Shards

by bladespark

Link has defeated all enemies to face him, including his own shadow. But now he's seeing his shadow's eyes whenever he looks in a mirror. What does it mean, and what will happen when his shadow asks him for a chance to live? -A different take on the relationship between Link and Dark Link, and between Link and the masks he wears.

10. Deep Troubles

Shards

Chapter 10 - Deep Troubles

In which Link discovers he may not be completely grown up after all, and in which Shadow gets into trouble.

---

Zelda wanted to come with me at first. Then she wanted to send an escort with me, to make sure I got through the pass safely. Then she wanted to organize an expedition to clear the road to Calatia and open trade relations with them. I managed to veto all of those, though opening the pass again wasn't a bad idea, but I wasn't going to wait for months while the job was done, I wanted to be on my way immediately. And I certainly wasn't going to take Zelda with me, even if her father would let her go. I knew she was more capable than her age suggested, but she was still a ten year old girl, and she did still have her duties to the kingdom, she shouldn't just take off to go on an adventure with me. Fortunately she knew that as well as I did, so it didn't take too much arguing.

Though her final point was a valid one. "If I can't see you in the mirror, how will I know that these spirits are friends as you insist?"

"Perhaps I can bring it back with me," I replied. "But I promise, Zelda, if I see that the others are evil, I'll tell you. I wouldn't lie about something like that. I don't think they are, but if it turns out I'm wrong, I'm not going to pretend otherwise."

She sighed, and pouted again. "Very well."

I gathered together my gear, including the Fierce Deity's mask. I wasn't going to leave it behind when I had no idea how long I'd be gone. If somebody else found it and decided to put it on, who knows what might happen?

This time, however, I didn't summon Epona. I was going to be traveling over rough terrain, and I was also going to be traveling as an adult. She was too small to bear me. A few more years would have to pass before I could take her with me adventuring. That parting made me sad, but it was necessary.

Instead I shouldered my pack and set off up the trail to Death Mountain and beyond on foot. I had a map showing where the old trade road lay, I had plenty of supplies, and I had my five companions with me. That should be all I needed.

The road over the mountains was rough indeed. There were places where I could walk across cleared, level ground, but most of it was covered in rock slides, and in some places part of the road itself had slid away, leaving gaping chasms I had to cross. One way or another though I passed all these obstacles. The Fierce Deity in particular was helpful, for his longer stride and great reach was often sufficient to simply leap or climb over things that were impassable to my normal form. Though I learned the hard way that his greater weight made unstable ground more likely to collapse beneath me. But a swift change to Scrub's light for saved me from a deadly fall, and I soon learned to judge which rocks could bear his weight and which couldn't.

At last the road began to descend, and was less and less often blocked, until finally I reached a place where it showed some signs of use. I was among the foothills now, and there were paths that branched from the main road. At the end of one I glimpsed what might have been a house. But for now I didn't want to detour. Every so often up ahead I caught a glimpse of what seemed like a sea of golden yellow. I didn't know what to make of that, but I knew the road led to Calatia, so I continued to follow it.

After another day of travel I reached that golden shore, to find that in front of me stretched a seemingly endless field of wheat. It was high summer now, so the grain was nearly ripe. Ripples of wind danced over it, all the way to the distant horizon. I'd never seen anything like it. At intervals fences broke up the unchanging mass, and there were dirt roads winding among it, and farms dotted here and there, but nearly every bit of ground I could see was covered in wheat.

:How many people must there be in Calatia, if this is what they need to feed them all?: asked Darmani thoughtfully.

:A lot more than in Hyrule,: I replied, still staring. I shook off my amazement and started walking again. I was headed to Calatia City itself, where the royal castle lay. There would, hopefully, be a library there, with a helpful librarian, and I could find out if the Soul Mirror was real, and where I might find it.

I walked for nearly a week through the fields. There was occasionally some other crop, but for the most part there was simply wheat, surrounding me each morning when I woke and each night when I stopped to rest. And each day I thought I must surely be near the end of it, only to find yet more ahead of me during the next day.

