Chapter 12:
...The past...
"Father, are you ill again?"
It was like this often as of late. Over the past year she had seen the healer come and go from his room more times than she cared to count, and she was getting worried. These spells he'd been having usually lasted only a few days, but this time it had been over a fortnight. He'd never before gone so long bedridden. Not in her recollections.
And so, Zelda had snuck out during a break in her schedule to come see him. Even though they both lived in the same wing, she rarely ever saw her sire. Grandfather had ensured that. Whenever she was not with her tutors, learning academics, magic or swordplay, she was made to accompany the king to meetings and public affairs. It had been like this ever since she was four years old, forced to sit still and keep quiet and observe as her grandfather ruled the country. She was a shadow at his side, learning from him, and being fearful of him.
He had wanted the perfect heir, and had proclaimed to have found it in her. A prodigy at magic, and bearer of the Triforce, her future had been set. And he wanted himself to be her primary influence.
While she saw her mother often enough at council meetings, as she was one of the ministers, she had only been permitted to see her father during religious ceremonies and holidays. If she was lucky, she might catch sight of him in the solarium or parlor, but she could never stick around long enough to interact with him. He was never at the high table at meals, nor did he show himself at court. Out of all her relatives, he was the kindest of them all, and the one who showed her the most affection.
At present he lay in bed, supported by numerous fluffed pillows to help prop him up against the headboard.
He smiled at her and placed the book he'd been reading on the bed beside him. "Come here, Zelda."
Zelda approached him calmly and stood at the edge of his bed.
"You don't have to look so impassive. Your grandfather isn't here to scrutinize you."
Nevertheless, by now it was a fixed state her face had accustomed to. She wasn't used to expressing herself. Grandfather had no patience for temperamental children. So she had learned to suppress her emotions, to hold it all back. The sadness within her at seeing her father's withered state eclipsed by a veil of nonchalance.
"Did the healer say when you will recover?"
Her father looked inquisitively at her. "I'm not even sure how you found out that I am this sick. I doubt the king would have mentioned it."
The king. That was all his own father was to him. Sometimes she suspected that if her father hadn't sired her, grandfather would have completely disowned him by now.
And that made her heart ache.
Father was right, of course. She had learned from Minister Raleigh that the healer's recent visits weren't just to deliver her father's weekly potions supplies. Straightforward and honest, he had informed them that the king's son was fading fast, and would not be long for this world. Grandfather hadn't so much as bat an eye when Raleigh had proclaimed the news. He usually went about pretending he didn't even have a son. His existence was of no importance to him.
She'd seen that spark in her father's eyes before, whenever he gleaned her at the king's side. Envy, resentment. Things she was allowed to do, places she was allowed to go, and private meetings she attended, had been forever denied to him. He'd never so much as seen the inside of the council chamber, and was heavily dissuaded from entering the throne room, a place where everyone was permitted.
How unfair it had to feel to be skipped down the line of heirs. Overlooked and unwanted. But when thinking about it objectively, Zelda could see grandfather's reasoning. As difficult and unwilling as she was to admit it, her father was frail and prone to illness. He wouldn't have lasted as king, and he was soon to pass on before the current king stepped down.
She didn't want him to die.
"Tell me, child, how old are you now?"
Zelda gazed directly into his pale brown eyes. So warm and lovely, compared to her cold and dull teal ones. How she envied their colour. She'd do anything to have inherited his beautiful shade of honey brown irises.
"I am thirteen as of two months ago." She didn't begrudge his lack of memory. There were a lot of things he couldn't remember anymore. He slept so much these days that everything became fuddled up and he frequently lost track of time.
"Ah," he said, looking down in thought. His eyes flashed back to hers and he smiled kindly. "Already thirteen. Then… you'll be starting at the academy soon?"
She nodded her response, even though she'd already started attending the academy three years ago.
She noted the heavy bags under his eyes and how wan his features appeared. His formerly gold hair now a tinge of lackluster faded straw. Like grandfather, he lacked a beard, although unlike grandfather it was not voluntary, as he'd never been able to grow one. His silk bed robes hung loosely over his form, gaunt and thin. He'd never had much muscle, never been able to grow large like many of the men she knew. Through the gap in his shirt, she could see the protrusions of his collarbones sticking out.
He had a few weeks left, maybe only days.
"Have you been studying hard?"
She nodded again. How did one speak to a man that was dying? What words did one say to their ailing father?
"That is good. You're a clever girl. I'm sure you'll do well."
He reached a hand out and rested it on the crown of her head.
Zelda basked in the warm presence of her father. His touch and devotion something she would greatly miss.
"Zelda!"
Instantly, she took a step back, her father's hand falling from its perch and his expression deflated.
Grandfather stood at the door, accompanied by Minister Raleigh, and a brutish looking old Goron, Gor Ezekiel.
The king stepped into the room and clasped Zelda's shoulder tightly. She stood stock still and didn't react to the painful grip.
"Zelda, why are you here? You know better than to wander off." Grandfather then turned a sneer toward his bedridden son and said cruelly, "What are you doing wasting my heir's time, Raphael. I told you not to distract her."
She wanted her father to argue. She wanted him to stand up to grandfather, to fight for her. She was his daughter, he had a right to see her before he died. How could grandfather be so heartless?
