Shadow and Light
Resistance
"Hmph. Seems like a fools errand to me. I mean, what're we supposed to do that the army can't?" Ashei asked moodily, her shadowy eyes narrowed with annoyance as she sat in one of the old wooden chairs in the back room of Telma's bar. Three others sat around the table with her, each appearing just as contemplative as the last as they looked over Zelda's neatly scrawled request.
"I can't help but agree," old Auru sighed. "We seem to work better behind the scenes. I'm not so sure what the princess thinks we can accomplish by joining her army."
"Maybe she has something else in mind," Shad interjected, reaching absently to push up his glasses.
"Like what? Reading the Bulbins a bedtime story?"
"Ashei, enough," Rusl chided. "This is pretty serious. The Princess wouldn't have asked us to consider, otherwise."
"What of Link?" Shad asked, peering at the swordsman curiously. "Shouldn't he be here to discuss this as well?"
"We don't know where he is, sugar," Telma answered for him as she entered the small area, bending over the table to set glasses down for everyone.
"Right. No one has seen him in over a month," Rusl added regretfully.
Ashei turned an astonished look to him. "A month? What in Eldin's name has he been doin'?"
"I don't know. He hasn't been the same since we saw him during our assault on the castle. My son saw him slipping out in the middle of the night. No one has seen him, since. I do think we should send word of this to him, but I don't even know where we should begin to look for him-or if he even wants to be found."
The entire group was quiet for a moment, each feeling a pang of concern, but not sure how to proceed.
Telma glanced up when she heard the door open, and jumped to her feet in surprise. The tall, dark skinned man that entered was familiar to them all, but he rarely ventured into the city.
"Renado!" Telma hurried over to him, reaching to put a concerned hand on his arm, her eyes worried. "This is a surprise, honey...what's happened? Is everything alright?"
The rest of the group stood and came closer, alerted by the Shaman's troubled expression. "I don't know. There was an...incident, in Kakariko. It's all so very strange."
"Well, sit and tell us what happened," Telma fussed, guiding him to a chair and leaving him for a moment to fetch a glass and some water.
"My daughter, Luda; she tells me she found what appeared to be an old, broken mirror, mostly buried in sand off the trail leading up Death Mountain. She claims not to remember much after that, but I watched her succumb first to a fever, then to some sort of madness over the last few days. Yesterday morning, she was completely beyond reach. She took a torch and started setting fire to the buildings all through Kakariko. By the time we realized what was happening, it was nearly too late." His expression was grim, and he wasn't looking at any of them directly as he recalled those shocking events. "Barnes must've attempted to flee-by some miracle, he bumped into Link and alerted him to what was going on."
The group's eyes widened slightly, especially Rusl. So he was alive, and still in Hyrule. "Was he alright?" he asked anxiously, unable to help interrupting. "He left Ordon over a month ago with barely a word to anyone."
Renado looked up at Rusl, hesitant. "...I don't know how to answer that," he admitted gravely. "The same madness I'd seen in my daughter's eyes...it was in Link's, as well."
The others exchanged startled glances, stunned by the news.
"And...that is not even the worst of it," Renado continued quietly. "My daughter transformed into some sort of monstrous creature before all of us. Link faced her in battle and defeated her, and thankfully no long term harm seems to have come to her from it, but... the mirror she claims to have found...I think I saw it draw from her after her defeat, only to absorb into Link."
Shad paled a few shades, his eyes going wide. This all sounded so very familiar.
"His eyes...when he looked at me before he left...they'd changed," Renado added. "And what is worse, he seemed callous. Uncaring. There was a darkness radiating from him that I can scarcely believe."
"The mirror...was it dark in color? With strange engravings?" Shad pressed anxiously. The Shaman nodded, focusing on him.
"Shad? Do you know something?" Auru asked, his expression grim.
