AUTHOR'S NOTE

It's been an insane couple weeks for me...where do I even begin...my car transmission crapped out & I ended up buying a brand new car as a result, my credit card number was stolen, one of my best friends is moving out of state, I've been making a gazillion glitter magnets for a craft fair that my office is hosting...oh, yes, and I'm hitting that super ridiculously busy time at work that leaves me working 8am to 6pm with no break every day. That'll continue until mid-December, folks, so hang tight. I'll do my best to push out updates when I can.

Also, a (probably very) late thank you for putting this story in a community! It means a lot! I hadn't actually checked out my stats page in some time, so I completely missed it until now, but I do appreciate it. And as always, thank you for your reviews and continued support!

CHAPTER 10

The Hero of Legend

It wasn't a very long walk from Kakariko Village to the castle, but Link seemed perfectly content to stroll along at the slowest pace possible. Dark followed a short distance behind him, trudging through the long grass in silence. Being back home had made him realize what a different person he was now. It was almost as if he had seen things through someone else's eyes - someone who had happy memories and lighter thoughts than Dark had. And for a short while after he had caught sight of the village, he had actually been that person.

But now that he had left Eldin, he felt the reality of everything come crashing down around him. His brother was gone, his home had been abandoned, and his parents were most likely dead. All the people he had ever known were missing, and there was a good chance he would never see them again. He couldn't help but want to crush that ignorant person who had so casually strolled inside his house and called out to his parents, who had fooled him into thinking that everything could go back to the way it was.

Without a better target, his rage finally settled on Link. His optimism had only helped to further Dark's denial. As they were leaving, he had turned around at the edge of the village, looking back at it with an unreadable expression. The unexpected breeze had picked up his silky blond hair, throwing it backwards to reveal high cheekbones and perfectly pointed ears. And then, his lips cracked wide open into a smile, and he said "Let's make this place as glorious as it used to be. We can fix up the houses, and build a new community while still honoring the old. Just you and me, together."

The worst part about it all is that he actually wanted Link's help. When he stood there, expressing his desire to rebuild the community, he made Dark feel like they really could accomplish it together. The more time he spent with him, the more he found himself drawn to Link's inner strength, hope, and confidence - and he was starting to hate him for it.

"Are you ready to leave?" Link asked, pointing up at the gate ahead. He had taken his time helping Dark back up the cliff, walking through the forest, climbing the fence, buying potions, and leaving Kakariko, just to give Dark some time to process the abandoned village that he had once called home.

Dark shot him an angry glare. "More ready than you, apparently." He spit out the words with disgust, increasing the pace of his steps and sweeping his arm sideways to push past Link. Everyone within sight of the pair stared as Dark's arm solidly made contact with Link's chest. Their expressions betrayed their shock at the exchange, not understanding how someone could treat their precious Hero that way.

"Hey!" The objection came from a large man wearing a blue vest, someone that looked vaguely familiar to Link though he couldn't quite place where he had seen him before. "You can't do that!" the man shouted at Dark's retreating form. In response, Dark made a very rude hand gesture, not even looking back as he did so. Link clapped his hand to his face and groaned. Someone would have to tell Dark he couldn't do that if he wanted to be accepted by society, and that someone was going to have to be Link.

"It's okay…" Link said rather blankly, unable to remember the man's name.

"Jiro," the carpenter supplied helpfully, still glaring hatefully in Dark's direction. He remembered the man now; he was one of the carpenters he had rescued from the Gerudo.

"It's okay, Jiro," he said, glancing at Dark. "We're friends. He's just having a rough day."

Jiro nodded, his expression speaking volumes. "You just let me know if he gives you any trouble." He began to mutter angrily, then stopped as he realized he was still in front of Link. "I'll take care of him for you if he ever does!"

Link scolded himself as he mentally laughed at the thought. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself - Jiro would have run away like a little girl at more than half the things he had to face. "I appreciate it," he said with a polite smile, taking a step backwards. Jiro looked to be occupied with his muttering once again, so he took the opportunity to slip away, sprinting after Dark.

