So this is it, the last chapter. I hope you all love this story as much I do. I've never updated a story so fast or have even finished one for that matter but this one is more like a labor of love not to mention I first wrote it for a friend I met when I was admitted to the hospital. I love Zelda and it's been an integral part of my life. As a kid, you get creative with your games when you can't walk. Anyway, here's the last chapter. At the end I will include a song list for each chapter.
Someone Who Doesn't Talk Much
As told by Link
Link
Counting the years in my life is a difficult task. Especially because I really don't know how old I am. It's safe to say that Zelda is two years older than me. Possibly three. Sheik is a year or so older than me. I spent a year and a half as a child training with Impa and retrieving the Spiritual Stones. I spent seven years sleeping. I spent another year or maybe two in the seven temples. I spent exactly one year wandering around Hyrule. I spent about a year in a three day loop and the four following months staying with Kafei and Anju. Then I left to finish my search. I spent the rest of the year with Mitra. After that, I spent another year back to wandering. Somewhere in between those twelve months, I fell ill and imposed on a stranger for two weeks.
This brings me to about five years. Or six counting the three days in Termina. Six years worth of negative emotions. I'd locked them up little by little. I spent much of my life being a rag-doll of destiny. I couldn't afford to use them in any constructive way. They wanted their revenge and they got it in spades.
When I lay my life out like this, it looks so easy. Reliving it...that's an entirely different story. Honestly, it hurts. It will always hurt. Still, it's the scar tissue that makes it better. The pain lessens though some days the pain more palpable than others. Six years of impending severe depression made me physically ill when he arrived in Aldo's Research Lab. I came down with a fever. I was delirious. It nearly tore my body to pieces.
Oni was right. I talk in my sleep. Sheik and Zelda found out everything just by my talking through the nightmares. In hindsight, I'm glad. I don't think I would've told them anything face-to-face. Deep down, I don't want to spoil them or taint them with all of my bad energy especially Zelda. I'm surprised out of the three of us, she adjusted the best. Zelda is a nurturing soul. Her best quality is her ability to heal herself by healing others. If she weren't a princess I'd see her being a doctor or potion woman. I'm sure she has Sheikah blood somewhere in her bloodline. Still she makes an exceptional ruler, no matter how much she protests to the contrary. She considers herself weak for crying so much, really it's her way of coping and getting all the emotions out right then.
She doesn't believe me but it's the healthiest way to deal with all the dark, negative shit that plugs up our lives. The way I screamed made her cry. I can't help but feel guilty for exposing her to that. I know it's not healthy to blame myself for something I can't help but it just...happens. I don't want to be the reason she cries. The week I spent at Aldo's...Zelda swears my skin let off steam when I hit the ice bath. I wouldn't be surprised, my brain was on fire. My blood scalded the insides of my veins. My brain was so boiled I'd begun to hallucinate and speaking to my delusions. It's odd that I only remember one particular conversation. I was speaking to Majora, exactly the way Oni described her to me but in front of in front of the Moon's Tree.
"You...you're Majora..." She didn't reply she just nodded. Zelda claims that she had to called my name over and over but I never heard her. "Oni...Oni s-said you were...very beautiful...He...he was right." She seemed flattered.
"You are very ill." She stated. I'm not sure why she felt the need to state such an obvious fact. "Tell me, boy. How does Oni fare?"
"F-f-f-f..." I was shivering. It must've been another ice-bath. "Fine. Much...like you."She laughed bitterly at this point. There was no mirth in it. I couldn't tell if she was at peace now, or it she'd simply resigned herself like Oni. Given the chance, Oni would fight any war on any side until he dropped dead. Majora would probably wreak more havoc if she could.
"I suppose I am "fine", child." Majora replied. "I regret everything in my life before the war. Aside from that I'd say I'm in good spirits." Now it was my turn to laugh sarcastically, though it felt like I was choking. "You're laughing because you hate me." She said placing a hand on my shoulder. I tried to get away from her but she wouldn't let go. "You're just too nice to say otherwise."
"I-I...I-I-I...think I do...hate you, Majora." I shook my head. "N-not being able to forgive...is that..." I stared to cough, unable to finish my sentence at first. I looked down at my hand and found I'd coughed up blood. I didn't think anything of it. Zelda and Sheik must've lost their collective minds. "...is that the same...a-a-as hatred...?" Majora laughed again, this time at me. In fact, she nearly fell over she was laughing so hard leaving me quite irritated. She suddenly sobered and hit me in the back of the head.
