4

Cedric and Yi had eventually gotten to the chores Gannon had assigned them. Cedric followed a secret path through the mountains on his way to Yixgrin, whilst Yi transported herself to the plains near the Zora's River. She quickly located the group returning to her home country, carrying her dead body. How very odd, to see your own body being carried away. Oh well.

It didn't take long for her to conjure up a spell to ensnare the group. After she finished casting it, they all perceived things far slower then they were actually occurring. It was quite a useful spell indeed, though it only worked on weak people. That wasn't too limiting of a factor, though, since weak was relative, and Yi was very powerful indeed.

With that done, and the knowledge that Cedric was well on his way to Yixgrin, Yi headed swiftly to Gerudo Valley. Meanwhile, big things were happening at Hyrule Castle.

Princess Zelda had been suspicious of Eric, but somehow she got the feeling that he might not have been the real culprit. Something about the whole thing just seemed too well rehearsed. She put in a plea to keep Eric alive, and the King, being the good-natured man he was, decided to let him live, for a short while anyway. Zelda decided to interrogate him.

Of course, Eric was being held in the dungeon, and since the King still considered him to be dangerous, he sent a few guardsmen to escort Zelda on her way. Zelda did not appreciate this very much, but she knew it was better to go along with the wishes of her father. She was lucky enough that Eric hadn't already been killed.

Eventually, she made it to his cell, and the guards moved out of earshot, but close enough that they could still see what was going on. Eric looked pitiful; he had apparently been crying for quite some time now, and his face was tear-stained. His tunic was torn up from guard abuse and his own pity-throes. When his soft, green eyes lifted up to see the Princess of Hyrule, he felt sick. Hadn't he just meant to kill her? He must be going insane...

"Eric... we need to talk," Zelda said in a kind voice. Eric snickered a bit.

"Sure. What about, princess?" Eric asked, his voice that of a man expecting death.

"I don't think that you were the one who poisoned Lady Yi."

"But, surely you saw me do it? Everyone is certain that it was me..."

"Yes, I saw what appeared to be you, but many things can trick the eye. It is my suspicion that someone else may be the culprit here," she assured him. He looked confused for a moment, then shook his head and dismissed it.

"That's impossible. In a fit of insanity I poisoned the ambassador, and I deserve the ultimate penalty for it," he said weakly. Zelda was growing annoyed, but her love for justice kept her going.

"Are you absolutely certain? You didn't look insane when you came out with the drinks. And besides, where would you have gotten the poison? The only people in Hyrule who make toxins of such potency are the Gerudo."

Eric stared at her, awed by her persistence. He knew in his heart that he hadn't, but everyone said they saw someone who looked exactly like him perform the act. Eric thought for certain that he had just gone temporarily insane and forgotten the incident, but he couldn't convince his gut. And now the Princess was calling him innocent? Something had to be going on.

"Wait a second... what about that other server, Cedric?" Eric wondered aloud. "Where's he?"

Eric remembered that all of the servers but Cedric had been sick this day. Even he still had a cold. And then... he remembered Cedric did something to him... and then it was all foggy.

"Cedric was home sick today, Eric. Why?" Zelda asked in response.

"No! That's not right!" Eric racked his brain. "I was home sick today! Cedric was in perfect health!" he shouted. He remembered very clearly seeing Cedric walk around fit as a fiddle that morning.

"Eric... that's impossible. We saw Cedric show up, tell us that he was sick, and return home."

Suddenly, it all fell into place in Eric's mind.

"Wait! That's it! I thought something looked odd about Cedric this morning! Because he had my body and I was in his! That's what he did to me! I'll kill him!" he shouted, trying to get out of his cell. Fortunately, it was still locked.

"Eric! Calm down!" Zelda demanded.

"NO! I know what happened!" he raged.

"Well then tell me! You don't have to shout, I'm right here," she said, rather annoyed. Eric finally sat down and explained it.

"I remember now. Cedric, he used some kind of magic, and he looked like me and I looked like him. Then, I was sort of mindless for a while, and told everyone that I was going to be home sick for a while. Then I ended up just waiting along Cedric's escape route, where the guards found me... and that was when everything came back to me. He must have ended the spell's effect, and switched us back. I don't know why, but that's what happened! You've got to believe me!" he said rather pathetically, clinging against the bars of the cell. Zelda was having a hard time believing him, and yet it sounded completely right. She gazed at the back of her hand and felt slight warmth coming from it. Though she didn't know it, it was the Triforce of Wisdom telling her that Eric was in fact correct.