"Dark! Hey, slow down!" he caught up with him outside the village, running down the stairs two at a time to eventually fall in line beside him. His newly bought potions clinked together every time he moved his leg, and he couldn't decide if he was more annoyed or grateful for the sound breaking up what undoubtedly would have been an awkward silence.

"Why?" Dark asked him bitterly as they reached the bottom of the staircase. "So you can scold me for my behavior? I'm not blind, Link. That entire village looked at me like I was a monster." Even Epona, now in plain sight by the tree they had left her near, seemed to be staring at him with apprehension.

"You're not a monster," Link tried to console him. "You just can't be so rude. Personally, I don't care. But other people do." Hyrule could be a standoffish kind of place, if you got on the wrong side of people.

"Did you ever think that maybe I just don't know how to treat people anymore?" Dark sounded annoyed, letting all his rage pool out of him. "And did you ever consider that maybe, I don't care?" He turned around and took several steps towards the tree, reaching out and abruptly yanking on Epona's reins to get her moving. She dug her heels in at the sudden pull, refusing to budge even an inch.

"Look, now you've upset Epona." Link grabbed the reins back from him, looking a little disgruntled. He approached her from the side, gently petting her mane and whispering softly to her to calm her down.

"Seems like that's all I'm good for," Dark said, crossing his arms and looking at the ground. "First I upset the villagers, then I upset Epona, and now I've upset you." Which, for some reason, upset him too.

Link moved forward, prompting Dark to look up and into his eyes. "You're just a bit rough around the edges. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It just isn't something Hyrule is used to." Hyrule was still recovering from one of the more terrifying events in its long history, and someone like Dark, that did things without thinking and said whatever came to his mind, wasn't necessarily what they needed right now. But he couldn't judge a whole world's reaction based on Dark's time at Lon Lon Ranch and his short exposure to Kakariko Village. "Try and treat other people the way you want them to treat you. If it would upset you, then it would upset other people. You're not as different from the rest of us as you might think."

Dark could feel his lips tugging into a small smile in spite of his bad mood. It had been a long time since someone had tried to give him a lesson on manners. "Nothing upsets me." One of his finer lies, if he did say so himself. "I think the rule should be something more like, don't threaten a soldier."

"Soldier?" Link asked blankly, before realizing Dark was most likely referring to him. "Well, that too, I suppose." It wasn't bad advice, actually, if he wanted to avoid being thrown in the castle's surprisingly extensive dungeon.

"Where to now?" Dark asked him, hoping that he would simply drop the conversation. He was still mad at Link, and therefore not inclined to seek his advice on his manners and behavior - not that he would be even if he was in a wonderful mood.

In response, Link took Epona's reins and begin walking forward. His silence was a better reply than anything he could have said. After all, it didn't matter where they were going - Dark would follow anyway.

It was a very unimpressed Dark that later stood with Link at the back of the marketplace, staring at the abrupt change from cobblestone streets and stone walls to a dirt path placed in a sloping valley. The surrounding area still had a lot of improvements to be made, after its transformation in the hands of Ganon, but it was coming along nicely. "I can't believe you actually brought me here," he said, distinctly unamused.

"I told you I would," Link said. "Besides, haven't you always wanted to see the castle? Most people in Hyrule dream of this their entire lives!" The sour expression on Dark's face told Link that hadn't been one of his dreams, but regardless, they walked around the bend, to face the merge of beauty and destruction that the castle had become.

"Back so soon?" the guard at the entry gate joked when he saw Link. Zelda had decided to keep the bridge erected by the magic of the sages as the new main entrance to the castle, rendering the gate nearly inactive, but she still liked to have someone outside to keep an eye on things.

"Forgot something," Link told him, shrugging his shoulders and grinning at the guard. His response elicited a chuckle from the man, who waved him and Dark on through without asking any more questions.