But instead, he bowed his head and smiled meekly.
"You're right. Go on, Zelda. You've more important things to do than worry about me."
She saw Lord Raleigh's expression harden while the Goron's became one of callous amusement.
She said nothing as grandfather led her away.
Down in the town square Zelda took her place beside the king on the dais for political viewers. Far below a podium had been erected, and three men and two women, bound and tethered were being led onto it, in front of all of Castle Town.
Zelda swallowed the bile rising in her throat and watched as the executioner sharpened the blade of his sword, a lethal looking scimitar. She forced herself to become detached as the crier began proclaiming a list of crimes.
They ones being sentenced were all beaten and downtrodden. The tortures they'd endured evident on their forms, frail from starvation. Red lines crisscrossing every inch of their bodies indicated that they'd been recently tied up and lashed.
"They deserve it."
She cautiously glanced up to her grandfather. His eyes were merciless as he glared down at them. Blue teal and frigid, just like hers.
Zelda tensed as his hard gaze landed on her.
"Do you know why we kill them and don't simply keep them imprisoned for life?"
She wanted to lick her lips in nervousness. Hesitantly she opened her mouth. "Because they are criminals, and their punishment should equal the severity of their crimes."
Grandfather gave her a wry smile. "Yes. And these mongrels are a special case, and are to be made an example of. They are rebels. Traitors to the crown. They have committed the worst crime anyone can fathom. They have turned on their country, betrayed their throne. They refused to fight in the name of the Goddesses, and so put themselves, their selfishness, before the very population of Hyrule."
Zelda gazed back at them, her eyes filled with sorrow. If this was right, then why did she feel regret for them. Why had they rebelled? People only generally do so when they feel great injustice have befallen them. So why were they being punished for giving voice to their sorrows?
"The weak submit to the strong. That is the natural order of things." Her grandfather gestured with a wave of his hand. "This is the result of those who don't recognize that. We are strong, Zelda. There is nothing we can't overpower." He gazed deeply at her, eyes glinting with vicious intent. "Never forget that."
Her words were caught in her throat as her eyes became transfixed on the first man brought to the block and forced to kneel, neck exposed. The executioner raised his scimitar. In a flash it came down and the man's head dropped from the block.
Zelda felt sick to her stomach.
...The present...
Haunted…
Link didn't know what to think, his stomach twisting in knots. Ghosts of any sort were an unpleasant business. The undead in general were tedious to deal with, and unfortunately he'd had his share of experience with them.
"What, you mean like poes?" remarked Ashei with a scoff, ever the skeptic. "They're easy to get rid of, yeah. I'm surprised you haven't had them taken care of already."
Link resisted the inclination to direct an annoyed glare at Ashei. Poes were in fact not that easy to get rid of. One had to possess special weapons, or be endowed with the necessary faculties to eliminate a poe, much like he'd been able to as a wolf. As a powerful sorceress, Zelda would have had little trouble with them if they were merely that.
But seeing her disposition clouded in fear, her eyes tactfully veered away from them so as not to betray the extent of the feeling… It had to be something deeper. Something they hadn't crossed before.
She seemed subdued, embarrassed, and reticent all in one mold. It didn't fit her. Not his brave selfless queen.
"Of course they're not poes. Hah, if it were only that simple," said Raleigh caustically. The strain in his voice, however, indicated that he was dead serious.
"Really, are we sure this is an actually… haunting, as you say," Auru questioned dubiously. "The claim seems rather equivocal."
The minister's eyes hardened. "You doubt my word? You doubt the queen's word?"
"You can't blame our skepticism, Lord Raleigh," interposed Shad, looked somewhat apprehensive at the very notion of poes and ghosts and the like. "It's just that, very rarely do we hear of authentic hauntings. And for it to happen to the queen… To what purpose? Why now when Hyrule has begun to reach its previous levels of prosperity? And how in Hyrule can you conceal something like that from the entire court? There must be another logical explanation for what is going on."
Raleigh's lips thinned and he leveled a heavy glare at the suddenly anxious scholar. "Your conjectures are valid, but if you had seen what I've seen you'd see the senselessness of your doubts."
"Wait," said Auru. "You've seen it too?"
Raleigh's visage suddenly turned lethal as he looked between the four of them. "You think the queen's gone mad? You thought for a moment, that she had been hallucinating everything up until now?!"
Shad and Auru shared a look, while Ashei steadily gazed eyes forward. Link could see it running through their minds. The Harkinian line was wrought with lunacy. It was in their blood, genetically encoded, inherited, who's to say that it wasn't Zelda's turn. For her to descend into madness, as many of her ancestors had, her mind degrading until she became a shadow of what she once was.
It sickened him. Not only their doubt, but how quick they were to form such suppositions about her.
Link's stomach jolted and he instantly raised his voice to interfere. "It is a haunting. I've seen them too. In the tower. There is no doubt."
Silence reigned as the others processed this. Raleigh seemed momentarily taken aback before quickly turning triumphant. Agreeing with him, taking his side, left a rather foul taste in Link's mouth. If it weren't for Zelda and their similar goals concerning her, mainly looking out for her wellbeing, this would never happen.
