Chapter 10: Final Failure
The castle is empty. Once a haven of monsters, all of their ilk has been eliminated. Against the cold stone, a single pair of footsteps patter through the hallways. He holds a key, wretched from the lifeless claws of the monster which tried to hinder him. The hero knows exactly which door it opens.
Music begins to play. Quiet at first, but growing gradually in volume the closer he gets. It sounds like an organ, as if someone is playing a grand masterpiece. The song is low and forbidding. The song promises that the future will bring only failure.
He reaches the dark double doors, and pauses. The music's origin comes from within. He glances to his partner, who floats quietly next to him. The fairy, Navi, smiles encouragingly back. We're in this together, she promises.
Link pushes the doors open. He sees her first. Suspended in a crystal, floating halfway to the ceiling, Princess Zelda is trapped. Pleadingly she looks at him, her expression asking for help. Below her, playing the organ masterpiece, is none other than Ganondorf. He continues for a few seconds, before the keys die beneath his hands.
"So, the pieces of the Triforce are coming together once more," the King of Evil says, voice completely ice. He turns, his red cloak grandly following behind him. And for the first time in seven years, Link and Ganondorf meet face to face. The pieces of the Triforce glows brightly on all of their hands.
"These toys are too much for you," Ganondorf snarls. He raises his fist, the light from his Triforce blindingly bright. "I command you to return them to me!"
A whirlwind of darkness blasts against Link. At the last possible moment, he rolls and dodges Ganon's attack. Ganon's energy slams into the wall, and the entire room trembles beneath his might. Link picks himself up shakily, glaring at his adversary.
The Dark Lord smirks. Defying gravity, he floats into the air, high above Link's Master Sword range. Raising his hands, Ganon summons forth more power. It gathers into his hands, forming an orb of pure energy. He throws it against Link with mocking slowness, as if daring the other to stop him.
The orb is filled with more than just magical power. Contained within it is Ganon's will to dominate. It is filled with the power of the Triforce. But Link, another user of the Triforce, is immune to its pull. He has the Courage to look any challenge at face value. The authority of someone means nothing if the other sees them as an equal.
So there is neither fear or hesitation. Link slams his sword into the orb. Faced with the power of another equal, the orb's authority is reversed. The Power infused within it becomes Courage. The energy reflects, hurtling back at Ganon at an even faster speed-!
Light consumes the Dark Lord. Electricity ripples through his body. Ganon screams, his own Power dominating himself. His beautiful gift of flight is momentarily lost, his energy evaporating as he falls to the ground.
"Get him, Link!" His fairy cheers.
Link runs to the fallen King. Raising his sword, he brings Evil's Bane crashing down on Ganon. It rips through Ganon's body, piercing him clean through. But magic binds the Dark Lord's sinews, and even fatal wounds become scratches. Yet magic does not come in an infinite supply. To restore the wounds, he must severe one of his spells.
Crack!
The crystal above them snaps sharply. Breaking lines run throughout the prison, until eventually the entire thing shatters. From it, Zelda falls. Her form tumbles unceremoniously onto the ground, but the Princess is tough. Already she scrambles to return to her feet.
"Link, I can help you!" Zelda calls. In her hands forms a bow, made from pure magical light.
"No! Get out of here!" Link tries to warn her away. The King of Evil has already taken her captive once. Now that she is free, she should escape, not put herself in further danger.
The Hero is momentarily distracted, and Ganon uses the opportunity to shove Link out of the way. Once more the Dark Lord ascends, laughing hysterically.
The Princess's aim falters. She has a clear shot at Ganon, yet she will also make herself a target if she attacks.
"Go!" Link insists.
Reluctantly the bow disappears. With tears in her eyes, she turns to follow the hero's command. "Be careful, Link," she whispers. And then she flees, leaving Link and Navi alone with Ganondorf.
"You sent her away?" Ganon grins maniacally down at Link. "Fighting me alone is not courageous. It is foolhardy. When I finish with you, I'll just capture the Princess again. You've bought her a few minutes, at best."
Link grits his teeth, pointing his sword at Ganon. "I'll fight better without you holding someone hostage."
"Hostage?" Ganon's eyes gleam strangely. More energy forms in his hands. But not just a single orb – this time, there are multiple orbs of energy. "You don't know what you say."
Ganon flings the energy in a wide array. The energy crackles with static electricity, dancing through the air frantically. One orb is aimed straight at Link. Link easily avoids it, but there are others in his path. He weaves through a dangerously narrow path, his tunic hissing as the edge is burnt to a crisp. Link needs to find a way to knock back the energy again, but for the moment, he concentrates on evading first. And that's not all.
Ganon flies through the air, heading towards Link. He will follow-up immediately with another attack. Side-stepping the last orb, Link prepares his stance, ready for the Dark Lord's charge.
Ganon's hand reaches out long before he comes to Link. But his aim is not towards the Hero. No, Ganon has another plan in mind. His fist closes on the air surrounding Link.
The Hero's eyes widen, but he reacts too late. A shriek resounds in the air. Link charges the Dark Lord, but a heavy arm easily knocks him to the ground.