There was a village a few days along. I asked there about the city, to be sure I was headed towards it, but I didn't linger.

When I reached the city I had to stop and gawk again. I had caught vague glimpses of it all that day, but I hadn't been able to make sense of what I was seeing until I came to the top of a hill and saw the whole thing spread out in front of me.

The first thing my eye went to was the castle. It perched atop a hill that stood at the center of the city. Around it stood a broad swathe of green, a band of parkland that was surrounded in turn by a high stone wall. Beyond the wall was a jumble of buildings, most of them quite large and elaborate, dotted with more patches of green where gardens and parks stood. That was surrounded by a second, slightly lower wall, and beyond that was a completely chaotic tangle of mostly smaller buildings, from this distance I couldn't tell what they were. The river wound among them, passing beneath a third wall in order to do so. Outside this third wall there were yet more buildings, though these were all small, mostly little thatched houses like those I'd seen in the village I passed through.

I stood for a long time and stared. The castle atop the hill didn't seem to be more than two or three times the size of Hyrule Castle. But the city... That was easily a hundred times as big as any town in Hyrule! I'd never seen, nor imagined, anything like it. You could put the entire population of Hyrule and Termina together into it and not take up a tenth of it!

:Dude,: said Mikau. :Just... just... dude! Look at it!:

:How do we find mirror in all that? How do we even find library?!: Scrub sounded intimidated. I had to admit I was as well.

:We will ask. Those who live here cannot spend all their lives lost. We will be able to get directions.: Darmani was as calm and collected as always.

:And just think of how much trouble I could get up to there!: Shadow laughed.

:I think I'd prefer if you tried to stay out of trouble,: I said.

The rattle of a cart coming up behind me reminded me to get moving again. Soon I had passed inside the first set of gates, along with a trickle of other traffic that shared the road with me. Inside the walls the streets were jammed with people going to and fro. So was the river itself, small boats thronged the stretch within the walls and larger ones sailed up and down outside them, headed for other towns or cities beyond, no doubt. The noise was astounding, I'd never heard such a racket. And the stench was appalling. So many people crammed in together! And all of them seemed to be Hylians, I saw no Deku Scrubs or Gorons, and only a handful of Zoras, all on the river or the docks, none in the city itself.

I wandered the streets for some time, trying to work my way up towards the castle. I figured that the library would probably be there. But none of the streets ran straight, and it seemed as though every time I found one that turned towards the hill it then twisted away from it. Or if it did run towards the hill it simply dead ended in a wall.

Eventually I realized that I was getting nowhere. So I decided to take Darmani's suggestion and ask for directions. A man with a sword by his side, whose uniform vaguely reminded me of the Hyrule Castle Guard, proved thankfully to be friendly and helpful. "The library, you say? No, it's not in the castle, it's in the first circle. Go two blocks over to Octoroc Street and follow that up the hill, that will get you to the second wall gate, and the guards can direct you to the library from there." He pointed, and when I got there the street in question went almost straight to the gate. The guards watching over the traffic that went in and out through it were also helpful, and finally I reached the library itself.

I'm not sure what I expected. Hyrule Castle's library was one large room, lined in books and with more shelves standing free from the walls, and I had thought it held many books, but this... it was a building perhaps half the size of Hyrule Castle itself. I went inside the vast double doors with trepidation. How was I to find anything in this?

"May I help you?"

I turned to see a young man sitting behind a desk just inside the entrance. Behind him the wall was lined with tiny little drawers, each one carefully labeled. I wondered what they held, they were obviously too small to contain books.

"Uh. I hope so. I'm looking for books about something called the Soul Mirror. Do you know anything about it?"

"I'll look it up for you. But first, what township are you from?"

"Uhm. Township?"

The young man looked me up and down. "Ah. A foreigner, are you?"

"Yes."

"I'm afraid the library is provided for the use of citizens only."

I blinked. "What?"

"I can't help you, sorry."

"But..."