Throughout their discourse, Zelda remained mute. After her rather astonishing, and more than a little staggering, revelation, she had gingerly collapsed into one of the divans by the hearth and proceeded to stare out the window. Her eyes had that glazed look that indicated she was only partially aware. Lost in the recesses of her mind.
Link knew better than to press her for more at this point. She was clearly exhausted and barely holding herself together. He had arrived on the scene in the tower in time to hear malicious yelling, but who knows what happened before then, what ordeal she had to withstand.
As frustrated as he was that she'd willingly put herself in that position, he was far more perturbed about the whole thing, and worried for her safety.
Goddesses, an assassin or blackmailer was at least corporeal. He knew the risks and what approach to take to bring them down. But ghosts? He'd only ever defeated poes, and they were mindless beings whose souls were so corrupted that they had become unrecognizable. How in Hyrule did one fight the undead?
Raleigh looked at them all, eyes hard and severe. "You'll all see soon enough, I suppose. If you still doubt us now, you certainly won't in the near future." He strode over to a bookcase and passed his eyes over the many large tomes residing there, before turning toward them once more. "Nothing, I repeat, nothing said here leaves this room. If word got out it would cause massive panic throughout the court. And the more people who know the more lives are put in danger, and the worse it becomes for Zelda. We're taking a great risk in asking for your assistance. Do not make me regret it."
"Wait," said Shad. "Worse? If there really is a haunting, how does it get worse? How can it get worse?"
Zelda, still staring incognizant out the window, offered no reply.
Lord Raleigh sighed. "They become… more present. The more people there are to fear them, the more powerful they grow. From what I've gathered, that is. Before, when it first began, they'd only ever appear when night fell. Now, they're around all the time. But still, night is when they are at their strongest."
"And who are they, yeah?" said Ashei, seeming to come to terms with the notion, or at least willing to go along with it until there was manifested proof. "You keep mentioning 'they' as if they're a specific group."
"They are the souls of those who have perished during the Twilight Invasion," spat Raleigh, fury lighting his eyes. "Knights, mostly, and citizens. The victims of Zant's barbaric takeover. People who are only now proving their lack of loyalty in death. All those knights who had willingly died protecting their queen now come to resent her. What sort of mockery is this?!"
He set about to once more pacing the room. Link could practically see the intense currents of livid agitation rolling off him.
"Phantoms, ghosts, whatever these things are, they are much more dangerous than poes," said Raleigh.
"They couldn't be poes anyways because their different behavioural patterns," remarked Shad, nudging his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Poes are very territorial and don't ever leave the place they haunt. From what you… er… claim, these ghosts circulate Zelda specifically."
Raleigh paused his pacing and crossed his arms. "Is there some ancient lore hidden in that know-it-all brain of yours that I should be informed of? If so, please do enlighten me."
Shad stammered and shook his head, hunching his shoulders up to his ears. "Er – ah – no. Nothing beyond what anyone else would know. My field of study is in Hyrule's history and legends regarding the sky people. I'm afraid I'm at a loss when it comes to the supernatural."
Link knew he was selling himself short. Shad was a brilliant mind when it came to most things academic, even magic, though he couldn't perform any himself. It wasn't too surprising that he had forgone dabbling in the analyses of the undead. Who in their right mind would willingly subject themselves to such a topic? Although, there was the Sheikah…
"Have you asked for the aid of a priest or priestess," input Auru, leaning forward with his fingers entwined. "With their holy prayers they could surely do something about it."
"You think we haven't done all we could?" intoned Raleigh shortly. "We've called upon priests, priestesses, epidemiologists, professional exorcists, but nothing. The phantoms have always remained concealed whenever they were about, and taunted us for our efforts later. Zelda has spent hours praying in the temple, at the tombs of those who died, has undergone ablutions at the sacred springs, have even called upon the spirits. The useless beasts wouldn't give her the light of day."
"They must still be recovering from the battle with Ganondorf," said Link, somewhat crossly. He held the light spirits in high regard. "They could sleep for years if they have to. All the energy they used to resist being overcome by the Twilight, and then to bestow Zelda her light arrows must have drained them completely."
Raleigh sneered at Link and grunted, turning away. "Useless, contemptuous beasts."
"You've told that many people?" Auru remarked, mouth hidden by his entwined hands.
Raleigh looked shiftily around. "No. No, we've never fully revealed why we asked for their services. Only once. A priest, who shortly after perished from heart failure. We never knew if it was because of natural causes or if it was their influence."
"If no one else has been able to help, why come to us?" said Auru.
Raleigh sighed and glared at them. "For one, your tenaciousness was starting to grate on me. But the main reason is because of him." His eyes alit on Link, hard and cutting. It was said with a heavy coating of revulsion, as if Raleigh was entirely too reluctant to have to admit to in any way requiring Link's assistance.
Link blinked and furrowed his brows. He was in the same boat. He relished Raleigh's assistance as much as he relished petting a moldorm. "And why me?" Other than the obvious reasons of course. But something of this caliber was certainly better suited for the last known remaining Sheikah, wasn't it?
"Why else do you think, you asinine fool," the minister hissed.
