She was tall, taller than anyone he'd ever seen before, and it was the only attribute she shared with the statues he had seen of her. They depicted her as a long-haired voluptuous woman with a stern face and cold eyes, and that was the image of her he held in his mind. But it wasn't shocking to see she had short blue hair, falling just above her jaw, and solid turquoise eyes with no black or white to them at all. She'd pale skin, almost as pale as Sheik's, and had a straight body with small curves only just noticeable beneath the white robe she wore draped across her thin frame. A blue sash rested above her hips, the same color as her eyes, and pristine bandages coiled from her wrists to her shoulders. There was a gentle, wry smile on her lips as she gazed at him, not unkindly. She fit her name as perfectly as the holy aurora she exuded explained what she was.
Link had no idea how he'd gotten here-wherever 'here' was. Beyond her all he saw was a broad expanse of white shadows, a blazing pale nothingness reaching on forever.
"W-Where-?" He was surprised to discover he wasn't mute. None of his other senses appeared to work-he couldn't even feel his own body.
"Not the Afterlife. I need to speak with you and if you were to see that then my dear Sheikah would have to end you. So you are dead, child, but only for a few moments. You may think of this as the Sacred Realm if you wish, but you have already seen that and I think you will agree that this is nothing like it, no?"
He blinked at her stupidly. He wasn't…and he'd never been to the…
"I think I would remember a trip to the Sacred Realm." The sort of knowing smile he got far too often from Midna touched her lips, and he was left with the same feeling he got from the Twilit woman-that he was missing something obvious.
"He does not know what he is, that boy, and it will kill him if you are not there for him." She said, expression growing grave.
"Sheik?"
"If that is what you call him." She sounded amused.
"I speak to you to ask of you a favor, Hero of Light." Again, her attitude changed in an instant, the faint smile on her lips falling away immediately.
"What is it?" He asked cautiously.
Her eyes met his and he was struck with a terrible sort of force, intangible yet absolutely crushing. If he had been breathing-why wasn't he breathing?-the air would have been forced from his lungs.
"I have waited five hundred years and never have the Sheikah had a better chance to restore themselves than him. He is the only one they will all accept and the only one they will all trust with their lives and their future. Protect him."
"You had to kill me to ask me that? He's-" The disbelief in his voice seemed to anger her. She raised a hand, and he fell silent immediately.
"No. Alair must reach the Sanctuaries and gather all survivors, Gerudo and Sheikah, and take them to the Third. You must keep him safe as he does that."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Link asked, voice curt, abrupt. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"You do not believe I am a Goddess?"
"You being a divine being is irrelevant. I am asking you to prove that I can trust you." His voice might have been harsher than he intended it to be, but she seemed to understand what it was he was getting at.
"I was against the idea of promising Hyrule a Beast, you know. I saw how your tale would progress. But he has saved your life in joining you and your tale is changing. I suppose I approve of it now. I cannot prove to you that I have the best interests of any of you at heart. But I can offer something, I suppose, that will help you. Tell Alair that there are no survivors in the Second. He need not bother with it. And tell him what you have heard of the Four Realms-he deserves to know he is not as alone as he thinks." She sighed, reaching out and touching his cheek gently.
"Protect him at all costs. I was forbidden from touching the last Hero who betrayed me-there are no such restrictions on you." The threat was delivered gently, kindly.
"You're telling me that Hyrule needs-"
"No. You misunderstand me. You need him. More than you have or will ever need anything in your entire life. You need him as much as I do. His destiny has little to do with Hyrule. He is important solely to the survivors. Keep him safe. Keep him alive."
There was a sharp, agonizing pain in his chest and Link let out a strangled noise, hand rising to the wound as her smile widened-
-and he was breathing.
He didn't feel any sort of pain, but everything was blurry. What had happened? Had he been hurt? The Death Sword had struck him, hadn't it? And he remembered slamming into something hard enough to jar him to his very bones, but nothing beyond that. Just meeting Nayru.
"Drink-" Something was shoved against his mouth and he automatically swallowed it-he'd woken up enough times to Midna forcing something down his throat that he knew the drill. He could feel the substance working already, knitting up bone and muscle that shifted with a mind of its own beneath his skin, snapping into place as he healed.
Midna was doing it.