He picked up a quill and started writing something in a ledger in front of him, rather pointedly ignoring me. I could have just walked on into the library itself, but what good would that do me? I had no idea how to find anything. I could see through the open doors of the entryway where we stood into the main building, and there were bookshelves that reached to the vaulted ceiling above. There had to be hundreds of thousands of books.

Feeling a sinking sense of hopelessness I turned and left the library. I was a speck in this place. Nobody knew my name. Some people might help me, others obviously wouldn't. I sat down on the library steps and watched the people hurrying back and forth in front of me. What was I going to do now?

:It's getting dark,: said Shadow. :And you need rest. We should find someplace to stay.:

:How? Where? I don't know what to do...:

:Let me then.:

:You? You don't know any more about this city than I do.:

:No, but you're tired, and I'm not. Night is my time.:

:All right.:

I stepped aside and let Shadow take over. In the gathering twilight I doubt anybody noticed my hair and clothing slowly fading to black. Shadow got to his feet and started threading his way through the streets. I noticed that he was re-tracing the path we'd taken to come here. He passed beneath the wall, out into the second circle, without stopping to talk to the guards.

A moment later, laughing softly, he had scaled a building and was going from rooftop to rooftop. The skills that had let us navigate ruined temples and magical towers were now employed to cross the city. He went from house to house, only seldom coming down to the ground. When we were almost back to the outermost gate he finally dropped down to the street.

It was fully dark now, though there were still people out and about. But the street was much less crowded than it had been. Still, I recognized an intersection we'd passed through on our way in. He'd been re-tracing our route via the rooftops. "Aha," said Shadow softly. He was looking at a sign. I'd seen that as well, but hadn't thought anything of it. Apparently Shadow, however, had noticed it. I had to laugh silently at him, for the sign bore the painted silhouette of a dancing female form. Below that the sign proclaimed the building to be the "Dancing Maiden Inn."

:We can stay here,: he said.

:I suppose so, we do have some rupees to spare.:

:Want to take back over again?:

:You can stay if you like, I don't care right now.:

:Good. I'll get us a room and see about some dinner too then.:

Inside, the first room proved to be a bar, with stairs leading up to the sleeping chambers above. The bartender gave Shadow a key in exchange for a handful of rupees. Another few rupees bought us a meal, and Shadow ordered ale with it as well. I nearly objected, but in the end said nothing. I'd said Shadow could run things, it would be rude to berate him for his choices. And I had to admit I was a bit curious about ale myself.

Shadow took a sip, and we could both taste it. It was quite possibly the worst thing I'd ever tasted. :Ugh. That's terrible!:

:It's not so bad.: Shadow took another drink.

:Gah. I know you're tasting the same thing I am, and I don't know how you can stand to.:

Shadow laughed silently. :It's really not that awful. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually.:

:I don't know why you'd want to.:

:If it bothers you that much you can always go into the inner world and not taste it.:

:Maybe I should.: I was reluctant to leave though. Shadow seemed to be in a mood to look for trouble, and I wanted to keep an eye on him.

He finished the mug along with his dinner, then went up to the bar and got a second one, which he immediately swigged from.

:Shadow...:

:What?: He was grinning, and I already felt a faint touch of something strange from the first drink. I was a little light-headed, and Shadow seemed to be positively giddy.

:I don't think getting drunk is a good idea.:

:Why not? We're at a bar, people go to bars to get drunk. I've always wondered what it's like to get drunk. So now I can find out.:

:I don't know... what if something happens?:

:Then you can take over!:

:I feel kinda... uh...: Shadow took another deep swig of the horrible-tasting stuff. :Kinda odd. I think it's making me drunk too.:

:Then we can both be drunk together!:

:And if we get attacked, or something?:

:Hell, let Deity handle it.:

:Woah. Bad, bad, bad idea. I mean what if he's drunk too? He's bad enough sober!:

:Let's ask! Hey Deity! You drunk?:

:Thou art a ridiculous creature.: The Fierce Deity's voice was darkly amused. :But yes, I do seem to feel the affects.:

:Ale makes your body drunk, not your soul, dude.: Mikau laughed. :So I guess we all are.:

:Great.: That didn't exactly thrill me.