Link bristled at the tone, but instantly understood. The Triforce. Of course, what else set him apart from his companions, but his godly gift and his hero status. Did they need the Triforce of Courage then? Were they planning on reuniting all three triangles and wishing the haunting away? It would work, he supposed. To his knowledge, the Triforce's power was virtually unlimited.
Raleigh grimaced, shaking his head. He eyed Zelda fretfully. "It started about a year ago. Zelda had come to me, claiming that she'd seen faces in her court, people we know for a fact to have perished during the invasion. At first we thought similarly to you," he said with a malicious glare, to which Shad visibly wilted under while Auru stared steadily on and Ashei wrinkled her nose at. Raleigh continued. "We assumed that she was suffering from hallucinations, a sort of survivor's guilt maybe, and requested the appropriate tonics. But then… then…"
"They began speaking to me."
Link's head swivelled around to stare at Zelda, her gaze unwaveringly fixed on the darkness outside, looking down at her city shrouded in night.
She went on. "They would say the… the most horrible things. Accusing me, blaming me, of everything that happened." She glanced at Link, and he recalled the images of her father and grandfather in the tower and fumed. He had a clear idea what these ghosts had been saying. Zelda looked downward. "The tonics didn't work, they never went away. Nothing would silence them. They followed me from the shadows, whenever I looked in the mirror, in any reflective surface, dead eyes would stare back. And then one night I noticed a light in the tower, a place that nobody had ventured since my captivity. Against my better judgment I investigated, and then… then I knew that this was my punishment. It was their retribution for everything I caused. I had gone to the tower tonight because I suspected that that was where they originated from. The place of my confinement, a remembrance of my misdeeds. I only wanted Desra back, I tried to appeal to them..."
"They did it, didn't they?" said Link. "They killed Marta, and took Desra?"
Zelda closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes. It soon became apparent that anyone who learned of what was happening would instantly become a target. Marta, Davin, the priest, Desra… She must have somehow found out what was going on. I never told her. I did all I could to act normal around her. Her Anne and Sybil. I didn't want anything happening to them."
"So that's why you denied our assumptions and refused to admit anything to us," said Shad, blinking with realization. "You were trying to protect us. But now…" He gulped, anxiety weighing heavily on his mind, and looked around, as if any second disembodied hands would jump out of the woodwork and drag him straight to the afterlife.
Link had the firm feeling that he was currently having second thoughts about his involvement. But it was too late to turn back now. They knew the truth.
"And what about you, Minister Raleigh," Auru asked, raising his brows. "How have you not come to your demise?"
Raleigh scoffed. "No foolish apparitions will ever be able to frighten me off. I've nothing to feel ashamed of and even so, would never give them the satisfaction. The others were driven to their deaths by madness and fear. Until recently, the apparitions had not been able to touch anyone."
Recently? As in that day on the wall. When Zelda had been pushed. No one had been standing near her. She hadn't slipped and fallen, and it hadn't been magic. It had been a ghost who had shoved her into the water.
Raleigh looked directly at Link. "You now know what's at the top of that tower and the reasons why we sanctioned it off. You've had a taste of what you're up against. What I'm employing you to do."
Link's lips thinned. Cutting through those apparitions had been of little satisfaction to him. He wanted to destroy them, to ensure they'd never have a heartless thing to say about his queen again. When he'd seen her sobbing and shielding herself from the savage words of her kin, he'd been suffused with rage. How could they? She was their blood! How could they do such a thing?
"And what is at the top of the tower?" Auru asked guardedly.
Previously they'd suspected it to be the location she met with her blackmailer. A point of entry for them to teleport in and out of the castle. It would have been an easier truth to process.
"The souls of the former King Boras Harkinian de Hyrule, and his son, Prince Raphael Harkinian de Hyrule," Raleigh divulged.
Shad choked and jostled his glasses, fumbling to catch them before they fell off his face. Ashei swore loudly, while Auru only furrowed his brows.
"King – king Boras!?" Shad gasped in obvious fear at the name, setting his glasses to right. "How is that possible? He wasn't even alive during the invasion. Neither of them were?"
"They might feel responsible nonetheless," exclaimed Auru, just as disconcerted. "The question we should be asking is why have they only begun haunting her a year ago? Why wait for so long after the invasion?"
"We believe that to some extent the Triforce of Wisdom was holding them off," replied Raleigh succinctly. "But whatever effect it has, they've somehow adapted to it. Or perhaps, over time Wisdom's power has waned now that its purpose has been fulfilled. That is why your presence is now necessary, Link," he said with a sneer. "I don't know if you've noticed, but her majesty has been borrowing your Courage. It's the only reason why I'd deign to allow you to spend time with her. With your Courage nearby the voices were kept at bay, the creature too avoided her."
Link wanted to ask about this creature, but Zelda spoke up before him.
"I'm sorry, Link. I've been selfishly siphoning your mana from you beneath your notice. I am just as my father say's…"
It made him want to gag remembering all that her father had said. What sort of parent said that to their child? He'd never wanted to bring someone back from the dead just so he could slaughter them himself so badly before.