Where was Sheik?
His hand shot up as he blinked blearily, letting everything come into focus as he wrapped his fingers around the bottom of a potion bottle. It was slippery-which was something he didn't understand until his gaze focused on it and he realized that the red of it wasn't due to the potion itself, but his blood.
It was everywhere, and it was still fresh-still brilliant in color and still warm and still liquid.
And, head buried in hands stained with it, Sheik sat against the wall just off to the side of the splatter. Link automatically sought out the Death Sword, but he saw nothing beyond the sword, dull and scratched as it lay discarded among the cracked stone of the floor. His gaze met Midna's, and he saw a deep, bewildered sort of fear there as he handed the emptied bottle to her.
"He killed it, Link. He didn't even-Didn't even blink and he tore it apart like-it was like nothing I've ever seen before. And he's-I-I don't know. You have to talk to him."
Link scrambled up and very quickly sat back down as the world spun and his vision dimmed.
"You lost a lot of blood." Midna murmured.
There was an audible crack and Link's head jerked forward as bone snapped into place. He paled when he realized what that meant-his skull had been crushed.
"Midna, I was dead. Potion can't heal-"
"Sheik did it. I don't…talk to him."
Link scooted slowly across the ground until he reached Sheik's side and sagged against the wall beside him, letting out a breath. Nausea burned at the back of his throat and he didn't speak immediately, just focused on his breathing and keeping his limbs from trembling.
"Is this how you felt in the Temple of Time? And I just talked the whole time-I'd have killed myself. Dear Farore. Your self-restraint is incredible."
Sheik didn't respond, and Link turned his head to regard the Sheikah.
"I killed it." It was a whisper as Sheik slowly lowered his hands and met his gaze. Blood was smeared everywhere, from his hair to his cheeks, and the fear in his gaze was beyond what Link had words for.
"I just-it was right there and I just-"
"It'll be alright." Link murmured, tugging him closer and pulling him into an embrace. Sheik rested his forehead on his shoulder numbly.
"I did it at the lake and I did it here and-I don't-It shouldn't have happened! I'm not strong enough-I-" Link made a soft shushing noise, like Uli used to do when he had nightmares as a child. Tears leaked from Sheik's eyes as he squeezed them shut, flingers clenching around the cloth of Link's tunic.
"Maybe it's your dad's blood? It let you do the binding thing, maybe-"
"That doesn't-it shouldn't have anything to do with it! I'm not strong enough! I don't have enough magic to kill a Poe, and somehow it happened, and I-" A noise that Link would have thought a whimper if it had come from anyone else escaped Sheik, and Link tightened his grip around him.
"You were dead." Sheik whispered.
"Yeah. You brought me back though, didn't you?" He hoped it was spoken as soothingly as it should have been-Sheik's fear was threatening to overpower him.
"I don't…I shouldn't have been-"
"It's alright. It doesn't matter. We're fine." He said quickly, rocking side to side slightly-and then stopping when his nausea returned. They sat like that for a very long time, neither of them saying anything else. The potion finished working and Link had recovered more or less completely when Sheik finally moved, pushing away from him and pressing his wrist to his eyes-an attempt to keep Link's blood from getting anywhere else that failed, as he was already covered in the stuff. Dust clung to his hair, covering some of the stains. He was a mess.
"Are you going to be alright?" He asked softly, concerned.
"No. But it doesn't matter."
"Sheik-"
"I'll deal with it later."
"No we won't."
"Hero-"
"I died. I was dead, Sheik, and she was really very clear that-"
"She?" Sheik's tone, suddenly hard and sharp, shocked him into silence for a moment.
"Nayru."
"You spoke to Lanayru?" Sheik asked it slowly, though his tone didn't change. Link was quiet for a moment before replying.
"Yeah. I don't think she likes me much." Her words were still clear in his memory, though they were growing dimmer, and he realized suddenly that if he didn't tell Sheik about it now, he wouldn't remember it later.
"She said you didn't know what you were and talked about the sanctuary things you talk about, except she said to forget the second 'cause no one's there. She kept talking about somebody named Alair-do you know them?" Link felt the spark of shock that ran through Sheik's mind acutely, and he winced softly-it wasn't painful but it was an uncomfortable experience-and Sheik stilled, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Alair? She…Hero, this is-this is very important-what did she say about it? The name?" The sudden tension in Sheik's shaky voice alarmed him.
