AN: See, this is why I said not to expect daily updates. I wasn't quite sure how to begin this chapter at first, but once I settled on an idea and got started, it was easy to keep going. I am a little disappointed at how few of you are reviewing, though. I check my story traffic, so I know you're there, and yet I've only gotten reviews from two people. I like reader input, people! I encourage guessing, suggestions, criticisms, and even flames (because I don't think I've ever gotten one before and I think it'd be interesting). So please, please, pleeeeaaaase review? I'll never demand a review quota in exchange for uploading the next chapter, as I think that's cruel and will just net me one-word responses anyway, but good, interesting reviews not only get a response from me, but they encourage me to keep writing and to write faster! So it's in your best interests, too, in a way? Well, anyway, enough annoying you with my begging… Sorry if I'm being annoying. Oh, and, even though I doubt anyone cares, this chapter's title is the same as the title of the original Shadowed Truth's Chapter One. This is Chapter Three. The plot is already so much more detailed this time around and I've only just 'caught up' to where the original first chapter is in the story's timeline. And you know what? I don't mind that at all. Looking back on it now, the original version feels so rushed compared to this one.
Quick note about Zelda's Sheikah garb: I completely forgot to mention this last chapter, sorry! Zelda's cowl/turban is made up of a wider cloth than OoT Sheik's (it's also thinner since the cloth doesn't need to be wrapped around as many times as a result) and the bottom of it drapes loosely around her neck instead of covering her face. She can pull it up over her mouth and nose if need be, but prefers to leave it down most of the time.
Many thanks to: inuyasha 303 (AKA LannaMisho on DeviantArt) for inspiring me to write again and Kankoku-ssi for sticking with me even after the two-year hiatus!
Disclaimer: Again, this is fanfiction. I. Don't. Own. LoZ.
Enjoy~!
Chapter 3: Reawakening
"What is the matter, Your Highness?"
"It's nothing," Zelda lies, snapping the book shut and handing it to the taller knight. "It opened to Gufuu's legend by chance, which was somewhat unsettling, but I doubt there is any meaning behind it. Please hang onto this for me… it is time to begin."
The princess in Sheikan garb smoothly brings forth the little glass bottle Vio entrusted her with in this very place a year prior from a hidden pocket and steps around the altar, standing before the broken Dark Mirror. Its covering cloth is nowhere to be seen, leaving her to stare at her own face. The light in the bottle's reflection glows black instead of white, which Zelda fervently hopes is a good sign.
"Goddesses, please…" she whispers, firmly grasping the bottle's cork in one hand.
'Three… two… one… Pull!'
*pop!*
The General warily grips the hilt of his sword, tense and alert as the little fairy-like ball of light whizzes out of its glass confines to hover in the air directly in front of the Dark Mirror. It begins to grow, expanding to roughly the size of Zelda's head before being engulfed in a thin shroud of dark mist.
"Your Highness, I suggest you step back…"
"Your concern is appreciated, but I do believe I shall remain here," Zelda replies smoothly.
"But, you could be attacked at any moment—"
"Do you honestly believe I am still the helpless child I used to be, General?" the girl asks wryly, watching intently as the white beams of light peeking through the mist morph to black and the shadowy cloud grows to the size of an average Hylian adult.
"…Wh-what the… heck… is goin' on…?" a weak voice whispers quietly.
'…This warmth… Why does it… feel… so familiar…?'
"Who said that?" the General blurts, startled.
"Shadow Link? Is that you?" Zelda calls.
Black-booted feet emerge from the bottom of the floating cloud, rapidly followed by a pair of legs in white tights as a golden glow bursts out from within the black mist's embrace.
"That golden light…" the General gasps. "The Goddesses' blessing, shining from a being of darkness—how is such a thing even possible?"
Zelda smiles thinly. "Perhaps you should not be so quick to judge, General, and simply leave the past where it rightfully belongs."
A pale young man in a black tunic abruptly drops out of the air and collapses to his knees on Sanctuary floor in front of Zelda, the black mist following him down to curl sluggishly around his trembling body. He's wearing a dark gray belt with a round, golden buckle marked with a spiral and a long-sleeved white shirt beneath the tunic. His trademark curly-tipped black hat defies gravity as always, seeming to wisp away into shadows at the very end.
"Ugh…"
Zelda hurriedly catches the dazed youth as he begins to list over to one side, sighing in relief as she successfully prevents his head from smacking into the hard stone. His dusky violet hair seems a bit longer in the back than it used to be and he's a little taller, his ears slightly thinner and more pointed.