"Eric... I do believe you. But how am I supposed to convince anyone else? What proof do you have that your story is true?" she asked. Eric thought for a little bit, then came up with an answer.

"Search Cedric's house... he would be there... acting all innocent. If it had been me, then he'd still be bedridden with sickness. So the only way we can prove that I'm innocent is if he's not lying sick in bed... unless he got better somehow... but that's not possible, right? And, why would he want to kill Yi? That's a point that needs to be considered. Obviously it would be to cause something to happen between Hyrule and Yixgrin. So there's no point in him staying here... Hyrule is going to be a war zone. I bet he's gone off somewhere."

Zelda stared at Eric for a while. For a servant, he was drawing a lot of conclusions, and was so sure about them that it was as if he absolutely knew they were true. The glow in her hand seemed to agree.

"Well Eric, you've raise a lot of good points... I'm sure we can keep you alive for a while longer. We should be able to prove Cedric guilty soon enough. Stay strong, okay?" she asked.

"Of course, Princess... I don't want to die," he said, almost too confidently. Zelda nodded, then left. In her heart, she felt a strong sense of need for Link. He had been gone for so very long... surely the Kingdom of Hyrule needed him now. And that Eric person... he was so detestable at times, but justice had to be served. She couldn't help but feel something odd from him, though.

As Zelda walked away, Eric sat down and leaned against the back wall. Yes, of course everything he said was true. But he couldn't sound too sure; he had his own agenda to take care of, and if Zelda or anyone else caught on, there would be a problem. No, no one could find out that Eric was in fact out to get the Triforce. Eric knew full well what had happened; he was no ordinary Hylian.

In fact, he wasn't Hylian at all.

He could sense the latent energies in the Princess and even in that boy, Link, back when he had still been in Hyrule. He knew the legend of how the Triforce would split into three parts when an unbalanced person touched it. He felt the Triforce of Wisdom pulse in the palm of Zelda, and the Triforce of Courage in Link's hand. So where was the Triforce of Power? It wasn't too hard to figure out.

The Triforce of Wisdom knew all. All of the time he had served under Zelda, he was gathering information. It was Gannon, the King of Evil, who held the Triforce of Power. If Eric played his cards right, it would be easy to gather all of the pieces of the Triforce together and grab it for himself. What assurance did he have that he would hold the entire Triforce after it happened? Simply because legend didn't apply to him.

It wasn't every day someone like Eric came into the world. He came from a small village at the farthest reaches of the Death Mountain Range, one without a name and one where he knew no family. There was only the Master. The Master, who taught him to sense energies in whoever he looked at, who taught him the arts of sword-wielding, archery, various different martial arts and the weapons used in each one, and magic. With all that he had learned, Eric was at least a match for the fabled Link.

In fact, he was about the same age as Link had been when he first headed out. His journey from the mountains to Hyrule made him even more powerful. Of course, no one suspected him of anything when he suddenly showed up, and a servant couple claimed that he was their child. Ever since then, he was secretly growing stronger all the time, plotting for the time when he would be able to take the Triforce. The appearance of Gannondorf had deterred him slightly, but soon enough he just disappeared. Of course, he knew what had happened; Link had gone forward in time, banished him to the Sacred Realm, and then gone back. And as a backlash effect, Gannon remained in that Realm.

So what did it all mean? It meant that Eric, with no birth name other than the title of Sage, had only to wait. He would lay low, and not get anyone suspicious. That way, nothing would stand in his way when he came out of hiding to seize the Triforce for himself. Even if his power did outweigh his courage or wisdom, his birthright would allow him either to take it whole, or seek down the fragments. He just needed to let Gannon do his work now, and eventually the fragments would come together as one. And then, Eric would take it for himself. What a beautiful plan! If Eric hadn't been taught the beauty of modesty and humility, he would lavish himself with even more self-compliments. He had to keep up the pathetic dead-man appearance though. So back into the character he slipped. Meanwhile, Link was busy making battle plans for the people of Naryia.

Though there was a lot of confusion at Skyla's camp when Link arrived, everything was sorted out easily enough, and soon Link was discussing tactics with the General.

"So you are the Hero of Legend, Link?" he asked. Link nodded.

"I never would have expected the winds to carry my tales of success so far. All I know is that I can only stay here until my horse gets better, because my own kingdom is in need of my help," he responded, looking at Skyla with a bit of disappointment. "However, I definitely think I can give Naryia a fighting chance against this Yargon and his creatures. It has been brought to my attention that his minions have a severe weakness to light. Correct?"