"How did you do that?" Dark hissed at him, looking incredulously at his companion. He was starting to form a theory about Link's real identity, something that would explain how everyone knew him and why the guards let him go where he pleased. "They don't normally let people in here, do they?"

"I'm a soldier, remember?" Link bit his lip at the lie. The words sounded strange and foreign to him, not just because he was usually a supporter of honesty, but because to him a soldier was someone who dressed in armor and blindly defended their homeland, becoming no more involved in matters of importance than they had to. To some people, a soldier and a Hero might be the same thing, but to Link, they were completely different.

"That was still lucky," Dark said, glancing back at the guard as they crossed the bridge. "He must have mistaken you for someone else." But even as he said it, he knew - that was no mistake. That guard had known exactly who Link was, and maybe even the real reason behind why he had come here.

"We're about to get even luckier," Link muttered, completely ignoring the question. He passed through that gate at least once a month, and the same guard was always on duty. He and Link had an inside joke about him coming to the castle, and Link would always respond with a different reason every time.

As they reached the open entryway to the castle, they were instantly greeted by two palace guards. Dark stood awkwardly in the entryway as Link moved inside to ask them something. "I'm here to speak with the Queen," he said, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "Do you think you could show me and my friend here to one of her meeting rooms? We understand if we'll have to wait a while."

The guards exchanged a long glance, before one haltingly answered him. "I...suppose we could do that. Who should we tell the Queen is here to meet her?" They looked at Dark, and then at Link, the confusion obvious on their faces. Link often just flashed his official paperwork at them, and then went to find Zelda himself. To be requesting an official, and unscheduled, meeting was very unlike him.

"She'll know who he is," Link said, leaning even closer to the guards. He didn't like the way that Dark was waggling his eyebrows at him, a devious smile forming on his face. He realized too late that the Sheikah have good hearing, and that whispering probably didn't do anything more than make him look suspicious.

"Uh, very well, sir," the confused guard told him, taking a step forward. "Follow me. The Queen will be with you shortly." Dark stepped over the entryway at last, arms crossed over his chest. He remained silent for the entire walk up the stairs, through the hallway, across the art gallery, and over the throne room until they finally were shown into a meeting room, and the guard closed the door behind them.

"You're no ordinary soldier," Dark's eyes narrowed as he looked suspiciously at Link. "Getting into the castle? Maybe. But an audience with the Queen? I highly doubt it. Just who are you really, Link?" He had suspected Link wasn't who he said he was almost from the beginning, but now, it looked like he would finally be able to confirm that conjecture.

"The only reason I found you in the first place was because I was on an exploratory mission," Link told him, finding it hard to look into Dark's eyes. "Queen Zelda was the one that ordered the mission. That's why I was able to get an audience so easily."

"It must have been a pretty important mission, if she's going to be seeing you shortly, no questions asked." He didn't look convinced. He might not have known much about Hyrule, or about Queens, but people in positions of power didn't usually take time out of their day without an excellent reason.

"Maybe she isn't busy today," Link suggested, running out of plausible explanations. That one didn't even sound believable to him.

"Or maybe," Dark said, looking very smug. "Maybe, you're even more important than everyone's been hinting at. A foreign ambassador, perhaps? The Queen's personal errand boy? Or maybe, just maybe…" he leaned closer to Link, forcing him to look into his eyes. "You're royalty yourself."

Link gulped uncomfortably. Dark was dangerously close to the truth. Would it really hurt that much to come clean about his identity? After all, he would most likely find out when Zelda showed up, anyway. And as Malon had said, that information should come from him, not her.

"Don't think I don't see all those hints of royal connections you have," Dark continued, watching Link very closely. "That ocarina you have has a triforce on it. Everyone seems to know you on sight. You're wearing a tunic edged with gold, and you don't seem to mind getting it dirty, so it must not be your only one. You have access to magic spells that seem to be from the goddesses themselves. Not to mention that magical blade you have. What was the idea there, putting it on top of my sword? I can't even touch it." Link cringed, remembering how he had secured Dark's sword to Epona. Dark must have tried to get it free sometime last week.