"Ah, I don't…That Alair had to go to the sanctuaries and find survivors and bring them to the third and-" Link stopped, mouth closing for a moment as he stared at Sheik, processing Nayru's words.
"It's you, isn't it?" He asked, eyes narrowing. Sheik didn't seem to hear him. He seemed shocked, but a happy sort of shocked-not that that made much sense to Link. He'd been near hysterical seconds before.
"She...Eldin damn-She was in prayer when she died. Veran-damn it!" Link wasn't certain as to whether he was cursing his mother and the Goddess intentionally, but he figured it wouldn't be wise to ask.
"Are you alright?"
Sheik shook his head, though the movement seemed directed more at himself than Link-almost dazed, to be honest.
"She named me."
"Can you maybe explain why this is a big deal?" Link asked, prodding Sheik's knee hesitantly. He didn't want to upset him again, send him tumbling back into the terror that had been eating away at him moments ago, but he wanted to know what Sheik meant.
"Sheikah children aren't given a name until they've passed the Trials and spoken to Lanayru. Only a blood relative can do it-I never had the chance because of the Fracturing and I wouldn't want my blood parents to name me anyway, so I never had a name." Sheik didn't get animated, exactly, while he talked, but he did start gesturing slightly, coming out of the mood he'd been in. Apparently the name was good news. Then Link processed what Sheik had said and his jaw dropped.
"Wait, wait, but you-what?! No! Skull Kid was calling you Sheik before-"
"A nickname. Malladus got tired of saying 'the little Sheikah' and it got shortened to Sheik after a while."
"So how are you-?"
"Lanayru has to accept the name after the Trials are completed and…she must have been in prayer when…and Lanayru accepted it. Otherwise she wouldn't know the name and Veran…" Sheik trailed off, getting lost in his own thoughts. Link studied him, letting him drift off for a while.
"Well, I'm still calling you Sheik. Alair makes me think of someone a whole lot taller." He wasn't joking-his tone was entirely serious-but Sheik still shot him a glare as he abruptly pushed himself up. Sheik's eyes fell on the Death Sword's blade and he visibly flinched, tearing his gaze away and focusing on Link.
"What else did Lanayru say?"
"Not much else. But…Ah, I know you said Farore was the one to mess with Time and all that, but can Nayru see it or something like that too?" He asked hesitantly. Sheik blinked, and frowned.
"I don't know. Maybe. Why?"
I saw how your tale would progress. But he has saved your life in joining you and your tale is changing.
Her words echoed in his head, and Link suppressed a shudder. He doubted Nayru had meant what had happened with the Death Sword, so what had she meant?
"Just wondering." He wasn't sure why he didn't tell Sheik about it-Sheik would probably know more about what Nayru had meant than he did-but he didn't. It wasn't something he should bother Sheik with, not when he already had so much he was worrying about.
His gaze roamed the room as he stood, and a slow grin worked its way across his face when he spotted an alcove with an open metal gate on either side of its entrance. Resting in the center of the niche was a chest. Sheik frowned, following his line of sight with his own eyes, then scowled dangerously, shooting him a look.
"Don't you dare say it."
"But-"
"You died. I didn't. Doesn't apply here."
"Which makes it all the more-"
"Go get whatever's in the damn chest, Link."
His grin widened, but he moved to obey, ducking a blow from Sheik.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Sheik understood what the Hero was trying to do and was infinitely grateful for it, even if it wasn't the smartest of ideas.
Every time it got quiet Sheik's thoughts returned to the Death Sword and what he had done to it, and he began to shake. So the Hero rambled on about stupid, inconsequential things, told him stories of what he'd done and the things that he had seen.
He didn't absorb most of what was said, but Link took care to pull him out of his silences and get him to at least hum along in agreement to whatever had been said. It was the pleasant warmth of his mind against Sheik's, the sound of his voice, that kept him from dwelling on the incidents, and Link seemed to know that-at one point Sheik could have sworn he was just listing random words.