The General and his staff nodded. Link smiled a bit, and produced his bow. He set it down on the table, and leaned in.

"Gentlemen, I think I have the answer right here."

"What could possibly be so special about a simple bow? We have plenty of our own, you know," one of the General's assistants said. Link chuckled softly.

"Can they do this?" he asked, picking up the bow and aiming it out the door, where no one would get in the way. He pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back, and set it to the bow. Then, in a flash of light, it had a ring of light around it. Link released the arrow, and it flew off into the evening twilight. He placed the bow back down on the table and sat down.

"Now do you understand?" he asked. There were silent nods from around the table, except from Skyla, who just smiled.

"So, Link, what is your plan?" the General asked.

"Simple. Since the land of Naryia is flowing with magic, I bet we could teach your archers to tap into said magic, and produce arrows just like my light arrows. And I already have plans drawn out in my head for making a ballista that can launch heavy missiles with the same quality. And if I could just have some maps, I bet I could get some great defensive positions. As for offense..."

Maps and sustenance were soon brought, and late into the night, Link discussed battle plans with the general. Around midnight, Skyla left. And at three in the morning, the planning came to a close. Link left to allow the General to make final adjustments to the plan based on the status of his soldiers. First, he went to check on Epona. She was asleep, so Link left her be. What a great horse she was.

"Isn't she great?" he heard a voice from over his shoulder. He turned around, and there was Skyla.

"Hey, what're you doing up so late, er, early?" he asked. She didn't answer until she was right next to him, looking at his horse.

"Oh, I never go to sleep when battle plans are brewing. I get too excited. I saw you leaving the meeting, so I decided to see where you were going. Wise choice, to check on your horse. But you don't have to worry, all of the men here are very competent, and she's in good hands."

Link leaned against the fence, sighing deeply.

"That's a relief. But tomorrow is going to be a trying day. We should both get some sleep."

Skyla smiled at him. "I guess you're right... but... you know I'm too energetic to just go to sleep. Something... or someone... will have to wear me out."

Link looked at her, chuckling a bit. "What are you saying?" he asked. She smirked, and started tugging him by his wrist. He followed along as she led him to her tent.

"Skyla, I was going to sleep at Epona's stable," he protested. She pretended to look aghast.

"Are you suggesting that I was suggesting that you would sleep in my own tent?" she asked, chuckling. Link gestured like crazy to dismiss it.

"No! No, not at all! I just wanted to make sure that, you know, nothing too drastic happens. I have to go back to Hyrule, and I can't be getting into a relationship with you if you're staying here," he said, suddenly with a stern look on his face.

"Aw. Party pooper. Well... what if I come with you?" she asked. Link sighed.

"Are you sure you can handle the rigors of travelling through the country with me?"

"Of course! I can handle anything. I was the one who saved you from that Stalker, if you'll recall."

"Right after I saved you from those soldiers."

She nudged him playfully.

"So we saved each other. Shouldn't we do something about it?"

Link considered for a bit, looking up and down his companion's body.

"I don't know... I've always been a loner, and suddenly I'm having second thoughts about the idea of a relationship. And why are you so eager, anyway? Surely I'm not that attractive," he added. Skyla considered this for a moment. He had a couple of good points.

"Okay, here's my final offer. You have any idea what the chances are of me getting any other guy of appropriate age to be with me? They all hate me for my rank in the military. You're the only one so far and probably the only one ever that doesn't seem to care. Besides, you're the only one who could keep up with me on any of my missions, which are basically my life. I... I don't know if an opportunity like this will ever come along again."

"Skyla, you don't know if you'll even live through this. Making plans for relationships isn't exactly a smart idea."

"But, Link... it couldn't hurt, could it?" she asked, smiling almost as if she was begging, nodding back towards her tent.

"Okay, Skyla. I'll give it a chance. But nothing too serious, got it?" he asked.

"Of course! Oh, Link, I'm so happy!"

He nodded a bit, remembering how good her lips tasted.

"Shall we?" he asked, starting into her tent.

"Hey! Ladies go first."

She moved in front of him, but soon pulled him in after her, so he was laying on top of her.

"Woh! At least let me get off my gear first, Skyla."

She giggled innocently.

"Silly me. Go ahead."

Soon enough they were kissing deeply, and a swirl of twisted thoughts and blurred emotions flew through Link's head. But he didn't care; Skyla was such a blessing to a lonely warrior as he, there seemed to be no other choice. Besides, this could be his only chance to try anything like this. So Link decided to enjoy the night. It never got too serious - nothing more than kissing - but Link never got back to the stable.