Shadow had made his way back to his seat, and was rapidly finishing off the second mug. :All right, I'll stop at two. We're not actually drunk, I'm not tripping over my feet or anything! Don't worry so much, Link.:

:Sorry. I just am not sure this is a good idea.:

:Link is probably wise to be concerned,: said Darmani. :We are in a strange land. It will be easy enough to make mistakes without adding ale to the problem.:

:Fine, fine, I get the picture.: Shadow sighed melodramatically. :I'll be good now, don't worry. Anyway, this one's all gone.: He set the empty mug on the table.

"Hello there."

Shadow looked up. A girl had sat at the table, across from him. She was pretty, though she wore more paint on her face that I was accustomed to seeing. Her dress was long, but her blouse was cut very low, and Shadow's eyes dipped down to it. I could feel his cheeks heating.

"Uh. Hello."

"What's a handsome fellow like you doing here alone?"

"Uh..." :What do I say?!:

:Say you could ask her the same thing,: said Mikau. :You'll be saying like she's pretty, girls like that.:

"I could ask you the same thing," said Shadow a little unsteadily.

She smiled charmingly. "You're too kind."

:What are you two doing?: I asked.

:Flirting,: said Mikau laughingly. :Tell her that it's only the truth, she's beautiful.:

"It's only the truth, you're very beautiful." Shadow sounded a bit more confident that time.

"Well, thank you. Could a handsome fellow like you perhaps see your way to buying a pretty girl like me a drink, then? And perhaps, if you have the rupees, you could buy a little bit more." She winked. Shadow swallowed.

:Is she suggesting what I think she's suggesting?:

:I think she is, little dude. I guess there's a girl on the sign here for a reason.: Mikau was still laughing, amused. I had no idea how to feel about this sudden turn.

Shadow apparently decided to keep going despite this new revelation. He grinned at the girl. "I'll get you a drink, certainly."

He got up and headed for the bar. I could feel the world spin just a bit as he rose, but we were still steady enough to walk a straight line to the bar.

:Shadow... what do you think you're doing?:

:Living,: he said with a silent laugh. :Which is all I've ever wanted to do.:

:But she's, uh...:

:A girl for hire, probably, yes.:

:And you...:

:Am going to buy her a drink. And me a drink, I think. And then I may well pay for her services, yes. We're not short on cash or anything.:

:It's not the rupees that I'm worried about:

:You don't need to be involved. Just go inside and don't watch if you don't want to.:

:Watching or not, it's still going to be my body you're doing this with. I'm not sure I like somebody using my body for, uh... That. I've never, I mean, my body's never... er...:

There was a kind of mental throat-clearing from Mikau. :Uh. Actually, little dude...:

:What?:

:Your body has. When I said goodbye to Lulu, she kinda insisted.:

:Oh.:

Shadow had reached the bar, and I didn't say anything when he ordered two more ales. I was still trying to process what Mikau had just told me. I watched as Shadow handed the girl one, and took a drink from the other. It didn't taste as terrible as it had before. Were we getting used to it? The girl put her hand over Shadow's and smiled at him. I could feel his reaction. His heart, my heart, was racing. How was I supposed to feel about this? I'd always given Shadow the freedom to live as he wanted, as long as he didn't do any harm to himself, or me, or anybody else. This wasn't doing harm, was it? But it was still my body. But Mikau had done the same before, even if I hadn't known. How could I have not known? The third ale was starting to go to my head. To our head. Shadow was laughing, probably too much. But the girl kept leaning in close, touching him, complimenting him.

I could feel his reaction to that too.

Should I try to stop Shadow? Should I retreat inside and try to ignore what he was doing? I suspected the answer to both of those was yes, but for some reason I didn't do either. I didn't consciously choose to stay, but I was still sharing Shadow's senses when he took the girl by the hand and led her up the stairs to the room he'd paid for earlier.