As such, the rest of the Arbiter's Grounds passed in a blur, which probably had more to do with the Spinner that Link had found than the Hero's chatter. The object was unwieldy and it had taken an hour for the Hero to figure out how to work it properly, and Sheik wasn't a fan of clinging to him as he shot around the tracks that they had to travel on it to get further into the Halls.
But they finally reached the end of the Halls of Justice without another incident or death, and Sheik finally found something he could distract himself with full-heartedly-the giant skeleton buried in the sand in the center of the massive chamber they found themselves in.
The chamber was huge, circular in shape, and had a rim of stonework around it with steps leading down into a huge bowl where the remains lay covered.
"What is it? It looks like a Stalfos." Link asked, scowling at the thing as he prodded a protruding bone with his boot. Sheik shot him a glare and grabbed onto its horn, pulling himself onto the top of its skull-he had to jump to grab hold of it.
"In a manner of speaking. Stalfos are usually guardians of a Sheikah settlement, but they are easily created by monsters or corrupt magic like the kind we are trying to stop. If a Stalfos devours enough of that corrupted magic it grows bigger, stronger."
"So you're telling me this isn't the only one of these things out there?" Link demanded, looking horrified. Sheik laughed softly, balancing himself on the creature's skull as he surveyed the room.
"This particular Stallord is long dead. It won't awaken or return."
"See, I don't believe that, because it's in the final room of the ruins and the thing in the final room of the ruins always comes to life and tries to kill me. The giant fish in the Water Temple, the giant Deku Baba in the giant tree in Faron woods, Darbus in the Goron Mines. It's a proven fact, Sheik."
Something prickled against his magic, an oncoming source of power that reminded him of Midna's, save that this was sour, reeked of decay.
"Hero, something's coming-!"
"Told you." Link huffed, tugging the Master Sword free of its sheath and unhooking his shield. Sheik drew a dagger and turned, guessing at where the thing would appear.
In a flurry of rectangular sparks of magic glowing with the same dusky glow as Midna's, save that it was outlined harshly in red, the cause of the corruption devouring Hyrule appeared before him.
It was tall, taller than the Hero and definitely taller than Sheik, dressed in loose clothing edged in a fringe. The outfit was clearly derived from Gerudo and Sheikah styles, which sent a thin ripple of panic flitting around in his heart-they needed to find the Sages. A garishly decorated metallic mask covered the creature's face, hiding it entirely, but Sheik was adept enough at reading body language so that he saw the creature's surprise.
The magic radiating from it, though, told him what, who, it was.
"And you would be Zant. I've heard much about you." He murmured, smiling coolly beneath his cowl as he offered a short, mocking bow. He felt the Twilit's eyes move past him, to the Hero, and felt his start of surprise as if it were his own.
"So you are still alive? How astonishing. Your mutt has managed to surprise me, dear Midna." The Twilit murmured it as softly as Sheik had spoken, then turned his gaze to Sheik.
"What are you?" Sheik smiled a brutal sort of smile at the question, asked far more quickly and far more abruptly than wise, and lashed out with his magic-catching the Twilit usurper across the stomach and sending him crashing to the sand below the Stallord's skull.
"I am not one you want as an enemy. Unfortunately for you, the Goddesses do not smile upon your fortune, do they? I am here to ensure the Hero kills you. I can't kill you myself, you see. You've let corruption seek too deeply into your heart for anything but the Master Sword to do that. That doesn't mean I won't try." Sheik added, hurtling his dagger at the Twilit man. Just before it made contact, Zant disappeared into a cloud of Twilight particles, reappearing in an instant at Sheik's side.
"How sorrowful that we should meet now of all times, creature. I would love to…speak to you again, but I fear that I'll not get such an opportunity. And, dear Midna, I truly am sorry that this is where our paths again cross-I fear that this is the last time I will see you alive." The Twilit's tone, the sardonic murmuring, reminded him acutely of Midna. It didn't stop him from suspecting Zant of an attack, especially at the man's phrasing, but…Had he picked it up from her, or had she picked it up from him?
"Zant, you bastard-" Midna's frustrated shout drew the Twilit's attention to her immediately, and he bowed, sparks of Twilight magic again appearing around his hand. Sheik yanked out another dagger and lunged as the magic formed into the shape of a massive, twisted blade.