"So I'll ask you again. Just who are you? The prince?" He guessed. "No, you wouldn't be able to leave the castle if you were that close. A cousin of the Queen, perhaps?"

"I'm not related to the Royal Family," Link said at last, deciding that Dark didn't deserve to be lied to anymore. "I'm the Hero of Time. The Hero of Legend," he explained, figuring the second term would be one Dark would have had a chance of hearing.

"You?" Dark snorted, unable to contain his laughter. "You're the legendary Hero from prophecy?" He stared at Link as he realized that he wasn't joining in the laughter. "You're serious, aren't you?" he asked, his voice taking on an almost strangled sounding note.

"Yes," Link told him, suddenly ashamed of himself for not saying anything sooner. "I am."

"And he will rise up from the dead, and walk among them to meet the King of Destruction," Dark quoted softly. He was familiar with the prophecy, as most of his people were. "He alone can make Hyrule stand united as Courage is pitted against Power."

"I hope I'm not too much of a disappointment," Link said, the quotes surprising him. The Kokiri had never put great stock in prophecy, and if anyone else he had met did they kept it to themselves. Only Timok, the palace scribe, had been kind enough to share its words with him after he defeated Ganon.

"I wouldn't know," Dark said, his eyes cast downwards. "Is there any truth to the prophecy? Or are you just a figurehead?" He sounded bitter, and Link frowned slightly.

"Some parts of it apply to me," Link said. "Other parts don't. But I only know of one prophecy, and I know I'm not the first Hero, so it stands to reason that some parts have already come to pass, while others haven't."

Dark nodded, thinking through what he had just learned. "What about that line? About rising from the dead? Did you...were you…" he wasn't sure how to phrase his question.

"In a manner of speaking," Link told him, thinking back. "When I was child, I opened a door I shouldn't have. I thought I was helping the Princess, but in reality…" he shivered, recalling his mistake. "The Goddesses put me in a deep sleep for seven years -" he paused in response to an outburst from Dark.

"You were asleep for seven years?" He sounded completely incredulous. "I knew you were a bit on the lazy side, but years…" he clapped his hand over his mouth as he realized who he had just insulted.

"It wasn't by choice," Link replied dryly. "Anyway, I woke up to find the world practically ruined, and everyone I had ever known presumed me dead. So, in a way, I did come back from the dead. As for walking among them...I would prefer not to discuss it." Redeads gave him the chills, even now in the brightness and comfort of the castle.

"So if that's true...Courage, and Power...the Triforce…" he stared at Link in wide-eyed surprise, the full extent of what being a Hero of Legend meant dawning on him.

"I hold the Triforce of Courage." Link pulled the glove off his left hand, holding it out to show Dark. Dark raised his hand, his fingers twitching with curiosity, but he resisted the temptation to touch it. "Zelda holds the Triforce of Wisdom."

"And the Triforce of Power?" Dark inquired. "Where is it now?"

"With Ganon," Link answered, wiggling his glove back on his hand. "The 'King of Destruction' the prophecy mentions. He isn't dead. Once you have a piece of the Triforce, it's with you for life."

"So you're not afraid of anything then, huh? With the Triforce of Courage, and all." Dark smirked at him. "That would explain why you so brazenly jumped off that cliff earlier."

"Courage isn't about not being afraid," Link told him. "It's about being able to face your fears, and staying strong even if you are scared." He wasn't afraid of many things, really. He wasn't bothered by heights, or small spaces, or spiders, which were common fears. But darkness always made him a little nervous. And his feelings, which had been leading him down a path of uncertainty towards his future familial duties as the Hero of Time, made him more than a bit afraid sometimes. But he wasn't about to share that with Dark.

"Well." Dark cast his eyes around the room, reeling from all the new things he had just found out about his companion. "Don't expect any special treatment from me, Hero." His grin seemed a little shaky, his arrogance more forced than normal. It was one thing to act like that around Link, but it was another entirely to act that way around one of the most important people in all of Hyrule. "To me, you'll always just be Link."