:Shadow...:

:What?:

:Are you... are you sure we should do this?:

:I'm sure I should do this. You can stay or go as you like.:

:I just... is this right?:

:You keep insisting we're adults, Link. So what could be wrong about it?:

I didn't have any answer to that. Inside the room, with the door shut behind them, they started doing things. The girl kissed him, and I could taste her. Her hands were all over, touching everywhere. My body was reacting to everything she did. I could feel the need that I knew was driving Shadow. But when she pulled him into the bed I finally had to admit: adult or not, I wasn't ready for this. I retreated to the inner world, and sat alone on the little island there, and did my best to ignore everything that Shadow was doing.

I woke up the next morning in charge of my own body again. I was alone in the bed, somewhat to my relief, I don't know what I'd have done if the girl was still there.

:Link?:

:Yeah?:

:You're not upset... about last night, are you?:

I shrugged. :No. Just... uncertain. I don't know how I should feel about it.:

:Sorry.:

:Don't worry about it. It was your choice. I'm not going to insist you do everything the way I would, I know we're not the same person. Anyway, we should be worrying about what to do next. Without access to the library, how are we going to find out where the mirror is?:

:We'll just have to try asking people, I guess.:

:Yeah.:

I got up and gathered my gear. Then I set out into the city in search of some rumor of the Soul Mirror. I asked everyone I could find, the guards, the ordinary citizens, the Zoras and other traders on the river, everyone. But all I got in return were shrugs and blank looks of incomprehension. The people of Calatia seemed to have never heard of the mirror. Perhaps it was only a myth, and not real at all.

Feeling incredibly frustrated, I gave up at sunset and let Shadow take over. He seemed to be better at navigating the city. I'll admit I'd gotten a bit lost while we'd wandered, trying to find somebody to help.

He went largely by rooftop again. It was kind of fun to go from roof to roof through the city. We did have to come down to street level now and then though. And while slipping through a narrow alley, a dark shape moved to block our path. I probably couldn't have made it out, but Shadow's night vision made it quite clear, it was a young man, with a sword in hand.

"Hand over your rupees," said a voice from behind. Shadow turned and saw a second young man, grinning and carrying a long knife. No doubt they thought they had him trapped.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Come on. Hand 'em over."

Shadow drew his sword. "Look, I've been having a bad day. I'd really rather not finish it off by having to kill you."

"There's two of us, and just one of you."

"Fine, let's just get this over with." Shadow leveled his sword at the knife wielder. The swordsman behind him charged and he spun around, blocking the man's attack. Before the one with the knife could react Shadow had knocked the other's sword wide and had skewered him.

Shadow pulled his sword free of the now-dead swordsman and turned. I knew his eyes were probably glowing again. The knife wielder let out a strangled squeak of terror and ran for it. Shadow laughed. "Well, I guess that was entertaining."

:For a given value of entertaining.:

:Yeah. Let's get back to the inn.:

We made it back without any further incident, and this time Shadow simply bought dinner and then went up to the room.

:No ale this time?:

:I'd rather just sleep.:

I agreed. It had been a long and frustrating day. I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

I was woken while it was still dark by a pounding on the door. I tumbled out of bed, but before I could get to the door it was kicked in, and guards poured into the room. I had half a dozen swords leveled at me before I could reach my own. I raised my hands in surrender. I had no idea what was going on, but fighting guards was seldom a good idea.

They put manacles on me, and marched me out of the inn. We went through the streets all the way through both the second and first circles, to the castle above.

:Do any of you have any idea what's going on?:

:Not a clue,: said Shadow. Nobody else responded. I would just have to wait and see what happened. I was concerned, but I'd been through enough to not be panicked by this sudden turn of events.

At the castle I was ushered in through a side door, to a large room where several people stood. They all seemed to be well dressed, nobles of some sort. Several older men were there, and one young man who looked vaguely familiar.