"Welcome back," she greets him softly, gently lowering him to the floor and stepping back to give him some space. "It is good to see you again, Shadow Link."
"That voice… the… Princess…? Why are ya*… helpin'… me…?" Shadow gasps out, eyes closed. He's still shaking, thin ribbons of mist curling protectively around him in a cool, wispy shroud as he lies in a crumpled heap in the shadow cast by the Dark Mirror. His skin is even paler than she remembers, too.
"Your Highness, he looks close to death. I doubt he will be much help in locating my son," the General speaks up. "Regardless of his nature, placing any sort of burden, never mind a weighty one such as this, on such a clearly unwell child is nothing short of cruelty."
"You say that as if I intend to send him on his way without any sort of rest or explanation," Zelda sighs ruefully. "He does have free will, General… Please do not act as if he is some sort of tool."
"…Lo… locate…?" Shadow echoes quietly. "Are ya sayin' he's… missing…?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Take this, accursed Hero!"
Dulled eyes resembling the dimly glowing coals of a dying campfire snap open wide.
"They were… screaming…!" the teen hisses suddenly, gritting his teeth. The thin trails of mist abruptly dissipate as Shadow's eyes blaze back to life, quickly restored to the familiar flaming crimson Zelda is familiar with.
The General grips his sword tightly, put on edge by the sudden show of aggression, but Zelda holds her arm out in a silent order to stay back.
"Please calm down, both of you," she soothes, taking a moment to look at each of them before turning back to crouch before the strange youth slumped on the ground before her. "What do you mean, Shadow Link?"
Guarded red eyes stare up at her for a long moment before Shadow opens his mouth again, his sharp teeth glinting dangerously and his words a strained, hoarse little hiss. "Sheesh, it's… my name, not… some… stuffy title… Drop the "Link" nonsense… already. And besides… ya have… some explaining of your own to do… Your Highness… And ya'd better not… leave me in the dark much… longer. By the way… the heck're those clothes…?"
"I do not intend to, Shadow. However, you did not answer my question, and I do believe I am the one who asked first," Zelda retorts smoothly. "As for my clothing, I am dressed in the traditional garb of a Sheikah warrior."
'A what…?'
"Hmph…" Shadow huffs, his eyes slipping shut in concentration. His voice is louder now, not just a hoarse whisper, and he seems to be regaining his strength bit by bit at a surprisingly fast rate.
"Ya win, too tired… t' argue with ya right now. It's all… really hazy, but… I remember hearing Green's voice… from far away. He was sayin' something about the Mirror… and a cloth, I think. And then…"
"Tell us what you know of my son, you demon-eyed little brat, or I swear—"
Zelda's angry response dies in her throat as an amused chuckle echoes through the Sanctuary.
"Still a good father, I see," Shadow grins weakly, shakily propping himself up on his elbows and peeking around Zelda to look at the older swordsman. "As I was sayin', everything between when I broke the Mirror and… now is really hazy. All I remember after that is a woman's voice cackling… and yelling "take this, accursed hero!", then…"
He looks down at the floor, having managed to pull himself up into a proper seated position so that he's now leaning against the Dark Mirror without seeming to care about the possibility of cutting himself on the jagged, broken edges of the shattered glass within the frame.
"Then I heard… Four people screaming in pain…"
Zelda reaches forward to place a comforting hand—her right—on the violet-haired teen's shoulder.
"Wha—…!"
The moment Zelda's bandaged fingers make contact, the Triforce mark's golden light blazes brightly, shining right through the cream-colored cloth as if it isn't even there.
The General stares in utter surprise at the identical radiance blazing from the back of Shadow's left hand, struck speechless at the sight of the holy 'birthmark' fading rapidly into view on the teen's pale skin. One fifth of the Triforce of Courage—the sliver closest to the outer edge, to be exact—is glowing gold, denoting its presence in him.
'Th-that warmth again…!'
The boy yanks his hand up in front of his face and stares at it before snapping his eyes shut and clutching his head with a groan.
"Nnnngh…"
A blonde boy with pale eyes looks worriedly at him, illuminated only by the light of the moon. "Best friends forever, right?"
He wants to wince at the all-too-familiar phrase, but finds that he can't. He's just a spectator in an unknown body, one that's moving and speaking on its own.
A laugh rings out in a younger version of his voice, sounding alien—it's too genuine, it can't possibly be him!