"No, you stupid boy." She snapped. "Not being able to forgive is something you can forget. Hatred is something that you'll let fester inside of you. You hate me. You'll never be able to forget me. You'll never forget Ganondorf. You'll never forget the pain. It'll never go away. It'll kill you before it's over. It'll kill you." Everything she said brought an inexplicable chill of horror over me. My head started to throb in pain. "Consume. Let it consume everything."
"No!" I shouted back trying to get at her but my hand seemed to go right through her. At that very moment, I felt someone behind me. Sheik must've been holding me up from behind. They'd sat me up in case I coughed up more blood. Yet in my hallucination, I felt large hands on me. I immediately knew it was Ganondorf.
"You could be a destroyer of worlds." His voice throbbed with the pain in my head. It was like he wasn't even talking, he was injecting his words into my brain no matter how much I resisted. The throes of self loathing came back tenfold as his thunderous whispering reminded me of...that farmer. "You despise yourself more than hate the world around you! Let your darkness eat you. It'll crush you!" Being invaded like that, having no control over what happens to you...it brings on a darkness that no one else should have to feel. If I had it my way, I would suffer for them. I'm good at that. I found myself clutching my head all the voices reduced me to a sobbing, sweaty, bloody wreak. Apparently, I had clawed the sides of my head so much, they had started to bleed.
"Make it stop...make it stop..." I found myself muttering. A dry towel touched my head and I found myself suddenly lucid and staring straight at Zelda. My mouth was dry, but I was drenched with sweat and shaking uncontrollably. "Zelda?" There was a collective sigh around the room.
"We thought you weren't going to come back to us that time." Sheik said with a hand over his chest like he was trying to keep his heart from jumping out. I must've had more than one delirious fit and believe me when I say it wasn't the last. But at that moment, my fever had broken and after a few hours, they saw fit to transport me back to the castle.
There was one fatal flaw in Sheik's prevention of my suicide. There was no way to get back to the castle. By edict of Rauru the Head Priest, the Temple of Time was closed to the public for extensive "purification", that included royalty. The journey back was hard on me and I collapsed once we got into the castle gates. The fevers returned bringing the hallucinations and nightmares along for the ride. Everything wrong with my mind was taking it's final toll on my body.
I can't stand the sound of clocks. It's a grating sound that just enjoys counting down the minutes of our lives until the minute we die. The only two reasons I would find myself in Clock Town again are Anju and Kafei but I could never spend an entire night there. Not with constant tick, tick, tick. It's slow almost like the sound of dragging a dead carcass off the road so no other carriages would run over it. But what drives it home, is the bells. Every hour. It's laughing at you telling you you're one hour closer to death. 72 hours...60 hours...48 hours...32 hours...24 hours...12 hours...then nothing. The closest I ever came to utter defeat in Termina was 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes until the apocalypse. "That was way too close" Tatl said to me. That is a vast understatement.
The clock that Zelda had removed while we were eating had been moved back to its original place when we arrived. I'd only slept an hour before it went off. When it struck the hour, it scraped at my ear drums, ripped them open. The pain blocked everything out but the constant tolling of the clock. My hands flew to my ears and I screamed. Every toll was agony. It took Sheik, Zelda and a guard to hold me down.
Needless to say, they got rid of the clock for good.
The fevers stopped after a few weeks but it took a long time for me to fully recover. I was sick for a fairly long period of time. Almost a year I think. There were good days and bad days. Some days I would feel well enough to even go into town or walk around the gardens. On the contrary there would be some days I was so weak I couldn't even get out of bed. During my recovery, I don't remember a time when I was alone. Sheik, Zelda and Malon always visited me.. Sometimes they were all together. Those were the best days. I don't think it was any coincidence that my best days followed those kinds of visits.
There were other nights though...when I would just...cry. It would always happen when dreamed of Tzeros. I had resigned myself to pine for him as long as I lived. He never left my thoughts since the day he rescued me from drowning. I find it so ironic that the relationships that mean the most to me were formed after a matter of days. With Tzeros, I felt an immediate pull towards him. Being with him, was the only time I've ever felt truly safe, accepted and loved. It's not that I love him more than Sheik, Zelda and my other friends...but I love him differently. But he was gone and I just couldn't bring myself to make peace with it. In my worst moments, I thought of going on another search, but I was tired of traveling and questing.