:Uh oh.:

:What?:

:He's the knife man from last night.:

Before I could respond the guard captain leading the group that had arrested me pushed me forward. "Is this him, your lordship?"

The young man frowned at me. "I... no. It isn't." He turned to one of the older men nearby. "I thought you said the magic was infallible!"

"Nothing is infallible," said another of the gathered nobles mildly.

"This spell is, your lordship," said the one so addressed, with a glare aimed towards his fellow. He was dressed in mage's robes, and carried a staff. He walked over and peered at me. "There is some further magic going on here."

"Well dispel it, or something," barked the young man.

"Yes your lordship." He raised his staff and stared at me. Power glowed around it. "Reveal the form we seek," he muttered. "Reveal the one who slays..."

"Ah!" Pain shot through me and I doubled over. I could feel the spell forcing me to change. Something in me resisted it, and the conflict sent pain sparking down every nerve. Thankfully it lasted for only a moment before fading. I straightened again, and was unsurprised to see that my hair and clothing were black once more. I'd turned into Shadow.

"Is that the man, your lordship?"

"Yes, he's the one."

"Take him away then." The guards hauled me off. I didn't put my much resistance. It seemed I was being arrested for killing the swordsman last night, and I had done it, or rather my shadow had. I only hoped I'd be given a chance to explain it had been in self defense.

The mage followed the guards and, once I'd been tossed into a cell, he raised his staff again. Whatever he did this time didn't hurt, thankfully.

"He shouldn't be able to escape," said the mage to the guard captain. "I've placed a seal on his magic."

"Thank you." The captain turned to me. "Your trial will be in the morning. But don't expect to get out of this, the Magister's spells have made it clear that you are guilty, the trial is merely a formality."

Then they left and I was quite alone. I sat down on the bare stone of the featureless cell and sighed. "Great."

:I'm sorry Link.:

:Don't be. What else were you supposed to do?:

:I don't know.:

:What will they do to us?: Scrub sounded afraid. I was a little bit worried myself. I was confident in my abilities, but I didn't have my weapons or gear, and if this business about my magic being sealed meant what I thought it did, then I might well be in big trouble. To test that I tried to change, just a simple shift back to my normal self. I gasped, the attempt sent pain shocking through me. When it faded I was still black haired.

:Damn,: said Shadow.

:Yeah. Well... now what?:

:Now we gotta wait,: said Mikau. :Wish I had my axe. It'd pass the time.:

:I could wish for any number of things,: I said with a sigh. :Including my sword, or my magic.:

:I believe I can break this seal should it prove needful, Link.: said the Fierce Deity.

:That's good...: I considered that. :I think that we'd better wait though. I don't want to become a hunted criminal if I can help it. But if it comes down to it it's good to know we may be able to escape.:

I thought over the path that had led me here as I waited. It had been less than a year ago, by ordinary clocks, when I'd first met Navi and set out on my adventures. Just a boy who wanted nothing more than to have a fairy of his own, so he could fit in. I sighed.

The cell had a tiny barred window, high up. As I stared it slowly lightened. Outside the sun was rising on a new day.

:Hey... Link...:

:Hmm?:

:Isn't today the solstice?:

I blinked and counted up the days since I'd left Hyrule. I counted them twice just to be sure. Shadow was right, it was the solstice. :Yeah.:

:Happy birthday then. I'd get you a present if I hadn't gotten you locked in jail. I'm sorry.:

I laughed. It was a little bit bitter, but I had to laugh all the same. I was, technically speaking, eleven years old today. Counting all the time I'd spent in the future and in the endless loop on Termina though I had no idea what my true age was. Older than that. And with all I'd experienced I felt older still.

I watched the light from the window start to slowly crawl across the room. It seemed I was going to be here for a while. Growing bored with the empty cell I stepped into the inner space, where I passed the time by sparring with Scrub, who was getting fairly good. Finally, when the little square of light had vanished and the patch of sky I could glimpse was turning sunset colors, the guards came for me again.

It was time for my trial.