In the Dark Lord's fist, trapped helplessly, is Link's friend and mentor: the fairy Navi. "Don't behave so recklessly. You wouldn't want me to hurt your friend, after all," Ganondorf grins down at him.
Navi writhes in his fist. But her tiny fairy form is hardly powerful enough to escape a human's grasp, let alone the King of Evil. "D-don't worry about me, Li-kahhh!" Her sentence is squeezed painfully to an end.
Link rises, but dares not move. His own fist is equally clenched, eyes glaring hatefully at Ganon. Although he wants nothing more than to jump in and save Navi, a false move and the Dark Lord may end her life. "Leave her alone! She's got nothing to do with this fight!"
"Really? Then why did you bring her along?" Ganon wonders. He loosens his grasp enough to give the fairy air to breathe, but he's made it fairly clear. He doesn't want her to talk. "You're not even Kokiri. You shouldn't have a fairy to begin with. And besides, I wasn't holding Zelda hostage earlier. This is holding someone hostage."
"I get it," Link forces himself not to shout. It takes all of his effort to remain even reasonably sane. "You've made your point. So let her go." Even if Navi is trying to act brave, he can see the fear beneath her blue eyes.
"You want to save her? Then drop your sword. And your shield while you're at it, too," Ganon grins. He's not done yet.
The terrible demand freezes Link. Without the sword, he cannot hurt Ganon. To let it go would mean forfeiting his own life. And there is no guarantee that Ganon, the King of Evil, would even let her go after he complies. But even so, what else can he do? His mind desperately searches for an alternative course of action, but he can find none. He cannot just abandon his friend.
"Well?" Ganondorf is not a patient man. His grasp tightens on the fairy, causing her to cry out again.
The scream does it. In an instant, Link's decision is made. His tight grip on the sword releases. The Master Sword clatters helplessly to the ground, rendered useless without a wielder. He unstraps the shield from his arm, until that too, falls to the ground.
Ganondorf watches with clear ecstasy. As soon as Link is completely disarmed, he casually walks towards his weaponless opponent. "Okay. Now let Navi go," Link glares fearlessly at Ganon.
"Not until we're done," Ganondorf hisses delightedly. "Resist even once, and she's dead." Raising his other fist, Ganon plows it into Link's face.
The hero falls, not even bothering to evade the hit. A trail of blood follows his path in the air, before he hits the ground. But rather than stay down, Link wipes the blood away, and rises shakily to his feet again. He faces Ganon with the same determination, despite his predicament.
In Ganon's hand, Navi cries, and not because of her own pain. Watching her friend go down is the worst thing she could imagine. "Please, Link..." She begs, but can get no farther.
The Dark Lord descends on Link again, and again. Each time it takes longer for the Hero to rise to his feet. He does not give up, not even at the very end. His body surrenders before his mind, and eventually refuses to listen to him. Darkness begins to take his vision. But before he passes out, he sees Ganondorf throw Navi against the wall. The force is too much for the fairy, and she crumples to the ground. Her wings do not move.
When Link awakens, he finds himself thick with sweat. It takes him a few seconds to get his bearings. He is back in Hyrule Castle, recovering in bed. He had been dreaming; dreaming of his past failure. A memory would forever reside in the corner of his mind.
During the first two weeks of Link's return, Link can do little more than lay in bed. The Sages may have mended his physical wounds, but Ganon's long months of torture have worn his body out. Link's muscles and bones need time to return to their proper functions. His only company are the Sages, who visit him sporadically when they can.
While Link is bedridden, Darunia visits almost every day. "Brother, I cannot wait until you are well enough to travel," he tells Link. "My son has grown so much since you last saw him. He is already becoming a fine Goron warrior, and has killed his share of Dodongos. Already he follows your footsteps as a hero."
Saria would have come more often, but unfortunately, she has many duties to attend to as the leader of the Kokiri. Each week, Saria tells Link about his old Kokiri friends, and funny stories about Mido. But there are times where Saria cannot bring herself to smile.
"I bring fresh flowers to her grave everyday," Saria admits on one visit. "She was a brave, brave fairy. I'm glad she got to see so much of the world and help you. I'm sure she made the Great Deku Tree very proud. I only wish that Navi could see how much you've grown."
Ruto's visits are scarce, but always the most light-hearted of all the Sages. She smothers Link with a hug each time she meets him. His originally frail condition does nothing to loosen her grasp. Ruto's first visit was so painful that Link ached for hours after she left.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Ruto says, the same words upon each of their meetings. "You and I are going to get married. You need to hurry up and defeat Ganon, so that my duties as a Sage will be easier. Then we can plan the best wedding in Zora and Hyrulian history!"
Link always laughs in response, before desperately searching for a different topic of discussion.
On the third week, Link progresses by leaving his bed, often walking around Hyrule Castle's Courtyard. He often finds the Sage Rauru there, who takes strolls in order to ease his mind. Whenever the two's paths cross, the Light Sage stops Link to speak.