It was time I chose a home.
Kokiri Forest, while full of fond memories was never home. I don't think I could ever live in Kakariko. I haven't set foot in the graveyard since...let's just say you never forget the sound of purposefully blunted knives sawing into your skin. I could never live in the wake of the Shadow Temple. Then there's Gerudo Fortress. I've grown to fall in love with that place. Really, the Gerudo are just misunderstood, demonized by the stories of old and unable to overcome their bad reputation like the Sheikah because of their isolation. The open air...the freedom...people speak so ill of the desert when it really is a wonderful place with wonderful people. Unfortunately, so is the castle. Zelda and Sheik are my family. I'm not sure if I can take anymore separation anxiety. I don't cope well with it.
In moments like these, I'm reminded why I'm so lucky to have Zelda as a friend however emotional she tends to be.
"Link!" With my new job as the Library's Curator, I was in the middle of yet another book when she flew in like a lark in spring smiling. She'd only ever chirped like this when she received good news or outscored me in archery. My aim may be on par, but Zelda never misses. At the time Sheik was in Kakariko, yet again. He seemed to be visiting Farik very frequently. "The Gerudo and my father have finally aligned the free trade agreement." Perturbed, I stared at her blankly for a moment and went back to my book. She promptly hit me with the scroll she was carrying. "This means we need an ambassador to...ensure maximum correspondence." I glanced up, now I was interested. "You've been stuck here long enough. Since you have such good relations with the Gerudo, I recommended you for the job and you'd better take it, father is starting to wonder why I keep you around here." She said with a playful wink. It's no secret her father thinks I'll only ever be a librarian who talks to a mask. Before I could thank her, she hit me again. "That's for giving me that "So what" look, you idiot." She grinned and I hugged her.
"Thank you." That's pretty much the only thing I can say without worrying about stuttering. Well, that and "sorry". Nowadays, I really only stutter when I'm upset or worse, embarrassed.
I barely needed a day to prepare for the trip. It was about a two day's ride from the castle. Three or Four from Lon Lon Ranch which I had to make the trip there. All the horses that the castle has use for are bred there. Not to mention Malon won't let anyone but me ride Epona. Many have tried and failed with broken bones or head injuries. I'm not the best horseman...I think it's because I was with Epona since she was a filly. If you're not her friend, she hates you.
I set out by myself from the Ranch with Malon calling behind me, telling me that if I felt even a little bit sick that I should come right back. I didn't say anything back I just waved. The women in my life tend to throw things or hit me if I say something bad. Even though it means they care, it still hurts.
I walked straight into the sunrise that morning. The air was clean and I could finally feel the wind on my face without someone begging me to get out of the elements before I caught a fever again. I took in a deep breath and let it sink into my blood and into my head. I let it out and found that I felt better. I hadn't just recovered, I was better. The darkness never really goes away but I have the strength to live past it. Not to mention I'm no longer alone being flung from one harrowing journey to the next and I have a lot of help. I went on those journeys to protect people I love from danger and to defend people who couldn't defend themselves. Shouldn't we all want to do the same? I'm not a hero and I hate being called that. Really, I'm just a person who doesn't talk much and tends to go out of his way to help people.
As I arrived in Gerudo Valley, I felt something strange. I wasn't sure what it was at that time, but it made me smile as I drew closer. I had no idea what was waiting for me, but I knew things were going to change...
...and this time for the better.
This is not the end. I love you all for reading you've all been so faithful and so great to me. The sequel will be coming soon. I will give you one tiny hint: Prepare for a "wtf" moment. It may mess with your head a little a first, but believe me you're going to like it, even though it sounds a little selfish of me to say that. Anyway, here's the Song list for the chapters.
One- Gobbledigook by Sigur Ros
Two- Butterfly by Corine Bailey Rae
Three- In the Deep by Bird York
Four- Gabriel by Lamb
Five- Closer by Kings of Leon
Six- Turn off the light by Nelly Furtado
Seven- How it Ends by DeVotchka
Eight- Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nine- We'll be Found by Sia
Ten- Saeglopur by Sigur Ros
I hope that brings a little clarification on the inspiration for some of these chapters. I love you all and I'll be sure to tell you when the sequel is up! Thank you so much for reading!
-East