"So it is true," Zelda murmured, surveying Dark with a critical eye. "I thought you might have been mistaken. But I can see it - his stature, his eyes...his impatience," she added, with a charming smile. "He really is a Sheikah."

It had taken only a few more minutes after their conversation for her to enter the meeting room, looking tired from what had undoubtedly been a day of being locked in a room with a bunch of stuffy officials, discussing the affairs of Hyrule. However, she was not too tired to notice Dark, and take an immediate interest in him.

"Of course I am," Dark sneered. "What else could you possibly mistake me for?"

"I'm sorry, Zelda," Link apologized on his behalf. "He's not very…" he stopped as she held up her hand.

"I apologize...Dark, is it? I did not mean to offend you. It was not that I doubted the way you presented yourself; rather, I doubted Link's interpretation of that presentation." Dark held eye contact with her for several seconds before curtly nodding. Zelda had looked back calmly, not blinking, with a smile on her face for the full exchange. This was obviously not her first time around a Sheikah, and Dark appreciated the intimate knowledge she displayed of his culture.

"I wanted you here for other reasons besides confirming what you told me, of course." Zelda moved towards the window, wistfully looking outside at the lovely flowers that adorned the courtyard. "It was my hope that by sending you on this mission, you would find something that I have always suspected was still in Hyrule - the Temple of Light."

Link and Dark exchanged a surprised look, though for different reasons. Link was surprised because Zelda hadn't mentioned the temple when she originally sent him to explore the area, and Dark was surprised because he hadn't expected the Queen to know anything about it in the first place.

"At the beginning of the Hyrulean Civil War, many years before I was born, a prophet approached my mother and warned her of a great movement that would sweep Hyrule, affecting all lands and peoples that fell in its path. Should all worlds fall at the same time, there would be no hope for any of them to be saved. But if Hyrule took steps to protect other worlds, in time they would be rewarded for their efforts and would be saved from the destruction and chaos.

"My mother took this message to heart, and unbeknownst to my father, she created the Resistance, a group dedicated to saving Hyrule by putting other worlds first. There were only a few members at the beginning, but more joined over time. Through their combined efforts, they located the true gate between worlds, known then as the Temple of Light, and decided to take steps to seal it off from the rest of Hyrule; and in turn, seal it off from other worlds as well.

"I do not know much about the temple itself, and my knowledge of the steps the Resistance used to conceal it is limited. But I do know this: the combined strength of their magic tied the power of the temple into a single map, which was split into pieces and distributed amongst the members of the Resistance. With the map pieces all being guarded over or hidden, the temple was protected from the dangers that my mother had been warned of, and the paths it contained to other worlds would remain untouched by the events of our land. To this day, the temple is still inaccessible to all who do not possess magic in some form.

"However, it was never the intention of my mother, nor of her followers, that the gateway to these worlds remain blocked off forever. As soon as Hyrule was saved from destruction, the map pieces were to be reunited, and the magic of the temple to be restored. But the war was not kind to many of those in the Resistance, and with so many members lost, the group broke apart before they could ever restore the temple. As for the map pieces that are needed to accomplish this, we have never located any of them, save for the one my mother held onto. The one that she passed on to me before she died. Until you contacted me, I had no idea if the Temple of Light even still existed. But now that I know it does, it is up to me to try and finish the work my mother started."

Link nodded thoughtfully, processing everything he had learned so far. She didn't tell them this story as the Queen of Hyrule - she told it as her mother's daughter, a woman determined to carry out all aspects of her family's legacy, no matter the cost. It was admirable, certainly, but it also wasn't a task that could be easily completed by herself. "So you want to find all the map pieces, and put them back together?"

"Yes," Zelda replied. Her expression, which had been contorted into worry only moments earlier, lifted as she realized that she had finally been able to share a burden which had rested almost solely upon her shoulders for years.