It was made purely of magic, and it resonated when it sensed his own power sharply, grating against his nerves harshly enough that he missed Zant entirely. He grit his teeth against the dissonance and swept his blade back around, but the Twilit man laughed and plunged the sword down, lodging it deeply in the skull of the Stalllord without bothering to try to evade the attack. A thin scratch along Zant's side was Sheik's only reward.
It shuddered, and began to rise as corrupted magic sparked across its skeleton. Rage pulsed in Sheik's veins and he lashed out with his magic, scraping across Zant's core. The contact relayed the Twilit blade's discord, and Zant jerked away sharply before vanishing into a cloud of Twilight particles.
"Damn it, Sheik, I told you it was going to come to life!" Link shouted furiously. Sheik jumped off of the Stallord, tucking his blade away and hitting the sand in a roll as he turned to look at Midna. He paused for an instant, shuddering as he forced himself to let go of his rage-Link wouldn't be so angry if he wasn't riled up, and the Hero needed a clear head if he was to face a Stallord.
"How long have you two been married?" He asked, hurrying over to where Link was waiting at the edge of the room. Link froze, wide-eyed gaze moving from Sheik to Midna and back again.
Midna's eyes narrowed and she folded her small arms across her chest.
"We were never married."
"Engaged then, or seeing one another. Whatever term you use. How long have you been together?" Sheik asked, rolling his eyes at her as the Stallord roared furiously as it finished rising to its full height.
"Since we were children."
"And I never heard about this why?!" Link demanded, voice shrill.
"It wasn't important!"
"You're making me murder your husband?"
"We aren't married!" Sheik took a startling amount of pleasure in seeing her so flustered for once.
Sheik's gaze moved to the Stallord at the same moment it spotted them, frowning as it slammed its clawed hands onto the sand-now a churning, spiraling vortex. Dozens of skeletons burst up from its roiling mess, rusted weapons clutched in their fingers and armor in even worse shape hanging limply from their bones. Zant's magic clung to everything, leaving a foul taste in the back of Sheik's mouth.
"Hero, kill the creature first. Yell later." There was an almost dangerous amount of exhilaration in his voice as he spoke. He was excited for this battle, and he clutched at that tightly, trying to ignore what he'd done earlier.
"And you, always telling me not to kill the icky dead things, what do you mean kill it first?!" Link spun on him immediately.
"It's still dead. Zant's magic is moving its bones-it's a sort of puppet magic. Like Skull Kid uses. Midna, push him."
She obliged with a fierce grin.
"Hey-!"
"Its spine is cracked. Use your new toy and whack at it a bit!" Midna ordered, vanishing into the Hero's shadow without so much as looking at him.
Belatedly, Sheik realized he may have hit a sore point with her. The usurper's behavior made it clear that he still cared about her, despite everything he'd done to her. Maybe she still loved him as well?
"Sheik, are you going to stand there or are you going to help me?"
"I'm sure you can take care of it-"
"Sheik!"
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Link rubbed the palm of his hand into his eyes, yawning, and Sheik pushed past him, humming a song softly to himself. Link didn't recognize it at all, but he felt the magic in the tune, a sort of weight and authority and peacefulness that made him want to fall asleep.
He was already exhausted, both from fighting the Stallord and from climbing out of the ruins-well, spinning up the ruins-and then climbing the tower they found themselves at the foot of. Maybe, if he asked nicely enough, Sheik would play the song on his lyre later. Sheik was a good enough mood to do so-he'd been humming during the fight and ever since.
The Stallord had been annoying. He'd killed it fairly easily, with Sheik helping, but it had come back and had somehow changed the room around on them-the sand had drained away and the center and sides of the room had risen up etched with Spinner tracks. The Stallord's skull had chased them around until Midna had smacked it with the Fused Shadows, but the whole ordeal had been tiring and the stairs hadn't helped matters at all.
"It's here, I can feel it."
"The whole of it or just a shard?" Link asked, dropping his hands and trailing after Sheik. Midna shot him a murderous look, her anxiety suddenly incredibly clear.
"I can't tell. I'd never felt the mirror before the Temple of Time-I just thought it was something like the Fused Shadows, not…" Midna trailed off, falling silent, and Link caught up to Sheik.