For a brief moment he had the niggling thought that that was the reason why she'd wanted to spend so much time with him. That she'd been using him. Something inside him constricted, before he cleared away those thoughts. He had to think logically on this. Hadn't she desired his company beforehand? They'd become friends since the invasion, two years ago, and had only grown closer since. A year… How could this have been going on for a year? He'd been away far too often. And whenever he visited she'd always sought him out. But she was like that all the time, since he'd started hanging around after they'd defeated Ganondorf, her behaviour had been no different from before. She had always desired his company.
It made him realize that even without his Courage, she would have still acted the same. It was considered fortunate that his presence allowed her a small reprieve.
"None of that," he said, reigning in his anger. He softened his tone when he noticed her cringe. He didn't want her to think he was mad at her in any way. "I understand why you did it and why you couldn't tell me."
So that had been it. That day on the bridge. That entire day they'd spent together, fun-filled and pleasant, after all of that she had tried to send him away, to save him. She'd been beset by the guilt of using him and decided no longer. She cherished his life more than her own safety. She hadn't wanted him to become a victim like the others. Well, if Raleigh could withstand it, then he could as well. Really, she should know him better by now.
He'd do anything to protect her.
At that a thought came to him, and he took a step forward reaching out his left hand.
"If you wish it, I would give you my Triforce."
Auru gave a stunned gasp while the rest of the room went stock still. Slowly Zelda opened her eyes and gazed up at him, mouth parting in astonishment.
"I – No! Thank you, Link. But I cannot accept it. I would never take something so important from you."
Important? It had caused him nothing but trouble since he discovered his possession of it. First it had led him to Midna, an overly foul and self-serving imp – he thought fondly - then had caused him to be entwined in Hyrule's politics, via its princess and his consecutive liberation of Hyrule. He would be glad for her to have it. There was no one else he trusted more.
"Besides," she went on desolately. "It's effect has greatly diminished. It does little for me now. Not even your presence can fully dissuade them." She looked over all of them, devastatingly. "None of you are safe now. Everywhere you go you'll see them. They'll give you no rest. Marta was driven mad by them, so was Davin, and now Desra..."
Her eyes lowered and she turned back to look out the window. Something had drawn her attention. Link couldn't see what from where he was standing. His angle only allowed him to see her slim form and the curtains beside her.
"I'm still not sure I'm buying into this story of ghosts, yeah," Ashei sighed.
Raleigh frowned.
"But it all makes sense," exclaimed Shad. "Link can account for it. And, if you think of it, it's not beyond the realm of possibility."
"What if…" Ashei began, hands fisting from their crossed position over her chest. "What if someone wants her majesty to think she's being haunted, yeah? The voices, shadows, even the ghosts, they could all be an illusion, part of some elaborate scheme."
Link's ears perked at the suggestion. That… that was viable, wasn't it? Someone was clearly out to get Zelda and determined the best way by spooking her. There were no witnesses to the people who went missing. They could have been caught out and murdered, put out of the way. He wished Hadrian were here so he could get his take on the matter.
"That could be," muttered Auru, stroking his beard. "Lord Raleigh, do you think…?"
Raleigh's stern gaze didn't hold the enlightenment that they'd all anticipated. Evidently, he was not convinced.
"How insulting," the minister spat. "Indeed, your amateur postulations lead me to believe I've made a mistake in confiding in you."
Ashei didn't take that well, and she groused. "And how are you so sure, yeah? What concrete evidence do you have to support that your 'ghost' theory is authentic?"
"Because, Dame Ashei, the creature exists," Raleigh grit out tersely. "And it's definitely no illusion. It can be palpable when it wishes."
Ashei continued to appear skeptical. "Creature? You've mentioned that before, yeah. What bloody creature!?"
It was Zelda who replied. A slight tilt of the head, she nudged her chin in the direction of the window, voice low and solemn as she said quietly, "he's right there…"
"Zelda!" Raleigh bellowed, while the rest of them scrambled to the window.
Only to reel at the face staring back.
Wisps of darkness, like contorting talons, clung to the figure there, its dark greasy hair contrasting with its pale, too round, face. A child's face, Link inhaled sharply at the realization. Twin infantile beady eyes blinked through the frame from sunken sockets. The child's parched mouth twisted in a cruel smile as it locked its gaze in a staring contest with Zelda, as they had been for a while now.
Link took in the otherworldliness of the child creature. He had expected something demonic and beastial, not this. Although he couldn't deny that it did indeed appear demonic. It was eerie. Such an evil expression should never grace a child's features.
"Zelda, get away from it!" Raleigh hollered, dragging her to her feet and pulling her away. Zelda stumbled after him, but her eyes didn't leave the creature's. Utterly petrified.
Link moved between them, staring hard at the child. What was it? It didn't appear translucent, it was fully formed. What did it want?
Dried lips parted and an otherworldly sound emitted, like the distant echoes of a chime.
…Hehehe…
Ashei drew her sword. "What the hell!"
Standing a few feet behind her, Shad quivered. "We're… we're five stories up. There's nothing but sheer wall outside that window. How is he – I don't -"
"Will someone explain to us what the devil that thing is?" shot Auru, outwardly rattled by the turn of events.
Link could smell the apprehension in the room. Everyone was tense, all watching the thing in the window.
"A phantom," Zelda answered in a whispery voice. "A redead. Death…" Her voice was slightly muffled, ensconced in the protection of Raleigh's hold. "It has been there since the beginning."