"Of course we are, Vio! Now hurry up and run, will ya?" the laughing voice reassures the blonde in that same drawl he's used for as long as he can remember, even though Link doesn't have a trace of it.
…Wait, what?
Vio? Did this him-that's-not-him-because-it-CAN'T-be-him just say VIO?
Then again, that boy does look like him, but—Goddesses, what is this? It has to be a hallucination. This—this can't be real. He's a shadow, he doesn't have memories! Just faint echoes of Link's and endless days in the Dark World! And Vio is—Vio is…
The boy's eyes flash with worry and determination as he opens his mouth to protest.
"But Shadow, those monsters—!"
He feels himself grin, "I'll be fine, trust me! We're both gonna be heroes someday, remember?"
His hand raises and moves out in front of him—it's the same three triangles with a sliver of gold that sent him into this—this weird vision… thing.
"How could I forget?" the boy chuckles in a tone that's unmistakably Vio's, raising his own hand. He bears much the same mark, save that the sliver of gold is one-fifths inward, just next to where it is on Shadow's own. What is this? This doesn't make any sense! He's a shadow… A shadow, not a… a… A what? He can't remember what he was just thinking… It feels like his head's going to burst.
"Now get going!" he hears that younger-him voice say, feeling his mouth form the words and his limbs move as pale, dirt-scuffed arms reach out and playfully shove the blonde forward a step. He's almost thankful for the distraction since it eases the pain in his skull, but he's just more confused with each development in this weird dream. Why is he even seeing this nonsense?
…Oh. Duh. The triangles… It's that 'Triforce'* thingy, right? That thing Light-Dwellers worship that's supposed to grant desires… Is it showing him his? To be real… To be friends with Vio… To be a hero… To not have to say goodbye. Yeah, that must be—
The moment he thinks he's figured it out, everything changes. It's almost like something's—maybe someone's? — trying to tell him he picked the wrong answer. But Goddesses, why use this memory—this is a memory.
That wasn't.
It wasn't, because it's IMPOSSIBLE.
"After all…" Vio smirks, hiding the pain in his eyes behind a smug, confident mask.
He feels his teeth grinding against each other as his lips curl into a snarl.
"You're just a reflection of us."
He's looking at himself in the Dark Mirror. There's nothing around him but blackness and all is as he believes a vision should be like. Finally, something that makes sense—
Farore, he should know better than to jinx things by now, especially in his own head!
Who is that? Who the HELL is that grinning boy with dirt all over him in patched-up shorts, a ragged, ripped tunic and nothing else? And why in the name of Farore does he look just like a younger, healthier version of him?
"Who are ya?" he hisses, for once in control of his body in this strange nonsense world he's found himself in.
"I'm Shadow, who are ya?" the boy in the mirror echoes innocently in that younger him-but-not-him voice.
"No, I'm Shadow!" he growls back.
"We're both Shadow, because I'm ya and you're me," the boy replies calmly, unfazed.
He slams his left hand against the mirror's smooth surface, palm flat. The back of it is mercifully blank, free of those strange triangles that make his head spin.
"I am not ya!" he yells. "I'm Shadow Link!"
The boy in the mirror raises his own left hand, the back facing him. There're the triangles and that strip of gleaming gold; he swears it's taunting him.
"Why're ya letting him use ya, lie to ya? Didn't ya say ya'd never break? Or do ya even remember that? Farore, Vio's gonna kill us for being fooled so long."
"What are ya even talking about? And don't ya dare mention Vio! Damn phantom! False reflection! I'm Shadow Link, not some dirt-stained Hylian brat!"
The boy grins and taps his head with his right hand, keeping his left where it is. "The person named "Shadow Link" only exists in here."
"Ha! Liar! The light burns, that's proof enough I'm a shadow! Link's shadow!"
"A curse," the boy retorts. "And if you're really his shadow, how come ya didn't already know Zelda wasn't afraid of heights?"
How does he know about that? That moment still bugs him because he should've known and he didn't. Does that mean…? No. No, that isn't… That can't…
"You're lying…"
But… is he? Is he lying? It… It makes so much sense…
Faint triangles begin to mark his hand and he stares in shock.
"Ever wonder why ya said that at Death Mountain? That line that slipped out so naturally it startled ya for a sec?" the boy asks. He wrenches his gaze away from his hand and red meets red squarely. He feels like he's falling into those eyes… Somehow, it's nostalgic, as if he's sinking into a sea of his own memories.
"…Best friends forever, right…?" he mumbles dazedly.