The top of the tower proved to be a coliseum looking structure, arched walls hedging them in on all sides and seven pillars stretching from the top of the walls, all evenly spaced, topped with ancient, tarnished mirrors. To one side of the circle of open ground was a tall golden statue of a clearly not Hylian woman encircled by what looked like a track for the Spinner. They stood on the other part of the circle, which was nothing but a broad expanse of sand-covered floor.
"This is a statue of Eldin, Hero, built by the Gerudo to watch over the Halls of Justice. Veran told me of it-that it rested at the entrance of the ruins, not…Shad's notes said that this place was turned into a prison for Hylians for a while. I can only assume that they moved it. How disrespectful." Sheik very clearly changed what he was going to say when he saw Midna's expression, the distress clear in her eyes.
"Do you think they placed the Spinner?"
"Probably. And then something killed them all. That makes it better, I suppose, but it's still sacrilegious." Sheik muttered, folding his arms across his chest tightly. Link felt a faint smile touch his lips. Sheik's mind was relatively calm, considering all that they'd done that night. It was nice.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He asked, blinking in confusion at the Sheikah.
"Get up there. There's probably a switch or an object of some sort up top. Go take care of it." Midna ordered sharply.
Link scowled at both of them, then stifled a yawn as he obeyed, asking Midna for the bulky object and then preparing it for the ride up.
It was night out, though, and the suddenly cool desert air woke him up a bit.
He made the mistake of glancing down, just before he reached the top, and he paled at how high up he was. Heights didn't usually bother him, but that was his Hylian form and his wolfos form did not approve at all of such high places-and he'd been a wolfos so recently that his mind still hadn't made the full adjustment back to Hylian.
On the exact center of Din's head was a switch, like those he'd found in the Grounds, designed for the Spinner alone-he had to place it just so and then spin it so that it cranked the mechanism within the statue.
He saw signs of it having been put there, tampering, like Sheik had said. Scratches and gouges across the metal and the way that the switch rocked slightly back and forth, showcasing just how badly the entire machine fit into the statue.
Maybe he'd pray later, to Din, to apologize for how thick-headed he was discovering his people could be. He doubted it would mean much to her, but he didn't need a third deity threatening to kill him. Majora scared him enough as it was, and he knew full well Nayru hadn't been joking.
The statue lowered as he turned the Spinner, and the floor in front of it shifted, revealing a platform with a stand on it holding something circular-he was too far away to tell what it was, but he assumed it was the Mirror of Twilight. He watched as Sheik and Midna made their way over to it, crouching lower as the statue neared the floor and came to a grinding halt with a violent shudder. He hopped off of the statue, dragging the Spinner behind him as he caught up with the two of them.
"…It's broken." Midna whispered.
It was. The stand it had rested had been crafted simply of a silvery metal, and Link was shocked at how large it was, how big the mirror would have to be to fit into it. Only a small fragment of the bottom of the mirror remained in its frame, and Link frowned at it-it didn't appear to be a reflective mirror, exactly. The markings were too prominent.
"We already knew that." Sheik pointed out, hesitantly reaching up and touching Midna's shoulder. Link's eyes widened and he slowed his pace down, stopping just behind them. Sheik was trying to comfort her?
"You need to find someone else to get your cues from." Midna snorted, jerking away from him and snapping her fingers as she turned, sending both the mirror fragment and the Spinner into Link's shadow.
But her expression wasn't as harsh as it would have been otherwise.
"It isn't totally destroyed, right? We can fix it, can't we?" Link asked uncertainly, gaze flicking to Midna's.
"I-Maybe. Just…"
"Hero?" Sheik grabbed his arm as he spoke, and Link turned away from the mirror, frowning-and then he froze, eyes wide.
Seven translucent figures, faceless blobs holding vague shapes of bodies, stood in a line in front of them.
"Hero…We have been waiting."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
So I feel like this chapter is super short for some reason. But, anyway, it was either short or ungodly long, and it fit better to chop it in half. So the thing I was pumped for before happens next chapter, sorry, LOL. This chapter was just giving me trouble. Next chapter will have lots of stuff though, so look forward to that?
But, in celebration of Sheik's triumphant return tomorrow~(Gamestop releases Hyrule Warriors the 26th), and because once the game ships I won't be writing for a while...But, hope you enjoy.