"You…" Link muttered, tentatively approaching the window.
"Boy," Raleigh intoned in warning, but Link didn't heed it.
Two feet from the window, he assessed the child on the other side of the pane with calculating eyes. A flash of nostalgia coiled in him. He'd seen similarly dead eyes, and corpse-like bodies, before. An image projected itself in his mind. A deep dank tunnel, a tomb, and within it blood-splattered walls, gruesome torture devices, and countless decayed tortured souls.
Once, long ago… another time and life, he'd fought wraiths such as this. He'd done it in the graveyard.
Link flinched, his head hurting.
Why had he gone to the graveyard? What had compelled him to go in there?
…Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred…
And there the images faded, and no matter how hard he tried to grasp onto them they refused to evince.
Link awoke from his brief reverie and his eyes hardened.
A single thought pervaded from all others. Born of those ambiguous memories.
He hated ghosts.
The boy's head lifted and he slithered lizard-like further up the glass pane, curving so he hung almost horizontally on it. He let his head droop and it dangled unnaturaly to the side, the bone evidently misaligned, his neck broken.
Shad released a meek sound. Ashei growled.
You, the boy mimicked, full of deadly amusement. The sway of his head while it hung from its skin ominous and revolting.
Link grit his teeth, itching to draw Caritas. He knew instinctively that no blade or ordinary weapon would affect it. It would probably laugh in mockery at his attempts.
The creature's grin broadened, a crooked little smile that induced Zelda to duck her head, before he turned his sights to Link.
You didn't leave…said the boy. I told you to leave, but you didn't, and now… now you're trapped too. No escape.
Everybody in the room stared at him. Auru pinched the bridge of his nose, a noise, a mixture between a groan and a whine escaped him.
"You two, are acquainted?" he asked.
Link grunted. "He's the child I saw on my way back from Telma's. The one who vanished."
And now he was extremely grateful the child hadn't accepted his cloak. It would have probably ended up cursed.
"You've encountered it? You've met the creature before now?!" Raleigh erupted. "That thing is dangerous. Did you not feel the presence of death on it?"
He remembered that night, the dissonance in the air. Everything had been off, displaced somehow. That same sensation visited him now, an oily dark feeling.
Now he knew why.
"I thought it was a lost child," Link defended. How could he have known to suspect anything else?
Raleigh cursed in one of the old languages while Zelda shivered.
"Something like that shouldn't exist, yeah," said Ashei, deadly. Any doubts she'd had had completely dissipated by now. "Is there a way to kill it?"
Zelda shook her head. Raleigh pet her hair in silent comfort and intoned, "None. The best we can do is put wards up."
"And this room is warded?" Auru asked, white brows furrowed in apprehension. "They will keep it out?"
"Of course it is," supplied Raleigh. "The entire castle is, to an extent. If this had occurred before the invasion none of the ghosts would have been able to get in. But after that fiend, Zant came and shattered the ancient spells protecting the castle, we haven't been able yet to restructure them to as they had once been. Other things took precedence, and many of our strongest mages had perished. A great deal of her majesty's time is spent in this room, so it has extra protection, enough to keep the phantoms out. Although, these wards aren't as strong as the ones in her personal chambers had been. And those wards had recently been shattered."
Hehehe… Nowhere is safe… Nothing can keep us out… We'll come for you, the greatest criminal in all of Hyrule… We'll come for all of you… We'll feast on your flesh and blood…
Ashei wore a face of revulsion and spat out, "This coming from a child, yeah."
How sadistic. It fit more with the sort of criminals they hunted. Fortunately, very few had been extreme madmen.
The creature looked straight at Ashei, neck twisting and eyes beaming.
Red blood… What a pretty sword… So sharp… Will you put that sword through your throat? Will you shed your blood for me?
Ashei looked at it in disdain, the tension of her white-knuckled hand around her blade suggesting her temptation to put it through the creature's throat.
"You're a creepy little thing, aren't you, yeah."
"That's an understatement," muttered Link, still watching it closely. "I don't suppose running it through with a sword would work?" He already knew the answer, but he was hopeful. Cleaving things apart generally did work for most things. But if the ghosts in the tower were only temporarily dispelled then how could he expect any different from this boy.
Raleigh gave him a stern look that rang of intolerance. Link gave him a nasty look and shrugged.
What did he expect them to do then, really? If they couldn't slay it the conventional way then what way was there?
"Foolish boy, of course it won't do anything," hissed Raleigh, arms tightening around Zelda, whose face remained buried in his cloak. "Whatever you think of, we've already tried a thousand times. It always comes back more wicked, more tenacious than before."
Ashei gnashed her teeth in agitation. Shifting under the stare of the child, its unblinking eyes still fixed on her. "So what are we supposed to do, yeah?"
Hehehe… Doomed… You're all doomed… Your blood will run soon… Red red red red…and blue… You'll all die. Like Marta, like Davin, like the holy man… He slanted a grin at Zelda, exuding perverted glee. …And Desra. You sought to save her? You went to the tower.
He giggled then, such a child-like innocent sound to be produced from something so wicked.