"Yes...at least, I believe so," the redhead replied, nervously adjusting his glasses. "There are texts that describe a mirror like this. They theorize that the mirror is actually a portal to another world, or dimension, if you will... It was once used to banish creatures of evil from our world. At some point in history however, it was destroyed, possibly to prevent any of the darkness from returning here, or because of the questionable morality of disposing evil creatures onto some other place-"
"Get to the point, yeah?" Ashei huffed.
"Oh...well, yes. The mirror had a dangerous sort of power about it, theoretically, and wasn't supposed to come in contact with anyone aside from the sages specifically chosen to watch over it. If the mirror is real, and pieces of it are being unearthed around Hyrule...well..."
"The folks finding 'em are in a great deal of trouble," Telma finished for him, her expression dark.
"But then...Link..." Rusl murmured, his voice heavy with worry.
"We need to find him," Auru spoke up. "Sounds like Hyrule's got bigger problems than a bunch of angry Bulbins, and Link might already be aware of that."
"I don't think you understand," Renado interjected sorrowfully. "The Link I saw yesterday is not the same noble, courageous boy we've all come to know. Even before he took the mirror from my daughter, he was acting strangely-completely consumed with a need to find that mirror, and showing no concern for the well being of the village or anyone within it. And when he left, it was even more so. He has changed, Rusl," the shaman turned troubled eyes to the one among their group closest to the young hero, "and not for the better. He must be stopped, somehow."
"I don't know about the rest of you," Ashei added, "but I have a sneaking suspicion that all these Bulbin issues may have somethin' to do with this, too. Seems a little too weird to be coincidence. Maybe we should accept, after all, yeah?"
"For Link's sake," Auru added in grim agreement.
Telma looked over the group, her expression tense with the dire conclusions they had all reached. When no one protested, she gave a stiff nod. "Sounds like we'll be paying the Princess a visit, then." She patted Renado's arm. "You should come too, honey. She's gonna want to hear about what you saw yesterday."
"Of course," Renado agreed with a slight bow of his head.
"You're certain of this?" Zelda asked, fighting to keep her voice calm and neutral. She had patiently listened to the Shaman of Kakariko recount the previous days events, a little of the color draining from her cheeks with every word.
"Yes, your Majesty," Renado replied, his voice soft. "He was not himself."
The Princess rose a hand to her mouth, her eyes troubled as she turned to pace. She knew from her brief connection with Midna what the mirror shards could do to those that dwelled in the world of light. While Link may have been able to resist that darkness better than most because of the power of the gods that he wielded, it would only be a matter of time before it overwhelmed him, just as it had Renado's daughter.
The more pieces he gathered, the faster it would overtake him, and she shuddered to think what might result if he were to collect the entire mirror within himself.
Finally she looked up to the group, her eyes still anxious and troubled. "I believe you may be right, Ashei. This sudden change in the Bulbins behavior may very well be an effect of one of these mirrors. If they found one, it could be corrupting them, just as it did young Luda, and as it is doing to Link. If that is the case, we must get to that shard before Link does. It could be devastating if he were to obtain that piece, as well."
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Rusl asked desperately.
"I honestly do not know," Zelda admitted gravely. "There are things we can try, but I will have to see him for myself before I can know for certain." There was a knot of dread in her stomach even as she admitted this. With their worlds separated, and with Link being a light dweller with the power of the Twilight wreaking havoc inside of him, she honestly did not know what to do.
Still, they had to try.
"Highness!" A guard cried as he rushed into the chamber, his eyes frantic. "The Bulbins! They've broken through the pass; they're coming this way!"
She tensed. "Inform the captain if he doesn't already know; move our forces out to meet them," she ordered quickly, before turning desperate eyes to the group before her.
"Just tell us what to do, honey," Telma told her sympathetically; she could see the storm in Zelda's eyes. Things were falling apart far too quickly for any of them to keep up.
"We need to be out there with them. If my suspicions are right, the pieces Link has already gathered will guide him towards the rest-he will likely be there. We have to try to keep him from it. For his sake, and for the country itself."
She could only hope that stopping him was even possible.
T.B.C.