"And then what?" Dark asked sullenly, not as impressed with the story as Link seemed to be. This was obviously the same thing his parents had been told; the reason they knew about the temple in the first place and felt he and Shadir would be safe there. But he wasn't as inclined to believe it as they apparently had been. "The temple reappears to the public in a magical puff of smoke, and you open it for paid tours?"

Zelda laughed, finding Dark's comment more amusing than anything. "Anything is possible, I suppose," she said, recovering her composure fairly quickly. "I am not quite sure what will happen in our world. But I do know that the path to other worlds will be restored; allowing us to access them and establish communication with them once more."

"That doesn't really sound like a good thing, Zelda." Link shook his head, pondering the implications of interacting with other worlds. "They won't have any protection from us once the temple has been restored, and more importantly we won't have any protection from them. I don't like it." If they did decide to open that doorway, and actually were successful in doing so, there would most likely be no going back.

"There will always be risks," Zelda told him. "But remember that this is the way it was meant to be. We would be restoring the natural order of things. I am sure those other worlds have imperfections, but ours is not immune to flaws either. That does not mean we would not be capable of establishing friendships and partnerships that span across our lands."

"Wait a minute," Dark interjected. "You two are talking about these other worlds like they're real! They're just a myth."

"Dark," Link warned, but Zelda held up her hand to silence him. She was curious on Dark's viewpoint concerning the temple, considering he knew far more about it than she and Link did.

"I spent 18 years inside that temple, and I never saw any trace of there being another world." He crossed his arms, resolutely looking at Zelda. "It wasn't due to a lack of searching, either. You might think the temple is some sort of magical place, but it isn't." He expected an emotionless, imperial response, or perhaps even anger - anything but the smile that was directed towards him.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that after 18 years, you did not experience any sort of magic? You did not see things that could not be explained, or feel things that you were unfamiliar with? You survived, did you not? Sometimes, the gift of life is the most impressive magic of all." This was an argument she had used many times in the past to bring people around to her way of thinking, and she hoped that it would work on Dark. Unfortunately, he was not so easily swayed.

"Not enough magic." He pushed back the questions surging forward in his mind, channeling the energy they gave him into glaring at Zelda. "You think being shut away from society against my will counts as 'the gift of life'? You think that losing my brother was some sort of magical experience for me?"

"You have a brother?" Zelda seemed surprised by this information. "Is he..?" She left the question hanging, not wanting to make an assumption based on Dark's previous statement.

"Alive and well, and somewhere in Hyrule, thank you very much." He tapped his foot against the marble floor impatiently.

Link and Zelda exchanged a glance, and in that one look Zelda knew: Link hadn't told Dark what had become of his people during the time he was gone; he perhaps had even led Dark to believe that there was hope of finding his brother here. She wasn't angry though, because she understood. Even she didn't feel comfortable telling Dark that there had not been any Sheikah in Hyrule for years; that one couldn't even be in hiding anywhere in her kingdom.

"I am sorry to have to tell you this, but there is no way he could be in Hyrule." She braced herself for his response, hoping he wouldn't ask for an explanation. If only she was so lucky.

"Really? Why not? He certainly isn't in the Temple of Light, so where exactly do you expect him to be?" His voice rose through various levels of sarcasm, his icy tone slapping Zelda like a snowstorm.

"In another world," Link blurted out, wincing as Dark turned to fix a glare on him. "If he was here, he would have been home, right? And he wasn't. So it's the only explanation that makes sense." He could see the confusion on Dark's face slowly be replaced with acceptance at his words.

It still didn't quite add up to him though, even though it sounded plausible. There were more places in Hyrule than his home, after all. He would have expected Shadir to be there, but maybe he couldn't go back for some reason. Was there a chance Link had lied to him? He had to be sure. "But you said -"

"Actually," Link interjected, "I didn't say anything. You were the one who assumed he had to be in Hyrule, once you heard what Wallmasters do to their victims. I didn't correct you, which was wrong of me, and I'm sorry. But I didn't have all the information then. And all hope isn't gone. If Zelda is successful in putting the map pieces back together, you could go to those other worlds, and you can begin looking for him again."