Stupid Hylian. Stupid blue blood. Hyrule's greatest criminal… One of us now. She's one of us… She hates you too…
Link whipped his head toward Zelda, whose face had fallen in dismay. His heart beat erratically as rage overtook him. That creature, thing, whatever it was, he was going to slaughter it somehow. Mark him. No wonder she'd been desperate to go to the tower to ask for appeasement, if this was what she lived with day and night.
"Why aren't any of the bloody Sheikah involved?" Link snapped, his jaw clenched and shoulders taut. They were in over their heads. They needed a proper Sheikah to help them. This was what they were for, this was the Sheikah's expertise, dealing with all things supernatural. The dark deeds of Hyrule carried out by their people and erased by them.
Link blinked at the heavy feeling of being watched and realized that every eye in the room was focused on him. He was hard-pressed not to lift an inquiring eyebrow in succession with shooting a cynical comment.
He rolled his eyes at their blank gazes. Honestly. "If these are the undead we're dealing with, why haven't any of the Sheikah been contacted?" He wasn't aware of any other Sheikah existing in Hyrule other than Impaz, but why hadn't they sent word to her?
Again, a glimmer of that far off memory assailed him. The Shadow Temple, it had been called. Where all the tortures of Hyrule were delivered by the Sheikah to the enemies of the royal family. Where underhandedness had been employed and death had abound.
We're these the Shade's memories he was experiencing? He was positive he'd never been there himself. Not even the Arbiter's Grounds had inspired such trepidation in him.
"The Sheikah," Raleigh offered stiffly. "Haven't been around for several decades. That option is null."
"It has been presumed that they were all wiped out ages ago," informed Shad. "Since before King Boras' rise to the throne. But yes, technically they would be of great use to us if they were still around today."
Link's eyes flickered in the lamp light.
They didn't know? They didn't know that it was Impaz who'd cleaned out the Arbiter's ground. She had been prudent and quick and had done it alone. Had they never questioned how the dead were suddenly all exorcised? Had they believed that he had accomplished that on his own? He'd never told them about the hidden village, he realized. And to his knowledge, no one but him, Ilia, and Impaz and a bunch of cats were aware that it even existed.
"Then you don't know?" he muttered, astonished by his own oversight.
Raleigh sighed impatiently, severely annoyed. "We don't know what? Spit it out boy!"
Link's eyes flashed, his head dipped down. "The Sheikah, Impaz, is alive."
Shad was officially creeped out.
He had been bemused and hadn't wanted to believe it at first. A haunting of that magnitude? Really now, since when did ghosts ever pose this much of an issue. Find a priest or priestess to exorcise them and be done with it. Belatedly, he was ashamed to admit that it had seemed more probable for the queen to be devolving into madness than to believe in a haunting. But having Raleigh and Link support her claim, and then seeing that bizarre child who looked like he'd just crawled out of a crypt…
Well, he certainly believed now.
After Link had so gratuitously informed them of the existence of a single Sheikah, they'd had a long discussion, part of which had been forming plans to go seek out this Lady Impaz. In two days they were to set out to this hidden village, find Impaz and return with her to Castle Town. Auru and Raleigh would be staying at the castle. He, Link, Ashei and Hadrian, who had yet to be included in all the specifics, were to fetch Impaz. As for the queen… they were still in the midst of arguing whether it be better for her to come along or stay here where it was somewhat safe, but still dangerous, now that they knew the creature could break through the wards.
Shad paled at the idea of leaving the castle, venturing out in the wild where they'd be vulnerable to the things. The ghosts were apparently able to follow them if they left the town. He hoped desperately that Impaz would be able to do something about them.
They had decided to keep the whole thing secret from Telma and Rusl. Telma had a very social and sometimes stressful job running her pub and inn, and could not afford the distractions of ghosts lingering around. And Rusl had a family to consider in Ordon. Neither were fully involved anyways, and had little means to protect themselves. During their next meeting they'd reveal only the necessities, that they now knew what was going on and that they were taking care of it themselves. Hopefully the other two resistance members would understand, and not put up a fuss for being kept out of the loop.
At nearly two am they'd all adjourned to bed. There'd been some discussion as to where the queen would be relocated now that her safety in her personal suite had been compromised. Eventually it was determined that she'd bunk with Lady Anne in her rooms, with the additional protection of five other guards, two of which were female mages and could reside in the room with them. It was their hopes that if she was in close proximity to others the spirits would perpetuate their normal behaviour and be more hesitant to make themselves known, thereby leaving Zelda in general peace, for however long it may last.
Still, all that exposition had been difficult to digest. Ghosts, phantoms in the castle! Egad! It had been a difficult truth to swallow. As much as he'd been curious and ever worried about the queen and what she had so stringently attempted to keep undercover, he now found himself ill-prepared to face the facts. It was beyond his degree of expertise. Something that he supposed he now had to remedy. First thing in the morning he'd go to the castle library and see what he could find. No doubt, Zelda had already perused every single tome in existence of the subject, but Shad found that if one applied two different scholarly minds to a matter then through their combined effort a solution always presented itself more swiftly.
In his bedroom, Shad sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, glancing at the clock and shuddering. It had been two hours, and still the creature hadn't moved from the window.
Why him? He thought miserably.
With Zelda surrounded by people, it had sought to terrorize someone else. Mainly, him.