"We are so close to defeating the Dark Lord..." Rauru's conversations are about the duties of being a Hero. "Now that you've returned, Ganon will be forced to return to the defensive. All we need is the opportunity to seal him. Thank the Goddesses that you were able to resist him, and keep the Triforce of Courage. With two pieces of the Triforce, he would have become invincible. We'll need to depend on you when the time comes. I hope you are pushing yourself each day; you will need to return to the battlefield as soon as possible..." If Link continues to nod in response, Rauru can keep talking for almost two hours.
So Link begins to avoid the courtyard for his afternoon strolls. He can only take so much of the responsibility and pressure. By the fifth week, he can handle everyday actions, and has returned to training.
The Sage Nabooru, the furthest from Hyrule Castle, only has time to visit him once. She finds Link training, and decides to help improve his movement.
"What is most important in a battle is your spirit," Nabooru claims solemnly. She can bend and twist in ways Link previously thought impossible. "Power only comes through the channeling of that spirit. Envision the flow of your energy, and focus on a single point to maximize the effects." The Spirit Sage helps Link stretch his body and revitalize his muscles. After their session, he can feel a portion of his energy returning to him.
On the eighth week, Zelda summons Link for a strategy meeting. Next to the Princess's side is the Sage of Shadow, the mysterious sheikah known as Impa. The Princess explains Hyrule's current condition; Ganon has become more cautious after Link's return. Castor has declared independence from the state of Hyrule, but at the moment, the war with Ganon prevents Hyrule from retaking the village back.
"There is one more matter we must talk about..." Zelda says. She sits across from Link, her hands folded neatly in her lap. "I apologize for not telling you sooner. It is about your Shadow."
"You know why it's gone?" Link wonders, looking down. Light streams from a nearby window, yet no shadow follows his form. Even before he was rescued, Link had no shadow. He cannot remember when it disappeared exactly. And that's not all – his reflection from water and mirrors is gone too. Link thought that Ganondorf had managed to steal it away somehow.
"When you were captured by Ganondorf, the only part of you that we could access was your Shadow," Impa begins to explain. This is her first time speaking during their meeting; Link assumes she has come to explain this particular matter. "After you defeated your darker self in the Water Temple, it rejoined your body yet still remained a separate entity. Together, us Sages were able to recall that part of yourself, and summon it into this world again."
"So... it's working for us now?" Link wonders. He has a hard time imagining his darker version willingly helping them. After all, it had been created by Ganon in order to impede Link's progress.
Zelda and Impa exchanged glances, before the Princess decided to answer for them both. "Well... originally he was helping us, but after rescuing you, he seems to have had a change of heart. He's declared himself an enemy of the Sages, and will likely try to target you as well, Link. Please be careful."
Link is hardly surprised. "Right... I'll take care of it if it shows up."
"You might be able to reason with him," Zelda says, and Link thinks she sounds almost desperate. "Even though he is your darker self, that does not make him inherently evil."
"Then... what does that make him?" Link frowns.
"One's shadow is a mirror image of oneself," Impa continues her explanation. "It is more accurate to say that it is a reflection; an inverted version of yourself. Your powerful emotions, both positive and negative, are amplified even further in it. Humans are driven by desire, and a shadow is desire in its purest form. The desire to be a hero, to take revenge, or to be accepted by others – even doubts and self-hatred; such are examples of its motives. In essence, your shadow is raw, emotional energy."
"Sounds dangerous... and strange. My shadow didn't talk at all the last time we fought, so I'm not sure how I can 'reason' with him," Link frowns. He knows little about beings formed from magic. But anything driven purely by emotion, especially emotion without restraint, will cause trouble.
"Truly?" The Princess looks surprised. "From what I've seen, he seems fairly talkative. Perhaps he was preoccupied while he fought you."
Impa shrugs. "Since your shadow was given form by Ganon, he may have instilled certain rules or instinctive reactions within him. Even as a Sage of Shadow, I'm unfamiliar with how Ganon managed to form such a being. Who knows what your shadow is afflicted with..."
"You mean he could be someone else without Ganon's influence...?" Link scratches his head. From Impa's words, Link's shadow sounds almost more like a victim.
"Perhaps. Or perhaps not." Impa does not know the answer herself.
"Take care of yourself first, but we wanted to let you know for your future travels," Zelda says.
"Future travels...?" Link feels a smile creeping upon his face. "Does that mean I can go out again?" He is tired of waiting in the castle. The Sages would not even let him visit the town, since they were worried about his appearance to the public. But Link was not made to sit still in one place for very long. His body might have needed to recover, but his mind always desires the freedom of adventure.
Zelda smiles back, and Link knows that he is right. He will go back to helping Hyrule and fighting Ganondorf again... And he will avenge his fallen fairy comrade...
A/N: Sorry for the delay, it was kinda silly of me to think I could get it done on Friday tbh, I forgot I had quite a few things planned through the whole week and I had no time to work on it Thursday or Friday lol. From now on I'll be posting all delays or news related to my stories on my profile, I'll try to keep it short and simple.
Also this chapter was extremely hard for me to write, I actually re-wrote multiple pages of it. Hopefully it came out okay, I'm still not very happy with some of the transitions and exposition. I might re-write it when I figure out how to fix it, for now though, I need a break haha.