Dark stepped closer to him, staring up at the slightly taller man. He reached his arms out towards Link, his fingers making contact with his wrists and his hands wrapping around the worn leather of Link's gloves. He leaned towards him, making Link's breath catch in his throat. Despite how dangerous he looked, he also seemed strangely enchanting. "You owe me," he said in a low voice. "Don't let my trust in you be an error in judgement."

He smiled at Link then, in response to the stunned look the Hylian was giving him. Even he had felt the power behind his voice; time seemingly standing still as his words sunk in. He found himself inexplicably drawn to the steel blue of Link's eyes, unable to stop himself from analyzing the look he was being given. Link knew he wouldn't stop looking for his brother in Hyrule, and yet, for some reason, he wanted him to give up on his search here.

A small cough from Zelda reminded him that they were not the only two people in the room, and he hastily slid his hands off Link's wrists, tucking them against his body as he crossed his arms once more. Busy focusing on the Queen, he missed the bewildered look Link gave him and the examination he gave his hands in response to their fingers brushing against each other briefly.

"18 years spent inside the Temple of Light, a brother lost in another world, and an encounter with a Wallmaster?" Zelda raised her eyebrow, looking rather skeptical. It sounded like a fantastic tale, almost too fantastic to be true. But she would be the judge of that. "Maybe it's time you told me your story, Dark. Go ahead. I'm listening."

Dark didn't find it any easier to tell his story to someone for the second time. In fact, he found it more difficult. His heart still ached over the loss of his home and family; he still was upset about his brother being missing and angry over how many years he spent locked away inside the temple. And Zelda, unlike Link, was not content to just listen. She had to interrupt him, asking questions he didn't have the answer to.

"How did your parents know about the temple?" was her first question, and all he could do was shrug his shoulders. It wasn't really important information at the time, after all.

"Why did they send you there? Why not go themselves?" This, at least, Dark had an answer to. Honor and duty were at the core of why they had not accompanied their children. His parents had been called to fight in the war. He and his brother had not. But their safety was the primary reason behind it; they had wanted to make sure their sons were not caught up in a battle with no winning move.

"How did you and your brother retain your sanity?" The Sheikah were used to isolation - even at the young age Dark had been when he first entered the temple, the last thing he was concerned about was being driven to the edge by the lack of companionship. But despite Zelda's apparent knowledge of the Sheikah and her understanding of their culture, her own fears of being left alone prompted her to ask anyway, and Dark wasted no time in pointing out that spending some time by herself might benefit her - even though he wasn't so sure that he wasn't insane.

Out of respect for the difficulty of communicating his story, or perhaps just so she wouldn't have to deal with any more snarky comments from Dark, she didn't ask any more questions until Dark reached the part of his story where Link joined him. "I was just minding my own business, and he bursts into the room again." He shot Link a mock glare, causing him to smile. "Of course he seemed a lot more clumsy than last time - but no less of a threat, of course."

"Wait." Zelda held up her hand, and Dark fell silent. "What do you mean, again? Link had never been in the Temple of Light before - I would know." She looked at Link, asking him a silent question: did you leave something out, when last we spoke?

"Dark is referring to a meeting we had, via a magical medium: a tree. I was near one in the Water Temple, and he was near one in the Temple of Light. Somehow, his image was projected to me - and mine to him - and we fought. I told you about that once before - except at that time, I thought I was fighting a shadow of myself."

Zelda's expression grew troubled, her eyes cast downwards towards the floor. "I remember you telling me about that fight. It was powerful enough magic at the time, but now…" Her knowledge of magic was greater than Link's, and her fear was something he couldn't possibly hope to understand without further training, or at the very least a detailed explanation.

"The magic doesn't seem to be gone, either," Link added, remembering his first few minutes with Dark. "I inspected the tree when I was in the Temple of Light, and not only could I briefly see the Water Temple, I was possessed by black magic and nearly killed Dark."