"What that warmth in your chest was as ya said it? Why your left hand itched?" the boy continues. "Why, when ya saw him all alone under that moonlit sky bein' attacked by monsters, ya couldn't just sit and watch? Why ya took care of the ones that were creepin' up on him before those scrubs came through and ya bolted up a tree t' watch an' hide? Why ya wanted him on your side at all when it would've been so much easier t' just kill him right then and there? Why it was so easy to think of betraying Pig-Face if it was with him at your side?"
Each question sends a spike of pain through his skull and he can feel something breaking, bit by bit.
"Shut… shut up… I don't know… I don't know…!"
"Yes ya do. Ya know exactly why. You're just scared t' believe it."
Ouch, that tone is his all right. He guesses the mirror brat can be harsh after all.
"But I…"
"Fine, I'll answer the first one: because ya care about him," the boy sighs.
That only spawns more questions, but this time he's asking himself.
Why does he care so much about Vio?
Why did he feel like he couldn't breathe when he saw that Wolfos creeping up on him?
Why did he feel like he was dying inside when Vio betrayed him? Why did he feel so alive when he realized just how much it had hurt Vio to do it, like something inside him was healing?
Why did he choose Vio to impersonate in the Palace of Winds? Why did it feel so natural?
Why did he feel himself holding on so tightly against the nothingness whenever he heard Vio's voice calling to him in his sleep?
Why is he so panicked at the thought of Vio screaming in pain?
Why… Why…
He just doesn't understand... Where are these thoughts coming from? He doesn't know the answers, dammit! He doesn't, he knows he doesn't!
He doesn't know. He isn't sure he WANTS to know. His head hurts so much, he just wants it to stop...
He isn't... he can't... he doesn't... doesn't...
Yes ya do, the boy in the mirror's words echo in his mind, taunting him.
Ya know exactly why. You're just scared t' believe it.
He- he is NOT scared, dammit! He'll show that brat, he has to! He won't let some little kid with his face mock him like this, no way in hell!
He forces himself to concentrate, to push past the intense pounding in his skull. The answer is in there somewhere, so close he swears he can feel it tugging impatiently at his thoughts like a frustrated child desparately begging for attention.
Suddenly, as abruptly as flipping a switch, he has it. He knows the answer. He's known it all along.
Because they're best friends. Even when he didn't remember, something deep down did. He didn't break their promise after all...
"Well?" the boy asks. "What's the answer? Why'd ya say what ya did at Death Mountain?"
He meets the kid in the mirror's eyes squarely and begins to speak, holding stubbornly onto the truth he's found so the pain in his head can't rip it away. A little voice in his head is screaming at him, he has to say it, has to get it out, has to say it RIGHT NOW or it'll fade away and Goddesses dammit he does NOT want to forget again!
"…Because… part of me… saw him and… knew," he whispers, each word giving him more confidence, strengthening his hold on that precious truth."Part of me… wanted to make him smile… because I… …I…!"
By Farore, he kept their promise deep down all this time, he will NOT break it now! He won't forget, he won't LET himself forget! Never again!
The pain in his head spikes and he feels something shatter. He's free.
The pain is gone.
The haze in his mind is gone.
The fake past—years of growing up in the Dark World that never happened, fake memories of Link's childhood, everything he thought was him— is gone, gone, gone.
He remembers. He remembers everything. All of it. And he's not scared at all. Hell, he's practically giddy. He's finally, finally himself again, and it feels so good he can't find any words to describe it.
He grins conspiratorially at the boy in the mirror. "Damn, I was short back then."
The boy laughs. "So many cool things ya could've said, and THAT'S the first thought that comes t' mind? How corny can ya get, me?"
He grimaces. "Cut that out, gettin' laughed at by myself is creepy!"
"So ya finally admit it... Took ya long enough, Shadow."
"Same to ya, ya idiot. Remind me why rushing into that group of monsters that burned our orphanage down armed with nothing but a dagger was a good idea, again?"
A shrug. "Seemed like a damn good one at the time."
"…Yeah, it did, didn't it."
The boy in the mirror—his younger self—grins widely, sharp little canines showing. Goddesses, he wonders who and what his parents could possibly be for him to look like he does—where did THAT thought come from? Oh, right… Because…
That curse… doesn't have any power over him any more…
"My name is…" little-Shadow begins softly, at last mimicking his pose like a proper reflection should.
