, but I couldn't see anybody.
"What is it?" Link asked and tried to follow my gaze.
"Nothing," I mumbled. It had been Ganondorf, I was sure of it. "Link... I'm sorry, but my time's over. Promise me not to blame yourself for this, okay? And also promise me you won't give up. We'll make it somehow, I know it. We can stop Ganondorf from doing this, I'm sure there's a way! Just don't give up!"
Then I closed my eyes and spoke the spell again, the one which had allowed me to get in contact with Link's spirit, but this time reversed.
"I'm always with you, Link," I added, hoping the boy could still hear me.
...
I awakened where I had left the real world just a few minutes ago.
"There you are again, Zelda," Ganondorf let me know he was still around. Couldn't he just leave me alone?
He did, but after a few minutes I was curious. "Why did you do this?"
"What do you mean?" There was something in Ganondorf's voice which troubled me, but I couldn't tell what it was.
"Why did you allow me to talk to Link?"
"Don't think I did this for you!" He laughed. "It just makes the whole thing much more interesting if our little 'hero' knows a bit of what's going on, don't you agree?"
I got up to my feet quickly. "What are you planning, Ganon?" My voice sounded provocatively, although I was feeling very insecure on the inside. His plan seemed to be more than keeping me from moving and locking Link up in a cell.
"You'll find out soon enough, curious little thing." He sounded irritated, he probably disliked the way I was talking to him. "I can't allow to tell our so called hero everything... A bit of information reaching him makes this interesting, too much sadly does the exact opposite."
I suddenly felt like I had underestimated the situation.
Although I didn't know what he was planning to do, I was sure that Link, and all of Hyrule, was in great danger.