Dark nodded solemnly, not even taking the opportunity to make Link feel bad for beating him in a fight. "It wasn't the best first impression you could have made," he told him truthfully. "Or second, I suppose."

"You are very lucky to be standing here," Zelda said, looking thoughtful. "I have seen our Hero in battle. He is certainly a force to be reckoned with." He blushed, looking down at the floor. Compliments always made him feel awkward - especially when they were on his skill with fighting, something that he didn't even particularly like doing.

"Oh!" Zelda suddenly said, looking in surprise out the window. Link peered around her to look as well, and saw someone in burnt orange robes being led through the courtyard. "I wish I could stay with you longer, but I am afraid I won't be able to. I have a meeting with the city planner, and he simply cannot be kept waiting - very temperamental, you see." Zelda always tried to be the peacemaker. "Do you have a place to stay for the night? I could offer you rooms in the palace," she said, smiling at them.

Link didn't usually accept Zelda's offers to stay at the palace, but he looked over at Dark to see how he felt. Thankfully, he saw his own discomfort mirrored on his companion's face. "We'll find lodgings in the city," he said, bowing his head slightly to show his gratitude at the gesture, even if he was rejecting it.

"You know you are always welcome to stay here," Zelda told him, always feeling bad when Link turned her down, even though she understood why he didn't like staying in the castle. "I know!" she said, her face brightening. "Your house!"

"My house?" Link repeated blankly, not understanding.

"I know that you turned down my offer to live in Castle Town," Zelda told him. "But I had always hoped you would change your mind about living here. It remains uninhabited, and ready for you to move in at any time. You could spend the night there. That might be preferable, under the circumstances."

"Well…" Link thought about it. He didn't feel that he was likely to change his mind about living in Castle Town. But Dark wouldn't be staying with him forever - and he might want to live somewhere that didn't hold so many memories of his past. A house in Castle Town would be perfect for him. "We accept your offer," he said with a small bow. "I would be honored to take ownership of the house."

Zelda looked at him in surprise. "Really?" it came out almost as a squeak, and she cleared her throat, looking embarrassed. "I mean, splendid! I will tell my guards to provide you with the key, and take you to your new home." She walked towards the door, her hand resting on the handle for just a moment before she turned around to face them once again. "I would like to continue our discussion tomorrow, if that would be okay. Thanks to you both, I finally feel that there is hope to restore the Temple of Light to its former glory." she smiled encouragingly at Dark, who nodded once in response. "And, Link - you will grow to love Castle Town. I promise."

IN CLOSING

I do have a couple reviews / questions to respond to, so here goes:

Why was it so dark in the temple? Didn't really have a good opportunity to answer that direct in the story (I didn't feel Zelda would ask about it), so I'll just answer it here! I think that most of the temples in Ocarina of Time are lit by magic - even in cases where the torches are visible, based on how many times Master Quest forces you to light them up (usually with Din's Fire). So if the magic was stripped from the temple, those lights would no longer work and the temple would be plunged into darkness. Of course, I imagine there were lights on when Dark first entered the temple, but I view that kind of like solar power - lights that are solar powered store up energy all day in the sunlight and can remain lit all night even though they aren't being charged. So magic powered lights can store up that energy and remain lit for a certain amount of time, then go off when that energy runs out.

I definitely wanted to do something different for Dark in this story; he has so much potential but I see few stories out there that explore it. I like him much better as a Sheikah than an evil minion. I have to admit, I'm not quite sure how I feel about Dark's brother yet, either. Writing scenes of them together is challenging for me, as an only child. But he's important to the story, and this is the first story I've seen where Dark has a real family, so I'm determined to make it work.

While we're on the topic of Dark's brother, I was wondering how many people would think he and Link were related. My fanbase does not disappoint! That was actually a mistake to cut the story that way (that kind of assumption can make you lose readers sometimes), but I didn't notice until after I published it.

Don't forget to check back for Chapter 11: The Last of the Sheikah. Thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!