Behind the curtains he could see its shadow, frothing with that seeping darkness, prowling at the corners of the frame. It didn't stick to one window either, it continuously moved about. One second it would be to the east side window, then the south, in the mirror, then back at the east window. It kept Shad on edge and fearful to even close his eyes. He was tempted to ask Ashei to board them up.
Something on the bureau rattled and moved in the corner of his vision. Shad whipped his head around, only to see nothing. Whatever it had been was gone. Childish giggling filled the air, and Shad groaned, burying himself beneath his covers.
Red blood red blood…
"Ignore them," Shad gulped, sweating profusely and purposely avoiding looking at the window. "Lord Raleigh said to just ignore them. They can't touch you if you don't let them."
How come it seemed so easy when Raleigh did it? Shad could hardly get a moment's peace now without seeing lurking shadows and hearing giggles and moans and other unnatural things.
Poor Queen Zelda. Had she really gone a full year like this?
Groaning could be heard echoing from within the hearth, as well as the sound of weeping. If he didn't know better, he'd honestly believe that there was someone in there, trapped up the chimney.
Why? A woman's voice cried. Why did this happen…? He killed us. He killed us.
Shad whimpered and hunkered down under the sheets.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't listen to this at all hours of the day. It was going to drive him mad.
Why?
Oh Goddesses…
Nghhhh…
His breaths came out quickly, he was going frantic at all the sounds. Dear Goddesses!
"You still awake, yeah?"
Shad yelped but then immediately settled down when Ashei came in, drying her hair with a towel. Her bathrobe was fastened loosely around her waist, and fell open at the top, revealing a good portion of her scar-stained chest.
Shad almost melted with relief, and hastily sidled over to his side of the bed.
Ashei languidly sat down, appearing at ease as she combed her fingers through her hair then began sharpening her sword. Shad was only aware of her own unease by the tense set of her shoulders and the ferocity to which she worked at her task.
"You've seen them too then?" she asked.
He nodded almost imperceptibly. Ashei's bravery lending to his own. Alone he was the fearful mouse, but together, with her by his side, he felt stronger, even if it were just marginally.
Ashei harrumphed testily. "One of the fucking things showed up in the bathroom mirror, yeah. Some old fogy's rotting face. I told him he was in the way and to clear off. The stupid demon didn't do anything. Just stared blankly, yeah. He didn't even appreciate the goods."
He didn't think they would, considering they were dead and had no reason to do any appreciating.
"Is it still there?" she asked.
Shad licked his lips. "Yes. He's been at each of the windows five times by now." Again, why him? "Why do you think they are doing this? It can't really be about the invasion, could it?"
It didn't add up in his analytical mind. Their timing, their behaviour in death contradicting their attitudes in life. Why would Zelda's own knights turn on her? Her people had loved her. He could believe a few might hold her in resentment, but for this many? And then there was the child. Who and what exactly was he? Why was he corporeal while the others weren't? What significance did he have?
"We won't know for certain until we ask ourselves, now will we, yeah?" said Ashei, getting to her feet. Twirling her sword once, she approached the window before Shad could make a move to stop her.
She whipped the curtains back and there was the creature, head poking up from the base as he pressed his hands against the glass, grinning.
Red blood red blood… Come to show me your red blood? Come to spill your blood for me? Splatter it over the window, let it pool on the floor…
Something groaned across the room and Shad saw a figure of a transparent hunched man, his arms curled around broken legs, a gaping hole in his chest. He moaned in torment and Shad went white.
"Um… Ashei…"
"You! Who exactly are you?" Ashei demanded, completely disregarding Shad's silent plea.
The child giggled and leered at her.
Who indeed… I'll tell you… I'll tell you once you're dead… Come join us… Slit your throat… Come join the dead…
Ashei scowled in disgust. "Keep dreaming, yeah. Or nightmaring, whatever the hell you do. What do you want, yeah?"
You blood… His blood… The blue blood's blood… For the world to die, for everyone to die…
"Fucking cryptic, yeah."
Shad winced. The only time Ashei ever swore this much was if she was truly under duress. He suspected she was handling this situation a small degree better than he was. At least she hadn't totally freaked out yet, as he was doing internally.
He looked back to the corner and his nerves jolted at finding the ghostly figure gone.
"For some reason you're after Zelda, yeah," Ashei intoned darkly. "Do you really think we'll let you have her? Our queen! You're just a shadow, yeah. And no matter where the shadow lurks it will always be purged by the light. We'll send you to hell where you belong soon enough, yeah."
I'd like to see you try… The child chuckled.
I am on a roll! I've been writing for this story every weekend since I started working so far, and hopefully it continues. Send me good vibes, okay.
I'm pretty sure I've made mention of my lament over the lack of a Shadow Temple in Twilight Princess before. I suppose this story is my way to make up for it's absence in the game. Although the actual temple will not be featured in this fic.
I'm not too sure if the other characters actually knew about Impaz's existence in the game or not or whether she actually was a Sheikah, but for the purpose of this story, we'll say that she is a Sheikah and that everybody else was ignorant of her, and Impaz wanted to remain hidden.
I hope you enjoyed! And please review! I'm anxious to hear your thoughts ^.^