The Triforce shines brightly on his hand, its warmth spreading through him without resistance at last as he finally accepts it; accepts the truth that's been lost to him for so long.
"My name is…"
"…Sh…ad…ow… Ka…ri…k…o*…" the violet-haired boy murmurs, eliciting a surprised gasp from Zelda as his eyes roll back in his head.
She hurriedly pulls him around to the other side of the altar after his head starts tilting back towards a jagged-edged hole in the broken Mirror, laying him down as gently as she can. The sickly pallor is gone from his pale skin, the Triforce mark on his hand clear and distinct.
"Wh-what just…?" Zelda stammers, backing away from the unconscious teen. Her mind is whirling.
'Kariko… That sounds a lot like Kakariko. Impa used to tell me stories about her ancestor who lived in a town called that… a Sheikah town. Could Shadow be descended from a descendant of the Sheikah as well as an ancient hero's bloodline? That book… it did say 'descendants of the Forger'… But the forger of what? The Four Sword? The Four Sword and its shadow… Shadow is here, but he's unarmed, so where…?'
The General coughs politely.
"Hmm?"
"Your Highness… Look at the mirror," the General says, nodding his head towards it.
The Four Sword's empty pedestal's reflection in the Dark Mirror isn't empty. In it rests a familiar, monochrome blade with a dark silver-platinum hilt instead of bronze and a pitch black pommel stone.
"It appears the Four Sword's shadow has been right before us all along…"
"Indeed it does, General. Now we need only wait for him to wake."
"You are certain he will arrive shortly?"
"Y-yep, Mister Black-Wings! M-Mama said the p-p-princess would make sure he w-woke up, then once the curse b-broke, he'd be up here s-soon—OH!"
He feels so warm as the name slips easily across his lips, his shattered identity whole again as it settles back into place...
"What has happened, child?"
A wide grin stretches across the little boy's face.
"It's b-broken~! It's broken~!" he cheers, twirling around in excited circles before collapsing onto his cot with a content sigh.
"Hihi… I am happy for you. Now, let us only hope he shall be willing to lend his aid…"
"Why n-not just hide and t-tell him after, th-though?"
"It is too risky… He will have no reason to lend his aid to a 'lifeless' lump of stone. …If he shall be arriving soon, should you not be preparing?"
"Oh, whoopsie! Y-yeah, I gotta g-go wait for h-him! See ya l-later, Mister B-Black-Wings~!"
The boy runs off.
"My… he is so very energetic…"
AN: Ahahahaha! Didn't see that coming did you? I did make Shadow pass out again, though. He sorta just shut down to give his overwhelmed mind time to readjust to the return of his real memories. Next chapter, he'll finally get going and ON WITH THE PLOT! Which is going to diverge even more… Anyone guess where he's headed yet? By the way, more manga references! Can you spot them all? The sections in italics are going on in Shadow's mind, just to be clear. Little-Shadow is a cheeky little thing, ain't he?
Shadow's speech quirk: I happen to like the fact that Shadow says "ya'll" in the online scanlation of the Four Swords manga, which is the first version of the manga I read. As a result, my fic's Shadow has been given a… it's not really an accent… Umm, sort of a dialect, I guess? I think you understand what I mean, anyway… All derivatives of "you" except "your/you're" are instead "ya" for him and he shortens some -ing suffixes to -in', though I don't think I'll do that one too often. I don't intend to make him sound like an all-out country hick, just make his speaking style more casual and 'rough around the edges'. He also replaces to with t' sometimes, though his younger self seems to do it the most often. Zelda, on the other hand, being both a girl and a princess, tends to speak more formally (I try to loosen her up a bit when the situation allows it, of course) and doesn't abbreviate words as often as the Links. I try and give her a dignified vocabulary in general, really. I haven't decided whether to make her loosen up more when in 'Sheik' mode or not…
Shadow recognizing the Triforce: The desires part refers to "A Link to the Past" in which many people greedily searched for it to make their desires a reality. As for him knowing what it is, I figured something like that would work…
Shadow Kariko: This is my fic's Shadow's real name. To be specific, his name is technically "Sha Kariko". He was left at an orphanage as a baby with a worn blanket wrapped around him with his name embroidered along one side. It had a hole in it and the embroidery was sloppy to begin with, leaving only his last name and the first three letters of his first name readable, and so Shadow chose his own name when he was older. Him willingly choosing a name like that creeped people out, though. Perhaps his name was supposed to be Shawn? Lol.
Well, that's all for Chapter Three. Please review, I'd really appreciate it.